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diff --git a/old/11535.txt b/old/11535.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ff95bf --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11535.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14393 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Views a-foot, by J. Bayard Taylor + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Views a-foot + +Author: J. Bayard Taylor + +Release Date: March 10, 2004 [eBook #11535] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VIEWS A-FOOT*** + + + +Produced by Maria Paola Andreoni, Carlo Traverso +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +This file was produced from images generously made available by the +Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + + + + + VIEWS A-FOOT; + + OR + + EUROPE SEEN WITH KNAPSACK AND STAFF. + + BY + + J. BAYARD TAYLOR. + + WITH A PREFACE BY N.P. WILLIS. + + + "Jog on, jog on, the foot-path way, + And merrily hent the stile-a; + A merry heart goes all the day, + Your sad tires in a mile-a." + + _Winter's Tale_. + + + + IN TWO PARTS. + + PART I. + + + + + + + + Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by + + WILEY AND PUTNAM, + + in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for + the Southern District of New York. + + + + + + + + +PREFACE. + +BY N.P. WILLIS. + + +The book which follows, requires little or no introduction. It tells its +own story, and tells it well. The interest in it, which induces the +writer of this preface to be its usher to the public, is simply that of +his having chanced to be among the first appreciators of the author's +talent--an appreciation that has since been so more than justified, that +the writer is proud to call the author of this book his friend, and +bespeak attention to the peculiar energies he has displayed in travel +and authorship. Mr. Taylor's poetical productions while he was still a +printer's apprentice, made a strong impression on the writer's mind, and +he gave them their due of praise accordingly in the newspaper of which +he was then Editor. Some correspondence ensued, and other fine pieces of +writing strengthened the admiration thus awakened, and when the young +poet-mechanic came to the city, and modestly announced the bold +determination of visiting foreign lands--with means, if they could be +got, but with reliance on manual labor if they could not--the writer, +understanding the man, and seeing how capable he was of carrying out his +manly and enthusiastic scheme, and that it would work uncorruptingly for +the improvement of his mind and character, counselled him to go. He +went--his book tells how successfully for all his purposes. He has +returned, after two years' absence, with large knowledge of the world, +of men and of manners, with a pure, invigorated and healthy mind, having +passed all this time abroad, and seen and accomplished more than most +travelers, _at the cost of only $500, and this sum earned on the road_. +This, in the writer's opinion, is a fine instance of character and +energy. The book, which records the difficulties and struggles of a +printer's apprentice achieving this, must be interesting to Americans. +The pride of the country is in its self-made men. + +What Mr. Taylor is, or what he is yet to become, cannot well be touched +upon here, but that it will yet be written, and on a bright page, is, of +course, his own confident hope and the writer's confident expectation. +The book, which is the record of his progress thus far, is now cordially +commended to the public, and it will be read, perhaps, more +understandingly after a perusal of the following outline sketch of the +difficulties the author had to contend with--a letter written in reply +to a note from the writer asking for some of the particulars of his +start and progress: + + _To. Mr. Willis_,-- + + MY DEAR SIR:-- + + Nearly three years ago (in the beginning of 1844) the time for + accomplishing my long cherished desire of visiting Europe, seemed to + arrive. A cousin, who had long intended going abroad, was to leave + in a few months, and although I was then surrounded by the most + unfavorable circumstances, I determined to accompany him, at + whatever hazard. I had still two years of my apprenticeship to serve + out; I was entirely without means, and my project was strongly + opposed by my friends, as something too visionary to be + practicable. A short time before, Mr. Griswold advised me to + publish a small volume of youthful effusions, a few of which had + appeared in Graham's Magazine, which he then edited; the idea struck + me, that by so doing, I might, if they should be favorably noticed, + obtain a newspaper correspondence which would enable me to make the + start. + + The volume was published; a sufficient number was sold among my + friends to defray all expenses, and it was charitably noticed by the + Philadelphia press. Some literary friends, to whom I confided my + design, promised to aid me with their influence. Trusting to this, I + made arrangements for leaving the printing-office, which I succeeded + in doing, by making a certain compensation for the remainder of my + time. I was now fully confident of success, feeling satisfied, that + a strong will would always make itself a way. After many + applications to different editors and as many disappointments, I + finally succeeded, about two weeks before our departure, in making a + partial engagement. Mr. Chandler of the United States Gazette and + Mr. Patterson of the Saturday Evening Post, paid me fifty dollars, + each, in advance for twelve letters, to be sent from Europe, with + the probability of accepting more, if these should be + satisfactory. This, with a sum which I received from Mr. Graham for + poems published in his Magazine, put me in possession of about a + hundred and forty dollars, with which I determined to start, + trusting to future remuneration for letters, or if that should fail, + to my skill as a compositor, for I supposed I could at the worst, + work my way through Europe, like the German hand werker. Thus, with + another companion, we left home, an enthusiastic and hopeful trio. + + I need not trace our wanderings at length. After eight months of + suspense, during which time my small means were entirely exhausted, + I received a letter from Mr. Patterson, continuing the engagement + for the remainder of my stay, with a remittance of one hundred + dollars from himself and Mr. Graham. Other remittances, received + from time to time, enabled me to stay abroad two years, during which + I traveled on foot upwards of three thousand miles in Germany, + Switzerland, Italy and France. I was obliged, however, to use the + strictest economy--to live on pilgrim fare, and do penance in rain + and cold. My means several times entirely failed; but I was always + relieved from serious difficulty through unlooked-for friends, or + some unexpected turn of fortune. At Rome, owing to the expenses and + embarrassments of traveling in Italy, I was obliged to give up my + original design of proceeding on foot to Naples and across the + peninsula to Otranto, sailing thence to Corfu and making a + pedestrian journey through Albania and Greece. But the main object + of my pilgrimage is accomplished; I visited the principal places of + interest in Europe, enjoyed her grandest scenery and the marvels of + ancient and modern art, became familiar with other languages, other + customs and other institutions, and returned home, after two years' + absence, willing now, with satisfied curiosity, to resume life in + America. + + Yours, most sincerely, + + J. BAYARD TAYLOR. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +I.--The Voyage + +II.--A Day in Ireland + +III.--Ben Lomond and the Highland Lakes + +IV.--The Burns' Festival + +V.--Walk from Edinburgh over the Border and arrival at London + +VI.--Some of the "Sights" of London + +VII.--Flight through Belgium + +VIII.--The Rhine to Heidelberg + +IX.--Scenes in and around Heidelberg + +X.--A Walk through the Odenwald + +XI.--Scenes in Frankfort--An American Composer--The Poet Freiligrath + +XII.--A week among the Students + +XIII.--Christmas and New Year in Germany + +XIV.--Winter in Frankfort--A Fair, an Inundation and a Fire + +XV.--The Dead and the Deaf--Mendelssohn the Composer + +XVI.--Journey on Foot from Frankfort to Cassel + +XVII.--Adventures among the Hartz + +XVIII.--Notes in Leipsic and Dresden + +XIX.--Rambles in the Saxon Switzerland + +XX.--Scenes in Prague + +XXI.--Journey through Eastern Bohemia and Moravia to the Danube + +XXII.--Vienna + +XXIII.--Up the Danube + +XXIV.--The Unknown Student + +XXV.--The Austrian Alps + +XXVI.--Munich + +XXVII.--Through Wurtemberg to Heidelberg + +XXVIII.--Freiburg and the Black Forest + +XXIX.--People and Places in Eastern Switzerland + +XXX.--Passage of the St Gothard and descent into Italy + +XXXI.--Milan + +XXXII.--Walk from Milan to Genoa + +XXXIII.--Scenes in Genoa, Leghorn and Pisa + +XXXIV.--Florence and its Galleries + +XXXV.--A Pilgrimage to Vallombrosa + +XXXVI.--Walk to Siena and Pratolino--Incidents in Florence + +XXXVII.--American Art in Florence + +XXXVIII.--An Adventure on the Great St. Bernard--Walks around Florence + +XXXIX.--Winter Traveling among the Appenines + +XL.--Rome + +XLI.--Tivoli and the Roman Campagna + +XLII.--Tivoli and the Roman Campagna (_continued_) + +XLIII.--Pilgrimage to Vaucluse and Journey up the Rhone + +XLIV.--Traveling in Burgundy--The Miseries of a Country Diligence + +XLV.--Poetical Scenes in Paris + +XLVI.--A Glimpse of Normandy + +XLVII.--Lockhart, Bernard Barton and Croly--London Chimes and Greenwich +Fair + +XLVIII.--Homeward Bound--Conclusion + + + + +TO + +FRANK TAYLOR, + +THESE RECORDS OF THE PILGRIMAGE, + +WHOSE TOILS AND ENJOYMENTS WE HAVE SHARED TOGETHER, + +ARE + +AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, + +BY + +HIS RELATIVE AND FRIEND. + + + + +VIEWS A-FOOT. + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +THE VOYAGE. + +An enthusiastic desire of visiting the Old World haunted me from early +childhood. I cherished a presentiment, amounting almost to belief, that +I should one day behold the scenes, among which my fancy had so long +wandered. The want of means was for a time a serious check to my +anticipations; but I could not content myself to wait until I had slowly +accumulated so large a sum as tourists usually spend on their travels. +It seemed to me that a more humble method of seeing the world would +place within the power of almost every one, what has hitherto been +deemed the privilege of the wealthy few. Such a journey, too, offered +advantages for becoming acquainted with people as well as places--for +observing more intimately, the effect of government and education, and +more than all, for the study of human nature, in every condition of +life. At length I became possessed of a small sum, to be earned by +letters descriptive of things abroad, and on the 1st of July, 1844, set +sail for Liverpool, with a relative and friend, whose circumstances were +somewhat similar to mine. How far the success of the experiment and the +object of our long pilgrimage were attained, these pages will show. + + * * * * * + + LAND AND SEA. + + There are springs that rise in the greenwood's heart, + Where its leafy glooms are cast, + And the branches droop in the solemn air, + Unstirred by the sweeping blast. + There are hills that lie in the noontide calm, + On the lap of the quiet earth; + And, crown'd with gold by the ripened grain, + Surround my place of birth. + + Dearer are these to my pining heart, + Than the beauty of the deep, + When the moonlight falls in a bolt of gold + On the waves that heave in sleep. + The rustling talk of the clustered leaves + That shade a well-known door, + Is sweeter far than the booming sound + Of the breaking wave before. + + When night on the ocean sinks calmly down, + I climb the vessel's prow, + Where the foam-wreath glows with its phosphor light, + Like a crown on a sea-nymph's brow. + Above, through the lattice of rope and spar, + The stars in their beauty burn; + And the spirit longs to ride their beams, + And back to the loved return. + + They say that the sunset is brighter far + When it sinks behind the sea; + That the stars shine out with a softer fire-- + Not thus they seem to me. + Dearer the flush of the crimson west + Through trees that my childhood knew. + When the star of love with its silver lamp, + Lights the homes of the tried and true! + +Could one live on the sense of beauty alone, exempt from the necessity +of "creature comforts," a sea-voyage would be delightful. To the +landsman there is sublimity in the wild and ever-varied forms of the +ocean; they fill his mind with living images of a glory he had only +dreamed of before. But we would have been willing to forego all this and +get back the comforts of the shore. At New York we took passage in the +second cabin of the Oxford, which, as usual in the Liverpool packets, +consisted of a small space amid-ships, fitted up with rough, temporary +berths. The communication with the deck is by an open hatchway, which in +storms is closed down. As the passengers in this cabin furnish their +own provisions, we made ourselves acquainted with the contents of +certain storehouses on Pine St. wharf, and purchased a large box of +provisions, which was stowed away under our narrow berth. The cook, for +a small compensation, took on himself the charge of preparing them, and +we made ourselves as comfortable as the close, dark dwelling would +admit. + +As we approached the Banks of Newfoundland, a gale arose, which for two +days and nights carried us on, careering Mazeppa-like, up hill and down. +The sea looked truly magnificent, although the sailors told us it was +nothing at all in comparison with the storms of winter. But we were not +permitted to pass the Banks, without experiencing one of the calms, for +which that neighborhood is noted. For three days we lay almost +motionless on the glassy water, sometimes surrounded by large flocks of +sea-gulls. The weed brought by the gulf stream, floated around--some +branches we fished up, were full of beautiful little shells. Once a +large school of black-fish came around the vessel, and the carpenter +climbed down on the fore-chains, with a harpoon to strike one. Scarcely +had he taken his position, when they all darted off in a straight line, +through the water, and were soon out of sight. He said they smelt the +harpoon. + +We congratulated ourselves on having reached the Banks in seven days, as +it is considered the longest third-part of the passage. But the hopes of +reaching Liverpool in twenty days, were soon overthrown. A succession of +southerly winds drove the vessel as far north as lat. 55 deg., without +bringing us much nearer our destination. It was extremely cold, for we +were but five degrees south of the latitude of Greenland, and the long +northern twilights came on. The last glow of the evening twilight had +scarcely faded, before the first glimmering of dawn appeared. I found it +extremely easy to read, at 10 P.M., on the deck. + +We had much diversion on board from a company of Iowa Indians, under the +celebrated chief "White Cloud," who are on a visit to England. They are +truly a wild enough looking company, and helped not a little to relieve +the tedium of the passage. The chief was a very grave and dignified +person, but some of the braves were merry enough. One day we had a +war-dance on deck, which was a most ludicrous scene. The chief and two +braves sat upon the deck, beating violently a small drum and howling +forth their war-song, while the others in full dress, painted in a +grotesque style, leaped about, brandishing tomahawks and spears, and +terminating each dance with a terrific yell. Some of the men are very +fine-looking, but the squaws are all ugly. They occupied part of the +second cabin, separated only by a board partition from our room. This +proximity was any thing but agreeable. They kept us awake more than half +the night, by singing and howling in the most dolorous manner, with the +accompaniment of slapping their hands violently on their bare breasts. +We tried an opposition, and a young German student, who was returning +home after two years' travel in America, made our room ring with the +chorus from Der Freischutz--but in vain. They _would_ howl and beat +their breasts, and the pappoose _would_ squall. Any loss of temper is +therefore not to be wondered at, when I state that I could scarcely turn +in my berth, much less stretch myself out; my cramped limbs alone drove +off half the night's slumber. + +It was a pleasure, at least, to gaze on their strong athletic frames. +Their massive chests and powerful limbs put to shame our dwindled +proportions. One old man, in particular, who seemed the patriarch of the +band, used to stand for hours on the quarter deck, sublime and +motionless as a statue of Jupiter. An interesting incident occurred +during the calm of which I spoke. They began to be fearful we were +doomed to remain there forever, unless the spirits were invoked for a +favorable wind. Accordingly the prophet lit his pipe and smoked with +great deliberation, muttering all the while in a low voice. Then, having +obtained a bottle of beer from the captain, he poured it solemnly over +the stern of the vessel into the sea. There were some indications of +wind at the time, and accordingly the next morning we had a fine breeze, +which the Iowas attributed solely to the Prophet's incantation and +Eolus' love of beer. + +After a succession of calms and adverse winds, on the 25th we were off +the Hebrides, and though not within sight of land, the southern winds +came to us strongly freighted with the "meadow freshness" of the Irish +bogs, so we could at least _smell_ it. That day the wind became more +favorable, and the next morning we were all roused out of our berths by +sunrise, at the long wished-for cry of "land!" Just under the golden +flood of light that streamed through the morning clouds, lay afar-off +and indistinct the crags of an island, with the top of a light-house +visible at one extremity. To the south of it, and barely +distinguishable, so completely was it blended in hue with the veiling +cloud, loomed up a lofty mountain. I shall never forget the sight! As we +drew nearer, the dim and soft outline it first wore, was broken into a +range of crags, with lofty precipices jutting out to the sea, and +sloping off inland. The white wall of the light-house shone in the +morning's light, and the foam of the breakers dashed up at the foot of +the airy cliffs. It was worth all the troubles of a long voyage, to feel +the glorious excitement which this herald of new scenes and new +adventures created. The light-house was on Tory Island, on the +north-western coast of Ireland. The Captain decided on taking the North +Channel, for, although rarely done, it was in our case nearer, and is +certainly more interesting than the usual route. + +We passed the Island of Ennistrahul, near the entrance of Londonderry +harbor, and at sunset saw in the distance the islands of Islay and Jura, +off the Scottish coast. Next morning we were close to the promontory of +Fairhead, a bold, precipitous headland, like some of the Palisades on +the Hudson; the highlands of the Mull of Cantire were on the opposite +side of the Channel, and the wind being ahead, we tacked from shore to +shore, running so near the Irish coast, that we could see the little +thatched huts, stacks of peat, and even rows of potatoes in the fields. +It was a panorama: the view extended for miles inland, and the fields of +different colored grain were spread out before us, a brilliant mosaic. +Towards evening we passed Ailsa Crag, the sea-bird's home, within sight, +though about twenty miles distant. + +On Sunday, the 28th, we passed the lofty headland of the Mull of +Galloway and entered the Irish Sea. Here there was an occurrence of an +impressive nature. A woman, belonging to the steerage, who had been ill +the whole passage, died the morning before. She appeared to be of a very +avaricious disposition, though this might indeed have been the result of +self-denial, practised through filial affection. In the morning she was +speechless, and while they were endeavoring to persuade her to give up +her keys to the captain, died. In her pocket were found two parcels, +containing forty sovereigns, sewed up with the most miserly care. It was +ascertained she had a widowed mother in the north of Ireland, and +judging her money could be better applied than to paying for a funeral +on shore, the captain gave orders for committing the body to the waves. +It rained drearily as her corpse, covered with starred bunting, was held +at the gangway while the captain read the funeral service; then one +plunge was heard, and a white object, flashed up through the dark +waters, as the ship passed on. + +In the afternoon we passed the Isle of Man, having a beautiful view of +the Calf, with a white stream tumbling down the rocks into the sea; and +at night saw the sun set behind the mountains of Wales. About midnight, +the pilot came on board, and soon after sunrise I saw the distant spires +of Liverpool. The Welsh coast was studded with windmills, all in motion, +and the harbor spotted with buoys, bells and floating lights. How +delightful it was to behold the green trees on the banks of the Mersey, +and to know that in a few hours we should be on land! About 11 o'clock +we came to anchor in the channel of the Mersey, near the docks, and +after much noise, bustle and confusion, were transferred, with our +baggage, to a small steamboat, giving a parting cheer to the Iowas, who +remained on board. On landing, I stood a moment to observe the scene. +The baggage-wagons, drawn by horses, mules and donkeys, were +extraordinary; men were going about crying "_the celebrated Tralorum +gingerbread!_" which they carried in baskets; and a boy in the +University dress, with long blue gown and yellow knee-breeches, was +running to the wharf to look at the Indians. + +At last the carts were all loaded, the word was given to start, and +then, what a scene ensued! Away went the mules, the horses and the +donkeys; away ran men and women and children, carrying chairs and +trunks, and boxes and bedding. The wind was blowing, and the dust +whirled up as they dashed helter-skelter through the gate and started +off on a hot race, down the dock to the depot. Two wagons came together, +one of which was overturned, scattering the broken boxes of a Scotch +family over the pavement; but while the poor woman was crying over her +loss, the tide swept on, scarcely taking time to glance at the mishap. + +Our luggage was "passed" with little trouble; the officer merely opening +the trunks and pressing his hands on the top. Even some American +reprints of English works which my companion carried, and feared would +be taken from him, were passed over without a word. I was agreeably +surprised at this, as from the accounts of some travellers, I had been +led to fear horrible things of custom-houses. This over, we took a +stroll about the city. I was first struck by seeing so many people +walking in the middle of the streets, and so many gentlemen going about +with pinks stuck in their button-holes. Then, the houses being all built +of brown granite or dark brick, gives the town a sombre appearance, +which the sunshine (when there is any) cannot dispel. Of Liverpool we +saw little. Before the twilight had wholly faded, we were again tossing +on the rough waves of the Irish Sea. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A DAY IN IRELAND. + + +On calling at the steamboat office in Liverpool, to take passage to Port +Rush, we found that the fare in the fore cabin was but two shillings and +a half, while in the chief cabin it was six times as much. As I had +started to make the tour of all Europe with a sum little higher than is +sometimes given for the mere passage to and fro, there was no +alternative--the twenty-four hours' discomfort could be more easily +endured than the expense, and as I expected to encounter many hardships, +it was best to make a beginning. I had crossed the ocean with tolerable +comfort for twenty-four dollars, and was determined to try whether +England, where I had been told it was almost impossible to breathe +without expense, might not also be seen by one of limited means. + +The fore _cabin_ was merely a bare room, with a bench along one side, +which was occupied by half a dozen Irishmen in knee-breeches and heavy +brogans. As we passed out of the Clarence Dock at 10 P.M., I went below +and managed to get a seat on one end of the bench, where I spent the +night in sleepless misery. The Irish bestowed themselves about the floor +as they best could, for there was no light, and very soon the Morphean +deepness of their breathing gave token of blissful unconsciousness. + +The next morning was misty and rainy, but I preferred walking the deck +and drying myself occasionally beside the chimney, to sitting in the +dismal room below. We passed the Isle of Man, and through the whole +forenoon were tossed about very disagreeably in the North Channel. In +the afternoon we stopped at Larne, a little antiquated village, not far +from Belfast, at the head of a crooked arm of the sea. There is an old +ivy-grown tower near, and high green mountains rise up around. After +leaving it, we had a beautiful panoramic view of the northern coast. +Many of the precipices are of the same formation as the Causeway; +Fairhead, a promontory of this kind, is grand in the extreme. The +perpendicular face of fluted rock is about three hundred feet in height, +and towering up sublimely from the water, seemed almost to overhang our +heads. + +My companion compared it to Niagara Falls petrified; and I think the +simile very striking. It is like a cataract falling in huge waves, in +some places leaping out from a projecting rock, in others descending in +an unbroken sheet. + +We passed the Giant's Causeway after dark, and about eleven o'clock +reached the harbor of Port Rush, where, after stumbling up a strange old +street, in the dark, we found a little inn, and soon forgot the Irish +Coast and everything else. + +In the morning when we arose it was raining, with little prospect of +fair weather, but having expected nothing better, we set out on foot for +the Causeway. The rain, however, soon came down in torrents, and we were +obliged to take shelter in a cabin by the road-side. The whole house +consisted of one room, with bare walls and roof, and earthen floor, +while a window of three or four panes supplied the light. A fire of peat +was burning on the hearth, and their breakfast, of potatoes alone, stood +on the table. The occupants received us with rude but genuine +hospitality, giving us the only seats in the room to sit upon; except a +rickety bedstead that stood in one corner and a small table, there was +no other furniture in the house. The man appeared rather intelligent, +and although he complained of the hardness of their lot, had no sympathy +with O'Connell or the Repeal movement. + +We left this miserable hut, as soon as it ceased raining--and, though +there were many cabins along the road, few were better than this. At +length, after passing the walls of an old church, in the midst of older +tombs, we saw the roofless towers of Dunluce Castle, on the sea-shore. +It stands on an isolated rook, rising perpendicularly two hundred feet +above the sea, and connected with the cliffs of the mainland by a narrow +arch of masonry. On the summit of the cliffs were the remains of the +buildings where the ancient lords kept their vassals. An old man, who +takes care of it for Lord Antrim, on whose property it is situated, +showed us the way down to the castle. We walked across the narrow arch, +entered the ruined hall, and looked down on the roaring sea below. It +still rained, the wind swept furiously through the decaying arches of +the banqueting hall and waved the long grass on the desolate +battlements. Far below, the sea foamed white on the breakers and sent up +an unceasing boom. It was the most mournful and desolate picture I ever +beheld. There were some low dungeons yet entire, and rude stairways, +where, by stooping down, I could ascend nearly to the top of one of the +towers, and look out on the wild scenery of the coast. + +Going back, I found a way down the cliff, to the mouth of a cavern in +the rock, which extends under the whole castle to the sea. Sliding down +a heap of sand and stones, I stood under an arch eighty feet high; in +front the breakers dashed into the entrance, flinging the spray half-way +to the roof, while the sound rang up through the arches like thunder. It +seemed to me the haunt of the old Norsemen's sea-gods! + +We left the road near Dunluce and walked along the smooth beach to the +cliffs that surround the Causeway. Here we obtained a guide, and +descended to one of the caves which can be entered from the shore. +Opposite the entrance a bare rock called Sea Gull Isle, rises out of the +sea like a church steeple. The roof at first was low, but we shortly +came to a branch that opened on the sea, where the arch was forty-six +feet in height. The breakers dashed far into the cave, and flocks of +sea-birds circled round its mouth. The sound of a gun was like a +deafening peal of thunder, crashing from arch to arch till it rolled out +of the cavern. + +On the top of the hill a splendid hotel is erected for visitors to the +Causeway; after passing this we descended to the base of the cliffs, +which are here upwards of four hundred feet high, and soon began to +find, in the columnar formation of the rocks, indications of our +approach. The guide pointed out some columns which appeared to have been +melted and run together, from which Sir Humphrey Davy attributed the +formation of the Causeway to the action of fire. Near this is the +Giant's Well, a spring of the purest water, the bottom formed by three +perfect hexagons, and the sides of regular columns. One of us observing +that no giant had ever drunk from it, the old man answered--"Perhaps +not: but it was made by a giant--God Almighty!" + +From the well, the Causeway commences--a mass of columns, from +triangular to octagonal, lying in compact forms, and extending into the +sea. I was somewhat disappointed at first, having supposed the Causeway +to be of great height, but I found the Giant's Loom, which is the +highest part of it, to be but about fifty feet from the water. The +singular appearance of the columns and the many strange forms which they +assume, render it nevertheless, an object of the greatest interest. +Walking out on the rocks we came to the Ladies' Chair, the seat, back, +sides and footstool, being all regularly formed by the broken columns. +The guide said that any lady who would take three drinks from the +Giant's Well, then sit in this chair and think of any gentleman for whom +she had a preference, would be married before a twelvemonth. I asked him +if it would answer as well for gentlemen, for by a wonderful coincidence +we had each drank three times at the well! He said it would, and thought +he was confirming his statement. + +A cluster of columns about half-way up the cliff is called the Giant's +Organ--from its very striking resemblance to that instrument, and a +single rock, worn by the waves into the shape of a rude seat, is his +chair. A mile or two further along the coast, two cliffs project from +the range, leaving a vast semicircular space between, which, from its +resemblance to the old Roman theatres, was appropriated for that purpose +by the Giant. Halfway down the crags are two or three pinnacles of rock, +called the Chimneys, and the stumps of several others can be seen, +which, it is said, were shot off by a vessel belonging to the Spanish +Armada, in mistake for the towers of Dunluce Castle. The vessel was +afterwards wrecked in the bay below, which has ever since been called +Spanish Bay, and in calm weather the wreck may be still seen. Many of +the columns of the Causeway have been carried off and sold as pillars +for mantels--and though a notice is put up threatening any one with the +rigor of the law, depredations are occasionally made. + +Returning, we left the road at Dunluce, and took a path which led along +the summit of the cliffs. The twilight was gathering, and the wind blew +with perfect fury, which, combined with the black and stormy sky, gave +the coast an air of extreme wildness. All at once, as we followed the +winding path, the crags appeared to open before us, disclosing a yawning +chasm, down which a large stream, falling in an unbroken sheet, was lost +in the gloom below. Witnessed in a calm day, there may perhaps be +nothing striking about it, but coming upon us at once, through the gloom +of twilight, with the sea thundering below and a scowling sky above, it +was absolutely startling. + +The path at last wound, with many a steep and slippery bend, down the +almost perpendicular crags, to the shore, at the foot of a giant +isolated rock, having a natural arch through it, eighty feet in height. +We followed the narrow strip of beach, having the bare crags on one side +and a line of foaming breakers on the other. It soon grew dark; a +furious storm came up and swept like a hurricane along the shore. I then +understood what Horne means by "the lengthening javelins of the blast," +for every drop seemed to strike with the force of an arrow, and our +clothes were soon pierced in every part. + +Then we went up among the sand hills, and lost each other in the +darkness, when, after stumbling about among the gullies for half an +hour, shouting for my companions, I found the road and heard my call +answered; but it happened to be two Irishmen, who came up and said--"And +is it another gintleman ye're callin' for? we heard some one cryin', and +didn't know but somebody might be kilt." + +Finally, about eleven o'clock we all arrived at the inn, dripping with +rain, and before a warm fire concluded the adventures of our day in +Ireland. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +BEN LOMOND AND THE HIGHLAND LAKES. + + +The steamboat Londonderry called the next day at Port Rush, and we left +in her for Greenock. We ran down the Irish coast, past Dunluce Castle +and the Causeway; the Giant's organ was very plainly visible, and the +winds were strong enough to have sounded a storm-song upon it. Farther +on we had a distant view of Carrick-a-Rede, a precipitous rock, +separated by a yawning chasm from the shore, frequented by the catchers +of sea-birds. A narrow swinging bridge, which is only passable in calm +weather, crosses this chasm, 200 feet above the water. + +The deck of the steamer was crowded with Irish, and certainly gave no +very favorable impression of the condition of the peasantry of Ireland. +On many of their countenances there was scarcely a mark of +intelligence--they were a most brutalized and degraded company of +beings. Many of them were in a beastly state of intoxication, which, +from the contents of some of their pockets, was not likely to decrease. +As evening drew on, two or three began singing and the others collected +in groups around them. One of them who sang with great spirit, was +loudly applauded, and poured forth song after song, of the most rude and +unrefined character. + +We took a deck passage for three shillings, in preference to paying +twenty for the cabin, and having secured a vacant place near the +chimney, kept it during the whole passage. The waves were as rough in +the Channel as I ever saw them in the Atlantic, and our boat was tossed +about like a plaything. By keeping still we escaped sickness, but we +could not avoid the sight of the miserable beings who filled the deck. +Many of them spoke in the Irish tongue, and our German friend (the +student whom I have already mentioned) noticed in many of the words a +resemblance to his mother tongue. I procured a bowl of soup from the +steward, but as I was not able to eat it, I gave it to an old man whose +hungry look and wistful eyes convinced me it would not be lost on him. +He swallowed it with ravenous avidity, together with a crust of bread, +which was all I had to give him, and seemed for the time as happy and +cheerful as if all his earthly wants were satisfied. + +We passed by the foot of Goat Fell, a lofty mountain on the island of +Arran, and sped on through the darkness past the hills of Bute, till we +entered the Clyde. We arrived at Greenock at one o'clock at night, and +walking at random through its silent streets, met a policeman, whom we +asked to show us where we might find lodgings. He took my cousin and +myself to the house of a poor widow, who had a spare bed which she let +to strangers, and then conducted our comrade and the German to another +lodging-place. + +An Irish strolling musician, who was on board the Dumbarton boat, +commenced playing soon after we left Greenock, and, to my surprise, +struck at once into "Hail Columbia." Then he gave "the Exile of Erin," +with the most touching sweetness; and I noticed that always after +playing any air that was desired of him, he would invariably return to +the sad lament, which I never heard executed with more feeling. It might +have been the mild, soft air of the morning, or some peculiar mood of +mind that influenced me, but I have been far less affected by music +which would be considered immeasurably superior to his. I had been +thinking of America, and going up to the old man, I quietly bade him +play "Home." It thrilled with a painful delight that almost brought +tears to my eyes. My companion started as the sweet melody arose, and +turned towards me, his face kindling with emotion. + +Dumbarton Rock rose higher and higher as we went up the Clyde, and +before we arrived at the town I hailed the dim outline of Ben Lomond, +rising far off among the highlands. The town is at the head of a small +inlet, a short distance from the rock, which was once surrounded by +water. We went immediately to the Castle. The rock is nearly 500 feet +high, and from its position and great strength as a fortress, has been +called the Gibraltar of Scotland. The top is surrounded with +battlements, and the armory and barracks stand in a cleft between the +two peaks. We passed down a green lane, around the rock, and entered the +castle on the south side. A soldier conducted us through a narrow cleft, +overhung with crags, to the summit. Here, from the remains of a round +building, called Wallace's Tower, from its having been used as a +look-out station by that chieftain, we had a beautiful view of the whole +of Leven Vale to Loch Lomond, Ben Lomond and the Highlands, and on the +other hand, the Clyde and the Isle of Bute. In the soft and still +balminess of the morning, it was a lovely picture. In the armory, I +lifted the sword of Wallace, a two-handed weapon, five feet in length. +We were also shown a Lochaber battle-axe, from Bannockburn, and several +ancient claymores. + +We lingered long upon the summit before we forsook the stern fortress +for the sweet vale spread out before us. It was indeed a glorious walk, +from Dumbarton to Loch Lomond, through this enchanting valley. The air +was mild and clear; a few light clouds occasionally crossing the sun, +chequered the hills with sun and shade. I have as yet seen nothing that +in pastoral beauty can compare with its glassy winding stream, its mossy +old woods, and guarding hills--and the ivy-grown, castellated towers +embosomed in its forests, or standing on the banks of the Leven--the +purest of rivers. At a little village called Renton, is a monument to +Smollett, but the inhabitants seem to neglect his memory, as one of the +tablets on the pedestal is broken and half fallen away. Further up the +vale a farmer showed us an old mansion in the midst of a group of trees +on the bank of the Leven, which he said belonged to Smollett--or +Roderick Random, as he called him. Two or three old pear trees were +still standing where the garden had formerly been, under which he was +accustomed to play in his childhood. + +At the head of Leven Vale, we set off in the steamer "Water Witch" over +the crystal waters of Loch Lomond, passing Inch Murrin, the deer-park of +the Duke of Montrose, and Inch Caillach, + + ----"where gray pines wave + Their shadows o'er Clan Alpine's grave." + +Under the clear sky and golden light of the declining sun, we entered +the Highlands, and heard on every side names we had learned long ago in +the lays of Scott. Here were Glen Fruin and Bannochar, Ross Dhu and the +pass of Beal-ma-na. Further still, we passed Rob Roy's rock, where the +lake is locked in by lofty mountains. The cone-like peak of Ben Lomond +rises far above on the right, Ben Voirlich stands in front, and the +jagged crest of Ben Arthur looks over the shoulders of the western +hills. A Scotchman on board pointed out to us the remarkable places, and +related many interesting legends. Above Inversnaid, where there is a +beautiful waterfall, leaping over the rock and glancing out from the +overhanging birches, we passed McFarland's Island, concerning the origin +of which name, he gave a history. A nephew of one of the old Earls of +Lennox, the ruins of whose castle we saw on Inch Murrin, having murdered +his uncle's cook in a quarrel, was obliged to flee for his life. +Returning after many years, he built a castle upon this island, which +was always after named, on account of his exile, _Far-land_. On a +precipitous point above Inversnaid, are two caves in the rock; one near +the water is called Rob Roy's, though the guides generally call it +Bruce's also, to avoid trouble, as the real Bruce's Cave is high up the +hill. It is so called, because Bruce hid there one night, from the +pursuit of his enemies. It is related that a mountain goat, who used +this probably for a sleeping place, entered, trod on his mantle, and +aroused him. Thinking his enemies were upon him, he sprang up, and saw +the silly animal before him. In token of gratitude for this agreeable +surprise, when he became king, a law was passed, declaring goats free +throughout all Scotland--unpunishable for whatever trespass they might +commit, and the legend further says, that not having been repealed, it +continues in force at the present day. + +On the opposite shore of the lake is a large rock, called "Bull's Rock," +having a door in the side, with a stairway cut through the interior to a +pulpit on the top, from which the pastor at Arroquhar preaches a monthly +discourse. The Gaelic legend of the rock is, that it once stood near the +summit of the mountain above, and was very nearly balanced on the edge +of a precipice. Two wild bulls, fighting violently, dashed with great +force against the rock, which, being thrown from its balance, was +tumbled down the side of the mountain, till it reached its present +position. The Scot was speaking with great bitterness of the betrayal of +Wallace, when I asked him if it was still considered an insult to turn a +loaf of bread bottom upwards in the presence of a Montieth. "Indeed it +is, sir," said he, "I have often done it myself." + +Until last May, travellers were taken no higher up the lake than Rob +Roy's Cave, but another boat having commenced running, they can now go +beyond Loch Lomond, two miles up Glen Falloch, to the Inn of Inverarnan, +thereby visiting some of the finest scenery in that part of the +Highlands. It was ludicrous, however, to see the steamboat on a river +scarcely wider than herself, in a little valley, hemmed in completely +with lofty mountains. She went on, however, pushing aside the thickets +which lined both banks, and I almost began to think she was going to +take the shore for it, when we came to a place widened out for her to be +turned around in; here we jumped ashore in a green meadow, on which the +cool mist was beginning to descend. + +When we arose in the morning, at 4 o'clock, to return with the boat, the +sun was already shining upon the westward hills, scarcely a cloud was in +the sky, and the air was pure and cool. To our great delight Ben Lomond +was unshrouded, and we were told that a more favorable day for the +ascent had not occurred for two months. We left the boat at Rowardennan, +an inn at the southern base of Ben Lomond. After breakfasting on Loch +Lomond trout, I stole out to the shore while my companions were +preparing for the ascent, and made a hasty sketch of the lake. + +We purposed descending on the northern side and crossing the Highlands +to Loch Katrine; though it was represented as difficult and dangerous by +the guide who wished to accompany us, we determined to run the risk of +being enveloped in a cloud on the summit, and so set out alone, the path +appearing plain before us. We had no difficulty in following it up the +lesser heights, around the base. It wound on, over rock and bog, among +the heather and broom with which the mountain is covered, sometimes +running up a steep acclivity, and then winding zigzag round a rocky +ascent. The rains two days before, had made the bogs damp and muddy, but +with this exception, we had little trouble for some time. Ben Lomond is +a doubly formed mountain. For about three-fourths of the way there is a +continued ascent, when it is suddenly terminated by a large barren +plain, from one end of which the summit shoots up abruptly, forming at +the north side, a precipice 500 feet high. As we approached the summit +of the first part of the mountain, the way became very steep and +toilsome; but the prospect, which had before been only on the south +side, began to open on the east, and we saw suddenly spread out below +us, the vale of Menteith, with "far Loch Ard and Aberfoil" in the +centre, and the huge front of Benvenue filling up the picture. Taking +courage from this, we hurried on. The heather had become stunted and +dwarfish, and the ground was covered with short brown grass. The +mountain sheep, which we saw looking at us from the rock above, had worn +so many paths along the side, that we could not tell which to take, but +pushed on in the direction of the summit, till thinking it must be near +at hand, we found a mile and a half of plain before us, with the top of +Ben Lomond at the farther end. The plain was full of wet moss, crossed +in all directions by deep ravines or gullies worn in it by the mountain +rains, and the wind swept across with a tempest-like force. + +I met, near the base, a young gentleman from Edinburgh, who had left +Rowardennan before us, and we commenced ascending together. It was hard +work, but neither liked to stop, so we climbed up to the first resting +place, and found the path leading along the brink of a precipice. We +soon attained the summit, and climbing up a little mound of earth and +stones, I saw the half of Scotland at a glance. The clouds hung just +above the mountain tops, which rose all around like the waves of a +mighty sea. On every side--near and far--stood their misty summits, but +Ben Lomond was the monarch of them all. Loch Lomond lay unrolled under +my feet like a beautiful map, and just opposite, Loch Long thrust its +head from between the feet of the crowded hills, to catch a glimpse of +the giant. We could see from Ben Nevis to Ayr--from Edinburgh to Staffa. +Stirling and Edinburgh Castles would have been visible, but that the +clouds hung low in the valley of the Forth and hid them from our sight. + +The view from Ben Lomond is nearly twice as extensive as that from +Catskill, being uninterrupted on every side, but it wants the glorious +forest scenery, clear, blue sky, and active, rejoicing character of the +latter. We stayed about two hours upon the summit, taking refuge behind +the cairn, when the wind blew strong. I found the smallest of flowers +under a rock, and brought it away as a memento. In the middle of the +precipice there is a narrow ravine or rather cleft in the rock, to the +bottom, from whence the mountain slopes regularly but steeply down to +the valley. At the bottom we stopped to awake the echoes, which were +repeated four times; our German companion sang the Hunter's Chorus, +which resounded magnificently through this Highland hall. We drank from +the river Forth, which starts from a spring at the foot of the rock, and +then commenced descending. This was also toilsome enough. The mountain +was quite wet and covered with loose stones, which, dislodged by our +feet, went rattling down the side, oftentimes to the danger of the +foremost ones; and when we had run or rather slid down the three miles, +to the bottom, our knees trembled so as scarcely to support us. + +Here, at a cottage on the farm of Coman, we procured some oat cakes and +milk for dinner, from an old Scotch woman, who pointed out the direction +of Loch Katrine, six miles distant; there was no road, nor indeed a +solitary dwelling between. The hills were bare of trees, covered with +scraggy bushes and rough heath, which in some places was so thick we +could scarcely drag our feet through. Added to this, the ground was +covered with a kind of moss that retained the moisture like a sponge, so +that our boots ere long became thoroughly soaked. Several considerable +streams were rushing down the side, and many of the wild breed of black +Highland cattle were grazing around. After climbing up and down one or +two heights, occasionally startling the moorcock and ptarmigan from +their heathery coverts, we saw the valley of Loch Con; while in the +middle of the plain on the top of the mountain we had ascended, was a +sheet of water which we took to be Loch Ackill. Two or three wild fowl +swimming on its surface were the only living things in sight. The peaks +around shut it out from all view of the world; a single decayed tree +leaned over it from a mossy rock, which gave the whole scene an air of +the most desolate wildness. I forget the name of the lake; but we +learned afterwards that the Highlanders consider it the abode of the +fairies, or "men of peace," and that it is still superstitiously shunned +by them after nightfall. + +From the next mountain we saw Loch Ackill and Loch Katrine below, but a +wet and weary descent had yet to be made. I was about throwing off my +knapsack on a rock, to take a sketch of Loch Katrine, which appeared +very beautiful from this point, when we discerned a cavalcade of ponies +winding along the path from Inversnaid, to the head of the lake, and +hastened down to take the boat when they should arrive. Our haste turned +out to be unnecessary, however, for they had to wait for their luggage, +which was long in coming. Two boatmen then offered to take us for two +shillings and sixpence each, with the privilege of stopping at Ellen's +Isle; the regular fare being two shillings. We got in, when, after +exchanging a few words in Gaelic, one of them called to the travellers, +of whom there were a number, to come and take passage at two +shillings--then at one and sixpence, and finally concluded by requesting +them all to step on board the shilling boat! At length, having secured +nine at this reduced price, we pushed off; one of the passengers took +the helm, and the boat glided merrily over the clear water. + +It appears there is some opposition among the boatmen this summer, which +is all the better for travelers. They are a bold race, and still +preserve many of the characteristics of the clan from which they sprung. +One of ours, who had a chieftain-like look, was a MacGregor, related to +Rob Roy. The fourth descendant in a direct line, now inhabits the Rob +Roy mansion, at Glengyle, a valley at the head of the lake. A small +steamboat was put upon Loch Katrine a short time ago, but the boatmen, +jealous of this new invasion of their privilege, one night towed her out +to the middle of the lake and there sunk her. + +Near the point of Brianchoil is a very small island with a few trees +upon it, of which the boatman related a story that was new to me. He +said an eccentric individual, many years ago, built his house upon +it--but it was soon beaten down by the winds and waves. Having built it +up with like fortune several times, he at last desisted, saying, "bought +wisdom was the best;" since when it has been called the Island of +Wisdom. On the shore below, the boatman showed us his cottage. The whole +family were out at the door to witness our progress; he hoisted a flag, +and when we came opposite, they exchanged shouts in Gaelic. As our men +resumed their oars again, we assisted in giving three cheers, which made +the echoes of Benvenue ring again. Some one observed his dog, looking +after us from a projecting rock, when he called out to him, "go home, +you brute!" We asked him why he did not speak Gaelic also to his dog. + +"Very few dogs, indeed," said he, "understand Gaelic, but they all +understand English. And we therefore all use English when speaking to +our dogs; indeed, I know some persons, who know nothing of English, that +speak it to their dogs!" + +They then sang, in a rude manner, a Gaelic song. The only word I could +distinguish was Inch Caillach, the burying place of Clan Alpine. They +told us it was the answer of a Highland girl to a foreign lord, who +wished to make her his bride. Perhaps, like the American Indian, she +would not leave the graves of her fathers. As we drew near the eastern +end of the lake, the scenery became far more beautiful. The Trosachs +opened before us. Ben Ledi looked down over the "forehead bare" of Ben +An, and, as we turned a rocky point, Ellen's Isle rose up in front. It +is a beautiful little turquoise in the silver setting of Loch Katrine. +The northern side alone is accessible, all the others being rocky and +perpendicular, and thickly grown with trees. We rounded the island to +the little bay, bordered by the silver strand, above which is the rock +from which Fitz-James wound his horn, and shot under an ancient oak +which flung its long grey arms over the water; we here found a flight of +rocky steps, leading to the top, where stood the bower erected by Lady +Willoughby D'Eresby, to correspond with Scott's description. Two or +three blackened beams are all that remain of it, having been burned down +some years ago, by the carelessness of a traveler. + +The mountains stand all around, like giants, to "sentinel this enchanted +land." On leaving the island, we saw the Goblin's Cave, in the side of +Benvenue, called by the Gaels, "Coirnan-Uriskin." Near it is +Beal-nam-bo, the pass of cattle, overhung with grey weeping birch trees. +Here the boatmen stopped to let us hear the fine echo, and the names of +"Rob Roy," and "Roderick Dhu," were sent back to us apparently as loud +as they were given. The description of Scott is wonderfully exact, +though the forest that feathered o'er the sides of Benvenue, has since +been cut down and sold by the Duke of Montrose. When we reached the end +of the lake it commenced raining, and we hastened on through the pass of +Beal-an-Duine, scarcely taking time to glance at the scenery, till Loch +Achray appeared through the trees, and on its banks the ivy-grown front +of the inn of Ardcheancrochan, with its unpronounceable name. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE BURNS FESTIVAL. + + +We passed a glorious summer morning on the banks of Loch Katrine. The +air was pure, fresh and balmy, and the warm sunshine glowed upon forest +and lake, upon dark crag and purple mountain-top. The lake was a scene +in fairy-land. Returning over the rugged battle-plain in the jaws of the +Trosachs, we passed the wild, lonely valley of Glenfinlas and Lanric +Mead, at the head of Loch Vennachar, rounding the foot of Ben Ledi to +Coilantogle Ford. We saw the desolate hills of Uam-var over which the +stag fled from his lair in Glenartney, and keeping on through Callander, +stopped for the night at a little inn on the banks of the Teith. The +next day we walked through Doune, over the lowlands to Stirling. +Crossing Allan Water and the Forth, we climbed Stirling Castle and +looked on the purple peaks of the Ochill Mountains, the far Grampians, +and the battle-fields of Bannockburn and Sheriff Muir. Our German +comrade, feeling little interest in the memory of the poet-ploughman, +left in the steamboat for Edinburg; we mounted an English coach and rode +to Falkirk, where we took the cars for Glasgow in order to attend the +Burns Festival, on the 6th of August. + +This was a great day for Scotland--the assembling of all classes to do +honor to the memory of her peasant-bard. And right fitting was it, too, +that such a meeting should be hold on the banks of the Doon, the stream +of which he has sung so sweetly, within sight of the cot where he was +born, the beautiful monument erected by his countrymen, and more than +all, beside "Alloway's witch-haunted wall!" One would think old Albyn +would rise up at the call, and that from the wild hunters of the +northern hills to the shepherds of the Cheviots, half her honest +yeomanry would be there, to render gratitude to the memory of the sweet +bard who was one of them, and who gave their wants and their woes such +eloquent utterance. + +For months before had the proposition been made to hold a meeting on the +Doon, similar to the Shakspeare Festival on the Avon, and the 10th of +July was first appointed for the day, but owing to the necessity of +further time for preparation, it was postponed until the 6th of August. +The Earl of Eglintoun was chosen Chairman, and Professor Wilson +Vice-Chairman; in addition to this, all the most eminent British authors +were invited to attend. A pavilion, capable of containing two thousand +persons, had been erected near the monument, in a large field, which was +thrown open to the public. Other preparations were made and the meeting +was expected to be of the most interesting character. + +When we arose it was raining, and I feared that the weather might dampen +somewhat the pleasures of the day, as it had done to the celebrated +tournament at Eglintoun Castle. We reached the station in time for the +first train, and sped in the face of the wind over the plains of +Ayrshire, which, under such a gloomy sky, looked most desolate. We ran +some distance along the coast, having a view of the Hills of Arran, and +reached Ayr about nine o'clock. We came first to the New Bridge, which +had a triumphal arch in the middle, and the lines, from the "Twa Brigs +of Ayr:" + + "Will your poor narrow foot-path of a street, + Where twa wheel-barrows tremble when they meet, + Your ruin'd, formless bulk o' stane and lime, + Compare wi' bonnie brigs o' modern time?" + +While on the arch of the 'old brig' was the reply: + + "I'll be a brig when ye're a shapeless stane." + +As we advanced into the town, the decorations became more frequent. The +streets were crowded with people carrying banners and wreaths, many of +the houses were adorned with green boughs and the vessels in the harbor +hung out all their flags. We saw the Wallace Tower, a high Gothic +building, having in front a statue of Wallace leaning on his sword, by +Thom, a native of Ayr, and on our way to the green, where the procession +was to assemble, passed under the triumphal arch thrown across the +street opposite the inn where Tarn O'Shanter caroused so long with +Souter Johnny. Leaving the companies to form on the long meadow +bordering the shore, we set out for the Doon, three miles distant. +Beggars were seated at regular distances along the road, uttering the +most dolorous whinings. Both bridges were decorated in the same manner, +with miserable looking objects, keeping up, during the whole day, a +continual lamentation. Persons are prohibited from begging in England +and Scotland, but I suppose, this being an extraordinary day, license +was given them as a favor, to beg free. I noticed that the women, with +their usual kindness of heart, bestowed nearly all the alms which these +unfortunate objects received. The night before, as I was walking through +the streets of Glasgow, a young man of the poorer class, very scantily +dressed, stepped up to me and begged me to listen to him for a moment. +He spoke hurriedly, and agitatedly, begging me, in God's name, to give +him something, however little. I gave him what few pence I had with me, +when he grasped my hand with a quick motion, saying: "Sir, you little +think how much you have done for me." I was about to inquire more +particularly into his situation, but he had disappeared among the crowd. + +We passed the "cairn where hunters found the murdered bairn," along a +pleasant road to the Burns cottage, where it was spanned by a +magnificent triumphal arch of evergreens and flowers. To the disgrace of +Scotland, this neat little thatched cot, where Burns passed the first +seven years of his life, is now occupied by somebody, who has stuck up a +sign over the door, "_licensed to retail spirits, to be drunk on the +premises_;" and accordingly the rooms were crowded full of people, all +drinking. There was a fine original portrait of Burns in one room, and +in the old fashioned kitchen we saw the recess where he was born. The +hostess looked towards us as if to inquire what we would drink, and I +hastened away--there was profanity in the thought. But by this time, the +bell of Old Alloway, which still hangs in its accustomed place, though +the walls only are left, began tolling, and we obeyed the call. The +attachment of the people for this bell, is so great, that a short time +ago, when it was ordered to be removed, the inhabitants rose en masse, +and prevented it. The ruin, which is close by the road, stands in the +middle of the church-yard, and the first thing I saw, on going in the +gate, was the tomb of the father of Burns. I looked in the old window, +but the interior was filled with rank weeds, and overshadowed by a young +tree, which had grown nearly to the eaves. + +The crowd was now fast gathering in the large field, in the midst of +which the pavilion was situated. We went down by the beautiful monument +to Burns, to the "Auld Brig o' Doon," which was spanned by an arch of +evergreens, containing a representation of Tam O'Shanter and his grey +mare, pursued by the witches. It had been arranged that the procession +was to pass over the old and new bridges, and from thence by a temporary +bridge over the hedge into the field. At this latter place a stand was +erected for the sons of Burns, the officers of the day, and +distinguished guests. Here was a beautiful specimen of English +exclusiveness. The space adjoining the pavilion was fenced around, and +admittance denied at first to any, except those who had tickets for the +dinner, which, the price being fifteen shillings, entirely prevented the +humble laborers, who, more than all, should participate on the occasion, +from witnessing the review of the procession by the sons of Burns, and +hearing the eloquent speeches of Professor Wilson and Lord Eglintoun. +Thus, of the many thousands who were in the field, but a few hundred who +were crowded between the bridge and the railing around the pavilion, +enjoyed the interesting spectacle. By good fortune, I obtained a stand, +where I had an excellent view of the scene. The sons of Burns were in +the middle of the platform, with Eglintoun on the right, and Wilson on +their left. Mrs. Begg, sister of the Poet, with her daughters, stood by +the Countess of Eglintoun. She was a plain, benevolent looking woman, +dressed in black, and appearing still active and vigorous, though she is +upwards of eighty years old. She bears some likeness, especially in the +expression of her eye, to the Poet. Robert Burns, the oldest son, +appeared to me to have a strong resemblance of his father, and it is +said he is the only one who remembers his face. He has for a long time +had an office under Government, in London. The others have but lately +returned from a residence of twenty years in India. Professor Wilson +appeared to enter into the spirit of the scene better than any of them. +He shouted and waved his hat, and, with his fine, broad forehead, his +long brown locks already mixed with gray, streaming over his shoulders, +and that eagle eye glancing over the vast assemblage, seemed a real +Christopher North, yet full of the fire and vigor of youth--"a +gray-haired, happy boy!" + +About half of the procession consisted of lodges of masons, all of whom +turned out on the occasion, as Burns was one of the fraternity. I was +most interested in several companies of shepherds, from the hills, with +their crooks and plaids; a body of archers in Lincoln green, with a +handsome chief at their head, and some Highlanders in their most +picturesque of costumes. As one of the companies, which carried a +mammoth thistle in a box, came near the platform, Wilson snatched a +branch, regardless of its pricks, and placed it on his coat. After this +pageant, which could not have been much less than three miles long, had +passed, a band was stationed on the platform in the centre of the field, +around which it formed in a circle, and the whole company sang, "Ye +Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon." Just at this time, a person dressed to +represent Tam O'Shanter, mounted on a gray mare, issued from a field +near the Burns Monument and rode along towards Alloway Kirk, from which, +when he approached it, a whole legion of witches sallied out and +commenced a hot pursuit. They turned back, however, at the keystone of +the bridge, the witch with the "cutty sark" holding up in triumph the +abstracted tail of Maggie. Soon after this the company entered the +pavilion, and the thousands outside were entertained, as an especial +favor, by the band of the 87th Regiment, while from the many liquor +booths around the field, they could enjoy themselves in another way. + +We went up to the Monument, which was of more particular interest to us, +from the relics within, but admission was denied to all. Many persons +were collected around the gate, some of whom, having come from a great +distance, were anxious to see it; but the keeper only said, such were +the orders and he could not disobey them. Among the crowd, a grandson of +the original Tam O'Shanter was shown to us. He was a raw-looking boy of +nineteen or twenty, wearing a shepherd's cap and jacket, and muttered +his disapprobation very decidedly, at not being able to visit the +Monument. + +There were one or two showers during the day, and the sky, all the time, +was dark and lowering, which was unfavorable for the celebration; but +all were glad enough that the rain kept aloof till the ceremonies were +nearly over. The speeches delivered at the dinner, which appeared in the +papers next morning, are undoubtedly very eloquent. I noticed in the +remarks of Robert Burns, in reply to Professor Wilson, an acknowledgment +which the other speakers forgot. He said, "The Sons of Burns have +grateful hearts, and to the last hour of their existence, they will +remember the honor that has been paid them this day, by the noble, the +lovely and the talented, of their native land--by men of genius and +kindred spirit from our sister land--and lastly, they owe their thanks +to the inhabitants of the far distant west, a country of a great, free, +and kindred people! (loud cheers.)" In connexion with this subject, I +saw an anecdote of the Poet, yesterday, which is not generally known. +During his connexion with the Excise, he was one day at a party, where +the health of Pitt, then minister, was proposed, as "his master and +theirs." He immediately turned down his glass and said, "I will give you +the health of a far greater and better man--GEORGE WASHINGTON!" + +We left the field early and went back through the muddy streets of Ayr. +The street before the railway office was crowded, and there was so dense +a mass of people on the steps, that it seemed almost impossible to get +near. Seeing no other chance, I managed to take my stand on the lowest +steps, where the pressure of the crowd behind and the working of the +throng on the steps, raised me off my feet, and in about a quarter of an +hour carried me, compressed into the smallest possible space, up the +steps to the door, where the crowd burst in by fits, like water rushing +out of a bottle. We esteemed ouvselves fortunate in getting room to +stand in an open car, where, after a two hours' ride through the wind +and pelting rain, we arrived at Glasgow. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +WALK FROM EDINBURG OVER THE BORDER AND ARRIVAL AT LONDON. + + +We left Glasgow on the morning after returning from the Burns Festival, +taking passage in the open cars for Edinburg, for six shillings. On +leaving the depot, we plunged into the heart of the hill on which +Glasgow Cathedral stands and were whisked through darkness and sulphury +smoke to daylight again. The cars bore us past a spur of the Highlands, +through a beautiful country where women were at work in the fields, to +Linlithgow, the birth-place of Queen Mary. The majestic ruins of its +once-proud palace, stand on a green meadow behind the town. In another +hour we were walking through Edinburg, admiring its palace-like +edifices, and stopping every few minutes to gaze up at some lofty +monument. Really, thought I, we call Baltimore the "Monumental City" for +its two marble columns, and here is Edinburg with one at every +street-corner! These, too, not in the midst of glaring red buildings, +where they seem to have been accidentally dropped, but framed in by +lofty granite mansions, whose long vistas make an appropriate background +to the picture. + +We looked from Calton Hill on Salisbury Crags and over the Firth of +Forth, then descended to dark old Holyrood, where the memory of lovely +Mary lingers like a stray sunbeam in her cold halls, and the fair, +boyish face of Rizzio looks down from the canvass on the armor of his +murderer. We threaded the Canongate and climbed to the Castle; and +finally, after a day and a half's sojourn, buckled on our knapsacks and +marched out of the Northern Athens. In a short time the tall spire of +Dalkeith appeared above the green wood, and we saw to the right, perched +on the steep banks of the Esk, the picturesque cottage of Hawthornden, +where Drummond once lived in poetic solitude. We made haste to cross the +dreary waste of the Muirfoot Hills before nightfall, from the highest +summit of which we took a last view of Edinburg Castle and the Salisbury +Crags, then blue in the distance. Far to the east were the hills of +Lammermuir and the country of Mid-Lothian lay before us. It was all +_Scott_-land. The inn of Torsonce, beside the Gala Water, was our +resting-place for the night. As we approached Galashiels the next +morning, where the bed of the silver Gala is nearly emptied by a number +of dingy manufactories, the hills opened, disclosing the sweet vale of +the Tweed, guarded by the triple peak of the Eildon, at whose base lay +nestled the village of Melrose. + +I stopped at a bookstore to purchase a view of the Abbey; to my surprise +nearly half the works were by American authors. There wore Bryant, +Longfellow, Channing, Emerson, Dana, Ware and many others. The +bookseller told me he had sold more of Ware's Letters than any other +book in his store, "and also," to use his own words, "an immense number +of the great Dr. Channing." I have seen English editions of Percival, +Willis, Whittier and Mrs. Sigourney, but Bancroft and Prescott are +classed among the "standard _British_ historians." + +Crossing the Gala we ascended a hill on the road to Selkirk, and behold! +the Tweed ran below, and opposite, in the midst of embowering trees +planted by the hand of Scott, rose the grey halls of Abbotsford. We went +down a lane to the banks of the swift stream, but finding no ferry, +B---- and I, as it looked very shallow, thought we might save a long +walk by wading across. F---- preferred hunting for a boat; we two set +out together, with our knapsacks on our backs, and our boots in our +hands. The current was ice-cold and very swift, and as the bed was +covered with loose stones, it required the greatest care to stand +upright. Looking at the bottom, through the rapid water, made my head so +giddy, I was forced to stop and shut my eyes; my friend, who had firmer +nerves, went plunging on to a deeper and swifter part, where the +strength of the current made him stagger very unpleasantly. I called to +him to return; the next thing I saw, he gave a plunge and went down to +the shoulder in the cold flood. While he was struggling with a +frightened expression of face to recover his footing, I leaned on my +staff and laughed till I was on the point of falling also. To crown our +mortification, F---- had found a ferry a few yards higher up and was on +the opposite shore, watching us wade back again, my friend with dripping +clothes and boots full of water. I could not forgive the pretty Scotch +damsel who rowed us across, the mischievous lurking smile which told +that she too had witnessed the adventure. + +We found a foot-path on the other side, which led through a young forest +to Abbotsford. Rude pieces of sculpture, taken from Melrose Abbey, were +scattered around the gate, some half buried in the earth and overgrown +with weeds. The niches in the walls were filled with pieces of +sculpture, and an antique marble greyhound reposed in the middle of the +court yard. We rang the bell in an outer vestibule, ornamented with +several pairs of antlers, when a lady appeared, who, from her +appearance, I have no doubt was Mrs. Ormand, the "Duenna of Abbotsford," +so humorously described by D'Arlincourt, in his "Three Kingdoms." She +ushered us into the entrance hall, which has a magnificent ceiling of +carved oak and is lighted by lofty stained windows. An effigy of a +knight in armor stood at either end, one holding a huge two-handed sword +found on Bosworth Field; the walls were covered with helmets and +breastplates of the olden time. + +Among the curiosities in the Armory are Napoleon's pistols, the +blunderbuss of Hofer, Rob Roy's purse and gun, and the offering box of +Queen Mary. Through the folding doors between the dining-room, +drawing-room and library, is a fine vista, terminated by a niche, in +which stands Chantrey's bust of Scott. The ceilings are of carved +Scottish oak and the doors of American cedar. Adjoining the library is +his study, the walls of which are covered with books; the doors and +windows are double, to render it quiet and undisturbed. His books and +inkstand are on the table and his writing-chair stands before it, as if +he had left them but a moment before. In a little closet adjoining, +where he kept his private manuscripts, are the clothes he last wore, his +cane and belt, to which a hammer and small axe are attached, and his +sword. A narrow staircase led from the study to his sleeping room above, +by which he could come down at night and work while his family slept. +The silence about the place is solemn and breathless, as if it waited to +be broken by his returning footstep. I felt an awe in treading these +lonely halls, like that which impressed me before the grave of +Washington--a feeling that hallowed the spot, as if there yet lingered a +low vibration of the lyre, though the minstrel had departed forever! + +Plucking a wild rose that grew near the walls, I left Abbotsford, +embosomed among the trees, and turned into a green lane that led down to +Melrose. We went immediately to the Abbey, in the lower part of the +village, near the Tweed. As I approached the gate, the porteress came +out, and having scrutinized me rather sharply, asked my name. I told +her;--"well," she added, "there is a _prospect_ here for you." Thinking +she alluded to the ruin, I replied: "Yes, the view is certainly very +fine." "Oh! I don't mean that," she replied, "a young gentleman left a +prospect here for you!"--whereupon she brought out a spy-glass, which I +recognized us one that our German comrade had given to me. He had gone +on, and hoped to meet us at Jedburgh. + +Melrose is the finest remaining specimen of Gothic architecture in +Scotland. Some of the sculptured flowers in the cloister arches are +remarkably beautiful and delicate, and the two windows--the south and +east oriels--are of a lightness and grace of execution really +surprising. We saw the tomb of Michael Scott, of King Alexander II, and +that of the Douglas, marked with a sword. The heart of Bruce is supposed +to have been buried beneath the high altar. The chancel is all open to +the sky, and rooks build their nests among the wild ivy that climbs over +the crumbling arches. One of these came tamely down and perched upon the +hand of our fair guide. By a winding stair in one of the towers we +mounted to the top of the arch and looked down on the grassy floor. I +sat on the broken pillar, which Scott always used for a seat when he +visited the Abbey, and read the disinterring of the magic book, in the +"Lay of the Last Minstrel." I never comprehended its full beauty till +then: the memory of Melrose will give it a thrilling interest, in the +future. When we left, I was willing to say, with the Minstrel: + + "Was never scene so sad and fair!" + +After seeing the home and favorite haunt of Scott, we felt a wish to +stand by his grave, but we had Ancrum Moor to pass before night, and the +Tweed was between us and Dryburgh Abbey. We did not wish to try another +watery adventure, and therefore walked on to the village of Ancrum, +where a gate-keeper on the road gave us lodging and good fare, for a +moderate price. Many of this class practise this double employment, and +the economical traveller, who looks more to comfort than luxury, will +not fail to patronize them. + +Next morning we took a foot-path over the hills to Jedburgh. From the +summit there was a lovely view of the valley of the Teviot, with the +blue Cheviots in the distance. I thought of Pringle's beautiful +farewell: + + "Our native land, our native vale, + A long, a last adieu, + farewell to bonny Teviot-dale, + And Cheviot's mountains blue!" + +The poet was born in the valley below, and one that looks upon its +beauty cannot wonder how his heart clung to the scenes he was leaving. +We saw Jedburgh and its majestic old Abbey, and ascended the valley of +the Jed towards the Cheviots. The hills, covered with woods of a +richness and even gorgeous beauty of foliage, shut out this lovely glen +completely from the world. I found myself continually coveting the +lonely dwellings that were perched on the rocky heights, or nestled, +like a fairy pavilion, in the lap of a grove. These forests formerly +furnished the wood for the celebrated Jedwood axe, used in the Border +forays. + +As we continued ascending, the prospect behind us widened, till we +reached the summit of the Carter Fell, whence there is a view of great +extent and beauty. The Eildon Hills, though twenty-five miles distant, +seemed in the foreground of the picture. With a glass, Edinburgh Castle +might be seen over the dim outline of the Muirfoot Hills. After crossing +the border, we passed the scene of the encounter between Percy and +Douglass, celebrated in "Chevy Chase," and at the lonely inn of +Whitelee, in the valley below, took up our quarters for the night. + +Travellers have described the Cheviots as being bleak and uninteresting. +Although they are bare and brown, to me the scenery was of a character +of beauty entirely original. They are not rugged and broken like the +Highlands, but lift their round backs gracefully from the plain, while +the more distant ranges are clad in many an airy hue. Willis quaintly +and truly remarks, that travellers only tell you the picture produced in +their own brain by what they see, otherwise the world would be like a +pawnbroker's shop, where each traveller wears the cast-off clothes of +others. Therefore let no one, of a gloomy temperament, journeying over +the Cheviots in dull November, arraign me for having falsely praised +their beauty. + +I was somewhat amused with seeing a splendid carriage with footmen and +outriders, crossing the mountain, the glorious landscape full in view, +containing a richly dressed lady, _fast asleep!_ It is no uncommon thing +to meet carriages in the Highlands, in which the occupants are +comfortably reading, while being whirled through the finest scenery. And +_apropos_ of this subject, my German friend related to me an incident. +His brother was travelling on the Rhine, and when in the midst of the +grandest scenes, met a carriage containing an English gentleman and +lady, both asleep, while on the seat behind was stationed an artist, +sketching away with all his might. He asked the latter the reason of his +industry, when he answered, "Oh! my lord wishes to see every night what +he has passed during the day, and so I sketch as we go along!" + +The hills, particularly on the English side, are covered with flocks of +sheep, and lazy shepherds lay basking in the sun, among the purple +heather, with their shaggy black dogs beside them. On many of the hills +are landmarks, by which, when the snow has covered all the trucks, they +can direct their way. After walking many miles through green valleys, +down which flowed the Red Water, its very name telling of the conflicts +which had crimsoned its tide, we came to the moors, and ten miles of +blacker, drearier waste I never saw. Before entering them we passed the +pretty little village of Otterburn, near the scene of the battle. I +brought away a wild flower that grew on soil enriched by the blood of +the Percys. On the village inn, is their ancient coat of arms, a lion +rampant, on a field of gold, with the motto, "_Esperance en Dieu_." +Scarcely a house or a tree enlivened the black waste, and even the road +was marked on each side by high poles, to direct the traveller in +winter. We were glad when at length the green fields came again in +sight, and the little village of Whelpington Knowes, with its old +ivy-grown church tower, welcomed us after the lonely walk. + +As one specimen of the intelligence of this part of England, we saw a +board conspicuously posted at the commencement of a private road, +declaring that "all persons travelling this way will be _persecuted_." +As it led to a _church_, however, there may have been a design in the +expression. + +On the fifth day after leaving Edinburgh, we reached a hill, overlooking +the valley of the Tyne and the German Ocean, as sunset was reddening in +the west. A cloud of coal-smoke made us aware of the vicinity of +Newcastle. On the summit of the hill a large cattle fair was being held, +and crowds of people were gathered in and around a camp of gaudily +decorated tents. Fires were kindled here and there, and drinking, +carousing and horse-racing were flourishing in full vigor. + +We set out one morning to hunt the Roman Wall. Passing the fine +buildings in the centre of the city and the lofty monument to Earl Grey, +we went towards the western gate and soon came to the ruins of a +building, about whose origin there could be no doubt. It stood there, +blackened by the rust of ages, a remnant of power passed away. There was +no mistaking the massive round tower, with its projecting ornaments, +such as are often seen in the ruder works of the Romans. On each side a +fragment of wall remained standing, and there appeared to be a chamber +in the interior, which was choked up with rubbish. There is another +tower, much higher, in a public square in another part of the city, a +portion of which is fitted up as a dwelling for the family which takes +care of it; but there was such a ridiculous contrast between the +ivy-grown top, and the handsome modern windows and doors of the lower +story, that it did not impress me half as much as the other, with all +its neglect. These are the farthest limits of that power whose mighty +works I hope hereafter to view at the seat of her grandeur and glory. + +I witnessed a scene at Newcastle that cannot soon be forgotten; as it +showed more plainly than I had before an opportunity of observing, the +state to which the laboring classes of England are reduced. Hearing +singing in the street, under my window, one morning, I looked out and +saw a body of men, apparently of the lower class, but decent and sober +looking, who were singing in a rude and plaintive strain some ballad, +the purport of which I could not understand. On making inquiry, I +discovered it was part of a body of miners, who, about eighteen weeks +before, in consequence of not being able to support their families with +the small pittance allowed them, had "struck" for higher wages. This +their employers refused to give them, and sent to Wales, where they +obtained workmen at the former price. The houses these laborers had +occupied were all taken from them, and for eighteen weeks they had no +other means of subsistence than the casual charity given them for +singing the story of their wrongs. It made my blood boil to bear those +tones, wrung from the heart of poverty by the hand of tyranny. The +ignorance, permitted by the government, causes an unheard amount of +misery and degradation. We heard afterwards in the streets, another +company who played on musical instruments. Beneath the proud swell of +England's martial airs, there sounded to my ears a tone whose gathering +murmur will make itself heard ere long by the dull cars of Power. + +At last at the appointed time, we found ourselves on board the "London +Merchant," in the muddy Tyne, waiting for the tide to rise high enough +to permit us to descend the river. There is great competition among the +steamboats this summer, and the price of passage to London is reduced to +five and ten shillings. The second cabin, however, is a place of +tolerable comfort, and as the steward had promised to keep berths for +us, we engaged passage. Following the windings of the narrow river, we +passed Sunderland and Tynemouth, where it expands into the German Ocean. +The water was barely stirred by a gentle wind, and little resembled the +stormy sea I expected to find it. We glided over the smooth surface, +watching the blue line of the distant shore till dark, when I went below +expecting to enjoy a few hours' oblivion. But the faithless steward had +given up the promised berth to another, and it was only with difficulty +that I secured a seat by the cabin table, where I dozed half the night +with my head on my arms. It grew at last too close and wearisome; I +went up on deck and lay down on the windlass, taking care to balance +myself well before going to sleep. The earliest light of dawn awoke me +to a consciousness of damp clothes and bruised limbs. We were in sight +of the low shore the whole day, sometimes seeing the dim outline of a +church, or group of trees over the downs or flat beds of sand, which +border the eastern coast of England. About dark, the red light of the +Nore was seen, and we hoped before many hours to be in London. The +lights of Gravesend were passed, but about ten o'clock, as we entered +the narrow channel of the Thames, we struck another steamboat in the +darkness, and were obliged to cast anchor for some time. When I went on +deck in the gray light of morning again, we were gliding up a narrow, +muddy river, between rows of gloomy buildings, with many vessels lying +at anchor. It grew lighter, till, as we turned a point, right before, me +lay a vast crowd of vessels, and in the distance, above the wilderness +of buildings, stood a dim, gigantic dome in the sky; what a bound my +heart gave at the sight! And the tall pillar that stood near it--I did +not need a second glance to recognize the Monument. I knew the majestic +bridge that spanned the river above; but on the right bank stood a +cluster of massive buildings, crowned with many a turret, that attracted +my eye. A crowd of old associations pressed bewilderingly upon the mind, +to see standing there, grim and dark with many a bloody page of +England's history--the Tower of London! The morning sky was as yet but +faintly obscured by the coal-smoke, and in the misty light of coming +sunrise, all objects seemed grander than their wont. In spite of the +thrilling interest of the scene, I could not help thinking of Byron's +ludicrous but most expressive description: + + "A mighty mass of brick and smoke and shipping, + Dirty and dusky, but as wide as eye + Can reach; with here and there a sail just skipping + In sight, then lost amidst the forestry + Of masts; a wilderness of steeples peeping + On tiptoe through their sea-coal canopy; + A huge dun cupola, like a fool's-cap crown + On a fool's head,--and there is London town." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +SOME OF THE "SIGHTS" OF LONDON. + + +In the course of time we came to anchor in the stream; skiffs from the +shore pulled alongside, and after some little quarrelling, we were +safely deposited in one, with a party who desired to be landed at the +Tower Stairs. The dark walls frowned above us as we mounted from the +water and passed into an open square on the outside of the moat. The +laborers were about commencing work, the fashionable _day_ having just +closed, but there was still noise and bustle enough in the streets, +particularly when we reached Whitechapel, part of the great +thoroughfare, extending through the heart of London to Westminster Abbey +and the Parliament buildings. Further on, through Leadenhall street and +Fleet street--what a world! Here come the ever-thronging, ever-rolling +waves of life, pressing and whirling on in their tumultuous career. Here +day and night pours the stream of human beings, seeming amid the roar +and din and clatter of the passing vehicles, like the tide of some great +combat. How lonely it makes one to stand still and feel that of all the +mighty throng which divides itself around him, not a being knows or +cares for him! What knows he too of the thousands who pass him by? How +many who bear the impress of godlike virtue, or hide beneath a goodly +countenance a heart black with crime? How many fiery spirits, all +glowing with hope for the yet unclouded future, or brooding over a +darkened and desolate past in the agony of despair? There is a sublimity +in this human Niagara that makes one look on his own race with something +of awe. + +We walked down the Thames, through the narrow streets of Wapping, Over +the mouth of the Tunnel is a large circular building, with a dome to +light the entrance below. Paying the fee of a penny, we descended by a +winding staircase to the bottom, which is seventy-three feet below the +surface. The carriage-way, still unfinished, will extend further into +the city. From the bottom the view of the two arches of the Tunnel, +brilliantly lighted with gas, is very fine; it has a much less heavy and +gloomy appearance than I expected. As we walked along under the bed of +the river, two or three girls at one end began playing on the French +horn and bugle, and the echoes, when not too deep to confuse the melody, +were remarkably beautiful. Between the arches of the division separating +the two passages, are shops, occupied by venders of fancy articles, +views of the Tunnel, engravings, &c. In the middle is a small printing +press, where, a sheet containing a description of the whole work is +printed for those who desire it. As I was no stranger to this art, I +requested the boy to let me print one myself, but he had such a bad +roller I did not succeed in getting a good impression. The air within is +somewhat damp, but fresh and agreeably cool, and one can scarcely +realize in walking along the light passage, that a river is rolling +above his head. The immense solidity and compactness of the structure +precludes the danger of accident, each of the sides being arched +outwards, so that the heaviest pressure only strengthens the whole. It +will long remain a noble monument of human daring and ingenuity. + +St. Paul's is on a scale of grandeur excelling every thing I have yet +seen. The dome seems to stand in the sky, as you look up to it; the +distance from which you view it, combined with the atmosphere of London, +give it a dim, shadowy appearance, that perfectly startles one with its +immensity. The roof from which the dome springs is itself as high as the +spires of most other churches--blackened for two hundred years with the +coal-smoke of London, it stands like a relic of the giant architecture +of the early world. The interior is what one would expect to behold, +after viewing the outside. A maze of grand arches on every side, +encompasses the dome, which you gaze up at, as at the sky; and from +every pillar and wall look down the marble forms of the dead. There is +scarcely a vacant niche left in all this mighty hall, so many are the +statues that meet one on every side. With the exceptions of John Howard, +Sir Astley Cooper and Wren, whose monument is the church itself, they +are all to military men. I thought if they had all been removed except +Howard's, it would better have suited such a temple, and the great soul +it commemorated. + +I never was more impressed with the grandeur of human invention, than +when ascending the dome. I could with difficulty conceive the means by +which such a mighty edifice had been lifted into the air. That small +frame of Sir Christopher Wren must have contained a mind capable of vast +conceptions. The dome is like the summit of a mountain; so wide is the +prospect, and so great the pile upon which you stand. London lay beneath +us, like an ant-hill, with the black insects swarming to and fro in +their long avenues, the sound of their employments coming up like the +roar of the sea. A cloud of coal-smoke hung over it, through which many +a pointed spire was thrust up; sometimes the wind would blow it aside +for a moment, and the thousands of red roofs would shine out clearer. +The bridged Thames, covered with craft of all sizes, wound beneath us +like a ringed and spotted serpent. The scene was like an immense +circular picture in the blue frame of the hills around. + +Continuing our way up Fleet street, which, notwithstanding the gaiety of +its shops and its constant bustle, has an antique appearance, we came to +the Temple Bar, the western boundary of the ancient city. In the inside +of the middle arch, the old gates are still standing. From this point we +entered the new portion of the city, which wore an air of increasing +splendor as we advanced. The appearance of the Strand and Trafalgar +Square is truly magnificent. Fancy every house in Broadway a store, all +built of light granite, the Park stripped of all its trees and paved +with granite, and a lofty column in the centre, double the crowd and the +tumult of business, and you will have some idea of the view. + +It was a relief to get into St. James's Park, among the trees and +flowers again. Here, beautiful winding walks led around little lakes, in +which were hundreds of water-fowl, swimming. Groups of merry children +were sporting on the green lawn, enjoying their privilege of roaming +every where at will, while the older bipeds were confined to the regular +walks. At the western end stood Buckingham Palace, looking over the +trees towards St. Paul's; through the grove on the eminence above, the +towers of St. James's could be seen. But there was a dim building, with +two lofty square towers, decorated with a profusion of pointed Gothic +pinnacles, that I looked at with more interest than these appendages of +royalty. I could not linger long in its vicinity, but going back again +by the Horse Guards, took the road to _Westminster Abbey_. + +We approached by the general entrance, Poet's Corner. I hardly stopped +to look at the elaborate exterior of Henry VIIth's Chapel, but passed on +to the door. On entering, the first thing that met my eyes were the +words, "OH RARE BEN JONSON," under his bust. Near by stood the monuments +of Spenser and Gay, and a few paces further looked down the sublime +countenance of Milton. Never was a spot so full of intense interest. The +light was just dim enough to give it a solemn, religious appearance, +making the marble forms of poets and philosophers so shadowy and +impressive, that I felt as if standing in their living presence. Every +step called up some mind linked with the associations of my childhood. +There was the gentle feminine countenance of Thompson, and the majestic +head of Dryden; Addison with his classic features, and Gray, full of the +fire of lofty thought. In another chamber, I paused long before the +ashes of Shakspeare; and while looking at the monument of Garrick, +started to find that I stood upon his grave. What a glorious galaxy of +genius is here collected--what a constellation of stars whose light is +immortal! The mind is completely fettered by their spirit. Everything is +forgotten but the mighty dead, who still "rule us from their urns." + +The Chapel of Henry VII., which we next entered, is one of the most +elaborate specimens of Gothic workmanship in the world. If the first +idea of the Gothic arch sprung from observing the forms of trees, this +chapel must resemble the first conceptions of that order, for the fluted +columns rise up like tall trees, branching out at the top into spreading +capitals covered with leaves, and supporting arches of the ceiling +resembling a leafy roof. + +The side-chapels are filled with tombs of knightly families, the husband +and wife lying on their backs on the tombs, with their hands clasped, +while their children, about the size of dolls, are kneeling around. +Numberless are the Barons and Earls and Dukes, whose grim effigies stare +from their tombs. In opposite chapels are the tombs of Mary and +Elizabeth, and near the former that of Darnley. After having visited +many of the scenes of her life, it was with no ordinary emotion that I +stood by the sepulchre of Mary. How differently one looks upon it and +upon that of the proud Elizabeth! + +We descended to the Chapel of Edward the Confessor, within the splendid +shrine of which repose his ashes. Here we were shown the chair on which +the English monarchs have been crowned for several hundred years, Under +the seat is the stone, brought from the Abbey of Scone, whereon the +Kings of Scotland were crowned. The chair is of oak, carved and hacked +over with names, and on the bottom some one has recorded his name with +the fact that, he once slept in it. We sat down and rested in it without +ceremony. Passing along an aisle leading to the grand hall, we saw the +tomb of Aymer de Valence, a knight of the Crusades. Near here is the +hall where the Knights of the order of Bath met. Over each seat their +dusty banners are still hanging, each with its crest, and their armor is +rusting upon the wall. It seemed like a banqueting hall of the olden +time, where the knights had left their seats for a moment vacant. +Entering the nave, we were lost in the wilderness of sculpture. Here +stood the forms of Pitt, Fox, Burke, Sheridan and Watts, from the +chisels of Chantry, Bacon and Westmacott. Further down were Sir Isaac +Newton and Sir Godfrey Kneller--opposite Andre, and Paoli, the Italian, +who died here in exile. How can I convey an idea of the scene? +Notwithstanding all the descriptions I had read, I was totally +unprepared for the reality, nor could I have anticipated the hushed and +breathless interest with which I paced the dim aisles, gazing, at every +step, on the last resting place of some great and familiar name. A place +so sacred to all who inherit the English tongue, is worthy of a special +pilgrimage across the deep. To those who are unable to visit it, a +description may be interesting; but so far does it fall short of the +scene itself, that if I thought it would induce a few of our wealthy +idlers, or even those who, like myself, must travel with toil and +privation to come hither, I would write till the pen dropped from my +hand. + +More than twenty grand halls of the British Museum are devoted to +antiquities, and include the Elgin Marbles--the spoils of the +Parthenon--the Fellows Marbles, brought from the ancient city of +Xanthus, and Sir William Hamilton's collection of Italian antiquities. +It was painful to see the friezes of the Parthenon, broken and defaced +as they are, in such a place. Rather let them moulder to dust on the +ruin from which they were torn, shining through the blue veil of the +Grecian atmosphere, from the summit of the Acropolis! + +The National Gallery, on Trafalgar Square, is open four days in the +week, to the public. The "Raising of Lazarus," by Sebastian del Piombo, +is considered the gem of the collection, but my unschooled eyes could +not view it as such. It is also remarkable for having been transferred +from wood to canvass, without injury. This delicate operation was +accomplished by gluing the panel on which it was painted, flat on a +smooth table, and planing the wood gradually away till the coat of +hardened paint alone remained. A proper canvass was then prepared, +covered with a strong cement, and laid on the back of the picture, which +adhered firmly to it. The owner's nerves must have had a severe trial, +if he had courage to watch the operation. I was enraptured with +Murillo's pictures of St. John and the Holy Family. St. John is +represented as a boy in the woods, fondling a lamb. It is a glorious +head. The dark curls cluster around his fair brow, and his eyes seem +already glowing with the fire of future inspiration. There is an +innocence, a childish sweetness of expression in the countenance, which +makes one love to gaze upon it. Both of these paintings wore constantly +surrounded by ladies, and they certainly deserved the preference. In the +rooms devoted to English artists, there are many of the finest works of +West, Reynolds, Hogarth and Wilkie. + +We spent a day in visiting the _lungs of London_, as the two grand parks +have been called. From the Strand through the Regent Circus, the centre +of the fashionable part of the city, we passed to Piccadilly, culling on +our way to see our old friends, the Iowas. They were at the Egyptian +Hall, in connexion with Catlin's Indian collection. The old braves knew +us at once, particularly Blister Feet, who used often to walk a linweon +deck with me, at sea. Further along Piccadilly is Wellington's mansion +of Apsley House, and nearly opposite it, in the corner of Hyde Park, +stands the colossal statue of Achilles, cast from cannon taken at +Salamanca and Vittoria. The Park resembles an open common, with here and +there a grove of trees, intersected by carriage roads, it is like +getting into the country again to be out on its broad, green field, with +the city seen dimly around through the smoky atmosphere. We walked for a +mile or two along the shady avenues and over the lawns, having a view of +the princely terraces and gardens on one hand, and the gentle outline of +Primrose Hill on the other. Regent's Park itself covers a space of +nearly four hundred acres! + +But if London is unsurpassed in splendor, it has also its corresponding +share of crime. Notwithstanding the large and efficient body of police, +who do much towards the control of vice, one sees enough of degradation +and brutality in a short time, to make his heart sick. Even the public +thorough fares are thronged at night with characters of the lowest +description, and it is not expedient to go through many of the narrow +bye-haunts of the old city in the day-time. The police, who are ever on +the watch, immediately seize and carry off any offender, but from the +statements of persons who have had an opportunity of observing, as well +as from my own slight experience, I am convinced that there is an untold +amount of misery and crime. London is one of the wonders of the world, +but there is reason to believe it is one of the curses of the world +also; though, in fact, nothing but an active and unceasing philanthropy +can prevent any city from becoming so. + +_Aug. 22._--I have now been six days in London, and by making good use +of my feet and eyes, have managed to become familiar with almost every +object of interest within its precincts. Having a plan mapped out for +the day, I started from my humble lodgings at the Aldgate Coffee House, +where I slept off fatigue for a shilling a night, and walked up +Cheapside or down Whitechapel, as the case might be, hunting out my way +to churches, halls and theatres. In this way, at a trifling expense, I +have perhaps seen as much as many who spend here double the time and +ten times the money. Our whole tour from Liverpool hither, by way of +Ireland and Scotland, cost us but twenty-five dollars each! although, +except in one or two cases, we denied ourselves no necessary comfort. +This shows that the glorious privilege of looking on the scenes of the +old world need not be confined to people of wealth and leisure. It may +be enjoyed by all who can occasionally forego a little bodily comfort +for the sake of mental and spiritual gain. We leave this afternoon for +Dover. Tomorrow I shall dine in Belgium! + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +FLIGHT THROUGH BELGIUM. + + +_Bruges._--On the Continent at last! How strangely look the century-old +towers, antique monuments, and quaint, narrow streets of the Flemish +cities! It is an agreeable and yet a painful sense of novelty to stand +for the first time in the midst of a people whose language and manners +are different from one's own. The old buildings around, linked with many +a stirring association of past history, gratify the glowing +anticipations with which one has looked forward to seeing them, and the +fancy is busy at work reconciling the _real_ scene with the _ideal_; but +the want of a communication with the living world about, walls one up +with a sense of loneliness he could not before have conceived. I envy +the children in the streets of Bruges their childish language. + +Yesterday afternoon we came from London through the green wooded lawns +and vales of England, to Dover, which we reached at sunset, passing by a +long tunnel through the lofty Shakspeare Cliff. We had barely time +before it grew dark to ascend the cliff. The glorious coast view looked +still wilder in the gathering twilight, which soon hid from our sight +the dim hills of France. On the cliff opposite frowned the massive +battlements of the Castle, guarding the town, which lay in a nook of the +rocks below. As the Ostend boat was to leave at four in the morning, my +cousin aroused us at three, and we felt our way down stairs in the dark. +But the landlord was reluctant to part with us; we stamped and shouted +and rang bells, till the whole house was in an uproar, for the door was +double-locked, and the steamboat bell began to sound. At last he could +stand it no longer; we gave a quick utterance to our overflowing wrath, +and rushed down to the boat but a second or two before it left. + +The water of the Channel was smooth as glass and as the sun rose, the +far chalky cliffs gleamed along the horizon, a belt of fire. I waved a +good-bye to Old England and then turned to see the spires of Dunkirk, +which were visible in the distance before us. On the low Belgian coast +we could see trees and steeples, resembling a mirage over the level +surface of the sea; at length, about ten o'clock, the square tower of +Ostend came in sight. The boat passed into a long muddy basin, in which +many unwieldy, red-sailed Dutch craft were lying, and stopped beside a +high pier. Here amid the confusion of three languages, an officer came +on board and took charge of our passports and luggage. As we could not +get the former for two or three hours, we did not hurry the passing of +the latter, and went on shore quite unincumbered, for a stroll about the +city, disregarding the cries of the hackney-coachmen on the pier, +"_Hotel d'Angleterre_," "_Hotel des Bains!_" and another who called out +in English, "I recommend you to the Royal Hotel, sir!" + +There is little to be seen in Ostend. We wandered through long rows of +plain yellow houses, trying to read the French and low Dutch signs, and +at last came out on the wall near the sea. A soldier motioned us back as +we attempted to ascend it, and muttering some unintelligible words, +pointed to a narrow street near. Following this out of curiosity, we +crossed the moat and found ourselves on the great bathing beach. To get +out of the hands of the servants who immediately surrounded us, we +jumped into one of the little wagons and were driven out into the surf. + +To be certain of fulfilling the railroad regulations, we took our seats +quarter of an hour before the time. The dark walls of Ostend soon +vanished and we were whirled rapidly over a country perfectly level, but +highly fertile and well cultivated. Occasionally there was a ditch or +row of trees, but otherwise there was no division between the fields, +and the plain stretched unbroken away into the distance. The twenty +miles to Bruges we made in forty minutes. The streets of this antique +city are narrow and crooked, and the pointed, ornamented gables of the +houses, produce a novel impression on one who has been accustomed to the +green American forests. Then there was the endless sound of wooden shoes +clattering over the rough pavements, and people talking in that most +unmusical of all languages, low Dutch. Walking at random through the +streets, we came by chance upon the Cathedral of Notre Dame. I shall +long remember my first impression of the scene within. The lofty gothic +ceiling arched far above my head and through the stained windows the +light came but dimly--it was all still, solemn and religious. A few +worshippers were kneeling in silence before some of the shrines and the +echo of my tread seemed like a profaning sound. On every side were +pictures, saints gilded shrines. A few steps removed one from the bustle +and din of the crowd to the stillness and solemnity of the holy retreat. + +We learned from the guide, whom we had engaged because he spoke a few +words of English, that there was still a _treckshuyt_ line on the +canals, and that one boat leaves to-night at ten o'clock for Ghent. +Wishing to try this old Dutch method of travelling, he took us about +half a mile along the Ghent road to the canal, where a moderate sized +boat was lying. Our baggage deposited in the plainly furnished cabin, I +ran back to Bruges, although it was beginning to grow dark, to get a +sight of the belfry; for Longfellow's lines had been running through my +head all day: + +"In the market place of Bruges, stands the belfry old and brown, +Thrice consumed and thrice rebuilded, still it watches o'er the town." + +And having found the square, brown tower in one corner of the open +market square, we waited to hear the chimes, which are said to be the +finest in Europe. They rang out at last with a clear silvery tone, most +beautifully musical indeed. We then returned to the boat in the +twilight. We were to leave in about an hour, according to the +arrangement, but as yet there was no sound to be heard, and we were the +only tenants. However, trusting to Dutch regularity, we went to sleep in +the full confidence of awakening in Ghent. + +I awoke once in the night and saw the dark branches of trees passing +before the window, but there was no perceptible sound nor motion; the +boat glided along like a dream, and we were awakened next morning by its +striking against the pier at Ghent. After paying three francs for the +whole night journey, the captain gave us a guide to the railroad +station, and as we had nearly an hour before the train left, I went to +see the Cathedral of St. Bavon. After leaving Ghent, the road passes +through a beautiful country, cultivated like a garden. The Dutch passion +for flowers is displayed in the gardens around the cottages; even every +vacant foot of ground along the railway is planted with roses and +dahlias. At Ghent, the morning being fair, we took seats in the open +cars. About noon it commenced raining and our situation was soon +anything but comfortable. My cousin had fortunately a water-proof Indian +blanket with him, which he had purchased in the "Far West," and by +wrapping this around all three of us, we kept partly dry. I was much +amused at the plight of a party of young Englishmen, who were in the +same car; one of them held a little parasol which just covered his hat, +and sent the water in streams down on his back and shoulders. + +We had a misty view of Liege, through the torrents of rain, and then +dashed away into the wild, mountain scenery of the Meuse. Steep, rocky +hills, covered with pine and crowned with ruined towers, hemmed in the +winding and swollen river, and the wet, cloudy sky seemed to rest like a +canopy on their summits. Instead of threading their mazy defiles, we +plunged directly into the mountain's heart, flew over the narrow valley +on lofty and light-sprung arches, and went again into the darkness. At +Verviers, our baggage was weighed, examined and transferred, with +ourselves, to a Prussian train. There was a great deal of disputing on +the occasion. A lady, who had a dog in a large willow basket, was not +allowed to retain it, nor would they take it as baggage. The matter was +finally compromised by their sending the basket, obliging her to carry +the dog, which was none of the smallest, in her arms! The next station +bore the sign of the black eagle, and here our passports were obliged to +be given up. Advancing through long ranges of wooded hills, we saw at +length, in the dull twilight of a rainy day, the old kingly city of Aix +la Chapelle on a plain below us. After a scene at the custom-house, +where our baggage was reclaimed with tickets given at Verviers, we drove +to the _Hotel du Rhin_, and while warming our shivering limbs and drying +our damp garments, felt tempted to exclaim with the old Italian author: +"O! holy and miraculous tavern!" + +The Cathedral with its lofty Gothic tower, was built by the emperor +Otho in the tenth century. It seems at present to be undergoing repairs, +for a large scaffold shut out the dome. The long hall was dim with +incense smoke as we entered, and the organ sounded through the high +arches with an effect that startled me. The windows glowed with the +forms of kings and saints, and the dusty and mouldering shrines which +rose around were colored with the light that came through. The music +pealed out like a triumphal march, sinking at times into a mournful +strain, as if it celebrated and lamented the heroes who slept below. In +the stone pavement nearly under my feet was a large square marble slab, +with words "CAROLO MAGNO." It was like a dream, to stand there on the +tomb of the mighty warrior, with the lofty arches of the Cathedral +above, filled with the sound of the divine anthem. I mused above his +ashes till the music ceased and then left the Cathedral, that nothing +might break the romantic spell associated with that crumbling pile and +the dead it covered. I have always revered the memory of Charlemagne. He +lived in a stern age, but he was in mind and heart a man, and like +Napoleon, who placed the iron crown which had lain with him centuries in +the tomb, upon his own brow, he had an Alpine grandeur of mind, which +the world was forced to acknowledge. + +At noon we took the _chars-a-banc_, or second-class carriages, for fear +of rain, and continued our journey over a plain dotted with villages and +old chateaux. Two or three miles from Cologne we saw the spires of the +different churches, conspicuous among which were the unfinished towers +of the Cathedral, with the enormous crane standing as it did when they +left off building, two hundred years ago or more. On arriving, we drove +to the Bonn railway, where finding the last train did not leave for four +hours, we left our baggage and set out for the Cathedral. Of all Gothic +buildings, the plan of this is certainly the most stupendous; even ruin +as it is, it cannot fail to excite surprise and admiration. The King of +Prussia has undertaken to complete it according to the original plan, +which was lately found in the possession of a poor man, of whom it was +purchased for 40,000 florins, but he has not yet finished repairing what +is already built. The legend concerning this plan may not be known to +every one. It is related of the inventor of it, that in despair of +finding any sufficiently great, he was walking one day by the river, +sketching with his stick upon the sand, when he finally hit upon one +which pleased him so much that he exclaimed: "This shall be the plan!" +"I will show you a better one than that!" said a voice suddenly behind +him, and a certain black gentleman who figures in all German legends +stood by him, and pulled from his pocket a roll containing the present +plan of the Cathedral. The architect, amazed at its grandeur, asked an +explanation of every part. As he knew his soul was to be the price of +it, he occupied himself while the devil was explaining, in committing +its proportions carefully to memory. Having done this, he remarked that +it did not please him and he would not take it. The devil, seeing +through the cheat, exclaimed in his rage: "You may build your Cathedral +according to this plan, but you shall never finish it!" This prediction +seems likely to be verified, for though it was commenced in 1248, and +built for 250 years, only the choir and nave and one tower to half its +original height, are finished. + +We visited the chapel of the eleven thousand virgins, the walls of which +are full of curious grated cells, containing their bones, and then +threaded the narrow streets of Cologne, which are quite dirty enough to +justify Coleridge's lines: + + "The river Rhine, it is well known + Doth wash the city of Cologne; + But tell me nymphs, what power divine + Shall henceforth wash the river Rhine!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE RHINE TO HEIDELBERG. + + +HEIDELBERG, August 30. Here at last! and a most glorious place it is. +This is our first morning in our new rooms, and the sun streams warmly +in the eastern windows, as I write, while the old castle rises through +the blue vapor on the side of the Kaiser-stuhl. The Neckar rushes on +below; and the Odenwald, before, me, rejoices with its vineyards in the +morning light. The bells of the old chapel near us are sounding most +musically, and a confused sound of voices and the rolling of vehicles +comes up from the street. It is a place to live in! + +I must go back five or six days and take up the record of our +journeyings at Bonn. We had been looking over Murray's infallible +"Handbook," and observed that he recommended the "Star" hotel in that +city, as "the most moderate in its prices of any on the Rhine;" so when +the train from Cologne arrived and we were surrounded, in the darkness +and confusion, by porters and valets, I sung out: "_Hotel de l'Etoile +d'or!_" our baggage and ourselves were transferred to a stylish omnibus, +and in five minutes we stopped under a brilliantly-lighted archway, +where Mr. Joseph Schmidt received us with the usual number of smiles and +bows bestowed upon untitled guests. We were furnished with neat rooms in +the summit of the house, and then descended to the _salle a manger_. I +found a folded note by my plate, which I opened--it contained an +engraving of the front of the hotel, a plan of the city and catalogue of +its lions, together with a list of the titled personages who have, from +time to time, honored the "Golden Star" with their custom. Among this +number were "Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, +Prince Albert," etc. Had it not been for fatigue, I should have spent +an uneasy night, thinking of the heavy bill which was to be presented on +the morrow. We escaped, however, for seven francs apiece, three of which +were undoubtedly for the honor of breathing an aristocratic atmosphere. + +I was glad when we were really in motion on the swift Rhine, the next +morning, and nearing the chain of mountains that rose up before us. We +passed Godesberg on the right, while on our left was the group of the +seven mountains which extend back from the Drachenfels to the +Wolkenberg, or Castle of the Clouds. Here we begin to enter the +enchanted land. The Rhine sweeps around the foot of the Drachenfels, +while opposite the precipitous rock of Rolandseek, crowned with the +castle of the faithful knight, looks down upon the beautiful Island of +Nonnenwerth, the white walls of the convent still gleaming through the +trees, as they did when the warrior's weary eyes looked upon them for +the last time. I shall never forget the enthusiasm with which I saw this +scene in the bright, warm sunlight, the rough crags softened in the haze +which filled the atmosphere, and the wild mountains springing up in the +midst of vineyards, and crowned with crumbling towers, filled with the +memories of a thousand years. + +After passing Andernach, we saw in the distance the highlands of the +middle Rhine, which rise above Coblentz, guarding the entrance to its +wild scenery, and the mountains of the Moselle. They parted as we +approached; from the foot shot up the spires of Coblentz, and the +battlements of Ehrenbreitstein crowning the mountain opposite, grew +larger and broader. The air was slightly hazy, and the clouds seemed +laboring among the distant mountains to raise a storm. As we came +opposite the mouth of the Moselle and under the shadow of the mighty +fortress, I gazed up with awe at its massive walls. Apart from its +magnitude and almost impregnable situation on a perpendicular rock, it +is filled with the recollections of history and hallowed by the voice of +poetry. The scene went past like a panorama, the bridge of boats opened, +the city glided behind us and we entered the highlands again. + +Above Coblentz almost every mountain has a ruin and a legend. One feels +everywhere the spirit of the past, and its stirring recollections come +back upon the mind with irresistible force. I sat upon the deck the +whole afternoon, as mountains, towns and castles passed by on either +side, watching them with a feeling of the most enthusiastic enjoyment. +Every place was familiar to me in memory, and they seemed like friends I +had long communed with in spirit and now met face to face. The English +tourists, with whom the deck was covered, seemed interested too, but in +a different manner. With Murray's Handbook open in their hands, they sat +and read about the very towns and towers they were passing, scarcely +lifting their eyes to the real scenes, except now and then, to observe +that it was "_very nice_." + +As we passed Boppart, I sought out the Inn of the "Star," mentioned in +"Hyperion"; there was a maiden sitting on the steps who might have been +Paul Flemming's fair boat-woman. The clouds which had here gathered +among the hills, now came over the river, and the rain cleared the deck +of its crowd of admiring tourists. As we were approaching Lurlei Berg, I +did not go below, and so enjoyed some of the finest scenery on the Rhine +alone. The mountains approach each other at this point, and the Lurlei +Rock rises up for six hundred feet from the water. This is the haunt of +the water nymph, Lurlei, whose song charmed the ear of the boatman while +his barque was dashed to pieces on the rocks below. It is also +celebrated for its remarkable echo. As we passed between the rocks, a +guard, who has a little house built on the road-side, blew a flourish on +his bugle, which was instantly answered by a blast from the rocky +battlements of Lurlei. The German students have a witty trick with this +echo: they call out, "Who is the Burgomaster of Oberwesel?" a town just +above. The echo answers with the last syllable "Esel!" which is the +German for _ass_. + +The sun came out of the cloud as we passed Oberwesel, with its tall +round tower, and the light shining through the ruined arches of +Schonberg castle, made broad bars of light and shade in the still misty +air. A rainbow sprang up out of the Rhine, and lay brightly on the +mountain side, coloring vineyard and crag, in the most singular beauty, +while its second reflection faintly arched like a glory above the high +summits. In the bed of the river were the seven countesses of Schonberg, +turned into seven rocks for their cruelty and hard-heartedness towards +the knights whom their beauty had made captive. In front, at a little +distance was the castle of Pfalz, in the middle of the river, and from +the heights above Caub frowned the crumbling citadel of Gutenfels. +Imagine all this, and tell me if it is not a picture whose memory should +last a life-time! + +We came at last to Bingen, the southern gate of the Highlands. Here, on +an island in the middle of the stream, is the old Mouse tower where +Bishop Hatto of Mayence was eaten up by the rats for his wicked deeds. +Passing Rudesheim and Geissenheim, celebrated for their wines, at +sunset, we watched the varied shore in the growing darkness, till like a +line of stars across the water, we saw before us the bridge of Mayence. + +The next morning I parted from my friends, who were going to Heidelberg +by way of Mannheim, and set out alone for Frankfort. The cars passed +through Hochheim, whose wines are celebrated all over the world; there +is little to interest the traveler till he arrives at Frankfort, whose +spires are seen rising from groves of trees as he approaches. I left the +cars, unchallenged for my passport, greatly to my surprise, as it had +cost me a long walk and five shillings in London, to get the signature +of the Frankfort Consul. I learned afterwards it was not at all +necessary. Before leaving America, N.P. Willis had kindly given me a +letter to his brother, Richard S. Willis, who is now cultivating a +naturally fine taste for music in Frankfort, and my first care was to +find the American Consul, in order to learn his residence. I discovered +at last, from a gentleman who spoke a little French, that the Consul's +office was in the street _Bellevue_, which street I not only looked for +through the city, but crossed over the bridge to the suburb of +Sachsenhausen, and traversed its narrow, dirty alleys three several +times, but in vain. I was about giving up the search, when I stumbled +upon the office accidentally. The name of the street had been given to +me in French and very naturally it was not to be found. Willis received +me very kindly and introduced me to the amiable German family with whom +he resides. + +After spending a delightful evening with my newly-found friends, I left +the next morning in the omnibus for Heidelberg. We passed through +Sachsenhausen and ascended a long hill to the watch-tower, whence there +is a beautiful view of the Main valley. Four hours' driving over the +monotonous plain, brought me to Darmstadt. The city wore a gay look, +left by the recent _fetes_. The monument of the old Duke Ludwig had just +been erected in the centre of the great square, and the festival +attendant upon the unveiling of it, which lasted three days, had just +closed. The city was hung with garlands, and the square filled with the +pavilions of the royal family and the musicians, of whom there were a +thousand present, while everywhere were seen red and white flags--the +colors of Darmstadt. We met wagons decorated with garlands, full of +pleasant girls, in the odd dress which they have worn for three hundred +years. + +After leaving Darmstadt we entered upon the Bergstrasse, or +Mountain-way, leading along the foot of the mountain chain which extends +all the way to Heidelberg on the left, while on the right stretches far +away the Rhine-plain, across which we saw the dim outline of the +Donnersberg, in France. The hills are crowned with castles and their +sides loaded with vines; along the road the rich green foliage of the +walnut trees arched and nearly met above us. The sun shone warm and +bright, and every body appeared busy and contented and happy. All we met +had smiling countenances. In some places we saw whole families sitting +under the trees shelling the nuts they had beaten down, while others +were returning from the vineyards, laden with baskets of purple and +white grapes. The scene seemed to realize all I had read of the +happiness of the German peasantry, and the pastoral beauty of the German +plains. + +With the passengers in the omnibus I could hold little conversation. +One, who knew about as much French as I did, asked me where I came from, +and I shall not soon forget his expression of incredulity, as I +mentioned America. "Why," said he, "you are white--the Americans are all +black!" + +We passed the ruined castles of Auerback and Starkenburg, and Burg +Windeck, on the summit of a mountain near Weinheim, formerly one of the +royal residences of Charlemagne, and finally came to the Heiligenberg or +Holy Mountain, guarding the entrance into the Odenwald by the valley of +the Neckar. As we wound around its base to the river, the Kaiserstuhl +rose before us, with the mighty castle hanging upon its side and +Heidelberg at its feet. It was a most strikingly beautiful scene, and +for a moment I felt inclined to assent to the remark of my bad-French +acquaintance--"America is not beautiful--Heidelberg is beautiful!" The +sun had just set as we turned the corner of the Holy Mountain and drove +up the bank of the Neckar; all the chimes of Heidelberg began suddenly +to ring and a cannon by the riverside was fired off every minute--the +sound echoing five times distinctly from mountain back to mountain, and +finally crashing far off, along the distant hills of the Odenwald. It +was the birthday of the Grand Duke of Baden, and these rejoicings were +for the closing _fete_. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +SCENES IN AND AROUND HEIDELBERG. + + +_Sept. 30._--There is so much to be seen around this beautiful place, +that I scarcely know where to begin a description of it. I have been +wandering among the wild paths that lead up and down the mountain side, +or away into the forests and lonely meadows in the lap of the Odenwald. +My mind is filled with images of the romantic German scenery, whose real +beauty is beginning to displace the imaginary picture which I had +painted with the enthusiastic words of Howitt. I seem to stand now upon +the Kaiser-stuhl, which rises above Heidelberg, with that magnificent +landscape around me, from the Black Forest and Strasburg to Mainz, and +from the Vosges in France to the hills of Spessart in Bavaria. What a +glorious panorama! and not less rich in associations than in its natural +beauty. Below me had moved the barbarian hordes of old, the triumphant +followers of Arminius, and the Cohorts of Rome; and later, full many a +warlike host bearing the banners of the red cross to the Holy +Land,--many a knight returning with his vassals from the field, to lay +at the feet of his lady-love the scarf he had worn in a hundred battles +and claim the reward of his constancy and devotion. But brighter spirits +had also toiled below. That plain had witnessed the presence of Luther, +and a host who strove with him to free the world from the chains of a +corrupt and oppressive religion. There had also trodden the master +spirits of German song--the giant twain, with their scarcely less +harmonious brethren: they, too, had gathered inspiration from those +scenes--more fervent worship of nature and a deeper love for their +beautiful fatherland! Oh! what waves of crime and bloodshed have swept +like the waves of a deluge down the valley of the Rhine! War has laid +his mailed hand on those desolate towers and ruthlessly torn down what +time has spared, yet he could not mar the beauty of the shore, nor could +Time himself hurl down the mountains that guard it. And what if I feel a +new inspiration on beholding the scene? Now that those ages have swept +by, like the red waves of a tide of blood, we see not the darkened +earth, but the golden sands which the flood has left behind. Besides, I +have come from a new world, where the spirit of man is untrammeled by +the mouldering shackles of the past, but in its youthful and joyous +freedom, goes on to make itself a noble memory for the ages that are to +come! + +Then there is the Wolfsbrunnen, which one reaches by a beautiful walk up +the bank of the Neckar, to a quiet dell in the side of the mountain. +Through this the roads lead up by rustic mills, always in motion, and +orchards laden with ripening fruit, to the commencement of the forest, +where a quaint stone fountain stands, commemorating the abode of a +sorceress of the olden time, who was torn in pieces by a wolf. There is +a handsome rustic inn here, where every Sunday afternoon a band plays in +the portico, while hundreds of people are scattered around in the cool +shadow of the trees, or feeding the splendid trout in the basin formed +by the little stream. They generally return to the city by another walk +leading along the mountain side, to the eastern terrace of the castle, +where they have fine views of the great Rhine plain, terminated by the +Alsatian hills, stretching along the western horizon like the long +crested swells on the ocean. We can even see these from the windows of +our room on the bank of the Neckar; and I often look with interest on +one sharp peak, for on its side stands the Castle of Trifels, where +Coeur de Lion was imprisoned by the Duke of Austria, and where Blondel, +his faithful minstrel, sang the ballad which discovered the retreat of +the noble captive. + +The people of Heidelberg are rich in places of pleasure and amusement. +From the Carl Platz, an open square at the upper end of the city, two +paths lead directly up to the castle. By the first walk we ascend a +flight of steps to the western gate, passing through which, we enter a +delightful garden, between the outer walls of the Castle, and the huge +moat which surrounds it. Great linden, oak and beech trees shadow the +walk, and in secluded nooks, little mountain streams spring from the +side of the wall into stone basins. There is a tower over the moat on +the south side, next the mountain, where the portcullis still hangs with +its sharp teeth as it was last drawn up; on each side stand two grim +knights guarding the entrance. In one of the wooded walks is an old tree +brought from America in the year 1618. It is of the kind called _arbor +vitae_, and uncommonly tall and slender for one of this species; yet it +does not seem to thrive well in a foreign soil. I noticed that persons +had cut many slips off the lower branches, and I would have been tempted +to do the same myself if there had been any I could reach. In the curve +of the mountain is a handsome pavilion, surrounded with beds of flowers +and fountains; here all classes meet together in the afternoon to sit +with their refreshments in the shade, while frequently a fine band of +music gives them their invariable recreation. All this, with the scenery +around them, leaves nothing unfinished to their present enjoyment. The +Germans enjoy life under all circumstances, and in this way they make +themselves much happier than we, who have far greater means of being so. + +At the end of the terrace built for the princess Elizabeth, of England, +is one of the round towers, which was split in twain by the French. Half +has fallen entirely away, and the other semicircular shell which joins +the terrace and part of the Castle buildings, clings firmly together, +although part of its foundation is gone, so that its outer ends actually +hang in the air. Some idea of the strength of the castle may be obtained +when I state that the walls of this tower are twenty-two feet thick, and +that a staircase has been made through them to the top, where one can +sit under the lindens growing upon it, or look down from the end on the +city below with the pleasant consciousness that the great mass upon +which he stands is only prevented from crashing down with him by the +solidity of its masonry. On one side, joining the garden, the statue of +the Archduke Louis, in his breastplate and flowing beard, looks out from +among the ivy. + +There is little to be seen about the Castle except the walls themselves. +The guide conducted us through passages, in which were heaped many of +the enormous cannon balls which it had received in sieges, to some +chambers in the foundation. This was the oldest part of the Castle, +built in the thirteenth century. We also visited the chapel, which is in +a tolerable state of preservation. A kind of narrow bridge crosses it, +over which we walked, looking down on the empty pulpit and deserted +shrines. We then went into the cellar to see the celebrated Tun. In a +large vault are kept several enormous hogsheads, one of which is three +hundred years old, but they are nothing in comparison with the tun, +which itself fills a whole vault. It is as high as a common two story +house; on the top is a platform upon which the people used to dance +after it was filled, to which one ascends by two flights of steps. I +forgot exactly how many casks it holds, but I believe eight hundred. It +has been empty for fifty years. + +We are very pleasantly situated here. My friends, who arrived a day +before me, hired three rooms (with the assistance of a courier) in a +large house on the banks of the Neckar. We pay for them, with +attendance, thirty florins--about twelve dollars--a month, and Frau Dr. +Grosch, our polite and talkative landlady, gives us a student's +breakfast--coffee and biscuit--for about seven cents apiece. We are +often much amused to hear her endeavors to make us understand. As if to +convey her meaning plainer, she raises both thumbs and forefingers to +her mouth and pulls out the words like a long string; her tongue goes so +fast that it keeps my mind always on a painful stretch to comprehend an +idea here and there. Dr. S----, from whom we take lessons in German, has +kindly consented to our dining with his family for the sake of practice +in speaking. We have taken several long walks with them along the banks +of the Neckar, but I should be puzzled to repeat any of the +conversations that took place. The language, however, is fast growing +more familiar, since _women_ are the principal teachers. + +Opposite my window rises the Heiligenberg, on the other side of the +Neckar. The lower part of it is rich with vineyards, and many cottages +stand embosomed in shrubbery among them. Sometimes we see groups of +maidens standing under the grape arbors, and every morning the peasant +women go toiling up the steep paths with baskets on their heads, to +labor among the vines. On the Neckar below us, the fishermen glide about +in their boats, sink their square nets fastened to a long pole, and haul +them up with the glittering fish, of which the stream is full. I often +lean out of the window late at night, when the mountains above are +wrapped in dusky obscurity, and listen to the low, musical ripple of the +river. It tells to my excited fancy a knightly legend of the old German +time. Then comes the bell, rung for closing the inns, breaking the spell +with its deep clang, which vibrates far away on the night air, till it +has roused all the echoes of the Odenwald. I then shut the window, turn +into the narrow box which the Germans call a bed, and in a few minutes +am wandering in America. Half way up the Heiligenberg runs a beautiful +walk, dividing the vineyards from the forest above. This is called the +Philosopher's Way, because it was the favorite ramble of the old +Professors of the University. It can be reached by a toilsome, winding +path among the vines, called the Snake-way, and when one has ascended to +it he is well rewarded by the lovely view. In the evening, when the sun +has got behind the mountain, it is delightful to sit on the stone steps +and watch the golden light creeping up the side of the Kaiser-stuhl, +till at last twilight begins to darken in the valley and a mantle of +mist gathers above the Neckar. + +We ascended the mountain a few days ago. There is a path which leads up +through the forest, but we took the shortest way, directly up the side, +though it was at an angle of nearly fifty degrees. It was hard enough +work, scrambling through the thick broom and heather, and over stumps +and stones. In one of the stone-heaps I dislodged a large orange-colored +salamander, seven or eight inches long. They are sometimes found on +these mountains, as well as a very large kind of lizard, called the +_eidechse_, which the Germans say is perfectly harmless, and if one +whistles or plays a pipe, will come and play around him. The view from +the top reminded me of that from Catskill Mountain House, but is on a +smaller scale. The mountains stretch off sideways, confining the view to +but half the horizon, and in the middle of the picture the Hudson is +well represented by the lengthened windings of the "abounding Rhine." +Nestled at the base below us, was the little village of Handschuhheim, +one of the oldest in this part of Germany. The castle of its former +lords has nearly all fallen down, but the massive solidity of the walls +which yet stand, proves its antiquity. A few years ago, a part of the +outer walls which was remarked to have a hollow sound, was taken down, +when there fell from a deep niche built therein, a skeleton, clad in a +suit of the old German armor. We followed a road through the woods to +the peak on which stand the ruins of St. Michael's chapel, which was +built in the tenth century and inhabited for a long time by a sect of +white monks. There is now but a single tower remaining, and all around +is grown over with tall bushes and weeds. It had a wild and romantic +look, and I sat on a rock and sketched at it, till it grew dark, when we +got down the mountain the best way we could. + +We lately visited the great University Library. You walk through one +hall after another, filled with books of all kinds, from the monkish +manuscript of the middle ages, to the most elegant print of the present +day. There is something to me more impressive in a library like this +than a solemn Cathedral. I think involuntarily of the hundreds of mighty +spirits who speak from these three hundred thousand volumes--of the +toils and privations with which genius has ever struggled, and of his +glorious reward. As in a church, one feels as it were, the presence of +God; not because the place has been hallowed by his worship, but because +all around stand the inspirations of his spirit, breathed through the +mind of genius, to men. And if the mortal remains of saints and heroes +do not repose within its walls, the great and good of the whole earth +are there, speaking their counsels to the searcher for truth, with +voices whose last reverberation will die away only when the globe falls +into ruin. + +A few nights ago there was a wedding of peasants across the river. In +order to celebrate it particularly, the guests went to the house where +it was given, by torchlight. The night was quite dark, and the bright +red torches glowed on the surface of the Neckar, as the two couriers +galloped along the banks to the bridegroom's house. Here, after much +shouting and confusion, the procession was arranged, the two riders +started back again with their torches, and the wagons containing the +guests followed after with their flickering lights glancing on the +water, till they disappeared around the foot of the mountain. The +choosing of Conscripts also took place lately. The law requires one +person out of every hundred to become a soldier, and this, in the city +of Heidelberg, amounts to nearly 150. It was a sad spectacle. The young +men, or rather boys, who were chosen, went about the city with cockades +fastened on their hats, shouting and singing, many of them quite +intoxicated. I could not help pitying them because of the dismal, +mechanical life they are doomed to follow. Many were rough, ignorant +peasants, to whom nearly any kind of life would be agreeable; but there +were some whose countenances spoke otherwise, and I thought +involuntarily, that their drunken gaiety was only affected to conceal +their real feelings with regard to the lot which had fallen upon them. + +We are gradually becoming accustomed to the German style of living, +which is very different from our own. Their cookery is new to us, but +is, nevertheless, good. We have every day a different kind of soup, so I +have supposed they keep a regular list of three hundred and sixty-five, +one for every day in the year! Then we have potatoes "done up" in oil +and vinegar, veal flavored with orange peel, barley pudding, and all +sorts of pancakes, boiled artichokes, and always rye bread, in loaves a +yard long! Nevertheless, we thrive on such diet, and I have rarely +enjoyed more sound and refreshing sleep than in their narrow and +coffin-like beds, uncomfortable as they seem. Many of the German customs +are amusing. We never see oxen working here, but always cows, sometimes +a single one in a cart, and sometimes two fastened together by a yoke +across their horns. The women labor constantly in the fields; from our +window we can hear the nut-brown maidens singing their cheerful songs +among the vineyards on the mountain side. Their costume, too, is odd +enough. Below the light-fitting vest they wear such a number of short +skirts, one above another, that it reminds one of an animated hogshead, +with a head and shoulders starting out from the top. I have heard it +gravely asserted that the wealth of a German damsel may be known by +counting the number of her "kirtles." An acquaintance of mine remarked, +that it would be an excellent costume for falling down a precipice! + +We have just returned from a second visit to Frankfort, where the great +annual fair filled the streets with noise and bustle. On our way back, +we stopped at the village of Zwingenberg, which lies at the foot of the +Melibochus, for the purpose of visiting some of the scenery of the +Odenwald. Passing the night at the inn there, we slept with one bed +under and two above, and started early in the morning to climb up the +side of the Melibochus. After a long walk through the forests, which +were beginning to change their summer foliage for a brighter garment, we +reached the summit and ascended the stone tower which stands upon it. +This view gives one a better idea of the Odenwald, than that from the +Kaiser-stuhl at Heidelberg. In the soft autumn atmosphere it looked even +more beautiful. After an hour in that heaven of uplifted thought, into +which we step from the mountain-top, our minds went with the path +downward to earth, and we descended the eastern side into the wild +region which contains the _Felsenmeer_, or Sea of Rocks. + +We met on the way a student from Fulda--a fine specimen of that +free-spirited class, and a man whose smothered aspiration was betrayed +in the flashing of his eye, as he spoke of the present painful and +oppressed condition of Germany. We talked so busily together that +without noticing the path, which had been bringing us on, up hill and +down, through forest and over rock, we came at last to a halt in a +valley among the mountains. Making inquiries there, we found we had gone +wrong, and must ascend by a different path the mountain we had just come +down. Near the summit of this, in a wild pine wood, was the +Felsenmeer--a great collection of rocks heaped together like pebbles on +the sea shore, and worn and rounded as if by the action of water: so +much do they resemble waves, that one standing at the bottom and looking +up, cannot resist the idea, that they will flow down upon him. It must +have been a mighty tide whose receding waves left these masses piled up +together! The same formation continues at intervals, to the foot, of the +mountains. It reminded me of a _glacier_ of rocks instead of ice. A +little higher up, lies a massive block of granite called the "Giant's +Column." It is thirty-two feet long and three to four feet in diameter, +and still bears the mark of the chisel. When or by whom it was made, +remains a mystery. Some have supposed it was intended to be erected for +the worship of the Sun, by the wild Teutonic tribes who inhabited this +forest; it is more probably the work of the Romans. A project was once +started, to erect it as a monument on the battle-field of Leipsic, but +it was found too difficult to carry into execution. + +After dining at the little village of Reichelsdorf in the valley below, +where the merry landlord charged my friend two kreutzers less than +myself because he was not so tall, we visited the Castle of Schonberg, +and joined the Bergstrasse again. We walked the rest of the way here; +long before we arrived, the moon shone down on us over the mountains, +and when we turned around the foot of the Heiligenberg, the mist +descending in the valley of the Neckar, rested like a light cloud on the +church spires. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A WALK THROUGH THE ODENWALD. + + +B---- and I are now comfortably settled in Frankfort, having, with Mr. +Willis's kind assistance, obtained lodgings with the amiable family, +with whom he has resided for more than two years. My cousin remains in +Heidelberg to attend the winter course of lectures at the University. + +Having forwarded our baggage by the omnibus, we came hither on foot, +through the heart of the Odenwald, a region full of interest, yet little +visited by travellers. Dr. S---- and his family walked with us three or +four miles of the way, and on a hill above Ziegelhausen, with a splendid +view behind us, through the mountain-door, out of which the Neckar +enters on the Rhine-plain, we parted. This was a first, and I must +confess, a somewhat embarrassing experience in German leave-taking. +After bidding adieu three or four times, we started to go up the +mountain and they down it, but at every second step we had to turn +around to acknowledge the waving of hands and handkerchiefs, which +continued so long that I was glad when we were out of sight of each +other. We descended on the other side into a wild and romantic valley, +whose meadows were of the brightest green; a little brook which wound +through them, put now and then its "silvery shoulder" to the wheel of a +rustic mill. By the road-side two or three wild-looking gipsies sat +around a fire, with some goats feeding near them. + +Passing through this valley and the little village of Schonau, we +commenced ascending one of the loftiest ranges of the Odenwald. The side +of the mountain was covered with a thick pine forest. There was no wind +to wake its solemn anthem; all was calm and majestic, and even awful. +The trees rose all around like the pillars of a vast Cathedral, whose +long arched aisles vanished far below in the deepening gloom. + + "Nature with folded hands seemed there, + Kneeling at her evening prayer," + +for twilight had already begun to gather. We went on and up and ever +higher, like the youth in "Excelsior;" the beech and dwarf oak took the +place of the pine, and at last we arrived at a cleared summit whose long +brown grass waved desolately in the dim light of evening. A faint glow +still lingered over the forest-hills, but down in the valley the dusky +shades hid every vestige of life, though its sounds came up softened +through the long space. When we reached the top a bright planet stood +like a diamond over the brow of the eastern hill, and the sound of a +twilight bell came up clearly and sonorously on the cool damp air. The +white veil of mist slowly descended down the mountain side, but the +peaks rose above it like the wrecks of a world, floating in space. We +made our way in the dusk down the long path, to the rude little dorf of +Elsbach. I asked at the first inn for lodging, where we were ushered +into a great room, in which a number of girls who had been at work in +the fields, were assembled. They were all dressed in men's jackets, and +short gowns, and some had their hair streaming down their back. The +landlord's daughter, however, was a beautiful girl, whose modest, +delicate features contrasted greatly with the coarse faces of the +others. I thought of Uhland's beautiful little poem of "The Landlady's +Daughter," as I looked on her. In the room hung two or three pair of +antlers, and they told us deer were still plenty in the forests. + +When we left the village the next morning, we again commenced ascending. +Over the whole valley and halfway up the mountain, lay a thick white +frost, almost like snow, which contrasted with the green trees and +bushes scattered over the meadows, produced the most singular effect. We +plucked blackberries ready iced from the bushes by the road-side, and +went on in the cold, for the sun shone only on the top of the opposite +mountain, into another valley, down which rushed the rapid Ulver. At a +little village which bears the beautiful name _Anteschonmattenwag_, we +took a foot-path directly over a steep mountain to the village of +Finkenbach. Near the top I found two wild-looking children, cutting +grass with knives, both of whom I prevailed upon for a few kreutzers to +stand and let me sketch them. From the summit the view on the other side +was very striking. The hills were nearly every one covered with wood, +and not a dwelling in sight. It reminded me of our forest scenery at +home. The principal difference is, that our trees are two or three times +the size of theirs. + +At length, after scaling another mountain, we reached a wide, elevated +plain, in the middle of which stood the old dorf of Beerfelden. It was +then crowded with people, on account of a great cattle-fair being held +there. All the farmers of the neighborhood were assembled, clad in the +ancient country costume--broad cocked hats and blue frocks. An orchard +near the town was filled with cattle and horses, and near by, in the +shade, a number of pedlars had arranged their wares. The cheerful +looking country people touched their hats to us as we passed. This +custom of greeting travellers, universal in Germany, is very expressive +of their social, friendly manners. Among the mountains, we frequently +met groups of children, who sang together their simple ballads as we +passed by. + +From Beerfelden we passed down the valley of the Mimling to Erbach, the +principal city in the Odenwald, and there stopped a short time to view +the Rittersaal in the old family castle of the Counts of Erbach. An +officer, who stood at the gates, conducted us to the door, where we were +received by a noble-looking, gray-headed steward. He took us into the +Rittersaal at once, which was like stepping back three hundred years. +The stained windows of the lofty Gothic hall, let in a subdued light +which fell on the forms of kings and knights, clad in the armor they +wore during life. On the left as we entered, were mail-covered figures +of John and Cosmo do Medici; further on stood the Emperor Maximilian, +and by his side the celebrated dwarf who was served up in a pie at one +of the imperial feasts. His armor was most delicate and beautiful, but +small as it was, General Thumb would have had room in it. Gustavus +Adolphus and Wallenstein looked down from the neighboring pedestals, +while at the other end stood Goetz von Berlichingen and Albert of +Brunswick. Guarding the door were Hans, the robber-knight of Nuremberg, +and another from the Thuringian forest. The steward told me that the +iron hand of Goetz was in possession of the family, but not shown to +strangers; he pointed out, however, the buckles on the armor, by which +it was fastened. Adjoining the hall is an antique chapel, filled with +rude old tombs, and containing the sarcophagus of Count Eginhard of +Denmark, who lived about the tenth century. There were also monkish +garments five hundred years old hanging up in it. + +The collection of antiquities is large and interesting; but it is said +that the old Count obtained some of them in rather a questionable +manner. Among other incidents, they say that when in Rome he visited the +Pope, taking with him an old servant who accompanied him in all his +travels, and was the accomplice in most of his antiquarian thefts. In +one of the outer halls, among the curiosities, was an antique shield of +great value. The servant was left in this hall while the Count had his +audience, and in a short time this shield was missed. The servant who +wore a long cloak, was missed also; orders were given to close the gates +and search every body, but it was too late--the thief was gone. + +Leaving Erbach we found out the direction of Snellert, the Castle of the +Wild Huntsman, and took a road that led us for two or three hours along +the top of a mountain ridge. Through the openings in the pine and larch +forests, we had glimpses of the hills of Spessart, beyond the Main. When +we finally left the by-road we had chosen it was quite dark, and we +missed the way altogether among the lanes and meadows. We came at last +to a full stop at the house of a farmer, who guided us by a foot path +over the fields to a small village. On entering the only inn, kept by +the Burgomaster, the people finding we were Americans, regarded us with +a curiosity quite uncomfortable. They crowded around the door, watching +every motion, and gazed in through the windows. The wild huntsman +himself could scarcely have made a greater sensation. The news of our +arrival seemed to have spread very fast, for the next morning when we +stopped at a prune orchard some distance from the village to buy some +fruit, the farmer cried out from a tree, "they are the Americans; give +them as many as they want for nothing!" + +With the Burgomaster's little son for a guide, we went back a mile or +two of our route to Snellert, which we had passed the night before, and +after losing ourselves two or three times in the woods, arrived at last +at the top of the mountain, where the ruins of the castle stand. The +walls are nearly level with the ground. The interest of a visit rests +entirely on the romantic legend, and the wild view over the hills +around, particularly that in front, where on the opposite mountain are +the ruins of Rodenstein, to which the wild Huntsman was wont to ride at +midnight--where he now rides no more. The echoes of Rodenstein are no +longer awakened by the sound of his bugle, and the hoofs of his demon +steed clanging on the battlements. But the hills around are wild enough, +and the roar of the pine forests deep enough to have inspired the simple +peasants with the romantic tradition. + +Stopping for dinner at the town of Rheinheim, we met an old man, who, on +learning we were Americans, walked with us as far as the next village. +He had a daughter in America and was highly gratified to meet any one +from the country of her adoption. He made me promise to visit her, if I +ever should go to St. Louis, and say that I had walked with her father +from Rheinheim to Zwangenburg. To satisfy his fears that I might forget +it, I took down his name and that of his daughter. He shook me warmly by +the hand at parting, and was evidently made happier for that day. + +We reached Darmstadt just in time to take a seat in the omnibus for +Frankfort. Among the passengers were a Bavarian family, on their way to +Bremen, to ship from thence to Texas. I endeavored to discourage the man +from choosing such a country as his home, by telling him of its heats +and pestilences, but he was too full of hope to be shaken in his +purpose. I would have added that it was a slave-land, but I thought on +our own country's curse, and was silent. The wife was not so sanguine; +she seemed to mourn in secret at leaving her beautiful fatherland. It +was saddening to think how lonely they would feel in that far home, and +how they would long, with true German devotion, to look again on the +green vintage-hills of their forsaken country. As night drew on, the +little girl crept over to her father for his accustomed evening kiss, +and then sank back to sleep in a corner of the wagon. The boy, in the +artless confidence of childhood, laid his head on my breast, weary with +the day's travel, and soon slept also. Thus we drove on in the dark, +till at length the lights of Frankfort glimmered on the breast of the +rapid Main, as we passed over the bridge, and when we stopped near the +Cathedral, I delivered up my little charge and sent my sympathy with the +wanderers on their lonely way. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SCENES IN FRANKFORT--AN AMERICAN COMPOSER--THE POET FREILIGRATH. + + +_Dec. 4._--This is a genuine old German city. Founded by Charlemagne, +afterwards a rallying point of the Crusaders, and for a long time the +capital of the German empire, it has no lack of interesting historical +recollections, and notwithstanding it is fast becoming modernized, one +is every where reminded of the Past. The Cathedral, old as the days of +Peter the Hermit, the grotesque street of the Jews, the many quaint, +antiquated dwellings and the mouldering watch-towers on the hills +around, give it a more interesting character than any German city I have +yet seen. The house we dwell in, on the Markt Platz, is more than two +hundred years old; directly opposite is a great castellated building, +gloomy with the weight of six centuries, and a few steps to the left +brings me to the square of the Roemerberg, where the Emperors were +crowned, in a corner of which is a curiously ornamented house, formerly +the residence of Luther. There are legends innumerable connected with +all these buildings, and even yet discoveries are frequently made in old +houses, of secret chambers and staircases. When you add to all this, the +German love of ghost stories, and, indeed, their general belief in +spirits, the lover of romance could not desire a more agreeable +residence. + +I often look out on the singular scene below my window. On both sides of +the street, leaving barely room to enter the houses, sit the market +women, with their baskets of vegetables and fruit. The middle of the +street is filled with women buying, and every cart or carriage that +comes along, has to force its way through the crowd, sometimes rolling +against and overturning the baskets on the side, when for a few minutes +there is a Babel of unintelligible sounds. The country women in their +jackets and short gowns go backwards and forwards with great loads on +their heads, sometimes nearly as high as themselves. It is a most +singular scene, and so varied that one never tires of looking upon it. +These women sit here from sunrise till sunset, day after day, for years. +They have little furnaces for cooking and for warmth in winter, and when +it rains they sit in large wooden boxes. One or two policemen are +generally on the ground in the morning to prevent disputing about their +places, which often gives rise to interesting scenes. Perhaps this kind +of life in the open air is conducive to longevity; for certainly there +is no country on earth that has as many old women. Many of them look +like walking machines made of leather; and to judge from what I see in +the streets here, I should think they work till they die. + +On the 21st of October a most interesting fete took place. The +magnificent monument of Goethe, modelled by the sculptor Schwanthaler, +at Munich, and cast in bronze, was unveiled. It arrived a few days +before, and was received with much ceremony and erected in the destined +spot, an open square in the western part of the city, planted with +acacia trees. I went there at ten o'clock, and found the square already +full of people. Seats had been erected around the monument for ladies, +the singers and musicians. A company of soldiers was stationed to keep +an entrance for the procession, which at length arrived with music and +banners, and entered the enclosure. A song for the occasion was sung by +the choir; it swelled up gradually, and with such perfect harmony and +unity, that it seemed like some glorious instrument touched by a single +hand. Then a poetical address was delivered; after which four young men +took their stand at the corners of the monument; the drums and trumpets +gave a flourish, and the mantle fell. The noble figure seemed to rise +out of the earth, and thus amid shoutings and the triumphal peal of the +band, the form of Goethe greeted the city of his birth. He is +represented as leaning on the trunk of a tree, holding in his right hand +a roll of parchment, and in his left a wreath. The pedestal, which is +also of bronze, contains bas reliefs, representing scenes from Faust, +Wilhelm Meister and Egmont. In the evening Goethe's house, in a street +near, was illuminated by arches of lamps between the windows, and hung +with wreaths of flowers. Four pillars of colored lamps lighted the +statue. At nine o'clock the choir of singers came again in a procession, +with colored lanterns, on poles, and after singing two or three songs, +the statue was exhibited in the red glare of the Bengal light. The trees +and houses around the square were covered with the glow, which streamed +in broad sheets up against the dark sky. + +Within the walls the greater part of Frankfort is built in the old +German style--the houses six or seven stones high, and every story +projecting out over the other, so that those living in the upper part +can nearly shake hands out of the windows. At the corners figures of men +are often seen, holding up the story above on their shoulders and making +horrible faces at the weight. When I state that in all these narrow +streets which constitute the greater part of the city, there are no +sidewalks, the windows of the lower stories with an iron grating +extending a foot or so into the street, which is only wide enough for +one cart to pass along, you can have some idea of the facility of +walking through them, to say nothing of the piles of wood, and +market-women with baskets of vegetables which one is continually +stumbling over. Even in the wider streets, I have always to look before +and behind to keep out of the way of the fiacres; the people here get so +accustomed to it, that they leave barely room for them to pass, and the +carriages go dashing by at a nearness which sometimes makes me shudder. + +As I walked across the Main, and looked down at the swift stream on its +way from the distant Thuringian forest to join the Rhine, I thought of +the time when Schiller stood there in the days of his early struggles, +an exile from his native land, and looking over the bridge, said in the +loneliness of his heart, "That water flows not so deep as my +sufferings!" In the middle, on an iron ornament, stands the golden cock +at which Goethe used to marvel when a boy. Perhaps you have not heard +the legend connected with this. The bridge was built several hundred +years ago, with such strength and solidity that it will stand many +hundred yet. The architect had contracted to build it within a certain +time, but as it drew near, without any prospect of fulfilment, the devil +appeared to him and promised to finish it, on condition of having the +first soul that passed over it. This was agreed upon end the devil +performed his part of the bargain. The artist, however, on the day +appointed, drove a cook across before he suffered any one to pass over +it. His majesty stationed himself under the middle arch of the bridge, +awaiting his prey; but enraged at the cheat, he tore the unfortunate +fowl in pieces and broke two holes in the arch, saying they should never +be built up again. The golden cock was erected on the bridge as a token +of the event, but the devil has perhaps lost some of his power in these +latter days, for the holes were filled up about thirty years ago. + +From the hills on the Darmstadt road, I had a view of the country +around--the fields were white and bare, and the dark Tannus, with the +broad patches of snow on his sides, looked grim and shadowy through the +dim atmosphere. It was like the landscape of a dream--dark, strange and +silent. The whole of last month we saw the sun but two or three days, +the sky being almost continually covered with a gloomy fog. England and +Germany seem to have exchanged climates this year, for in the former +country we had delightfully clear weather. + +I have seen the banker Rothschild several times driving about the city. +This one--Anselmo, the most celebrated of the brothers--holds a mortgage +on the city of Jerusalem. He rides about in style, with officers +attending his carriage. He is a little bald-headed man, with marked +Jewish features, and is said not to deceive his looks. At any rate, his +reputation is none of the best, either with Jews or Christians. A +caricature was published some time ago, in which he is represented as +giving a beggar woman by the way-side, a kreutzer--the smallest German +coin. She is made to exclaim, "God reward you, a thousand fold!" He +immediately replies, after reckoning up in his head: "How much have I +then?--sixteen florins and forty kreutzers!" + +I have lately heard one of the most perfectly beautiful creations that +ever emanated from the soul of genius--the opera of Fidelio. I have +caught faint glimpses of that rich world of fancy and feeling, to which +music is the golden door. Surrendering myself to the grasp of +Beethoven's powerful conception, I read in sounds far more expressive +than words, the almost despairing agony of the strong-hearted, but +still tender and womanly Fidelio--the ecstatic joy of the wasted +prisoner, when he rose from his hard couch in the dungeon, seeming to +fuel, in his maniac brain, the presentiment of a bright being who would +come to unbind his chains--and. the sobbing and wailing, almost-human, +which came from the orchestra, when they dug his grave, by the dim +lantern's light. When it was done, the murderer stole into the dungeon, +to gloat on the agonies of his victim, ere he gave the death-blow. Then, +while the prisoner is waked to reason by that sight, and Fidelio throws +herself before the uplifted dagger, rescuing her husband with the +courage which love gives to a woman's heart, the storm of feeling which +has been gathering in the music, swells to a height beyond which it +seemed impossible for the soul to pass. My nerves were thrilled till I +could bear no more. A mist seemed to come before my eyes and I scarcely +knew what followed, till the rescued kneeled together and poured forth +in the closing hymn the painful fullness of their joy. I dreaded the +sound of voices after the close, and the walk home amid the harsh +rattling of vehicles on the rough streets. For days afterwards my brain +was filled with a mingled and confused sense of melody, like the +half-remembered music of a dream. + +Why should such magnificent creations of art be denied the new world? +There is certainly enthusiasm and refinement of feeling enough at home +to appreciate them, were the proper direction given to the popular +taste. What country possesses more advantages to foster the growth of +such an art, than ours? Why should not the composer gain mighty +conceptions from the grandeur of our mountain scenery, from the howling +of the storm through our giant forests, from the eternal thunder of +Niagara? All these collateral influences, which more or less tend to the +development and expansion of genius, are characteristics of our country; +and a taste for musical compositions of a refined and lofty character, +would soon give birth to creators. + +Fortunately for our country, this missing star in the crown of her +growing glory, will probably soon be replaced. Richard S. Willis, with +whom we have lived in delightful companionship, since coming here, has +been for more than two years studying and preparing himself for the +higher branches of composition. The musical talent he displayed while +at college, and the success following the publication of a set of +beautiful waltzes he there composed, led him to choose this most +difficult but lofty path; the result justifies his early promise and +gives the most sanguine anticipations for the future. He studied the +first two years here under Schnyder von Wartensee, a distinguished Swiss +composer; and his exercises have met with the warmest approval from +Mendelsohn, at present the first German composer, and Rinck, the +celebrated organist. The enormous labor and application required to go +through the preparatory studies alone, would make it seem almost +impossible for one with the restless energy of the American character, +to undertake it; but as this very energy gives genius its greatest +power, we may now trust with confidence that Willis, since he has nearly +completed his studies, will win himself and his country honor in the +difficult path he has chosen. + +One evening, after sunset, we took a stroll around the promenades. The +swans were still floating on the little lake, and the American poplar +beside it, was in its full autumn livery. As we made the circuit of the +walks, guns were firing far and near, celebrating the opening of the +vintage the next day, and rockets went glittering and sparkling up into +the dark air. Notwithstanding the late hour and lowering sky, the walks +were full of people and we strolled about with them till it grew quite +dark, watching the fire-works which arose from the gardens around. + +The next day, we went into the Frankfort wood. Willis and his +brother-in-law, Charles F. Dennett, of Boston, Dr. Dix and another young +gentleman from the same city, formed the party--six Americans in all; we +walked over the Main and through the dirty suburbs of Sachsenhausen, +where we met many peasants laden with the first day's vintage, and +crowds of people coming down from the vineyards. As we ascended the +hill, the sound of firing was heard in every direction, and from many +vineyards arose the smoke of fires where groups of merry children were +collecting and burning the rubbish. We became lost among the winding +paths of the pine forest, so that by the time we came out upon the +eminence overlooking the valley of the Main, it was quite dark. From +every side, far and near, rockets of all sizes and colors darted high +up into the sky. Sometimes a flight of the most brilliant crimson and +gold lights rushed up together, then again by some farm-house in the +meadow, the vintagers would burn a Roman candle, throwing its powerful +white light on the gardens and fields around. We stopped under a garden +wall, by which a laughing company were assembled in the smoke and red +blaze, and watched several comets go hissing and glancing far above us. +The cracking of ammunition still continued, and when we came again upon +the bridge, the city opposite was lighted as if illuminated. The full +moon had just risen, softening and mellowing the beautiful scene, while +beyond, over the tower of Frankfort, rose and fell the meteors that +heralded the vintage. + +Since I have been in Frankfort, an event has occurred, which shows very +distinctly the principles at work in Germany, and gives us some +foreboding of the future. Ferdinand Freiligrath, the first living poet +with the exception of Uhland, has within a few weeks published a volume +of poems entitled, "My Confession of Faith, or Poems for the Times." It +contains some thrilling appeals to the free spirit of the German people, +setting forth the injustice under which they labor, in simple but +powerful language, and with the most forcible illustrations, adapted to +the comprehension of everyone. Viewed as a work of genius alone, it is +strikingly powerful and original: but when we consider the effect it is +producing among the people--the strength it will add to the rising tide +of opposition to every form of tyranny, it has a still higher interest. +Freiligrath had three or four years before, received a pension of three +hundred thalers from the King of Prussia, soon after his accession to +the throne: he ceased to draw this about a year ago, stating in the +preface to his volume that it was accepted in the belief the King would +adhere to his promise of giving the people a new constitution, but that +now since free spirit which characterises these men, who come from +among the people, shows plainly the tendency of the times; and it is +only the great strength with which tyranny here has environed himself, +and the almost lethargic _slowness_ of the Germans, which has prevented +a change ere this. + +In this volume of Freiligrath's, among other things, is a translation of +Bryant's magnificent poem "The Winds," and Burns's "A man's a man for a' +that;" and I have translated one of his, as a specimen of the spirit in +which they are written: + + FREEDOM AND RIGHT. + + Oh! think not she rests in the grave's chilly slumber + Nor sheds o'er the present her glorious light, + Since Tyranny's shackles the free soul incumber + And traitors accusing, deny to us Right! + No: whether to exile the sworn ones are wending, + Or weary of power that crushed them unending, + In dungeons have perished, their veins madly rending,[*] + Yet Freedom still liveth, and with her, the Right! + Freedom and Right! + + A single defeat can confuse us no longer: + It adds to the combat's last gathering might, + It bids us but doubly to struggle, and stronger + To raise up our battle-cry--"Freedom and Right!" + For the Twain know a union forever abiding, + Together in Truth and in majesty striding; + Where Right is, already the free are residing + And ever, where dwell the free, governeth Right! + Freedom and Right! + + And this is a trust: never made, us at present, + The glad pair from battle to battle their flight; + Never breathed through the soul of the down-trodden peasant, + Their spirit so deeply its promptings of light! + They sweep o'er the earth with a tempest-like token; + From strand unto strand words of thunder are spoken: + Already the serf finds his manacles broken, + And those of the negro are falling from sight + Freedom and Right! + + Yes, every where wide is their war-banner waving. + On the armies of Wrong their revenge to requite; + The strength of Oppression they boldly are braving + And at last they will conquer, resistless in might! + Oh, God! what a glorious wreath then appearing + Will blend every leaf in the banner they're bearing--The + olive of Greece and the shamrock of Erin, + And the oak-bough of Germany, greenest in light! + Freedom and Right! + + And many who suffered, are now calmly sleeping, + The slumber of freemen, borne down by the fight; + While the Twain o'er their graves still a bright watch are keeping, + Whom we bless for their memories--Freedom and Right! + Meanwhile lift your glasses! to those who have striven! + And striving with bold hearts, to misery were driven! + Who fought for the Right and but Wrong then were given! + To Right, the immortal--to Freedom through Right! + Freedom through Right! + +[Footnote *: This allusion is to Weidig, who, imprisoned for years at +Darmstadt on account of his political principles, finally committed +suicide by cutting his throat with the glass of his prison-window.] + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A WEEK AMONG THE STUDENTS. + + +Receiving a letter from my cousin one bright December morning, the idea +of visiting him struck me, and so, within an hour, B---- and I were on +our way to Heidelberg. It was delightful weather; the air was mild as +the early days of spring, the pine forests around wore a softer green, +and though the sun was but a hand's breadth high, even at noon, it was +quite warm on the open road. We stopped for the night at Bensheim; the +next morning was as dark as a cloudy day in the north can be, wearing a +heavy gloom I never saw elsewhere. The wind blew the snow down from the +summits upon us, but being warm from walking, we did not heed it. The +mountains looked higher than in summer, and the old castles more grim +and frowning. From the hard roads and freezing wind, my feet became very +sore, and after limping along in excruciating pain for a league or two, +I filled my boots with brandy, which deadened the wounds so much, that I +was enabled to go on in a kind of trot, which I kept up, only stopping +ten minutes to dinner, till we reached Heidelberg. + +The same evening there was to be a general _commers_, or meeting of the +societies among the students, and I determined not to omit witnessing +one of the most interesting and characteristic features of student-life. +So borrowing a cap and coat, I looked the student well enough to pass +for one of them, though the former article was somewhat of the +_Philister_ form. Baader, a young poet of some note, and president of +the "Palatia" Society, having promised to take us there, we met at +eight o'clock at an inn frequented by the students, and went to the +rendezvous, near the Markt Platz. + +A confused sound of voices came from the inn, as we drew near; groups of +students were standing around the door. In the entry we saw the Red +Fisherman, one of the most conspicuous characters about the University. +He is a small, stout man, with bare neck and breast, red hair, whence +his name, and a strange mixture of roughness and benevolence in his +countenance. He has saved many persons at the risk of his own life, from +drowning in the Neckar, and on that account is leniently dealt with by +the faculty whenever he is arrested for assisting the students in any of +their unlawful proceedings. Entering the room I could scarcely see at +first, on account of the smoke that ascended from a hundred pipes. All +was noise and confusion. Near the door sat some half dozen musicians who +were getting their instruments ready for action, and the long room was +filled with tables, all of which seemed to be full and the students were +still pressing in. The tables were covered with great stone jugs and +long beer glasses; the students were talking and shouting and +drinking.--One who appeared to have the arrangement of the meeting, +found seats for us together, and having made a slight acquaintance with +those sitting next us, we felt more at liberty to witness their +proceedings. They were all talking in a sociable, friendly way, and I +saw no one who appeared to be intoxicated. The beer was a weak mixture, +which I should think would make one fall over from its _weight_ before +it would intoxicate him. Those sitting near me drank but little, and +that principally to make or return compliments. One or two at the other +end of the table were more boisterous, and more than one glass was +overturned on the legs below it. Leaves containing the songs for the +evening lay at each seat, and at the head, where the President sat, were +two swords crossed, with which he occasionally struck upon the table to +preserve order. Our President was a fine, romantic-looking young man, +dressed in the old German costume, which is far handsomer than the +modern. I never saw in any company of young men, so many handsome, manly +countenances. If their faces were any index of their characters, there +were many noble, free souls among them. Nearly opposite to me sat a +young poet, whose dark eyes flashed with feeling as he spoke to those +near him. After some time passed in talking and drinking together, +varied by an occasional air from the musicians, the President beat order +with the sword, and the whole company joined in one of their glorious +songs, to a melody at the same time joyous and solemn. Swelled by so +many manly voices it rose up like a hymn of triumph--all other sounds +were stilled. Three times during the singing all rose up, clashed their +glasses together around the tables and drank to their Fatherland, a +health and blessing to the patriot, and honor to those who struggle in +the cause of freedom, at the close thundering out their motto: + + "Fearless in strife, to the banner still true!" + +After this song the same order as before was continued, except that +students from the different societies made short speeches, accompanied +by some toast or sentiment. One spoke of Germany--predicting that all +her dissensions would be overcome, and she would rise up at last, like a +phoenix among the nations of Europe; and at the close gave 'strong, +united, regenerated Germany!' Instantly all sprang to their feet, and +clashing the glasses together, gave a thundering "_hoch!_" This +enthusiasm for their country is one of the strongest characteristics of +the German students; they have ever been first in the field for her +freedom, and on them mainly depends her future redemption. + +Cloths were passed around, the tables wiped off, and preparations made +to sing the "_Landsfather_" or consecration song. This is one of the +most important and solemn of their ceremonies, since by performing it +the new students are made _burschen_, and the bands of brotherhood +continually kept fresh and sacred. All became still a moment, then they +commenced the lofty song: + + "Silent bending, each one lending + To the solemn tones his ear, + Hark, the song of songs is sounding-- + Back from joyful choir resounding, + Hear it, German brothers, hear! + + "German proudly, raise it loudly, + Singing of your fatherland-- + Fatherland! thou land of story, + To the altars of thy glory + Consecrate us, sword in hand! + + "Take the beaker, pleasure seeker, + With thy country's drink brimmed o'er! + In thy left the sword is blinking. + Pierce it through the cap, while drinking + To thy Fatherland once more!" + +With the first line of the last stanza, the Presidents sitting at the +head of the table, take their glasses in their right hands, and at the +third line, the sword in their left, at the end striking their glasses +together and drinking. + + "In left hand gleaming, thou art beaming, + Sword from all dishonour free! + Thus I pierce the cap, while swearing, + It in honor ever wearing, + I a valiant Bursch will be!" + +They clash their swords together till the third line is sung, when each +takes his cap, and piercing the point of the sword through the crown, +draws it down to the guard. Leaving their caps on the swords, the +Presidents stand behind the two next students, who go through the same +ceremony, receiving the swords at the appropriate time, and giving it +back loaded with their caps also. This ceremony is going on at every +table at the same time. These two stanzas are repeated for every pair of +students, till all have gone through with it, and the Presidents have +arrived at the bottom of the table, with their swords strung full of +caps. Here they exchange swords, while all sing: + + "Come thou bright sword, now made holy, + Of free men the weapon free; + Bring it solemnly and slowly, + Heavy with pierced caps, to me! + From its burden now divest it; + Brothers be ye covered all, + And till our next festival, + Hallowed and unspotted rest it! + + "Up, ye feast companions! ever + Honor ye our holy band! + And with heart and soul endeavor + E'er as high-souled men to stand! + Up to feast, ye men united! + Worthy be your fathers' fame, + And the sword may no one claim, + Who to honor is not plighted!" + +Then each President, taking a cap of his sword, reached it to the +student opposite, and they crossed their swords, the ends resting on the +two students' heads, while they sang the next stanza: + + "So take it back; thy head I now will cover + And stretch the bright sword over. + Live also then this Bursche, hoch! + Wherever we may meet him, + Will we, as Brother greet him-- + Live also this, our Brother, hoch!" + +This ceremony was repeated till all the caps were given back, and they +then concluded with the following: + + "Rest, the Bursehen-feast is over, + Hallowed sword and thou art free! + Each one strive a valiant lover + Of his fatherland to be! + Hail to him, who, glory-haunted, + Follows still his fathers bold; + And the sword may no one hold + But the noble and undaunted!" + +The Landsfather being over, the students were less orderly; the smoking +and drinking began again and we left, as it was already eleven o'clock, +glad to breathe the pure cold air. + +In the University I heard Gervinus, who was formerly professor in +Gottingen, but was obliged to leave on account of his liberal +principles. He is much liked by the students and his lectures are very +well attended. They had this winter a torchlight procession in honor of +him. He is a stout, round-faced man, speaks very fast, and makes them +laugh continually with his witty remarks. In the room I saw a son of +Ruckert, the poet, with a face strikingly like his father's. The next +evening I went to hear Schlosser, the great historian. Among his pupils +are the two princes of Baden, who are now at the University. He came +hurriedly in, threw down his portfolio and began instantly to speak. He +is an old, gray-headed man, but still active and full of energy. The +Germans find him exceedingly difficult to understand, as he is said to +use the English construction almost entirely; for this reason, perhaps, +I understood him quite easily. He lectures on the French Revolution, but +is engaged in writing a Universal History, the first numbers of which +are published. + +Two or three days after, we heard that a duel was to take place at +Neuenheim, on the opposite side of the Neckur, where the students have a +house hired for that purpose. In order to witness the spectacle, we +started immediately with two or three students. Along the road were +stationed old women, at intervals, as guards, to give notice of the +approach of the police, and from these we learned that one duel had +already been fought, and they were preparing for the other. The Red +Fisherman was busy in an outer room grinding the swords, which are made +as sharp as razors. In the large room some forty or fifty students were +walking about, while the parties were preparing. This was done by taking +off the coat and vest and binding a great thick leather garment on, +which reached from the breast to the knees, completely protecting the +body. They then put on a leather glove reaching nearly to the shoulder, +tied a thick cravat around the throat, and drew on a cap with a large +vizor. This done, they were walked about the room a short time, the +seconds holding out their arms to strengthen them; their faces all this +time betrayed considerable anxiety. + +All being ready, the seconds took their stations immediately behind +them, each armed with a sword, and gave the words: "_ready--bind your +weapons--loose!_" They instantly sprang at each other, exchanged two or +three blows, when the seconds cried "halt!" and struck their swords up. +Twenty-four rounds of this kind ended the duel, without either being +hurt, though the cap of one of them was cut through and his forehead +grazed. All their duels do not end so fortunately, however, as the +frightful scars on the faces of many of those present, testified. It is +a gratification to know that but a small portion of the students keep up +this barbarous custom. The great body is opposed to it; in Heidelberg, +four societies, comprising more than one half the students, have been +formed against it. A strong desire for such a reform seems to prevail, +and the custom will probably be totally discontinued in a short time. + +This view of the student-life was very interesting to me; it appeared in +a much better light than I had been accustomed to view it. Their +peculiar customs, except duelling and drinking, of course, may be the +better tolerated when we consider their effect on the liberty of +Germany. It is principally through them that a free spirit is kept +alive; they have ever been foremost to rise up for their Fatherland, and +bravest in its defence. And though many of their customs have so often +been held up to ridicule, among no other class can one find warmer, +truer or braver hearts. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR IN GERMANY. + + +_Jan. 2, 1845._--I have lately been computing how much my travels have +cost me up to the present time, and how long I can remain abroad to +continue the pilgrimage, with my present expectations. The result has +been most encouraging to my plan. Before leaving home, I wrote to +several gentlemen who had visited Europe, requesting the probable +expense of travel and residence abroad. They sent different accounts; E. +Joy Morris said I must calculate to spend at least $1500 a year; another +suggested $1000, and the most moderate of all, said that it was +_impossible_ to live in Europe a year on less than $500. Now, six months +have elapsed since I left home--six months of greater pleasure and +profit than any _year_ of my former life--and my expenses, in full, +amount to $130! This, however, nearly exhausts the limited sum with +which I started, but through the kindness of the editorial friends who +have been publishing my sketches of travel, I trust to receive a +remittance shortly. Printing is a business attended with so little +profit here, as there are already so many workmen, that it is almost +useless for a stranger to apply. Besides, after a tough grapple, I am +just beginning to master the language, and it seems so necessary to +devote every minute to study, that I would rather undergo some +privation, than neglect turning these fleeting hours into gold, for the +miser Memory to stow away in the treasure-vaults of the mind. + +We have lately witnessed the most beautiful and interesting of all +German festivals--Christmas. This is here peculiarly celebrated. About +the commencement of December, the Christmarkt or fair, was opened in the +Roemerberg, and has continued to the present time. The booths, decorated +with green boughs, were filled with toys of various kinds, among which +during the first days the figure of St. Nicholas was conspicuous. There +were bunches of wax candles to illuminate the Christmas tree, +gingerbread with printed mottos in poetry, beautiful little earthenware, +basket-work, and a wilderness of playthings. The 5th of December, being +Nicholas evening, the booths were lighted up, and the square was filled +with boys, running from one stand to another, all shouting and talking +together in the most joyous confusion. Nurses were going around, +carrying the smaller children in their arms, and parents bought presents +decorated with sprigs of pine and carried them away. Some of the shops +had beautiful toys, as for instance, a whole grocery store in miniature, +with barrels, boxes and drawers, all filled with sweetmeats, a kitchen +with a stove and all suitable utensils, which could really be used, and +sets of dishes of the most diminutive patterns. All was a scene of +activity and joyous feeling. + +Many of the tables had bundles of rods with gilded bands, which were to +be used that evening by the persons who represented St. Nicholas. In the +family with whom we reside, one of our German friends dressed himself +very comically, with a mask, fur robe and long tapering cap. He came in +with a bunch of rods and a sack, and a broom for a sceptre. After we all +had received our share of the beating, he threw the contents of his bag +on the table, and while we were scrambling for the nuts and apples, gave +us many smart raps over the fingers. In many families the children are +made to say, "I thank you, Herr Nicolaus," and the rods are hung up in +the room till Christmas to keep them in good behavior. This was only a +forerunner of the Christ-kindchen's coming. The Nicolaus is the +punishing spirit, the Christ-kindchen the rewarding one. + +When this time was over, we all began preparing secretly our presents +for Christmas. Every day there were consultations about the things which +should be obtained. It was so arranged that all should interchange +presents, but nobody must know beforehand what he would receive. What +pleasure there was in all these secret purchases and preparations! +Scarcely anything was thought or spoken of but Christmas, and every day +the consultations became more numerous and secret. The trees were bought +sometime beforehand, but as we were to witness the festival for the +first time, we were not allowed to see them prepared, in order that the +effect might be as great as possible. The market in the Roeinerberg +Square grew constantly larger and more brilliant. Every night it was lit +up with lamps and thronged with people. Quite a forest sprang up in the +street before our door. The old stone house opposite, with the traces of +so many centuries on its dark face, seemed to stand in the midst of a +garden. It was a pleasure to go out every evening and see the children +rushing to and fro, shouting and seeking out toys from the booths, and +talking all the time of the Christmas that was so near. The poor people +went by with their little presents hid under their cloaks, lest their +children might see them; every heart was glad and every countenance wore +a smile of secret pleasure. + +Finally the day before Christmas arrived. The streets were so full I +could scarce make my way through, and the sale of trees went on more +rapidly than ever. These wore commonly branches of pine or fir, set +upright in a little miniature garden of moss. When the lamps were +lighted at night, our street had the appearance of an illuminated +garden. We were prohibited from entering the rooms up stairs in which +the grand ceremony was to take place, being obliged to take our seats in +those arranged for the guests, and wait with impatience the hour when +Christ-kindchen should call. Several relations of the family came, and +what was more agreeable, they brought with them five or six children. I +was anxious to see how they would view the ceremony. Finally, in the +middle of an interesting conversation, we heard the bell ringing up +stairs. We all started up, and made for the door. I ran up the steps +with the children at my heels, and at the top met a blaze of light +coming from the open door, that dazzled me. In each room stood a great +table, on which the presents were arranged, amid flowers and wreaths. +From the centre, rose the beautiful Christmas tree covered with wax +tapers to the very top, which made it nearly as light as day, while +every bough was hung with sweetmeats and gilded nuts. The children ran +shouting around the table, hunting their presents, while the older +persons had theirs pointed out to them. I had qui'e a little library of +German authors as my share; and many of the others received quite +valuable gifts. + +But how beautiful was the heart-felt joy that shone on every +countenance! As each one discovered he embraced the givers, and all was +a scene of the purest feelings. It is a glorious feast, this Christmas +time! What a chorus from happy hearts went up on that evening to Heaven! +Full of poetry and feeling and glad associations, it is here anticipated +with joy, and leaves a pleasant memory behind it. We may laugh at such +simple festivals at home, and prefer to shake ourselves loose from every +shackle that bears the rust of the Past, but we would certainly be +happier if some of these beautiful old customs were better honored. They +renew the bond of feeling between families and friends, and strengthen +their kindly sympathy; even life-long friends require occasions of this +kind to freshen the wreath that binds them together. + +New Year's Eve is also favored with a peculiar celebration in Germany. +Every body remains up and makes himself merry till midnight. The +Christmas trees are again lighted, and while the tapers are burning +down, the family play for articles which they have purchased and hung on +the boughs. It is so arranged that each one shall win as much as he +gives, which change of articles makes much amusement. One of the ladies +rejoiced in the possession of a red silk handkerchief and a cake of +soap, while a cup and saucer and a pair of scissors fell to my lot! As +midnight drew near, it was louder in the streets, and companies of +people, some of them singing in chorus, passed by on their way to the +Zeil. Finally three-quarters struck, the windows were opened and every +one waited anxiously for the clock to strike. At the first sound, such a +cry arose as one may imagine, when thirty or forty thousand persons all +set their lungs going at once. Every body in the house, in the street, +over the whole city, shouted, _"Prosst Neu Jahr?"_ In families, all the +members embrace each other, with wishes of happiness for the new year. +Then the windows are thrown open, and they cry to their neighbors or +those passing by. + +After we had exchanged congratulations, Dennett, B---- and I set out for +the Zeil. The streets were full of people, shouting to one another and +to those standing at the open windows. We failed not to cry, _"Prosst +Neu Jahr!"_ wherever we saw a damsel at the window, and the words came +back to us more musically than we sent them. Along the Zeil the +spectacle was most singular. The great wide street was filled with +companies of men, marching up and down, while from the mass rang up one +deafening, unending shout, that seemed to pierce the black sky above. +The whole scene looked stranger and wilder from the flickering light of +the swinging lamps, and I could not help thinking it must resemble a +night in Paris during the French Revolution. We joined the crowd and +used our lungs as well as any of them. For some time after we returned +home, companies passed by, singing "with us 'tis ever so!" but at three +o'clock all was again silent. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +WINTER IN FRANKFORT--A FAIR, AN INUNDATION AND A FIRE. + + +After New Year, the Main, just above the city, and the lakes in the +promenades, were frozen over. The ice was tried by the police, and +having been found of sufficient thickness, to the great joy of the +schoolboys, permission was given to skate. The lakes were soon covered +with merry skaters, and every afternoon the banks were crowded with +spectators. It was a lively sight to see two or three hundred persons +darting about, turning and crossing like a flock of crows, while, by +means of arm-chairs mounted on runners, the ladies were enabled to join +in the sport, and whirl around among them. Some of the broad meadows +near the city, which were covered with water, were the resort of the +schools. I went there often in my walks, and always found two or three +schools, with the teachers, all skating together, and playing their +winter games on the ice. I have often seen them on the meadows along the +Main; the teachers generally made quite as much noise as the scholars in +their sports. + +In the Art Institute I saw the picture of "Huss before the Council of +Constance," by the painter Lessing. It contains upwards of twenty +figures. The artist has shown the greatest skill in the expression and +grouping of these. Bishops and Cardinals in their splendid robes are +seated around a table, covered with parchment folios, and before them +stands Huss alone. His face, pale and thin with long imprisonment, he +has lain one hand on his breast, while with the other he has grasped one +of the volumes on the table; there is an air of majesty, of heavenly +serenity on his lofty forehead and calm eye. One feels instinctively +that he has truth on his side. There can be no deception, no falsehood +in those noble features. The three Italian cardinals before him appear +to be full of passionate rage; the bishop in front, who holds the +imperial pass given to Huss, looks on with an expression of scorn, and +the priests around have an air of mingled curiosity and hatred. There is +one, however, in whose mild features and tearful eye is expressed +sympathy and pity for the prisoner. It is said this picture has had a +great effect upon Catholics who have seen it, in softening the bigotry +with which they regarded the early reformers; and if so, it is a +triumphant proof how much art can effect in the cause of truth and +humanity. I was much interested in a cast of the statue of St. George, +by the old Italian sculptor Donatello. It is a figure full of youth and +energy, with a countenance that seems to breathe. Donatello was the +teacher of Michael Angelo, and when the young sculptor was about setting +off for Rome, he showed him the statue, his favorite work. Michael gazed +at it long and intensely, and at length, on parting, said to Donatello, +"It wants but one thing." The artist pondered long over this expression, +for he could not imagine in what could fail the matchless figure. At +length, after many years, Michael Angelo, in the noon of his renown, +visited the death-bed of his old master. Donatello begged to know, +before he died, what was wanting to his St. George. Angelo answered, +"_the gift of speech!_" and a smile of triumph lighted the old man's +face, as he closed his eyes forever. + +The Eschernheim Tower, at the entrance of one of the city gates, is +universally admired by strangers, on account of its picturesque +appearance, overgrown with ivy and terminated by the little pointed +turrets, which one sees so often in Germany, on buildings three or four +centuries old. There are five other watch towers of similar form, which +stand on different sides of the city, at the distance of a mile or two, +and generally upon an eminence overlooking the country. They were +erected several centuries ago, to discern from afar the approach of an +enemy, and protect the caravans of merchants, which at that time +travelled from city to city, from the attacks of robbers. The +Eschernheim Tower is interesting from another circumstance, which, +whether true or not, is universally believed. When Frankfort was under +the sway of a prince, a Swiss hunter, for some civil offence, was +condemned to die. He begged his life from the prince, who granted it +only on condition that he should fire the figure 9 with his rifle +through the vane of this tower. He agreed, and did it; and at the +present lime, one can distinguish a rude 9 on the vane, as if cut with +bullets, while two or three marks at the side appear to be from shots +that failed. + +The promise of spring which lately visited us, was not destined for +fulfilment. Shortly afterwards it grew cold again, with a succession of +snows and sharp northerly winds. Such weather at the commencement of +spring is not uncommon at home; but here they say there has not been +such a winter known for 150 years. In the north of Prussia many persons +have been starved to death on account of provisions becoming scarce. +Among the Hartz also, the suffering is very great. We saw something of +the misery even here. It was painful to walk through the streets and see +so many faces bearing plainly the marks of want, so many pale, +hollow-eyed creatures, with suffering written on every feature. We were +assailed with petitions for help which could not be relieved, though it +pained and saddened the heart to deny. The women, too, labor like +brutes, day after day. Many of them appear cheerful and contented, and +are no doubt, tolerably happy, for the Germans have all true, warm +hearts, and are faithful to one another, as far as poverty will permit; +but one cannot see old, gray-headed women, carrying loads on their heads +as heavy as themselves, exposed to all kinds of weather and working from +morning till night, without pity and indignation. + +So unusually severe has been the weather, that the deer and hares in the +mountains near, came nearly starved and tamed down by hunger, into the +villages to hunt food. The people fed them everyday, and also carried +grain into the fields for the partridges and pheasants, who flew up to +them like domestic fowls. The poor ravens made me really sorry; some lay +dead in the fields and many came into the city perfectly tame, flying +along the Main with wings hardly strong enough to boar up their skeleton +bodies. The storks came at the usual time, but went back again. I hope +the year's blessing has not departed with them, according to the old +German superstition. + +_March 26._--We have hopes of spring at last. Three days ago the rain +began and has continued with little intermission till now. The air is +warm, the snow goes fast, and every thing seems to announce that the +long winter is breaking up. The Main rises fast, and goes by the city +like an arrow, whirling large masses of ice upon the banks. The hills +around are coming out from under the snow, and the lilac-buds in the +promenades begin to expand for the second time. + +The Fair has now commenced in earnest, and it is a most singular and +interesting sight. The open squares are filled with booths, leaving +narrow streets between them, across which canvas is spread. Every booth +is open and filled with a dazzling display of wares of all kinds. +Merchants assemble from all parts of Europe. The Bohemians come with +their gorgeous crystal ware; the Nuremborgers with their toys, quaint +and fanciful as the old city itself; men from the Thuringian forest, +with minerals and canes, and traders from Berlin, Vienna, Paris and +Switzerland, with dry goods and wares of all kinds. Near the Exchange +are two or three companies of Tyrolese, who attract much of my +attention. Their costume is exceedingly picturesque. The men have all +splendid manly figures, and honor and bravery are written on their +countenances. One of the girls is a really handsome mountain maiden, and +with her pointed, broad-brimmed black hat, as romantic looking as one +could desire. The musicians have arrived, and we are entertained the +whole day long by wandering bands, some of whom play finely. The best, +which is also the favorite company, is from Saxony, called "The Mountain +Boys." They are now playing in our street, and while I write, one of the +beautiful choruses from Norma comes up through the din of the crowd. In +fact, music is heard over the whole city, and the throngs that fill +every street with all sorts of faces and dresses, somewhat relieve the +monotony that was beginning to make Frankfort tiresome. + +We have an ever-varied and interesting scene from our window. Besides +the motley crowd of passers-by, there are booths and tables stationed +thick below. One man in particular is busily engaged in selling his +store of blacking in the auction style, in a manner that would do credit +to a real Down-caster. He has flaming certificates exhibited, and +prefaces his calls to buy with a high-sounding description of his +wonderful qualities. He has a bench in front, where he tests on the +shoes of his customers, or if none of those are disposed to try it, he +rubs it on his own, which shine like mirrors. So he rattles on with +amazing fluency in French, German and Italian, and this, with his black +beard and moustache and his polite, graceful manner, keeps a crowd of +customers around him, so that the wonderful blacking goes off as fast as +he can supply it. + +_April 6._--Old Winter's gales are shut close behind us, and the sun +looks down with his summer countenance. The air, after the long cold +rain, is like that of Paradise. All things are gay and bright, and +everybody is in motion. Spring commenced with yesterday in earnest, and +lo! before night the roads were all dry and fine as if there had been no +rain for a month; and the gardeners dug and planted in ground which, +eight days before, was covered with snow! + +After having lived through the longest winter here, for one hundred and +fifty years, we were destined to witness the greatest flood for sixty, +and little lower than any within the last three hundred years. On the +28th of March, the river overflooded the high pier along the Main, and +rising higher and higher, began to come into the gates and alleys. +Before night the whole bank was covered and the water intruded into some +of the booths in the Romerberg. When I went there the next morning, it +was a sorrowful sight. Persons were inside the gate with boats; so +rapidly had it risen, that many of the merchants had no time to move +their wares, and must suffer great damage. They were busy rescuing what +property could bo seized in the haste, and constructing passages into +the houses which were surrounded. No one seemed to think of buying or +selling, but only on the best method to escape the danger. Along the +Main it was still worse. From the measure, it had risen seventeen feet +above its usual level, and the arches of the bridge were filled nearly +to the top. At the Upper-Main gate, every thing was flooded--houses, +gardens, workshops, &c.; the water had even overrun the meadows above +and attacked the city from behind, so that a part of the beautiful +promenades lay deep under water. On the other side, we could see houses +standing in it up to the roof. It came up through the sewers into the +middle of Frankfort; a large body of men were kept at work constructing +slight bridges to walk on, and transporting boats to places where they +were needed. This was all done at the expense of the city; the greatest +readiness was everywhere manifested to render all possible assistance. +In the Fischergasse, I saw them taking provisions to the people in +boats; one man even fastened a loaf of bread to the end of a broomstick +and reached it across the narrow street from an upper story window, to +the neighbor opposite. News came that Hausen, a village towards the +Taunus, about two miles distant, was quite under water, and that the +people clung to the roofs and cried for help; but it was fortunately +false. About noon, cannon shots were heard, and twenty boats were sent +out from the city. + +In the afternoon I ascended the tower of the Cathedral, which commands a +wide view of the valley, up and down. Just above the city the whole +plain was like a small lake--between two and three miles wide. A row of +new-built houses stretched into it like a long promontory, and in the +middle, like an island, stood a country-seat with large out-buildings. +The river sent a long arm out below, that reached up through the meadows +behind the city, as if to clasp it all and bear it away together. A +heavy storm was raging along the whole extent of the Taunus; but a +rainbow stood in the eastern sky. I thought of its promise, and hoped, +for the sake of the hundreds of poor people who were suffering by the +waters, that it might herald their fall. + +We afterwards went over to Sachsenhausen, which was, if possible, in a +still more unfortunate condition. The water had penetrated the passages +and sewers, and from these leaped and rushed up into the streets, as out +of a fountain. The houses next to the Main, which were first filled, +poured torrents out of the doors and windows into the street below. +These people were nearly all poor, and could ill afford the loss of time +and damage of property it occasioned them. The stream was filled with +wood and boards, and even whole roofs, with the tiles on, went floating +down. The bridge was crowded with people; one saw everywhere mournful +countenances, and heard lamentations over the catastrophe. After sunset, +a great cloud, filling half the sky, hung above; the reflection of its +glowing crimson tint, joined to the brown hue of the water, made it seem +like a river of fire. + +What a difference a little sunshine makes! I could have forgotten the +season the next day, but for the bare trees and swelling Main, as I +threaded my way through the hundreds of people who thronged its banks. +It was that soft warmth that comes with the first spring days, relaxing +the body and casting a dreamy hue over the mind. I leaned over the +bridge in the full enjoyment of it, and listening to the roaring of the +water under the arches, forgot every thing else for a time. It was +amusing to walk up and down the pier and look at the countenances +passing by, while the phantasy was ever ready, weaving a tale for all. +My favorite Tyrolese were there, and I saw a Greek leaning over the +stone balustrade, wearing the red cap and white frock, and with the long +dark hair and fiery eye of the Orient. I could not but wonder, as he +looked at the dim hills of the Odenwald, along the eastern horizon, +whether they called up in his mind the purple isles of his native +Archipelago. + +The general character of a nation is plainly stamped on the countenances +of its people. One who notices the faces in the streets, can soon +distinguish, by the glance he gives in going by, the Englishman or the +Frenchman from the German, and the Christian from the Jew. Not less +striking is the difference of expression between the Germans themselves; +and in places where all classes of people are drawn together, it is +interesting to observe how accurately these distinctions are drawn. The +boys have generally handsome, intelligent faces, and like all boys, they +are full of life and spirit, for they know nothing of the laws by which +their country is chained down, and would not care for them, if they did. +But with the exception of the students, who _talk_, at least, of Liberty +and Right, the young men lose this spirit and at last settle down into +the calm, cautious, _lethargic_ citizen. One distinguishes an Englishman +and I should think an American, also, in this respect, very easily; the +former, moreover, by a certain cold stateliness and reserve. There is +something, however, about a Jew, whether English or German, which marks +him from all others. However different their faces, there is a family +character which runs through the whole of them. It lays principally in +their high cheek-bones, prominent nose and thin, compressed lips; which, +especially in elderly men, gives a peculiar miserly expression that is +unmistakeable. I regret to say, one looks almost in vain, in Germany, +for a handsome female countenance. Here and there, perhaps, is a woman +with regular features, but that intellectual expression, which gives +such a charm to the most common face, is wanting. I have seen more +beautiful women in one night, in a public assembly in America, than +during the seven months I have been on the Continent. Some of the young +Jewesses, in Frankfort, are considered handsome, but their features soon +become too strongly marked. In a public walk the number of positively +ugly faces is really astonishing. + +About ten o'clock that night, I heard a noise of persons running in the +street, and going to the Romerberg, found the water had risen, all at +once, much higher, and was still rapidly increasing. People were setting +up torches and lengthening the rafts, which had been already formed. The +lower part of the city was a real Venice--the streets were full of boats +and people could even row about in their own houses; though it was not +quite so bad as the flood in Georgia, where they went _up stairs to bed_ +in boats! I went to the bridge. Persons were calling around--"The water! +the water! it rises continually!" The river rushed through the arches, +foaming and dashing with a noise like thunder, and the red light of the +torches along the shore cost a flickering glare on the troubled waves. +It was then twenty-one feet above its usual level. Men were busy all +around, carrying boats and ladders to the places most threatened, or +emptying cellars into which it was penetrating. The sudden swelling was +occasioned by the coming down of the floods from the mountains of +Spessart. + +Part of the upper quay cracked next morning and threatened to fall in, +and one of the projecting piers of the bridge sunk away from the main +body three or four inches. In Sachsenhausen the desolation occasioned by +the flood is absolutely frightful; several houses have fallen into total +ruin. All business was stopped for the day; the Exchange was even shut +up. As the city depends almost entirely on pumps for its supply of +water, and these were filled with the flood, we have been drinking the +muddy current of the Main ever since. The damage to goods is very great. +The fair was stopped at once, and the loss in this respect alone, must +be several millions of florins. The water began to fall on the 1st, and +has now sunk about ten feet, so that most of the houses are again +released, though in a bad condition. + +Yesterday afternoon, as I was sitting in my room, writing, I heard all +at once an explosion like a cannon in the street, followed by loud and +continued screams. Looking out the window, I saw the people rushing by +with goods in their arms, some wringing their hands and crying, others +running in all directions. Imagining that it was nothing less than the +tumbling down of one of the old houses, we ran down and saw a store a +few doors distant in flames. The windows were bursting and flying out, +and the mingled mass of smoke and red flame reached half way across the +street. We learned afterwards it was occasioned by the explosion of a +jar of naphtha, which instantly enveloped the whole room in fire, the +people barely escaping in time. The persons who had booths near were +standing still in despair, while the flames were beginning to touch +their property. A few butchers who first came up, did almost everything. +A fire engine arrived soon, but it was ten minutes before it began to +play, and by that time the flames were coming out of the upper stories. +Then the supply of water soon failed, and though another engine came up +shortly after, it was sometime before it could be put in order, so that +by the time they got fairly to work, the fire had made its way nearly +through the house. The water was first brought in barrels drawn by +horses, till some officer came and opened the fire plug. The police were +busy at work seizing those who came by and setting them to work; and as +the alarm had drawn a great many together, they at last began to effect +something. All the military are obliged to bo out, and the officers +appeared eager to use their authority while they could, for every one +was ordering and commanding, till all was a scene of perfect confusion +and uproar. I could not help laughing heartily, so ludicrous did the +scene appear. There were little, miserable engines, not much bigger than +a hand-cart, and looking as if they had not been used for half a +century, the horses running backwards and forwards, dragging barrels +which were emptied into tubs, after which the water was finally dipped +up in buckets, and emptied into the engines! These machines can only +play into the second or third story, after which the hose was taken up +in the houses on the opposite side of the street, and made to play +across. After four hours the fire was overcome, the house being +thoroughly burnt out; it happened to have double fire walls, which +prevented those adjoining from catching easily. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE DEAD AND THE DEAF--MENDELSSOHN THE COMPOSER. + + +It is now a luxury to breathe. These spring days are the perfection of +delightful weather. Imagine the delicious temperature of our Indian +summer joined to the life and freshness of spring, add to this a sky of +the purest azure, and a breeze filled with the odor of violets,--the +most exquisite of all perfumes--and you have some idea of it. The +meadows are beginning to bloom, and I have already heard the larks +singing high up in the sky. Those sacred birds, the storks, have +returned and taken possession of their old nests on the chimney-tops; +they are sometimes seen walking about in the fields, with a very grave +and serious air, as if conscious of the estimation in which they are +held. Everybody is out in the open air; the woods, although they still +look wintry, are filled with people, and the boatmen on the Main are +busy ferrying gay parties across. The spring has been so long in coming, +that all are determined to enjoy it well, while it lasts. + +We visited the cemetery a few days ago. The dead-house, where corpses +are placed in the hope of resuscitation, is an appendage to cemeteries +found only in Germany. We were shown into a narrow chamber, on each side +of which were six cells, into which one could distinctly see, by means +of a large plate of glass. In each of these is a bier for the body, +directly above which hangs a cord, having on the end ten thimbles, which +are put upon the fingers of the corpse, so that the slightest motion +strikes a bell in the watchman's room. Lamps are lighted at night, and +in winter the rooms are warmed. In the watchman's chamber stands a clock +with a dial-plate of twenty-four hours, and opposite every hour is a +little plate, which can only be moved two minutes before it strikes. If +then the watchman has slept or neglected his duty at that time, he +cannot move it afterwards, and his neglect, is seen by the +superintendent. In such a case, he is severely lined, and for the second +or third offence, dismissed. There are other rooms adjoining, containing +beds, baths, galvanic battery, &c. Nevertheless, they say there has been +no resuscitation during the fifteen years it has been established. + +We afterwards went to the end of the cemetery to see the bas-reliefs of +Thorwaldsen, in the vault of the Bethmann family. They are three in +number, representing the death of a son of the present banker, Moritz +von Bethmann, who was drowned in the Arno about fourteen years ago. The +middle one represents the young man drooping in his chair, the beautiful +Greek Angel of Death standing at his back, with one arm over his +shoulder, while his younger brother is sustaining him, and receiving the +wreath that drops from his sinking hand. The young woman who showed us +these, told us of Thorwaldsen's visit to Frankfort, about three years +ugo. She described him as a beautiful and venerable old man, with long +white locks hanging over his shoulders, still vigorous and active for +his years. There seems to have been much resemblance between him and +Dannecker--not only in personal appearance and character, but, in the +simple and classical beauty of their works. + +The cemetery contains many other monuments; with the exception of one or +two by Launitz, and an exquisite Death Angel in sandstone, from a young +Frankfort sculptor, they are not remarkable. The common tomb-stone is a +white wooden cross; opposite the entrance is a perfect forest of them, +involuntarily reminding one of a company of ghosts, with outstretched +arms. These contain the names of the deceased with mottoes, some of +which are beautiful and touching, as for instance: "_Through darkness +unto light_;" "_Weep not for her; she is not dead, but sleepeth_" +"_Slumber sweet!_" etc. The graves are neatly bordered with grass, and +planted with flowers, and many of the crosses have withered wreathes +hanging upon them. In summer it is a beautiful place; in fact, the very +name of cemetery in German--_Friedhuf_ or Court of Peace--takes away the +idea of death; the beautiful figure of the youth, with his inverted +torch, makes one think of the grave only us a place of repose. + +On our way back we stopped at the Institute for the Deaf; for by the +new method of teaching they are no longer dumb. It is a handsome +building in the gardens skirting the city. We applied, and on learning +we were strangers, they gave us permission to enter. On finding we were +Americans, the instructress immediately spoke of Dr. Howe, who had +visited the Institute a year or two before, and was much pleased to find +that Mr. Dennett was acquainted with him. She took us into a room where +about fifteen small children were assembled, and addressing one of the +girls, said in a distinct tone: "These gentlemen are from America; the +deaf children there speak with their fingers--canst thou speak so?" To +which the child answered distinctly, but with some effort: "No, we speak +with our mouths." She then spoke to several others with the same +success; one of the boys in particular, articulated with astonishing +success. It was interesting to watch their countenances, which were +alive with eager attention, and to see the apparent efforts they made to +utter the words. They spoke in a monotonous tone, slowly and +deliberately, but their voices had a strange, sepulchral sound, which +was at first unpleasant to the ear. I put one or two questions to a +little boy, which he answered quite readily; as I was a foreigner, this +was the best test that could be given of the success of the method. We +conversed afterwards with the director, who received us kindly, and +appointed a day for us to come and witness the system more fully. He +spoke of Dr. Howe and Horace Mann, of Boston, and seemed to take a great +interest in the introduction of his system in America. + +We went again at the appointed time, and as their drawing teacher was +there, we had an opportunity of looking over their sketches, which were +excellent. The director showed us the manner of teaching them, with a +looking-glass, in which they were shown the different positions of the +organs of the mouth, and afterwards made to feel the vibrations of the +throat and breast, produced by the sound. He took one of the youngest +scholars, covered her eyes, and placing her hand upon his throat, +articulated the second sound of A. She followed him, making the sound +softer or louder as he did. All the consonants were made distinctly, by +placing her hand before his mouth. Their exercises in reading, speaking +with one another, and writing from dictation, succeeded perfectly. He +treated them all like his own children, and sought by jesting and +playing, to make the exercise appear as sport. They call him father and +appear to be much attached to him. + +One of the pupils, about fourteen years old, interested me through his +history. lie and his sister were found in Sachsenhausen, by a Frankfort +merchant, in a horrible condition. Their mother had died about two years +and a half before, and during all that time their father had neglected +them till they were near dead through privation and filth. The boy was +placed in this Institute, and the girl in that of the Orphans. He soon +began to show a talent for modelling figures, and for some time he has +been taking lessons of the sculptor Launitz. I saw a beautiful copy of a +bas-relief of Thorwaldsen which he made, as well as an original, very +interesting, from its illustration of his history. It was in two parts; +the first represented himself and his sister, kneeling in misery before +a ruined family altar, by which an angel was standing, who took him by +one hand, while with the other he pointed to his benefactor, standing +near. The other represented the two kneeling in gratitude before a +restored altar, on which was the anchor of Hope. From above streamed +down a light, where two angels were rejoicing over their happiness. For +a boy of fourteen, deprived of one of the most valuable senses, and +taken from such a horrible condition of life, it is a surprising work +and gives brilliant hopes for his future. + +We went lately into the Roemerberg, to see the Kaisersaal and the other +rooms formerly used by the old Emperors of Germany, and their Senates. +The former is now in the process of restoration. The ceiling is in the +gorgeous illuminated style of the middle ages; along each side arc rows +of niches for the portraits of the Emperors, which have been painted by +the best artists in Berlin, Dresden, Vienna and Munich. It is remarkable +that the number of the old niches in the hall should exactly correspond +with the number of the German Emperors, so that the portrait of the +Emperor Francis of Austria, who was the last, will close the long rank +coming down from Charlemagne. The pictures, or at least such of them as +are already finished, are kept in another room; they give one a good +idea of the changing styles of royal costumes, from the steel shirt and +helmet to the jewelled diadem and velvet robe. I looked with interest on +a painting of Frederic Barbarossa, by Leasing, and mused over the +popular tradition that he sits with his paladins in a mountain cave +under the Castle of Kyffhauser, ready to come forth and assist his +Fatherland in the hour of need. There was the sturdy form of Maximilian; +the martial Conrad; and Ottos, Siegfrieds and Sigismunds in plenty--many +of whom moved a nation in their day, but are now dust and forgotten. + +I yesterday visited Mendelssohn, the celebrated composer. Having heard +rame of his music this winter, particularly that magnificent creation, +the "Walpurgisnacht," I wished to obtain his autograph before leaving, +and sent a note for that purpose. He sent a kind note in answer, adding +a chorus out of the Walpurgisnacht from his own hand. After this, I +could not repress the desire of speaking with him. lie received me with +true German cordiality, and on learning I was an American, spoke of +having been invited to attend a musical festival in New York. He invited +me to call on him if he happened to bo in Leipsic or Dresden when we +should pass through, and spoke particularly of the fine music there. I +have rarely seen a man whose countenance bears so plainly the stamp of +genius. He has a glorious dark eye, and Byron's expression of a "dome of +thought," could never be more appropriately applied than to his lofty +and intellectual forehead, the marble whiteness and polish of which arc +heightened by the raven hue of his hair. He is about forty years of age, +in the noon of his fame and the full maturity of his genius. Already as +a boy of fourteen he composed an opera, which was played with much +success at Berlin; he is now the first living composer of Germany. Moses +Mendelssohn, the celebrated Jewish philosopher, was his grandfather; and +his father, now living, is accustomed to say that in his youth he was +spoken of as the son of the great Mendelssohn; now he is known as the +father of the great Mendelssohn! + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +JOURNEY ON FOOT FROM FRANKFORT TO CASSEL. + + +The day for leaving Frankfort came at last, and I bade adieu to the +gloomy, antique, but still quaint and pleasant city. I felt like leaving +a second home, so much had the memories of many delightful hours spent +there attached me to it: I shall long retain the recollection of its +dark old streets, its massive, devil-haunted bridge and the ponderous +cathedral, telling of the times of the Crusaders. I toiled up the long +hill on the road to Friedberg, and from the tower at the top took a last +look at the distant city, with a heart heavier than the knapsack whose +unaccustomed weight rested uneasily on my shoulders. Being +alone--starting out into the wide world, where us yet I know no one,--I +felt much deeper what it was to find friends in a strange land. But such +is the wanderer's lot. + +We had determined on making the complete tour of Germany on foot, and in +order to vary it somewhat, my friend and I proposed taking different +routes from Frankfort to Leipsic. He choose a circuitous course, by way +of Nuremberg and the Thuringian forests; while I, whose fancy had been +running wild with Goethe's witches, preferred looking on the gloom and +grandeur of the rugged Hartz. We both left Frankfort on the 23d of +April, each bearing a letter of introduction to the same person in +Leipsic, where we agreed to meet in fourteen days. As we were obliged to +travel as cheaply as possible, I started with but seventynine florins, +(a florin is forty cents American) well knowing that if I took more, I +should, in all probability, spend proportionally more also. Thus, armed +with my passport, properly _vised_, a knapsack weighing fifteen pounds +and a cane from the Kentucky Mammoth Cave, I began my lonely walk +through Northern Germany. The warm weather of the week before had +brought out the foliage of the willows and other early trees--violets +and cowslips were springing up in the meadows. Keeping along the foot of +the Taunus, I passed over great, broad hills, which were brown with the +spring ploughing, and by sunset reached Friedberg--a, largo city, on the +summit of a hill. The next morning, after sketching its old, baronial +castle, I crossed the meadows to Nauheim, to see the salt springs there. +They are fifteen in number; the water, which is very warm, rushes up +with such force as to leap several feet above the earth. The buildings +made for evaporation are nearly two miles in length; a walk along the +top gives a delightful view of the surrounding valleys. After reaching +the _chaussee_ again, I was hailed by a wandering journeyman, or +_handwerker_, as they are called, who wanted company. As I had concluded +to accept all offers of this kind, we trudged along together very +pleasantly, He was from Holstein, on the borders of Denmark and was just +returning home, after an absence of six years, having escaped from +Switzerland after the late battle of Luzerne, which he had witnessed. He +had his knapsack and tools fastened on two wheels, which he drew after +him quite conveniently. I could not help laughing at the adroit manner +in which he begged his way along, through every village. He would ask me +to go on and wait for him at the other end; after a few minutes he +followed, with a handful of small copper money, which he said he had +_fought for_,--the handworker's term for _begged._ + +We passed over long ranges of hills, with an occasional view of the +Vogelsgebirge, or Bird's Mountains, far to the cast. I knew at length, +by the pointed summits of the hills, that we were approaching Giessen +and the valley of the Lahn. Finally, two sharp peaks appeared in the +distance, each crowned with a picturesque fortress, while the spires of +Giessen rose from the valley below. Parting from my companion, I passed +through the city without stopping, for it was the time of the university +vacation, and Dr. Liebeg, the world-renowned chemist, whom I desired to +see, was absent. + +Crossing a hill or two, I came down into the valley of the Lahn, which +flows through meadows of the brightest green, with redroofed cottages +nestled among gardens and orchards upon its banks. The women here wear +a remarkable costume, consisting of a red boddice with white sleeves, +and a dozen skirts, one above another, reaching only to the knees. I +slept again at a little village among the hills, and started early for +Marburg. The meadows were of the purest emerald, through which the +stream wound its way, with even borders, covered to the water's edge +with grass so smooth and velvety, that a fairy might have danced along +on it for miles without stumbling over an uneven tuft. This valley is +one of the finest districts in Germany. I thought, as I saw the peaceful +inhabitants at work in their fields, I had most probably, on the +battle-field of Brandywine, walked over the bones of some of their +ancestors, whom a despotic prince had torn from their happy homes, to +die in a distant land, fighting against the cause of freedom. + +I now entered directly into the heart of Hesse Cassel. The country +resembled a collection of hills thrown together in confusion--sometimes +a wide plain left between them, sometimes a clustre of wooded peaks, and +here and there a single pointed summit rising above the rest. The +vallies were green as ever, the hill-sides freshly ploughed and the +forests beginning to be colored by the tender foliage of the larch and +birch. I walked two or three hours at a "stretch," and then, when I +could find a dry, shady bank, I would rest for half an hour and finish +some hastily sketched landscape, or lay at full length, with my head on +my knapsack, and peruse the countenances of those passing by. The +observation which every traveller excites, soon ceases to be +embarrassing. It was at first extremely unpleasant; but I am now so +hardened, that the strange, magnetic influence of the human eye, which +we cannot avoid feeling, passes by me as harmlessly as if turned aside +by invisible mail. + +During the day several showers came by, but as none of them penetrated +further than my blouse, I kept on, and reached about sunset a little +village in the valley. I chose a small inn, which had an air of neatness +about it, and on going in, the tidy landlady's "be you welcome," as she +brought a pair of slippers for my swollen feet, made me feel quite at +home. After being furnished with eggs, milk, butter and bread, for +supper, which I ate while listening to an animated discussion between +the village schoolmaster and some farmers, I was ushered into a clean, +sanded bedroom, and soon forgot all fatigue. For this, with breakfast in +the morning, the bill was six and a half groschen--about sixteen cents! +Tin air was freshened by the rain and I journeyed over the hills at a +rapid rate. Stopping for dinner at the large village of Wabern, a boy at +the inn asked me if I was going to America? I said no, I came from +there. He then asked me many silly questions, after which he ran out and +told the people of the village. When I set out again, the children +pointed at me and cried: "see there! he is from America!" and the men +took off their hats and bowed! + +The sky was stormy, which added to the gloom of the hills around, though +some of the distant ranges lay in mingled light and shade--the softest +alternation of purple and brown. There were many isolated, rocky hills, +two of which interested me, through their attendant legends. One is said +to have been the scene of a battle between the Romans and Germans, +where, after a long conflict the rock opened and swallowed up the +former. The other, which is crowned with a rocky wall, so like a ruined +fortress, as at a distance to be universally mistaken for one, tradition +says is the death-place of Charlemagne, who still walks around its +summit every night, clad in complete armor. On ascending a hill late in +the afternoon, I saw at a great distance the statue of Hercules, which +stands on the Wilhelmshohe, near Cassel. Night set in with a dreary +rain, and I stopped at an inn about five miles short of the city. While +tea was preparing a company of students came in and asked for a separate +room. Seeing I was alone, they invited me up with them. They seemed much +interested in America, and leaving the table gradually, formed a ring +around me, where I had enough to do to talk with them all at once. When +the omnibus came along, the most of them went with it to Cassel; but +five remained and persuaded me to set out with them on foot. They +insisted on carrying my knapsack the whole way, through the rain and +darkness, and when I had passed the city gate with them, unchallenged, +conducted me to the comfortable hotel, "_Zur Krone_." + +It is a pleasant thing to wake up in the morning in a strange city. +Every thing is new; you walk around it for the first time in the full +enjoyment of the novelty, or the not less agreeable feeling of surprise, +if it is different from your anticipations. Two of my friends of the +previous night called for me in the morning, to show me around the city, +and the first impression, made in such agreeable company, prepossessed +me very favorably. I shall not, however, take up time in describing its +many sights, particularly the Frederick's Platz, where the statue of +Frederick the Second, who sold ten thousand of his subjects to England, +has been re-erected, after having lain for years in a stable where it +was thrown by the French. + +I was much interested in young Carl K----, one of my new acquaintances. +His generous and unceasing kindness first won my esteem, and I found on +nearer acquaintance, the qualities of his mind equal those of his heart. +I saw many beautiful poems of his which were of remarkable merit, +considering his youth, and thought I could read in his dark, dreamy eye, +the unconscious presentiment of a power he does not yet possess. He +seemed as one I had known for years. + +He, with a brother student, accompanied me in the afternoon, to +Wilhelmshohe, the summer residence of the Prince, on the side of a range +of mountains three miles west of the city. The road leads in a direct +line to the summit of the mountain, which is thirteen hundred feet in +height, surmounted by a great structure, called the Giant's Castle, on +the summit of which is a pyramid ninety-six feet high, supporting a +statue of Hercules, copied after the Farnese, and thirty-one feet in +height. By a gradual ascent through beautiful woods, we reached the +princely residence, a magnificent mansion standing on a natural terrace +of the mountain. Near it is a little theatre built by Jerome Buonaparte, +in which he himself used to play. We looked into the green house in +passing, where the floral splendor of every zone was combined. There +were lofty halls, with glass roofs, where the orange grew to a great +tree, and one could sit in myrtle bowers, with the brilliant bloom of +the tropics around him. It was the only thing there I was guilty of +coveting. + +The greatest curiosity is the water-works, which are perhaps unequalled +in the world. The Giant's Castle on the summit contains an immense tank +in which water is kept for the purpose; but unfortunately, at the time +I was there, the pipes, which had been frozen through the winter, were +not in condition to play. From the summit an inclined plane of masonry +descends the mountain nine hundred feet, broken every one hundred and +fifty feet by perpendicular descents. These are the Cascades, down which +the water first rushes from the tank. After being again collected in a +great basin at the bottom, it passes into an aqueduct, built like a +Roman ruin, and goes over beautiful arches through the forest, where it +falls in one sheet down a deep precipice. When it has descended several +other beautiful falls, made in exact imitation of nature, it is finally +collected and forms the great fountain, which rises twelve inches in +diameter from the middle of a lake to the height of one hundred and +ninety feet! We descended by lovely walks through the forest to the +Lowenburg, built as the ruin of a knightly castle, and fitted out in +every respect to correspond with descriptions of a fortress in the olden +time, with moat, drawbridge, chapel and garden of pyramidal trees. +Farther below, are a few small houses, inhabited by the descendants of +the Hessians who fell in America, supported here at the Prince's +expense! + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +ADVENTURES AMONG THE HARTZ. + + +On taking leave of Carl at the gate over the Gottingen road, I felt +tempted to bestow a malediction upon traveling, from its merciless +breaking of all links, as soon as formed. It was painful to think we +should meet no more. The tears started into his eyes, and feeling a mist +gathering over mine, I gave his hand a parting pressure, turned my back +upon Cassel and started up the long mountain, at a desperate rate. On +the summit I passed out of Hesse into Hanover, and began to descend the +remaining six miles. The road went down by many windings, but I +shortened the way considerably by a foot-path through a mossy old +forest. The hills bordering the Weser are covered with wood, through +which I saw the little red-roofed city of Munden, at the bottom. I +stopped there for the night, and next morning walked around the place. +It is one of the old German cities that have not yet felt the effect of +the changing spirit of the age. It is still walled, though the towers +are falling to ruin. The streets are narrow, crooked, and full of ugly +old houses, and to stand in the little square before the public +buildings, one would think himself born in the sixteenth century. Just +below the city the Werra and Fulda unito and form the Weser. The +triangular point has been made into a public walk, and the little +steamboat was lying at anchor near, waiting to start for Bremen. + +In the afternoon I got into the omnibus for Gottingen. The ride over the +wild, dreary, monotonous hills was not at all interesting. There were +two other passengers inside, one of whom, a grave, elderly man, took a +great interest in America, but the conversation was principally on his +side, for I had been taken with a fever in Munden. I lay crouched up in +the corner of the vehicle, trying to keep off the chills which +constantly came over me, and wishing only for Gottingen, that I might +obtain medicine and a bed. We reached it at last, and I got out with my +knapsack and walked wearily through half a dozen streets till I saw an +inn. But on entering, I found it so dark and dirty and unfriendly, that +I immediately went out again and hired the first pleasant looking boy I +met, to take me to a good hotel. He conducted me to the first one in the +city. I felt a trepidation of pocket, but my throbbing head plead more +powerfully, so I ordered a comfortable room and a physician. The host, +Herr Wilhelm, sent for Professor Trefurt, of the University, who told me +I had over-exerted myself in walking. He made a second call the next +day, when, as he was retiring, I inquired the amount of his fee. He +begged to be excused and politely bowed himself out. I inquired the +meaning of this of Herr Wilhelm, who said it was customary for +travellers to leave what they chose for the physician, as there was no +regular fee. He added, moreover, that twenty groschen, or about sixty +cents, was sufficient for the two visits! + +I stayed in Gottingen two dull, dreary, miserable days, without getting +much better. I took but one short walk through the city, in which I saw +the outsides of a few old churches and got a hard fall on the pavement. +Thinking that the _cause_ of my illness might perhaps become its _cure_, +I resolved to go on rather than remain in the melancholy--in spite of +its black-eyed maidens, melancholy--Gottingen. On the afternoon of the +second day, I took the post to Nordheim, about twelve miles distant. The +Gottingen valley, down which we drove, is green and beautiful, and the +trees seem to have come out all at once. we were not within sight of the +Hartz, but the mountains along the Weser were visible on the left. The +roads were extremely muddy from the late rains, so that I proceeded but +slowly. + +A blue range along the horizon told me of the Hartz, as I passed; +although there were some fine side-glimpses through the hills, I did not +see much of them till I reached Osterode, about twelve miles further. +Here the country begins to assume a different aspect. The city lies in a +narrow valley, and as the road goes down a steep hill towards it, one +sees on each side many quarries of gypsum, and in front the gloomy pine +mountains are piled one above another in real Alpine style. But alas! +the city, though it looks exceedingly romantic from above, is one of +the dirtiest I ever saw. I stopped at Herzberg, six miles farther, for +the night. The scenery was very striking; and its effect was much +heightened by a sky full of black clouds, which sent down a hail-storm +as they passed over. The hills are covered with pine, fir and larch. The +latter tree, in its first foliage, is most delicate and beautiful. Every +bough is like a long ostrich plume, and when one of them stands among +the dark pines, it seems so light and airy that the wind might carry it +away. Just opposite Herzberg, the Hartz stands in its gloomy and +mysterious grandeur, and I went to sleep with the pleasant thought that +an hour's walk on the morrow would shut me up in its deep recesses. + +The next morning I entered them. The road led up a narrow mountain +valley, down which a stream was rushing--on all sides were magnificent +forests of pine. It was glorious to look down their long aisles, dim and +silent, with a floor of thick green moss. There was just room enough for +the road and the wild stream which wound its way zigzag between the +hills, affording the most beautiful mountain-view along the whole route. +As I ascended, the mountains became rougher and wilder, and in the shady +hollows were still drifts of snow. Enjoying every thing very much, I +walked on without taking notice of the road, and on reaching a wild, +rocky chasm called the "Schlucht," was obliged to turn aside and take a +footpath over a high mountain to Andreasberg, a town built on a summit +two thousand feet above the sea. It is inhabited almost entirely by the +workmen in the mines. + +The way from Andreasberg to the Brocken leads along the Rehberger +Graben, which carry water about six miles for the oreworks. After going +through a thick pine wood, I came out on the mountain-side, where rough +crags overhung the way above, and through the tops of the trees I had +glimpses into the gorge below. It was scenery of the wildest character. +Directly opposite rose a mountain wall, dark and stern through the +gloomy sky; far below the little stream of the Oder foamed over the +rocks with a continual roar, and one or two white cloud-wreaths were +curling up from the forests. + +I followed the water-ditch around every projection of the mountain, +still ascending higher amid the same wild scenery, till at length I +reached the Oderteich, a great dam, in a kind of valley formed by some +mountain peaks on the side of the Brocken. It has a breastwork of +granite, very firm, and furnishes a continual supply of water for the +works. It began to rain soon, and I took a foot-path which went winding +up through the pine wood. The storm still increased, till everything was +cloud and rain, so I was obliged to stop about five o'clock at +Oderbruch, a toll-house and tavern on the side of the Brocken, on the +boundary between Brunswick and Hanover--the second highest inhabited +house in the Hartz. The Brocken was invisible through the storm and the +weather forboded a difficult ascent. The night was cold, but by a warm +fire I let the winds howl and the rain beat. When I awoke the next +morning, we were in clouds. They were thick on every side, hiding what +little view there was through the openings of the forest. After +breakfast, however, they were somewhat thinner, and I concluded to start +for the Brocken. It is not the usual way for travellers who ascend, +being not only a bad road but difficult to find, as I soon discovered. +The clouds gathered around again after I set out, and I was obliged to +walk in a storm of mingled rain and snow. The snow lay several feet deep +in the forests, and the path was, in many places, quite drifted over. +The white cloud-masses were whirled past by the wind, continually +enveloping me and shutting out every view. During the winter the path +had become, in ninny places, the bed of a mountain torrent, so that I +was obliged sometimes to wade kneedeep in snow, and sometimes to walk +over the wet, spongy moss, crawling under the long, dripping branches of +the stunted pines. After a long time of such dreary travelling, I came +to two rocks called the Stag Horns, standing on a little peak. The +storm, now all snow, blew more violently than ever, and the path became +lost under the deep drifts. + +Comforting myself with the assurance that if I could not find it, I +could at least make my way back, I began searching, and after some time, +came upon it again. Here the forest ceased; the way led on large stones +over a marshy ascending plain, but what was above, or on either side, I +could not see. It was solitude of the most awful kind. There was nothing +but the storm, which had already wet me through, and the bleak gray +waste of rocks. It grew sleeper and steeper; I could barely trace the +path by the rocks which were worn, and the snow threatened soon to cover +these. Added to this, although the walking and fresh mountain air had +removed my illness, I was still weak from the effects of it, and the +consequences of a much longer exposure to the storm were greatly to be +feared. I was wondering if the wind increased at the same rate, how much +longer it would be before I should be carried off, when suddenly +something loomed up above me through the storm. A few steps more and I +stood beside the Brocken House, on the very summit of the mountain! The +mariner, who has been floating for days on a wreck at sea, could +scarcely be more rejoiced at a friendly sail, than I was on entering the +low building. Two large Alpine dogs in the passage, as I walked in, +dripping with wet, gave notice to the inmates, and I was soon ushered +into a warm room, where I changed my soaked garments for dry ones, and +sat down by the fire with feelings of comfort not easily imagined. The +old landlord was quite surprised, on hearing the path by which I came, +that I found the way at all. The summit was wrapped in the thickest +cloud, and he gave me no hope for several hours of any prospect at all, +so I sat down and looked over the Stranger's Album. + +I saw but two names from the United States--B.F. Atkins, of Boston, and +C.A. Hay, from York, Pa. There were a great many long-winded German +poems--among them, one by Schelling, the philosopher. Some of them spoke +of having seen the "Spectre of the Brocken." I inquired of the landlord +about the phenomenon; he says in winter it is frequently seen, in summer +more seldom. The cause is very simple. It is always seen at sunrise, +when the eastern side of the Brocken is free from clouds, and at the +same time, the mist rises from the valley on the opposite side. The +shadow of every thing on the Brocken is then thrown in grand proportions +upon the mist, and is seen surrounded with a luminous halo. It is +somewhat singular that such a spectacle can be seen upon the Brocken +alone, but this is probably accounted for by the formation of the +mountain, which collects the mist at just such a distance from the +summit as to render the shadow visible. + +Soon after dinner the storm subsided and the clouds separated a little. +I could see down through the rifts on the plains of Brunswick, and +sometimes, when they opened a little more, the mountains below us to the +east and the adjoining plains, as far as Magdeburg. It was like looking +on the earth from another planet, or from some point in the air which +had no connection, with it; our station was completely surrounded by +clouds, rolling in great masses around us, now and then giving glimpses +through their openings of the blue plains, dotted with cities and +villages, far below. At one time when they were tolerably well +separated, I ascended the tower, fifty feet high, standing near the +Brocken House. The view on three sides was quite clear, and I can easily +imagine what a magnificent prospect it must be in fine weather. The +Brocken is only about four thousand feet high, nearly the same as the +loftiest peak of the Catskill, but being the highest mountain in +Northern Germany, it commands a more extensive prospect. Imagine a +circle described with a radius of a hundred miles, comprising thirty +cities, two or three hundred villages and one whole mountain district! +We could see Brunswick and Magdeburg, and beyond them the great plain +which extends to the North Sea in one direction and to Berlin in the +other, while directly below us lay the dark mountains of the Hartz, with +little villages in their sequestered valleys. It was but a few moments I +could look on this scene--in an instant the clouds swept together again +and completely hid it. In accordance with a custom of the mountain, one +of the girls made me a "Brocken nosegay," of heather, lichens and moss. +I gave her a few pfennings and stowed it away carefully in a corner of +my knapsack. + +I now began descending the east side, by a good road over fields of bare +rock and through large forests of pine. Two or three bare brown peaks +rose opposite with an air of the wildest sublimity, and in many places +through the forest towered lofty crags. This is the way by which Goethe +brings Faust up the Brocken, and the scenery is graphically described in +that part of the poem. At the foot of the mountain is the little village +of Schiercke, the highest in the Hartz. Here I took a narrow path +through the woods, and after following a tediously long road over the +hills, reached Elbingerode, where I spent the night, and left the next +morning for Blankenburg. I happened to take the wrong road, however, and +went through Rubeland, a little village in the valley of the Bode. There +are many iron works here, and two celebrated caves, called "Baumann's +Hohle," and "Biel's Hohle." I kept on through the gray, rocky hills to +Huttenrode, where I inquired the way to the Rosstrappe, but was directed +wrong, and after walking nearly two hours in a heavy rain, arrived at +Ludwigshutte, on the Bode, in one of the wildest and loneliest corners +of the Hartz. I dried my wet clothes at a little inn, ate a dinner of +bread and milk, and learning that I was just as far from the Rosstrappe +as ever, and that the way was impossible to find alone, I hunted up a +guide. + +We went over the mountains through a fine old forest, for about two +hours, and came out on the brow of a hill near the end of the Hartz, +with a beautiful view of the country below and around. Passing the +little inn, the path led through thick bushes along the summit, over a +narrow ledge of rocks that seemed to stretch out into the air, for on +either side the foot of the precipice vanished in the depth below. + +Arrived at last at the end, I looked around me. What a spectacle! I was +standing on the end of a line of precipice which ran out from the +mountain like a wall for several hundred feet--the hills around rising +up perpendicularly from the gorge below, where the Bode pressed into a +narrow channel foamed its way through. Sharp masses of gray rock rose up +in many places from the main body like pillars, with trees clinging to +the clefts, and although the defile was near seven hundred feet deep, +the summits, in one place, were very near to one another. Near the point +at which I stood, which was secured by a railing, was an impression in +the rock like the hoof of a giant horse, from which the place takes its +name. It is very distinct and perfect, and nearly two feet in length. + +I went back to the little inn and sat down to rest and chat awhile with +the talkative landlady. Notwithstanding her horrible Prussian dialect, I +was much amused with the budget of wonders, which she keeps for the +information of travelers. Among other things, she related to me the +legend of the Rosstrappe, which I give in her own words: "A great many +hundred years ago, when there were plenty of giants through the world, +there was a certain beautiful princess, who was very much loved by one +of them. Now, although the parents of this princess were afraid of the +giant, and wanted her to marry him, she herself hated him, because she +was in love with a brave knight. But, you see, the brave knight could do +nothing against the great giant, and so a day was appointed for the +wedding of the princess. When they were married, the giant had a great +feast and he and all his servants got drunk. So the princess mounted his +black horse and rode away over the mountains, till she reached this +valley. She stood on that square rock which you see there opposite to +us, and when she saw her knight on this side, where we are, she danced +for joy, and the rock is called the _Tanzplatz_, to this very day. But +when the giant found she had gone, he followed her as fast as he might; +then a holy bishop, who saw the princess, blessed the feet of her horse, +and she jumped on it across to this side, where his fore feet made two +marks in the rock, though there is only one left now. You should not +laugh at this, for if there were giants then, there must have been very +big horses too, as one can see from the hoofmark, and the valley was +narrower then than it is now. My dear man, who is very old now, (you see +him through the bushes, there, digging,) says it was so when he was a +child, and that the old people living then, told him there were once +four just such hoof-tracks, on the _Tanzplatz_, where the horse stood +before he jumped over. And we cannot doubt the words of the good old +people, for there were many strange things then, we all know, which the +dear Lord does not let happen now. But I must tell you, lieber Herr, +that the giant tried to jump after her and fell away down into the +valley, where they say he lives yet in the shape of a big black dog, +guarding the crown of the princess, which fell off as she was going +over. But this part of the story is perhaps not true, as nobody, that I +ever heard of, has seen either the black dog or the crown!" + +After listening to similar gossip for a while, I descended the +mountain-side, a short distance to the Bulowshohe. This is a rocky shaft +that shoots, upward from the mountain, having from its top a glorious +view through the door which the Bode makes in passing out of the Hartz. +I could see at a great distance the towers of Magdeburg, and further, +the vast plain stretching away like a sea towards Berlin. From Thale, +the village below, where the air was warmer than in the Hartz and the +fruit-trees already in blossom, it was four hours' walk to Halberstadt, +by a most tiresome road over long ranges of hills, all ploughed and +planted, and extending as far as the eye could reach, without a single +fence or hedge. It is pleasant to look over scenes where nature is so +free and unshackled; but the _people_, alas! wear the fetters. The +setting sun, which lighted up the old Brocken and his snowy top, showed +me also Halberstadt, the end of my Hartz journey; but its deceitful +towers fled as I approached, and I was half dead with fatigue on +arriving there. + +The ghostly, dark and echoing castle of an inn (the Black Eagle) where I +stopped, was enough to inspire a lonely traveller, like myself, with +unpleasant fancies. It looked heavy and massive enough to have been a +stout baron's stronghold in some former century; the taciturn landlord +and his wife, who, with a solemn servant girl, were the only tenants, +had grown into perfect keeping with its gloomy character. When I groped +my way under the heavy, arched portal into the guests' room--a large, +lofty, cheerless hall--all was dark, and I could barely perceive, by the +little light which came through two deep-set windows, the inmates of the +house, sitting on opposite sides of the room. After some delay, the +hostess brought a light. I entreated her to bring me something +_instantly_ for supper, and in half an hour she placed a mixture on the +table, the like of which I never wish to taste again. She called it +_beer-soup_! I found, on examination, it was _beer_, boiled with meat, +and seasoned strongly with pepper and salt! My hunger disappeared, and +pleading fatigue as an excuse for want of appetite, I left the table. +When I was ready to retire, the landlady, who had been sitting silently +in a dark corner, called the solemn servant girl, who took up a dim +lamp, and bade me follow her to the "sleeping chamber." Taking up my +knapsack and staff, I stumbled down the steps into the arched gateway; +before me was a long, damp, deserted court-yard, across which the girl +took her way. I followed her with some astonishment, imagining where the +sleeping chamber could be, when she stopped at a small, one-story +building, standing alone in the yard. Opening the door with a rusty key, +she led me into a bare room, a few feet square, opening into another, +equally bare, with the exception of a rough bed. "Certainly," said I, "I +am not to sleep here!" "Yes," she answered, "this is the sleeping +chamber," at the same time setting down the light and disappearing. I +examined the place--it smelt mouldy, and the walls were cold and damp; +there had been a window at the head of the bed, but it was walled up, +and that at the foot was also closed to within a few inches of the top. +The bed was course and dirty; and on turning down the ragged covers, I +saw with horror, a dark brown stain near the pillow, like that of blood! +For a moment I hesitated whether to steal out of the inn, and seek +another lodging, late as it was; at last, overcoming my fears, I threw +my clothes into a heap, and lay down, placing my heavy staff at the head +of the bed. Persons passed up and down the courtyard several times, the +light of their lamps streaming through the narrow aperture up against +the ceiling, and I distinctly heard voices, which seemed to be near the +door. Twice did I sit up in bed, breathless, with my hand on the cane, +in the most intense anxiety; but fatigue finally overcame suspicion, and +I sank into a deep sleep, from which I was gladly awakened by daylight. +In reality, there may have been no cause for my fears--I may have +wronged the lonely innkeepers by them; but certainly no place or +circumstances ever seemed to me more appropriate to a deed of robbery or +crime. I left immediately, and when a turn in the street hid the +ill-omened front of the inn, I began to breathe with my usual freedom. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +NOTES IN LEIPSIC AND DRESDEN. + + +_Leipsic, May 8._--I have now been nearly two days in this wide-famed +city, and the more I see of it the better I like it. It is a pleasant, +friendly town, old enough to be interesting, and new enough to be +comfortable. There in much active business life, through which it is +fast increasing in size and beauty. Its publishing establishments are +the largest in the world, and its annual fairs attended by people from +all parts of Europe. This is much for a city to accomplish, situated +alone in the middle of a great plain, with no natural charms of scenery +or treasures of art to attract strangers. The energy and enterprise of +its merchants have accomplished all this, and it now stands, in +importance, among the first cities of Europe. + +The bad weather obliged me to take the railroad at Halberstadt, to keep +the appointment with my friend, in this city. I left at six for +Magdeburg, and after two hours' ride over a dull, tiresome plain, rode +along under the mounds and fortifications by the side of the Elbe, and +entered the old town. It was very cold, and the streets were muddy, so I +contented myself with looking at the Broadway, (_der breite Weg_,) the +Cathedral and one or two curious old churches, and in walking along the +parapet leading to the fortress, which has a view of the winding Elbe. +The Citadel was interesting from having been the prison in which Baron +Trenck was confined, whose narrative I read years ago, when quite a +child. + +We were soon on the road to Leipsic. The way was over one great, +uninterrupted plain--a more monotonous country, even, than Belgium. Two +of the passengers in the car with me were much annoyed at being taken by +the railway agents for Poles. Their movements were strictly watched by +the gens d'arme at every station we passed, and they were not even +allowed to sit together! At Kothen a branch track went off to Berlin. We +passed by Halle without being able to see anything of it or its +University, and arrived here in four hours after leaving Magdeburg. + +On my first walk around the city, yesterday morning, I passed the +_Augustus Platz_--a broad green lawn, on which front the University and +several other public buildings. A chain of beautiful promenades +encircles the city, on the site of its old fortifications. Following +their course through walks shaded by large trees and bordered with +flowering shrubs, I passed a small but chaste monument to Sebastian +Bach, the composer, which was erected almost entirely at the private +cost of Mendelssohn, and stands opposite the building in which Bach once +directed the choirs. As I was standing beside it, a glorious choral, +swelled by a hundred voices, came through the open windows, like a +tribute to the genius of the great master. + +Having found my friend we went together to the _Stern Warte_, or +Observatory, which gives a fine view of the country around the city, and +in particular the battle field. The Castellan who is stationed there, is +well acquainted with the localities, and pointed out the position of the +hostile armies. It was one of the most bloody and hard-fought battles +which history records. The army of Napoleon stretched like a semicircle +around the southern and eastern sides of the city, and the plain beyond +was occupied by the allies, whose forces met together here. +Schwarzenberg, with his Austrians, came from Dresden; Blucher, from +Halle, with the Emperor Alexander. Their forces amounted to three +hundred thousand, while those of Napoleon ranked at one hundred and +ninety-two thousand men. It must have been a terrific scene. Four days +raged the battle, and the meeting of half a million of men in deadly +conflict was accompanied by the thunder of sixteen hundred cannon. The +small rivers which flow through Leipsic were swollen with blood, and the +vast plain was strewed with more than fifty thousand dead. It is +difficult to conceive of such slaughter, while looking at the quiet and +tranquil landscape below. It seemed more like a legend of past ages, +when ignorance and passion led men to murder and destroy, than an event +which the last half century witnessed. For the sake of humanity it is +to be hoped that the world will never see such another. + +There are some lovely walks around Leipsic. We went yesterday afternoon +with a few friends to the Rosenthal, a beautiful meadow, bordered by +forests of the German oak, very few of whose Druid trunks have been left +standing. There are Swiss cottages embowered in the foliage, where every +afternoon the social citizens assemble to drink their coffee enjoy a few +hours' escape from the noisy and dusty streets, One can walk for miles +along these lovely paths by the side of the velvet meadows, or the banks +of some shaded stream. We visited the little village of Golis, a short +distance off, where, in the second story of a little white house, hangs +the sign: "Schiller's Room." Some of the Leipsic literati have built a +stone arch over the entrance, with the inscription above: "Here dwelt +Schiller in 1795, and wrote his Hymn to Joy." Every where through +Germany the remembrances of Schiller are sacred. In every city where he +lived, they show his dwelling. They know and reverence the mighty spirit +who has been among them. The little room where he conceived that sublime +poem is hallowed as if by the presence of unseen spirits. + +I was anxious to see the spot where Poniatowsky fell. We returned over +the plain to the city and passed in at the gate by which the Cossacks +entered, pursuing the flying French. Crossing the lower part, we came to +the little river Elster, in whose waves the gallant prince sank. The +stone bridge by which we crossed was blown up by the French, to cut off +pursuit. Napoleon had given orders that it should not be blown up till +the Poles had all passed over, as the river, though narrow, is quite +deep, and the banks are steep. Nevertheless, his officers did not wait, +and the Poles, thus exposed to the fire of the enemy, were obliged to +plunge into the stream to join the French army, which had begun the +retreat towards Frankfort. Poniatowsky, severely wounded, made his way +through a garden near and escaped on horseback into the water. He became +entangled among the fugitives and sank. By walking a little distance +along the road towards Frankfort, we could see the spot where his body +was taken out of the river; it is now marked by a square stone, covered +with the names of his countrymen who have visited it. We returned +through the narrow arched way, by which Napoleon fled when the battle +was lost. + +Another interesting place in Leipsic is Auerback's Cellar, which, it is +said, contains an old manuscript history of Faust, from which Goethe +derived the first idea of his poem. He used to frequent this cellar, and +one of his scenes in "Faust" is laid in it. We looked down the arched +passage; not wishing to purchase any wine, we could find no pretence for +entering. The streets are full of book stores and one half the business +of the inhabitants appears to consist in printing, paper-making and +binding. The publishers have a handsome Exchange of their own, and +during the Fairs, the amount of business transacted is enormous. The +establishment of Brockhaus is contained in an immense building, +adjoining which stands his dwelling, in the midst of magnificent +gardens. That of Tauchnitz is not less celebrated. His edition of the +classics, in particular, are the best that have ever been made; and he +has lately commenced publishing a number of English works, in a cheap +form. Otto Wigand, who has also a large establishment, has begun to +issue translations of American works. He has already published Prescott +and Bancroft, and I believe intends giving out shortly, translations +from some of our poets and novelists. I became acquainted at the Museum, +with a young German author who had been some time in America, and was +well versed in our literature. He is now engaged in translating American +works, one of which--Hoffman's "Wild Scenes of the Forest and +Prairie"--will soon appear. In no place in Germany have I found more +knowledge of our country, her men and her institutions, than in Leipsic, +and as yet I have seen few that would be preferable as a place of +residence. Its attractions lie not in its scenery, but in the social and +intellectual character of its inhabitants. + +_May 11._--At last in this "Florence of the Elbe," as the Saxons have +christened it. Exclusive of its glorious galleries of art, which are +scarcely surpassed by any in Europe, Dresden charms one by the natural +beauty of its environs. It stands in a curve of the Elbe, in the midst +of green meadows, gardens and fine old woods, with the hills of Saxony +sweeping around like an amphitheatre, and the craggy peaks of the +Highlands looking at it from afar. The domes and spires at a distance +give it a rich Italian look, which is heightened by the white villas, +embowered in trees, gleaming on the hills around. In the streets there +is no bustle of business--nothing of the din and confusion of traffic +which mark most cities; it seems like a place for study and quiet +enjoyment. + +The railroad brought us in three hours from Leipsic, over the eighty +miles of plain that intervene. We came from the station through the +_Neustadt_, passing the Japanese Palace and the equestrian statue of +Augustus the Strong, The magnificent bridge over the Elbe was so much +injured by the late inundation as to be impassable; we worn obliged to +go some distance up the river bank and cross on a bridge of boats. Next +morning my first search was for the picture gallery. We set off at +random, and after passing the Church of Our Lady, with its lofty dome of +solid stone, which withstood the heaviest bombs during the war with +Frederick the Great, came to an open square, one side of which was +occupied by an old, brown, red-roofed building, which I at once +recognized, from pictures, as the object of our search. + +I have just taken a last look at the gallery this morning, and left it +with real regret; for, during the two visits, Raphael's heavenly picture +of the Madonna and child had so grown into my love and admiration, that +it was painful to think I should never see it again. There are many more +which clung so strongly to my imagination, gratifying in the highest +degree the love for the Beautiful, that I left them with sadness, and +the thought that I would now only have the memory. I can see the +inspired eye and god-like brow of the Jesus-child, as if I were still +standing before the picture, and the sweet, holy countenance of the +Madonna still looks upon me. Yet, though this picture is a miracle of +art, the first glance filled me with disappointment. It has somewhat +faded, during the three hundred years that have rolled away since the +hand of Raphael worked on the canvass, and the glass with which it is +covered for better preservation, injures the effect. After I had gazed +on it awhile, every thought of this vanished. The figure of the virgin +seemed to soar in the air, and it was difficult to think the clouds were +not in motion. An aerial lightness clothes her form, and it is +perfectly natural for such a figure to stand among the clouds. Two +divine cherubs look up from below, and in her arms sits the sacred +child. Those two faces beam from the picture like those of angels. The +wild, prophetic eye and lofty brow of the young Jesus chains one like a +spell. There is something more than mortal in its expression--something +in the infant face which indicates a power mightier than the proudest +manhood. There is no glory around the head; but the spirit which shines +from those features, marks his divinity. In the sweet face of the mother +there speaks a sorrowful foreboding mixed with its tenderness, as if she +knew the world into which the Saviour was born, and foresaw the path in +which he was to tread. It is a picture which one can scarce look upon +without tears. + +There are in the same room six pictures by Correggio, which are said to +be among his best works; one of them his celebrated Magdalen. There is +also Correggio's "Holy Night," or the virgin with the shepherds in the +manger, in which all the light comes from the body of the child. The +surprise of the shepherds is most beautifully expressed. In one of the +halls there is a picture by Van der Werff, in which the touching story +of Hagar is told more feelingly than words could do it. The young +Ishmael is represented full of grief at parting with Isaac, who, in +childish unconsciousness of what has taken place, draws in sport the +corner of his mother's mantle around him, and smiles at the tears of his +lost playmate. Nothing can come nearer real flesh and blood than the two +portraits of Raphael Mengs, painted by himself when quite young. You +almost think the artist has in sport crept behind the frame, and wishes +to make you believe he is a picture. It would be impossible to speak of +half the gems of art contained in this unrivalled collection. There are +twelve large halls, containing in all nearly two thousand pictures. + +The plain, south of Dresden, was the scene of the hard-fought battle +between Napoleon and the allied armies, in 1813. On the heights above +the little village of Racknitz, Moreau was shot on the second day of the +battle. We took a foot-path through the meadows, shaded by cherry trees +in bloom, and reached the spot after an hour's walk. The monument is +simple--a square block of granite, surmounted by a helmet and sword, +with the inscription: "_The hero Moreau fell here by the side of +Alexander, August 17th, 1813_." I gathered, as a memorial, a few leaves +of the oak which shades it. + +By applying an hour before the appointed time, we obtained admission to +the Royal Library. It contains three hundred thousand volumes--among +them the most complete collection of historical works in existence. Each +hall is devoted to a history of a separate country, and one large room +is filled with that of Saxony alone. There is a large number of rare and +curious manuscripts, among which are old Greek works of the seventh and +eighth centuries; a Koran which once belonged to the Sultan Bajazet; the +handwriting of Luther and Melancthon; a manuscript volume with pen and +ink sketches, by Albert Durer, and the earliest works after the +invention of printing. Among these latter was a book published by Faust +and Schaeffer, at Mayence, in 1457. There were also Mexican manuscripts, +written on the Aloe leaf, and many illuminated monkish volumes of the +middle ages. + +We were fortunate in seeing the _Grune Gewolbe_, or Green Gallery, a +collection of jewels and costly articles, unsurpassed in Europe. The +entrance is only granted to six persons at a time, who pay a fee of two +thalers. The customary way is to employ a _Lohnbedienter_, who goes +around from one hotel to another, till he has collected the number, when +he brings them together and conducts them to the person in the palace, +who has charge of the treasures. As our visit happened to be during the +Pentecost holidays, when every body in Dresden goes to the mountains, +there was some difficulty in effecting this, but after two mornings +spent in hunting up curious travelers, the servant finally conducted us +in triumph to the palace. The first hall into which we were ushered, +contained works in bronze. They were all small, and chosen with regard +to their artistical value. Some by John of Bologna were exceedingly +fine, as was also a group in iron, _cut_ out of a single block; perhaps +the only successful attempt in this branch. The next room contained +statues, and vases covered with reliefs, in ivory. The most remarkable +work was the fall of Lucifer and his angels, containing ninety-two +figures in all, carved out of a single piece of ivory sixteen inches +high! It was the work of an Italian monk, and cost him many years of +hard labor. There were two tables of mosaic-work, that would not be out +of place in the fabled halls of the eastern genii, so much did they +exceed my former ideas of human skill. The tops were of jasper, and each +had a border of fruit and flowers, in which every color was represented +by some precious stone, all with the utmost delicacy and truth to +nature! It is impossible to conceive the splendid effect it produced. +Besides some fine pictures on gold by Raphael Mengs, there was a +Madonna, the largest specimen of enamel painting in existence. + +However costly the contents of these halls, they were only an +introduction to those which followed. Each one exceeded the other in +splendor and costliness. The walls were covered to the ceiling with rows +of goblets, vases, &c., of polished jasper, agate and lapiz lazuli. +Splendid mosaic tables stood around, with caskets of the most exquisite +silver and gold work upon them, and vessels of solid silver, some of +them weighing six hundred pounds were placed at the foot of the columns. +We were shown two goblets, each prized at six thousand thalers, made of +gold and precious stones; also the great pearl called the Spanish Dwarf, +nearly as large as a pullet's egg; globes and vases cut entirely out of +the mountain crystal; magnificent Nuremberg watches and clocks, and a +great number of figures, made ingeniously of rough pearls and diamonds. +The officer showed us a hen's egg of silver. There was apparently +nothing remarkable about it, but by unscrewing, it came apart, and +disclosed the yelk of gold. This again opened and a golden chicken was +seen; by touching a spring, a little diamond crown came from the inside, +and the crown being again taken apart, out dropped a valuable diamond +ring! The seventh hall contains the coronation robes of Augustus II., of +Poland, and many costly specimens of carving in wood, A cherry stone is +shown in a glass case, which has one hundred and twenty-five faces, all +perfectly finished, carved upon it! The next room we entered sent back a +glare of splendor that perfectly dazzled us. It was all gold, diamond, +ruby and sapphire! Every case sent out such a glow and glitter that it +seemed like a cage of imprisoned lightnings. Wherever the eye turned it +was met by a blaze of broken rainbows. They were there by hundreds, and +every gem was a fortune. Whole cases of swords, with hilts and scabbards +of solid gold, studded with gems; the great two-handed coronation sword +of the German emperors; daggers covered with brilliants and rubies; +diamond buttons, chains and orders, necklaces and bracelets of pearl and +emerald, and the order of the Golden Fleece made in gems of every kind. +We were also shown the largest known onyx, nearly seven inches long and +four inches broad! One of the most remarkable works is the throne and +court of Aurungzebe, the Indian king, by Dinglinger, a celebrated +goldsmith of the last century. It contains one hundred and thirty-two +figures, all of enamelled gold, and each one most perfectly and +elaborately finished. It was purchased by Prince Augustus for +fifty-eight thousand thalers,[**] which was not a high sum, considering +that the making of it occupied Dinglinger and thirteen workmen for seven +years! + +It is almost impossible to estimate the value of the treasures these +halls contain. That of the gold and jewels alone must bo many millions +of dollars, and the amount of labor expended on these toys of royalty is +incredible. As monuments of patient and untiring toil, they are +interesting: but it is sad to think how much labor and skill and energy +have been wasted, in producing things which are useless to the world, +and only of secondary importance as works of art. Perhaps, however, if +men could be diverted by such play-things from more dangerous games, it +would be all the better. + +[Footnote **: A Prussian or Saxon thaler is about 70 cts.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +RAMBLES IN THE SAXON SWITZERLAND. + + +After four days' sojourn in Dresden we shouldered our knapsacks, not to +be laid down again till we reached Prague. We were elated with the +prospect of getting among the hills again, and we heeded not the +frequent showers which had dampened the enjoyment of the Pentecost +holidays, to the good citizens of Dresden, and might spoil our own. So +we trudged gaily along the road to Pillnitz and waved an adieu to the +domes behind us as the forest shut them out from view. After two hours' +walk the road led down to the Elbe, where we crossed in a ferry-boat to +Pillnitz, the seat of a handsome palace and gardens, belonging to the +King of Saxony. He happened to be there at the time, on an afternoon +excursion from Dresden; as we had seen him before, in the latter place, +we passed directly on, only pausing to admire the flower-beds in the +palace court. The King is a tall, benevolent looking man, and is +apparently much liked by his people. As far as I have yet seen, Saxony +is a prosperous and happy country. The people are noted all over Germany +for their honest, social character, which is written on their cheerful, +open countenances. On our entrance into the Saxon Switzerland, at +Pillnitz, we were delighted with the neatness and home-like appearance +of every thing. Every body greeted us; if we asked for information, they +gave it cheerfully. The villages were all pleasant and clean and the +meadows fresh and blooming. I felt half tempted to say, in the words of +an old ballad, which I believe Longfellow has translated: + + "The fairest kingdom on this earth, + It is the Saxon land!" + +Going along the left bank of the Elbe, we passed over meadows purple +with the tri-colored violet, which we have at home in gardens, and every +little bank was bright with cowslips. At length the path led down into a +cleft or ravine filled with trees, whose tops were on a level with the +country around. This is a peculiar feature of Saxon scenery. The country +contains many of these clefts, some of which are several hundred feet +deep, having walls of perpendicular rock, in whose crevices the mountain +pine roots itself and grows to a tolerable height without any apparent +soil to keep it alive. We descended by a foot-path into this ravine, +called the Liebethaler Grund. It is wider than many of the others, +having room enough for a considerable stream and several mills. The +sides are of sandstone rock, quite perpendicular. As we proceeded, it +grew narrower and deeper, while the trees covering its sides and edges +nearly shut out the sky. An hour's walk brought us to the end, where we +ascended gradually to the upper level again. + +After passing the night at the little village of Uttewalde, a short +distance further, we set out early in the morning for the Bastei, a +lofty precipice on the Elbe. The way led us directly through the +Uttewalder Grund, the most remarkable of all these chasms. We went down +by steps into its depths, which in the early morning were very cold. +Water dripped from the rocks, which but a few feet apart, rose far above +us, and a little rill made its way along the bottom, into which the sun +has never shone. Heavy masses of rock, which had tumbled down from the +sides lay in the way, and tall pine trees sprung from every cleft. In +one place the defile is only four feet wide, and a large mass of rock, +fallen from above, has lodged near the bottom, making an arch across, +under which the traveller has to creep. After going under two or three +arches of this kind, the defile widened and an arrow cut upon a rock +directed us to a side path, which branched off from this into a +mountain. Here the stone masses immediately assumed another form. They +projected out like shelves sometimes as much as twenty feet from the +straight side, and hung over the way, looking as if they might break off +every moment. I felt glad when we had passed under them. Then as we +ascended higher, we saw pillars of rock separated entirely from the side +and rising a hundred feet in height, with trees growing on their +summits. They stood there gray and limeworn, like the ruins of a Titan +temple. + +The path finally led us out into the forest and through the clustering +pine trees, to the summit of the Bastei. An inn has been erected in the +woods and an iron balustrade placed around the rock. Protected by this, +we advanced to the end of the precipice and looked down to the swift +Elbe, more than seven hundred feet below! Opposite through the blue +mists of morning, rose Konigstein, crowned with an impregnable fortress, +and the crags of Lilienstein, with a fine forest around their base, +frowned from the left bank. On both sides were horrible precipices of +gray rock, with rugged trees hanging from the crevices. A hill rising up +from one side of the Bastei, terminates suddenly a short distance from +it, in on abrupt precipice. In the intervening space stand three or four +of those rock-columns, several hundred feet high, with their tops nearly +on a level with the Bastei. A wooden bridge has been made across from +one to the other, over which the traveller passes, looking on the trees +and rocks far below him, to the mountain, where a steep zigzag path +takes him to the Elbe below. + +We crossed the Elbe for the fourth time at the foot of the Bastei, and +walked along its right bank towards Konigstein. The injury caused by the +inundation was everywhere apparent. The receding flood had left a +deposit of sand, in many places several feet deep on the rich meadows, +so that the labor of years will be requisite to remove it and restore +the land to an arable condition. Even the farm-houses on the hillside, +some distance from the river, had been reached, and the long grass hung +in the highest branches of the fruit trees. The people wore at work +trying to repair their injuries, but it will fall heavily upon the +poorer classes. + +The mountain of Konigstein is twelve hundred feet high. A precipice, +varying from one to three hundred feet in height, runs entirely around +the summit, which is flat, and a mile and a half in circumference. This +has been turned into a fortress, whose natural advantages make it +entirely impregnable. During the Thirty Years' War and the late war with +Napoleon, it was the only place in Saxony unoccupied by the enemy. Hence +is it used as a depository for the archives and royal treasures, in +times of danger. By giving up our passports at the door, we received +permission to enter; the officer called a guide to take us around the +battlements. There is quite a little village on the summit, with +gardens, fields, and a wood of considerable size. The only entrance is +by a road cut through the rock, which is strongly guarded. A well seven +hundred feet deep supplies the fortress with water, and there are +storehouses sufficient to hold supplies for many years. The view from +the ramparts is glorious--it takes in the whole of the Saxon Highlands, +as far as the lofty Schneeberg in Bohemia. On the other side the eye +follows the windings of the Elbe, as far as the spires of Dresden. +Lilienstein, a mountain of exactly similar formation, but somewhat +higher, stands directly opposite. On walking around, the guide pointed +out a little square tower standing on the brink of a precipice, with a +ledge, about two feet wide, running around it, just below the windows. +He said during the reign of Augustus the Strong, a baron attached to his +court, rose in his sleep after a night of revelry, and stepping out the +window, stretched himself at full length along the ledge. A guard +fortunately observed his situation and informed Augustus of it, who had +him bound and secured with cords, and then awakened by music. It was a +good lesson, and one which no doubt sobered him for the future. + +Passing through the little city of Konigstein, we walked on to Schandau, +the capital of the Saxon Switzerland, situated on the left bank. It had +sustained great damage from the flood, the whole place having been +literally under water. Here we turned up a narrow valley which led to +the Kuhstall, some eight miles distant. The sides, as usual, were of +steep gray rock, but wide enough apart to give room to some lovely +meadows, with here and there a rustic cottage. The mountain maidens, in +their bright red dresses, with a fanciful scarf bound around the head, +made a romantic addition to the scene. There were some quiet secluded +nooks, where the light of day stole in dimly through the thick foliage +above and the wild stream rushed less boisterously over the rocks. We +sat down to rest in one of these cool retreats, and made the glen ring +with a cheer for America. The echoes repeated the name as if they had +heard it for the first time, and I gave them a strict injunction to +give it back to the next countryman who should pass by. + +As we advanced further into the hills the way became darker and wilder. +We heard the sound of falling water in a little dell on one side, and +going nearer, saw a picturesque fall of about fifteen feet. Great masses +of black rock were piled together, over which the mountain-stream fell +in a snowy sheet. The pines above and around grew so thick and close, +that not a sunbeam could enter, and a kind of mysterious twilight +pervaded the spot. In Greece it would have been chosen for an oracle. I +have seen, somewhere, a picture of the Spirit of Poetry, sitting beside +just such a cataract, and truly the nymph could choose no more +appropriate dwelling. But alas for sentiment! while we were admiring its +picturesque beauty, we did not notice a man who came from a hut near by +and went up behind the rocks. All at once there was a roar of water, and +a real torrent came pouring down. I looked up, and lo! there he stood, +with a gate in his hand which had held the water imprisoned, looking +down at us to observe the effect, I motioned him to shut it up again, +and he ran down to us, lest he should lose his fee for the "sight!" + +Our road now left the valley and ascended through a forest to the +Kuhstall, which we came upon at once. It is a remarkable natural arch, +through a rocky wall or rampart, one hundred and fifty feet thick. Going +through, we came at the other end to the edge of a very deep precipice, +while the rock towered precipitously far above. Below lay a deep +circular valley, two miles in diameter, and surrounded on every side by +ranges of crags, such as we saw on the Bastei. It was entirely covered +with a pine forest, and there only appeared to be two or three narrow +defiles which gave it a communication with the world. The top of the +Kuhstall can be reached by a path which runs up through a split in the +rock, directly to the summit. It is just wide enough for one person to +squeeze himself through; pieces of wood have been fastened in as steps, +and the rocks in many places close completely above. The place derives +its name from having been used by the mountaineers as a hiding-place for +their cattle in time of war. + +Next morning we descended by another crevice in the rock to the lonely +valley, which we crossed, and climbed the Little Winterberg on the +opposite side. There is a wide and rugged view from a little tower on a +precipitous rock near the summit, erected to commemorate the escape of +Prince Augustus of Saxony, who, being pursued by a mad stag, rescued +himself on the very brink, by a lucky blow. Among the many wild valleys +that lay between the hills, we saw scarcely one without the peculiar +rocky formation which gives to Saxon scenery its most interesting +character. They resemble the remains of some mighty work of art, rather +than one of the thousand varied forms in which Nature delights to clothe +herself. + +The Great Winterberg, which is reached by another hour's walk along an +elevated ridge, is the highest of the mountains, celebrated for the +grand view from its summit. We found the handsome Swiss hotel recently +built there, full of tourists who had come to enjoy the scone, but the +morning clouds hid every thing. We ascended the tower, and looking +between them as they rolled by, caught glimpses of the broad landscape +below. The Giant's Mountains in Silesia were hidden by the mist, but +sometimes when the wind freshened, we could see beyond the Elbe into +Bohemian Switzerland, where the long Schneeberg rose conspicuous above +the smaller mountains. Leaving the other travellers to wait at their +leisure for clearer weather, we set off for the Prebisehthor, in company +with two or three students from the Polytechnic School in Dresden. An +hour's walk over high hills, whose forest clothing had been swept off by +fire a few years before, brought us to it. + +The Prebisehthor is a natural arch, ninety feet high, in a wall of rock +which projects at right angles from the precipitous side of the +mountain. A narrow path leads over the top of the arch to the end of the +rock, where, protected by a railing, the traveller seems to hang in the +air. The valley is far below him--mountains rise up on either side--and +only the narrow bridge connects him with the earth. We descended by a +wooden staircase to the bottom of the arch, near which a rustic inn is +built against the rock, and thence into the valley below, which we +followed through rude lonely scenery, to Hirnischkretschen (!) on the +Elbe. + +Crossing the river again for the sixth and last time, we followed the +right bank to Neidergrund, the first Austrian village. Here our +passports were vised for Prague, and we were allowed to proceed without +any examination of baggage. I noticed a manifest change in our fellow +travelers the moment we crossed the border. They appeared anxious and +careful; if we happened to speak of the state of the country, they +always looked around to see if anybody was near, and if we even passed a +workman on the road, quickly changed to some other subject. They spoke +much of the jealous strictness of the government, and from what I heard +from Austrians themselves, there may have been ground for their +cautiousness. + +We walked seven or eight miles along the bank of the Elbe, to Tetschen, +there left our companions and took the road to Teplitz. The scenery was +very picturesque; it must be delightful to float down the swift current +in a boat, as we saw several merry companies do. The river is just small +enough and the banks near enough together, to render such a mode of +travelling delightful, and the strength of the current would carry one +to Dresden in a day. + +I was pleasantly disappointed on entering Bohemia. Instead of a dull, +uninteresting country, as I expected, it is a land full of the most +lovely scenery. There is every thing which can gratify the eye--high +blue mountains, valleys of the sweetest pastoral look and romantic old +ruins. The very name of Bohemia is associated with wild and wonderful +legends, of the rude barbaric ages. Even the chivalric tales of the +feudal times of Germany grow tame beside these earlier and darker +histories. The fallen fortresses of the Rhine, or the robber-castles of +the Odenwald had not for me so exciting an interest as the shapeless +ruins cumbering these lonely mountains. The civilized Saxon race was +left behind; I saw around me the features and heard the language of one +of those rude Sclavonic tribes, whose original home was on the vast +steppes of Central Asia. I have rarely enjoyed traveling more than our +first two days' journey towards Prague. The range of the Erzgebirge ran +along on our right; the snow still lay in patches upon it, but the +valleys between, with their little clusters of white cottages, were +green and beautiful. About six miles before reaching Teplitz, we passed +Kulm, the great battle-field, which in a measure decided the fate of +Napoleon. He sent Vandamme with 40,000 men to attack the allies before +they could unite their forces, and thus effect their complete +destruction. Only the almost despairing bravery of the Russian guards +under Ostermann, who held him in check till the allied troops united, +prevented Napoleon's design. At the junction of the roads, where the +fighting was hottest, the Austrians have erected a monument to one of +their generals. Not far from it is that of Prussia, simple and tasteful. +A woody hill near, with the little village of Kulm at its foot, was the +station occupied by Vandamme at the commencement of the battle. There is +now a beautiful chapel on its summit, which can be seen far and wide. A +little distance further, the Emperor of Russia has erected a third +monument to the memory of the Russians who fell. Four lions rest on the +base of the pedestal, and on the top of the shaft, forty-five feet high, +Victory is represented as engraving the date, "Aug. 30, 1813," on a +shield. The dark, pine-covered mountains on the right, overlook the +whole field and the valley of Teplitz; Napoleon rode along their crests +several days after the battle, to witness the scene of his defeat. + +Teplitz lies in a lovely valley, several miles wide, bounded by the +Bohemian mountains on one side, and the Erzgebirge on the other. One +straggling peak near is crowned with a picturesque ruin, at whose foot +the spacious bath-buildings lie half hidden in foliage. As we went down +the principal street, I noticed nearly every house was a hotel; we +learned afterwards that in summer the usual average of visitors is five +thousand. The waters resemble those of the celebrated Carlsbad; they are +warm and particularly efficacious in rheumatism and diseases of like +character. After leaving Teplitz, the road turned to the east, towards a +lofty mountain, which we had seen the morning before. The peasants as +they passed by, saluted us with "Christ greet you!" + +We stopped for the night at the foot of the peak called the +Milleschauer, and must have ascended nearly 2,000 feet, for we had a +wide view the next morning, although the mists and clouds hid the half +of it. The weather being so unfavorable, we concluded not to ascend, +and taking leave of the Jena student who came there for that purpose, +descended through green fields and orchards snowy with blossoms, to +Lobositz, on the Elbe. Here we reached the plains again, where every +thing wore the luxuriance of summer; it was a pleasant change from the +dark and rough scenery we left. The road passed through Theresienstadt, +the fortress of Northern Bohemia. The little city is surrounded by a +double wall and moat, which can be filled with water, rendering it +almost impossible to be taken. In the morning we were ferried over the +Moldau, and after journeying nearly all day across barren, elevated +plains, saw late in the afternoon the sixty-seven spires of Prague below +us! The dark clouds which hung over the hills, gave us little time to +look upon the singular scene; and we were soon comfortably settled in +the half-barbaric, half-Asiatic city, with a pleasant prospect of seeing +its wonders on the morrow. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +SCENES IN PRAGUE. + + +_Prague._--I feel as if out of the world, in this strange, fantastic, +yet beautiful old city. We have been rambling all morning through its +winding streets, stopping sometimes at a church to see the dusty tombs +and shrines, or to hear the fine music which accompanies the morning +mass. I have seen no city yet that so forcibly reminds one of the past, +and makes him forget everything but the associations connected with the +scenes around him. The language adds to the illusion. Three-fourths of +the people in the streets speak Bohemian and many of the signs are +written in the same tongue, which is not at all like German. The palace +of the Bohemian kings still looks down on the city from the western +heights, and their tombs stand in the Cathedral of the holy Johannes. +When one has climbed up the stone steps lending to the fortress, there +is a glorious prospect before him. Prague, with its spires and towers, +lies in the valley below, through which curves the Moldau with its green +islands, disappearing among the hills which enclose the city on every +side. The fantastic Byzantine architecture of many of the churches and +towers, gives the city a peculiar oriental appearance; it seems to have +been transported from the hills of Syria. Its streets are full of +palaces, fallen and dwelt in now by the poorer classes. Its famous +University, which once boasted forty thousand students, has long since +ceased to exist. In a word, it is, like Venice, a fallen city; though as +in Venice, the improving spirit of the age is beginning to give it a +little life, and to send a quicker stream through its narrow and winding +arteries. The railroad, which, joining that to Brunn, shall bring it in +connection with Vienna, will be finished this year; in anticipation of +the increased business which will arise from this, speculators are +building enormous hotels in the suburbs and tearing down the old +buildings to give place to more splendid edifices. These operations, and +the chain bridge which spans the Moldau towards the southern end of the +city, are the only things which look modern--every thing else is old, +strange and solemn. + +Having found out first a few of the locations, we hunted our way with +difficulty through its labyrinths, seeking out every place of note or +interest. Reaching the bridge at last, we concluded to cross over and +ascend to the Hradschin--the palace of the Bohemian kings. The bridge +was commenced in 1357, and was one hundred and fifty years in building. +That was the way the old Germans did their work, and they made a +structure which will last a thousand years longer. Every pier is +surmounted with groups of saints and martyrs, all so worn and +time-beaten, that there is little left of their beauty, if they ever had +any. The most important of them, at least to Bohemians, is that of the +holy "Johannes of Nepomuck," now considered as the patron-saint of the +land. He was a priest many centuries ago, whom one of the kings threw +from the bridge into the Moldau, because he refused to reveal to him +what the queen confessed. The legend says the body swam for some time on +the river, with five stars around its head. The 16th of May, the day +before we arrived, was that set apart for his particular honor; the +statue on the bridge was covered with an arch of green boughs and +flowers, and the shrine lighted with burning tapers. A railing was +erected around it, near which numbers of the believers were kneeling, +and a priest stood in the inside. The bridge was covered with +passers-by, who all took their hats off till they had passed. Had it +been a place of public worship, the act would have been natural and +appropriate, but to uncover before a statue seemed to us too much like +idolatry, and we ventured over without doing it. A few years ago it +might have been dangerous, but now we only met with scowling looks. +There are many such shrines and statues through the city, and I noticed +that the people always took off their hats and crossed themselves in +passing. On the hill above the western end of the city, stands a chapel +on the spot where the Bavarians put an end to Protestantism in Bohemia +_by the sword_, and the deluded peasantry of the land make pilgrimages +to this spot, as if it were rendered holy by an act over which Religion +weeps! + +Ascending the broad flight of steps to the Hradschin, I paused a moment +to look at the scene below. A slight blue haze hung over the clustering +towers, and the city looked dim through it, like a city seen in a dream. +It was well that it should so appear, for not less dim and misty are the +memories that haunt its walls. There was no need of a magician's wand to +bid that light cloud shadow forth the forms of other times. They came +uncalled for, even by fancy. Far, far back in the past, I saw the +warrior-princess who founded the kingly city--the renowned Libussa, +whose prowess and talent inspired the women of Bohemia to rise at her +death and storm the land that their sex might rule where it obeyed +before. On the mountain opposite once stood the palace of the bloody +Wlaska, who reigned with her Amazon band for seven years over half +Bohemia. Those streets below had echoed with the fiery words of Huss, +and the castle of his follower--the blind Ziska, who met and defeated +the armies of the German Empire--moulders on the mountain above. Many a +year of war and tempest has passed over the scene. The hills around have +borne the armies of Wallenstein and Frederic the Great; the war-cry of +Bavaria, Sweden and Poland has echoed in the valley, and the red glare +of the midnight cannon or the flames of burning palaces have often +gleamed along the "blood-dyed waters" of the Moldau! + +But this was a day-dream. The throng of people coming up the steps waked +me out of it. We turned and followed them through several spacious +courts, till we arrived at the Cathedral, which is magnificent in the +extreme. The dark Gothic pillars, whose arches unite high above, are +surrounded with gilded monuments and shrines, and the side chapels are +rich in elaborate decorations. A priest was speaking from a pulpit in +the centre, in the Bohemian language, which not being the most +intelligible, I went to the other end to see the shrine of the holy +Johannes of Nepomuck. It stands at the end of one of the side aisles and +is composed of a mass of gorgeous silver ornaments. At a little +distance, on each side, hang four massive lamps of silver, constantly +burning. The pyramid of statues, of the same precious metal, has at +each corner a richly carved urn, three feet high, with a crimson lamp +burning at the top. Above, four silver angels, the size of life, are +suspended in the air, holding up the corners of a splendid drapery of +crimson and gold. If these figures were melted down and distributed +among the poor and miserable people who inhabit Bohemia, they would then +be angels indeed, bringing happiness and blessing to many a ruined home- +altar. In the same chapel is the splendid burial-place of the Bohemian +kings, of gilded marble and alabaster. Numberless tombs, covered with +elaborate ornamental work, fill the edifice. It gives one a singular +feeling to stand at one end and look down the lofty hall, dim with +incense smoke and dark with the weight of many centuries. + +On the way down again, we stepped into the St. Nicholas Church, which +was built by the Jesuits. The interior has a rich effect, being all of +brown and gold. The massive pillars are made to resemble reddish-brown +marble, with gilded capitals, and the statues at the base are profusely +ornamented in the same style. The music chained me there a long time. +There was a grand organ, assisted by a full orchestra and large choir of +singers. It was placed above, and at every sound of the priest's bell, +the flourish of trumpets and deep roll of the drums filled the dome with +a burst of quivering sound, while the giant pipes of the organ breathed +out their full harmony and the very air shook under the peal. It was +like a triumphal strain; the soul became filled with thoughts of power +and glory--every sense was changed into one dim, indistinct emotion of +rapture, which held the spirit as if spell-bound. I could almost forgive +the Jesuits the superstition and bigotry they have planted in the minds +of men, for the indescribable enjoyment that music gave. When it ceased, +we went out to the world again, and the recollection of it seems now +like a dream--but a dream whose influence will last longer than many a +more palpable reality. + +Not far from this place is the palace of Wallenstein, in the same +condition as when he inhabited it, and still in the possession of his +descendants. It is a plain, large building, having beautiful gardens +attached to it, which are open to the public. We went through the +courtyard, threaded a passage with a roof of rough stalactitic rock, and +entered the garden where a revolving fountain was casting up its +glittering arches. Among the flowers at the other end of the garden +there is a remarkable fountain. It is but a single jet of water which +rises from the middle of a broad basin of woven wire, but by some means +it sustains a hollow gilded ball, sometimes for many minutes at a time. +When the ball drops, the sloping sides of the basin convey it directly +to the fountain again, and it is carried up to dance a while longer on +the top of the jet. I watched it once, thus supported on the water, for +full fifteen minutes. + +There is another part of Prague which is not less interesting, though +much less poetical--the Jews' City. In our rambles we got into it before +we were aware, but hurried immediately out of it again, perfectly +satisfied with one visit. We came first into a dark, narrow street, +whose sides were lined with booths of old clothes and second-hand +articles. A sharp featured old woman thrust a coat before my face, +exclaiming, "Herr, buy a fine coat!" Instantly a man assailed me on the +other side, "Here are vests! pantaloons! shirts!" I broke loose from +them and ran on, but it only became worse. One seized me by the arm, +crying, "_Lieber_ Herr, buy some stockings!" and another grasped my +coat: "Hats, Herr! hats! _buy something, or sell me something!_" I +rushed desperately on, shouting "no! no!" with all my might, and finally +got safe through. My friend having escaped their clutches also, we +hunted the way to the old Jewish cemetery. This stands in the middle of +the city, and has not been used for a hundred years. We could find no +entrance, but by climbing upon the ruins of an old house near, I could +look over the wall. A cold shudder crept over me, to think that warm, +joyous Life, as I then felt it, should grow chill and pass back to clay +in such a foul charnel-house. Large mounds of earth, covered with black, +decaying grave-stones, which were almost hidden under the weeds and rank +grass, filled the inclosure. A few dark, crooked alder-trees grew among +the crumbling tombs, and gave the scene an air of gloom and desolation, +almost fearful. The dust of many a generation lies under these +mouldering stones; they now scarcely occupy a thought in the minds of +the living; and yet the present race toils and seeks for wealth alone, +that it may pass away and leave nothing behind--not even a memory for +that which will follow it! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +JOURNEY THROUGH EASTERN BOHEMIA AND MORAVIA TO THE DANUBE. + + +Our road the first two days after leaving Prague led across broad, +elevated plains, across which a cold wind came direct from the summits +of the Riesengebirge, far to our left. Were it not for the pleasant view +we had of the rich valley of the Upper Elbe, which afforded a delightful +relief to the monotony of the hills around us, the journey would have +been exceedingly tiresome. The snow still glistened on the distant +mountains; but when the sun shone out, the broad valley below, clad in +the luxuriance of summer, and extending for at least fifty miles with +its woods, meadows and white villages, looked like a real Paradise. The +long ridges over which we travelled extend for nearly a hundred and +fifty miles--from the Elbe almost to the Danube. The soil is not +fertile, the inhabitants are exceedingly poor, and from our own +experience, the climate must be unhealthy. In winter the country is +exposed to the full sweep of the northern winds, and in summer the sun +shines down on it with unbroken force. There are few streams running +through it, and the highest part, which divides the waters of the Baltic +from those of the Black Sea is filled for a long distance with marshes +and standing pools, whose exhalations must inevitably subject the +inhabitants to disease. This was perceptible in their sallow, sickly +countenances; many of the women are afflicted with the _goitre_, or +swelling of the throat; I noticed that towards evening they always +carefully muffled up their faces. According to their own statements, the +people suffer much from the cold in winter, as the few forests the +country affords are in possession of the noblemen to whom the land +belongs, and they are not willing to let them be cut down. The dominions +of these petty despots are marked along the road with as much precision +as the boundaries of an empire; we saw sometimes their stalely castles +at a distance, forming quite a contrast to the poor scattering villages +of the peasants. + +At Kollin, the road, which had been running eastward in the direction of +Olmutz, turned to the south, and we took leave of the Elbe, after +tracing back his course from Magdeburg nearly to his home in the +mountains of Silesia. The country was barren and monotonous, but a +bright sunshine made it look somewhat cheerful. We passed, every few +paces, some shrine or statue by the roadside. This had struck me, +immediately on crossing the border, in the Saxon Switzerland--it seemed +as if the boundary of Saxony was that of Protestantism. But here in the +heart of Bohemia, the extent to which this image worship is carried, +exceeds anything I had imagined. There is something pleasing as well as +poetical in the idea of a shrine by the wayside, where the weary +traveller can rest, and raise his heart in thankfulness to the Power +that protects him; it was no doubt a pious spirit that placed them +there; but the people appear to pay the reverence to the picture which +they should give to its spiritual image, and the pictures themselves are +so shocking and ghastly, they seem better calculated to excite horror +than reverence. It was really repulsive to look on images of the Saviour +covered with blood, and generally with swords sticking in different +parts of the body. The Almighty is represented as an old man, wearing a +Bishop's mitre, and the image of the Virgin is always drest in a gay +silk robe, with beads and other ornaments. From the miserable painting, +the faces often had an expression that would have been exceedingly +ludicrous, if the shock given to our feelings of reverence were not +predominant. The poor, degraded peasants always uncovered or crossed +themselves when passing by these shrines, but it appeared to be rather +the effect of habit than any good impulse, for the Bohemians are noted +all over Germany for their dishonesty; we learned by experience they +deserve it. It is not to be wondered at either; for a people so poor and +miserable and oppressed will soon learn to take advantage of all who +appear better off than themselves. They had one custom which was +touching and beautiful. At the sound of the church bell, as it rung the +morning, noon and evening chimes, every one uncovered, and repeated to +himself a prayer. Often, as we rested at noon on a bank by the roadside, +that voice spoke out from the house of worship and every one heeded its +tone. Would that to this innate spirit of reverence were added the light +of Knowledge, which a tyrannical government denies them! + +The third night of our journey we stopped at the little village of +Stecken, and the next morning, after three hours' walk over the ridgy +heights, reached the old Moravian city of Iglau, built on a hill. It +happened to be _Corpus Christi_ day, and the peasants of the +neighborhood were hastening there in their gayest dresses. The young +women wore a crimson scarf around the head, with long fringed and +embroidered ends hanging over the shoulders, or falling in one smooth +fold from the back of the head. They were attired in black velvet vests, +with full white sleeves and skirts of some gay color, which were short +enough to show to advantage their red stockings and polished +shoe-buckles. Many of them were not deficient in personal beauty--there +was a gipsy-like wildness in their eyes, that combined with their rich +hair and graceful costume, reminded me of the Italian maidens. The towns +too, with their open squares and arched passages, have quite a southern +look; but the damp, gloomy weather was enough to dispel any illusion of +this kind. + +In the neighborhood of Iglau, and, in fact, through the whole of +Bohemia, we saw some of the strangest teams that could well be imagined. +I thought the Frankfort milkwomen with their donkeys and hearse-like +carts, were comical objects enough, but they bear no comparison with +these Bohemian turn-outs. Dogs--for economy's sake, perhaps--generally +supply the place of oxen or horses, and it is no uncommon thing to see +three large mastiffs abreast, harnessed to a country-cart. A donkey and +a cow together, are sometimes met with, and one man, going to the +festival at Iglau, had his wife and children in a little wagon, drawn by +a dog and a donkey. These two, however, did not work well together; the +dog would bite his lazy companion, and the man's time was constantly +employed in whipping him off the donkey, and in whipping the donkey away +from the side of the road. Once I saw a wagon drawn by a dog, with a +woman pushing behind, while a man, doubtless her lord and master, sat +comfortably within, smoking his pipe with the greatest complacency! The +very climax of all was a woman and a dog harnessed _together_, taking a +load of country produce to market! I hope, for the honor of the country, +it was not emblematic of woman's condition there. But as we saw hundreds +of them breaking stone along the road, and occupied at other laborious +and not less menial labor, there is too much reason to fear that it is +so. + +As we approached Iglau, we heard cannon firing; the crowd increased, and +following the road, we came to an open square, where a large number were +already assembled; shrines were erected around it, hung with pictures +and pine boughs, and a long procession of children was passing down the +side as we entered. We went towards the middle, where Neptune and his +Tritons poured the water from their urns into two fountains, and stopped +to observe the scene. The procession came on, headed by a large body of +priests, in white robes, with banners and crosses. They stopped before +the principal shrine, in front of the Rathhaus, and began a solemn +religious ceremony. The whole crowd of not less than ten thousand +persons, stood silent and uncovered, and the deep voice of the +officiating priest was heard over the whole square. At times the +multitude sang responses, and I could mark the sound, swelling and +rolling up like a mighty wave, till it broke and slowly sank down again +to the deepest stillness. The effect was marred by the rough voice of +the officers commanding the soldiery, and the volleys of musquetry which +were occasionally discharged. It degraded the solemnity of the pageant +to the level of a military parade. + +In the afternoon we were overtaken by a travelling _handwerker_, on his +way to Vienna, who joined company with us. We walked several miles +together, talking on various matters, without his having the least +suspicion we were not Germans. He had been at Trieste, and at length +began speaking of the great beauty of the American vessels there. "Yes," +said I, "_our_ vessels are admired all over the world." He stared at me +without comprehending;--"_your_ vessels?" "Our country's," I replied; +"we are Americans!" I can see still his look of incredulous astonishment +and hear the amazed tone with which he cried: "_You_ Americans--it is +impossible!" We convinced him nevertheless, to his great joy, for all +through Germany there is a curiosity to see our countrymen and a kindly +feeling towards them. "I shall write down in my book," said he, "so that +I shall never forget it, that I once travelled with two Americans!" We +stopped together for the night at the only inn in a large, beggarly +village, where we obtained a frugal supper with difficulty, for a +regiment of Polish lancers was quartered there for the night, and the +pretty _Kellnerin_ was so busy in waiting on the officers that she had +no eye for wandering journeymen, as she took us to be. She even told us +the beds were all occupied and we must sleep on the floor. Just then the +landlord came by. "Is it possible, Herr Landlord," asked our new +companion, "that there is no bed here for us? Have the goodness to look +again, for we are not in the habit of sleeping on the floor, like dogs!" +This speech had its effect, for the _Kellnerin_ was commanded to find us +beds. She came back unwillingly after a time and reported that _two_, +only, were vacant. As a German bed is only a yard wide, we pushed these +two together, but they were still too small for three persons, and I had +a severe cold in the morning, from sleeping crouched up against the damp +wall. + +The next day we passed the dividing ridge which separates the waters of +the Elbe from the Danube, and in the evening arrived at Znaim, the +capital of Moravia. It is built on a steep hill looking down on the +valley of the Thaya, whose waters mingle with the Danube near Pressburg. +The old castle on the height near, was formerly the residence of the +Moravian monarchs, and traces of the ancient walls and battlements of +the city are still to be seen. The handwerker took us to the inn +frequented by his craft--the leather-curriers--and we conversed together +till bed-time. While telling me of the oppressive laws of Austria, the +degrading vassalage of the peasants and the horrors of the conscription +system, he paused as in deep thought, and looking at me with a +suppressed sigh, said: "Is it not true, America is free?" I told him of +our country and her institutions, adding that though we were not yet as +free as we hoped and wished to be, we enjoyed far more liberty than any +country in the world. "Ah!" said he, "it is hard to leave one's +fatherland oppressed as it is, but I wish I could go to America!" + +We left next morning at eight o'clock, after having done full justice +to the beds of the "Golden Stag," and taken leave of Florian Francke, +the honest and hearty old landlord. Znaim appears to great advantage +from the Vienna road; the wind which blew with fury against our backs, +would not permit us to look long at it, but pushed us on towards the +Austrian border. In the course of three hours we were obliged to stop at +a little village; it blew a perfect hurricane and the rain began to soak +through our garments. Here we stayed three hours among the wagoners who +stopped on account of the weather. One miserable, drunken wretch, whom +one would not wish to look at more than once, distinguished himself by +insulting those around him, and devouring like a beast, large quantities +of food. When the reckoning was given him, he declared he had already +paid, and the waiter denying it, he said, "Stop, I will show you +something!" pulled out his passport and pointed to the name--"Baron von +Reitzenstein." It availed nothing; he had fallen so low that his title +inspired no respect, and when we left the inn they were still +endeavoring to get their money and threatening him with a summary +proceeding if the demand was not complied with. + +Next morning the sky was clear and a glorious day opened before us. The +country became more beautiful as we approached the Danube; the hills +were covered with vineyards, just in the tender green of their first +leaves, and the rich valleys lay in Sabbath stillness in the warm +sunshine. Sometimes from an eminence we could see far and wide over the +garden-like slopes, where little white villages shone among the +blossoming fruit-trees. A chain of blue hills rose in front, which I +knew almost instinctively stood by the Danube; when we climbed to the +last height and began to descend to the valley, where the river was +still hidden by luxuriant groves, I saw far to the southwest, a range of +faint, silvery summits, rising through the dim ether like an airy +vision. There was no mistaking those snowy mountains. My heart bounded +with a sudden thrill of rapturous excitement at this first view of _the +Alps!_ They were at a great distance, and their outline was almost +blended with the blue drapery of air which clothed them. I gazed till my +vision became dim and I could no longer trace their airy lines. They +called up images blended with the grandest events in the world's +history. I thought of the glorious spirits who have looked upon them and +trodden their rugged sides--of the storms in which they veil their +countenances, and the avalanches they hurl thundering to the valleys--of +the voices of great deeds, which have echoed from their crags over the +wide earth--and of the ages which have broken, like the waves of a +mighty sea, upon their everlasting summits! + +As we descended, the hills and forests shut out this sublime vision, and +I looked to the wood-clothed mountains opposite and tried to catch a +glimpse of the current that rolled at their feet. We here entered upon a +rich plain, about ten miles in diameter, which lay between a backward +sweep of the hills and a curve of the Danube. It was covered with the +richest grain; every thing wore the luxuriance of summer, and we seemed +to have changed seasons since leaving the dreary hills of Bohemia. +Continuing over the plain, we had on our left the fields of Wagram and +Essling, the scene of two of Napoleon's blood-bought victories. The +outposts of the Carpathians skirted the horizon--that great mountain +range which stretches through Hungary to the borders of Russia. + +At length the road came to the river's side, and we crossed on wooden +bridges over two or three arms of the Danube, all of which together were +little wider than the Schuylkill at Philadelphia. When we crossed the +last bridge, we came to a kind of island covered with groves of the +silver ash. Crowds of people filled the cool walks; booths of +refreshment stood by the roadside, and music was everywhere heard. The +road finally terminated in a circle, where beautiful alleys radiated +into the groves; from the opposite side a broad street lined with +stately buildings extended into the heart of the city, and through this +avenue, filled with crowds of carriages and people on their way to those +delightful walks, we entered Vienna! + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +VIENNA. + + +_May 31._--I have at last seen the thousand wonders of this great +capital--this German Paris--this connecting link between the +civilization of Europe and the barbaric magnificence of the East. It +looks familiar to be in a city again, whose streets are thronged with +people, and resound with the din and bustle of business. It reminds me +of the never-ending crowds of London, or the life and tumult of our +scarcely less active New York. Although the end may be sordid for which +so many are laboring, yet the very sight of so much activity is +gratifying. It is peculiarly so to an American. After residing in a +foreign land for some time, the peculiarities of our nation are more +easily noticed; I find in my countrymen abroad a vein of restless +energy--a love for exciting action--which to many of our good German +friends is perfectly incomprehensible. It might have been this which +gave at once a favorable impression of Vienna. + +The morning of our arrival we sallied out from our lodgings in the +Leopoldstadt, to explore the world before us. Entering the broad +Praterstrasse, we passed down to the little arm of the Danube, which +separates this part of the new city from the old. A row of magnificent +coffee-houses occupy the bank, and numbers of persons were taking their +breakfasts in the shady porticoes. The Ferdinand's Bridge, which crosses +the stream, was filled with people; in the motley crowd we saw the +dark-eyed Greek, and Turks in their turbans and flowing robes. Little +brown Hungarian boys were going around, selling bunches of lilies, and +Italians with baskets of oranges stood by the side-walk. The throng +became greater as we penetrated into the old city. The streets were +filled with carts and carriages, and as there are no side-pavements, it +required constant attention to keep out of their way. Splendid shops, +fitted up with great taste, occupied the whole of the lower stories, and +goods of all kinds hung beneath the canvass awnings in front of them. +Almost every store or shop was dedicated to some particular person or +place, which was represented on a large panel by the door. The number of +these paintings added much to the splendor of the scene; I was gratified +to find, among the images of kings and dukes, one dedicated "_to the +American_," with an Indian chief in full costume. + +The _Altstadt_, or old city, which contains about sixty thousand +inhabitants, is completely separated from the suburbs, whose population, +taking the whole extent within the outer barrier, numbers nearly half a +million. It is situated on a small arm of the Danube, and encompassed by +a series of public promenades, gardens and walks, varying from a quarter +to half a mile in length, called the Glacis. This formerly belonged to +the fortifications of the city, but as the suburbs grew up so rapidly on +all sides, it was changed appropriately to a public walk. The city is +still surrounded with a massive wall and a deep wide moat; but since it +was taken by Napoleon in 1809, the moat has been changed into a garden, +with a beautiful carriage road along the bottom, around the whole city. +It is a beautiful sight, to stand on the summit of the wall and look +over the broad Glacis, with its shady roads branching in every +direction, and filled with inexhaustible streams of people. The +Vorstaedte, or new cities, stretch in a circle around, beyond this; all +the finest buildings front on the Glacis, among which the splendid +Vienna Theatre and the church of San Carlo Borromeo are conspicuous. The +mountains of the Vienna Forest bound the view, with here and there a +stately castle on their woody summits. I was reminded of London as seen +from Regent's Park, and truly this part of Vienna can well compare with +it. On penetrating into the suburbs, the resemblance is at an end. Many +of the public thoroughfares are still unpaved, and in dry weather one is +almost choked by the clouds of fine dust. A furious wind blows from the +mountains, sweeping the streets almost constantly and filling the eyes +and ears with it, making the city an unhealthy residence for strangers. + +There is no lack of places for pleasure or amusement. Beside the +numberless walks of the Glacis, there are the Imperial Gardens, with +their cool shades and flowers and fountains; the Augarten, laid out and +opened to the public by the Emperor Joseph: and the Prater, the largest +and most beautiful of all. It lies on an island formed by the arms of +the Danube, and is between two and three miles square. From the circle +at the end of the Praterstrasse, broad carriage-ways extend through its +forests of oak and silver ash, and over its verdant lawns to the +principal stream, which bounds it on the north. These roads are lined +with stately horse chesnuts, whose branches unite and form a dense +canopy, completely shutting out the sun. Every afternoon the beauty and +nobility of Vienna whirl through the cool groves in their gay equipages, +while the sidewalks are thronged with pedestrians, and the numberless +tables and seats with which every house of refreshment is surrounded, +are filled with merry guests. Here, on Sundays and holidays, the people +repair in thousands. The woods are full of tame deer, which run +perfectly free over the whole Prater. I saw several in one of the lawns, +lying down in the grass, with a number of children playing around or +sitting beside them. It is delightful to walk there in the cool of the +evening, when the paths are crowded, and everybody is enjoying the +release from the dusty city. It is this free, social life which renders +Vienna so attractive to foreigners and draws yearly thousands of +visitors from all parts of Europe. + +St. Stephen's Cathedral, in the centre of the old city, is one of the +finest specimens of Gothic architecture in Germany. Its unrivalled +tower, which rises to the height of four hundred and twenty-eight feet, +is visible from every part of Vienna. It is entirely of stone, most +elaborately ornamented, and is supposed to be the strongest in Europe. +If the tower was finished, it might rival any church in Europe in +richness and brilliancy of appearance. The inside is solemn and grand; +but the effect is injured by the number of small chapels and shrines. In +one of these rests, the remains of Prince Eugene of Savoy, "_der edle +Ritter_," known in a ballad to every man, woman and child in Germany. + +The Belvidere Gallery fills thirty-five halls, and contains three +thousand pictures! It is absolutely bewildering to walk through such +vast collections; you can do no more than glance at each painting, and +hurry by face after face, and figure after figure, on which you would +willingly gaze for hours and inhale the atmosphere of beauty that +surrounds them. Then after you leave, the brain is filled with their +forms--radiant spirit-faces look upon you, and you see constantly, in +fancy, the calm brow of a Madonna, the sweet young face of a child, or +the blending of divine with mortal beauty in an angel's countenance. I +endeavor, if possible, always to make several visits--to study those +pictures which cling _first_ to the memory, and pass over those which +make little or no impression. It is better to have a few images fresh +and enduring, than a confused and indistinct memory of many. + +From the number of Madonnas in every European gallery, it would almost +seem that the old artists painted nothing else. The subject is one which +requires the highest genius to do it justice, and it is therefore +unpleasant to see so many still, inexpressive faces of the virgin and +child, particularly by the Dutch artists, who clothe their figures +sometimes in the stiff costume of their own time. Raphael and Murillo +appear to me to be almost the only painters who have expressed what, +perhaps, was above the power of other masters--the combined love and +reverence of the mother, and the divine expression in the face of the +child, prophetic of his mission and godlike power. + +There were many glorious old paintings in the second story, which is +entirely taken up with pictures; two or three of the halls were devoted +to selected works from modern artists. Two of these I would give every +thing I have to possess. One of them is a winter scene, representing the +portico of an old Gothic church. At the base of one of the pillars a +woman is seated in the snow, half-benumbed, clasping an infant to her +breast, while immediately in front stands a boy of perhaps seven or +eight years, his little hands folded in prayer, while the chill wind +tosses the long curls from his forehead. There is something so pure and +holy in the expression of his childish countenance, so much feeling in +the lip and sorrowful eye, that it moves one almost to tears to look +upon it. I turned back half a dozen times from the other pictures to +view it again, and blessed the artist in my heart for the lesson he +gave. The other is by a young Italian painter, whose name I have +forgotten, but who, if he never painted anything else, is worthy a high +place among the artists of his country. It represents some scene from +the history of Venice. On an open piazza, a noble prisoner, wasted and +pale from long confinement, has just had an interview with his children. +He reaches his arm toward them as if for the last time, while a savage +keeper drags him away. A lovely little girl kneels at the feet of the +Doge, but there is no compassion in his stern features, and it is easy +to see that her father is doomed. + +The Lower Belvidere, separated from the Upper by a large garden, laid +out in the style of that at Versailles, contains the celebrated +_Ambraser Sammlung_, a collection of armor. In the first hall I noticed +the complete armor of the Emperor Maximilian, for man and horse--the +armor of Charles V., and Prince Moritz of Saxony, while the walls were +filled with figures of German nobles and knights, in the suits they wore +in life. There is also the armor of the great "Baver of Trient," trabant +of the Archduke Ferdinand. He was nearly nine feet in stature, and his +spear, though not equal to Satan's, in Paradise Lost, would still make a +tree of tolerable dimensions. + +In the second hall we saw weapons taken from the Turkish army who +besieged Vienna, with the horse-tail standards of the Grand Vizier, Kara +Mustapha. The most interesting article was the battle-axe of the +unfortunate Montezuma, which was probably given to the Emperor Charles +V., by Cortez. It is a plain instrument of dark colored stone, about +three feet long. + +We also visited the _Burgerliche Zeughaus_, a collection of arms and +weapons, belonging to the citizens of Vienna. It contains sixteen +thousand weapons and suits of armor, including those plundered from the +Turks, when John Sobieski conquered them and relieved Vienna from the +siege. Besides a great number of sabres, lances and horsetails, there is +the blood-red banner of the Grand Vizier, as well as his skull and +shroud, which is covered with sentences from the Koran. On his return to +Belgrade, after the defeat at Vienna, the Sultan sent him a bow-string, +and he was accordingly strangled. The Austrians having taken Belgrade +some time after, they opened his grave and carried off his skull and +shroud, as well as the bow-string, as relics. Another large and richly +embroidered banner, which hung in a broad sheet from the ceiling, was +far more interesting to me. It had once waved from the vessels of the +Knights of Malta, and had, perhaps, on the prow of the Grand Master's +ship, led that romantic band to battle against the Infidel. + +A large number of peasants and common soldiers were admitted to view the +armory at the same time. The grave _custode_ who showed us the +curiosities, explaining every thing in phrases known by heart for years +and making the same starts of admiration whenever he came to any thing +peculiarly remarkable, singled us out as the two persons most worthy of +attention. Accordingly his remarks were directed entirely to us, and his +humble countrymen might as well have been invisible, for the notice he +took of them. On passing out, we gave him a coin worth about fifteen +cents, which happened to be so much more than the others gave him, that, +bowing graciously, he invited us to write our names in the album for +strangers. While we were doing this, a poor handwerker lingered behind, +apparently for the same object, whom he scornfully dismissed, shaking +the fifteen cent piece in his hand, and saying: "The album is not for +such as you--it is for noble gentlemen!" + +On our way through the city, we often noticed a house on the southern +side of St. Stephen's Platz, dedicated to "the Iron Stick." In a niche +by the window, stood what appeared to be the limb of a tree, completely +filled with nails, which were driven in so thick that no part of the +original wood is visible. We learned afterwards the legend concerning +it. The Vienna Forest is said to have extended, several hundred years +ago, to this place. A locksmith's apprentice was enabled, by the devil's +help, to make the iron bars and padlock which confine the limb in its +place; every locksmith's apprentice who came to Vienna after that, drove +a nail into it, till finally there was room for no more. It is a +singular legend, and whoever may have placed the limb there originally, +there it has remained for two or three hundred years at least. + +We spent two or three hours delightfully one evening in listening to +Strauss's band. We went about sunset to the Odeon, a new building in the +Leopoldstadt. It has a refreshment hall nearly five hundred feet long, +with a handsome fresco ceiling and glass doors opening into a garden +walk of the same length. Both the hall and garden were filled with +tables, where the people seated themselves as they came, and conversed +sociably over their coffee and wine. The orchestra was placed in a +little ornamental temple in the garden, in front of which I stationed +myself, for I was anxious to see the world's waltz-king, whose magic +tones can set the heels of half Christendom in motion. After the band +had finished tuning their instruments, a middle-sized, handsome man +stepped forward with long strides, with a violin in one hand and bow in +the other, and began waving the latter up and down, like a magician +summoning his spirits. As if he had waved the sound out of his bow, the +tones leaped forth from the instruments, and guided by his eye and hand, +fell into a merry measure. The accuracy with which every instrument +performed its part, was truly marvellous. He could not have struck the +measure or the harmony more certainly from the keys of his own piano, +than from that large band. The sounds struggled forth, so perfect and +distinct, that one almost expected to see them embodied, whirling in +wild dance around him. Sometimes the air was so exquisitely light and +bounding, the feet could scarcely keep on the earth; then it sank into a +mournful lament, with a sobbing tremulousness, and died away in a +long-breathed sigh. Strauss seemed to feel the music in every limb. He +would wave his fiddle-bow awhile, then commence playing with desperate +energy, moving his whole body to the measure, till the sweat rolled from +his brow. A book was lying on the stand before him, but he made no use +of it. He often glanced around with a kind of half-triumphant smile at +the restless crowd, whose feet could scarcely be restrained from +bounding to the magic measure. It was the horn of Oberon realized. The +composition of the music displayed great talent, but its charm consisted +more in the exquisite combination of the different instruments, and the +perfect, the wonderful exactness with which each performed its part--a +piece of art of the most elaborate and refined character. + +The company, which consisted of several hundred, appeared to be full of +enjoyment. They sat under the trees in the calm, cool twilight, with the +stars twinkling above, and talked and laughed sociably together between +the pauses of the music, or strolled up and down the lighted alleys. We +walked up and down with them, and thought how much we should enjoy such +a scene at home, where the faces around us would be those of friends, +and the language our mother tongue! + +We went a long way through the suburbs one bright afternoon, to a little +cemetery about a mile from the city, to find the grave of Beethoven. On +ringing at the gate a girl admitted us into the grounds, in which are +many monuments of noble families who have vaults there. I passed up the +narrow walk, reading the inscriptions, till I came to the tomb of Franz +Clement, a young composer, who died two or three years ago. On turning +again, my eye fell instantly on the word "BEETHOVEN," in golden letters, +on a tombstone of gray marble. A simple gilded lyre decorated the +pedestal, above which was a serpent encircling a butterfly--the emblem +of resurrection to eternal life. Here then, mouldered the remains of +that restless spirit, who seemed to have strayed to earth from another +clime, from such a height did he draw his glorious conceptions. The +perfection he sought for here in vain, he has now attained in a world +where the soul is freed from the bars which bind it in this. There were +no flowers planted around the tomb by those who revered his genius; only +one wreath, withered and dead, lay among the grass, as if left long ago +by some solitary pilgrim, and a few wild buttercups hung with their +bright blossoms over the slab. It might have been wrong, but I could not +resist the temptation to steal one or two, while the old grave-digger +was busy preparing a new tenement. I thought that other buds would open +in a few days, but those I took would be treasured many a year as sacred +relics. A few paces off is the grave of Schubert, the composer, whose +beautiful songs are heard all over Germany. + +It would employ one a week to visit all the rich collections of art in +Vienna. They are all open to the public on certain days of the week, and +we have been kept constantly in motion, running from one part of the +city to another, in order to arrive at some gallery at the appointed +time. Tickets, which have to be procured often in quite different parts +of the city, are necessary for admittance to many; on applying after +much trouble and search, we frequently found we came at the wrong hour, +and must leave without effecting our object. We employed no guide, but +preferred finding every thing ourselves. We made a list every morning, +of the collections open during the day, and employed the rest of the +time in visiting the churches and public gardens, or rambling through +the suburbs. + +We visited the Imperial Library a day or two ago. The hall is 245 feet +long, with a magnificent dome in the centre, under which stands the +statue of Charles V., of Carrara marble, surrounded by twelve other +monarchs of the house of Hapsburg. The walls are of variegated marble, +richly ornamented with gold, and the ceiling and dome are covered with +brilliant fresco paintings. The library numbers 300,000 volumes, and +16,000 manuscripts, which are kept in walnut cases, gilded and adorned +with medallions. The rich and harmonious effect of the whole cannot +easily be imagined. It is exceedingly appropriate that a hall of such +splendor, should be used to hold a library. The pomp of a palace may +seem hollow and vain, for it is but the dwelling of a man; but no +building can be too magnificent for the hundreds of great and immortal +spirits to dwell in, who have visited earth during thirty centuries. + +Among other curiosities preserved in the collection, we were shown a +brass plate, containing one of the records of the Roman Senate, made 180 +years before Christ, Greek manuscripts of the fifth and sixth centuries, +and a volume of Psalms, printed on parchment, in the year 1457, by Faust +and Schaeffer, the inventors of printing. There were also Mexican +manuscripts, presented by Cortez; the prayer-book of Hildegard, wife of +Charlemagne, in letters of gold; the signature of San Carlo Borromeo, +and a Greek testament of the thirteenth century, which had been used by +Erasmus in making his translation and contains notes in his own hand. +The most interesting article was the "Jerusalem Delivered" of Tasso, in +the poet's own hand, with his erasions and corrections. + +We also visited the Cabinet of Natural History, which is open twice a +week "to all _respectably dressed_ persons," as the notice at the door +says. But Heaven forbid that I should attempt to describe what we saw +there. The Mineral Cabinet had a greater interest to me, inasmuch as it +called up the recollections of many a school-boy ramble over the hills +and into all kinds of quarries, far and near. It is said to be the most +perfect collection in existence. I was pleased to find many old +acquaintances there, from the mines of Pennsylvania; Massachusetts and +New York were also very well represented. I had no idea before, that the +mineral wealth of Austria was so great. Besides the iron and lead mines +among the hills of Styria and the quicksilver of Idria, there is no +small amount of gold and silver found, and the Carpathian mountains are +rich in jasper, opal and lapiz lazuli. The largest opal ever found, was +in this collection. It weighs thirty-four ounces and looks like a +condensed rainbow. + +In passing the palace, we saw several persons entering the basement +story under the Library, and had the curiosity to follow them. By so +doing, we saw the splendid equipages of the house of Austria. There must +have been near a hundred carriages and sleds, of every shape and style, +from the heavy, square vehicle of the last century to the most light and +elegant conveyance of the present day. One clumsy, but magnificent +machine, of crimson and gold, was pointed out as being a hundred and +fifty years old. The misery we witnessed in starving Bohemia, formed a +striking contrast to all this splendor. + +Beside the Imperial Picture Gallery, there are several belonging to +princes and noblemen in Vienna, which are scarcely less valuable. The +most important of these is that of Prince Liechtenstein, which we +visited yesterday. We applied to the porter's lodge for admittance to +the gallery, but he refused to open it for two persons; as we did not +wish a long walk for nothing, we concluded to wait for other visitors. +Presently a gentleman and lady came and inquired if the gallery was +open. We told him it would probably be opened now, although the porter +required a larger number, and he went to ask. After a short time he +returned, saying: "He will come immediately; I thought best to put the +number a little higher, and so I told him there were _six_ of us!" +Having little artistic knowledge of paintings, I judge of them according +to the effect they produce upon me--in proportion as they gratify the +innate love for the beautiful and the true. I have been therefore +disappointed in some painters whose names are widely known, and +surprised again to find works of great beauty by others of smaller fame. +Judging by such a standard, I should say that "Cupid sleeping in the +lap of Venus," by Correggio, is the glory of this collection. The +beautiful limbs of the boy-god droop in the repose of slumber, as his +head rests on his mother's knee, and there is a smile lingering around +his half-parted lips, as if he was dreaming new triumphs. The face is +not that of the wicked, mischief-loving child, but rather a sweet +cherub, bringing a blessing to all he visits. The figure of the goddess +is exquisite. Her countenance, unearthly in its loveliness, expresses +the tenderness of a young mother, as she sits with one finger pressed on +her rosy lip, watching his slumber. It is a picture which "stings the +brain with beauty." + +The chapel of St. Augustine contains one of the best works of +Canova--the monument of the Grand Duchess, Maria Christina, of +Sachsen-Teschen. It is a pyramid of gray marble, twenty-eight feet high, +with an opening in the side, representing the entrance to a sepulchre. A +female figure personating Virtue bears in an urn to the grave, the ashes +of the departed, attended by two children with torches. The figure of +Compassion follows, leading an aged beggar to the tomb of his +benefactor, and a little child with its hands folded. On the lower step +rests a mourning Genius beside a sleeping lion, and a bas-relief on the +pyramid above represents an angel carrying Christina's image, surrounded +with the emblem of eternity, to Heaven. A spirit of deep sorrow, which +is touchingly portrayed in the countenance of the old man, pervades the +whole group. While we looked at it, the organ breathed out a slow, +mournful strain, which harmonized so fully with the expression of the +figures, that we seemed to be listening to the requiem of the one they +mourned. The combined effect of music and sculpture, thus united in +their deep pathos, was such, that I could have sat down and wept. It was +not from sadness at the death of a benevolent though unknown +individual,--but the feeling of grief, of perfect, unmingled sorrow, so +powerfully represented, came to the heart like an echo of its own +emotion, and carried it away with irresistible influence. Travellers +have described the same feeling while listening to the Miserere in the +Sistine Chapel, at Rome. Canova could not have chiseled the monument +without tears. + +One of the most interesting objects in Vienna, is the Imperial Armory. +We were admitted through tickets previously procured from the Armory +Direction; as there was already one large company within, we were told +to wait in the court till our turn came. Around the wall on the inside, +is suspended the enormous chain which the Turks stretched across the +Danube at Buda, in the year 1529, to obstruct the navigation. It has +eight thousand links and is nearly a mile in length. The court is filled +with cannon of all shapes and sizes, many of which were conquered from +other nations. I saw a great many which were cast during the French +Revolution, with the words "_Liberte! Egalite!_" upon them, and a number +of others bearing the simple letter "N." + +Finally the first company came down and the forty or fifty persons who +had collected during the interval, were admitted. The Armory runs around +a hollow square, and must be at least a quarter of a mile in length. We +were all taken into a circular hall, made entirely of weapons, to +represent the four quarters of the globe. Here the crusty old guide who +admitted us, rapped with his stick on the shield of an old knight who +stood near, to keep silence, and then addressed us: "When I speak every +one must be silent. No one can write or draw anything. No one shall +touch anything, or go to look at anything else, before I have done +speaking. Otherwise, they shall be taken immediately into the street +again!" Thus in every hall he rapped and scolded, driving the women to +one side with his stick and the men to the other, till we were nearly +through, when the thought of the coming fee made him a little more +polite. He had a regular set of descriptions by heart, which he went +through with a great flourish, pointing particularly to the common +military caps of the late Emperors of Prussia and Austria, as "treasures +beyond all price to the nation!" Whereupon, the crowd of common people +gazed reverently on the shabby beavers, and I verily believe, would have +devoutly kissed them, had the glass covering been removed. I happened to +be next to a tall, dignified young man, who looked on all this with a +displeasure almost amounting to contempt. Seeing I was a foreigner, he +spoke, in a low tone, bitterly of the Austrian government. "You are not +then an Austrian?" I asked. "No, thank God!" was the reply: "but I have +seen enough of Austrian tyranny. I am a Pole!" + +The first wing contains banners used in the French Revolution, and +liberty trees with the red cap; the armor of Rudolph of Hapsburg, +Maximilian I., the Emperor Charles V., and the hat, sword and order of +Marshal Schwarzenberg. Some of the halls represent a fortification, with +walls, ditches and embankments, made of muskets and swords. A long room +in the second wing contains an encampment, in which twelve or fifteen +large tents are formed in like manner. Along the sides are grouped old +Austrian banners, standards taken from the French, and horsetails and +flags captured from the Turks. "They make a great boast," said the Pole, +"of a half dozen French colors, but let them go to the Hospital des +Invalides, in Paris, and they will find _hundreds_ of the best banners +of Austria!" They also exhibited the armor of a dwarf king of Bohemia +and Hungary, who died, a gray-headed old man, in his twentieth year; the +sword of Marlborough; the coat of Gustavus Adolphus, pierced in the +breast and back with the bullet which killed him at Lutzen; the armor of +the old Bohemian princess Libussa, and that of the amazon Wlaska, with a +steel visor made to fit the features of her face. The last wing was the +most remarkable. Here we saw the helm and breastplate of Attila, king of +the Huns, which once glanced at the head of his myriads of wild hordes, +before the walls of Rome; the armor of Count Stahremberg, who commanded +Vienna during the Turkish siege in 1529, and the holy banner of Mahomet, +taken at that time from the Grand Vizier, together with the steel +harness of John Sobieski of Poland, who rescued Vienna from the Turkish +troops under Kara Mustapha; the hat, sword and breastplate of Godfrey of +Bouillon, the Crusader-king of Jerusalem, with the banners of the cross +the Crusaders had borne to Palestine, and the standard they captured +from the Turks on the walls of the Holy City! I felt all my boyish +enthusiasm for the romantic age of the Crusaders revive, as I looked on +the torn and mouldering banners which once waved on the hills of Judea, +or perhaps followed the sword of the Lion Heart through the fight on the +field of Ascalon! What tales could they not tell, those old standards, +cut and shivered by spear and lance! What brave hands have carried them +through the storm of battle, what dying eyes have looked upwards to the +cross on their folds, as the last prayer was breathed for the rescue of +the Holy Sepulchre! + +I must now close the catalogue. This morning we shall look upon Vienna +for the last time. Our knapsacks are repacked, and the passports +(precious documents!) vised for Munich. The getting of this vise, +however, caused a comical scene at the Police Office, yesterday. We +entered the Inspector's Hall and took our stand quietly among the crowd +of persons who were gathered around a railing which separated them from +the main office. One of the clerks came up, scowling at us, and asked in +a rough tone, "What do you want here?" We handed him our tickets of +sojourn (for when a traveler spends more than twenty-four hours in a +German city, he must take out a permission and pay for it) with the +request that he would give us our passports. He glanced over the +tickets, came back and with constrained politeness asked us to step +within the railing. Here we were introduced to the Chief Inspector. +"Desire Herr---- to come here," said he to a servant; then turning to +us, "I am happy to see the gentlemen in Vienna." An officer immediately +came up, who addressed us in fluent English. "You may speak in your +native tongue," said the Inspector:--"excuse our neglect; from the +facility with which you speak German, we supposed you were natives of +Austria!" Our passports were signed at once and given us with a gracious +bow, accompanied by the hope that we would visit Vienna again before +long. All this, of course, was perfectly unintelligible to the wondering +crowd outside the railing. Seeing however, the honors we were receiving, +they crowded back and respectfully made room for us to pass out. I kept +a grave face till we reached the bottom of the stairs, when I gave way +to restrained laughter in a manner that shocked the dignity of the +guard, who looked savagely at me over his forest of moustache. I would +nevertheless have felt grateful for the attention we received as +Americans, were it not for our uncourteous reception as suspected +Austrians. + +We have just been exercising the risible muscles again, though from a +very different cause, and one which, according to common custom, ought +to draw forth symptoms of a lachrymose nature. This morning B---- +suggested an examination of our funds, for we had neglected keeping a +strict account, and what with being cheated in Bohemia and tempted by +the amusements of Vienna, there was an apparent dwindling away. So we +emptied our pockets and purses, counted up the contents, and found we +had just ten florins, or four dollars apiece. The thought of our +situation, away in the heart of Austria, five hundred miles from our +Frankfort home, seems irresistibly laughable. By allowing twenty days +for the journey, we shall have half a florin a day, to travel on. This +is a homoeopathic allowance, indeed, but we have concluded to try it. So +now adieu, Vienna! In two hours we shall be among the hills again. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +UP THE DANUBE. + + +We passed out of Vienna in the face of one of the strongest winds it was +ever my lot to encounter. It swept across the plain with such force that +it was almost impossible to advance till we got under the lee of a range +of hills. About two miles from the barrier we passed Schoenbrunn, the +Austrian Versailles. It was built by the Empress Maria Theresa, and was +the residence of Napoleon in 1809, when Vienna was in the hands of the +French. Later, in 1832, the Duke of Reichstadt died in the same room +which his father once occupied. Behind the palace is a magnificent +garden, at the foot of a hill covered with rich forests and crowned with +an open pillared hall, 300 feet long, called the _Gloriette_. The +colossal eagle which surmounts it, can be seen a great distance. + +The lovely valley in which Schoenbrunn lies, follows the course of the +little river Vienna into the heart of that mountain region lying between +the Styrian Alps and the Danube, and called the Vienna Forest. Into this +our road led, between hills covered with wood, with here and there a +lovely green meadow, where herds of cattle were grazing. The third day +we came to the Danube again at Melk, a little city built under the edge +of a steep hill, on whose summit stands the palace-like abbey of the +Benedictine Monks. The old friars must have had a merry life of it, for +the wine-cellar of the abbey furnished the French army 50,000 measures +for several days in succession. The shores of the Danube here are +extremely beautiful. The valley where it spreads out, is filled with +groves, but where the hills approach the stream, its banks are rocky and +precipitous, like the Rhine. Although not so picturesque as the latter +river, the scenery of the Danube is on a grander scale. On the south +side the mountains bend down to it with a majestic sweep, and there +must be delightful glances into the valleys that lie between, in passing +down the current. + +But we soon left the river, and journeyed on through the enchanting +inland vales. To give an idea of the glorious enjoyment of traveling +through such scenes, let me copy a leaf out of my journal, written as we +rested at noon on the top of a lofty hill:--"Here, while the delightful +mountain breeze that comes fresh from the Alps cools my forehead, and +the pines around are sighing their eternal anthem, I seize a few moments +to tell what a paradise is around me. I have felt an elevation of mind +and spirit, a perfect rapture from morning till night, since we left +Vienna. It is the brightest and balmiest June weather; an ever fresh +breeze sings through the trees and waves the ripening grain on the +verdant meadows and hill-slopes. The air is filled with bird-music. The +larks sing above us out of sight, the bullfinch wakes his notes in the +grove, and at eve the nightingale pours forth her thrilling strain. The +meadows are literally covered with flowers--beautiful purple salvias, +pinks such as we have at home in our gardens and glowing buttercups, +color the banks of every stream. I never saw richer or more luxuriant +foliage. Magnificent forests clothe the hills, and the villages are +imbedded in fruit trees, shrubbery and flowers. Sometimes we go for +miles through some enchanting valley, lying like a paradise between the +mountains, while the distant, white Alps look on it from afar; sometimes +over swelling ranges of hills, where we can see to the right the valley +of the Danube, threaded by his silver current and dotted with white +cottages and glittering spires, and farther beyond, the blue mountains +of the Bohemian Forest. To the left, the range of the Styrian Alps +stretches along the sky, summit above summit, the farther ones robed in +perpetual snow. I could never tire gazing on those glorious hills. They +fill the soul with a conception of sublimity, such as one feels when +listening to triumphal music. They seem like the marble domes of a +mighty range of temples, where earth worships her Maker with an +organ-anthem of storms! + +"There is a _luxury_ in traveling here. We walk all day through such +scenes, resting often in the shade of the fruit trees which line the +road, or on a mossy bank by the side of some cool forest. Sometimes for +enjoyment as well as variety, we make our dining-place by a clear spring +instead of within a smoky tavern; and our simple meals have a relish an +epicure could never attain. Away with your railroads and steamboats and +mail-coaches, or keep them for those who have no eye but for the sordid +interests of life! With my knapsack and pilgrim-staff, I ask not their +aid. If a mind and soul full of rapture with beauty, a frame in glowing +and vigorous health, and slumbers unbroken even by dreams, are blessings +any one would attain, let him pedestrianize it through Lower Austria!" + +I have never been so strongly and constantly reminded of America, as +during this journey. Perhaps the balmy season, the same in which I last +looked upon the dear scenes of home, may have its effect; but there is +besides a richness in the forests and waving fields of grain, a wild +luxuriance over every landscape, which I have seen nowhere else in +Europe. The large farm houses, buried in orchards, scattered over the +valleys, add to the effect. Everything seems to speak of happiness and +prosperity. + +We were met one morning by a band of wandering Bohemian gipsies--the +first of the kind I ever saw. A young woman with a small child in her +arms came directly up to me, and looking full in my face with her wild +black eyes, said, without any preface: "Yes, he too has met with sorrow +and trouble already, and will still have more. But he is not false--he +is true and sincere, and will also meet with good luck!" She said she +could tell me three numbers with which I should buy a lottery ticket and +win a great prize. I told her I would have nothing to do with the +lottery, and would buy no ticket, but she persisted, saying: "Has he a +twenty kreutzer piece?--will he give it? Lay it in his hand and make a +cross over it, and I will reveal the numbers!" On my refusal, she became +angry, and left me, saying: "Let him take care--the third day something +will happen to him!" An old, wrinkled hag made the same proposition to +my companion with no better success. They reminded me strikingly of our +Indians; their complexion is a dark brown, and their eyes and hair are +black as night. These belonged to a small tribe who wander through the +forests of Bohemia, and support themselves by cheating and stealing. + +We stopped the fourth night at Enns, a small city on the river of the +same name, which divides Upper from Lower Austria. After leaving the +beautiful little village where we passed the night before, the road +ascended one of those long ranges of hills, which stretch off from the +Danube towards the Alps. We walked for miles over the broad and uneven +summit, enjoying the enchanting view which opened on both sides. If we +looked to the right, we could trace the windings of the Danube for +twenty miles, his current filled with green, wooded islands; white +cities lie at the foot of the hills, which, covered to the summit with +grain fields and vineyards, extended back one behind another, till the +farthest were lost in the distance. I was glad we had taken the way from +Vienna to Linz by land, for from the heights we had a view of the whole +course of the Danube, enjoying besides, the beauty of the inland vales +and the far-off Styrian Alps. From the hills we passed over we could see +the snowy range as far as the Alps of Salzburg--some of them seemed +robed to the very base in their white mantles. In the morning the +glaciers on their summit glittered like stars; it was the first time I +saw the sun reflected at a hundred miles' distance! + +On descending we came into a garden-like plain, over which rose the +towers of Enns, built by the ransom money paid to Austria for the +deliverance of the Lion-hearted Richard. The country legends say that +St. Florian was thrown into the river by the Romans in the third +century, with a millstone around his neck, which, however, held him +above the water like cork, until he had finished preaching them a +sermon. In the villages we often saw his imago painted on the houses, in +the act of pouring a pail of water on a burning building, with the +inscription beneath--"Oh, holy Florian, pray for us!" This was supposed +to be a charm against fire. In Upper Austria, it is customary to erect a +shrine on the road, wherever an accident has happened, with a painting +and description of it, and an admonition to all passers-by to pray for +the soul of the unfortunate person. On one of them, for instance, was a +cart with a wild ox, which a man was holding by the horns; a woman +kneeling by the wheels appeared to be drawing a little girl by the feet +from under it, and the inscription stated: "By calling on Jesus, Mary +and Joseph, the girl was happily rescued." Many of the shrines had +images which the people no doubt, in their ignorance and simplicity, +considered holy, but they were to us impious and almost blasphemous. + +From Enns a morning's walk brought us to Linz. The peasant girls in +their broad straw hats were weeding the young wheat, looking as cheerful +and contented as the larks that sung above them. A mile or two from Linz +we passed one or two of the round towers belonging to the new +fortifications of the city. As walls have grown out of fashion, Duke +Maximilian substituted an invention of his own. The city is surrounded +by thirty two towers, one to three miles distant from it, and so placed +that they form a complete line of communication and defence. They are +sunk in the earth, surrounded with a ditch and embankments, and each is +capable of containing ten cannon and three hundred men. The pointed +roofs of these towers are seen on all the hills around. We were obliged +to give up our passports at the barrier, the officer telling us to call +for them in three hours at the City Police Office; we spent the +intervening time very agreeably in rambling through this gay, +cheerful-looking town. With its gilded spires and ornamented houses, +with their green lattice blinds, it reminds one strongly of Italy, or at +least, of what Italy is said to be. It has now quite an active and +business-like aspect, occasioned by the steamboat and railroad lines +which connect it with Vienna, Prague, Ratisbon and Salzburg. Although we +had not exceeded our daily allowance by more than a few kreutzers, we +found that twenty days would be hardly sufficient to accomplish the +journey, and our funds must therefore be replenished. Accordingly I +wrote from Linz to Frankfort, directing a small sum to be forwarded to +Munich, which city we hoped to reach in eight days. + +We took the horse cars at Linz for Lambach, seventeen miles on the way +towards Gmunden. The mountains were covered with clouds as we approached +them, and the storms they had been brewing for two or three days began +to march down on the plain. They had nearly reached us, when we crossed +the Traun and arrived at Lambach, a small city built upon a hill. We +left the next day at noon, and on ascending the hill after crossing the +Traun, had an opportunity of seeing the portrait on the Traunstein, of +which the old landlord told us. I saw it at the first glance--certainly +it is a most remarkable freak of nature. The rough back of the mountain +forms the exact profile of the human countenance, as if regularly hewn +out of the rock. What is still more singular, it is said to be a correct +portrait of the unfortunate Louis XVI. The landlord said it was +immediately recognized by all Frenchmen. The road followed the course of +the Traun, whose green waters roared at the bottom of the glen below us; +we walked for several miles through a fine forest, through whose +openings we caught glimpses of the mountains we longed to reach. + +The river roared at last somewhat louder, and on looking down the bank, +I saw rocks and rapids, and a few houses built on the edge of the +stream. Thinking it must be near the fall, we went down the path, and +lo! on crossing a little wooden bridge, the whole affair burst in sight! +Judge of our surprise at finding a fall of fifteen feet, after we had +been led to expect a tremendous leap of forty or fifty, with all the +accompaniment of rocks and precipices. Of course the whole descent of +the river at the place was much greater, and there were some romantic +cascades over the rocks which blocked its course. Its greatest beauty +consisted in the color of the water--the brilliant green of the waves +being broken into foam of the most dazzling white--and the great force +with which it is thrown below. + +The Traunstein grew higher as we approached, presenting the same profile +till we had nearly reached Gmunden. From the green upland meadows above +the town, the view of the mountain range was glorious, and I could +easily conceive the effect of the Unknown Student's appeal to the people +to fight for those free hills. I think it is Howitt who relates the +incident--one of the most romantic in German history. Count Pappenheim +led his forces here in the year 1626, to suppress a revolution of the +people of the whole Salzburg region, who had risen against an invasion +of their rights by the Austrian government. The battle which took place +on these meadows was about being decided in favor of the oppressors, +when a young man, clad as a student, suddenly appeared and addressed the +people, pointing to the Alps above them and the sweet lake below, and +asking if that land should not be free. The effect was electrical; they +returned to the charge and drove back the troops of Pappenheim, who were +about taking to flight, when the unknown leader fell, mortally wounded. +This struck a sudden panic through his followers, and the Austrians +turning again, gained a complete victory. But the name of the brave +student is unknown, his deed unsung by his country's bards, and almost +forgotten. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE UNKNOWN STUDENT. + + + Ha! spears on Gmunden's meadows green, + And banners on the wood-crowned height! + Rank after rank, their helmets' sheen + Sends back the morning light! + Where late the mountain maiden sang, + The battle-trumpet's brazen clang + Vibrates along the air; + And wild dragoons wheel o'er the plain. + Trampling to earth the yellow grain, + From which no more the merry swain + His harvest sheaves shall bear. + + The eagle, in his sweep at morn, + To meet the monarch-sun on high, + Heard the unwonted warrior's horn + Peal faintly up the sky! + He saw the foemen, moving slow + In serried legions, far below, + Against that peasant-band, + Who dared to break the tyrant's thrall + And by the sword of Austria fall, + Or keep the ancient Right of all, + Held by their mountain-land; + + They came to meet that mail-clad host + From glen and wood and ripening field; + A brave, stout arm, each man could boast-- + A soul, unused to yield! + They met: a shout, prolonged and loud, + Went hovering upward with the cloud + That closed around them dun; + Blade upon blade unceasing clashed, + Spears in the onset shivering crashed, + And the red glare of cannon flashed + Athwart the smoky sun! + + The mountain warriors wavered back, + Borne down by myriads of the foe, + Like pines before the torrent's track + When spring has warmed the snow. + Shall Faith and Freedom vainly call, + And Gmunden's warrior-herdsmen fall + On the red field in vain? + No! from the throng that back retired, + A student boy sprang forth inspired, + And while his words their bosoms fired, + Led on the charge again! + + "And thus your free arms would ye give + So tamely to a tyrant's band, + And with the hearts of vassals live + In this, your chainless land? + The emerald lake is spread below, + And tower above, the hills of snow-- + Here, field and forest lie; + This land, so glorious and so free-- + Say, shall it crushed and trodden be? + Say, would ye rather bend the knee + Than for its freedom die? + + "Look! yonder stand in mid-day's glare + The everlasting Alps of snow, + And from their peaks a purer air + Breathes o'er the vales below! + The Traun his brow is bent in pride-- + He brooks no craven on his side-- + Would ye be fettered then? + There lifts the Sonnenstein his head, + There chafes the Traun his rocky bed + And Aurach's lovely vale is spread-- + Look on them and be men! + + "Let, like a trumpet's sound of fire, + _These_ stir your souls to manhood's part-- + The glory of the Alps inspire + Each yet unconquered heart! + For, through their unpolluted air + Soars fresher up the grateful prayer + From freemen, unto God;-- + A blessing on those mountains old! + On to the combat, brethren bold! + Strike, that ye free the valleys hold, + Where free your fathers trod!" + + And like a mighty storm that tears + The icy avalanche from its bed, + They rushed against th' opposing spears-- + The student at their head! + The bands of Austria fought in vain; + A bloodier harvest heaped the plain + At every charge they made; + Each herdsman was a hero then-- + The mountain hunters stood like men, + And echoed from the farthest glen + The clash of blade on blade! + + The banner in the student's hand + Waved triumph from the fight before; + What terror seized the conq'ring band?-- + It fell, to rise no more! + And with it died the lofty flame, + That from his lips in lightning came + And burned upon their own; + Dread Pappenheim led back the foe, + The mountain peasants yielded slow, + And plain above and lake below + Were red when evening shone! + + Now many a year has passed away + Since battle's blast rolled o'er the plain, + The Alps are bright in morning's ray-- + The Traunstein smiles again. + But underneath the flowery sod, + By happy peasant children trod, + A hero's ashes lay. + O'er him no grateful nation wept, + Fame, of his deed no record kept, + And dull Forgetfulness hath swept + His very name away! + + In many a grave, by poets sung, + There falls to dust a lofty brow, + But he alone, the brave and young, + Sleeps there forgotten now. + The Alps upon that field look down, + Which won his bright and brief renown, + Beside the lake's green shore; + Still wears the land a tyrant's chain-- + Still bondmen tread the battle-plain, + Culled by his glorious soul in vain + To win their rights of yore. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE AUSTRIAN ALPS. + + +It was nearly dark when we came to the end of the plain and looked on +the city at our feet and the lovely lake that lost itself in the +mountains before us. We were early on board the steamboat next morning, +with a cloudless sky above us and a snow-crested Alp beckoning on from +the end of the lake. The water was of the most beautiful green hue, the +morning light colored the peaks around with purple, and a misty veil +rolled up the rocks of the Traunstein. We stood on the prow and enjoyed +to the fullest extent the enchanting scenery. The white houses of +Gmunden sank down to the water's edge like a flock of ducks; halfway we +passed castle Ort, on a rock in the lake, whose summit is covered with +trees. + +As we neared the other extremity, the mountains became steeper and +loftier; there was no path along their wild sides, nor even a fisher's +hut nestled at their feet, and the snow filled the ravines more than +half-way from the summit. An hour and a quarter brought us to Ebensee, +at the head of the lake, where we landed and plodded on towards Ischl, +following the Traun up a narrow valley, whose mountain walls shut out +more than half the sky. They are covered with forests, and the country +is inhabited entirely by the woodmen who fell the mountain pines and +float the timber rafts down to the Danube. The steeps are marked with +white lines, where the trees have been rolled, or rather _thrown_ from +the summit. Often they descend several miles over rooks and precipices, +where the least deviation from the track would dash them in a thousand +pieces. This generally takes place in the winter when the sides are +covered with snow and ice. It must be a dangerous business, for there +are many crosses by the way-side where the pictures represent persons +accidentally killed by the trees; an additional painting represents +them as burning in the flames of purgatory, and the pious traveler is +requested to pray an Ave or a Paternoster for the repose of their souls. + +On we went, up the valley of the Traun, between mountains five and six +thousand feet high, through scenes constantly changing and constantly +grand, for three or four hours. Finally the hills opened, disclosing a +little triangular valley, whose base was formed by a mighty mountain +covered with clouds. Through the two side angles came the Traun and his +tributary the Ischl, while the little town of Ischl lay in the centre. +Within a few years this has become a very fashionable bathing place, and +the influx of rich visitors, which in the summer sometimes amounts to +two thousand, has entirely destroyed the primitive simplicity the +inhabitants originally possessed. From Ischl we took a road through the +forests to St. Wolfgang, on the lake of the same name. The last part of +the way led along the banks of the lake, disclosing some delicious +views. These Alpine lakes surpass any scenery I have yet seen. The water +is of the most beautiful green, like a sheet of molten beryl, and the +cloud-piercing mountains that encompass them shut out the sun for nearly +half the day. St. Wolfgang is a lovely village in a cool and quiet nook +at the foot of the Schafberg. The houses tire built in the picturesque +Swiss style, with flat, projecting roofs and ornamented balconies, and +the people are the very picture of neatness and cheerfulness. + +We started next morning to ascend the Schafberg, which is called the +Righi of the Austrian Switzerland. It is somewhat higher than its Swiss +namesake, and commands a prospect scarcely less extensive or grand. We +followed a footpath through the thick forest by the side of a roaring +torrent. The morning mist still covered the lake, but the white summits +of the Salzburg and Noric Alps opposite us, rose above it and stood pure +and bright in the upper air. We passed a little mill and one or two +cottages, and then wound round one of the lesser heights into a deep +ravine, down in whose dark shadow we sometimes heard the axe and saw of +the mountain woodmen. Finally the path disappeared altogether under a +mass of logs and rocks, which appeared to have been whirled together by +a sudden flood. We deliberated what to do; the summit rose several +thousand feet above us, almost precipitously steep, but we did not like +to turn back, and there was still a hope of meeting with the path again. +Clambering over the ruins and rubbish we pulled ourselves by the limbs +of trees up a steep ascent and descended again to the stream. We here +saw the ravine was closed by a wall of rock and our only chance was to +cross to the west side of the mountain, where the ascent seemed somewhat +easier. A couple of mountain maidens whom we fortunately met, carrying +home grass for their goats, told us the mountain could be ascended on +that side, by one who could climb _well_--laying a strong emphasis on +the word. The very doubt implied in this expression was enough to decide +us; so we began the work. And work it was, too! The side was very steep, +the trees all leaned downwards, and we slipped at every step on the dry +leaves and grass. After making a short distance this way with the +greatest labor, we came to the track of an avalanche, which had swept +away the trees and earth. Here the rock had been worn rough by torrents, +but by using both hands and feet, we clomb directly up the side of the +mountain, sometimes dragging ourselves up by the branches of trees where +the rocks were smooth. After half an hour of such work we came above the +forests, on the bare side of the mountain. The summit was far above us +and so steep that our limbs involuntarily shrunk from the task of +climbing. The side ran up at an angle of nearly sixty degrees, and the +least slip threw us flat on our faces. We had to use both hand and foot, +and were obliged to rest every few minutes to recover breath. +Crimson-flowered moss and bright blue gentians covered the rocks, and I +filled my books with blossoms for friends at home. + +Up and up, for what seemed an age, we clambered. So steep was it, that +the least rocky projection hid my friend from sight, as he was coming up +below me. I let stones roll sometimes, which went down, down, almost +like a cannonball, till I could see them no more. At length we reached +the region of dwarf pines, which was even more difficult to pass +through. Although the mountain was not so steep, this forest, centuries +old, reached no higher than our breasts, and the trees leaned downwards, +so that we were obliged to take hold of the tops of those above us, and +drag ourselves up through the others. Here and there lay large patches +of snow; we sat down in the glowing June sun, and bathed our hands and +faces in it. Finally the sky became bluer and broader, the clouds seemed +nearer, and a few more steps through the bushes brought us to the summit +of the mountain, on the edge of a precipice a thousand feet deep, whose +bottom stood in a vast field of snow! + +We lay down on the heather, exhausted by five hours' incessant toil, and +drank in like a refreshing draught, the sublimity of the scene, The +green lakes of the Salzburg Alps lay far below us, and the whole +southern horizon was filled with the mighty range of the Styrian and +Noric Alps, their summits of never-melting snow mingling and blending +with the clouds. On the other side the mountains of Salzburg lifted +their ridgy backs from the plains of Bavaria and the Chiem lake lay +spread out in the blue distance. A line of mist far to the north +betrayed the path of the Danube, and beyond it we could barely trace the +outline of the Bohemian mountains. With a glass the spires of Munich, +one hundred and twenty miles distant, can be seen. It was a view whose +grandeur I can never forget. In that dome of the cloud we seemed to +breathe a purer air than that of earth. + +After an hour or two, we began to think of descending, as the path was +yet to be found. The summit, which was a mile or more in length, +extended farther westward, and by climbing over the dwarf pines for some +time, we saw a little wooden house above us. It stood near the highest +part of the peak, and two or three men were engaged in repairing it, as +a shelter for travelers. They pointed out the path which went down on +the side toward St. Gilgen, and we began descending. The mountain on +this side is much less steep, but the descent is fatiguing enough. The +path led along the side of a glen where mountain goats were grazing, and +further down we saw cattle feeding on the little spots of verdure which +lay in the forest. My knees became so weak from this continued descent, +that they would scarcely support me; but we were three hours, partly +walking and partly running down, before we reached the bottom. Half an +hour's walk around the head of the St. Wolfgang See, brought us to the +little village of St. Gilgen. + +The valley of St. Gilgen lies like a little paradise between the +mountains. Lovely green fields and woods slope gradually from the +mountain behind, to the still greener lake spread out before it, in +whose bosom the white Alps are mirrored. Its picturesque cottages +cluster around the neat church with its lofty spire, and the simple +inhabitants have countenances as bright and cheerful as the blue sky +above them. We breathed an air of poetry. The Arcadian simplicity of the +people, the pastoral beauty of the fields around and the grandeur of the +mountains which shut it out from the world, realized my ideas of a +dwelling place, where, with a few kindred spirits, the bliss of Eden +might almost be restored. + +We stopped there two or three hours to relieve our hunger and fatigue. +My boots had suffered severely in our mountain adventure, and I called +at a shoemaker's cottage to get them repaired. I sat down and talked for +half an hour with the family. The man and his wife spoke of the +delightful scenery around them, and expressed themselves with +correctness and even elegance. They were much pleased that I admired +their village so greatly, and related every thing which they supposed +could interest me. As I rose to go, my head nearly touched the ceiling, +which was very low. The man exclaimed: "Ach Gott! how tall!" I told him +the people were all tall in our country; he then asked where I came +from, and I had no sooner said America, than he threw up his hands and +uttered an ejaculation of the greatest surprise. His wife observed that +"it was wonderful how far man was permitted to travel." They wished me a +prosperous journey and a safe return home. + +St. Gilgen was also interesting to me from that beautiful chapter in +"Hyperion"--"Footsteps of Angels,"--and on passing the church on my way +back to the inn, I entered the graveyard mentioned in it. The green turf +grows thickly over the rows of mounds, with here and there a rose +planted by the hand of affection, and the white crosses were hung with +wreaths, some of which had been freshly laid on. Behind the church, +under the shade of a tree, stood a small chapel,--I opened the +unfastened door, and entered. The afternoon sun shone through the side +window, and all was still around. A little shrine, adorned with flowers, +stood at the other end, and there were two tablets on the wall, to +persons who slumbered beneath, I approached these and read on one of +them with feelings not easily described: "Look not mournfully into the +past--it comes not again; wisely improve the present--it is thine; and +go forward to meet the shadowy future, without fear, and with a manly +heart!" This then was the spot where Paul Flemming came in loneliness +and sorrow to muse over what he had lost, and these were the words whose +truth and eloquence strengthened and consoled him, "as if the unknown +tenant of the grave had opened his lips of dust and spoken those words +of consolation his soul needed." I sat down and mused a long time, for +there was something in the silent holiness of the spot, that impressed +me more than I could well describe. + +We reached a little village on the Fuschel See, the same evening, and +set off the next morning for Salzburg. The day was hot and we walked +slowly, so that it was not till two o'clock that we saw the castellated +rocks on the side of the Gaissberg, guarding the entrance to the valley +of Salzburg. A short distance further, the whole glorious panorama was +spread out below us. From the height on which we stood, we looked +directly on the summit of the Capuchin Mountain, which hid part of the +city from sight; the double peak of the Staufen rose opposite, and a +heavy storm was raging along the Alpine heights around it, while the +lovely valley lay in sunshine below, threaded by the bright current of +the Salza. As we descended and passed around the foot of the hill, the +Untersberg came in sight, whose broad summits lift themselves seven +thousand feet above the plain. The legend says that Charlemagne and his +warriors sit in its subterraneous caverns in complete armor, and that +they will arise and come forth again, when Germany recovers her former +power and glory. + +I wish I could convey in words some idea of the elevation of spirit +experienced while looking on these eternal mountains. They fill the soul +with a sensation of power and grandeur which frees it awhile from the +cramps and fetters of common life. It rises and expands to the level of +their sublimity, till its thoughts stand solemnly aloft, like their +summits, piercing the free heaven. Their dazzling and imperishable +beauty is to the mind an image of its own enduring existence. When I +stand upon some snowy summit--the invisible apex of that mighty +pyramid--there seems a majesty in my weak will which might defy the +elements. This sense of power, inspired by a silent sympathy with the +forms of nature, is beautifully described--as shown in the free, +unconscious instincts of childhood--by the poet Uhland, in his ballad of +the "Mountain Boy." I have attempted a translation. + + THE MOUNTAIN BOY. + + A herd-boy on the mountain's brow, + I see the castles all below. + The sunbeam here is earliest cast + And by my side it lingers last-- + I am the boy of the mountain! + + The mother-house of streams is here-- + I drink them in their cradles clear; + From out the rock they foam below, + I spring to catch them as they go! + I am the boy of the mountain! + + To me belongs the mountain's bound, + Where gathering tempests march around; + But though from north and south they shout, + Above them still my song rings out-- + "I am the boy of the mountain!" + + Below me clouds and thunders move; + I stand amid the blue above. + I shout to them with fearless breast: + "Go, leave my father's house in rest!" + I am the boy of the mountain! + + And when the loud bell shakes the spires + And flame aloft the signal-fires, + I go below and join the throng + And swing my sword and sing my song: + "I am the boy of the mountain!" + +Salzburg lies on both sides of the Salza, hemmed in on either hand by +precipitous mountains. A large fortress overlooks it on the south, from +the summit of a perpendicular rock, against which the houses in that +part of the city arc built. The streets are narrow and crooked, but the +newer part contains many open squares, adorned with handsome fountains. +The variety of costume among the people, is very interesting. The +inhabitants of the salt district have a peculiar dress; the women wear +round fur caps, with little wings of gauze at the side. I saw other +women with headdresses of gold or silver filagree, something in shape +like a Roman helmet, with a projection at the back of the head, a foot +long. The most interesting objects in Salzburg to us, were the house of +Mozart, in which the composer was born, and the monument lately erected +to him. The St. Peter's Church, near by, contains the tomb of Haydn, the +great composer, and the Church of St. Sebastian, that of the renowned +Paracelsus, who was also a native of Salzburg. + +Two or three hours sufficed to see every thing of interest in the city. +We had intended lo go further through the Alps, to the beautiful vales +of the Tyrol, but our time was getting short, our boots, which are the +pedestrian's _sole_ dependence, began to show symptoms of wearing out, +and our expenses among the lakes and mountains of Upper Austria, left us +but two florins apiece, so we reluctantly turned our backs upon the +snowy hills and set out for Munich, ninety miles distant. After passing +the night at Saalbruck, on the banks of the stream which separates the +two kingdoms, we entered Bavaria next morning. I could not help feeling +glad to leave Austria, although within her bounds I had passed scones +whose beauty will long haunt me, and met with many honest friendly +hearts among her people. We noticed a change as soon as we had crossed +the border. The roads were neater and handsomer, and the country people +greeted us in going by, with a friendly cheerfulness that made us feel +half at home. The houses are built in the picturesque Swiss fashion, +their balconies often ornamented with curious figures, carved in wood. +Many of them, where they are situated remote from a church, have a +little bell on the roof which they ring for morning and evening prayers; +we often heard these simple monitors sounding from the cottages as we +passed by. + +The next night we stopped at the little village of Stein, famous in +former times for its robber-knight, Hans von Stein. The ruins of his +castle stand on the rock above, and the caverns hewn in the sides of the +precipice, where he used to confine his prisoners, are still visible. +Walking on through a pleasant, well-cultivated country, we came to +Wasserburg, on the Inn. The situation of the city is peculiar. The Inn +has gradually worn his channel deeper in the sandy soil, so that he now +flows at the bottom of a glen, a hundred feet below the plains around. +Wasserburg lies in a basin, formed by the change of the current, which +flows around it like a horseshoe, leaving only a narrow neck of land +which connects it with the country above. + +We left the little village where we were quartered for the night and +took a foot path which led across the country to the field of +Hohenlinden, about six miles distant. The name had been familiar to me +from childhood, and my love for Campbell, with the recollection of the +school-exhibitions where "On Linden when the sun was low" had been so +often declaimed, induced me to make the excursion to it. We traversed a +large forest, belonging to the King of Bavaria, and came out on a plain +covered with grain fields and bounded on the right by a semi-circle of +low hills. Over the fields, about two miles distant, a tall, +minaret-like spire rose from a small cluster of houses, and this was +Hohenlinden! To tell the truth, I had been expecting something more. The +"hills of blood-stained snow" are very small hills indeed, and the +"Isar, rolling rapidly," is several miles off; it was the spot, however, +and we recited Campbell's poem, of course, and brought away a few wild +flowers as memorials. There is no monument or any other token of the +battle, and the people seem to endeavor to forget the scene of Moreau's +victory and their defeat. + +From a hill twelve miles off we had our first view of the spires of +Munich, looking like distant ships over the sea-like plain. They kept in +sight till we arrived at eight o'clock in the evening, after a walk of +more than thirty miles. We crossed the rapid Isar on three bridges, +entered the magnificent Isar Gate, and were soon comfortably quartered +in the heart of Munich. + +Entering the city without knowing a single soul within it, we made +within a few minutes an agreeable acquaintance. After we passed the +Isar Gate, we began looking for a decent inn, for the day's walk was +very fatiguing. Presently a young man, who had been watching us for some +time, came up and said, if we would allow him, he would conduct us to a +good lodging-place. Finding we were strangers, he expressed the greatest +regret that he had not time to go with us every day around the city. Our +surprise and delight at the splendor of Munich, he said, would more than +repay him for the trouble. In his anxiety to show us something, he took +us some distance out of the way, (although it was growing dark and we +were very tired,) to see the Palace and the Theatre, with its front of +rich frescoes. + +END OF PART I. + + + + + + + VIEWS A-FOOT; OR EUROPE SEEN WITH KNAPSACK AND STAFF. + + BY J. BAYARD TAYLOR. + + WITH A PREFACE BY N.P. WILLIS. + + + + "Jog on, jog on, the foot-path way, + And merrily hent the stile-a; + A merry heart goes all the day, + Your sad tires in a mile-a." + + _Winter's Tale._ + + + + IN TWO PARTS. + + PART II. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +MUNICH. + + +_June 14._--I thought I had seen every thing in Vienna that could excite +admiration or gratify fancy; here I have my former sensations to live +over again, in an augmented degree. It is well I was at first somewhat +prepared by our previous travel, otherwise the glare and splendor of +wealth and art in this German Athens might blind me to the beauties of +the cities we shall yet visit. I have been walking in a dream where the +fairy tales of boyhood were realized, and the golden and jeweled halls +of the Eastern genii rose glittering around me--"a vision of the brain +no more." All I had conceived of oriental magnificence, all descriptions +of the splendor of kingly halls and palaces, fall far short of what I +here see. Where shall I begin to describe the crowd of splendid edifices +that line its streets, or how give an idea of the profusion of paintings +and statues--of marble, jasper and gold? + +Art has done every thing for Munich. It lies on a large, flat plain, +sixteen hundred feet above the sea, and continually exposed to the cold +winds from the Alps. At the beginning of the present century it was but +a third-rate city, and was rarely visited by foreigners. Since that time +its population and limits have been doubled, and magnificent edifices in +every style of architecture erected, rendering it scarcely secondary in +this respect to any capital in Europe. Every art that wealth or taste +could devise, seems to have been spent in its decoration. Broad, +spacious streets and squares have been laid out, churches, halls and +colleges erected, and schools of painting and sculpture established, +which draw artists from all parts of the world. All this was principally +brought about by the taste of the present king, Ludwig I., who began +twenty or thirty years ago, when he was Crown Prince, to collect the +best German artists around him and form plans for the execution of his +grand design. He can boast of having done more for the arts than any +other living monarch, and if he had accomplished it all without +oppressing his people, he would deserve an immortality of fame. + +Now, if you have nothing else to do, let us take a stroll down the +Ludwigstrasse. As we pass the Theatiner Church, with its dome and +towers, the broad street opens before us, stretching away to the north, +between rows of magnificent buildings. Just at this southern end, is the +_Schlusshalle_, an open temple of white marble terminating the avenue. +To the right of us extend the arcades, with the trees of the Royal +Garden peeping above them; on the left is the spacious concert building +of the Odeon, and the palace of the Duke of Leuchtenberg, son of Eugene +Beauharnois. Passing through a row of palace-like private buildings, we +come to the Army Department, on the right--a neat and tasteful building +of white sandstone. Beside it stands the Library, which possesses the +first special claim on our admiration. With its splendid front of five +hundred and eighteen feet, the yellowish brown cement with which the +body is covered, making an agreeable contrast with the dark red +window-arches and cornices, and the statues of Homer, Hippocrates, +Thucydides and Aristotle guarding the portal, is it not a worthy +receptacle for the treasures of ancient and modern lore which its halls +contain? + +Nearly opposite stands the Institute for the Blind, a plain but large +building of dark red brick, covered with cement, and further, the +Ludwig's Kirche, or Church of St. Louis. How lightly the two square +towers of gray marble lift their network of sculpture! And what a novel +and beautiful effect is produced by uniting the Byzantine style of +architecture to the form of the Latin cross! Over the arched portal +stand marble statues by Schwanthaler, and the roof of brilliant tiles +worked into mosaic, looks like a rich Turkey carpet covering the whole. +We must enter to get an idea of the splendor of this church. Instead of +the pointed arch which one would expect to see meeting above his head, +the lofty pillars on each side bear an unbroken semicircular vault, +which is painted a brilliant blue, and spangled with silver stars. These +pillars, and the little arches above, which spring from them, are +painted in an arabesque style with gold and brilliant colors, and each +side-chapel is a perfect casket of richness and elegance. The windows +are of silvered glass, through which the light glimmers softly on the +splendor within. The whole end of the church behind the high altar, is +taken up with Cornelius's celebrated fresco painting of the "Last +Judgment,"--the largest painting in the world--and the circular dome in +the centre of the cross contains groups of martyrs, prophets, saints and +kings, painted in fresco on a ground of gold. The work of Cornelius has +been greatly praised for sublimity of design and beauty of execution, by +many acknowledged judges; I was disappointed in it, but the fault lay +most probably in me and not in the painting. The richness and elegance +of the church took me all "aback;" it was so entirely different from +anything I had seen, that it was difficult to decide whether I was most +charmed by its novelty or its beauty. Still, as a building designed to +excite feelings of worship, it seems to me inappropriate. A vast, dim +Cathedral would be far preferable; the devout, humble heart cannot feel +at home amid such glare and brightness. + +As we leave the church and walk further on, the street expands suddenly +into a broad square. One side is formed by the new University building +and the other by the Royal Seminary, both displaying in their +architecture new forms of the graceful Byzantine school, which the +architects of Munich have adapted in a striking manner to so many varied +purposes. On each side stands a splendid colossal fountain of bronze, +throwing up a great mass of water, which falls in a triple cataract to +the marble basin below. A short distance beyond this square the +Ludwigstrasse terminates. It is said the end will be closed by a +magnificent gate, on a style to correspond with the unequalled avenue to +which it will give entrance. To one standing at the southern end, it +would form a proper termination to the grand vista. Before we leave, +turn around and glance back, down this street, which extends for half a +mile between such buildings as we have just viewed, and tell me if it is +not something of which a city and a king may boast, to have created all +this within less than twenty years! + +We went one morning to see the collection of paintings formerly +belonging to Eugene Beauharnois, who was brother-in-law to the present +king of Bavaria, in the palace of his son, the Duke of Leuchtenberg. The +first hall contains works principally by French artists, among which are +two by Gerard--a beautiful portrait of Josephine, and the blind +Belisarius carrying his dead companion. The boy's head lies on the old +man's shoulder; but for the livid paleness of his limbs, he would seem +to be only asleep, while a deep and settled sorrow marks the venerable +features of the unfortunate Emperor. In the middle of the room are six +pieces of statuary, among which Canova's world-renowned group of the +Graces at once attracts the eye. There is also a kneeling Magdalen, +lovely in her woe, by the same sculptor, and a very touching work of +Schadow, representing a shepherd boy tenderly binding his sash around a +lamb which he has accidentally wounded with his arrow. + +We have since seen in the St. Michael's Church, the monument to Eugene +Beauharnois, from the chisel of Thorwaldsen. The noble, manly figure of +the son of Josephine is represented in the Roman mantle, with his helmet +and sword lying on the ground by him. On one side sits History, writing +on a tablet; on the other, stand the two brother-angels, Death and +Immortality. They lean lovingly together, with arms around each other, +but the sweet countenance of Death has a cast of sorrow, as he stands +with inverted torch and a wreath of poppies among his clustering locks. +Immortality, crowned with never-fading flowers, looks upwards with a +smile of triumph, and holds in one hand his blazing torch. It is a +beautiful idea, and Thorwaldsen has made the marble eloquent with +feeling. + +The inside of the square formed by the Arcades and the New Residence, is +filled with noble old trees, which in summer make a leafy roof over the +pleasant walks. In the middle, stands a grotto, ornamented with rough +pebbles and shells, and only needing a fountain to make it a perfect +hall of Neptune. Passing through the northern Arcade, one comes into the +magnificent park, called the English Garden, which extends more than +four miles along the bank of the Isar, several branches of whose milky +current wander through it, and form one or two pretty cascades. It is a +beautiful alternation of forest and meadow, and has all the richness and +garden-like luxuriance of English scenery. Winding walks lead along the +Isar, or through the wood of venerable oaks, and sometimes a lawn of +half a mile in length, with a picturesque temple at its further end, +comes in sight through the trees. I was better pleased with this park +than with the Prater in Vienna. Its paths are always filled with persons +enjoying the change from the dusty streets to its quiet and cool +retirement. + +The New Residence is not only one of the wonders of Munich, but of the +world. Although commenced in 1826 and carried on constantly since that +time by a number of architects, sculptors and painters, it is not yet +finished; if art were not inexhaustible it would be difficult to imagine +what more could be added. The north side of the Max Joseph Platz is +taken up by its front of four hundred and thirty feet, which was nine +years in building, under the direction of the architect Klenze. The +exterior is copied after the Palazzo Pitti, in Florence. The building is +of light brown sandstone, and combines an elegance and even splendor, +with the most chaste and classic style. The northern front, which faces +on the Royal Garden, is now nearly finished. It has the enormous length +of eight hundred feet; in the middle is a portico of ten Ionic columns; +instead of supporting a triangular facade, each pillar stands separate +and bears a marble statue from the chisel of Schwanthaler. + +The interior of the building does not disappoint the promise of the +outside. It is open every afternoon in the absence of the king, for the +inspection of visitors; fortunately for us, his majesty is at present on +a journey through his provinces on the Rhine. We went early to the +waiting hall, where several travelers were already assembled, and at +four o'clock, were admitted into the newer part of the palace, +containing the throne hall, ballroom, etc. On entering the first hall, +designed for the lackeys and royal servants, we were all obliged to +thrust our feet into cloth slippers to walk over the polished mosaic +floor. The walls are of scagliola marble and the ceilings ornamented +brilliantly in fresco. The second hall, also for servants, gives tokens +of increasing splendor in the richer decorations of the walls and the +more elaborate mosaic of the floor. We next entered the receiving +saloon, in which the Court Marshal receives the guests. The ceiling is +of arabesque sculpture, profusely painted and gilded. Passing through a +little cabinet, we entered the great dancing saloon. Its floor is the +richest mosaic of wood of different colors, the sides are of polished +scagliola marble, and the ceiling a dazzling mixture of sculpture, +painting and gold. At one end is a gallery for the orchestra, supported +by six columns of variegated marble, above which are six dancing nymphs, +painted so beautifully that they appear like living creatures. Every +decoration which could be devised has been used to heighten its +splendor, and the artists appear to have made free use of the Arabian +Nights in forming the plan. + +We entered next two smaller rooms containing the portraits of beautiful +women, principally from the German nobility. I gave the preference to +the daughter of Marco Bozzaris, now maid of honor to the Queen of +Greece. She had a wild dark eye, a beautiful proud lip, and her rich +black hair rolled in glossy waves down her neck from under the red +Grecian cap stuck jauntily on the side of her head. She wore a scarf and +close-fitting vest embroidered with gold, and there was a free, lofty +spirit in her countenance worthy the name she bore. These pictures form +a gallery of beauty, whose equal cannot easily be found. + +Returning to the dancing hall, we entered the dining saloon, also called +the Hall of Charlemagne. Each wall has two magnificent fresco paintings +of very large size, representing some event in the life of the great +emperor, beginning with his anointing at St. Deny's as a boy of twelve +years, and ending with his coronation by Leo III. A second dining +saloon, the Hall of Barbarossa, adjoins the first. It has also eight +frescoes as the former, representing the principal events in the life of +Frederic Barbarossa. Then comes a _third_, called the Hapsburg Hall, +with four grand paintings from the life of Rudolph of Hapsburg, and a +triumphal procession along the frieze, showing the improvement in the +arts and sciences which was accomplished under his reign. The drawing, +composition and rich tone of coloring of these glorious frescoes, are +scarcely excelled by any in existence. + +Finally we entered the Hall of the Throne. Here the encaustic +decoration, so plentifully employed in the other rooms, is dropped, and +an effect even more brilliant obtained by the united use of marble and +gold. Picture a long hall with a floor of polished marble, on each side +twelve columns of white marble with gilded capitals, between which stand +colossal statues of gold. At the other end is the throne of gold and +crimson, with gorgeous hangings of crimson velvet. The twelve statues in +the hall are called the "Wittlesbach Ancestors," and represent renowned +members of the house of Wittlesbach from which the present family of +Bavaria is descended. They were cast in bronze by Stiglmaier, after the +models of Schwanthaler, and then completely covered with a coating of +gold, so that they resemble solid golden statues. The value of the +precious metal on each one is about $3,000, as they arc nine feet in +height! What would the politicians who made such an outcry about the new +papering of the President's House, say to such a palace as this? + +Going back to the starting point, we went to the other wing of the +edifice and joined the party who came to visit the apartments of the +king. Here we were led through two or three rooms, appropriated to the +servants, with all the splendor of marble doors, floors of mosaic, and +frescoed ceilings. From these we entered the king's dwelling. The +entrance halls are decorated with paintings of the Argonauts and +illustrations of the Hymns of Hesiod, after drawings by Schwanthaler. +Then came the Service Hall, containing frescoes illustrating Homer, by +Schnorr, and the Throne Hall, with Schwanthaler's bas-reliefs of the +songs of Pindar, on a ground of gold. The throne stands under a splendid +crimson canopy. The Dining Room with its floor of polished wood is +filled with illustrations of the songs of Anacreon. To these follow the +Dressing Room, with twenty-seven illustrations of the Comedies of +Aristophanes, and the sleeping chamber with frescoes after the poems of +Theocritus, and two beautiful bas-reliefs representing angels bearing +children to Heaven. It is no wonder the King writes poetry, when he +breathes, eats, and even sleeps in an atmosphere of it. + +We were shown the rooms for the private parties of the Court, the +school-room, with scenes from the life of the Ancient Greeks, and then +conducted down the marble staircases to the lower story, which is to +contain Schnorr's magnificent frescoes of the Nibelungen Lied--the old +German Iliad. Two halls are at present finished; the first has the +figure of the author, Heinrich von Ofterdingen, and those of +Chriemhilde, Brunhilde, Siegfried and the other personages of the poem; +and the second, called the Marriage Hall, contains the marriage of +Chriemhilde and Siegfried, and the triumphal entry of Siegfried into +Worms. + +Adjoining the new residence on the east, is the Royal Chapel, lately +finished in the Byzantine style, under the direction of Klenze. To enter +it, is like stepping into a casket of jewels. The sides are formed by a +double range of arches, the windows being so far back as to be almost +out of sight, so that the eye falls on nothing but painting and gold. +The lower row of arches is of alternate green and purple marble, +beautifully polished; but the upper, as well as the small chancel behind +the high altar, is entirely covered with fresco paintings on a ground of +gold! The richness and splendor of the whole church is absolutely +incredible. Even after one has seen the Ludwig's Kirche and the +Residence itself, it excites astonishment. I was surprised, however, to +find at this age, a painting on the wall behind the altar, representing +the Almighty. It seems as if man's presumption has no end. The simple +altar of Athens, with its inscription "_to the Unknown God_," was more +truly reverent than this. As I sat down awhile under one of the arches, +a poor woman came in, carrying a heavy basket, and going to the steps +which led up to the altar, knelt down and prayed, spreading her arms out +in the form of a cross. Then, after stooping and kissing the first step, +she dragged herself with her knees upon it, and commenced praying again +with outspread arms. This she continued till she had climbed them all, +which occupied some time; then, as if she had fulfilled a vow she turned +and departed. She was undoubtedly sincere in her piety, but it made me +sad to look upon such deluded superstition. + +We visited yesterday morning the Glyptothek, the finest collection of +ancient sculpture except that in the British Museum, I have yet seen, +and perhaps elsewhere unsurpassed, north of the Alps. The building which +was finished by Klenze, in 1830, has an Ionic portico of white marble, +with a group of allegorical figures, representing Sculpture and the +kindred arts. On each side of the portico, there are three niches in the +front, containing on one side, Pericles, Phidias and Vulcan; on the +other, Hadrian, Prometheus and Daedalus. The whole building forms a +hollow square, and is lighted entirely from the inner side. There are in +all twelve halls, each containing the remains of a particular era in the +art, and arranged according to time, so that, beginning with the clumsy +productions of the ancient Egyptians, one passes through the different +stages of Grecian art, afterwards that of Rome, and finally ends with +the works of our own times--the almost Grecian perfection of Thorwaldsen +and Canova. These halls are worthy to hold such treasures, and what more +could be said of them? The floors are of marble mosaic, the sides of +green or purple scagliola, and the vaulted ceilings covered with raised +ornaments on a ground of gold. No two are alike in color and decoration, +and yet there is a unity of taste and design in the whole, which renders +the variety delightful. + +From the Egyptian Hall, we enter one containing the oldest remains of +Grecian sculpture, before the artists won power to _mould_ the marble to +their conceptions. Then follow the celebrated Egina marbles, from the +temple of Jupiter Panhellenius, on the island of Egina. They formerly +stood in the two porticoes, the one group representing the fight for the +body of Laomedon, the other the struggle for the dead Patroclus. The +parts wanting have been admirably restored by Thorwaldsen. They form +almost the only existing specimens of the Eginetan school. Passing +through the Apollo Hall, we enter the large hall of Bacchus, in which +the progress of the art is distinctly apparent. A satyr, lying asleep on +a goat-skin which he has thrown over a rock, is believed to be the work +of Praxiteles. The relaxation of the figure and perfect repose of every +limb, is wonderful. The countenance has traits of individuality which +led me to think it might have been a portrait, perhaps of some rude +country swain. + +In the Hall of Niobe, which follows, is one of the most perfect works +that ever grew into life under a sculptor's chisel. Mutilated as it is, +without head and arms, I never saw a more expressive figure. Ilioneus, +the son of Niobe, is represented as kneeling, apparently in the moment +in which Apollo raises his arrow, and there is an imploring supplication +in his attitude which is touching in the highest degree. His beautiful +young limbs seem to shrink involuntarily from the deadly shaft; there is +an expression of prayer, almost of agony, in the position of his body. +It should be left untouched. No head could be added, which would equal +that one pictures to himself, while gazing upon it. + +The Pinacothek is a magnificent building of yellow sandstone, five +hundred and thirty feet long, containing thirteen hundred pictures, +selected with great care from the whole private collection of the king, +which amounts to nine thousand. Above the cornice on the southern side, +stand twenty-five colossal statues of celebrated painters, by +Schwanthaler. As we approached, the tall bronze door was opened by a +servant in the Bavarian livery, whose size harmonized so well with the +giant proportions of the building, that, until I stood beside him and +could mark the contrast, I did not notice his enormous frame. I saw then +that he must be near eight feet high, and stout in proportion. He +reminded me of the great "Baver of Trient," in Vienna. The Pinacothek +contains the most complete collection of works by old German artists, +anywhere to be found. There are in the hall of the Spanish masters, half +a dozen of Murillo's inimitable beggar groups. It was a relief, after +looking upon the distressingly stiff figures of the old German school, +to view these fresh, natural countenances. One little black-eyed boy has +just cut a slice out of a melon and turns with a full mouth to his +companion, who is busy eating a bunch of grapes. The simple, contented +expression on the faces of the beggars is admirable. I thought I +detected in a beautiful child, with dark curly locks, the original of +his celebrated Infant St. John. I was much interested in two small +juvenile works of Raphael and his own portrait. The latter was taken +most probably after he became known as a painter. The calm, serious +smile which we see on his portrait as a boy, had vanished, and the thin +features and sunken eye told of intense mental labor. + +One of the most remarkable buildings now in the course of erection is +the Basilica, or Church of St. Bonifacius. It represents another form of +the Byzantine style, a kind of double edifice, a little like a North +River steamboat, with a two story cabin on deck. The inside is not yet +finished, although the artists have been at work on it for six years, +but we heard many accounts of its splendor, which is said to exceed +anything that has been yet done in Munich. We visited to-day the +atelier of Sohwanthaler, which is always open to strangers. The sculptor +himself was not there, but five or six of his scholars were at work in +the rooms, building up clay statues after his models and working out +bas-reliefs in frames. We saw here the original models of the statues on +the Pinacothek, and the "Wittelsbach Ancestors" in the Throne Hall of +the palace. I was glad also to find a miniature copy in plaster, of the +Herrmannsschlacht, or combat of the old German hero, Herrmann, with the +Romans, from the frieze of the Walhalla, at Ratisbon. It is one of +Schwanthaler's best works. Herrmann, as the middle figure, is +represented in fight with the Roman general; behind him the warriors are +rushing on, and an old bard is striking the chords of his harp to +inspire them, while women bind up the wounds of the fallen. The Roman +soldiers on the other side are about turning in confusion to fly. It is +a lofty and appropriate subject for the portico of a building containing +the figures of the men who have labored for the glory and elevation of +their Fatherland. + +Our new-found friend came to visit us last evening and learn our +impressions of Munich. In the course of conversation we surprised him by +revealing the name of our country. His countenance brightened up and he +asked us many questions about the state of society in America. In +return, he told us something more about himself--his story was simple, +hut it interested me. His father was a merchant, who, having been ruined +by unlucky transactions, died, leaving a numerous family without the +means of support. His children were obliged to commence life alone and +unaided, which, in a country where labor is so cheap, is difficult and +disheartening. Our friend chose the profession of a machinist, which, +after encountering great obstacles, he succeeded in learning, and now +supports himself as a common laborer. But his position in this respect +prevents him from occupying that station in society for which he is +intellectually fitted. His own words, uttered with a simple pathos which +I can never forget, will best describe how painful this must be to a +sensitive spirit. "I tell you thus frankly my feelings," said he, +"because I know you will understand me. I could not say this to any of +my associates, for they would not comprehend it, and they would say I +am proud, because I cannot bring my soul down to their level. I am poor +and have but little to subsist upon; but the spirit has needs as well as +the body, and I feel it a duty and a desire to satisfy them also. When I +am with any of my common fellow-laborers, what do I gain from them? +Their leisure hours are spent in drinking and idle amusement, and I +cannot join them, for I have no sympathy with such things. To mingle +with those above me, would be impossible. Therefore I am alone--I have +no associate!" + +I have gone into minute, and it may be, tiresome detail, in describing +some of the edifices of Munich, because it seemed the only way in which +I could give an idea of their wonderful beauty. It is true that in +copying after the manner of the daguerreotype, there is danger of +imitating its _dullness_ also, but I trust to the glitter of gold and +rich paintings, for a little brightness in the picture. We leave +to-morrow morning, having received the sum written for, which, to our +surprise, will be barely sufficient to enable us to reach Heidelberg. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THROUGH WURTEMBERG TO HEIDELBERG. + + +We left Munich in the morning train for Augsburg. Between the two cities +extends a vast unbroken plain, exceedingly barren and monotonous. Here +and there is a little scrubby woodland, and sometimes we passed over a +muddy stream which came down from the Alps. The land is not more than +half-cultivated, and the villages are small and poor. We saw many of the +peasants at their stations, in their gay Sunday dresses; the women wore +short gowns with laced boddices, of gay colors, and little caps on the +top of their heads, with streamers of ribbons three feet long. After two +hours' ride, we saw the tall towers of Augsburg, and alighted on the +outside of the wall. The deep moat which surrounds the city, is all +grown over with velvet turf, the towers and bastions are empty and +desolate, and we passed unchallenged under the gloomy archway. +Immediately on entering the city, signs of its ancient splendor are +apparent. The houses are old, many of them with quaint, elaborately +carved ornaments, and often covered with fresco paintings. These +generally represent some scene from the Bible history, encircled with +arabesque borders, and pious maxims in illuminated scrolls. We went into +the old _Rathhaus_, whose golden hall still speaks of the days of +Augsburg's pride. I saw in the basement a bronze eagle, weighing sixteen +tons, with an inscription on the pedestal stating that it was cast in +1606, and formerly stood on the top of an old public building, since +torn down. In front of the Rathhaus is a fine bronze fountain, with a +number of figures of angels and tritons. + +The same afternoon, we left Augsburg for Ulm. Long, low ranges of hills, +running from the Danube, stretched far across the country, and between +them lay many rich, green valleys. We passed, occasionally, large +villages, perhaps as old as the times of the crusaders, and looking +quite pastoral and romantic from the outside; but we were always glad +when we had gone through them and into the _clean_ country again. The +afternoon of the second day we came in sight of the fertile plain of the +Danube; far, far to the right lay the field of Blenheim, where +Marlborough and the Prince Eugene conquered the united French and +Bavarian forces and decided the war of the Spanish succession. + +We determined to reach Ulm the same evening, although a heavy storm was +raging along the distant hills of Wurtemberg. The dark mass of the +mighty Cathedral rose in the distance through the twilight, a perfect +mountain in comparison with the little houses clustered around its base. +We reached New Ulm, finally, and passed over the heavy wooden bridge +into Wurtemberg, unchallenged for passport or baggage. I thought I could +feel a difference in the atmosphere when I reached the other side--it +breathed of the freer spirit that ruled through the land. The Danube is +here a little muddy stream, hardly as large as my native Brandywine, and +a traveler who sees it at Ulm for the first time would most probably be +disappointed. It is not until below Vienna, where it receives the Drave +and Save, that it becomes a river of more than ordinary magnitude. + +We entered Ulm, as I have already said. It was after nine o'clock, +nearly dark, and beginning to rain; we had walked thirty-three miles, +and being of course tired, we entered the first inn we saw. But, to our +consternation, it was impossible to get a place--the fair had just +commenced, and the inn was full to the roof. We must needs hunt another, +and then another, and yet another, with like fate at each. It grew quite +dark, the rain increased, and we were unacquainted with the city. I grew +desperate, and at last, when we had stopped at the _eighth_ inn in vain, +I told the people we _must_ have lodgings, for it was impossible we +should walk around in the rain all night. Some of the guests interfering +in our favor, the hostess finally sent a servant with us to the first +hotel in the city. I told him on the way we were Americans, strangers in +Ulm, and not accustomed to sleeping in the streets. "Well," said he, "I +will go before, and recommend you to the landlord of the Golden Wheel." +I knew not what magic he used, but in half an hour our weary limbs were +stretched in delightful repose and we thanked Heaven more gratefully +than ever before, for the blessing of a good bed. + +Next morning we ran about through the booths of the fair, and gazed up +from all sides at the vast Cathedral. The style is the simplest and +grandest Gothic; but the tower, which, to harmonize, with the body of +the church, should be 520 feet high, was left unfinished at the height +of 234 feet. I could not enough admire the grandeur of proportion in the +great building. It seemed singular that the little race of animals who +swarmed around its base, should have the power to conceive or execute +such a gigantic work. + +There is an immense fortification now in progress of erection behind +Ulm. It leans on the side of the hill which rises from the Danube, and +must be nearly a mile in length. Hundreds of laborers are at work, and +from the appearance of the foundations, many years will be required to +finish it. The lofty mountain-plain which we afterwards passed over, for +eight or ten miles, divides the waters of the Danube from the Rhine. +From the heights above Ulm, we bade adieu to the far, misty Alps, till +we shall see them again in Switzerland. Late in the afternoon, we came +to a lovely green valley, sunk as it were in the earth. Around us, on +all sides, stretched the bare, lofty plains; but the valley lay below, +its steep sides covered with the richest forest. At the bottom flowed +the Fils. Our road led directly down the side; the glen spread out +broader as we advanced, and smiling villages stood beside the stream. A +short distance before reaching Esslingen, we came upon the banks of the +Neckar, whom we hailed as an old acquaintance, although much smaller +here in his mountain home than when he sweeps the walls of Heidelberg. + +Delightful Wurtemberg! Shall I ever forget thy lovely green vales, +watered by the classic current of the Neckar, or thy lofty hills covered +with vineyards and waving forests, and crowned with heavy ruins, that +tell many a tale of Barbarossa and Duke Ulric and Goetz with the Iron +Hand! No--were even the Suabian hills less beautiful--were the Suabian +people less faithful and kind and true, still I would love the land for +the great spirits it has produced; still would the birth-place of +Frederick Schiller, of Uhland and Hauff, be sacred. I do not wonder +Wurtemberg can boast such glorious poets. Its lovely landscapes seem to +have been made expressly for the cradle of genius; amid no other scenes +could his infant mind catch a more benign inspiration. Even the common +people are deeply imbued with a poetic feeling. We saw it in their +friendly greetings and open, expressive countenances; it is shown in +their love for their beautiful homes and the rapture and reverence with +which they speak of their country's bards. No river in the world, equal +to the Neckar in size, flows for its whole course through more +delightful scenery, or among kinder and happier people. + +After leaving Esslingen, we followed its banks for some time, at the +foot of an amphitheatre of hills, covered to the very summit, as far as +the eye could reach, with vineyards. The morning was cloudy, and white +mist-wreaths hung along the sides. We took a road that led over the top +of a range, and on arriving at the summit, saw all at once the city of +Stuttgard, lying beneath our feet. It lay in a basin encircled by +mountains, with a narrow valley opening to the south-east, and running +off between the hills to the Neckar. The situation of the city is one of +wonderful beauty, and even after seeing Salzburg, I could not but be +charmed with it. + +We descended the mountain and entered it. I inquired immediately for the +monument of Schiller, for there was little else in the city I cared to +see. We had become tired of running about cities, hunting this or that +old church or palace, which perhaps was nothing when found. Stuttgard +has neither galleries, ruins, nor splendid buildings, to interest the +traveler; but it has Thorwaldsen's statue of Schiller, calling up at the +same time its shame and its glory. For the poet in his youth was obliged +to fly from this very same city--from home and friends, to escape the +persecution of the government on account of the free sentiments +expressed in his early works. We found the statue, without much +difficulty. It stands in the Schloss Platz, at the southern end of the +city, in an unfavorable situation, surrounded by dark old buildings. It +should rather be placed aloft on a mountain summit, in the pure, free +air of heaven, braving the storm and the tempest. The figure is fourteen +feet high and stands on a pedestal of bronze, with bas reliefs on the +four sides. The head, crowned with a laurel wreath, is inclined as if in +deep thought, and all the earnest soul is seen in the countenance. +Thorwaldsen has copied so truly the expression of poetic reverie, that I +waited, half-expecting he would raise his head and look around him. + +As we passed out the eastern gate, the workmen were busy near the city, +making an embankment for the new railroad to Heilbroun, and we were +obliged to wade through half a mile of mud. Finally the road turned to +the left over a mountain, and we walked on in the rain, regardless of +the touching entreaties of an omnibus-driver, who felt a great concern +for our health, especially as he had two empty seats. There is a +peculiarly agreeable sensation in walking in a storm, when the winds +sweep by and the rain-drops rattle through the trees, and the dark +clouds roll past just above one's head. It gives a dash of sublimity to +the most common scene. If the rain did not finally soak through the +boots, and if one did not lose every romantic feeling in wet garments, I +would prefer storm to sunshine, for visiting some kinds of scenery. You +remember, we saw the North Coast of Ireland and the Giant's Causeway in +stormy weather, at the expense of being completely drenched, it is true; +but our recollections of that wild day's journey are as vivid as any +event of our lives--and the name of the Giant's Causeway calls up a +series of pictures as terribly sublime as any we would wish to behold. + +The rain at last did come down a little too hard for comfort, and we +were quite willing to take shelter when we reached Ludwigsburg. This is +here called a new city, having been laid out with broad streets and +spacious squares, about a century ago, and is now about the size of our +five-year old city of Milwaukie! It is the chief military station of +Wurtemberg, and has a splendid castle and gardens, belonging to the +king. A few miles to the eastward is the little village where Schiller +was born. It is said the house where his parents lived is still +standing. + +It was not the weather _alone_, which prevented our making a pilgrimage +to it, nor was it _alone_ a peculiar fondness for rain which induced us +to persist in walking in the storm. Our feeble pockets, if they could +have raised an audible jingle, would have told another tale. Our scanty +allowance was dwindling rapidly away, in spite of a desperate system of +economy. We left Ulm with a florin and a half apiece--about sixty +cents--to walk to Heidelberg, a distance of 110 miles. It was the +evening of the third day, and this was almost exhausted. As soon +therefore as the rain slackened a little, we started again, although the +roads were very bad. At Betigheim, where we passed the night, the people +told us of a much nearer and more beautiful road, passing through the +Zabergau, a region fumed for its fertility and pastoral beauty. At the +inn we were charged higher than usual for a bed, so that we had but +thirteen kreutzers to start with in the morning. Our fare that day was a +little bread and water; we walked steadily on, but owing to the wet +roads, made only thirty miles. + +A more delightful region than the Zabergau I have seldom passed through. +The fields were full of rich, heavy grain, and the trees had a +luxuriance of foliage that reminded me of the vale of the Jed, in +Scotland. Without a single hedge or fence, stood the long sweep of +hills, covered with waving fields of grain, except where they were steep +and rocky, and the vineyard terraces rose one above another. Sometimes a +fine old forest grew along the summit, like a mane waving back from the +curved neck of a steed, and white villages lay coiled in the valleys +between. A line of blue mountains always closed the vista, on looking +down one of these long valleys; occasionally a ruined castle with donjon +tower, was seen on a mountain at the side, making the picture complete. +As we lay sometimes on the hillside and looked on one of those sweet +vales, we were astonished at its Arcadian beauty. The meadows were as +smooth as a mirror, and there seemed to be scarcely a grass-blade out of +place. The streams wound through ("_snaked_ themselves through," is the +German expression,) with a subdued ripple, as if they feared to displace +a pebble, and the great ash trees which stood here and there, had lined +each of their leaves as carefully with silver and turned them as +gracefully to the wind, us if they were making their toilettes for the +gala-day of nature. + +That evening brought us into the dominions of Baden, within five hours' +walk of Heidelberg. At the humblest inn in an humble village, we found +a bed which we could barely pay for, leaving a kreutzer or two for +breakfast. Soon after starting the next morning, the distant Kaiserstuhl +suddenly emerged from the mist, with the high tower on its summit, where +nearly ten months before, we sat and looked at the summits of the Vosges +in France, with all the excitement one feels on entering a foreign land. +_Now_, the scenery around that same Kaiserstuhl was nearly as familiar +to us as that of our own homes. Entering the hills again, we knew by the +blue mountains of the Odenwald, that we were approaching the Neckar. At +length we reached the last height. The town of Neckargemund lay before +us on the steep hillside, and the mountains on either side were scarred +with quarries of the rich red sandstone, so much used in building. The +blocks are hewn out, high up on the mountain side, and then sent rolling +and sliding down to the river, where they are laden in boats and floated +down with the current to the distant cities of the Rhine. + +We were rejoiced on turning around the corner of a mountain, to see on +the opposite side of the river, the road winding up through the forests, +where last fall our Heidelberg friends accompanied us, as we set out to +walk to Frankfort, through the Odenwald. Many causes combined to render +it a glad scene to us. We were going to meet our comrade again, after a +separation of months; we were bringing an eventful journey to its close; +and finally, we were weak and worn out from fasting and the labor of +walking in the rain. A little further we saw Kloster Neuburg, formerly +an old convent, and remembered how we used to look at it every day from +the windows of our room on the Neckar; but we shouted aloud, when we saw +at last the well-known bridge spanning the river, and the glorious old +castle lifting its shattered towers from the side of the mountain above +us. I always felt a strong attachment to this matchless ruin, and as I +beheld it again, with the warm sunshine falling through each broken +arch, the wild ivy draping its desolate chambers, it seemed to smile on +me like the face of a friend, and I confessed I had seen many a grander +scene, but few that would cling to the memory so familiarly. + +While we were in Heidelberg, a student was buried by torch-light. This +is done when particular honor is shown to the memory of the departed +brother. They assembled at dark in the University Square, each with a +blazing pine torch three feet long, and formed into a double line. +Between the files walked at short distances an officer, who, with his +sword, broad lace collar, and the black and white plumes in his cap, +looked like a cavalier of the olden time. Persons with torches walked on +each side of the hearse, and the band played a lament so deeply +mournful, that the scene, notwithstanding its singularity, was very sad +and touching. The thick smoke from the torches filled the air, and a +lurid, red light was cast over the hushed crowds in the streets and +streamed into the dark alleys. The Hauptstrasse was filled with two +lines of flame, as the procession passed down it; when they reached the +extremity of the city, the hearse went on, attended with torch-bearers, +to the Cemetery, some distance further, and the students turned back, +running and whirling their torches in mingled confusion. The music +struck up a merry march, and in the smoke and red glare, they looked +like a company of mad demons. The presence of death awed them to silence +for awhile, but as soon as it had left them, they turned relieved to +revel again and thought no more of the lesson. It gave me a painful +feeling to see them rushing so wildly and disorderly back. They +assembled again in the square, and tossing their torches up into the air +cast them blazing into a pile; while the flame and black smoke rose in a +column into the air, they sang in solemn chorus, the song "_Gaudeamus +igitur_," with which they close all public assemblies. + +I shall neglect telling how we left Heidelberg, and walked along the +Bergstrasse again, for the sixth time; how we passed the old Melibochus +and through the quiet city of Darmstadt; how we watched the blue summits +of the Taunus rising higher and higher over the plain, as a new land +rises from the sea, and finally, how we reached at last the old +watch-tower and looked down on the valley of the Main, clothed in the +bloom and verdure of summer, with the houses and spires of Frankfort in +the middle of the well-known panorama. We again took possession of our +old rooms, and having to wait for a remittance from America, as well as +a more suitable season for visiting Italy, we sat down to a month's rest +and study. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +FREIBURG AND THE BLACK FOREST. + + +_Frankfort, July 29, 1845._--It would be ingratitude towards the old +city in which I have passed so many pleasant and profitable hours, to +leave it, perhaps forever, without a few words of farewell. How often +will the old bridge, with its view up the Main, over the houses of +Oberrad to the far mountains of the Odenwald, rise freshly and +distinctly in memory, when I shall have been long absent from them! How +often will I hear in fancy as I now do in reality, the heavy tread of +passers-by on the rough pavement below, and the deep bell of the +Cathedral, chiming the swift hours, with a hollow tone that seems to +warn me, rightly to employ them! Even this old room, with its bare +walls, little table and chairs, which I have thought and studied in so +long, that it seems difficult to think and study anywhere else, will +crowd out of memory images of many a loftier scene. May I but preserve +for the future the hope and trust which have cheered and sustained me +here, through the sorrow of absence and the anxiety of uncertain toil! +It is growing towards midnight and I think of many a night when I sat +here at this hour, answering the spirit-greeting which friends sent me +at sunset over the sea. All this has now an end. I must begin a new +wandering, and perhaps in ten days more I shall have a better place for +thought, among the mountain-chambers of the everlasting Alps. I look +forward to the journey with romantic, enthusiastic anticipation, for +afar in the silvery distance, stand the Coliseum and St. Peter's, +Vesuvius and the lovely Naples. Farewell, friends who have so long given +us a home! + +_Aug. 9._--The airy, basket-work tower of the Freiburg Minster rises +before me over the black roofs of the houses, and behind stand the +gloomy, pine-covered mountains of the Black Forest. Of our walk to +Heidelberg over the oft-trodden Bergstrasse, I shall say nothing, nor +how we climbed the Kaiserstuhl again, and danced around on the top of +the tower for one hour, amid cloud and mist, while there was sunshine +below in the valley of the Neckar. I left Heidelberg yesterday morning +in the _stehwagen_ for Carlsruhe. The engine whistled, the train +started, and although I kept my eyes steadily fixed on the spire of the +Hauptkirche, three minutes hid it, and all the rest of the city from +sight. Carlsruhe, the capital of Baden, which we reached in an hour and +a half, is unanimously pronounced by travelers to be a most dull and +tiresome city. From a glance I had through one of the gates, I should +think its reputation was not undeserved. Even its name, in German, +signifies a place of repose. + +I stopped at Kork, on the branch road leading to Strasbourg, to meet a +German-American about to return to my home in Pennsylvania, where he had +lived for some time. I inquired according to the direction he had sent +me to Frankfort, but he was not there; however, an old man, finding who +I was, said Herr Otto had directed him to go with me to Hesselhurst, a +village four or five miles off, where he would meet me. So we set off +immediately over the plain, and reached the village at dusk. + +At the little inn, were several of the farmers of the neighborhood, who +seemed to consider it as something extraordinary to see a real, live, +native-born American. They overwhelmed me with questions about the state +of our country, its government, etc. The hostess brought me a supper of +fried eggs and _wurst_, while they gathered around the table and began a +real category in the dialect of the country, which is difficult to +understand. I gave them the best information I could about our mode of +farming, the different kinds of produce raised, and the prices paid to +laborers; one honest old man cried out, on my saying I had worked on a +farm, "Ah! little brother, give me your hand!" which he shook most +heartily. I told them also something about our government, and the +militia system, so different from the conscription of Europe, when a +farmer becoming quite warm in our favor, said to the others with an air +of the greatest decision: "One American is better than twenty Germans!" +What particularly amused me, was, that although I spoke German with +them, they seemed to think I did not understand what they said among +one another, and therefore commented very freely over my appearance. I +suppose they had the idea that we were a rude, savage race, for I +overheard one say: "One sees, nevertheless, that he has been educated!" +Their honest, unsophisticated mode of expression was very interesting to +me, and we talked together till a late hour. + +My friend arrived at three o'clock the next morning, and after two or +three hours' talk about _home_, and the friends whom he expected to see +so much sooner than I, a young farmer drove me in his wagon to +Offenburg, a small city at the foot of the Black Forest, where I took +the cars for Freiburg. The scenery between the two places is grand. The +broad mountains of the Black Forest rear their fronts on the east, and +the blue lines of the French Vosges meet the clouds on the west. The +night before, in walking over the plain, I saw distinctly the whole of +the Strasbourg Minster, whose spire is the highest in Europe, being four +hundred and ninety feet, or but twenty-five feet lower than the Pyramid +of Cheops. + +I visited the Minster of Freiburg yesterday morning. It is a grand, +gloomy old pile, dating from the eleventh century--one of the few Gothic +churches in Germany that have ever been completed. The tower of +beautiful fretwork, rises to the height of three hundred and ninety-five +feet, and the body of the church including the choir, is of the same +length. The interior is solemn and majestic. Windows stained in colors +that burn, let in a "dim, religious light" which accords very well with +the dark old pillars and antique shrines. In two of the chapels there +are some fine altar-pieces by Holbein and one of his scholars; and a +very large crucifix of silver and ebony, which is kept with great care, +is said to have been carried with the Crusaders to the Holy Land. This +morning was the great market-day, and the peasantry of the Black Forest +came down from the mountains to dispose of their produce. The square +around the Minster was filled with them, and the singular costume of the +women gave the scene quite a strange appearance. Many of them wore +bright red head-dresses and shawls, others had high-crowned hats of +yellow oil-cloth; the young girls wore their hair in long plaits, +reaching nearly to their feet. They brought grain, butter and cheese +and a great deal of fine fruit to sell--I bought some of the wild, +aromatic plums of the country, at the rate of thirty for a cent. + +The railroad has only been open to Freiburg within a few days, and is +consequently an object of great curiosity to the peasants, many of whom +never saw the like before. They throng around the station at the +departure of the train and watch with great interest the operations of +getting up the steam and starting. One of the scenes that grated most +harshly on my feelings, was seeing yesterday a company of women employed +on the unfinished part of the road. They were digging and shoveling away +in the rain, nearly up to their knees in mud and clay! + +I called at the Institute for the Blind, under the direction of Mr. +Muller. He showed me some beautiful basket and woven work by his pupils; +the accuracy and skill with which everything was made astonished me. +They read with amazing facility from the raised type, and by means of +frames are taught to write with ease and distinctness. In music, that +great solace of the blind, they most excelled. They sang with an +expression so true and touching, that it was a delight to listen. The +system of instruction adopted appears to be most excellent, and gives to +the blind nearly every advantage which their more fortunate brethren +enjoy. + +I am indebted to Mr. Muller, to whom I was introduced by an acquaintance +with his friend, Dr. Rivinus, of West Chester, Pa., for many kind +attentions. He went with us this afternoon to the Jagerhaus, on a +mountain near, where we had a very fine view of the city and its great +black Minster, with the plain of the Briesgau, broken only by the +Kaiserstuhl, a long mountain near the Rhine, whose golden stream +glittered in the distance. On climbing the Schlossberg, an eminence near +the city, we met the Grand Duchess Stephanie, a natural daughter of +Napoleon, as I have heard, and now generally believed to be the mother +of Caspar Hauser. Through a work lately published, which has since been +suppressed, the whole history has come to light. Caspar Hauser was the +lineal descendant of the house of Baden, and heir to the throne. The +guilt of his imprisonment and murder rests, therefore, upon the present +reigning family. + +A chapel on the Schonberg, the mountain opposite, was pointed out as +the spot where Louis XV., if I mistake not, usually stood while his army +besieged Freiburg. A German officer having sent a ball to this chapel +which struck the wall just above the king's head, the latter sent word +that if they did not cease firing he would point his cannons at the +Minster. The citizens thought it best to spare the monarch and save the +cathedral. + +We attended a meeting of the _Walhalla_, or society of the students who +visit the Freiburg University. They pleased me better than the +enthusiastic but somewhat unrestrained Burschenschaft of Heidelberg. +Here, they have abolished duelling; the greatest friendship prevails +among the students, and they have not that contempt for every thing +_philister_, or unconnected with their studies, which prevails in other +universities. Many respectable citizens attend their meetings; to-night +there was a member of the Chamber of Deputies at Carlsruhe present, who +delivered two speeches, in which every third word was "freedom!" An +address was delivered also by a merchant of the city, in which he made a +play upon the word _spear_, which signifies also in a cant sense, +_citizen_, find seemed to indicate that both would do their work in the +good cause. He was loudly applauded. Their song of union was by Charles +Follen, and the students were much pleased when I told them how he was +honored and esteemed in America. + +After two days, delightfully spent, we shouldered our knapsacks and left +Freiburg. The beautiful valley, at the mouth of which the city lies, +runs like an avenue for seven miles directly into the mountains, and +presents in its loveliness such a contrast to the horrid defile which +follows, that it almost deserves the name which has been given to a +little inn at its head--the "Kingdom of Heaven." The mountains of the +Black Forest enclose it on each side like walls, covered to the summit +with luxuriant woods, and in some places with those forests of gloomy +pine which give this region its name. After traversing its whole length, +just before plunging into the mountain-depths, the traveler rarely meets +with a finer picture than that which, on looking back, he sees framed +between the hills at the other end. Freiburg looks around the foot of +one of the heights, with the spire of her cathedral peeping above the +top, while the French Vosges grew dim in the far perspective. + +The road now enters a wild, narrow valley, which grows smaller as we +proceed. From Himmelreich, a large rude inn by the side of the green +meadows, we enter the Hollenthal--that is, from the "Kingdom of Heaven" +to the "Valley of Hell!" The latter place better deserves its +appellation than the former. The road winds between precipices of black +rock, above which the thick foliage shuts out the brightness of day and +gives a sombre hue to the scene. A torrent foams down the chasm, and in +one place two mighty pillars interpose to prevent all passage. The +stream, however, has worn its way through, and the road is hewn in the +rock by its side. This cleft is the only entrance to a valley three or +four miles long, which lies in the very heart of the mountains. It is +inhabited by a few woodmen and their families, and but for the road +which passes through, would be as perfect a solitude as the Happy Valley +of Rasselas. At the farther end, a winding road called "The Ascent," +leads up the steep mountain to an elevated region of country, thinly +settled and covered with herds of cattle. The cherries which, in the +Rhine-plain below, had long gone, were just ripe here. The people spoke +a most barbarous dialect; they were social and friendly, for everybody +greeted us, and sometimes, as we sat on a bank by the roadside, those +who passed by would say "Rest thee!" or "Thrice rest!" + +Passing by the Titi Lake, a small body of water which was spread out +among the hills like a sheet of ink, so deep was its Stygian hue, we +commenced ascending a mountain. The highest peak of the Schwarzwald, the +Feldberg, rose not far off, and on arriving at the top of this mountain, +we saw that a half hour's walk would bring us to its summit. This was +too great a temptation for my love of climbing heights; so with a look +at the descending sun to calculate how much time we could spare, we set +out. There was no path, but we pressed directly up the steep side, +through bushes and long grass, and in a short time reached the top, +breathless from such exertion in the thin atmosphere. The pine woods +shut out the view to the north and east, which is said to be +magnificent, as the mountain is about five thousand feet high. The +wild, black peaks of the Black Forest were spread below us, and the sun +sank through golden mist towards the Alsatian hills. Afar to the south, +through cloud and storm, we could just trace the white outline of the +Swiss Alps. The wind swept through the pines around, and bent the long +yellow grass among which we sat, with a strange, mournful sound, well +suiting the gloomy and mysterious region. It soon grew cold, the golden +clouds settled down towards us, and we made haste to descend to the +village of Lenzkirch before dark. + +Next morning we set out early, without waiting to see the trial of +archery which was to take place among the mountain youths. Their booths +and targets, gay with banners, stood on a green meadow beside the town. +We walked through the Black Forest the whole forenoon. It might be owing +to the many wild stories whose scenes are laid among these hills, but +with me there was a peculiar feeling of solemnity pervading the whole +region. The great pine woods are of the very darkest hue of green, and +down their hoary, moss-floored aisles, daylight seems never to have +shone. The air was pure and clear, and the sunshine bright, but it +imparted no gaiety to the scenery: except the little meadows of living +emerald which lay occasionally in the lap of a dell, the landscape wore +a solemn and serious air. In a storm, it must be sublime. + +About noon, from the top of the last range of hills, we had a glorious +view. The line of the distant Alps could be faintly traced high in the +clouds, and all the heights between were plainly visible, from the Lake +of Constance to the misty Jura, which flanked the Vosges of the west. +From our lofty station we overlooked half Switzerland, and had the air +been a little clearer, we could have seen Mont Blanc and the mountains +of Savoy. I could not help envying the feelings of the Swiss, who, after +long absence from their native land, first see the Alps from this road. +If to the emotions with which I then looked on them were added the +passionate love of home and country which a long absence creates, such +excess of rapture would be almost too great to be borne. + +In the afternoon we crossed the border, and took leave of Germany with +regret, after near a year's residence within its bounds. Still it was +pleasant to know we were in a republic once more: the first step we took +made us aware of the change. There was no policeman to call for our +passports or search our baggage. It was just dark when we reached the +hill overlooking the Rhine, on whose steep banks is perched the antique +town of Schaffhausen. It is still walled in, with towers at regular +intervals; the streets are wide and spacious, and the houses rendered +extremely picturesque by the quaint projecting windows. The buildings +are nearly all old, as we learned by the dates above the doors. At the +inn, I met with one of the free troopers who marched against Luzerne. He +was full of spirit, and ready to undertake another such journey. Indeed +it is the universal opinion that the present condition of things cannot +last much longer. + +We took a walk before breakfast to the Falls of the Rhine, about a mile +and a half from Schaffhausen. I confess I was somewhat disappointed in +them, after the glowing descriptions of travelers. The river at this +place is little more than thirty yards wide, and the body of water, +although issuing from the Lake of Constance, is not remarkably strong. +For some distance above, the fall of the water is very rapid, and as it +finally reaches the spot where, narrowed between rocks, it makes the +grand plunge, it has acquired a great velocity. Three rocks stand in the +middle of the current, which thunders against and around their bases, +but cannot shake them down. These and the rocks in the bed of the +stream, break the force of the fall, so that it descends to the bottom, +about fifty feet below, not in one sheet, but shivered into a hundred +leaps of snowy foam. The precipitous shores, and the tasteful little +castle which is perched upon the steep just over the boiling spray, add +much to its beauty, taken as a picture. As a specimen of the +picturesque, the whole scene is perfect. I should think Trenton Falls, +in New York, must excel these in wild, startling effect; but there is +such a scarcity of waterfalls in this land, that the Germans go into +raptures about them, and will hardly believe that Niagara itself +possesses more sublimity. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +PEOPLE AND PLACES IN EASTERN SWITZERLAND. + + +We left Schaffhausen for Zurich, in mist and rain, and walked for some +time along the north bank of the Rhine. We could have enjoyed the +scenery much better, had it not been for the rain, which not only hid +the mountains from sight, but kept us constantly half soaked. We crossed +the rapid Rhine at Eglisau, a curious antique village, and then +continued our way through the forests of Canton Zurich, to Bulach, with +its groves of lindens--"those tall and stately trees, with velvet down +upon their shining leaves, and rustic benches placed beneath their +overhanging eaves." + +When we left the little village where the rain obliged us to stop for +the night, it was clear and delightful. The farmers were out, busy at +work, their long, straight scythes glancing through the wet grass, while +the thick pines sparkled with thousands of dewy diamonds. The country +was so beautiful and cheerful, that we half felt like being in America. +The farm-houses were scattered over the country in real American style, +and the glorious valley of the Limmat, bordered on the west by a range +of woody hills, reminded me of some scenes in my native Pennsylvania. +The houses were neatly and tastefully built, with little gardens around +them--and the countenances of the people spoke of intelligence and +independence. There was the same air of peace and prosperity which +delighted us in the valleys of Upper Austria, with a look of freedom +which those had not. The faces of a people are the best index to their +condition. I could read on their brows a lofty self-respect, a +consciousness of the liberties they enjoy, which the Germans of the +laboring class never show. It could not be imagination, for the recent +occurrences in Switzerland, with the many statements I heard in Germany, +had prejudiced me somewhat against the land; and these marks of +prosperity and freedom were as surprising as they were delightful. + +As we approached Zurich, the noise of employment from mills, furnaces +and factories, came to us like familiar sounds, reminding us of the +bustle of our home cities. The situation of the city is lovely. It lies +at the head of the lake, and on both sides of the little river Limmat, +whose clear green waters carry the collected meltings of the Alps to the +Rhine. Around the lake rise lofty green hills, which, sloping gently +back, bear on their sides hundreds of pleasant country-houses and farms, +and the snowy Alpine range extends along the southern sky. The Limmat is +spanned by a number of bridges, and its swift waters turn many mills +which are built above them. From these bridges one can look out over the +blue lake and down the thronged streets of the city on each side, whose +bright, cheerful houses remind him of Italy. + +Zurich can boast of finer promenades than any other city in Switzerland. +The old battlements are planted with trees and transformed into pleasant +walks, which being elevated above the city, command views of its +beautiful environs. A favorite place of resort is the Lindenhof, an +elevated court-yard, shaded by immense trees. The fountains of water +under them are always surrounded by washerwomen, and in the morning +groups of merry school children may be seen tumbling over the grass. The +teachers take them there in a body for exercise and recreation. The +Swiss children are beautiful, bright-eyed creatures; there is scarcely +one who does not exhibit the dawning of an active, energetic spirit. It +may be partly attributed to the fresh, healthy climate of Switzerland, +but I am partial enough to republics to believe that the influence of +the Government under which they live, has also its share in producing +the effect. + +There is a handsome promenade on an elevated bastion which overlooks the +city and lakes. While enjoying the cool morning breeze and listening to +the stir of the streets below us, we were also made aware of the social +and friendly politeness of the people. Those who passed by, on their +walk around the rampart, greeted us, almost with the familiarity of an +acquaintance. Simple as was the act, we felt grateful, for it had at +least the seeming of a friendly interest and a sympathy with the +loneliness which the stranger sometimes feels. A school-teacher leading +her troop of merry children on their morning walk around the bastion, +nodded to us pleasantly and forthwith the whole company of +chubby-cheeked rogues, looking up at us with a pleasant archness, lisped +a "_guten morgen_" that made the hearts glad within us. I know of +nothing that has given me a more sweet and tender delight than the +greeting of a little child, who, leaving his noisy playmates, ran across +the street to me, and taking my hand, which he could barely clasp in +both his soft little ones, looked up in my face with an expression so +winning and affectionate, that I loved him at once. The happy, honest +farmers, too, spoke to us cheerfully everywhere. We learned a lesson +from all this--we felt that not a word of kindness is ever wasted, that +a simple friendly glance may cheer the spirit and warm the lonely heart, +and that the slightest deed, prompted by generous sympathy, becomes a +living joy in the memory of the receiver, which blesses unceasingly him +who bestowed it. + +We left Zurich the same afternoon, to walk to Stafa, where we were told +the poet Freiligrath resided. The road led along the bank of the lake, +whose shores sloped gently up from the water, covered with gardens and +farm-houses, which, with the bolder mountains that rose behind them, +made a combination of the lovely and grand, on which the eye rested with +rapture and delight. The sweetest cottages were embowered among the +orchards, and the whole country bloomed like a garden. The waters of the +lake are of a pale, transparent green, and so clear that we could see +its bottom of white pebbles, for some distance. Here and there floated a +quiet boat on its surface. The opposite hills were covered with a soft +blue haze, and white villages sat along the shore, "like swans among the +reeds." Behind, we saw the woody range of the Brunig Alp. The people +bade us a pleasant good evening; there was a universal air of +cheerfulness and content on their countenances. + +Towards evening, the clouds which hung in the south the whole day, +dispersed a little and we could see the Dodiberg and the Alps of Glarus. +As sunset drew on, the broad summits of snow and the clouds which were +rolled around them, assumed a soft rosy hue, which increased in +brilliancy as the light of day faded. The rough, icy crags and snowy +steeps were fused in the warm light and half blended with the bright +clouds. This blaze, as it were, of the mountains at sunset, is called +the _Alp-glow_, and exceeds all one's highest conceptions of Alpine +grandeur. We watched the fading glory till it quite died away, and the +summits wore a livid, ashy hue, like the mountains of a world wherein +there was no life. In a few minutes more the dusk of twilight spread +over the scene, the boatmen glided home over the still lake and the +herdsmen drove their cattle back from pasture on the slopes and meadows. + +On inquiring for Freiligrath at Stafa, we found he had removed to +Rapperschwyl, some distance further. As it was already late, we waited +for the steamboat which leaves Zurich every evening. It came along about +eight o'clock, and a little boat carried us out through rain and +darkness to meet it, as it came like a fiery-eyed monster over the +water. We stepped on board the "Republican," and in half an hour were +brought to the wharf at Rapperschwyl. + +There are two small islands in the lake, one of which, with a little +chapel rising from among its green trees, is Ufnau, the grave of Ulrich +von Hutten, one of the fathers of the German Reformation. His fiery +poems have been the source from which many a German bard has derived his +inspiration, and Freiligrath who now lives in sight of his tomb, has +published an indignant poem, because an inn with gaming tables has been +established in the ruins of the castle near Creuznach, where Hutten +found refuge from his enemies with Franz von Sickingen, brother-in-law +of "Goetz with the iron Hand." The monks of Einsiedeln, to whom Ufnau +belongs, have carefully obliterated all traces of his grave, so that the +exact spot is not known, in order that even a tombstone might be denied +him who once strove to overturn their order. It matters little to that +bold spirit whose motto was: "_The die is cast--I have dared it!_"--the +whole island is his monument, if he need one. + +I spent the whole of the morning with Freiligrath, the poet, who was +lately banished from Germany on account of the liberal principles his +last volume contains. He lives in a pleasant country-house on the +Meyerberg, an eminence near Rapperschwyl, overlooking a glorious +prospect. On leaving Frankfort, R.S. Willis gave me a letter to him, and +I was glad to meet with a man personally whom I admired so much through +his writings, and whose boldness in speaking out against the tyranny +which his country suffers, forms such a noble contrast to the cautious +slowness of his countrymen. He received me kindly and conversed much +upon American literature. He is a warm admirer of Bryant and Longfellow, +and has translated many of their poems into German. He said he had +received a warm invitation from a colony of Germans in Wisconsin, to +join them and enjoy that freedom which his native land denies, but that +his circumstances would not allow it at present. He is perhaps +thirty-five years of age. His brow is high and noble, and his eyes, +which are large and of a clear gray, beam with serious, saddened +thought. His long chesnut hair, uniting with a handsome beard and +moustache, gives a lion-like dignity to his energetic countenance. His +talented wife, Ida Freiligrath, who shares his literary labors, and an +amiable sister, are with him in exile, and he is happier in their +faithfulness than when he enjoyed the favors of a corrupt king. + +We crossed the long bridge from Rapperschwyl, and took the road over the +mountain opposite, ascending for nearly two hours along the side, with +glorious views of the Lake of Zurich and the mountains which enclose it. +The upper and lower ends of the lake were completely hid by the storms, +which, to our regret, veiled the Alps, but the part below lay spread out +dim and grand, like a vast picture. It rained almost constantly, and we +were obliged occasionally to take shelter in the pine forests, whenever +a heavier cloud passed over. The road was lined with beggars, who +dropped on their knees in the rain before us, or placed bars across the +way, and then took them down again, for which they demanded money. + +At length we reached the top of the pass. Many pilgrims to Einsiedeln +had stopped at a little inn there, some of whom came a long distance to +pay their vows, especially as the next day was the Ascension day of the +Virgin, whose image there is noted for performing many miracles. Passing +on, we crossed a wild torrent by an arch called the "Devil's Bridge." +The lofty, elevated plains were covered with scanty patches of grain +and potatoes, and the boys tended their goats on the grassy slopes, +sometimes trilling or _yodling_ an Alpine melody. An hour's walk brought +us to Einsiedeln, a small town, whose only attraction is the +Abbey--after Loretto, in Italy, the most celebrated resort for pilgrims +in Europe. + +We entered immediately into the great church. The gorgeous vaulted roof +and long aisles were dim with the early evening; hundreds of worshippers +sat around the sides, or kneeled in groups on the broad stone pavements, +chanting over their Paternosters and Ave Marias in a shrill, monotonous +tone, while the holy image near the entrance was surrounded by persons, +many of whom came in the hope of being healed of some disorder under +which they suffered. I could not distinctly make out the image, for it +was placed back within the grating, and a strong crimson lamp behind it +was made to throw the light around, in the form of a glory. Many of the +pilgrims came a long distance. I saw some in the costume of the Black +Forest, and others who appeared to be natives of the Italian Cantons; +and a group of young women wearing conical fur caps, from the forests of +Bregenz, on the Lake of Constance. + +I was astonished at the splendor of this church, situated in a lonely +and unproductive Alpine valley. The lofty arches of the ceiling, which +are covered with superb fresco paintings, rest on enormous pillars of +granite, and every image and shrine is richly ornamented with gold. Some +of the chapels were filled with the remains of martyrs, and these were +always surrounded with throngs of believers. The choir was closed by a +tall iron grating; a single lamp, which swung from the roof, enabled me +to see through the darkness, that though much more rich in ornaments +than the body of the church, it was less grand and impressive. The +frescoes which cover the ceiling, are said to be the finest paintings of +the kind in Switzerland. + +In the morning our starting was delayed by the rain, and we took +advantage of it to hear mass in the Abbey and enjoy the heavenly music. +The latter was of the loftiest kind; there was one voice among the +singers I shall not soon forget. It was like the warble of a bird who +sings out of very wantonness. On and on it sounded, making its clear, +radiant sweetness heard above the chant of the choir and the thunder of +the orchestra. Such a rich, varied and untiring strain of melody I have +rarely listened to. + +When the service ceased, we took a small road leading to Schwytz. We had +now fairly entered the Alpine region, and our first task was to cross a +mountain. This having been done, we kept along the back of the ridge +which bounds the lake of Zug on the south, terminating in the well known +Rossberg. The scenery became wilder with every step. The luxuriant +fields of herbage on the mountains were spotted with the picturesque +_chalets_ of the hunters and Alp-herds; cattle and goats were browsing +along the declivities, their bells tinkling most musically, and the +little streams fell in foam down the steeps. We here began to realize +our anticipations of Swiss scenery. Just on the other side of the range, +along which we traveled, lay the little lake of Egeri and valley of +Morgarten, where Tell and his followers overcame the army of the German +Emperor; near the lake of Lowertz, we found a chapel by the roadside, +built on the spot where the house of Werner Stauffacher, one of the +"three men of Grutli," formerly stood. It bears a poetical inscription +in old German, and a rude painting of the Battle of Morgarten. + +As we wound around the lake of Lowertz, we saw the valley lying between +the Rossberg and the Righi, which latter mountain stood full in view. To +our regret, and that of all other travelers, the clouds hung low upon +it, as they had done for a week at least, and there was no prospect of a +change. The Rossberg, from which we descended, is about four thousand +feet in height; a dark brown stripe from its very summit to the valley +below, shows the track of the avalanche which, in 1806, overwhelmed +Goldau, and laid waste the beautiful vale of Lowertz. We could trace the +masses of rock and earth as far as the foot of the Righi. Four hundred +and fifty persons perished by this catastrophe, which was so sudden that +in five minutes the whole lovely valley was transformed into a desolate +wilderness. The shock was so great that the lake of Lowertz overflowed +its banks, and part of the village of Steinen at the upper end was +destroyed by the waters. + +An hour's walk through a blooming Alpine vale brought us to the little +town of Schwytz, the capital of the Canton. It stands at the foot of a +rock-mountain, in shape not unlike Gibraltar, but double its height. The +bare and rugged summits seem to hang directly over the town, but the +people dwell below without fear, although the warning ruins of Goldau +are full in sight. A narrow blue line at the end of the valley which +stretches westward, marks the lake of the Four Cantons. Down this valley +we hurried, that we might not miss the boat which plies daily, from +Luzerne to Fluelen. I regretted not being able to visit Luzerne, as I +had a letter to the distinguished Swiss composer, Schnyder von +Wartensee, who resides there at present. The place is said to present a +most desolate appearance, being avoided by travelers, and even by +artisans, so that business of all kinds has almost entirely ceased. + +At the little town of Brunnen, on the lake, we awaited the coming of the +steamboat. The scenery around it is exceedingly grand. Looking down +towards Luzerne, we could see the dark mass of Mount Pilatus on one +side, and on the other the graceful outline of the Righi, still wearing +his hood of clouds. We put off in a skiff to meet the boat, with two +Capuchin friars in long brown mantles and cowls, carrying rosaries at +their girdles. + +Nearly opposite Brunnen is the meadow of Grutli, where the union of the +Swiss patriots took place, and the bond was sealed that enabled them to +cast off their chains. It is a little green slope on the side of the +mountain, between the two Cantons of Uri and Unterwalden, surrounded on +all sides by precipices. A little crystal spring in the centre is +believed by the common people to have gushed up on the spot where the +three "linked the hands that made them free." It is also a popular +belief that they slumber in a rocky cavern near the spot, and that they +will arise and come forth when the liberties of Switzerland are in +danger. She stands at present greatly in need of a new triad to restore +the ancient harmony. + +We passed this glorious scene, almost the only green spot on the bleak +mountain-side, and swept around the base of the Axenberg, at whose foot, +in a rocky cave, stands the chapel of William Tell. This is built on the +spot where he leaped from Gessler's boat during the storm. It sits at +the base of the rock, on the water's edge, and can be seen far over the +waves. The Alps, whose eternal snows are lifted dazzling to the sky, +complete the grandeur of a scene so hallowed by the footsteps of +freedom. The grand and lonely solemnity of the landscape impressed me +with an awe, like that one feels when standing in a mighty cathedral, +when the aisles are dim with twilight. And how full of interest to a +citizen of young and free America is a shrine where the votaries of +Liberty have turned to gather strength and courage, through the storms +and convulsions of five hundred years! + +We stopped at the village of Fluelen, at the head of the lake, and +walked on to Altorf, a distance of half a league. Here, in the +market-place, is a tower said to be built on the spot where the linden +tree stood, under which the child of Tell was placed, while, about a +hundred yards distant, is a fountain with Tell's statue, on the spot +from whence he shot the apple. If these localities are correct, he must +indeed have been master of the cross-bow. The tower is covered with rude +paintings of the principal events in the history of Swiss liberty. I +viewed these scenes with double interest from having read Schiller's +"Wilhelm Tell," one of the most splendid tragedies ever written. The +beautiful reply of his boy, when he described to him the condition of +the "land where there are no mountains," was sounding in my ears during +the whole day's journey: + + "Father, I'd feel oppressed in that broad land, + I'd rather dwell beneath the avalanche!" + +The little village of Burglen, whose spire we saw above the forest, in a +glen near by, was the birth-place of Tell, and the place where his +dwelling stood, is now marked by a small chapel. In the Schachen, a +noisy mountain stream that comes down to join the Reuss, he was drowned, +when an old man, in attempting to rescue a child who had fallen in--a +death worthy of the hero! We bestowed a blessing on his memory in +passing, and then followed the banks of the rapid Reuss. Twilight was +gathering in the deep Alpine glen, and the mountains on each side, +half-seen through the mist, looked like vast, awful phantoms. Soon they +darkened to black, indistinct masses; all was silent except the +deepened roar of the falling floods; dark clouds brooded above us like +the outspread wings of night, and we were glad, when the little village +of Amstegg was reached, and the parlor of the inn opened to us a more +cheerful, if not so romantic scene. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +PASSAGE OF THE ST. GOTHARD AND DESCENT INTO ITALY. + + +Leaving Amstegg, I passed the whole day among snowy, sky-piercing Alps, +torrents, chasms and clouds! The clouds appeared to be breaking up as we +set out, and the white top of the Reassberg was now and then visible in +the sky. Just above the village are the remains of Zwing Uri, the castle +begun by the tyrant Gessler, for the complete subjugation of the canton. +Following the Reuss up through a narrow valley, we passed the +Bristenstock, which lifts its jagged crags nine thousand feet in the +air, while on the other side stand the snowy summits which lean towards +the Rhone Glacier and St. Gothard. From the deep glen where the Reuss +foamed down towards the Lake of the Forest Cantons, the mountains rose +with a majestic sweep so far into the sky that the brain grew almost +dizzy in following their outlines. Woods, chalets and slopes of herbage +covered their bases, where the mountain cattle and goats were browsing, +while the herd-boys sang their native melodies or woke the ringing +echoes with the loud, sweet sounds of their wooden horns; higher up, the +sides were broken into crags and covered with stunted pines; then +succeeded a belt of bare rock with a little snow lying in the crevices, +and the summits of dazzling white looked out from the clouds nearly +three-fourths the height of the zenith. Sometimes when the vale was +filled with clouds, it was startling to see them parting around a +solitary summit, apparently isolated in the air at an immense height, +for the mountain to which it belonged was hidden to the very base! + +The road passed from one side of the valley to the other, crossing the +Reuss on bridges sometimes ninety feet high. After three or four hours +walking, we reached a frightful pass called the Schollenen. So narrow is +the defile that before reaching it, the road seemed to enter directly +into the mountain. Precipices a thousand feet high tower above, and the +stream roars and boils in the black depth below. The road is a wonder of +art; it winds around the edge of horrible chasms or is carried on lofty +arches across, with sometimes a hold apparently so frail that one +involuntarily shudders. At a place called the Devil's Bridge, the Reuss +leaps about seventy feet in three or four cascades, sending up +continually a cloud of spray, while a wind created by the fall, blows +and whirls around, with a force that nearly lifts one from his feet. +Wordsworth has described the scene in the following lines: + + "Plunge with the Reuss embrowned by terror's breath, + Where danger roofs the narrow walks of Death; + By floods that, thundering from their dizzy height, + Swell more gigantic on the steadfast sight, + Black, drizzling crags, that, beaten by the din, + Vibrate, us if a voice complained within, + Loose hanging rocks, the Day's blessed eye that hide, + And crosses reared to Death on every side!" + +Beyond the Devil's Bridge, the mountains which nearly touched before, +interlock into each other, and a tunnel three hundred and seventy-five +feet long leads through the rock into the vale of Urseren, surrounded by +the Upper Alps. The little town of Andermatt lies in the middle of this +valley, which with the peaks around is covered with short, +yellowish-brown grass. We met near Amstegg a little Italian boy walking +home, from Germany, quite alone and without money, for we saw him give +his last kreutzer to a blind beggar along the road. We therefore took +him with us, as he was afraid to cross the St. Gothard alone. + +After refreshing ourselves at Andermatt, we started, five in number, +including a German student, for the St. Gothard. Behind the village of +Hospiz, which stands at the bottom of the valley leading to Realp and +the Furca pass, the way commences, winding backwards and forwards, +higher and higher, through a valley covered with rocks, with the mighty +summits of the Alps around, untenanted save by the chamois and mountain +eagle. Not a tree was to be seen. The sides of the mountains were +covered with loose rocks waiting for the next torrent to wash them down, +and the tops were robed in eternal snow. A thick cloud rolled down over +us as we went on, following the diminishing brooks to their snowy source +in the peak of St. Gothard. We cut off the bends of the road by +footpaths up the rocks, which we ascended in single file, one of the +Americans _going ahead_ and little Pietro with his staff and bundle +bringing up the rear. The rarefied air we breathed, seven thousand feet +above the sea, was like exhilarating gas. We felt no fatigue, but ran +and shouted and threw snowballs, in the middle of August! + +After three hours' walk we reached the two clear and silent lakes which +send their waters to the Adriatic and the North Sea. Here, as we looked +down the Italian side, the sky became clear; we saw the top of St. +Gothard many thousand feet above, and stretching to the south, the +summits of the mountains which guard the vales of the Ticino and the +Adda. The former monastery has been turned into an inn; there is, +however, a kind of church attached, attended by a single monk. It was so +cold that although late, we determined to descend to the first village. +The Italian side is very steep, and the road, called the Via Trimola, is +like a thread dropped down and constantly doubling back upon itself. The +deep chasms were filled with snow, although exposed to the full force of +the sun, and for a long distance there was scarcely a sign of +vegetation. + +We thought as we went down, that every step was bringing us nearer to a +sunnier land--that the glories of Italy, which had so long lain in the +airy background of the future, would soon spread themselves before us in +their real or imagined beauty. Reaching at dusk the last height above +the vale of the Ticino, we saw the little village of Airolo with its +musical name, lying in a hollow of the mountains. A few minutes of +leaping, sliding and rolling, took us down the grassy declivity, and we +found we had descended from the top in an hour and a half, although the +distance by the road is nine miles! I need not say how glad we were to +relieve our trembling knees and exhausted limbs. + +I have endeavored several times to give some idea of the sublimity of +the Alps, but words seem almost powerless to measure these mighty +mountains. No effort of the imagination could possibly equal their real +grandeur. I wish also to describe the _feelings_ inspired by being +among them,--feelings which can best be expressed through the warmer +medium of poetry. + + SONG OF THE ALP. + I. + + I sit aloft on my thunder throne, + And my voice of dread the nations own + As I speak in storm below! + The valleys quake with a breathless fear, + When I hurl in wrath my icy spear + And shake my locks of snow! + When the avalanche forth like a tiger leaps, + How the vassal-mountains quiver! + And the storm that sweeps through the airy deeps + Makes the hoary pine-wood shiver! + Above them all, in a brighter air, + I lift my forehead proud and bare, + And the lengthened sweep of my forest-robe + Trails down to the low and captured globe, + Till its borders touch the dark green wave + In whose soundless depths my feet I lave. + The winds, unprisoned, around me blow, + And terrible tempests whirl the snow; + Rocks from their caverned beds are torn, + And the blasted forest to heaven is borne; + High through the din of the stormy band, + Like misty giants the mountains stand, + And their thunder-revel o'er-sounds the woe, + That cries from the desolate vales below! + I part the clouds with my lifted crown, + Till the sun-ray slants on the glaciers down, + And trembling men, in the valleys pale, + Rejoice at the gleam of my icy mail! + + II. + + I wear a crown of the sunbeam's gold, + With glacier-gems en my forehead old-- + A monarch crowned by God! + What son of the servile earth may dare + Such signs of a regal power to wear, + While chained to her darkened sod? + I know of a nobler and grander lore + Than Time records on his crumbling pages, + And the soul of my solitude teaches more + Than the gathered deeds of perished ages! + For I have ruled since Time began + And wear no fetter made by man. + I scorn the coward and craven race + Who dwell around my mighty base, + For they leave the lessons I grandly gave + And bend to the yoke of the crouching slave. + I shout aloud to the chainless skies; + The stream through its falling foam replies, + And my voice, like the sound of the surging sea, + To the nations thunders: "_I am free!_" + I spoke to Tell when a tyrant's hand + Lay heavy and hard on his native land, + And the spirit whose glory from mine he won + Blessed the Alpine dwellers with Freedom's sun! + The student-boy on the Gmunden-plain + Heard my solemn voice, but he fought in vain; + I called from the crags of the Passeir-glen, + When the despot stood in my realm again, + And Hofer sprang at the proud command + And roused the men of the Tyrol land! + + III. + + I struggle up to the dim blue heaven, + From the world, far down in whose breast are driven + The props of my pillared throne; + And the rosy fires of morning glow + Like a glorious thought, on my brow of snow, + While the vales are dark and lone! + Ere twilight summons the first faint star, + I seem to the nations who dwell afar + Like a shadowy cloud, whose every fold + The sunset dyes with its purest gold, + And the soul mounts up through that gateway fair + To try its wings in a loftier air! + The finger of God on my brow is pressed-- + His spirit beats in my giant breast, + And I breathe, as the endless ages roll, + His silent words to the eager soul! + I prompt the thoughts of the mighty mind, + Who leaves his century far behind + And speaks from the Future's sun-lit snow + To the Present, that sleeps in its gloom below! + I stand, unchanged, in creation's youth-- + A glorious type of Eternal Truth, + That, free and pure, from its native skies + Shines through Oppression's veil of lies, + And lights the world's long-fettered sod + With thoughts of Freedom and of God! + +When, at night, I looked out of my chamber-window, the silver moon of +Italy, (for we fancied that her light was softer and that the skies were +already bluer) hung trembling above the fields of snow that stretched in +their wintry brilliance along the mountains around. I heard the roar of +the Ticino and the deepened sound of falling cascades, and thought, if I +were to take those waters for my guide, to what glorious places they +would lead me! + +We left Airolo early the next morning, to continue our journey down the +valley of the Ticino. The mists and clouds of Switzerland were exchanged +for a sky of the purest blue, and we felt, for the first time in ten +days, uncomfortably warm. The mountains which flank the Alps on this +side, are still giants--lofty and bare, and covered with snow in many +places. The limit of the German dialect is on the summit of St. Gothard, +and the peasants saluted us with a "_buon giorno_" as they passed. This, +with the clearness of the skies and the warmth of the air, made us feel +that Italy was growing nearer. + +The mountains are covered with forests of dark pine, and many beautiful +cascades come tumbling over the rocks in their haste to join the Ticino. +One of these was so strangely beautiful, that I cannot pass it without a +particular description. We saw it soon after leaving Airolo, on the +opposite side of the valley. A stream of considerable size comes down +the mountain, leaping from crag to crag till within forty or fifty feet +of the bottom, where it is caught in a hollow rock, and flung upwards +into the air, forming a beautiful arch as it falls out into the valley. +As it is whirled up thus, feathery curls of spray are constantly driven +off and seem to wave round it like the fibres on an ostrich plume. The +sun shining through, gave it a sparry brilliance which was perfectly +magnificent. If I were an artist, I would give much for such a new form +of beauty. + +On our first day's journey we passed through two terrific mountain +gorges, almost equalling in grandeur the defile of the "Devil's Bridge." +The Ticino, in its course to Lago Maggiore has to make a descent of +nearly three thousand feet, passing through three valleys, which lie +like terraces, one below the other. In its course from one to the other, +it has to force its way down in twenty cataracts through a cleft in the +mountains. The road, constructed with the utmost labor, threads these +dark chasms, sometimes carried in a tunnel through the rock, sometimes +passing on arches above the boiling flood. The precipices of bare rock +rise far above and render the way difficult and dangerous. I here +noticed another very beautiful effect of the water, perhaps attributable +to some mineral substance it contained. The spray and foam thrown up in +the dashing of the vexed current, was of a light, delicate pink, +although the stream itself was a soft blue; and the contrast of these +two colors was very remarkable. + +As we kept on, however, there was a very perceptible change in the +scenery. The gloomy pines disappeared and the mountains were covered, in +their stead, with picturesque chesnut trees, with leaves of a shining +green. The grass and vegetation was much more luxuriant than on the +other side of the Alps, and fields of maize and mulberry orchards +covered the valley. We saw the people busy at work reeling silk in the +villages. Every mile we advanced made a sensible change in the +vegetation. The chesnuts were larger, the maize higher, the few +straggling grape-vines increased into bowers and vineyards, while the +gardens were filled with plum, pear and fig-trees, and the stands of +delicious fruit which we saw in the villages, gave us promise of the +luxuriance that was to come. + +The vineyards are much more beautiful than the German fields of stakes. +The vines are not trimmed, but grow from year to year over a frame +higher than the head, supported through the whole field on stone +pillars. They interlace and form a complete leafy screen, while the +clusters hang below. The light came dimly through the green, transparent +leaves, and nothing was wanting to make them real bowers of Arcadia. +Although we were still in Switzerland, the people began to have that +lazy, indolent look which characterizes the Italians; most of the +occupations were carried on in the open air, and brown-robed, sandalled +friars were going about from house to house, collecting money and +provisions for their support. + +We passed Faido and Giornico, near which last village are the remains of +an old castle, supposed to have been built by the ancient Gauls, and +stopped for the night at Cresciano, which being entirely Italian, we had +an opportunity to put in practice the few words we had picked up from +Pietro. The little fellow parted from us with regret a few hours before, +at Biasco, where he had relations. The rustic landlord at Cresciano was +an honest young fellow, who tried to serve us as well as he could, but +we made some ludicrous mistakes through our ignorance of the language. + +Three hours' walk brought us to Bellinzona, the capital of the canton. +Before reaching it, our road joined that of the Splugen which comes down +through the valley of Bernardino. From the bridge where the junction +takes place we had a triple view, whose grandeur took me by surprise, +even after coming from Switzerland. We stood at the union of three +valleys--that leading to St. Gothard, terminated by the glaciers of the +Bernese Oberland, that running off obliquely to the Splugen, and finally +the broad vale of the Ticino, extending to Lago Maggiore, whose purple +mountains closed the vista. Each valley was perhaps two miles broad and +from twenty to thirty long, and the mountains that enclosed them from +five to seven thousand feet in height, so you may perhaps form some idea +what a view down three such avenues in this Alpine temple would be. +Bellinzona is romantically situated, on a slight eminence, with three +castles to defend it, with those square turreted towers and battlements, +which remind one involuntarily of the days of the Goths and Vandals. + +We left Bellinzona at noon, and saw, soon after, from an eminence, the +blue line of Lago Maggiore stretched across the bottom of the valley. We +saw sunset fade away over the lake, but it was clouded, and did not +realize my ideal of such a scene in Italy. A band of wild Italians +paraded up and down the village, drawing one of their number in a +hand-cart. They made a great noise with a drum and trumpet, and were +received everywhere with shouts of laughter. A great jug of wine was not +wanting, and the whole seemed to me a very characteristic scene. + +We were early awakened at Magadino, at the head of Lago Maggiore, and +after swallowing a hasty breakfast, went on board the steamboat "San +Carlo," for Sesto Calende. We got under way at six o'clock, and were +soon in motion over the crystal mirror. The water is of the most lovely +green hue, and so transparent that we seemed to bo floating in mid-air. +Another heaven arched far below us; other chains of mountains joined +their bases to those which surrounded the lake, and the mirrored +cascades leaped upward to meet their originals at the surface. It may be +because I have seen it more recently, that the water of Lago Maggiore +appears to be the most beautiful in the world. I was delighted with the +Scotch lakes, and enraptured with the Traunsee and "Zurich's waters," +but this last exceeds them both. I am now incapable of any stronger +feeling, until I see the Egean from the Grecian Isles. + +The morning was cloudy, and the white wreaths hung low on the mountains, +whose rocky sides were covered every where with the rank and luxuriant +growth of this climate. As we advanced further over this glorious +mirror, the houses became more Italian-like; the lower stories rested on +arched passages, and the windows were open, without glass, while in the +gardens stood the solemn, graceful cypress, and vines, heavy with +ripening grapes, hung from bough to bough through the mulberry orchards. +Half-way down, in a broad bay, which receives the waters of a stream +that comes down with the Simplon, are the celebrated Borromean Islands. +They are four in number, and seem to float like fairy creations on the +water, while the lofty hills form a background whose grandeur enhances +by contrast their exquisite beauty. There was something in the scene +that reminded me of Claude Melnotte's description of his home, by +Bulwer, and like the lady of Lyons, I answer readily, "I like the +picture." + +On passing by Isola Madre, we could see the roses in its terraced +gardens and the broad-leaved aloes clinging to the rocks. Isola Bella, +the loveliest of them all, as its name denotes, was farther off; it rose +like a pyramid from the water, terrace above terrace to the summit, and +its gardens of never fading foliage, with the glorious panorama around, +might make it a paradise, if life were to be dreamed away. On the +northern side of the bay lies a large town (I forget its name,) with a +lofty Romanesque tower, and noble mountains sweep around as if to shut +out the world from such a scene. The sea was perfectly calm, and groves +and gardens slept mirrored in the dark green wave, while the Alps rose +afar through the dim, cloudy air. Towards the other end the hills sink +lower, and slope off into the plains of Lombardy. Near Arona, on the +western side, is a large monastery, overlooking the lower part of the +lake. Beside it, on a hill, is a colossal statue of San Carlo Borromeo, +who gave his name to the lovely islands above. + +After a seven hours' passage, we ran into Sesto Calende, at the foot of +the lake. Here, passengers and baggage were tumbled promiscuously on +shore, the latter gathered into the office to be examined, and the +former left at liberty to ramble about an hour until their passports +could be signed. We employed the time in trying the flavor of the grapes +and peaches of Lombardy, and looking at the groups of travelers who had +come down from the Alps with the annual avalanche at this season. The +custom house officers were extremely civil and obliging, as they did not +think necessary to examine our knapsacks, and our passports being soon +signed, we were at liberty to enter again into the dominions of His +Majesty of Austria. Our companion, the German, whose feet could carry +him no further, took a seat on the top of a diligence for Milan; _we_ +left Sesto Calende on foot, and plunged into the cloud of dust which was +whirling towards the capital of Northern Italy. + +Being now really in the "sunny land," we looked on the scenery with a +deep interest. The first thing that struck me was a resemblance to +America in the fields of Indian corn, and the rank growth of weeds by +the roadside. The mulberry trees and hedges, too, looked quite familiar, +coming as we did, from fenceless and hedgeless Germany. But here the +resemblance ceased. The people were coarse, ignorant and savage-looking, +the villages remarkable for nothing except the contrast between splendid +churches and miserable, dirty houses, while the luxurious palaces and +grounds of the rich noblemen formed a still greater contrast to the +poverty of the people. I noticed also that if the latter are as lazy as +they are said to be, they make their horses work for them, as in a walk +of a few hours yesterday after noon, we saw two horses drawing heavy +loads, drop down apparently dead, and several others seemed nearly ready +to do the same. + +We spent the night at the little village of Casina, about sixteen miles +from Milan, and here made our first experience in the honesty of Italian +inns. We had taken the precaution to inquire beforehand the price of a +bed; but it seemed unnecessary and unpleasant, as well as evincing a +mistrustful spirit, to do the same with every article we asked for, so +we concluded to leave it to the host's conscience not to overcharge us. +Imagine our astonishment, however, when at starting, a bill was +presented to us, in which the smallest articles were set down at three +or four times their value. We remonstrated, hut to little purpose; the +fellow knew scarcely any French, and we as little Italian, so rather +than lose time or temper, we paid what he demanded and went on, leaving +him to laugh at the successful imposition. The experience was of value +to us, however, and it may serve as a warning to some future traveler. + +About noon, the road turned into a broad and beautiful avenue of +poplars, down which we saw, at a distance, the triumphal arch +terminating the Simplon road, which we had followed from Sesto Calende. +Beyond it rose the slight and airy pinnacle of the Duomo. We passed by +the exquisite structure, gave up our passports at the gates, traversed +the broad Piazza d'Armi, and found ourselves at liberty to choose one of +the dozen streets that led into the heart of the city. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +MILAN. + + +_Aug. 21._--While finding our way at random to the "Pension Suisse," +whither we had been directed by a German gentleman, we were agreeably +impressed with the gaiety and bustle of Milan. The shops and stores are +all open to the street, so that the city resembles a great bazaar. It +has an odd look to see blacksmiths, tailors and shoemakers working +unconcernedly in the open air, with crowds continually passing before +them. The streets are filled with venders of fruit, who call out the +names with a long, distressing cry, like that of a person in great +agony. Organ-grinders parade constantly about and snatches of songs are +heard among the gay crowd, on every side. + +In this lively, noisy Italian city, nearly all there is to see may be +comprised in four things: the Duomo, the triumphal arch over the +Simplon, La Scala and the Picture Gallery. The first alone is more +interesting than many an entire city. We went there yesterday afternoon +soon after reaching here. It stands in an irregular open place, closely +hemmed in by houses on two sides, so that it can be seen to advantage +from only one point. It is a mixture of the Gothic and Romanesque +styles; the body of the structure is entirely covered with statues and +richly wrought sculpture, with needle-like spires of white marble rising +up from every corner. But of the exquisite, airy look of the whole mass, +although so solid and vast, it is impossible to convey an idea. It +appears like some fabric of frost-work which winter traces on the +window-panes. There is a unity of beauty about the whole, which the eye +takes in with a feeling of perfect and satisfied delight. + +Ascending the marble steps which lead to the front, I lifted the folds +of the heavy curtain and entered. What a glorious aisle! The mighty +pillars support a magnificent arched ceiling, painted to resemble +fretwork, and the little light that falls through the small windows +above, enters tinged with a dim golden hue. A feeling of solemn awe +comes over one as he steps with a hushed tread along the colored marble +floor, and measures the massive columns till they blend with the +gorgeous arches above. There are four rows of these, nearly fifty in +all, and when I state that they are eight feet in diameter, and sixty or +seventy in height, some idea may be formed of the grandeur of the +building. Imagine the Girard College, at Philadelphia, turned into one +great hall, with four rows of pillars, equal in size to those around it, +reaching to its roof, and you will have a rough sketch of the interior +of the Duomo. + +In the centre of the cross is a light and beautiful dome; he who will +stand under this, and look down the broad middle aisle to the entrance, +has one of the sublimest vistas to be found in the world. The choir has +three enormous windows, covered with dazzling paintings, and the ceiling +is of marble and silver. There are gratings under the high altar, by +looking into which, I could see a dark, lonely chamber below, where one +or two feeble lamps showed a circle of praying-places. It was probably a +funeral vault, which persons visited to pray for the repose of their +friends' souls. The Duomo is not yet entirely finished, the workmen +being still employed in various parts, but it is said, that when +completed there will be four thousand statues on the different parts of +it. + +The design of the Duomo is said to be taken from Monte Rosa, one of the +loftiest peaks of the Alps. Its hundreds of sculptured pinnacles, rising +from every part of the body of the church, certainly bear a striking +resemblance to the splintered ice-crags of Savoy. Thus we see how Art, +mighty and endless in her forms though she be, is in every thing but the +child of Nature. Her most divine conceptions are but copies of objects +which we behold every day. The faultless beauty of the Corinthian +capital--the springing and intermingling arches of the Gothic aisle--the +pillared portico or the massive and sky-piercing pyramid--are but +attempts at reproducing, by the studied regularity of Art, the +ever-varied and ever-beautiful forms of mountain, rock and forest. But +there is oftentimes a more thrilling sensation of enjoyment produced by +the creations of man's hand and intellect than the grander effects of +Nature, existing constantly before our eyes. It would seem as if man +marvelled more at his own work than at the work of the Power which +created him. + +The streets of Milan abound with priests in their cocked hats and long +black robes. They all have the same solemn air, and seem to go about +like beings shut out from all communion with pleasure. No sight lately +has saddened me so much as to see a bright, beautiful boy, of twelve or +thirteen years, in those gloomy garments. Poor child! he little knows +now what he may have to endure. A lonely, cheerless life, where every +affection must be crushed as unholy, and every pleasure denied as a +crime! And I knew by his fair brow and tender lip, that he had a warm +and loving heart. I could not help regarding this class as victims to a +mistaken idea of religious duty, and if I am not mistaken, I read on +more than one countenance the traces of passions that burned within. It +is mournful to see a people oppressed in the name of religion. The +holiest aspirations of man's nature, instead of lifting him up to a +nearer view of Christian perfection, are changed into clouds and shut +out the light of heaven. Immense treasures, wrung drop by drop from the +credulity of the poor and ignorant, are made use of to pamper the luxury +of those who profess to be mediators between man and the Deity. The poor +wretch may perish of starvation on a floor of precious mosaic, which +perhaps his own pittance has helped to form, while ceilings and shrines +of inlaid gold mock his dying eye with their useless splendor. Such a +system of oppression, disguised under the holiest name, can only be +sustained by the continuance of ignorance and blind superstition. +Knowledge--Truth--Reason--these are the ramparts which Liberty throws up +to guard her dominions from the usurpations of oppression and wrong. + +We were last night in La Scala. Rossini's opera of William Tell was +advertised, and as we had visited so lately the scene where that +glorious historical drama was enacted, we went to see it represented in +sound. It is a grand subject, which in the hands of a powerful composer, +might be made very effective, but I must confess I was disappointed in +the present case. The overture is, however, very beautiful. It begins +low and mournful, like the lament of the Swiss over their fallen +liberties. Occasionally a low drum is heard, as if to rouse them to +action, and meanwhile the lament swells to a cry of despair. The drums +now wake the land; the horn of Uri is heard pealing forth its summoning +strain, and the echoes seem to come back from the distant Alps. The +sound then changes for the roar of battle--the clang of trumpets, drums +and cymbals. The whole orchestra did their best to represent this combat +in music, which after lasting a short time, changed into the loud, +victorious march of the conquerors. But the body of the opera, although +it had several fine passages, was to me devoid of interest; in fact, +unworthy the reputation of Rossini. + +The theatre is perhaps the largest in the world. The singers are all +good; in Italy it could not be otherwise, where everybody sings. As I +write, a party of Italians in the house opposite have been amusing +themselves with going through the whole opera of "_La fille du +Regiment_," with the accompaniment of the piano, and they show the +greatest readiness and correctness in their performance. They have now +become somewhat boisterous, and appear to be improvising. One young +gentleman executes trills with amazing skill, and another appears to +have taken the part of a despairing lover, but the lady has a very +pretty voice, and warbles on and on, like a nightingale. Occasionally a +group of listeners in the street below clap them applause, for as the +windows are always open, the whole neighborhood can enjoy the +performance. + +This forenoon I was in the Picture Gallery. It occupies a part of the +Library Building, in the Palazzo Cabrera. It is not large, and many of +the pictures are of no value to anybody but antiquarians; still there +are some excellent paintings, which render it well worthy a visit. Among +these, a marriage, by Raphael, is still in a very good state of +preservation, and there are some fine pictures by Paul Veronese and the +Caracci. The most admired painting, is "Abraham sending away Hagar," by +Guercino. I never saw a more touching expression of grief than in the +face of Hagar. Her eyes are red with weeping, and as she listens in an +agony of tears to the patriarch's command, she still seems doubting the +reality of her doom. The countenance of Abraham is venerable and calm, +and expresses little emotion; but one can read in that of Sarah, as she +turns away, a feeling of pity for her unfortunate rival. + +Next to the Duomo, the most beautiful specimen of architecture in Milan +is the ARCH OF PEACE, on the north side of the city, at the commencement +of the Simplon Road. It was the intention of Napoleon to carry the road +under this arch, across the Piazza d'Armi, and to cut a way for it +directly into the heart of the city, but the fall of his dynasty +prevented the execution of this magnificent design, as well as the +completion of the arch itself. This has been done by the Austrian +government, according to the original plan; they have inscribed upon it +the name of Francis I., and changed the bas-reliefs of Lodi and Marengo +into those of a few fields where their forces had gained the victory. It +is even said that in many parts which were already finished, they +altered the splendid Roman profile of Napoleon into the haggard and +repulsive features of Francis of Austria. + +The bronze statues on the top were made by an artist of Bologna, by +Napoleon's order, and are said to be the finest works of modern times. +In the centre is the goddess of Peace, in a triumphal car, drawn by six +horses, while on the corners four angels, mounted, are starting off to +convey the tidings to the four quarters of the globe. The artist has +caught the spirit of motion and chained it in these moveless figures. +One would hardly feel surprised if the goddess, chariot, horses and all, +were to start off and roll away through the air. + +With the rapidity usual to Americans we have already finished seeing +Milan, and shall start to-morrow morning on a walk to Genoa. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +WALK FROM MILAN TO GENOA. + + +It was finally decided we should leave Milan, so the next morning we +arose at five o'clock for the first time since leaving Frankfort. The +Italians had commenced operations at this early hour, but we made our +way through the streets without attracting quite so much attention as on +our arrival. Near the gate on the road to Pavia, we passed a long +colonnade which was certainly as old as the times of the Romans. The +pillars of marble were quite brown with age, and bound together with +iron to keep them from falling to pieces. It was a striking contrast to +see this relic of the past standing in the middle of a crowded +thoroughfare and surrounded by all the brilliance and display of modern +trade. + +Once fairly out of the city we took the road to Pavia, along the banks +of the canal, just as the rising sun gilded the marble spire of the +Duomo. The country was a perfect level, and the canal, which was in many +places higher than the land through which it passed, served also as a +means of irrigation for the many rice-fields. The sky grew cloudy and +dark, and before we reached Pavia gathered to a heavy storm. Torrents of +rain poured down, accompanied with heavy thunder; we crept under an old +gateway for shelter, as no house was near. Finally, as it cleared away, +the square brown towers of the old city rose above the trees, and we +entered the gate through a fine shaded avenue. Our passports were of +course demanded, but we were only detained a minute or two. The only +thing of interest is the University, formerly so celebrated; it has at +present about eight hundred students. + +We have reason to remember the city from another circumstance--the +singular attention we excited. I doubt if Columbus was an object of +greater curiosity to the simple natives of the new world, than we three +Americans were to the good people of Pavia. I know not what part of our +dress or appearance could have caused it, but we were watched like wild +animals. If we happened to pause and look at anything in the street, +there was soon a crowd of attentive observers, and as we passed on, +every door and window was full of heads. We stopped in the marketplace +to purchase some bread and fruit for dinner, which increased, if +possible, the sensation. We saw eyes staring and fingers pointing at us +from every door and alley. I am generally willing to contribute as much +as possible to the amusement or entertainment of others, but such +attention was absolutely embarrassing. There was nothing to do but to +appear unconscious of it, and we went along with as much nonchalance as +if the whole town belonged to us. + +We crossed the Ticino, on whose banks near Pavia, was fought the first +great battle between Hannibal and the Romans. On the other side our +passports were demanded at the Sardinian frontier and our knapsacks +searched, which having proved satisfactory, we were allowed to enter the +kingdom. Late in the afternoon we reached the Po, which in winter must +be quarter of a mile wide, but the summer heats had dried it up to a +small stream, so that the bridge of boats rested nearly its whole length +in sand. We sat on the bank in the shade, and looked at the chain of +hills which rose in the south, following the course of the Po, crowned +with castles and villages and shining towers. It was here that I first +began to realize Italian scenery. Although the hills were bare, they lay +so warm and glowing in the sunshine, and the deep blue sky spread so +calmly above, that it recalled all my dreams of the fair clime we had +entered. + +We stopped for the night at the little village of Casteggio, which lies +at the foot of the hills, and next morning resumed our pilgrimage. Here +a new delight awaited us. The sky was of a heavenly blue, without even +the shadow of a cloud, and full and fair in the morning sunshine we +could see the whole range of the Alps, from the blue hills of Friuli, +which sweep down to Venice and the Adriatic, to the lofty peaks which +stretch away to Nice and Marseilles! Like a summer cloud, except that +they were far more dazzling and glorious, lay to the north of us the +glaciers and untrodden snow-fields of the Bernese Oberland; a little to +the right we saw the double peak of St. Gothard, where six days before +we shivered in the region of eternal winter, while far to the north-west +rose the giant dome of Mount Blanc. Monte Rosa stood near him, not far +from the Great St. Bernard, and further to the south Mont Cenis guarded +the entrance from Piedmont into France. I leave you to conceive the +majesty of such a scene, and you may perhaps imagine, for I cannot +describe the feelings with which I gazed upon it. + +At Tortona, the next post, a great market was being held; the town was +filled with country people selling their produce, and with venders of +wares of all kinds. Fruit was very abundant--grapes, ripe figs, peaches +and melons were abundant, and for a trifle one could purchase a +sumptuous banquet. On inquiring the road to Novi, the people made us +understand, after much difficulty, that there was a nearer way across +the country, which came into the post-road again, and we concluded to +take it. After two or three hours' walking in a burning sun, where our +only relief was the sight of the Alps and a view of the battle-field of +Marengo, which lay just on our right, we came to a stand--the road +terminated at a large stream, where workmen were busily engaged in +making a bridge across. We pulled off our boots and waded through, took +a refreshing bath in the clear waters, and walked on through by-lanes. +The sides were lined with luxuriant vines, bending under the ripening +vintage, and we often cooled our thirst with some of the rich bunches. + +The large branch of the Po we crossed, came down from the mountains, +which we were approaching. As we reached the post-road again, they were +glowing in the last rays of the sun, and the evening vapors that settled +over the plain concealed the distant Alps, although the snowy top of the +Jungfrau and her companions the Wetterhorn and Schreckhorn, rose above +it like the hills of another world. A castle or church of brilliant +white marble glittered on the summit of one of the mountains near us, +and as the sun went down without a cloud, the distant summits changed in +hue to a glowing purple, amounting almost to crimson, which afterwards +darkened into a deep violet. The western half of the sky was of a pale +orange, and the eastern a dark red, which blended together in the blue +of the zenith, that deepened as twilight came on. I know not if it was a +fair specimen of an Italian sunset, but I must say, without wishing to +be partial, that though certainly very soft and beautiful, there is no +comparison with the splendor of such a scene in America. The day-sky of +Italy better deserves its reputation. Although no clearer than our own, +it is of a far brighter blue, arching above us like a dome of sapphire +and seeming to sparkle all over with a kind of crystal transparency. + +We stopped the second night at Arquato, a little village among the +mountains, and after having bargained with the merry landlord for our +lodgings, in broken Italian, took a last look at the plains of Piedmont +and the Swiss Alps, in the growing twilight. We gazed out on the +darkening scene till the sky was studded with stars, and went to rest +with the exciting thought of seeing Genoa and the Mediterranean on the +morrow. Next morning we started early, and after walking some distance +made our breakfast in a grove of chesnuts, on the cool mountain side, +beside a fresh stream of water. The sky shone like a polished gem, and +the glossy leaves of the chesnuts gleamed in the morning sun. Here and +there, on a rocky height, stood the remains of some knightly castle, +telling of the Goths and Normans who descended through these mountain +passes to plunder Rome. + +As the sun grew high, the heat and dust became intolerable, and this, in +connection with the attention we raised everywhere, made us somewhat +tired of foot-traveling in Italy. I verily believe the people took us +for pilgrims on account of our long white blouses, and had I a scallop +shell I would certainly have stuck it into my hat to complete the +appearance. We stopped once to ask a priest the road; when he had told +us, he shook hands with us and gave us a parting benediction. At the +common inns, where we stopped, we always met with civil treatment, +though, indeed, as we only slept in them, there was little chance of +practising imposition. We bought our simple meals at the baker's and +grocer's, and ate them in the shade of the grape-bowers, whose rich +clusters added to the repast. In this manner, we enjoyed Italy at the +expense of a franc, daily. About noon, after winding about through the +narrow defiles, the road began ascending. The reflected heat from the +hills on each side made it like an oven; there was not a breath of air +stirring; but we all felt, although no one said it, that from the summit +we could see the Mediterranean, and we pushed on as if life or death +depended on it. Finally, the highest point came in sight--we redoubled +our exertions, and a few minutes more brought us to the top, breathless +with fatigue and expectation. I glanced down the other side--there lay a +real sea of mountains, all around; the farthest peaks rose up afar and +dim, crowned with white towers, and between two of them which stood +apart like the pillars of a gateway, we saw the broad expanse of water +stretching away to the horizon-- + +To where the blue of heaven on bluer waves shut down!" + +It would have been a thrilling sight to see any ocean, when one has +rambled thousands of miles among the mountains and vales of the inland, +but to behold this sea, of all others, was glorious indeed! This sea, +whose waves wash the feet of Naples, Constantinople and Alexandria, and +break on the hoary shores where Troy and Tyre and Carthage have +mouldered away!--whose breast has been furrowed by the keels of a +hundred nations through more than forty centuries--from the first rude +voyage of Jason and his Argonauts, to the thunders of Navarino that +heralded the second birth of Greece! You cannot wonder we grew romantic; +but short space was left for sentiment in the burning sun, with Genoa to +be reached before night. The mountain we crossed is called the Bochetta, +one of the loftiest of the sea-Alps (or Apennines)--the road winds +steeply down towards the sea, following a broad mountain rivulet, now +perfectly dried up, as nearly every stream among the mountains is. It +was a long way to us; the mountains seemed as if they would never unfold +and let us out on the shore, and our weary limbs did penance enough for +a multitude of sins. The dusk was beginning to deepen over the bay and +the purple hues of sunset were dying away from its amphitheatre of +hills, as we came in sight of the gorgeous city. Half the population +were out to celebrate a festival, and we made our entry in the triumphal +procession of some saint. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +SCENES IN GENOA, LEGHORN AND PISA. + + +Have you ever seen some grand painting of a city, rising with its domes +and towers and palaces from the edge of a glorious bay, shut in by +mountains--the whole scene clad in those deep, delicious, sunny hues +which you admire so much in the picture, although they appear unrealized +in Nature? If so, you can figure to yourself Genoa, as she looked to us +at sunset, from the battlements west of the city. When we had passed +through the gloomy gate of the fortress that guards the western +promontory, the whole scene opened at once on us in all its majesty. It +looked to me less like a real landscape than a mighty panoramic +painting. The battlements where we were standing, and the blue mirror of +the Mediterranean just below, with a few vessels moored near the shore, +made up the foreground; just in front lay the queenly city, stretching +out to the eastern point of the bay, like a great meteor---this point, +crowned with the towers and dome of a cathedral representing the +nucleus, while the tail gradually widened out and was lost among the +numberless villas that reached to the top of the mountains behind. A +mole runs nearly across the mouth of the harbor, with a tall light-house +at its extremity, leaving only a narrow passage for vessels. As we +gazed, a purple glow lay on the bosom of the sea, while far beyond the +city, the eastern half of the mountain crescent around the gulf was +tinted with the loveliest hue of orange. The impressions which one +derives from looking on remarkable scenery, depend, for much of their +effect, on the time and weather. I have been very fortunate in this +respect in two instances, and shall carry with me through life, two +glorious pictures of a very different character--the wild sublimity of +the Brocken in cloud and storm, and the splendor of Genoa in an Italian +sunset. + +Genoa has been called the "city of palaces." and it well deserves the +appellation. Row above row of magnificent structures rise amid gardens +along the side of the hills, and many of the streets, though narrow and +crooked, are lined entirely with the splendid dwellings of the Genoese +nobles. All these speak of the republic in its days of wealth and power, +when it could cope successfully with Venice, and Doria could threaten to +bridle the horses of St. Mark. At present its condition is far +different; although not so fallen as its rival, it is but a shadow of +its former self--the life and energy it possessed as a republic, has +withered away under the grasp of tyranny. + +We entered Genoa, as I have already said, in a religious procession. On +passing the gate we saw from the concourse of people and the many +banners hanging from the windows or floating across the streets, that it +was the day of a festa. Before entering the city we reached the +procession itself, which was one of unusual solemnity. As it was +impossible in the dense crowd, to pass it, we struggled through till we +reached a good point for seeing the whole, and slowly moved on with it +through the city. First went a company of boys in white robes; then +followed a body of friars, dressed in long black cassocks, and with +shaven crowns; then a company of soldiers with a band of music; then a +body of nuns, wrapped from head to foot in blue robes, leaving only a +small place to see out of--in the dusk they looked very solemn and +ghost-like, and their low chant had to me something awful and sepulchral +in it; then followed another company of friars, and after that a great +number of priests in white and black robes, bearing the statue of the +saint, with a pyramid of flowers, crosses and blazing wax tapers, while +companies of soldiery, monks and music brought up the rear. Armed guards +walked at intervals on each side of the procession, to keep the way +clear and prevent disturbance; two or three bands played solemn airs, +alternating with the deep monotonous chanting of the friars. The whole +scene, dimly lighted by the wax tapers, produced in me a feeling nearly +akin to fear, as if I were witnessing some ghostly, unearthly spectacle. +To rites like these, however, which occur every few weeks, the people +must be well accustomed. + +Among the most interesting objects in Genoa, is the Doria palace, fit +in its splendor for a monarch's residence. It stands in the _Strada +Nova_, one of the three principal streets, and I believe is still in the +possession of the family. There are many others through the city, +scarcely less magnificent, among which that of the Durazzo family may be +pointed out. The American consulate is in one of these old edifices, +with a fine court-yard and ceilings covered with frescoes. Mr. Moro, the +Vice Consul, did us a great kindness, which I feel bound to acknowledge, +although it will require the disclosure of some private, and perhaps +uninteresting circumstances. On leaving Frankfort, we converted--for the +sake of convenience--the greater part of our funds into a draft on a +Saxon merchant in Leghorn, reserving just enough, as we supposed, to +take us thither. As in our former case, in Germany, the sum was too +small, which we found to our dismay on reaching Milan. Notwithstanding +we had traveled the whole ninety miles from that city to Genoa for three +francs each, in the hope of having enough, left to enable _one_ at least +to visit Leghorn, the expenses for a passport in Genoa (more than twenty +francs) prevented this plan. I went therefore to the Vice Consul to +ascertain whether the merchant on whom the draft was drawn, had any +correspondents there, who might advance a portion of it. His secretary +made many inquiries, but without effect; Mr. Moro then generously +offered to furnish me with means to reach Leghorn, whence I could easily +remit a sufficient sum to my two comrades. This put an end to our +anxiety, (for I must confess we could not help feeling some), and I +therefore prepared to leave that evening in the "Virgilio." + +The feelings with which I look on this lovely land, are fast changing. +What with the dust and heat, and cheating landlords, and the dull plains +of Lombardy, my first experience was not very prepossessing. But the +joyous and romantic anticipation with which I looked forward to +realizing the dream of my earliest boyhood, is now beginning to be +surpassed by the exciting reality. Every breath I drew in the city of +Columbus and Doria, was deeply tinctured with the magic of history and +romance. It was like entering on a new existence, to look on scenes so +lovely by nature and so filled with the inspiring memories of old. + + "Italia too, Italia! looking on thee, + Full flashes on the soul the light of ages, + Since the fierce Carthagenian almost won thee, + To the last halo of the chiefs and sages + Who glorify thy consecrated pages! + Thou wert the throne and grave of empires." + +The _Virgilio_ was advertised to leave at six o'clock, and I accordingly +went out to her in a little boat half an hour beforehand; but we were +delayed much longer, and I saw sunset again fade over the glorious +amphitheatre of palaces and mountains, with the same orange glow--the +same purple and crimson flush, deepening into twilight--as before. An +old blind man in a skiff, floated around under the bows of the boat on +the glassy water, singing to the violin a plaintive air that appeared to +be an evening hymn to the virgin. There was something very touching in +his venerable countenance, with the sightless eyes turned upward to the +sunset heaven whose glory he could never more behold. + +The lamps were lit on the tower at the end of the mole as we glided out +on the open sea; I stood on deck and watched the receding lights of the +city, till they and the mountains above them, were blended with the +darkened sky. The sea-breeze was fresh and cool, and the stars glittered +with a frosty clearness, which would have made the night delicious had +not a slight rolling of the waves obliged me to go below. Here, besides +being half seasick, I was placed at the mercy of many voracious fleas, +who obstinately stayed, persisting in keeping me company. This was the +first time I had suffered from these cannibals, and such were my +torments, I almost wished some blood-thirsty Italian would come and put +an end to them with his stiletto. + +The first ray of dawn that stole into the cabin sent me on deck. The +hills of Tuscany lay in front, sharply outlined on the reddening sky; +near us was the steep and rocky isle of Gorgona; and far to the +south-west, like a low mist along the water, ran the shores of +Corsica--the birth place of Columbus and Napoleon![***] As the dawn +brightened we saw on the southern horizon a cloud-like island, also +imperishably connected with the name of the latter--the prison-kingdom +of Elba! North of us extended the rugged mountains of Carrarra--that +renowned range whence has sprung many a form of almost breathing beauty, +and where yet slumber, perhaps, in the unhewn marble, the god-like +shapes of an age of art, more glorious than any the world has ever yet +beheld! + +[Footnote ***: By recent registers found in Corsica, it has been +determined that this island also gave birth to the discoverer of the new +world.] + + +The sun rose from behind the Apennines and masts and towers became +visible through the golden haze, as we approached the shore. On a flat +space between the sea and the hills, not far from the foot of Montenero, +stands Leghorn. The harbor is protected by a mole, leaving a narrow +passage, through which we entered, and after waiting two hours for the +visit of the health and police officers, we were permitted to go on +shore. The first thing that struck me, was the fine broad streets; the +second, the motley character of the population. People were hurrying +about noisy and bustling--Greeks in their red caps and capotes; grave +turbaned and bearded Turks; dark Moors; the Corsair-looking natives of +Tripoli and Tunis, and seamen of nearly every nation. At the hotel where +I stayed, we had a singular mixture of nations at dinner:--two French, +two Swiss, one Genoese, one Roman, one American and one Turk--and we +were waited on by a Tuscan and an Arab! We conversed together in four +languages, all at once. + +To the merchant, Leghorn is of more importance than to the traveler. Its +extensive trade, not only in the manufactures of Tuscany, but also in +the productions of the Levant, makes it important to the former, while +the latter seeks in vain for fine buildings, galleries of art, or in +interesting historical reminiscences. Through the kind attention of the +Saxon Consul, to whom I had letters, two or three days went by +delightfully. + +The only place of amusement here in summer is a drive along the sea +shore, called the Ardenza, which is frequented every evening by all who +can raise a vehicle. I visited it twice with a German friend. We met one +evening the Princess Corsini, wife of the Governor of Leghorn, on +horseback--a young, but not pretty woman. The road leads out along the +Mediterranean, past an old fortress, to a large establishment for the +sea bathers, where it ends in a large ring, around which the carriages +pass and re-pass, until sunset has gone out over the sea, when they +return to the city in a mad gallop, or as fast as the lean horses can +draw them. + +In driving around, we met two or three carriages of Turks, in one of +which I saw a woman of Tunis, with a curious gilded head-dress, eighteen +inches in height. + +I saw one night a Turkish funeral. It passed me in one of the outer +streets, on its way to the Turkish burying ground. Those following the +coffin, which was covered with a heavy black pall, wore white turbans +and long white robes--the mourning color of the Turks. Torches were +borne by attendants, and the whole company passed on at a quick pace. +Seen thus by night, it had a strange and spectral appearance. + +There is another spectacle here which was exceedingly revolting to me. +The condemned criminals, chained two and two, are kept at work through +the city, cleaning the streets. They are dressed in coarse garments of a +dirty red color, with the name of the crime for which they were +convicted, painted on the back. I shuddered to see so many marked with +the words--"_omicidio premeditato_." All day they are thus engaged, +exposed to the scorn and contumely of the crowd, and at night dragged +away to be incarcerated in damp, unwholesome dungeons, excavated under +the public thoroughfares. + +The employment of criminals in this way is common in Italy. Two days +after crossing St. Gothard, we saw a company of abject-looking +creatures, eating their dinner by the road-side, near Bellinzona. One of +them had a small basket of articles of cotton and linen, and as he rose +up to offer them to us, I was startled by the clank of fetters. They +were all employed to labor on the road. + +On going down to the wharf in Leghorn, in the morning, two or three days +ago, I found F---- and B---- just stepping on shore from the steamboat, +tired enough of the discomforts of the voyage, yet anxious to set out +for Florence as soon as possible. After we had shaken off the crowd of +porters, pedlars and vetturini, and taken a hasty breakfast at the _Cafe +Americano_, we went to the Police Office to get our passports, and had +the satisfaction of paying two francs for permission to proceed to +Florence. The weather had changed since the preceding day, and the +sirocco-wind which blows over from the coast of Africa, filled the +streets with clouds of dust, which made walking very unpleasant. The +clear blue sky had vanished, and a leaden cloud hung low on the +Mediterranean, hiding the shores of Corsica and the rooky isles of +Gorgona and Capraja. + +The country between Leghorn and Pisa, is a flat marsh, intersected in +several places by canals to carry off the stagnant water which renders +this district so unhealthy. It is said that the entire plain between the +mountains of Carrarra and the hills back of Leghorn has been gradually +formed by the deposits of the Arno and the receding of the +Mediterranean, which is so shallow along the whole coast, that large +vessels have to anchor several miles out. As we approached Pisa over the +level marsh, I could see the dome of the Cathedral and the Leaning Tower +rising above the gardens and groves which surround it. + +Our baggage underwent another examination at the gate, where we were +again assailed by the vetturini, one of whom hung on us like a leech +till we reached a hotel, and there was finally no way of shaking him off +except by engaging him to take us to Florence. The bargain having been +concluded, we had still a few hours left and set off to hunt the +Cathedral. We found it on an open square near the outer wall, and quite +remote from the main part of the town. Emerging from the narrow and +winding street, one takes in et a glance the Baptistery, the Campo +Santo, the noble Cathedral and the Leaning Tower--forming altogether a +view rarely surpassed in Europe for architectural effect. But the square +is melancholy and deserted, and rank, untrampled grass fills the +crevices of its marble pavement. + +I was surprised at the beauty of the Leaning Tower. Instead of all old, +black, crumbling fabric, as I always supposed, it is a light, airy, +elegant structure, of white marble, and its declension, which is +interesting as a work of art (or accident,) is at the same time pleasing +from its novelty. There have been many conjectures as to the cause of +this deviation, which is upwards of fourteen feet from the +perpendicular; it is now generally believed that the earth having sunk +when the building was half finished, it was continued by the architects +in the same angle. The upper gallery, which is smaller than the others, +shows a very perceptible inclination back towards the perpendicular, as +if in some degree to counterbalance the deviation of the other part. +There are eight galleries in all, supported by marble pillars, but the +inside of the Tower is hollow to the very top. + +We ascended by the same stairs which were trodden so often by Galileo in +going up to make his astronomical observations; in climbing spirally +around the hollow cylinder in the dark, it was easy to tell on which +side of the Tower we were, from the proportionate steepness of the +staircase. There is a fine view from the top, embracing the whole plain +as far as Leghorn on one side, with its gardens and grain fields spread +out like a vast map. In a valley of the Carrarrese Mountains to the +north, we could see the little town of Lucca, much frequented at this +season on account of its baths; the blue summits of the Appenines shut +in the view to the east. In walking through the city I noticed two other +towers, which had nearly as great a deviation from the perpendicular. We +met a person who had the key of the Baptistery, which he opened for us. +Two ancient columns covered with rich sculpture form the doorway, and +the dome is supported by massive pillars of the red marble of Elba. The +baptismal font is of the purest Parian marble. The most remarkable thing +was the celebrated musical echo. Our cicerone stationed himself at the +side of the font and sang a few notes. After a moment's pause they were +repeated aloft in the dome, but with a sound of divine sweetness--as +clear and pure as the clang of a crystal bell. Another pause--and we +heard them again, higher, fainter and sweeter, followed by a dying note, +as if they were fading far away into heaven. It seemed as if an angel +lingered in the temple, echoing with his melodious lips the common +harmonies of earth. Even thus does the music of good deeds, hardly noted +in our grosser atmosphere, awake a divine echo in the far world of +spirit. + +The Campo Santo, on the north side of the Cathedral, was, until lately, +the cemetery of the city; the space enclosed within its marble galleries +is filled to the depth of eight or ten feet, with earth from the Holy +Land. The vessels which carried the knights of Tuscany to Palestine were +filled at Joppa, on returning, with this earth as ballast, and on +arriving at Pisa it was deposited in the Cemetery. It has the peculiar +property of decomposing all human bodies, in the space of two days. A +colonnade of marble encloses it, with windows of the most exquisite +sculpture opening on the inside. They reminded me of the beautiful +Gothic oriels of Melrose. At each end are two fine, green cypresses, +which thrive remarkably in the soil of Palestine. The dust of a German +emperor, among others, rests in this consecrated ground. There are other +fine churches in Pisa, but the four buildings I have mentioned, are the +principal objects of interest. The tower where Count Ugolino and his +sons were starved to death by the citizens of Pisa, who locked them up +and threw the keys into the Arno, has lately been destroyed. + +An Italian gentleman having made a bargain in the meantime with our +vetturino, we found every thing ready on returning to the hotel. On the +outside of the town we mounted into the vehicle, a rickety-looking +concern, and as it commenced raining, I was afraid we would have a bad +night of it. After a great deal of bargaining, the vetturino agreed to +take us to Florence that night for five francs a piece, provided one +person would sit on the outside with the driver. I accordingly mounted +on front, protected by a blouse and umbrella, for it was beginning to +rain dismally. The miserable, bare-boned horses were fastened with +rope-traces, and the vetturino having taken the rope-lines in his hand, +gave a flourish with his whip; one old horse tumbled nearly to the +ground, but he jerked him up again and we rattled off. + +After riding ten miles in this way, it became so wet and dreary, that I +was fain to give the driver two francs extra, for the privilege of an +inside seat. Our Italian companion was agreeable and talkative, but as +we were still ignorant of the language, I managed to hold a scanty +conversation with him in French. He seemed delighted to learn that we +were from America; his polite reserve gave place to a friendly +familiarity and he was loud in his praises of the Americans. I asked him +why it was that he and the Italians generally, were so friendly towards +us. "I hardly know," he answered; "you are so different from any other +nation; and then, too, you have so much sincerity!" + +The Appenines were wreathed and hidden in thick mist, and the prospect +over the flat cornfields bordering the road was not particularly +interesting. We had made about one-third of the way as night set in, +when on ascending a hill soon after dark, F---- happened to look out, +and saw one of the axles bent and nearly broken off. we were obliged to +get out and walk through the mud to the next village, when after two +hours' delay, the vetturino came along with another carriage. Of the +rest of the way to Florence, I cannot say much. Cramped up in the narrow +vehicle, we jolted along in the dark, rumbling now and then through some +silent village, where lamps were burning before the solitary shrines. +Sometimes a blinding light crossed the road, where we saw the +tile-makers sitting in the red glare of their kilns, and often the black +boughs of trees were painted momentarily on the cloudy sky. If the +jolting carriage had even permitted sleep, the horrid cries of the +vetturino, urging on his horses, would have prevented it; and I decided, +while trying to relieve my aching limbs, that three days' walking in sun +and sand was preferable to one night of such travel. + +Finally about four o'clock in the morning the carriage stopped; my +Italian friend awoke and demanded the cause. "Signor," said the +vetturino, "we are in Florence!" I blessed the man, and the city too. +The good-humored officer looked at our passports and passed our baggage +without examination; we gave the gatekeeper a paul and he admitted us. +The carriage rolled through the dark, silent streets--passed a public +square--came out on the Arno--crossed and entered the city again--and +finally stopped at a hotel. The master of the "Lione Bianco" came down +in an undress to receive us, and we shut the growing dawn out of our +rooms to steal that repose from the day which the night had not given. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +FLORENCE AND ITS GALLERIES. + + +_Sept. 11._--Our situation here is as agreeable as we could well desire. +We have three large and handsomely furnished rooms, in the centre of the +city, for which we pay Signor Lazzeri, a wealthy goldsmith, ten scudo +per month--a scudo being a trifle more than an American dollar. We live +at the _Cafes_ and _Trattone_ very conveniently for twenty-five cents a +day, enjoying moreover, at our dinner in the Trattoria del Cacciatore, +the company of several American artists with whom we have become +acquainted. The day after our arrival we met at the table d'hote of the +"Lione Bianco," Dr. Boardman of New York, through whose assistance we +obtained our present lodgings. There are at present ten or twelve +American artists in Florence, and we promise ourselves much pleasure and +profit from their acquaintance. B---- and I are so charmed with the +place and the beautiful Tuscan dialect, that we shall endeavor to spend +three or four months here. F---- returns to Germany in two weeks, to +attend the winter term of the University at his favorite Heidelberg. + +Our first walk in Florence was to the Royal Gallery--we wished to see +the "goddess living in stone" without delay. Crossing the neighboring +_Piazza del Granduca_, we passed Michael Angelo's colossal statue of +David, and an open gallery containing, besides some antiques, the +master-piece of John of Bologna. The palace of the _Uffizii_, fronting +on the Arno, extends along both sides of an avenue running back to the +Palazzo Vecchio. We entered the portico which passes around under the +great building, and after ascending three or four flights of steps, came +into a long hall, filled with paintings and ancient statuary. Towards +the end of this, a door opened into the Tribune--that celebrated room, +unsurpassed by any in the world for the number and value of the gems it +contains. I pushed aside a crimson curtain and stood in the presence of +the Venus. + +It may be considered heresy, but I confess I did not at first go into +raptures, nor perceive any traces of superhuman beauty. The predominant +feeling, if I may so express it, was satisfaction; the eye dwells on its +faultless outline with a gratified sense, that nothing is wanting to +render it perfect. It is the ideal of a woman's form--a faultless +standard by which all beauty may be measured, but without striking +expression, except in the modest and graceful position of the limbs. The +face, though regular, is not handsome, and the body appears small, being +but five feet in height, which, I think, is a little below the average +stature of women. On each side, as if to heighten its elegance by +contrast with rude and unrefined nature, are the statues of the +Wrestlers, and the slave listening to the conspiracy of Catiline, called +also The Whetter. + +As if to correspond with the value of the works it holds, the Tribune is +paved with precious marbles and the ceiling studded with polished +mother-of-pearl. A dim and subdued light fills the hall, which throws +over the mind that half-dreamy tone necessary to the full enjoyment of +such objects. On each side of the Venus de Medici hangs a Venus by +Titian, the size of life, and painted in that rich and gorgeous style of +coloring which has been so often and vainly attempted since his time. + +Here are six of Raphael's best preserved paintings. I prefer the "St. +John in the Desert" to any other picture in the Tribune. His glorious +form, in the fair proportions of ripening boyhood--the grace of his +attitude, with the arm lifted eloquently on high--the divine inspiration +which illumines his young features--chain the step irresistibly before +it. It is one of those triumphs of the pencil which few but Raphael have +accomplished--the painting of _spirit_ in its loftiest and purest form. +Near it hangs the Fornarina, which he seems to have painted in as deep a +love as he entertained for the original. The face is modest and +beautiful, and filled with an expression of ardent and tender +attachment. I never tire looking upon either of these two. + +Let me not forget, while we are in this peerless hall, to point out +Guercino's Samian Sybil. It is a glorious work. With her hands clasped +over her volume, she is looking up with a face full of deep and +expressive sadness. A picturesque turban is twined around her head, and +bands of pearls gleam amidst her rich, dark brown tresses. Her face +bears the softness of dawning womanhood, and nearly answers my ideal of +female beauty. The same artist has another fine picture here--a sleeping +Endymion. The mantle has fallen from his shoulders, as he reclines +asleep, with his head on his hand, and his crook beside him. The silver +crescent of Dian looks over his shoulder from the sky behind, and no +wonder if she should become enamored, for a lovelier shepherd has not +been seen since that of King Admetus went back to drive his chariot in +the heavens. + +The "Drunken Bacchus" of Michael Angelo is greatly admired, and indeed +it might pass for a relic of the palmiest times of Grecian art. The +face, amidst its half-vacant, sensual expression, shows traces of its +immortal origin, and there is still an air of dignity preserved in the +swagger of his beautiful form. It is, in a word, the ancient idea of _a +drunken god_. It may be doubted whether the artist's talents might not +have been employed better than in ennobling intoxication. If he had +represented Bacchus as he really is--degraded even below the level of +humanity--it might be more beneficial to the mind, though less beautiful +to the eye. However, this is a question on which artists and moralists +cannot agree. Perhaps, too, the rich blood of the Falernian grape +produced a more godlike delirium than the vulgar brandy which oversets +the moderns! + +At one end of the gallery is a fine copy in marble of the Laocoon, by +Bandinelli, one of the rivals of Michael Angelo. When it was finished, +the former boasted it was better than the original, to which Michael +made the apt reply: "It is foolish for those who walk in the footsteps +of others, to say they go before them!" + +Let us enter the hall of Niobe. One starts back on seeing the many +figures in the attitude of flight, for they seem at first about to +spring from their pedestals. At the head of the room stands the +afflicted mother, bending over the youngest daughter who clings to her +knees, with an upturned countenance of deep and imploring agony. In +vain! the shafts of Apollo fall thick, and she will soon be childless. +No wonder the strength of that woe depicted on her countenance should +change her into stone. One of her sons--a beautiful, boyish form,--is +lying on his back, just expiring, with the chill langour of death +creeping over his limbs. We seem to hear the quick whistling of the +arrows, and look involuntarily into the air to see the hovering figure +of the avenging god. In a chamber near is kept the head of a faun, made +by Michael Angelo, at the age of fourteen, in the garden of Lorenzo de +Medici, from a piece of marble given him by the workmen. + +The portraits of the painters are more than usually interesting. Every +countenance is full of character. There is the pale, enthusiastic face +of Raphael, the stern vigor of Titian, the majesty and dignity of +Leonardo da Vinci, and the fresh beauty of Angelica Kauffmann. I liked +best the romantic head of Raphael Mengs. In one of the rooms there is a +portrait of Alfieri, with an autograph sonnet of his own on the back of +it. The house in which he lived and died, is on the north bank of the +Arno, near the Ponte Caraja, and his ashes rest in Santa Croce. + +Italy still remains the home of art, and it is but just she should keep +these treasures, though the age that brought them forth has passed away. +They are her only support now; her people are dependent for their +subsistence on the glory of the past. The spirits of the old painters, +living still on their canvass, earn from year to year the bread of an +indigent and oppressed people. This ought to silence those utilitarians +at home, who oppose the cultivation of the fine arts, on the ground of +their being useless luxuries. Let them look to Italy, where a picture by +Raphael or Correggio is a rich legacy for a whole city. Nothing is +useless that gratifies that perception of beauty, which is at once the +most delicate and the most intense of our mental sensations, binding us +by an unconscious link nearer to nature and to Him, whose every thought +is born of Beauty, Truth and Love. I envy not the one who looks with a +cold and indifferent spirit on these immortal creations of the old +masters--these poems written in marble and on the canvass. They who +oppose every thing which can refine and spiritualize the nature of man, +by binding him down to the cares of the work-day world alone, cheat life +of half its glory. + +The eighth of this month was the anniversary of the birth of the Virgin, +and the celebration, if such it might be called, commenced the evening +before, It is the custom, and Heaven only knows how it originated, for +the people of the lower class to go through the streets in a company, +blowing little penny whistles. We were walking that night in the +direction of the Duomo, when we met a band of these men, blowing with +all their might on the shrill whistles, so that the whole neighborhood +resounded with one continual, piercing, ear-splitting shriek. They +marched in a kind of quick trot through the streets, followed by a crowd +of boys, and varying the noise occasionally by shouts and howls of the +most horrible character. They paraded through all the principal streets +of the city, which for an hour sent up such an agonizing scream that you +might have fancied it an enormous monster, expiring in great torment. +The people seemed to take the whole thing as a matter of course, but it +was to us a novel manner of ushering in a religious festival. + +The sky was clear and blue, as it always is in this Italian paradise, +when we left Florence a few days ago for Fiesole. In spite of many +virtuous efforts to rise early, it was nine o'clock before we left the +Porta San Gallo, with its triumphal arch to the Emperor Francis, +striding the road to Bologna. We passed through the public walk at this +end of the city, and followed the road to Fiesole along the dried-up bed +of a mountain torrent. The dwellings of the Florentine nobility occupy +the whole slope, surrounded with rich and lovely gardens. The mountain +and plain are both covered with luxuriant olive orchards, whose foliage +of silver gray gives the scene the look of a moonlight landscape. + +At the base of the mountain of Fiesole we passed one of the summer +palaces of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and a little distance beyond, took a +foot-path overshadowed by magnificent cypresses, between whose dark +trunks we looked down on the lovely Val d'Arno. But I will reserve all +description of the view till we arrive at the summit. + +The modern village of Fiesole occupies the site of an ancient city, +generally supposed to be of Etrurian origin. Just above, on one of the +peaks of the mountain, stands the Acropolis, formerly used as a +fortress, but now untenanted save by a few monks. From the side of its +walls, beneath the shade of a few cypresses, there is a magnificent view +of the whole of Val d'Arno, with Florence--the gem of Italy--in the +centre. Stand with me a moment on the height, and let us gaze on this +grand panorama, around which the Apennines stretch with a majestic +sweep, wrapped in a robe of purple air, through which shimmer the villas +and villages on their sides! The lovely vale lies below us in its garb +of olive groves, among which beautiful villas are sprinkled as +plentifully as white anemones in the woods of May. Florence lies in +front of us, the magnificent cupola of the Duomo crowning its clustered +palaces. We see the airy tower of the Palazzo Vecchio--the new spire of +Santa Croce--and the long front of the Palazzo Pitti, with the dark +foliage of the Boboli Gardens behind. Beyond, far to the south, are the +summits of the mountains near Siena. We can trace the sandy bed of the +Arno down the valley till it disappears at the foot of the Lower +Apennines, which mingle in the distance with the mountains of Carrara. + +Galileo was wont to make observations "at evening from the top of +Fiesole," and the square tower of the old church is still pointed out as +the spot. Many a night did he ascend to its projecting terrace, and +watch the stars as they rolled around through the clearest heaven to +which a philosopher ever looked up. + +We passed through an orchard of fig trees, and vines laden with +beautiful purple and golden clusters, and in a few minutes reached the +remains of an amphitheatre, in a little nook on the mountain side. This +was a work of Roman construction, as its form indicates. Three or four +ranges of seats alone, are laid bare, and these have only been +discovered within a few years. A few steps further we came to a sort of +cavern, overhung with wild fig-trees. After creeping in at the entrance, +we found ourselves in an oval chamber, tall enough to admit of our +standing upright, and rudely but very strongly built. This was one of +the dens in which the wild beasts were kept; they were fed by a hole in +the top, now closed up. This cell communicates with four or five others, +by apertures broken in the walls. I stepped into one, and could see in +the dim light, that it was exactly similar to the first, and opened into +another beyond. + +Further down the mountain we found the ancient wall of the city, without +doubt of Etrurian origin. It is of immense blocks of stone, and extends +more or less dilapidated around the whole brow of the mountain. In one +place there stands a solitary gateway, of large stones, which looks as +if it might have been one of the first attempts at using the principle +of the arch. These ruins are all gray and ivied, and it startles one to +think what a history Earth has lived through since their foundations +were laid! + +We sat all the afternoon under the cypress trees and looked down on the +lovely valley, practising Italian sometimes with two young Florentines +who came up to enjoy the "_bell'aria_" of Fiesole. Descending as sunset +drew on, we reached the Porta San Gallo, as the people of Florence were +issuing forth to their evening promenade. + +One of my first visits was to the church of Santa Croce. This is one of +the oldest in Florence, venerated alike by foreigners and citizens, for +the illustrious dead whose remains it holds. It is a plain, gloomy pile, +the front of which is still unfinished, though at the base, one sees +that it was originally designed to be covered with black marble. On +entering the door we first saw the tomb of Michael Angelo. Around the +marble sarcophagus which contains his ashes are three mourning figures, +representing Sculpture, Painting and Architecture, and his bust stands +above--a rough, stern countenance, like a man of vast but unrefined +mind. Further on are the tombs of Alfieri and Machiavelli and the +colossal cenotaph lately erected to Dante. Opposite reposes Galileo. +What a world of renown in these few names! It makes one venerate the +majesty of his race, to stand beside the dust of such lofty spirits. + +Dante's monument may be said to be only erected to his memory; he sleeps +at the place of his exile, + + "Like Scipio, buried by the upbraiding shore!" + +It is the work of Ricci, a Florentine artist, and has been placed there +within a few years. The colossal figure of Poetry weeping over the empty +urn, might better express the regret of Florence in being deprived of +his ashes. The figure of Dante himself, seated above, is grand and +majestic; his head is inclined as if in meditation, and his features +bear the expression of sublime thought. Were this figure placed there +alone, on a simple and massive pedestal, it would be more in keeping +with his fame than the lumbering heaviness of the present monument. + +Machiavelli's tomb is adorned with a female figure representing History, +bearing his portrait. The inscription, which seems to be somewhat +exaggerated, is: _tanto nomini nullum par elogium_. Near lies Alfieri, +the "prince of tragedy," as he is called by the Italians. In his life he +was fond of wandering among the tombs of Santa Croce, and it is said +that there the first desire and presentiment of his future glory stirred +within his breast. Now he slumbers among them, not the least honored +name of that immortal company. + +Galileo's tomb is adorned with his bust. His face is calm and dignified, +and he holds appropriately in his hands, a globe and telescope. Aretino, +the historian, lies on his tomb with a copy of his works clasped to his +breast; above that of Lanzi, the historian of painting, there is a +beautiful fresco of the angel of fame; and opposite to him is the +scholar Lamio. The most beautiful monument in the church is that of a +Polish princess, in the transept. She is lying on the bier, her features +settled in the repose of death, and her thin, pale hands clasped across +her breast. The countenance wears that half-smile, "so coldly sweet and +sadly fair," which so often throws a beauty over the face of the dead, +and the light pall reveals the fixed yet graceful outline of the form. + +In that part of the city, which lies on the south bank of the Arno, is +the palace of the Grand Duke, known by the name of the Palazzo Pitti, +from a Florentine noble of that name, by whom it was first built. It is +a very large, imposing pile, preserving an air of lightness in spite of +the rough, heavy stones of which it is built. It is another example of a +magnificent failure. The Marquis Strozzi, having built a palace which +was universally admired for its beauty, (which stands yet, a model of +chaste and massive elegance,) his rival, the Marquis Pitti, made the +proud boast that he would build a palace, in the court-yard of which +could bo placed that of Strozzi. These are actually the dimensions of +the court-yard; but in building the palace, although he was liberally +assisted by the Florentine people, he ruined himself, and his +magnificent residence passed into other hands, while that of Strozzi is +inhabited by his descendants to this very day. + +The gallery of the Palazzo Pitti is one of the finest in Europe. It +contains six or seven hundred paintings, selected from the best works of +the Italian masters. By the praiseworthy liberality of the Duke, they +are open to the public, six hours every day, and the rooms are thronged +with artists of all nations. + +Among Titian's works, there is his celebrated "Bella," a half-length +figure of a young woman. It is a masterpiece of warm and brilliant +coloring, without any decided expression. The countenance is that of +vague, undefined thought, as of one who knew as yet nothing of the +realities of life. In another room is his Magdalen, a large, voluptuous +form, with her brown hair falling like a veil over her shoulders and +breast, but in her upturned countenance one can sooner read a prayer for +an absent lover than repentance for sins she has committed. + +What could excel in beauty the _Madonna della Sedia_ of Raphael? It is +another of those works of that divine artist, on which we gaze and gaze +with a never-tiring enjoyment of its angelic beauty. To my eye it is +faultless; I could not wish a single outline of form, a single shade of +color changed. Like his unrivalled Madonna in the Dresden Gallery, its +beauty is spiritual as well as earthly; and while gazing on the glorious +countenance of the Jesus-child, I feel an impulse I can scarcely +explain--a longing to tear it from the canvas as if it were a breathing +form, and clasp it to my heart in a glow of passionate love. What a +sublime inspiration Raphael must have felt when he painted it! Judging +from its effect on the beholder, I can conceive of no higher mental +excitement than that required to create it. + +Here are also some of the finest and best preserved pictures of Salvator +Rosa, and his portrait--a wild head, full of spirit and genius. Besides +several landscapes in his savage and stormy style, there are two large +sea-views, in which the atmosphere is of a deep and exquisite softness, +without impairing the strength and boldness of the composition. "A +Battle Scene," is terrible. Hundreds of combatants are met in the shock +and struggle of conflict. Horses, mailed knights, vassals are mixed +together in wild confusion; banners are waving and lances flashing amid +the dust and smoke, while the wounded and dying are trodden under foot +in darkness and blood. I now first begin to comprehend the power and +sublimity of his genius. From the wildness and gloom of his pictures, he +might almost be called the Byron of painters. + +There is a small group of the "Fates," by Michael Angelo, which is one +of the best of the few pictures which remain of him. As is well known, +he disliked the art, saying it was only fit for women. This picture +shows, however, how much higher he might have gone, had he been so +inclined. The three weird sisters are ghostly and awful--the one who +stands behind, holding the distaff, almost frightful. She who stands +ready to cut the thread as it is spun out, has a slight trace of pity on +her fixed and unearthly lineaments. It is a faithful embodiment of the +old Greek idea of the Fates. I have wondered why some artist has not +attempted the subject in a different way. In the Northern Mythology they +are represented as wild maidens, armed with swords and mounted on fiery +coursers. Why might they not also be pictured as angels, with +countenances of a sublime and mysterious beauty--one all radiant with +hope and promise of glory, and one with the token of a better future +mingled with the sadness with which it severs the links of life? + +There are many, many other splendid works in this collection, but it is +unnecessary to mention them. I have only endeavored, by taking a few of +the best known, to give some idea of them as they appear to me. There +are hundreds of pictures here, which, though gems in themselves, are by +masters who are rarely heard of in America, and it would be of little +interest to go through the Gallery, describing it in guide-book fashion. +Indeed, to describe galleries, however rich and renowned they may be, is +in general a work of so much difficulty, that I know not whether the +writer or the reader is made most tired thereby. + +This collection possesses also the celebrated statue of Venus, by +Canova. She stands in the centre of a little apartment, filled with the +most delicate and graceful works of painting. Although undoubtedly a +figure of great beauty, it by no means struck me as possessing that +exquisite and classic perfection which has been ascribed to it. The +Venus de Medici far surpasses it. The head is larger in proportion to +the size of the body, than that of the latter, but has not the same +modest, virgin expression. The arm wrapped in the robe which she is +pressing to her breast, is finely executed, but the fingers of the other +hand are bad--looking, as my friend said, as if the ends were _whittled_ +off! The body is, however, of fine proportions, though, taken as a +whole, the statue is inferior to many other of Canova's works. + +Occupying all the hill back of the Pitti Palace, are the Boboli Gardens, +three times a week the great resort of the Florentines. They are said to +be the most beautiful gardens in Italy. Numberless paths, diverging from +a magnificent amphitheatre in the old Roman style, opposite the +court-yard, lend either in long flights of steps and terraces, or gentle +windings among beds sweet with roses, to the summit. Long avenues, +entirely arched and interwoven with the thick foliage of the laurel, +which here grows to a tree, stretch along the slopes or wind in the +woods through thickets of the fragrant bay. Parterres, rich with flowers +and shrubbery, alternate with delightful groves of the Italian pine, +acacia and laurel-leaved oak, and along the hillside, gleaming among the +foliage, are placed statues of marble, some of which are from the +chisels of Michael Angelo and Bandinelli. In one part there is a little +sheet of water, with an island of orange-trees in the centre, from which +a broad avenue of cypresses and statues leads to the very summit of the +hill. + +We often go there to watch the sun set over Florence and the vale of the +Arno. The palace lies directly below, and a clump of pine-trees on the +hillside, that stand out in bold relief on the glowing sky, makes the +foreground to one of the loveliest pictures this side of the Atlantic. I +saw one afternoon the Grand Duke and his family get into their carriage +to drive out. One of the little dukes, who seemed a mischievous imp, ran +out on a projection of the portico, where considerable persuasion had to +be used to induce him to jump into the arms of his royal papa. I turned +from these titled infants to watch a group of beautiful American +children playing, for my attention was drawn to them by the sound of +familiar words, and I learned afterwards they were the children of the +sculptor Powers. I contrasted involuntarily the destinies of each;--one +to the enjoyment and proud energy of freedom, and one to the confining +and vitiating atmosphere of a court. The merry voices of the latter, as +they played on the grass, came to my ears most gratefully. There is +nothing so sweet as to hear one's native tongue in a foreign land from +the lips of children! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +A PILGRIMAGE TO VALLOMBROSA. + + +A pilgrimage to Vallombrosa!--in sooth it has a romantic sound. The +phrase calls up images of rosaries, and crosses, and shaven-headed +friars. Had we lived in the olden days, such things might verily have +accompanied our journey to that holy monastery. We might then have gone +barefoot, saying prayers as we toiled along the banks of the Arno and up +the steep Appenines, as did Benevenuto Cellini, before he poured the +melted bronze into the mould of his immortal Perseus. But we are +pilgrims to the shrines of Art and Genius; the dwelling-places of great +minds are our sanctuaries. The mean dwelling, in which a poet has +battled down poverty with the ecstacy of his mighty conceptions, and the +dungeon in which a persecuted philosopher has languished, are to us +sacred; we turn aside from the palaces of kings and the battle-fields of +conquerors, to visit them. The famed miracles of San Giovanni Gualberto +added little, in our eyes, to the interest of Vallombrosa, but there +were reverence and inspiration in the names of Dante, Milton, and +Ariosto. + +We left Florence early, taking the way that leads from the Porta della +Croce, up the north bank of the Arno. It was a bright morning, but there +was a shade of vapor on the hills, which a practised eye might have +taken as a prognostic of the rain that too soon came on. Fiesole, with +its tower and Acropolis, stood out brightly from the blue background, +and the hill of San Miniato lay with its cypress groves in the softest +morning light. The _Contadini_ were driving into the city in their +basket wagons, and there were some fair young faces among them, that +made us think Italian beauty was not altogether in the imagination. + +After walking three or four miles, we entered the Appenines, keeping +along the side of the Arno, whose bed is more than half dried up from +the long summer heats. The mountain sides were covered with vineyards, +glowing with their wealth of white and purple grapes, but the summits +were naked and barren. We passed through the little town of Ponte Sieve, +at the entrance of a romantic valley, where our view of the Arno was +made more interesting by the lofty range of the Appenines, amid whose +forests we could see the white front of the monastery of Vallombrosa. +But the clouds sank low and hid it from sight, and the rain came on so +hard that we were obliged to take shelter occasionally in the cottages +by the wayside. In one of these we made a dinner of the hard, black +bread of the country, rendered palatable by the addition of mountain +cheese and some chips of an antique Bologna sausage. We were much amused +in conversing with the simple hosts and their shy, gipsy-like children, +one of whom, a dark-eyed, curly-haired boy, bore the name of Raphael. We +also became acquainted with a shoemaker and his family, who owned a +little olive orchard and vineyard, which they said produced enough to +support them. Wishing to know much a family of six consumed in a year, +we inquired the yield of their property. They answered, twenty small +barrels of wine, and ten of oil. It was nearly sunset when we reached +Pellago, and the wet walk and coarse fare we were obliged to take on the +road, well qualified us to enjoy the excellent supper the pleasant +landlady gave us. + +This little town is among the Appenines, at the foot of the magnificent +mountain of Vallombrosa. What a blessing it was for Milton, that he saw +its loveliness before his eyes closed on this beautiful earth, and +gained from it another hue in which to dip his pencil, when he painted +the bliss of Eden! I watched the hills all day as we approached them, +and thought how often his eyes had rested on their outlines, and how he +had carried their forms in his memory for many a sunless year. The +banished Dante, too, had trodden them, flying from his ungrateful +country; and many another, whose genius has made him a beacon in the +dark sea of the world's history. It is one of those places where the +enjoyment is all romance, and the blood thrills as we gaze upon it. + +We started early next morning, crossed the ravine, and took the +well-paved way to the monastery along the mountain side. The stones are +worn smooth by the sleds in which ladies and provisions are conveyed up, +drawn by the beautiful white Tuscan oxen. The hills are covered with +luxuriant chesnut and oak trees, of those picturesque forms which they +only wear in Italy: one wild dell in particular is much resorted to by +painters for the ready-made foregrounds it supplies. Further on, we +passed the _Paterno_, a rich farm belonging to the Monks. The vines +which hung from tree to tree, were almost breaking beneath clusters as +heavy and rich as those which the children of Israel bore on staves from +the Promised Land. Of their flavor, we can say, from experience, they +were worthy to have grown in Paradise. We then entered a deep dell of +the mountain, where little shepherd girls were sitting on the rocks +tending their sheep and spinning with their fingers from a distaff, in +the same manner, doubtless, as the Roman shepherdesses two thousand +years ago. Gnarled, gray olive trees, centuries old, grew upon the bare +soil, and a little rill fell in many a tiny cataract down the glen. By a +mill, in one of the coolest and wildest nooks I ever saw, two of us +acted the part of water-spirits under one of these, to the great +astonishment of four peasants, who watched us from a distance. + +Beyond, our road led through forests of chesnut and oak, and a broad +view of mountain and vale lay below us. We asked a peasant boy we met, +how much land the Monks of Vallombrosa possessed. "_All that you see_!" +was the reply. The dominion of the good fathers reached once even to the +gates of Florence. At length, about noon, we emerged from the woods into +a broad avenue leading across a lawn, at whose extremity stood the +massivs buildings of the monastery. On a rock that towered above it, was +the _Paradisino_, beyond which rose the mountain, covered with forests-- + + "Shade above shade, a woody theatre. + Of stateliest view"-- + +as Milton describes it. We were met at the entrance by a young monk in +cowl and cassock, to whom we applied for permission to stay till the +next day, which was immediately given. Brother Placido (for that was his +name) then asked us if we would not have dinner. We replied that our +appetites were none the worse for climbing the mountain; and in half an +hour sat down to a dinner, the like of which we had not seen for a long +time. Verily, thought I, it must be a pleasant thing to be a monk, after +all!--that is, a monk of Vallombrosa. + +In the afternoon we walked through a grand pine forest to the western +brow of the mountain, where a view opened which it would require a +wonderful power of the imagination for you to see in fancy, as I did in +reality. From the height where we stood, the view was uninterrupted to +the Mediterranean, a distance of more than seventy miles; a valley +watered by a brunch of the Arno swept far to the east, to the mountains +near the Luke of Thrasymene; northwestwards the hills of Carrara +bordered the horizon; the space between these wide points was filled +with mountains and valleys, all steeped in that soft blue mist which +makes Italian landscapes more like heavenly visions than realities. +Florence was visible afar off, and the current of the Arno flashed in +the sun. A cool and almost chilling wind blew constantly over the +mountain, although the country below basked in summer heat. We lay on +the rocks, and let our souls luxuriate in the lovely scene till near +sunset. Brother Placido brought us supper in the evening, with his +ever-smiling countenance, and we soon after went to our beds in the +neat, plain chambers, to get rid of the unpleasant coldness. + +Next morning it was damp and misty, and thick clouds rolled down the +forests towards the convent. I set out for the "Little Paradise," taking +in my way the pretty cascade which falls some fifty feet down the rocks. +The building is not now as it was when Milton lived here, having been +rebuilt within a short time. I found no one there, and satisfied my +curiosity by climbing over the wall and looking in at the windows. A +little chapel stands in a cleft of the rock below, to mark the +miraculous escape of St. John Gualberto, founder of the monastery. Being +one day very closely pursued by the Devil, he took shelter under the +rock, which immediately became soft and admitted him into it, while the +fiend, unable to stop, was precipitated over the steep. All this is +related in a Latin inscription, and we saw a large hollow in the rock +near, which must have been intended for the imprint left by his sacred +person. + +One of the monks told us another legend, concerning a little chapel +which stands alone on a wild part of the mountain, above a rough pile of +crags, called the "Peak of the Devil." "In the time of San Giovanni +Gualberto, the holy founder of our order," said he, "there was a young +man, of a noble family in Florence, who was so moved by the words of the +saintly father, that he forsook the world, wherein he had lived with +great luxury and dissipation, and became monk. But, after a time, being +young and tempted again by the pleasures he had renounced, he put off +the sacred garments. The holy San Giovanni warned him of the terrible +danger in which he stood, and at length the wicked young man returned. +It was not a great while, however, before he became dissatisfied, and in +spite all holy counsel, did the same thing again. But behold what +happened! As he was walking along the peak where the chapel stands, +thinking nothing of his great crime, the devil sprang suddenly from +behind a rock, and catching the young man in his arms, before he could +escape, carried him with a dreadful noise and a great red flame and +smoke over the precipice, so that he was never afterwards seen." + +The church attached to the monastery is small, but very solemn and +venerable. I went several times to muse in its still, gloomy aisle, and +hear the murmuring chant of the Monks, who went through their exercises +in some of the chapels. At one time I saw them all, in long black +cassocks, march in solemn order to the chapel of St. John Gualberto, +where they sang a deep chant, which to me had something awful and +sepulchral in it. Behind the high altar I saw their black, carved chairs +of polished oak, with ponderous gilded foliants lying on the rails +before them. The attendant opened one of these, that we might see the +manuscript notes, three or four centuries old, from which they sung. + +We were much amused in looking through two or three Italian books, which +were lying in the traveler's room. One of these which our friend Mr. +Tandy, of Kentucky, read, described the miracles of the patron saint +with an air of the most ridiculous solemnity. The other was a +description of the Monastery, its foundation, history, etc. In +mentioning its great and far-spread renown, the author stated then even +an English poet, by the name of Milton, had mentioned it in the +following lines, which I copied verbatim from the book: + + "Thick as autumnal scaves that strow she brooks + In vallombrosa, whereth Etruian Jades + Stigh over orch d'embrover!" + +In looking over the stranger's book, I found among the names of my +countrymen, that of S. V. Clevenger, the talented and lamented sculptor +who died at sea on his passage home. There were also the names of Mrs. +Shelley and the Princess Potemkin, and I saw written on the wall, the +autograph of Jean Reboul, the celebrated modern French poet. We were so +delighted with the place we would have stayed another day, but for fear +of trepassing too much on the lavish and unceasing hospitality of the +good fathers. + +So in the afternoon we shook hands with Brother Placido, and turned our +backs regretfully upon one of the loneliest and loveliest spots of which +earth can boast. The sky became gradually clear as we descended, and the +mist raised itself from the distant mountains. We ran down through the +same chesnut groves, diverging a little to go through the village of +Tosi, which is very picturesque when seen from a distance, but extremely +dirty to one passing through. I stopped in the ravine below to take a +sketch of the mill and bridge, and as we sat, the line of golden +sunlight rose higher on the mountains above. On walking down the shady +side of this glen, we were enraptured with the scenery. A brilliant yet +mellow glow lay over the whole opposing height, lighting up the houses +of Tosi and the white cottages half seen among the olives, while the +mountain of Vallombrosa stretched far heavenward like a sunny painting, +with only a misty wreath floating and waving around its summit. The +glossy foliage of the chesnuts was made still brighter by the warm +light, and the old olives softened down into a silvery gray, whose +contrast gave the landscape a character of the mellowest beauty. As we +wound out of the deep glen, the broad valleys and ranges of the +Appenines lay before us, forests, castles and villages steeped in the +soft, vapory blue of the Italian atmosphere, and the current of the Arno +flashing like a golden belt through the middle of the picture. + +The sun was nearly down, and the mountains just below him were of a +deep purple hue, while those that ran out to the eastward wore the most +aerial shade of blue. A few scattered clouds, floating above, soon put +on the sunset robe of orange and a band of the same soft color encircled +the western horizon. It did not reach half way to the zenith, however; +the sky above was blue, of such a depth and transparency, that to gaze +upward was like looking into eternity. Then how softly and soothingly +the twilight came on! How deep a hush sank on the chesnut glades, broken +only by the song of the cicada, chirping its "good-night carol!" The +mountains, too, how majestic they stood in their deep purple outlines! +Sweet, sweet Italy! I can feel now how the soul may cling to thee, since +thou canst thus gratify its insatiable thirst for the Beautiful. Even +thy plainest scene is clothed in hues that seem borrowed of heaven! In +the twilight, more radiant than light, and the stillness, more eloquent +than music, which sink down over the sunny beauty of thy shores, there +is a silent, intense poetry that stirs the soul through all its +impassioned depths. With warm, blissful tears filling the eyes and a +heart overflowing with its own bright fancies, I wander in the solitude +and calm of such a time, and love thee as if I were a child of thy soil! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +WALK TO SIENA AND PRATOLINO--INCIDENTS IN FLORENCE. + + +_October 16._--My cousin, being anxious to visit Rome, and reach +Heidelberg before the commencement of the winter semestre, set out +towards the end of September, on foot. We accompanied him as far as +Siena, forty miles distant. As I shall most probably take another road +to the Eternal City, the present is a good opportunity to say something +of that romantic old town, so famous throughout Italy for the honesty of +its inhabitants. + +We dined the first day, seventeen miles from Florence, at Tavenella, +where, for a meagre dinner the hostess had the assurance to ask us seven +pauls. We told her we would give but four and a half, and by assuming a +decided manner, with a plentiful use of the word "Signora" she was +persuaded to be fully satisfied with the latter sum. From a height near, +we could see the mountains coasting the Mediterranean, and shortly +after, on descending a long hill, the little town of Poggibonsi lay in +the warm afternoon light, on an eminence before us. It was soon passed +with its dusky towers, then Stagia looking desolate in its ruined and +ivied walls, and following the advice of a peasant, we stopped for the +night at the inn of Querciola. As we knew something of Italian by this +time, we thought it best to inquire the price of lodging, before +entering. The _padrone_ asked if we meant to take supper also. We +answered in the affirmative; "then," said he, "you will pay half a paul +(about five emits) apiece for a bed." We passed under the swinging bunch +of boughs, which in Italy is the universal sign of an inn for the common +people, and entered the bare, smoky room appropriated to travelers. A +long table, with well-worn benches, were the only furniture; we threw +our knapsacks on one end of it and sat down, amusing ourselves while +supper was preparing, in looking at a number of grotesque charcoal +drawings on the wall, which the flaring light of our tall iron lamp +revealed to us. At length the hostess, a kindly-looking woman, with a +white handkerchief folded gracefully around her head, brought us a dish +of fried eggs, which, with the coarse black bread of the peasants and a +basket full of rich grapes, made us an excellent supper. We slept on +mattresses stuffed with corn husks, placed on square iron frames, which +are the bedsteads most used in Italy. A brightly-painted caricature of +some saint or a rough crucifix, trimmed with bay leaves, hung at the +head of each bed, and under their devout protection we enjoyed a safe +and unbroken slumber. + +Next morning we set out early to complete the remaining ten miles to +Siena. The only thing of interest on the road, is the ruined wall and +battlements of Castiglione, circling a high hill and looking as old as +the days of Etruria. The towers of Siena are seen at some distance, but +approaching it from this side, the traveler does not perceive its +romantic situation until he arrives. It stands on a double hill, which +is very steep on some sides; the hollow between the two peaks is +occupied by the great public square, ten or fifteen feet lower than the +rest of the city. We left our knapsacks at a _cafe_ and sought the +celebrated Cathedral, which stands in the highest part of the town, +forming with its flat dome and lofty marble tower, an apex to the +pyramidal mass of buildings. + +The interior is rich and elegantly perfect. Every part is of black and +white marble, in what I should call the _striped_ style, which has a +singular but agreeable effect. The inside of the dome and the vaulted +ceilings of the chapels, are of blue, with golden stars; the pavement in +the centre is so precious a work that it is kept covered with boards and +only shown once a year. There are some pictures of great value in this +Cathedral; one of "The Descent of the Dove," is worthy of the best days +of Italian art. In an adjoining chamber, with frescoed walls, and a +beautiful tesselated pavement, is the library, consisting of a few huge +old volumes, which with their brown covers and brazen clasps, look as +much like a collection of flat leather trunks as any thing else. In the +centre of the room stands the mutilated group of the Grecian Graces, +found in digging the foundation of the Cathedral. The figures are still +beautiful and graceful, with that exquisite curve of outline which is +such a charm in the antique statues. Canova has only perfected the idea +in his celebrated group, which is nearly a copy of this. + +We strolled through the square and then accompanied our friend to the +Roman gate, where we took leave of him for six months at least. He felt +lonely at the thought of walking in Italy without a companion, but was +cheered by the anticipation of soon reaching Rome. We watched him +awhile, walking rapidly over the hot plain towards Radicofani, and then, +turning our faces with much pleasure towards Florence, we commenced the +return walk. I must not forget to mention the delicious grapes which we +bought, begged and stole on the way. The whole country is like one +vineyard--and the people live, in a great measure, on the fruit, during +this part of the year. Would you not think it highly romantic and +agreeable to sit in the shade of a cypress grove, beside some old +weather-beaten statues, looking out over the vales of the Appenines, +with a pile of white and purple grapes beside you, the like of which can +scarcely be had in America for love or money, and which had been given +you by a dark-eyed peasant girl? If so, you may envy us, for such was +exactly our situation on the morning before reaching Florence. + +Being in the Duomo, two or three days ago, I met a German traveler, who +has walked through Italy thus far, and intends continuing his journey to +Rome and Naples. His name is Von Raumer. He was well acquainted with the +present state of America, and I derived much pleasure from his +intelligent conversation. We concluded to ascend the cupola in company. +Two black-robed boys led the way; after climbing an infinite number of +steps, we reached the gallery around the foot of the dome. The glorious +view of that paradise, the vale of the Arno, shut in on all sides by +mountains, some bare and desolate, some covered with villas, gardens, +and groves, lay in soft, hazy light, with the shadows of a few light +clouds moving slowly across it. They next took us to a gallery on the +inside of the dome, where we first saw the immensity of its structure. +Only from a distant view, or in ascending it, can one really measure its +grandeur. The frescoes, which from below appear the size of life, are +found to be rough and monstrous daubs; each figure being nearly as many +fathoms in length as a man is feet. Continuing our ascent, we mounted +between the inside and outside shells of the dome. It was indeed a bold +idea for Brunelleschi to raise such a mass in air. The dome of Saint +Peter's, which is scarcely as large, was not made until a century after, +and this was, therefore, the first attempt at raising one on so grand a +scale. It seems still as solid as if just built. + +There was a small door in one of the projections of the lantern, which +the sacristan told us to enter and ascend still higher. Supposing there +was a fine view to be gained, two priests, who had just come up, entered +it; the German followed, and I after him. After crawling in at the low +door, we found ourselves in a hollow pillar, little wider than our +bodies. Looking up, I saw the German's legs just above my head, while +the other two were above him, ascending by means of little iron bars +fastened in the marble. The priests were very much amused, and the +German said:--"This is the first time I ever learned chimney-sweeping!" +We emerged at length into a hollow cone, hot and dark, with a rickety +ladder going up somewhere; we could not see where. The old priest, not +wishing to trust himself to it, sent his younger brother up, and we +shouted after him:--"What kind of a view have you?" He climbed up till +the cone got so narrow he could go no further, and answered back in the +darkness:--"I see nothing at all!" Shortly after he came down, covered +with dust and cobwebs, and we all descended the chimney quicker than we +went up. The old priest considered it a good joke, and laughed till his +fat sides shook. We asked the sacristan why he sent us up, and he +answered:--"To see _the construction of the Church_!" + +I attended service in the Cathedral one dark, rainy morning, and was +never before so deeply impressed with the majesty and grandeur of the +mighty edifice. The thick, cloudy atmosphere darkened still more the +light which came through the stained windows, and a solemn twilight +reigned in the long aisles. The mighty dome sprang far aloft, as if it +enclosed a part of heaven, for the light that struggled through the +windows around its base, lay in broad bars on the blue, hazy air. I +would not have been surprised at seeing a cloud float along within it. +The lofty burst of the organ, that seemed like the pantings of a +monster, boomed echoing away through dome and nave, with a chiming, +metallic vibration, that shook the massive pillars which it would defy +an earthquake to rend. All was wrapped in dusky obscurity, except where, +in the side-chapels, crowns of tapers were burning around the images. +One knows not which most to admire, the genius which could conceive, or +the perseverance which could accomplish such a work, On one side of the +square, the colossal statue of the architect, glorious old Brunelleschi, +is most appropriately placed, looking up with pride at his performance. + +The sunshine and genial airs of Italy have gone, leaving instead a cold, +gloomy sky and chilling winds. The autumnal season has fairly commenced, +and I suppose I must bid adieu to the brightness which made me in love +with the land. The change has been no less sudden than unpleasant, and +if, as they say, it will continue all winter with little variation, I +shall have to seek a clearer climate. In the cold of these European +winters, there is, as I observed last year in Germany, a dull, damp +chill, quite different from the bracing, exhilarating frosts of America. +It stagnates the vital principle and leaves the limbs dull and heavy, +with a lifeless feeling which can scarcely be overcome by vigorous +action. At least, such has been my experience. + +We lately made an excursion to Pratolino, on the Appenines, to see the +vintage and the celebrated colossus, by John of Bologna. Leaving +Florence in the morning, with a cool, fresh wind blowing down from the +mountains, we began ascending by the road to Bologna. We passed Fiesole +with its tower and acropolis on the right, ascending slowly, with the +bold peak of one of the loftiest Appenines on our left. The abundant +fruit of the olive was beginning to turn brown, and the grapes were all +gathered in from the vineyards, but we learned from a peasant boy that +the vintage was not finished at Pratolino. + +We finally arrived at an avenue shaded with sycamores, leading to the +royal park. The vintagers were busy in the fields around, unloading the +vines of their purple tribute, and many a laugh and jest among the merry +peasants enlivened the toil. We assisted them in disposing of some fine +clusters, and then sought the "Colossus of the Appenines." He stands +above a little lake, at the head of a long mountain-slope, broken with +clumps of magnificent trees. This remarkable figure, the work of John of +Bologna, impresses one like a relic of the Titans. He is represented as +half-kneeling, supporting himself with one hand, while the other is +pressed upon the head of a dolphin, from which a little stream falls +into the lake. The height of the figure when erect, would amount to more +than sixty feet! We measured one of the feet, which is a single piece of +rock, about eight feet long; from the ground to the top of one knee is +nearly twenty feet. The limbs are formed of pieces of stone, joined +together, and the body of stone and brick. His rough hair and eyebrows, +and the beard, which reached nearly to the ground, are formed of +stalactites, taken from caves, and fastened together in a dripping and +crusted mass. These hung also from his limbs and body, and gave him the +appearance of Winter in his mail of icicles. By climbing up the rocks at +his back, we entered his body, which contains a small-sized room; it was +even possible to ascend through his neck and look out at his ear! The +face is in keeping with the figure--stern and grand, and the architect +(one can hardly say sculptor) has given to it the majestic air and +sublimity of the Appenines. But who can build up _an image of the Alp_? + +We visited the factory on the estate, where wine and oil are made. The +men had just brought in a cart load of large wooden vessels, filled with +grapes, which they were mashing with heavy wooden pestles. When the +grapes were pretty well reduced to pulp and juice, they emptied them +into an enormous tub, which they told us would be covered air-tight, and +left for three or four weeks, after which the wine would be drawn off at +the bottom. They showed us also a great stone mill for grinding olives; +this estate of the Grand Duke produces five hundred barrels of wine and +a hundred and fifty of oil, every year. The former article is the +universal beverage of the laboring classes in Italy, or I might say of +all classes; it is, however, the pure blood of the grape, and although +used in such quantities, one sees little drunkenness--far less than in +our own land. + +Tuscany enjoys at present a more liberal government than any other part +of Italy, and the people are, in many respects, prosperous and happy. +The Grand Duke, although enjoying almost absolute privileges, is +disposed to encourage every measure which may promote the welfare of his +subjects. The people are, indeed, very heavily taxed, but this is less +severely felt by them, than it would be by the inhabitants of colder +climes. The soil produces with little labor all that is necessary for +their support; though kept constantly in a state of comparative poverty, +they appear satisfied with their lot, and rarely look further than the +necessities of the present. In love with the delightful climate, they +cherish their country, fallen as she is, and are rarely induced to leave +her. Even the wealthier classes of the Italians travel very little; they +can learn the manners and habits of foreigners nearly as well in their +own country as elsewhere, and they prefer their own hills of olive and +vine to the icy grandeur of the Alps or the rich and garden-like beauty +of England. + +But, although this sweet climate, with its wealth of sunlight and balmy +airs, may enchant the traveler for awhile and make him wish at times +that his whole life might be spent amid such scenes, it exercises a most +enervating influence on those who are born to its enjoyment. It relaxes +mental and physical energy, and disposes body and mind to dreamy +inactivity. The Italians, as a race, are indolent and effeminate. Of the +moral dignity of man they have little conception. Those classes who are +engaged in active occupation seem even destitute of common honesty, +practising all kinds of deceits in the most open manner and apparently +without the least shame. The state of morals is lower than in any other +country of Europe; what little virtue exists is found among the +peasants. Many of the most sacred obligations of society are universally +violated, and as a natural consequence, the people are almost entire +strangers to that domestic happiness, which constitutes the true +enjoyment of life. + +This dark shadow in the moral atmosphere of Italy hangs like a curse on +her beautiful soil, weakening the sympathies of citizens of freer lands +with her fallen condition. I often feel vividly the sentiment which +Percival puts into the mouth of a Greek in slavery: + + "The spring may here with autumn twine + And both combined may rule the year, + And fresh-blown flowers and racy wine + In frosted clusters still be near-- + Dearer the wild and snowy hills + Where hale and ruddy Freedom smiles." + +No people can ever become truly great or free, who are not virtuous. If +the soul aspires for liberty--pure and perfect liberty--it also aspires +for everything that is noble in Truth, everything that is holy in +Virtue. It is greatly to be feared that all those nervous and impatient +efforts which have been made and are still being made by the Italian +people to better their condition, will be of little avail, until they +set up a better standard of principle and make their private actions +more conformable with their ideas of political independence. + +_Oct. 22._--I attended to-day the fall races at the _Cascine_. This is a +dairy farm of the Grand Duke on the Arno, below the city; part of it, +shaded with magnificent trees, has been made into a public promenade and +drive, which extends for three miles down the river. Towards the lower +end, on a smooth green lawn, is the race-course. To-day was the last of +the season, for which the best trials had been reserved; on passing out +the gate at noon, we found a number of carriages and pedestrians going +the same way. It was the very perfection of autumn temperature, and I do +not remember to have ever seen so blue hills, so green meadows, so fresh +air and so bright sunshine combined in one scene before. All that gloom +and coldness of which I lately complained has vanished. + +Traveling increases very much one's capacity for admiration. Every +beautiful scene appears as beautiful as if it had been the first; and +although I may have seen a hundred times as lovely a combination of sky +and landscape, the pleasure which it awakens is never diminished. This +is one of the greatest blessings we enjoy--the freshness and glory which +Nature wears to our eyes forever. It shows that the soul never grows +old--that the eye of age can take in the impression of beauty with the +same enthusiastic joy that leaped through the heart of childhood. + +We found the crowd around the race-course but thin; half the people +there, and _all_ the horses, appeared to be English. It was a good place +to observe the beauty of Florence, which however, may be done in a +short time, as there is not much of it. There is beauty in Italy, +undoubtedly, but it is either among the peasants or the higher class of +nobility. I will tell our American women confidentially, for I know they +have too much sense to be vain of it, that they surpass the rest of the +world as much in beauty as they do in intelligence and virtue. I saw in +one of the carriages the wife of Alexander Dumas, the French author. She +is a large, fair complexioned woman, and is now, from what cause I know +not, living apart from her husband. + +The jockeys paced up and down the fields, preparing their beautiful +animals for the approaching heat, and as the hour drew nigh the mounted +dragoons busied themselves in clearing the space. It was a one-mile +course, to the end of the lawn and back. At last the bugle sounded, and +off went three steeds like arrows let fly. They passed us, their light +limbs bounding over the turf, a beautiful dark-brown taking the lead. We +leaned over the railing and watched them eagerly. The bell rang--they +reached the other end--we saw them turn and come dashing back, nearer, +nearer; the crowd began to shout, and in a few seconds the brown one had +won it by four or five lengths. The fortunate horse was led around in +triumph, and I saw an English lady, remarkable for her betting +propensities, come out from the crowd and kiss it in apparent delight. + +After an interval, three others took the field--all graceful, spirited +creatures. This was a more exciting race than the first; they flew past +us nearly abreast, and the crowd looked after them in anxiety. They +cleared the course like wild deer, and in a minute or two came back, the +racer of an English nobleman a short distance ahead. The jockey threw up +his hand in token of triumph as he approached the goal, and the people +cheered him. It was a beautiful sight to see those noble animals +stretching to the utmost of their speed, as they dashed down the grassy +lawn. The lucky one always showed by his proud and erect carriage, his +consciousness of success. + +Florence is fast becoming modernized. The introduction of gas, and the +construction of the railroad to Pisa, which is nearly completed, will +make sad havoc with the air of poetry which still lingers in its silent +streets. There is scarcely a bridge, a tower, or a street, which is not +connected with some stirring association. In the Via San Felice, Raphael +used to paint when a boy; near the Ponte Santa Trinita stands Michael +Angelo's house, with his pictures, clothes, and painting implements, +just as he left it three centuries ago; on the south side of the Arno is +the house of Galileo, and that of Machiavelli stands in an avenue near +the Ducal Palace. While threading my way through some dark, crooked +streets in an unfrequented part of the city, I noticed an old, +untenanted house, bearing a marble tablet above the door. I drew near +and read:--"In this house of the Alighieri was born the Divine Poet!" It +was the birth-place of Dante! + +_Nov. 1._--Yesterday morning we were apprised of the safe arrival of a +new scion of the royal family in the world by the ringing of the city +bells. To-day, to celebrate the event, the shops were closed, and the +people made a holiday of it. Merry chimes pealed out from every tower, +and discharges of cannon thundered up from the fortress. In the evening +the dome of the Cathedral was illuminated, and the lines of cupola, +lantern, and cross were traced in flame on the dark sky, like a crown of +burning stars dropped from Heaven on the holy pile. I went in and walked +down the aisle, listening for awhile to the grand choral, while the +clustered tapers under the dome quivered and trembled, as if shaken by +the waves of music which burst continually within its lofty concave. + +A few days ago Prince Corsini, Prime Minister of Tuscany, died at an +advanced age. I saw his body brought in solemn procession by night, with +torches and tapers, to the church of Santa Trinita. Soldiers followed +with reversed arms and muffled drums, the band playing a funeral march. +I forced myself through the crowd into the church, which was hung with +black and gold, and listened to the long drawn chanting of the priests +around the bier. + +We lately visited the Florentine Museum. Besides the usual collection of +objects of natural history, there is an anatomical cabinet, very +celebrated for its preparations in wax. All parts of the human frame are +represented so wonderfully exact, that students of medicine pursue their +studies here in summer with the same facility as from real "subjects." +Every bone, muscle, and nerve in the body is perfectly counterfeited, +the whole forming a collection as curious as it is useful. One chamber +is occupied with representations of the plague of Rome, Milan, and +Florence. They are executed with horrible truth to nature, but I +regretted afterwards having seen them. There are enough forms of beauty +and delight in the world on which to employ the eye, without making it +familiar with scenes which can only be remembered with a shudder. + +We derive much pleasure from the society of the American artists who are +now residing in Florence. At the houses of Powers, and Brown, the +painter, we spend many delightful evenings in the company of our gifted +countrymen. They are drawn together by a kindred, social feeling as well +as by their mutual aims, and form among themselves a society so +unrestrained, American-like, that the traveler who meets them forgets +his absence for a time. These noble representatives of our country, all +of whom possess the true, inborn spirit of republicanism, have made the +American name known and respected in Florence. Powers, especially, who +is intimate with many of the principal Italian families, is universally +esteemed. The Grand Duke has more than once visited his studio and +expressed the highest admiration of his talents. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +AMERICAN ART IN FLORENCE. + + +I have seen Ibrahim Pacha, the son of old Mehemet Ali, driving in his +carriage through the streets. He is hero on a visit from Lucca, where he +has been spending some time on account of his health. He is a man of +apparently fifty years of age; his countenance wears a stern and almost +savage look, very consistent with the character he bears and the +political part he has played. He is rather portly in person, the pale +olive of his complexion contrasting strongly with a beard perfectly +white. In common with all his attendants, he wears the high red cap, +picturesque blue tunic and narrow trowsers of the Egyptians. There is +scarcely a man of them whose face with its wild, oriental beauty, does +not show to advantage among us civilized and prosaic Christians. + +In Florence, and indeed through all Italy, there is much reason for our +country to be proud of the high stand her artists are taking. The sons +of our rude western clime, brought up without other resources than their +own genius and energy, now fairly rival those, who from their cradle +upwards have drawn inspiration and ambition from the glorious +masterpieces of the old painters and sculptors. Wherever our artists are +known, they never fail to create a respect for American talent, and to +dissipate the false notions respecting our cultivation and refinement, +which prevail in Europe. There are now eight or ten of our painters and +sculptors in Florence, some of whom, I do not hesitate to say, take the +very first rank among living artists. + +I have been highly gratified in visiting the studio of Mr. G.L. Brown, +who, as a landscape painter, is destined to take a stand second to few, +since the days of Claude Lorraine. He is now without a rival in +Florence, or perhaps in Italy, and has youth, genius and a plentiful +stock of the true poetic enthusiasm for his art, to work for him far +greater triumphs. His Italian landscapes have that golden mellowness and +transparency of atmosphere which give such a charm to the real scenes, +and one would think he used on his pallette, in addition to the more +substantial colors, condensed air and sunlight and the liquid crystal of +streams. He has wooed Nature like a lover, and she has not withheld her +sympathy. She has taught him how to raise and curve her trees, load +their boughs with foliage, and spread underneath them the broad, cool +shadows--to pile up the shattered crag, and steep the long mountain +range in the haze of alluring distance. + +He has now nearly finished, a large painting of "Christ Preaching in the +Wilderness," which is of surprising beauty. You look upon one of the +fairest scenes of Judea. In front, the rude multitude are grouped on one +side, in the edge of a magnificent forest; on the other side, towers up +a rough wall of rock and foliage that stretches back into the distance, +where some grand blue mountains are piled against the sky, and a +beautiful stream, winding through the middle of the picture, slides away +out of the foreground. Just emerging from the shade of one of the +cliffs, is the benign figure of the Saviour, with the warm light which +breaks from behind the trees, falling around him as he advances. There +is a smaller picture of the "Shipwreck of St. Paul," in which he shows +equal skill in painting a troubled sea and breaking storm. He is one of +the young artists from whom we have most to hope. + +I have been extremely interested in looking over a great number of +sketches made by Mr. Kellogg, of Cincinnati, during a tour through +Egypt, Arabia Petraea and Palestine. He visited many places out of the +general route of travelers, and beside the great number of landscape +views, brought away many sketches of the characters and costumes of the +Orient. From some of these he has commenced paintings, which, as his +genius is equal to his practice, will be of no ordinary value. Indeed, +some of these must give him at once an established reputation in +America. In Constantinople, where he resided several months, he enjoyed +peculiar advantges for the exercise of his art, through the favor and +influence of Mr. Carr, the American, and Sir Stratford Canning, the +British Minister. I saw a splendid diamond cup, presented to him by +Riza Pacha, the late Grand Vizier. The sketches he brought from thence +and from the valleys of Phrygia and the mountain solitudes of old +Olympus, are of great interest and value. Among his later paintings, I +might mention an angel, whose countenance beams with a rapt and glorious +beauty. A divine light shines through all the features and heightens the +glow of adoration to an expression all spiritual and immortal. If Mr. +Kellogg will give us a few more of these heavenly conceptions, we will +place him on a pedestal, little lower than that of Guido. + +Greenough, who has been sometime in Germany, returned lately to +Florence, where he has a colossal group in progress for the portico of +the Capitol. I have seen part of it, which is nearly finished in the +marble. It shows a backwoodsman just triumphing in the struggle with an +Indian; another group to be added, will represent the wife and child of +the former. The colossal size of the statues gives a grandeur to the +action, as if it were a combat of Titans; there is a consciousness of +power, an expression of lofty disdain in the expansion of the hunter's +nostril and the proud curve of his lip, that might become a god. The +spirit of action, of breathing, life-like exertion, so much more +difficult to infuse into the marble than that of repose, is perfectly +attained. I will not enter into a more particular description, as it +will probably be sent to the United States in a year or two. It is a +magnificent work; the best, unquestionably, that Greenough has yet made. +The subject, and the grandeur he has given it in the execution, will +ensure it a much more favorable reception than a false taste gave to his +Washington. + +Mr. C.B. Ives, a young sculptor from Connecticut, has not disappointed +the high promise he gave before leaving home. I was struck with some of +his busts in Philadelphia, particularly those of Mrs. Sigourney and +Joseph R. Chandler, and it has been no common pleasure to visit his +studio here in Florence, and look on some of his ideal works. He has +lately made two models, which, when finished in marble, will be works of +great beauty. They will contribute greatly to his reputation here and in +America. One of these represents a child of four or five years of age, +holding in his hand a dead bird, on which he is gazing, with childish +grief and wonder, that it is so still and drooping. It is a beautiful +thought; the boy is leaning forward as he sits, holding the lifeless +playmate close in his hands, his sadness touched with a vague +expression, as if he could not yet comprehend the idea of death. + +The other is of equal excellence, in a different style; it is a bust of +"Jephthah's daughter," when the consciousness of her doom first flashes +upon her. The face and bust are beautiful with the bloom of perfect +girlhood. A simple robe covers her breast, and her rich hair is gathered +up behind, and bound with a slender fillet. Her head, of the pure +classical mould, is bent forward, as if weighed down by the shock, and +there is a heavy drooping in the mouth and eyelids, that denotes a +sudden and sickening agony. It is not a violent, passionate grief, but a +deep and almost paralyzing emotion--a shock from which the soul will +finally rebound, strengthened to make the sacrifice. + +Would it not be better for some scores of our rich merchants to lay out +their money on statues and pictures, instead of balls and spendthrift +sons? A few such expenditures, properly directed, would do much for the +advancement of the fine arts. An occasional golden blessing, bestowed on +genius, might be returned on the giver, in the fame he had assisted in +creating. There seems, however, to be at present a rapid increase in +refined taste, and a better appreciation of artistic talent, in our +country. And as an American, nothing has made me feel prouder than this, +and the steadily increasing reputation of our artists. + +Of these, no one has done more within the last few years, than Powers. +With a tireless and persevering energy, such as could have belonged to +few but Americans, he has already gained a name in his art, that +posterity will pronounce in the same breath with Phidias, Michael Angelo +and Thorwaldsen. I cannot describe the enjoyment I have derived from +looking at his matchless works. I should hesitate in giving my own +imperfect judgment of their excellence, if I had not found it to +coincide with that of many others who are better versed in the rules of +art. The sensation which his "Greek Slave" produced in England, has +doubtless ere this been breezed across the Atlantic, and I see by the +late American papers that they are growing familiar with his fame. When +I read a notice seven or eight years ago, of the young sculptor of +Cincinnati, whose busts exhibited so much evidence of genius, I little +dreamed I should meet him in Florence, with the experience of years of +toil added to his early enthusiasm, and every day increasing his renown. + +You would like to hear of his statue of Eve, which men of taste +pronounce one of the finest works of modern times. A more perfect figure +never filled my eye. I have seen the masterpieces of Thorwaldsen, +Dannecker and Canova, and the Venus de Medici, but I have seen nothing +yet that can exceed the beauty of this glorious statue. So completely +did the first view excite my surprise and delight, and thrill every +feeling that awakes at the sight of the Beautiful, that my mind dwelt +intensely on it for days afterwards. This is the Eve of Scripture--the +Eve of Milton--mother of mankind and fairest of all her race. With the +full and majestic beauty of ripened womanhood, she wears the purity of a +world as yet unknown to sin. With the hearing of a queen, there is in +her countenance the softness and grace of a tender, loving woman; + + "God-like erect, with native honor clad + In naked majesty." + +She holds the fatal fruit extended in her hand, and her face expresses +the struggle between conscience, dread and desire. The serpent, whose +coiled length under the leaves and flowers entirely surrounds her, thus +forming a beautiful allegorical symbol, is watching her decision from an +ivied trunk at her side. Her form is said to be fully as perfect as the +Venus de Medici, and from its greater size, has an air of conscious and +ennobling dignity. The head is far superior in beauty, and soul speaks +from every feature of the countenance. I add a few stanzas which the +contemplation of this statue called forth. Though unworthy the subject, +they may perhaps faintly shadow the _sentiment_ which Powers has so +eloquently embodied in marble: + + THE "EVE" OF POWERS. + + A faultless being from the marble sprung, + She stands in beauty there! + As when the grace of Eden 'round her clung-- + Fairest, where all was fair! + + Pure, as when first from God's creating hand + She came, on man to shine; + So seems she now, in living stone to stand-- + A mortal, yet divine! + + The spark the Grecian from Olympus caught, + Left not a loftier trace; + The daring of the sculptor's hand has wrought + A soul in that sweet face! + He won as well the sacred fire from heaven. + God-sent, not stolen down, + And no Promethean doom for him is given, + But ages of renown! + + The soul of beauty breathes around that form + A more enchanting spell; + There blooms each virgin grace, ere yet the storm + On blighted Eden fell! + The first desire upon her lovely brow, + Raised by an evil power; + Doubt, longing, dread, are in her features now-- + It is the trial-hour! + + How every thought that strives within her breast, + In that one glance is shown! + Say, can that heart of marble be at rest, + Since spirit warms the stone? + Will not those limbs, of so divine a mould, + Move, when her thought is o'er-- + When she has yielded to the tempter's hold + And Eden blooms no more? + + Art, like a Phoenix, springs from dust again-- + She cannot pass away! + Bound down in gloom, she breaks apart the chain + And struggles up today! + The flame, first kindled in the ages gone, + Has never ceased to burn, + And _westward_ now, appears the kindling dawn, + Which marks the day's return! + +The "Greek Slave" is now in the possession of Mr. Grant, of London, and +I only saw the clay model. Like the Eve, it is a form that one's eye +tells him is perfect, unsurpassed; but it is the budding loveliness of a +girl, instead of the perfected beauty of a woman. In England it has been +pronounced superior to Canova's works, and indeed _I_ have seen nothing +of his, that could be placed beside it. + +Powers has now nearly finished a most exquisite figure of a fisher-boy, +standing on the shore, with his net and rudder in one hand, while with +the other he holds a shell to his ear and listens if it murmur to him of +a gathering storm. His slight, boyish limbs are full of grace and +delicacy--you feel that the youthful frame could grow up into nothing +less than an Apollo. Then the head--how beautiful! Slightly bent on one +side, with the rim of the shell thrust under his locks, lips gently +parted, and the face wrought up to the most hushed and breathless +expression, he listens whether the sound be deeper than its wont. It +makes you hold your breath and listen, to look at it. Mrs. Jameson +somewhere remarks that repose or suspended motion, should be always +chosen for a statue that shall present a perfect, unbroken impression to +the mind. If this be true, the enjoyment must be much more complete +where not only the motion, but almost breath and thought are suspended, +and all the faculties wrought into one hushed and intense sensation. In +gazing on this exquisite conception, I feel my admiration filled to the +utmost, without that painful, aching impression, so often left by +beautiful works. It glides into my vision like a form long missed from +the gallery of beauty I am forming in my mind, and I gaze on it with an +ever new and increasing delight. + +Now I come to the last and fairest of all--the divine Proserpine. Not +the form, for it is but a bust rising from a capital of acanthus leaves, +which curve around the breast and arms and turn gracefully outward, but +the face, whose modest maiden beauty can find no peer among goddesses or +mortals. So looked she on the field of Ennae--that "fairer flower," so +soon to be gathered by "gloomy Dis." A slender crown of green +wheatblades, showing alike her descent from Ceres and her virgin years, +circles her head. Truly, if Pygmalion stole his fire to warm such a form +as this, Jove should have pardoned him. Of Powers' busts it is +unnecessary for me to speak. He has lately finished a very beautiful one +of the Princess Demidoff, daughter of Jerome Bonaparte. + +We will soon, I hope, have the "Eve" in America. Powers has generously +refused many advantageous offers for it, that he might finally send it +home; and his country, therefore, will possess this statue, his first +ideal work. She may well be proud of the genius and native energy of her +young artist, and she should repay them by a just and liberal +encouragement. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +AN ADVENTURE ON THE GREAT ST. BERNARD--WALKS AROUND FLORENCE. + + +_Nov. 9._--A few days ago I received a letter from my cousin at +Heidelberg, describing his solitary walk from Genoa over the Alps, and +through the western part of Switzerland. The news of his safe arrival +dissipated the anxiety we were beginning to feel, on account of his long +silence, while it proved that our fears concerning the danger of such a +journey were not altogether groundless. He met with a startling +adventure on the Great St. Bernard, which will be best described by an +extract from his own letter: + + * * * * * + +"Such were my impressions of Rome. But leaving the 'Eternal City,' I +must hasten on to give you a description of an adventure I met with in +crossing the Alps, omitting for the present an account of the trip from +Rome to Genoa, and my lonely walk through Sardinia. When I had crossed +the mountain range north of Genoa, the plains of Piedmont stretched out +before me. I could see the snowy sides and summits of the Alps more than +one hundred miles distant, looking like white, fleecy clouds on a summer +day. It was a magnificent prospect, and I wonder not that the heart of +the Swiss soldier, after years of absence in foreign service, beats with +joy when he again looks on his native mountains. + +"As I approached nearer, the weather changed, and dark, gloomy clouds +enveloped them, so that they seemed to present an impassible barrier to +the lands beyond them. At Ivrea, I entered the interesting valley of +Aosta. The whole valley, fifty miles in length, is inhabited by +miserable looking people, nearly one half of them being afflicted with +goitre and cretinism. They looked more idiotic and disgusting than any I +have ever seen, and it was really painful to behold such miserable +specimens of humanity dwelling amid the grandest scenes of nature. +Immediately after arriving in the town of Aosta, situated at the upper +end of the valley, I began, alone, the ascent of the Great St. Bernard. +It was just noon, and the clouds on the mountains indicated rain. The +distance from Aosta to the monastery or hospice of St. Bernard, is about +twenty English miles. + +"At one o'clock it commenced raining vary hard, and to gain shelter I +went into a rude hut; but it was filled with so many of those idiotic +cretins, lying down on the earthy floor with the dogs and other animals, +that I was glad to leave them as soon as the storm had abated in some +degree. I walked rapidly for three hours, when I met a traveler and his +guide descending the mountain. I asked him in Italian the distance to +the hospice, and he undertook to answer me in French, but the words did +not seem to flow very fluently, so I said quickly, observing then that +he was an Englishman: 'Try some other language, if you please, sir!' He +replied instantly in his vernacular: 'You have a d--d long walk before +you, and you'll have to hurry to get to the top before night!' Thanking +him, we shook hands and hurried on, he downward and I upward. About +eight miles from the summit, I was directed into the wrong path by an +ignorant boy who was tending sheep, and went a mile out of the course, +towards Mont Blanc, before I discovered my mistake. I hurried back into +the right path again, and soon overtook another boy ascending the +mountain, who asked me if he might accompany me as he was alone, to +which I of course answered, yes; but when we began to enter the thick +clouds that covered the mountains, he became alarmed, and said he would +go no farther. I tried to encourage him by saying we had only five miles +more to climb, but, turning quickly, he ran down the path and was soon +out of sight. + +"After a long and most toilsome ascent, spurred on as I was by the storm +and the approach of night, I saw at last through the clouds a little +house, which I supposed might be a part of the monastery, but it turned +out to be only a house of refuge, erected by the monks to take in +travelers in extreme cases or extraordinary danger. The man who was +staying there, told me the monastery was a mile and a half further, and +thinking therefore that I could soon reach it, I started out again, +although darkness was approaching. In a short time the storm began in +good earnest, and the cold winds blew with the greatest fury. It grew +dark very suddenly and I lost sight of the poles which are placed along +the path to guide the traveler. I then ran on still higher, hoping to +find them again, but without success. The rain and snow fell thick, and +although I think I am tolerably courageous, I began to be alarmed, for +it was impossible to know in what direction I was going. I could hear +the waterfalls dashing and roaring down the mountain hollows on each +side of me; in the gloom, the foam and leaping waters resembled +streaming fires. I thought of turning back to find the little house of +refuge again, but it seemed quite as dangerous and uncertain as to go +forward. After the fatigue I had undergone since noon, it would have +been dangerous to be obliged to stay, out all night in the driving +storm, which was every minute increasing in coldness and intensity. + +"I stopped and shouted aloud, hoping I might be somewhere near the +monastery, but no answer came--no noise except the storm and the roar of +the waterfalls. I climbed up the rocks nearly a quarter of a mile +higher, and shouted again. I listened with anxiety for two or three +minutes, but hearing no response, I concluded to find a shelter for the +night under a ledge of rocks. While looking around me, I fancied I heard +in the distance a noise like the trampling of hoofs over the rocks, and +thinking travelers might be near, I called aloud for the third time. +After wailing a moment, a voice came ringing on my ears through the +clouds, like one from Heaven in response to my own. My heart beat +quickly; I hurried in the direction from which the sound came, and to my +joy found two men--servants of the monastery--who were driving their +mules into shelter. Never in my whole life was I more glad to hear the +voice of man. These men conducted me to the monastery, one-fourth of a +mile higher, built by the side of a lake at the summit of the pass, +while on each side, the mountains, forever covered with snow, tower some +thousands of feet higher. + +"Two or three of the noble St. Bernard dogs barked a welcome as we +approached, which brought a young monk to the door. I addressed him in +German, but to my surprise he answered in broken English. He took me +into a warm room and gave me a suit of clothes, such as are worn by the +monks, for my dress, as well as my package of papers, were completely +saturated with rain. I sat down to supper in company with till the monks +of the Hospice, I in my monkish robe looking like one of the holy order. +You would have laughed to have seen me in their costume. Indeed, I felt +almost satisfied to turn monk, as everything seemed so comfortable in +the warm supper room, with its blazing wood fire, while outside raged +the storm still more violently. But when I thought of their voluntary +banishment from the world, up in that high pass of the Alps, and that +the affection of woman never gladdened their hearts, I was ready to +renounce my monkish dress next morning, without reluctance. + +"In the address book of the monastery, I found Longfellow's 'Excelsior' +written on a piece of paper and signed 'America.' You remember the +stanza: + + At break of clay, as heavenward, + The pious monks of St. Bernard + Uttered the oft-repeated prayer, + A voice cried through the startled air: + Excelsior! + +It seemed to add a tenfold interest to the poem, to read it on old St. +Bernard. In the morning I visited the house where are kept the bodies of +the travelers, who perish in crossing the mountain. It is filled with +corpses, ranged in rows, and looking like mummies, for the cold is so +intense that they will keep for years without decaying, and are often +recognized and removed by their friends. + +"Of my descent to Martigny, my walk down the Rhone, and along the shores +of Lake Leman, my visit to the prison of Chilian and other wanderings +across Switzerland, my pleasure in seeing the old river Rhine again, and +my return to Heidelberg at night, with the bright moon shining on the +Neckar and the old ruined castle, I can now say no more, nor is it +necessary, for are not all these things 'written in my book of +Chronicles,' to be seen by you when we meet again in Paris? + +Ever yours, FRANK." + +_Dec. 16._--I took a walk lately to the tower of Galileo. In company +with three friends, I left Florence by the _Porta Romana_, and ascended +the _Poggie Imperiale_. This beautiful avenue, a mile and a quarter in +length, leading up a gradual ascent to a villa of the Grand Duke, is +bordered with splendid cypresses and evergreen oaks, and the grass banks +are always fresh and green, so that even in winter it calls up a +remembrance of summer. In fact, winter does not wear the scowl here that +he has at home; he is robed rather in a threadbare garment of autumn, +and it is only high up on the mountain tops, out of the reach of his +enemy, the sun, that he dares to throw it off, and bluster about with +his storms and scatter down his snow-flakes. The roses still bud and +bloom in the hedges, the emerald of the meadows is not a whit paler, the +sun looks down lovingly as yet, and there are only the white helmets of +some of the Appenines, with the leafless mulberries and vines, to tell +us that we have changed seasons. + +A quarter of an hour's walk, part of it by a path through an olive +orchard, brought us to the top of a hill, which was surmounted by a +square, broken, ivied tower, forming part of a storehouse for the +produce of the estate. We entered, saluted by a dog, and passing through +a court-yard, in which stood two or three carts full of brown olives, +found our way to the rickety staircase. I spared my sentiment in going +up, thinking the steps might have been renewed since Galileo's time, but +the glorious landscape which opened around us when we reached the top, +time could not change, and I gazed upon it with interest and emotion, as +my eye took in those forms which had once been mirrored in the +philosopher's. Let me endeavor to describe the features of the scene. + +Fancy yourself lifted to the summit of a high hill, whose base slopes +down to the valley of the Arno, and looking northward. Behind you is a +confusion of hill and valley, growing gradually dimmer away to the +horizon. Before and below you is a vale, with Florence and her great +domes and towers in its lap, and across its breadth of five miles the +mountain of Fiesole. To the west it stretches away unbroken for twenty +miles, covered thickly with white villas--like a meadow of daisies, +magnified. A few miles to the east the plain is rounded with mountains, +between whose interlocking bases we can see the brown current of the +Arno. Some of their peaks, as well as the mountain of Vallombrosa, +along the eastern sky, are tipped with snow. Imagine the air filled +with a thick blue mist, like a semi-transparent veil, which softens +every thing into dreamy indistinctness, the sunshine falling slantingly +through this in spots, touching the landscape here and there as with a +sudden blaze of fire, and you will complete the picture. Does it not +repay your mental flight across the Atlantic. + +One evening, on coming out of the cafe, the moon was shining so brightly +and clearly, that I involuntarily bent my steps towards the river; I +walked along the _Lung'Arno_, enjoying the heavenly moonlight--"the +night of cloudless climes and starry skies!" A purer silver light never +kissed the brow of Endymion. The brown Arno took into his breast "the +redundant glory," and rolled down his pebbly bed with a more musical +ripple; opposite stretched the long mass of buildings--the deep arches +that rose from the water were filled with black shadow, and the +irregular fronts of the houses touched with a mellow glow. The arches of +the upper bridge were in shadow, cutting their dark outline on the +silvery sweep of the Appenines, far up the stream. A veil of luminous +gray covered the hill of San Miniato, with its towers and cypress +groves, and there was a crystal depth in the atmosphere, as if it shone +with its own light. The whole scene affected me as something too +glorious to be real--painful from the very intensity of its beauty. +Three moons ago, at the foot of Vallombrosa, I saw the Appenines flooded +with the same silvery gush, and thought also, then, that I had seen the +same moon amid far dearer scenes, but never before the same dreamy and +sublime glory showered down from her pale orb. Some solitary lights were +burning along the river, and occasionally a few Italians passed by, +wrapped in their mantles. I went home to the Piazza del Granduca as the +light, pouring into the square from behind the old palace, fell over the +fountain of Neptune and sheathed in silver the back of the colossal god. + +Whoever looks on the valley of the Arno from San Miniato, and observes +the Appenine range, of which Fiesole is one, bounding it on the north, +will immediately notice to the northwest a double peak rising high above +all the others. The bare, brown forehead of this, known by the name of +_Monte Morello_, seemed so provokingly to challenge an ascent, that we +determined to try it. So we started early, the day before yesterday, +from the Porta San Gallo, with nothing but the frosty grass and fresh +air to remind us of the middle of December. Leaving the Prato road, at +the base of the mountain, we passed Careggi, a favorite farm of Lorenzo +the Magnificent, and entered a narrow glen where a little brook was +brawling down its rocky channel. Here and there stood a rustic mill, +near which women were busy spreading their washed clothes on the grass. +Following the footpath, we ascended a long eminence to a chapel where +some boys were amusing themselves with a common country game. They have +a small wheel, around which they wind a rope, and, running a little +distance to increase the velocity, let it off with a sudden jerk. On a +level road it can be thrown upwards of a quarter of a mile. + +From the chapel, a gradual ascent along the ridge of a hill brought us +to the foot of the peak, which rose high before us, covered with bare +rocks and stunted oaks. The wind blew coldly from a snowy range to the +north, as we commenced ascending with a good will. A few shepherds were +leading their flocks along the sides, to browse on the grass and +withered bushes, and we started up a large hare occasionally from his +leafy covert. The ascent was very toilsome; I was obliged to stop +frequently on account of the painful throbbing of my heart, which made +it difficult to breathe. When the summit was gained, we lay down awhile +on the leeward side to recover ourselves. + +We looked on the great valley of the Arno, perhaps twenty-five miles +long, and five or six broad, lying like a long elliptical basin sunk +among the hills. I can liken it to nothing but a vast sea; for a dense, +blue mist covered the level surface, through which the domes of Florence +rose up like a craggy island, while the thousands of scattered villas +resembled ships, with spread sails, afloat on its surface. The sharp, +cutting wind soon drove us down, with a few hundred bounds, to the path +again. Three more hungry mortals did not dine at the _Cacciatore_ that +day. + +The chapel of the Medici, which we visited, is of wonderful beauty. The +walls are entirely encrusted with _pietra dura_ and the most precious +kinds of marble. The ceiling is covered with gorgeous frescoes by +Benevenuto, a modern painter. Around the sides, in magnificent +sarcophagi of marble and jasper, repose the ashes of a few Cosmos and +Ferdinands. I asked the sacristan for the tomb of Lorenzo the +Magnificent. "Oh!" said he, "he lived during the republic--he has no +tomb; these are only for Dukes!" I could not repress a sigh at the +lavish waste of labor and treasure on this one princely chapel. They +might have slumbered unnoted, like Lorenzo, if they had done as much for +their country and Italy. + +_December 19._--It is with a heavy heart, that I sit down tonight to +make my closing note in this lovely city and in the journal which has +recorded my thoughts and impressions since leaving America. I should +find it difficult to analyze my emotions, but I know that they oppress +me painfully. So much rushes at once over the mind and heart--memories +of what has passed through both, since I made the first note in its +pages--alternations of hope and anxiety and aspiration, but _never_ +despondency--that it resembles in a manner, the closing of a life. I +seem almost to have lived through the common term of a life in this +short period. Much spiritual and mental experience has crowded into a +short time the sensations of years. Painful though some of it has been, +it was still welcome. Difficulty and toil give the soul strength to +crush, in a loftier region, the passions which draw strength only from +the earth. So long as we listen to the purer promptings within us, there +is a Power invisible, though not unfelt, who protects us--amid the toil +and tumult and soiling struggle, there is ever an eye that watches, ever +a heart that overflows with Infinite and Almighty Love! Let us trust +then in that Eternal Spirit, who pours out on us his warm and boundless +blessings, through the channels of so many kindred human hearts! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +WINTER TRAVELING AMONG THE APPENINES. + + +_Valley of the Arno, Dec 22._--It is a glorious morning after our two +days' walk, through rain and mud, among these stormy Appenines. The +range of high peaks, among which is the celebrated monastery of +Camaldoli, lie just before us, their summits dazzling with the new +fallen snow. The clouds are breaking away, and a few rosy flushes +announce the approach of the sun. It has rained during the night, and +the fields are as green and fresh as on a morning in spring. + +We left Florence on the 20th, while citizens and strangers were vainly +striving to catch a glimpse of the Emperor of Russia. He is, from some +cause, very shy of being seen, in his journeys from place to place, +using the greatest art and diligence to prevent the time of his +departure and arrival from being known. On taking leave of Powers, I +found him expecting the Autocrat, as he had signified his intention of +visiting his studio; it was a cause of patriotic pride to find that +crowned heads know and appreciate the genius of our sculptor. The sky +did not promise much, as we set out; when we had entered the Appenines +and taken a last look of the lovely valley behind us, and the great dome +of the city where we had spent four delightful months, it began to rain +heavily. Determined to conquer the weather at the beginning, we kept on, +although before many miles were passed, it became too penetrating to be +agreeable. The mountains grew nearly black under the shadow of the +clouds, and the storms swept drearily down their passes and defiles, +till the scenery looked more like the Hartz than Italy. We were obliged +to stop at Ponte Sieve and dry our saturated garments: when, as the rain +slackened somewhat, we rounded the foot of the mountain of Vallombrosa, +above the swollen and noisy Arno, to the little village of Cucina. + +We entered the only inn in the place, followed by a crowd of wondering +boys, for two such travelers had probably never been seen there. They +made a blazing fire for us in the broad chimney, and after the police of +the place satisfied themselves that we were not dangerous characters, +they asked many questions about our country. I excited the sympathy of +the women greatly in our behalf by telling them we had three thousand +miles of sea between us and our homes. They exclaimed in the most +sympathising tones: "_Poverini!_ so far to go!--three thousand miles of +water!" + +The next morning we followed the right bank of the Arno. At Incisa, a +large town on the river, the narrow pass broadens into a large and +fertile plain, bordered on the north by the mountains. The snow storms +were sweeping around their summits the whole day, and I thought of the +desolate situation of the good monks who had so hospitably entertained +us three months before. It was weary traveling; but at Levane our +fatigues were soon forgotten. Two or three peasants were sitting last +night beside the blazing fire, and we were amused to hear them talking +about us. I overheard one asking another to converse with us awhile. +"Why should I speak to them?" said he; "they are not of our +profession--we are swineherds, and they do not care to talk with us." +However, his curiosity prevailed at last, and we had a long conversation +together. It seemed difficult for them to comprehend how there could be +so much water to cross, without any land, before reaching our country. +Finding we were going to Rome, I overheard one remark we were pilgrims, +which seemed to be the general supposition, as there are few +foot-travelers in Italy. The people said to one another as we passed +along the road:--"They are making a journey of penance!" Those peasants +expressed themselves very well for persons of their station, but they +were remarkably ignorant of everything beyond their own olive orchards +and vine fields. + +_Perugia, Dec. 24._--On leaving Levane, the morning gave a promise, and +the sun winked at us once or twice through the broken clouds, with a +watery eye; but our cup was not yet full. After crossing one or two +shoulders of the range of hills, we descended to the great upland plain +of Central Italy, watered by the sources of the Arno and the Tiber. The +scenery is of a remarkable character. The hills appear to have been +washed and swept by some mighty flood. They are worn into every +shape--pyramids, castles, towers--standing desolate and brown, in long +ranges, like the ruins of mountains. The plain is scarred with deep +gulleys, adding to the look of decay which accords so well with the +Cyclopean relics of the country. + +A storm of hail which rolled away before us, disclosed the city of +Arezzo, on a hill at the other end of the plain, its heavy cathedral +crowning the pyramidal mass of buildings. Our first care was to find a +good trattoria, for hunger spoke louder than sentiment, and then we +sought the house where Petrarch was born. A young priest showed it to us +on the summit of the hill. It has not been changed since he lived in it. + +On leaving Florence, we determined to pursue the same plan as in +Germany, of stopping at the inns frequented by the common people. They +treated us here, as elsewhere, with great kindness and sympathy, and we +were freed from the outrageous impositions practised at the greater +hotels. They always built a large fire to dry us, after our day's walk +in the rain, and placing chairs in the hearth, which was raised several +feet above the floor, stationed us there, like the giants Gog and Magog, +while the children, assembled below, gazed up in open-mouthed wonder at +our elevated greatness. They even invited us to share their simple meals +with them, and it was amusing to hear their goodhearted exclamations of +pity at finding we were so far from home. We slept in the great beds +(for the most of the Italian beds are calculated for a man, wife, and +four children!) without fear of being assassinated, and only met with +banditti in dreams. + +This is a very unfavorable time of the year for foot-traveling. We were +obliged to wait three or four weeks in Florence for a remittance from +America, which not only prevented our leaving as soon as was desirable, +but, by the additional expense of living, left us much smaller means +than we required. However, through the kindness of a generous +countryman, who unhesitatingly loaned us a considerable sum, we were +enabled to start with thirty dollars each, which, with care and +economy, will be quite sufficient to take us to Paris, by way of Rome +and Naples, if these storms do not prevent us from walking. Greece and +the Orient, which I so ardently hoped to visit, are now out of the +question. We walked till noon to-day, over the Val di Chiana to +Camuscia, the last post-station in the Tuscan dominions. On a mountain +near it is the city of Cortona, still enclosed within its Cyclopean +walls, built long before the foundation of Rome. Here our patience gave +way, melted down by the unremitting rains, and while eating dinner we +made a bargain for a vehicle to bring us to this city. We gave a little +more than half of what the vetturino demanded, which was still an +exorbitant price--two scudi each for a ride of thirty miles. + +In a short time we were called to take our seats; I beheld with +consternation a rickety, uncovered, two-wheeled vehicle, to which a +single lean horse was attached. "What!" said I; "is that the carriage +you promised?" "You bargained for a _calesino_," said he, "and there it +is!" adding, moreover, that there was nothing else in the place. So we +clambered up, thrust our feet among the hay, and the machine rolled off +with a kind of saw-mill motion, at the rate of five miles an hour. + +Soon after, in ascending the mountain of the Spelunca, a sheet of blue +water was revealed below us--the Lake of Thrasymene! From the eminence +around which we drove, we looked on the whole of its broad surface and +the mountains which encompass it. It is a magnificent sheet of water, in +size and shape somewhat like New York Bay, but the heights around it are +far higher than the hills of Jersey or Staten Island. Three beautiful +islands lie in it, near the eastern shore. + +While our _calesino_ was stopped at the papal custom-house, I gazed on +the memorable field below us. A crescent plain, between the mountain and +the lake, was the arena where two mighty empires met in combat. The +place seems marked by nature for the scene of some great event. I +experienced a thrilling emotion, such as no battle plain has excited, +since, when a schoolboy, I rambled over the field of Brandywine. I +looked through the long arcades of patriarchal olives, and tried to +cover the field with the shadows of the Roman and Carthaginian myriads. +I recalled the shock of meeting legions, the clash of swords and +bucklers, and the waving standards amid the dust of battle, while stood +on the mountain amphitheatre, trembling and invisible, the protecting +deities of Rome. + + "Far other scene is Thrasymene now!" + +We rode over the plain, passed through the dark old town of Passignano, +built on a rocky point by the lake, and dashed along the shore. A dark, +stormy sky bent over us, and the roused waves broke in foam on the +rocks. The winds whistled among the bare oak boughs, and shook the +olives till they twinkled all over. The vetturino whipped our old horse +into a gallop, and we were borne on in unison with the scene, which +would have answered for one of Hoffman's wildest stories. + +Ascending a long hill, we took a last look in the dusk at Thrasymene, +and continued our journey among the Appenines. The vetturino was to have +changed horses at Magione, thirteen miles from Perugia, but there were +none to be had, and our poor beast was obliged to perform the whole +journey without rest or food. It grew very dark, and a storm, with +thunder and lightning, swept among the hills. The clouds were of pitchy +darkness, and we could see nothing beyond the road, except the lights of +peasant-cottages trembling through the gloom. Now and then a flash of +lightning revealed the black masses of the mountains, on which the solid +sky seemed to rest. The wind and cold rain swept wailing past us, as if +an evil spirit were abroad on the darkness. Three hours of such +nocturnal travel brought us here, wet and chilly, as well as our driver, +but I pitied the poor horse more than him. + +When we looked out the window, on awaking, the clustered house-tops of +the city, and the summits of the mountains near were covered with snow. +But on walking to the battlements we saw that the valleys below were +green and untouched. Perugia, for its "pride of place," must endure the +storms, while the humbler villages below escape them. As the rain +continues, we have taken seats in a country diligence for Foligno and +shall depart in a few minutes. + +_Dec. 28._--We left Perugia in a close but covered vehicle, and +descending the mountain, crossed the muddy and rapid Tiber in the +valley below. All day we rode slowly among the hills; where the ascent +was steep, two or four large oxen were hitched before the horses. I saw +little of the scenery, for our Italian companions would not bear the +windows open. Once, when we stopped, I got out and found we were in the +region of snow, at the foot of a stormy peak, which towered sublimely +above. At dusk, we entered Foligno, and were driven to the "Croce +Bianca"--glad to be thirty miles further on our way to Rome. + +After some discussion with a vetturino, who was to leave next morning, +we made a contract with him for the remainder of the journey, for the +rain, which fell in torrents, forbade all thought of pedestrianism. At +five o'clock we rattled out of the gate, and drove by the waning moon +and morning starlight, down the vale of the Clitumnus. As the dawn stole +on, I watched eagerly the features of the scene. Instead of a narrow +glen, as my fancy had pictured, we were in a valley, several miles +broad, covered with rich orchards and fertile fields. A glorious range +of mountains bordered it on the north, looking like Alps in their winter +garments. A rosy flush stole over the snow, which kindled with the +growing morn, till they shone like clouds that float in the sunrise. The +Clitumnus, beside us, was the purest of streams. The heavy rains which +had fallen, had not soiled in the least its limpid crystal. + +When it grew light enough, I looked at our companions for the three +days' journey. The two other inside seats were occupied by a tradesman +of Trieste, with his wife and child; an old soldier, and a young dragoon +going to visit his parents after seven years' absence, occupied the +front part. Persons traveling together in a carriage are not long in +becoming acquainted--close companionship soon breeds familiarity. Before +night, I had made a fast friend of the young soldier, learned to bear +the perverse humor of the child with as much patience as its father, and +even drawn looks of grim kindness from the crusty old vetturino. + +Our mid-day resting place was Spoleto. As there were two hours given us, +we took a ramble through the city, visited the ruins of its Roman +theatre and saw the gate erected to commemorate the victory gained here +over Hannibal, which stopped his triumphal march towards Rome. A great +part of the afternoon was spent in ascending among the defiles of Monte +Somma, the highest pass on the road between Ancona and Rome. Assisted by +two yoke of oxen we slowly toiled up through the snow, the mountains on +both sides covered with thickets of box and evergreen oaks, among whose +leafy screens the banditti hide themselves. It is not considered +dangerous at present, but as the dragoons who used to patrol this pass +have been sent off to Bologna, to keep down the rebellion, the robbers +will probably return to their old haunts again. We saw many suspicious +looking coverts, where they might have hidden. + +We slept at Terni and did not see the falls--not exactly on Wordsworth's +principle of leaving Yarrow "unvisited," but because under the +circumstances, it was impossible. The vetturino did not arrive there +till after dark; he was to leave before dawn; the distance was five +miles, and the roads very bad. Besides, we had seen falls quite as +grand, which needed only a Byron to make them as renowned--we had been +told that those of Tivoli, which we shall see, were equally fine. The +Velino, which we crossed near Terni, was not a large stream--in short, +we hunted as many reasons as we could find, why the falls need not be +seen. + +Leaving Terni before day, we drove up the long vale towards Narni. The +roads were frozen hard; the ascent becoming more difficult, the +vetturino was obliged to stop at a farm-house and get another pair of +horses, with which, and a handsome young contadino as postillion, we +reached Narni in a short time. In climbing the hill, we had a view of +the whole valley of Terni, shut in on all sides by snow-crested +Appenines, and threaded by the Nar, whose waters flow "with many +windings, through the vale!" + +At Otricoli, while dinner was preparing, I walked around the crumbling +battlements to look down into the valley and trace the far windings of +the Tiber. In rambling through the crooked streets, we saw everywhere +the remains of the splendor which this place boasted in the days of +Rome. Fragments of fluted pillars stood here and there in the streets; +large blocks of marble covered with sculpture and inscriptions were +built into the houses, defaced statues used as door-ornaments, and the +steppingstone to our rude inn, worn every day by the feet of grooms and +vetturini, contained some letters of an inscription which may have +recorded the glory of on emperor. + +Traveling with a vetturino, is unquestionably the pleasantest way of +seeing Italy. The easy rate of the journey allows time for becoming well +acquainted with the country, and the tourist is freed from the annoyance +of quarrelling with cheating landlords. A translation of our written +contract, will best explain this mode of traveling: + + "CARRIAGE" FOR ROME. + + "Our contract is, to be conducted to Rome for the sum of twenty + francs each, say 20f. and the _buona mano_, if we are well + served. We must have from the vetturino, Giuseppe Nerpiti, supper + each night, a free chamber with two beds, and fire, until we shall + arrive at Rome. + + "I, Geronymo Sartarelli, steward of the Inn of the White Cross, at + Foligno, in testimony of the above contract." + +Beyond Otricoli, we passed through some relics of an age anterior to +Rome. A few soiled masses of masonry, black with age, stood along the +brow of the mountain, on whose extremity were the ruins of a castle of +the middle ages. We crossed the Tiber on a bridge built by Augustus +Caesar, and reached Borghetto as the sun was gilding with its last rays +the ruined citadel above. As the carriage with its four horses was +toiling slowly up the hill, we got out and walked before, to gaze on the +green meadows of the Tiber. + +On descending from Narni, I noticed a high, prominent mountain, whose +ridgy back, somewhat like the profile of a face, reminded me of the +Traunstein, in Upper Austria. As we approached, its form gradually +changed, until it stood on the Campagna + + "Like a long-swept wave about to break, + That on the curl hangs pausing"-- + +and by that token of a great bard, I recognized Monte Soracte. The +dragoon took us by the arms, and away we scampered over the Campagna, +with one of the loveliest sunsets before us, that ever painted itself on +my retina. I cannot portray in words the glory that flooded the whole +western heaven. It was like a sea of melted ruby, amethyst and +topaz--deep, dazzling and of crystal transparency. The color changed in +tone every few minutes, till in half an hour it sank away before the +twilight to a belt of deep orange along the west. + +We left Civita Castellana before daylight. The sky was red with dawn as +we approached Nepi, and we got out to walk, in the clear, frosty air. A +magnificent Roman aqueduct, part of it a double row of arches, still +supplies the town with water. There is a deep ravine, appearing as if +rent in the ground by some convulsion, on the eastern side of the city. +A clear stream that steals through the arches of the aqueduct, falls in +a cascade of sixty feet down into the chasm, sending up constant wreaths +of spray through the evergreen foliage that clothes the rocks. In +walking over the desolate Campagna, we saw many deep chambers dug in the +earth, used by the charcoal burners; the air was filled with sulphureous +exhalations, very offensive to the smell, which rose from the ground in +many places. + +Miles and miles of the dreary waste, covered only with flocks of grazing +sheep, were passed,--and about noon we reached Baccano, a small post +station, twenty miles from Rome. A long hill rose before us, and we +sprang out of the carriage and ran ahead, to see Rome from its summit. +As we approached the top, the Campagna spread far before and around us, +level and blue as an ocean. I climbed up a high bank by the roadside, +and the whole scene came in view. Perhaps eighteen miles distant rose +the dome of St. Peter's, near the horizon--a small spot on the vast +plain. Beyond it and further east, were the mountains of Albano--on our +left Soracte and the Appenines, and a blue line along the west betrayed +the Mediterranean. There was nothing peculiarly beautiful or sublime in +the landscape, but few other scenes on earth combine in one glance such +a myriad of mighty associations, or bewilder the mind with such a crowd +of confused emotions. + +As we approached Rome, the dragoon, with whom we had been walking all +day, became anxious and impatient. He had not heard from his parents +for a long time, and knew not if they were living. His desire to be at +the end of his journey finally became so great, that he hailed a peasant +who was driving by in a light vehicle, left our slow carriage and went +out of sight in a gallop. + +As we descended to the Tiber in the dusk of evening, the domes and +spires of Rome came gradually into view, St. Peter's standing like a +mountain in the midst of them. Crossing the yellow river by the Ponte +Molle, two miles of road, straight as an arrow, lay before us, with the +light of the _Porta del Popolo_ at the end. I felt strangely excited as +the old vehicle rumbled through the arch, and we entered a square with +fountains and an obelisk of Egyptian granite in the centre. Delivering +up our passports, we waited until the necessary examinations were made, +and then went forward. Three streets branch out from the square, the +middle one of which, leading directly to the Capitol, is the Corso, the +Roman Broadway. Our vetturino chose that to the left, the Via della +Scrofa, leading off towards the bridge of St. Angelo. I looked out the +windows as we drove along, but saw nothing except butcher-shops, +grocer-stores, etc.--horrible objects for a sentimental traveler! + +Being emptied out on the pavement at last, our first care was to find +rooms; after searching through many streets, with a coarse old Italian +who spoke like an angel, we arrived at a square where the music of a +fountain was heard through the dusk and an obelisk cut out some of the +starlight. At the other end I saw a portico through the darkness, and my +heart gave a breathless bound on recognizing the _Pantheon_--the +matchless temple of Ancient Rome! And now while I am writing, I hear the +gush of the fountain--and if I step to the window, I see the time-worn +but still glorious edifice. + +On returning for our baggage, we met the funeral procession of the +Princess Altieri. Priests in white and gold carried flaming torches, and +the coffin, covered with a magnificent golden pall, was borne in a +splendid hearse, guarded by four priests. As we were settling our +account with the vetturino, who demanded much more _buona mano_ than we +were willing to give, the young dragoon returned. He was greatly +agitated. "I have been at home!" said he, in a voice trembling with +emotion. I was about to ask him further concerning his family, but he +kissed and embraced us warmly and hurriedly, saying he had only come to +say "addio!" and to leave us. I stop writing to ramble through Rome. +This city of all cities to me--this dream of my boyhood--giant, +god-like, fallen Rome--is around me, and I revel in a glow of +anticipation and exciting thought that seems to change my whole state of +being. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +ROME. + + +_Dec. 29._--One day's walk through Rome--how shall I describe it? The +Capitol, the Forum, St. Peter's, the Coliseum--what few hours' ramble +ever took in places so hallowed by poetry, history and art? It was a +golden leaf in my calendar of life. In thinking over it now, and drawing +out the threads of recollection from the varied woof of thought I have +woven to-day, I almost wonder how I dared so much at once; but within +reach of them all, how was it possible to wait? Let me give a sketch of +our day's ramble. + +Hearing that it was better to visit the ruins by evening or moonlight, +(alas! there is no moon now) we started out to hunt St. Peter's. Going +in the direction of the Corso, we passed the ruined front of the +magnificent Temple of Antoninus, now used as the Papal Custom House. We +turned to the right on entering the Corso, expecting to have a view of +the city from the hill at its southern end. It is a magnificent street, +lined with palaces and splendid edifices of every kind, and always +filled with crowds of carriages and people. On leaving it, however, we +became bewildered among the narrow streets--passed through a market of +vegetables, crowded with beggars and contadini--threaded many by-ways +between dark old buildings--saw one or two antique fountains and many +modern churches, and finally arrived at a hill. + +We ascended many steps, and then descending a little towards the other +side, saw suddenly below us the _Roman Forum_! I knew it at once--and +those three Corinthian columns that stood near us--what could they be +but the remains of the temple of Jupiter Stator? We stood on the +Capitoline Hill; at the foot was the Arch of Septimus Severus, brown +with age and shattered; near it stood the majestic front of the Temple +of Fortune, its pillars of polished granite glistening in the sun, as if +they had been erected yesterday, while on the left the rank grass was +waving from the arches and mighty walls of the Palace of the Caesars! In +front, ruin upon ruin lined the way for half a mile, where the Coliseum +towered grandly through the blue morning mist, at the base of the +Esquiline Hill! + +Good heavens, what a scene! Grandeur, such as the world never saw, once +rose through that blue atmosphere; splendor inconceivable, the spoils of +a world, the triumphs of a thousand armies had passed over that earth; +minds which for ages moved the ancient world had thought there, and +words of power and glory, from the lips of immortal men, had been +syllabled on that hallowed air. To call back all this on the very spot, +while the wreck of what once was, rose mouldering and desolate around, +aroused a sublimity of thought and feeling too powerful for words. + +Returning at hazard through the streets, we came suddenly upon the +column of Trajan, standing in an excavated square below the level of the +city, amid a number of broken granite columns, which formed part of the +Forum dedicated to him by Rome, after the conquest of Dacia. The column +is one hundred and thirty-two feet high, entirely covered with +bas-reliefs representing his victories, winding about it in a spiral +line to the top. The number of figures is computed at two thousand five +hundred, and they were of such excellence that Raphael used many of them +for his models. They are now much defaced, and the column is surmounted +by a statue of some saint. The inscription on the pedestal has been +erased, and the name of Sixtus V. substituted. Nothing can exceed the +ridiculous vanity of the old popes in thus mutilating the finest +monuments of ancient art. You cannot look upon any relic of antiquity in +Rome, but your eyes are assailed by the words "PONTIFEX MAXIMUS," in +staring modern letters. Even the magnificent bronzes of the Pantheon +were stripped to make the baldachin under the dome of St. Peter's. + +Finding our way back again, we took a fresh start, happily in the right +direction, and after walking some time, came out on the Tiber, at the +Bridge of St. Angelo. The river rolled below in his muddy glory, and in +front, on the opposite bank, stood "the pile which Hadrian retired on +high"--_now_, the Castle of St. Angelo. Knowing that St. Peter's was to +he seen from this bridge, I looked about in search of it. There was only +one dome in sight, large and of beautiful proportions. I said at once, +"surely _that_ cannot be St. Peter's!" On looking again, however, I saw +the top of a massive range of building near it, which corresponded so +nearly with the pictures of the Vatican, that I was unwillingly forced +to believe the mighty dome was really before me. I recognized it as one +of those we saw from the Capitol, but it appeared so much smaller when +viewed from a greater distance, that I was quite deceived. On +considering we were still three-fourths of a mile from it, and that we +could see its minutest parts distinctly, the illusion was explained. + +Going directly down the _Borgo Vecchio_, towards it, it seemed a long +time before we arrived at the square of St. Peter's; when at length we +stood in front with the majestic colonnade sweeping around--the +fountains on each side sending up their showers of silvery spray--the +mighty obelisk of Egyptian granite piercing the sky--and beyond, the +great front and dome of the Cathedral, I confessed my unmingled +admiration. It recalled to my mind the grandeur of ancient Rome, and +mighty as her edifices must have been, I doubt if there were many views +more overpowering than this. The facade of St. Peter's seemed close to +us, but it was a third of a mile distant, and the people ascending the +steps dwindled to pigmies. + +I passed the obelisk, went up the long ascent, crossed the portico, +pushed aside the heavy leathern curtain at the entrance, and stood in +the great nave. I need not describe my feelings at the sight, but I will +tell the dimensions, and you may then fancy what they were. Before me +was a marble plain six hundred feet long, and under the cross four +hundred and seventeen feet wide! One hundred and fifty feet above, +sprang a glorious arch, dazzling with inlaid gold, and in the centre of +the cross there were four hundred feet of air between me and the top of +the dome! The sunbeam, stealing through the lofty window at one end of +the transept, made a bar of light on the blue air, hazy with incense, +one-tenth of a mile long, before it fell on the mosaics and gilded +shrines of the other extremity. The grand cupola alone, including +lantern and cross, is two hundred and eighty-five feet high, or sixty +feet higher than the Bunker Hill Monument, and the four immense pillars +on which it rests are each one hundred and thirty-seven feet in +circumference! It seems as if human art had outdone itself in producing +this temple--the grandest which the world ever erected for the worship +of the Living God! The awe felt in looking up at the giant arch of +marble and gold, did not humble me; on the contrary, I felt exalted, +ennobled--beings in the form I wore planned the glorious edifice, and it +seemed that in godlike power perseverance, they were indeed but "a +little lower than the angels!" I felt that, if fallen, my race was still +mighty and immortal. + +The Vatican is only open twice a week, on days which are not _festas_; +most fortunately, to-day happened to be one of these, and we took a +_run_ through its endless halls. The extent and magnificence of the +gallery of sculpture is perfectly amazing. The halls, which are filled +to overflowing with the finest works of ancient art, would, if placed +side by side, make a row more than two miles in length! You enter at +once into a hall of marble, with a magnificent arched ceiling, a third +of a mile long; the sides are covered for a great distance with +inscriptions of every kind, divided into compartments according to the +era of the empire to which they refer. One which I examined, appeared to +be a kind of index of the roads in Italy, with the towns on them; and we +could decipher on that time-worn block, the very route I had followed +from Florence hither. + +Then came the statues, and here I am bewildered, how to describe them. +Hundreds upon hundreds of figures--statues of citizens, generals, +emperors and gods--fauns, satyrs and nymphs--children, cupids and +tritons--in fact, it seemed inexhaustible. Many of them, too, were forms +of matchless beauty; there were Venuses and nymphs, born of the loftiest +dreams of grace; fauns on whose faces shone the very soul of humor, and +heroes and divinities with an air of majesty worthy the "land of lost +gods and godlike men!" + +I am lost in astonishment at the perfection of art attained by the +Greeks and Romans. There is scarcely a form of beauty, that has ever met +my eye, which is not to be found in this gallery. I should almost +despair of such another blaze of glory on the world, were it not my +devout belief that what has been done may be done again, and had I not +faith that the dawn in which we live will bring another day equally +glorious. And why should not America, with the experience and added +wisdom which three thousand years have slowly yielded to the old world, +joined to the giant energy of her youth and freedom, re-bestow on the +world the divine creations of art? Let Powers answer! + +But let us step on to the hemicycle of the Belvidere, and view some +works greater than any we have yet seen, or even imagined. The adjoining +gallery is filled with masterpieces of sculpture, but we will keep our +eyes unwearied and merely glance along the rows. At length we reach a +circular court with a fountain flinging up its waters in the centre. +Before us is an open cabinet; there is a beautiful, manly form within, +but you would not for an instant take it for the Apollo. By the Gorgon +head it holds aloft, we recognize Canova's Perseus--he has copied the +form and attitude of the Apollo, but he could not breathe into it the +same warming fire. It seemed to me particularly lifeless, and I greatly +preferred his Boxers, who stand on either side of it. One, who has drawn +back in the attitude of striking, looks as if he could fell an ox with a +single blow of his powerful arm. The other is a more lithe and agile +figure, and there is a quick fire in his countenance which might +overbalance the massive strength of his opponent. + +Another cabinet--this is the far-famed Antinous. A countenance of +perfect Grecian beauty, with a form such as we would imagine for one of +Homer's heroes. His features are in repose, and there is something in +their calm, settled expression, strikingly like life. + +Now we look on a scene of the deepest physical agony. Mark how every +muscle of old Laocoon's body is distended to the utmost in the mighty +struggle! What intensity of pain in the quivering, distorted, features! +Every nerve, which despair can call into action, is excited in one giant +effort, and a scream of anguish seems just to have quivered on those +marble lips. The serpents have rolled their strangling coils around +father and sons, but terror has taken away the strength of the latter, +and they make but feeble resistance. After looking with indifference on +the many casts of this group, I was the more moved by the magnificent +original. It deserves all the admiration that has been heaped upon it. + +I absolutely trembled on approaching the cabinet of the Apollo, I had +built up in fancy a glorious ideal, drawn from all that bards have sung +or artists have rhapsodized about its divine beauty. I feared +disappointment--I dreaded to have my ideal displaced and my faith in the +power of human genius overthrown by a form less than perfect. However, +with a feeling of desperate excitement, I entered and looked upon it. + +Now what shall I say of it? How make you comprehend its immortal beauty? +To what shall I liken its glorious perfection of form, or the fire that +imbues the cold marble with the soul of a god? Not with sculpture, for +it stands alone and above all other works of art--nor with men, for it +has a majesty more than human. I gazed on it, lost in wonder and +joy--joy that I could, at last, take into my mind a faultless ideal of +godlike, exalted manhood. The figure appears actually to possess a +spirit, and I looked on it, not as on a piece of marble, but a being of +loftier mould, and half expected to see him step forward when the arrow +had reached its mark. I would give worlds to feel one moment the +sculptor's mental triumph when his work was completed; that one exulting +thrill must have repaid him for every ill he might have suffered on +earth! With what divine inspiration has he wrought its faultless lines! +There is a spirit in every limb which mere toil could not have given. It +must have been caught in those lofty moments. + + "When each conception was a heavenly guest--a + ray of immortality--and stood + star-like, around, until they gathered to a god?" + +We ran through a series of halls, roofed with golden stars on a deep +blue, midnight sky, and filled with porphyry vases, black marble gods, +and mummies. Some of the statues shone with the matchless polish they +had received from a Theban artisan before Athens was founded, and are, +apparently, as fresh and perfect as when looked upon by the vassals of +Sesostris. Notwithstanding their stiff, rough-hewn limbs, there were +some figures of great beauty, and they gave me a much higher idea of +Egyptian sculpture. In an adjoining hall, containing colossal busts of +the gods, is a vase forty-one feet in circumference, of one solid block +of red porphyry. + +The "Transfiguration" is truly called the first picture in the world. +The same glow of inspiration which created the Belvidere, must have been +required to paint the Saviour's aerial form. The three figures hover +above the earth in a blaze of glory, seemingly independent of all +material laws. The terrified Apostles on the mount, and the wondering +group below, correspond in the grandeur of their expression to the awe +and majesty of the scene. The only blemish in the sublime perfection of +the picture is the introduction of the two small figures on the left +hand; who, by-the-bye, were Cardinals, inserted there by command. Some +travelers say the color is all lost, but I was agreeably surprised to +find it well preserved. It is, undoubtedly, somewhat imperfect in this +respect, as Raphael died before it was entirely finished; but "take it +all in all," you may search the world in vain to find its equal. + +_January 1, 1846._--New Year's Day in the Eternal City! It will be +something to say in after years, that I have seen one year open in +_Rome_--that, while my distant friends were making up for the winter +without, with good cheer around the merry board, I have walked in +sunshine by the ruins of the Coliseum, watched the orange groves +gleaming with golden fruitage in the Farnese gardens, trodden the +daisied meadow around the sepulchre of Caius Cestius, and mused by the +graves of Shelley, Keats and Salvator Rosa! The Palace of the Cassars +looked even more mournful in the pale, slant sunshine, and the yellow +Tiber, as he flowed through the "marble wilderness," seemed sullenly +counting up the long centuries during which degenerate slaves have +trodden his banks. A leaden-colored haze clothed the seven hills, and +heavy silence reigned among the ruins, for all work was prohibited, and +the people were gathered in their churches. Rome never appeared so +desolate and melancholy as to-day. + +In the morning I climbed the Quirinal Hill, now called Monte Cavallo, +from the colossal statues of Castor and Pollux, with their steeds, +supposed to be the work of Phidias and Praxiteles. They stand on each +side of an obelisk of Egyptian granite, beside which a strong stream of +water gushes up into a magnificent bronze basin, found in the old Forum. +The statues, entirely browned by age, are considered masterpieces of +Grecian art, and whether or not from the great masters, show in all +their proportions, the conceptions of lofty genius. + +We kept on our way between gardens filled with orange groves, whose +glowing fruit reminded me of Mignon's beautiful reminiscence--"Im +dunkeln Laub die Gold Orangen gluhn!" Rome, although subject to cold +winds from the Appenines, enjoys so mild a climate that oranges and palm +trees grow in the open air, without protection. Daisies and violets +bloom the whole winter, in the meadows of never-fading green. The +basilic of the Lateran equals St. Peter's in splendor, though its size +is much smaller. The walls are covered with gorgeous hangings of velvet +embroidered with gold, and before the high altar, which glitters with +precious stones, are four pillars of gilt bronze, said to be those which +Augustus made of the spars of Egyptian vessels captured at the battle of +Actium. + +We descended the hill to the Coliseum, and passing under the Arch of +Constantine, walked along the ancient triumphal way, at the foot of the +Palatine Hill, which is entirely covered with the ruins of the Caesars' +Palace. A road, rounding its southern base towards the Tiber, brought us +to the Temple of Vesta--a beautiful little relic which has been +singularly spared by the devastations that have overthrown so many +mightier fabrics. It is of circular form, surrounded by nineteen +Corinthian columns, thirty-six feet in height; a clumsy tiled roof now +takes the place of the elegant cornice which once gave the crowning +charm to its perfect proportions. Close at hand are the remains of the +temple of Fortuna Virilis, of which some Ionic pillars alone are left, +and the house of Cola di Rienzi--the last Tribune of Rome. + +As we approached the walls, the sepulchre of Caius Cestius came in +sight--a single solid pyramid, one hundred feet in height. The walls are +built against it, and the light apex rises far above the massive gate +beside it, which was erected by Belisarius. But there were other tombs +at hand, for which we had more sympathy than that of the forgotten +Roman, and we turned away to look for the graves of Shelley and Keats. + +They lie in the Protestant burying ground, on the side of a mound that +slopes gently up to the old wall of Rome, beside the pyramid of Cestius. +The meadow around is still verdant and sown thick with daisies, and the +soft green of the Italian pine mingles with the dark cypress above the +slumberers. Huge aloes grow in the shade, and the sweet bay and bushes +of rosemary make the air fresh and fragrant. There is a solemn, mournful +beauty about the place, green and lonely as it is, beside the tottering +walls of ancient Rome, that takes away the gloomy associations of death, +and makes one wish to lie there, too, when his thread shall be spun to +the end. + +We found first the simple head-stone of Keats, alone, in the grassy +meadow. Its inscription states that on his death-bed, in the bitterness +of his heart, at the malice of his enemies, be desired these words to be +written on his tombstone: "_Here lies one whose name was written in +water_." Not far from him reposes the son of Shelley. + +Shelley himself lies at the top of the shaded slope, in a lonely spot by +the wall, surrounded by tall cypresses. A little hedge of rose and bay +surrounds his grave, which bears the simple inscription-- + + "PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY; _Cor Cordium_." + + "Nothing of him that doth fade, + But doth suffer a sea-change + Into something rich and strange." + +Glorious, but misguided Shelley! He sleeps calmly now in that silent +nook, and the air around his grave is filled with sighs from those who +mourn that the bright, erratic star should have been blotted out ere it +reached the zenith of its mounting fame. I plucked a leaf from the +fragrant bay, as a token of his fame, and a sprig of cypress from the +bough that bent lowest over his grave; and passing between tombs shaded +with blooming roses or covered with unwithered garlands, left the lovely +spot. + +Amid the excitement of continually changing scenes, I have forgotten to +mention our first visit to the Coliseum. The day after our arrival we +set out with two English friends, to see it by sunset. Passing by the +glorious fountain of Trevi, we made our way to the Forum, and from +thence took the road to the Coliseum, lined on both sides with the +remains of splendid edifices. The grass-grown ruins of the Palace of the +Caesars stretched along on our right; on our left we passed in succession +the granite front of the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, the three +grand arches of the Temple of Peace and the ruins of the Temple of Venus +and Rome. We went under the ruined triumphal arch of Titus, with broken +friezes representing the taking of Jerusalem, and the mighty walls of +the Coliseum gradually rose before us. They grew in grandeur as we +approached them, and when at length we stood in the centre, with the +shattered arches and grassy walls rising above and beyond one another, +far around us, the red light of sunset giving them a soft and melancholy +beauty, I was fain to confess that another form of grandeur had entered +my mind, of which I before knew not. + +A majesty like that of nature clothes this wonderful edifice. Walls rise +above walls, and arches above arches, from every side of the grand +arena, like a sweep of craggy, pinnacled mountains around an oval lake. +The two outer circles have almost entirely disappeared, torn away by the +rapacious nobles of Rome, during the middle ages, to build their +palaces. When entire, and filled with its hundred thousand spectators, +it must have exceeded any pageant which the world can now produce. No +wonder it was said-- + + "While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand; + When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall; + And when Rome falls, the world!" + +--a prediction, which time has not verified. The world is now going +forward, prouder than ever, and though we thank Rome for the legacy she +has left us, we would not wish the dust of her ruin to cumber our path. + +While standing in the arena, impressed with the spirit of the scene +around me, which grew more spectral and melancholy as the dusk of +evening began to fill up the broken arches, my eye was assailed by the +shrines ranged around the space, doubtless to remove the pollution of +paganism. In the middle stands also a cross, with an inscription, +granting an absolution of forty days to all who kiss it. Now, although a +simple cross in the centre might be very appropriate, both as a token of +the heroic devotion of the martyr Telemachus and the triumph of a true +religion over the barbarities of the Past, this congregation of shrines +and bloody pictures mars very much the unity of association so necessary +to the perfect enjoyment of any such scene. + +We saw the flush of sunset fade behind the Capitoline Hill, and passed +homeward by the Forum, as its shattered pillars were growing solemn and +spectral through the twilight. I intend to visit them often again, and +"meditate amongst decay." I begin already to grow attached to their +lonely grandeur. A spirit, almost human, speaks from the desolation, and +there is something in the voiceless oracles it utters, that strikes an +answering chord in my own breast. + +In the _Via de' Pontefici_, not far distant from the Borghese Palace, we +saw the Mausoleum of Augustus. It is a large circular structure somewhat +after the plan of that of Hadrian, but on a much smaller scale. The +interior has been cleared out, seats erected around the walls, and the +whole is now a summer theatre, for the amusement of the peasantry and +tradesmen. What a commentary on greatness! Harlequin playing his pranks +in the tomb of an Emperor, and the spot which nations approached with +reverence, resounding with the mirth of beggars and degraded vassals! + +I visited lately the studio of a young Philadelphian, Mr. W. B. +Chambers, who has been here two or three years. In studying the legacies +of art which the old masters left to their country, he has caught some +of the genuine poetic inspiration which warmed them. But he is modest as +talented, and appears to undervalue his works, so long as they do not +reach his own mental ideal. He chooses principally subjects from the +Italian peasant-life, which abounds with picturesque and classic beauty. +His pictures of the shepherd boy of the Albruzzi, and the brown maidens +of the Campagna are fine illustrations of this class, and the fidelity +with which he copies nature, is an earnest of his future success. + +I was in the studio of Crawford, the sculptor; he has at present +nothing finished in the marble. There were many casts of his former +works, which, judging from their appearance in plaster, must be of no +common excellence--for the sculptor can only be justly judged _in +marble_. I saw some fine bas-reliefs of classical subjects, and an +exquisite group of Mercury and Psyche, but his masterpiece is +undoubtedly the Orpheus. There is a spirit in this figure which +astonished me. The face is full of the inspiration of the poet, softened +by the lover's tenderness, and the whole fervor of his soul is expressed +in the eagerness with which he gazes forward, on stepping past the +sleeping Cerberus. Crawford is now engaged on the statue of an Indian +girl, pierced by an arrow, and dying. It is a simple and touching +figure, and will, I think, be one of his best works. + +We are often amused with the groups in the square of the Pantheon, which +we can see from our chamber-window. Shoemakers and tinkers carry on +their business along the sunny side, while the venders of oranges and +roasted chesnuts form a circle around the Egyptian obelisk and fountain. +Across the end of an opposite street we get a glimpse of the +vegetable-market, and now and then the shrill voice of a pedlar makes +its nasal solo audible above the confused chorus. As the beggars choose +the Corso, St. Peter's, and the ruins for their principal haunts, we are +now spared the hearing of their lamentations. Every time we go out we +are assailed with them. "_Maladetta sia la vostra testa_!"--"Curses be +upon your head!"--said one whom I passed without notice. The priests +are, however, the greatest beggars. In every church are kept offering +boxes, for the support of the church or some unknown institution; they +even go from house to house, imploring support and assistance in the +name of the Virgin and all the saints, while their bloated, sensual +countenances and capacious frames tell of anything but fasts and +privations. Once, as I was sitting among the ruins, I was suddenly +startled by a loud, rattling sound; turning my head, I saw a figure +clothed in white from head to foot, with only two small holes for the +eyes. He held in his hand a money-box, on which was a figure of the +Virgin, which he held close to my lips, that I might kiss it. This I +declined doing, but dropped a baiocco into his box, when, making the +sign of the cross, he silently disappeared. + +Our present lodging (Trattoria del Sole) is a good specimen of an +Italian inn for mechanics and common tradesmen. Passing through the +front room, which is an eating-place for the common people--with a +barrel of wine in the corner, and bladders of lard hanging among orange +boughs in the window--we enter a dark court-yard filled with heavy +carts, and noisy with the neighing of horses and singing of grooms, for +the stables occupy part of the house. An open staircase, running all +around this hollow square, leads to the second, third, and fourth +stories, + +On the second story is the dining-room for the better class of +travelers, who receive the same provisions as those below for double the +price, and the additional privilege of giving the waiter two baiocchi. +The sleeping apartments are in the fourth story, and are named according +to the fancy of a former landlord, in mottos above each door. Thus, on +arriving here, the Triester, with his wife and child, more fortunate +than our first parents, took refuge in "Paradise," while we Americans +were ushered into the "Chamber of Jove." We have occupied it ever since, +and find a paul (ten cents) apiece cheap enough for a good bed and a +window opening on the Pantheon. + +Next to the Coliseum, the baths of Caracalla are the grandest remains of +Rome. The building is a thousand feet square, and its massive walls look +as if built by a race of giants. These Titan remains are covered with +green shrubbery, and long, trailing vines sweep over the cornice, and +wave down like tresses from architrave and arch. In some of its grand +halls the mosaic pavement is yet entire. The excavations are still +carried on; from the number of statues already found, this would seem to +have been one of the most gorgeous edifices of the olden time. + +I have been now several days loitering and sketching among the ruins, +and I feel as if I could willingly wander for months beside these +mournful relics, and draw inspiration from the lofty yet melancholy lore +they teach. There is a spirit haunting them, real and undoubted. Every +shattered column, every broken arch and mouldering wall, but calls up +more vividly to mind the glory that has passed away. Each lonely pillar +stands as proudly as if it still helped to bear up the front of a +glorious temple, and the air seems scarcely to have ceased vibrating +with the clarions that heralded a conqueror's triumph. + + "--the old majestic trees + Stand ghost-like in the Caesar's home, + As if their conscious roots were set + In the old graves of giant Rome, + And drew their sap all kingly yet!" + + * * * * * + + "There every mouldering stone beneath + Is broken from some mighty thought, + And sculptures in the dust still breathe + The fire with which their lines were wrought, + And sunder'd arch and plundered tomb + Still thunder back the echo--'_Rome!_'" + +In Rome there is no need that the imagination be excited to call up +thrilling emotion or poetic reverie--they are forced on the mind by the +sublime spirit of the scene. The roused bard might here pour forth his +thoughts in the wildest climaces, and I could believe he felt it all. +This is like the Italy of my dreams--that golden realm whose image has +been nearly chased away by the earthly reality. I expected to find a +land of light and beauty, where every step crushed a flower or displaced +a sunbeam--whose very air was poetic inspiration, and whose every scene +filled the soul with romantic feelings. Nothing is left of my picture +but the far-off mountains, robed in the sapphire veil of the Ausonian +air, and these ruins, amid whose fallen glory sits triumphant the spirit +of ancient song. + +I have seen the flush of morn and eve rest on the Coliseum; I have seen +the noon-day sky framed in its broken loopholes, like plates of polished +sapphire; and last night, as the moon has grown into the zenith, I went +to view it with her. Around the Forum all was silent and spectral--a +sentinel challenged us at the Arch of Titus, under which we passed and +along the Caesar's wall, which lay in black shadow. Dead stillness +brooded around the Coliseum; the pale, silvery lustre streamed through +its arches, and over the grassy walls, giving them a look of shadowy +grandeur which day could not bestow. The scene will remain fresh in my +memory forever. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +TIVOLI AND THE ROMAN CAMPAGNA. + + +_Jan. 9._--A few days ago we returned from an excursion to Tivoli, one +of the loveliest spots in Italy. We left the Eternal City by the Gate of +San Lorenzo, and twenty minutes walk brought us to the bare and bleak +Campagna, which was spread around us for leagues in every direction. +Here and there a shepherd-boy in his woolly coat, with his flock of +browsing sheep, were the only objects that broke its desert-like +monotony. + +At the fourth mile we crossed the rapid Anio, the ancient Teverone, +formerly the boundary between Latium and the Sabine dominions, and at +the tenth, came upon some fragments of the old Tibertine way, formed of +large irregular blocks of basaltic lava. A short distance further, we +saw across the plain the ruins of the bath of Agrippa, built by the side +of the Tartarean Lake. The wind, blowing from it, bore us an +overpowering smell of sulphur; the waters of the little river Solfatara, +which crosses the road, are of a milky blue color, and carry those of +the lake into the Anio. A fragment of the old bridge over it still +remains. + +Finding the water quite warm, we determined to have a bath. So we ran +down the plain, which was covered with a thick coat of sulphur, and +sounded hollow to our tread, till we reached a convenient place, where +we threw off our clothes, and plunged in. The warm wave was delightful +to the skin, but extremely offensive to the smell, and when we came out, +our mouths and throats were filled with the stifling gas. + +It was growing dark as we mounted through the narrow streets of Tivoli, +but we endeavored to gain some sight of the renowned beauties of the +spot, before going to rest. From a platform on a brow of the hill, we +looked down into the defile, at whose bottom the Anio was roaring, and +caught a sideward glance of the Cascatelles, sending up their spray +amid the evergreen bushes that fringe the rocks. Above the deep glen +that curves into the mountain, stands the beautiful temple of the +Sybil--a building of the most perfect and graceful proportion. It crests +the "rocky brow" like a fairy dwelling, and looks all the lovelier for +the wild caverns below. Gazing downward from the bridge, one sees the +waters of the Anio tumbling into the picturesque grotto of the Sirens; +around a rugged corner, a cloud of white spray whirls up continually, +while the boom of a cataract rumbles down the glen. All these we marked +in the deepening dusk, and then hunted an albergo. + +The shrill-voiced hostess gave us a good supper and clean beds; in +return we diverted the people very much by the relation of our sulphur +bath. We were awakened in the night by the wind shaking the very soul +out of our loose casement. I fancied I heard torrents of rain dashing +against the panes, and groaned in bitterness of spirit on thinking of a +walk back to Rome in such weather. When morning came, we found it was +only a hurricane of wind which was strong enough to tear off pieces of +the old roofs. I saw some capuchins nearly overturned in crossing the +square, by the wind seizing their white robes. + +I had my fingers frozen and my eyes filled with sand, in trying to draw +the Sybil's temple, and therefore left it to join my companions, who had +gone down into the glen to see the great cascade. The Anio bursts out of +a cavern in the mountain-side, and like a prisoner giddy with recovered +liberty, reels over the edge of a precipice more than two hundred feet +deep. The bottom is hid in a cloud of boiling spray, that shifts from +side to side, and driven by the wind, sweeps whistling down the narrow +pass. It stuns the ear with a perpetual boom, giving a dash of grandeur +to the enrapturing beauty of the scene. I tried a footpath that appeared +to lead down to the Cascatelles, but after advancing some distance along +the side of an almost perpendicular precipice, I came to a corner that +looked so dangerous, especially as the wind was nearly strong enough to +carry me off, that it seemed safest to return. We made another vain +attempt to get down, by creeping along the bed of a torrent, filled with +briars. The Cascatelles are formed by that part of the Anio, which is +used in the iron works, made out of the ruins of Mecaenas' villa. They +gush out from under the ancient arches, and tumble more than a hundred +feet down the precipice, their white waters gleaming out from the dark +and feathery foliage. Not far distant are the remains of the villa of +Horace. + +We took the road to Frascati, and walked for miles among cane-swamps and +over plains covered with sheep. The people we saw, were most degraded +and ferocious-looking, and there were many I would not willingly meet +alone after nightfall. Indeed it is still considered quite unsafe to +venture without the walls of Rome, after dark. The women, with their +yellow complexions, and the bright red blankets they wear folded around +the head and shoulders, resemble Indian Squaws. + +I lately spent three hours in the Museum of the Capitol, on the summit +of the sacred hill. In the hall of the Gladiator I noticed an exquisite +statue of Diana. There is a pure, virgin grace in the classic outlines +of the figure that keeps the eye long upon it. The face is full of cold, +majestic dignity, but it is the ideal of a being to be worshipped, +rather than loved. The Faun of Praxiteles, in the same room, is a +glorious work; it is the perfect embodiment of that wild, merry race the +Grecian poets dreamed of. One looks on the Gladiator with a hushed +breath and an awed spirit. He is dying; the blood flows more slowly from +the deep wound in his side; his head is sinking downwards, and the arm +that supports his body becomes more and more nerveless. You feel that a +dull mist is coming over his vision, and almost wait to see his relaxing +limbs sink suddenly on his shield. That the rude, barbarian form has a +soul, may be read in his touchingly expressive countenance. It warms the +sympathies like reality to look upon it. Yet how many Romans may have +gazed on this work, moved nearly to tears, who have seen hundreds perish +in the arena without a pitying emotion! Why is it that Art has a voice +frequently more powerful than Nature? + +How cold it is here! I was forced to run home to-night, nearly at full +speed, from the Cafe delle _Belle Arti_ through the Corso and the Piazza +Colonna, to keep warm. The clear, frosty moon threw the shadow of the +column of Antoninus over me as I passed, and it made me shiver to look +at the thin, falling sheet of the fountain. Winter is winter +everywhere, and even the sun of Italy cannot always scorch his icy +wings. + +Two days ago we took a ramble outside the walls. Passing the Coliseum +and Caracalla's Baths, we reached the tomb of Scipio, a small sepulchral +vault, near the roadside. The ashes of the warrior were scattered to the +winds long ago, and his mausoleum is fast falling to decay. The old arch +over the Appian way is still standing, near the modern _Porta San +Sebastiano_ through which we entered on the far-famed road. Here and +there it is quite entire, and we walked over the stones once worn by the +feet of Virgil and Horace and Cicero. After passing the temple of +Romulus--a shapeless and ivy-grown ruin--and walking a mile or more +beyond the walls, we reached the Circus of Caracalla, whose long and +shattered walls fill the hollow of one of the little dells of the +Campagna. The original structure must have been of great size and +splendor, but those twin Vandals--Time and Avarice--have stripped away +everything but the lofty brick masses, whose nakedness the pitying ivy +strives to cover. + +Further, on a gentle slope, is the tomb of "the wealthiest Roman's +wife," familiar to every one through Childe Harold's musings. It is a +round, massive tower, faced with large blocks of marble, and still +bearing the name of Cecilia Metella. One side is much ruined, and the +top is overgrown with grass and wild bushes. The wall is about thirty +feet thick, so that but a small round space is left in the interior, +which is open to the rain and filled will rubbish. The echoes pronounced +hollowly after us the name of the dead for whom it was built, but they +could tell us nothing of her life's history-- + + "How lived, how loved, how died she?" + +I made a hurried drawing of it, and we then turned to the left, across +the Campagna, to seek the grotto of Egeria. Before us, across the brown +plain, extended the Sabine Mountains; in the clear air the houses of +Tivoli, twenty miles distant, were plainly visible. The giant aqueduct +stretched in a long line across the Campagna to the mountain of Albano, +its broken and disjointed arches resembling the vertebrae of some mighty +monster. With the ruins of temples and tombs strewing the plain for +miles around it, it might be called the _spine_ to the skeleton of Rome. + +We passed many ruins, made beautiful by the clinging ivy, and reached a +solemn grove of ever-green oak, overlooking a secluded valley. I was +soon in the meadow, leaping ditches, rustling through cane-brakes, and +climbing up to mossy arches to find out the fountain of Numa's nymph; +while my companion, who had less taste for the romantic, looked on +complacently from the leeward side of the hill. At length we found an +arched vault in the hill-side, overhung with wild vines, and shaded in +summer by umbrageous trees that grow on the soil above. At the further +end a stream of water gushed out from beneath a broken statue, and an +aperture in the wall revealed a dark cavern behind. This, then, was +"Egeria's grot." The ground was trampled by the feet of cattle, and the +taste of the water was anything but pleasant. But it was not for Numa +and his nymph alone, that I sought it so ardently. The sunbeam of +another mind lingers on the spot. See how it gilds the ruined and +neglected fount! + + "The mosses of thy fountain still are sprinkled + With thine Elysian water-drops; the face + Of thy cave-guarded spring, with years unwrinkled, + Reflects the meek-eyed genius of the place, + Whose wild, green margin, now no more erase + Art's works; no more its sparkling waters sleep, + Prisoned in marble; bubbling from the base + Of the cleft statue, with a gentle leap, + The rill runs o'er, and 'round, fern, flowers and ivy creep, + Fantastically tangled." + +I tried to creep into the grotto, but it was unpleasantly dark, and no +nymph appeared to chase away the shadow with her lustrous eyes. The +whole hill is pierced by subterranean chambers and passages. + +I spent another Sunday morning in St. Peter's. High mass was being +celebrated in one of the side Chapels, and a great number of the +priesthood were present. The music was simple, solemn, and very +impressive, and a fine effect was produced by the combination of the +full, sonorous voices of the priests, and the divine sweetness of that +band of mutilated unfortunates, who sing here. They sang with a full, +clear tone, sweet as the first lispings of a child, but it was painful +to hear that melody, purchased at the expense of manhood. + +Near the dome is a bronze statue of St. Peter, which seems to have a +peculiar atmosphere of sanctity. People say their prayers before it by +hundreds, and then kiss its toe, which is nearly worn away by the +application of so many thousand lips. I saw a crowd struggle most +irreverently to pay their devotion to it. There was a great deal of +jostling and confusion; some went so far as to thrust the faces of +others against the toe as they were about to kiss it. What is more +remarkable, it is an antique statue of Jupiter, taken, I believe, from +the Pantheon. An English artist, showing it to a friend, just arrived in +Rome, remarked very wittily that it was the statue of _Jew-Peter_. + +I went afterwards to the Villa Borghese, outside the Porta del Popolo. +The gardens occupy thirty or forty acres, and are always thronged in the +afternoon with the carriages of the Roman and foreign nobility. In +summer, it must be a heavenly place; even now, with its musical +fountains, long avenues, and grassy slopes, crowned with the fan-like +branches of the Italian pine, it reminds one of the fairy landscapes of +Boccaccio. We threaded our way through the press of carriages on the +Pincian hill, and saw the enormous bulk of St. Peter's loom up against +the sunset sky. I counted forty domes and spires in that part of Rome +that lay below us--but on what a marble glory looked that sun eighteen +centuries ago! Modern Rome--it is in comparison, a den of filth, cheats +and beggars! + +Yesterday, while taking a random stroll through the city, I visited the +church of St. Onofrio, where Tasso is buried. It is not far from St. +Peter's, on the summit of a lonely hill. The building was closed, but an +old monk admitted us on application. The interior is quite small, but +very old, and the floor is covered with the tombs of princes and +prelates of a past century. Near the end I found a small slab with the +inscription: + + "TORQUATI TASSI + OSSA + HIC JACENT." + +That was all--but what more was needed? Who knows not the name and fame +and sufferings of the glorious bard? The pomp of gold and marble are not +needed to deck the slumber of genius. On the wall, above, hangs an old +and authentic portrait of him, very similar to the engravings in +circulation. A crown of laurel encircles the lofty brow, and the eye has +that wild, mournful expression, which accords so well with the +mysterious tale of his love and madness. + +Owing to the mountain storms, which imposed on us the expense of a +carriage-journey to Rome, we shall be prevented from going further. One +great cause of this is the heavy fee required for passports in Italy. In +most of the Italian cities, the cost of the different vises amounts to +$4 or $5; a few such visits as these reduce our funds very materially. +The American Consul's fee is $2, owing to the illiberal course of our +government, in withholding all salary from her Consuls in Europe. Mr. +Brown, however, in whose family we spent last evening very pleasantly, +on our requesting that he would deduct something from the usual fee, +kindly declined accepting anything. We felt this kindness the more, as +from the character which some of our late Consuls bear in Italy, we had +not anticipated it. We shall remember him with deeper gratitude than +many would suppose, who have never known what it was to be a +_foreigner_. + +To-morrow, therefore, we leave Rome--here is, at last, the limit of our +wanderings. We have spent much toil and privation to reach here, and +now, after two weeks' rambling and musing among the mighty relics of +past glory, we turn our faces homeward. The thrilling hope I cherished +during the whole pilgrimage--to climb Parnassus and drink from Castaly, +under the blue heaven of Greece (both far easier than the steep hill and +hidden fount of poesy, I worship afar off)--to sigh for fallen art, +beneath the broken friezes of the Parthenon, and look with a pilgrim's +eye on the isles of Homer and of Sappho--must be given up, unwillingly +and sorrowfully though it be. These glorious anticipations--among the +brightest that blessed my boyhood--are slowly wrung from me by stern +necessity. Even Naples, the lovely Parthenope, where the Mantuan bard +sleeps on the sunny shore, by the bluest of summer seas, with the +disinterred Pompeii beyond, and Paestum amid its roses on the lonely +Calabrian plain--even this, almost within sight of the cross of St. +Peter's, is barred from me. Farewell then, clime of "fame and eld," +since it must be! A pilgrim's blessing for the lore ye have taught him! + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + + +_Palo._--The sea is breaking in long swells below the window, and a +glorious planet shines in the place of the sunset that has died away. +This is our first resting-place since leaving Rome. We have been walking +all day over the bare and dreary Campagna, and it is a relief to look at +last on the broad, blue expanse of the Tyrrhene Sea. + +When we emerged from the cool alleys of Rome, and began to climb up and +down the long, barren swells, the sun beat down on us with an almost +summer heat. On crossing a ridge near Castel Guido, we took our last +look of Rome, and saw from the other side the sunshine lying like a +dazzling belt on the far Mediterranean. The country is one of the most +wretched that can be imagined. Miles and miles of uncultivated land, +with scarcely a single habitation, extend on either side of the road, +and the few shepherds who watch their flocks in the marshy hollows, look +wild and savage enough for any kind of crime. It made me shudder to see +every face bearing such a villainous stamp. + +_Civita Vecchia, Jan. 1._--We left Palo just after sunrise, and walked +in the cool of the morning beside the blue Mediterranean. On the right, +the low outposts of the Appenines rose, bleak and brown, the narrow +plain between them and the shore resembling a desert, so destitute was +it of the signs of civilized life. A low, white cloud that hung over the +sea, afar off, showed us the locality of Sardinia, though the land was +not visible. The sun shone down warmly, and with the blue sky and bluer +sea we could easily have imagined a milder season. The barren scenery +took a new interest in my eyes, when I remembered that I was spending +amidst it that birth-day which removes me, in the eyes of the world, +from dependant youth to responsible manhood. + +In the afternoon we found a beautiful cove in a curve of the shore, and +went to bathe in the cold surf. It was very refreshing, but not quite +equal to the sulphur-bath on the road to Tivoli. The mountains now ran +closer to the sea, and the road was bordered with thickets of myrtle. I +stopped often to beat my staff into the bushes, and inhale the fragrance +that arose from their crushed leaves. The hills were covered with this +poetical shrub, and any acre of the ground would make the fortune of a +florist at home. + +The sun was sinking in a sky of orange and rose, as Civita Vecchia came +in sight on a long headland before us. Beyond the sea stretched the dim +hills of Corsica. We walked nearly an hour in the clear moonlight, by +the sounding shore, before the gate of the city was reached. We have +found a tolerable inn, and are now enjoying the pleasures of supper and +rest. + +_Marseilles, Jan. 16._--At length we tread the shore of France--of sunny +Provence--the last unvisited realm we have to roam through before +returning home. It is with a feeling of more than common relief that we +see around us the lively faces and hear the glib tongues of the French. +It is like an earnest that the "roughing" we have undergone among +Bohemian boors and Italian savages is well nigh finished, and that, +henceforth, we shall find civilized sympathy and politeness, if nothing +more, to make the way smoother. Perhaps the three woful days which +terminated at half-past two yesterday afternoon, as we passed through +the narrow strait into the beautiful harbor which Marseilles encloses in +her sheltering heart, make it still pleasanter. Now, while there is +time, I must describe those three days, for who could write on the wet +deck of a steamboat, amid all the sights and smells which a sea voyage +creates? Description does not flourish when the bones are sore with +lying on planks, and the body shivering like an aspen leaf with cold. + +About the old town of Civita Vecchia there is not much to be said, +except that it has the same little harbor which Trajan dug for it, and +is as dirty and disagreeable as a town can well be. We saw nothing +except a little church, and the prison-yard, full of criminals, where +the celebrated bandit, Gasparoni, has been now confined for eight years. + +The Neapolitan Company's boat, _Mongibello_, was advertised to leave the +12th, so, after procuring our passports, we went to the office to take +passage. The official, however, refused to give us tickets for the third +place, because, forsooth, we were not servants or common laborers! and +words were wasted in trying to convince him that it would make no +difference. As the second cabin fare was nearly three times as high, and +entirely too dear for us, we went to the office of the Tuscan Company, +whose boat was to leave in two days. Through the influence of an Italian +gentleman, secretary to Bartolini, the American Consul, whom we met, +they agreed to take us for forty-five francs, on deck, the price of the +Neapolitan boat being thirty. + +Rather than stay two days longer in the dull town, we went again to the +latter Company's office and offered them forty-five francs to go that +day in _their_ boat. This removed the former scruples, and tickets were +immediately made out. After a plentiful dinner at the albergo, to +prepare ourselves for the exposure, we filled our pockets with a supply +of bread, cheese, and figs, for the voyage. We then engaged a boatman, +who agreed to row us out to the steamer for two pauls, but after he had +us on board and an oar's length from the quay, he said two pauls +_apiece_ was his bargain. I instantly refused, and, summoning the best +Italian I could command, explained our agreement; but he still persisted +in demanding double price. The dispute soon drew a number of persons to +the quay, some of whom, being boatmen, sided with him. Finding he had us +safe in his boat, his manner was exceedingly calm and polite. He +contradicted me with a "pardon, Signore!" accompanying the words with a +low bow and a graceful lift of his scarlet cap, and replied to my +indignant accusations in the softest and most silvery-modulated Roman +sentences. I found, at last, that if I was in the right, I cut the worse +figure of the two, and, therefore, put an end to the dispute by desiring +him to row on at his own price. + +The hour of starting was two, but the boat lay quietly in the harbor +till four, when we glided out on the open sea, and went northward, with +the blue hills of Corsica far on our left. A gorgeous sunset faded away +over the water, and the moon rose behind the low mountains of the +Italian coast. Having found a warm and sheltered place near the chimney, +I drew my beaver further over my eyes, to keep out the moonlight, and +lay down on the deck with my knapsack under my head. It was a hard bed, +indeed; and the first time I attempted to rise, I found myself glued to +the floor by the pitch which was smeared along the seams of the boards! +Our fellow-sufferers were a company of Swiss soldiers going home after a +four years' service under the King of Naples, but they took to their +situation more easily than we. + +Sleep was next to impossible, so I paced the deck occasionally, looking +out on the moonlit sea and the dim shores on either side. A little after +midnight we passed between Elba and Corsica. The dark crags of Elba rose +on our right, and the bold headlands of Napoleon's isle stood opposite, +at perhaps twenty miles' distance. There was something dreary and +mysterious in the whole scene, viewed at such a time--the grandeur of +his career, who was born on one and exiled to the other, gave it a +strange and thrilling interest. + +We made the light-house before the harbor of Leghorn at dawn, and by +sunrise were anchored within the mole. I sat on the deck the whole day, +watching the picturesque vessels that skimmed about with their lateen +sails, and wondering how soon the sailors, on the deck of a Boston brig +anchored near us, would see my distant country. Leaving at four o'clock, +we dashed away, along the mountain coast of Carrara, at a rapid rate. +The wind was strong and cold, but I lay down behind the boiler, and +though the boards were as hard as ever, slept two or three hours. When I +awoke at half-past two in the morning, after a short rest, Genoa was +close at hand. We glided between the two revolving lights on the mole, +into the harbor, with the amphitheatre on which the superb city sits, +dark and silent around us. It began raining soon, the engine-fire sank +down, and as there was no place of shelter, we were shortly wet to the +skin. + +How long those dreary hours seemed, till the dawn came! All was cold and +rainy and dark, and we waited in a kind of torpid misery for daylight. +The entire day, I passed sitting in a coil of rope under the stern of +the cabin, and even the beauties of the glorious city scarce affected +me. We lay opposite the Doria palace, and the constellation of villas +and towers still glittered along the hills; but who, with his teeth +chattering and limbs numb and damp, could feel pleasure in looking on +Elysium itself? + +We got under way again at three o'clock. The rain very soon hid the +coast from view, and the waves pitched our boat about in a manner not at +all pleasant. I soon experienced sea-sickness in all its horrors. We had +accidentally made the acquaintance of one of the Neapolitan sailors, who +had been in America. He was one of those rough, honest natures I like to +meet with--their blunt kindness, is better than refined and oily-tongued +suavity. As we were standing by the chimney, reflecting dolefully how we +should pass the coming night, he came up and said; "I am in trouble +about you, poor fellows! I don't think I shall sleep three hours +to-night, to think of you. I shall tell all the cabin they shall give +you beds, because they shall see you are gentlemen!" Whether he did so +or the officers were moved by spontaneous commiseration, we knew not, +but in half an hour a servant beckoned us into the cabin, and berths +were given us. + +I turned in with a feeling of relief not easily imagined, and forgave +the fleas willingly, in the comfort of a shelter from the storm. When I +awoke, it was broad day. A fresh breeze was drying the deck, and the sun +was half-visible among breaking clouds. We had just passed the Isle of +the Titan, one of the _Isles des Hyeres_, and the bay of Toulon opened +on our right. It was a rugged, rocky coast, but the hills of sunny +Provence rose beyond. The sailor came up with a smile of satisfaction on +his rough countenance, and said: "You did sleep better, I think; I did +tell them all!" coupling his assertion with a round curse on the +officers. + +We ran along, beside the brown, bare crags till nearly noon, when we +reached the eastern point of the Bay of Marseilles. A group of small +islands, formed of bare rocks, rising in precipices three or four +hundred feet high, guards the point; on turning into the Gulf, we saw on +the left the rocky islands of Pomegues, and If, with the castle crowning +the latter, in which Mirabeau was confined. The ranges of hills which +rose around the great bay, were spotted and sprinkled over with +thousands of the country cottages of the Marseilles merchants, called +_Bastides_; the city itself was hidden from view. We saw apparently the +whole bay, but there was no crowd of vessels, such as would befit a +great sea-port; a few spires peeping over a hill, with some +fortifications, were all that was visible. At length we turned suddenly +aside and entered a narrow strait, between two forts. Immediately a +broad harbor opened before us, locked in the very heart of the hills on +which the city stands. It was covered with vessels of all nations; on +leaving the boat, we rowed past the "Aristides," bearing the blue cross +of Greece, and I searched eagerly and found, among the crowded masts, +the starry banner of America. + +I have rambled through all the principal parts of Marseilles, and am +very favorably impressed with its appearance. Its cleanliness and the +air of life and business which marks the streets, are the more pleasant +after coming from the dirty and depopulated Italian cities. The broad +avenues, lined with trees, which traverse its whole length, must be +delightful in summer. I am often reminded, by its spacious and crowded +thoroughfares, of our American cities. Although founded by the Phoceans, +three thousand years ago, it has scarcely an edifice of greater +antiquity than three or four centuries, and the tourist must content +himself with wandering through the narrow streets of the old town, +observing the Provencal costumes, or strolling among Turks and Moors on +the _Quai d'Orleans_. + +We have been detained here a day longer than was necessary, owing to +some misunderstanding about the passports. This has not been favorable +to our reduced circumstances, for we have, now but twenty francs each, +left, to take us to Paris. Our boots, too, after serving us so long, +begin to show signs of failing in this hour of adversity. Although we +are somewhat accustomed to such circumstances, I cannot help shrinking +when I think of the solitary napoleon and the five hundred miles to be +passed. Perhaps, however, the coin will do as much as its great +namesake, and achieve for us a Marengo in the war with fate. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +PILGRIMAGE TO VAUCLUSE AND JOURNEY UP THE RHONE. + + +We left Marseilles about nine o'clock, on a dull, rainy morning, for +Avignon and the Rhone, intending to take in our way the glen of +Vaucluse. The dirty _faubourgs_ stretch out along the road for a great +distance, and we trudged through them, past foundries, furnaces and +manufactories, considerably disheartened with the prospect. We wound +among the bleak stony hills, continually ascending, for nearly three +hours. Great numbers of cabarets, frequented by the common people, lined +the roads, and we met continually trains of heavy laden wagons, drawn by +large mules. The country is very wild and barren, and would have been +tiresome, except for the pine groves with their beautiful green foliage. +We got something to eat with difficulty at an inn, for the people spoke +nothing but the Provencal dialect, and the place was so cold and +cheerless we were glad to go out again into the storm. It mattered +little to us, that we heard the language in which the gay troubadours of +king Rene sung their songs of love. We thought more of our dripping +clothes and numb, cold limbs, and would have been glad to hear instead, +the strong, hearty German tongue, full of warmth and kindly sympathy for +the stranger. The wind swept drearily among the hills; black, gusty +clouds covered the sky, and the incessant rain filled the road with +muddy pools. We looked at the country chateaux, so comfortable in the +midst of their sheltering poplars, with a sigh, and thought of homes +afar off, whose doors were never closed to _us_. + +This was all forgotten, when we reached Aix, and the hostess of the Cafe +d'Afrique filled her little stove with fresh coal, and hung our wet +garments around it, while her daughter, a pale-faced, crippled child, +smiled kindly on us and tried to talk with us in French. Putting on our +damp, heavy coats again, B---- and I rambled through the streets, while +our frugal supper was preparing. We saw the statue of the _Bon Roi +Rene_, who held at Aix his court of shepherds and troubadours--the dark +Cathedral of St. Saveur--the ancient walls and battlements, and gazed +down the valley at the dark, precipitous mass of Mont St. Victor, at +whose base Marius obtained a splendid victory over the barbarians. + +After leaving next morning, we saw at some distance to the south, the +enormous aqueduct now being erected for the canal from the Rhone to +Marseilles. The shallow, elevated valleys we passed in the forenoon's +walk were stony and barren, but covered with large orchards of almond +trees, the fruit of which forms a considerable article of export. This +district borders on the desert of the Crau, a vast plain of stones, +reaching to the mouth of the Rhone and almost entirely uninhabited. We +caught occasional glimpses of its sea-like waste, between the summits of +the hills. At length, after threading a high ascent, we saw the valley +of the Durance suddenly below us. The sun, breaking through the clouds, +shone on the mountain wall, which stood on the opposite side, touching +with his glow the bare and rocky precipices that frowned far above the +stream. Descending to the valley, we followed its course towards the +Rhone, with the ruins of feudal bourgs crowning the crags above us. + +It was dusk, when we reached the village of Senas, tired with the day's +march. A landlord, standing in his door, on the lookout for customers, +invited us to enter, in a manner so polite and pressing, we could not +choose but do so. This is a universal custom with the country +innkeepers. In a little village which we passed towards evening, there +was a tavern, with the sign: "_The Mother of Soldiers_." A portly woman, +whose face beamed with kindness and cheerfulness, stood in the door and +invited us to stop there for the night. "No, mother!" I answered; "we +must go much further to-day." "Go, then," said she, "with good luck, my +children! a pleasant journey!" On entering the inn at Senas, two or +three bronzed soldiers were sitting by the table. My French vocabulary +happening to give out in the middle of a consultation about eggs and +onion-soup, one of them came to my assistance and addressed me in +German. He was from Fulda, in Hesse Cassel, and had served fifteen years +in Africa. Two other young soldiers, from the western border of Germany, +came during the evening, and one of them being partly intoxicated, +created such a tumult, that a quarrel arose, which ended in his being +beaten and turned out of the house. + +We met, every day, large numbers of recruits in companies of one or two +hundred, on their way to Marseilles to embark for Algiers. They were +mostly youths, from sixteen to twenty years of age, and seemed little to +forebode their probable fate. In looking on their fresh, healthy faces +and bounding forms, I saw also a dim and ghastly vision of bones +whitening on the desert, of men perishing with heat and fever, or +stricken down by the aim of the savage Bedouin. + +Leaving next morning at day-break, we walked on before breakfast to +Orgon, a little village in a corner of the cliffs which border the +Durance, and crossed the muddy river by a suspension bridge a short +distance below, to Cavaillon, where the country people were holding a +great market. From this place a road led across the meadow-land to +L'Isle, six miles distant. This little town is so named, because it is +situated on an island formed by the crystal Sorgues, which flows from +the fountains of Vaucluse. It is a very picturesque and pretty place. +Great mill-wheels, turning slowly and constantly, stand at intervals in +the stream, whose grassy banks are now as green as in spring-time. We +walked along the Sorgues, which is quite as beautiful and worthy to be +sung as the Clitumnus, to the end of the village, to take the road to +Vaucluse. Beside its banks stands a dirty, modern "Hotel de Petrarque et +Laure." Alas, that the names of the most romantic and impassioned lovers +of all history should be desecrated to a sign-post to allure +gormandizing tourists! + +The bare mountain in whose heart lies the poet's solitude, now rose +before us, at the foot of the lofty Mont Ventoux, whose summit of snows +extended beyond. We left the river, and walked over a barren plain, +across which the wind blew most drearily. The sky was rainy and dark, +and completed the desolateness of the scene, which in no wise heightened +our anticipations of the renowned glen. At length we rejoined the +Sorgues and entered a little green valley running up into the mountain. +The narrowness of the entrance entirely shut out the wind, and except +the rolling of the waters over their pebbly bed, all was still and +lonely and beautiful. The sides of the dell were covered with olive +trees, and a narrow strip of emerald meadow lay at the bottom. It grew +more hidden and sequestered as we approached the little village of +Vaucluse. Here, the mountain towers far above, and precipices of grey +rock, many hundred feet high, hang over the narrowing glen. On a crag +over the village are the remains of a castle; the slope below this, now +rugged and stony, was once graced by the cottage and garden of Petrarch. +All traces of them have long since vanished, but a simple column, +bearing the inscription; "A PETRARQUE," stands beside the Sorgues. + +We ascended into the defile by a path among the rocks, overshadowed by +olive and wild fig trees, to the celebrated fountains of Vaucluse. The +glen seems as if struck into the mountain's depths by one blow of an +enchanter's wand; and just at the end, where the rod might have rested +in its downward sweep, is the fathomless well whose overbrimming fulness +gives birth to the Sorgues. We climbed up over the mossy rocks and sat +down in the grot, beside the dark, still pool. It was the most absolute +solitude. The rocks towered above and over us, to the height of six +hundred feet, and the gray walls of the wild glen below shut out all +appearance of life. I leaned over the rock and drank of the blue crystal +that grew gradually darker towards the centre, till it became a mirror, +and gave back a perfect reflection of the crags above it. There was no +bubbling--no gushing up from its deep bosom--but the wealth of sparkling +waters continually welled over, as from a too-full goblet. + +It was with actual sorrow that I turned away from the silent spot. I +never visited a place to which the fancy clung more suddenly and fondly. +There is something holy in its solitude, making one envy Petrarch the +years of calm and unsullied enjoyment which blessed him there. As some +persons, whom we pass as strangers, strike a hidden chord in our +spirits, compelling a silent sympathy with them, so some landscapes have +a character of beauty which harmonizes thrillingly with the mood in +which we look upon them, till we forget admiration in the glow of +spontaneous attachment. They seem like abodes of the Beautiful, which +the soul in its wanderings long ago visited, and now recognizes and +loves as the home of a forgotten dream. It was thus I felt by the +fountains of Vaucluse; sadly and with weary steps I turned away, leaving +its loneliness unbroken as before. + +We returned over the plain in the wind, under the gloomy sky, passed +L'Isle at dusk, and after walking an hour with a rain following close +behind us, stopped at an _auberge_ in Le Thor, where we rested our tired +frames and broke our long day's fasting. We were greeted in the morning +with a dismal rain and wet roads, as we began the march. After a time, +however, it poured down in such torrents, that we were obliged to take +shelter in a _remise_ by the road, side, where a good woman, who +addressed us in the unintelligible Provencal, kindled up a blazing fire. +On climbing a long hill, when the storm had abated, we experienced a +delightful surprise. Below us lay the broad valley of the Rhone, with +its meadows looking fresh and spring-like after the rain. The clouds +were breaking away; clear blue sky was visible over Avignon, and a belt +of sunlight lay warmly along the mountains of Languedoc. Many villages, +with their tall, picturesque towers, dotted the landscape, and the +groves of green olive enlivened the barrenness of winter. Two or three +hours' walk over the plain, by a road fringed with willows, brought us +to the gates of Avignon. + +We walked around its picturesque turreted wall, and rambled through its +narrow streets, washed here and there by streams which turn the old +mill-wheels lazily around. We climbed up to the massive palace, which +overlooks the city from its craggy seat, attesting the splendor it +enjoyed, when for thirty years the Papal Court was held there, and the +gray, weather-beaten, irregular building, resembling a pile of +precipitous rocks, echoed with the revels of licentious prelates. We +could not enter to learn the terrible secrets of the Inquisition, here +unveiled, but we looked up at the tower, from which the captive Rienzi +was liberated at the intercession of Petrarch. + +After leaving Avignon, we took the road up the Rhone for Lyons, turning +our backs upon the _rainy_ south. We reached the village of Sorgues by +dusk, and accepted the invitation of an old dame to lodge at her _inn_, +which proved to be a _blacksmith's shop_! It was nevertheless clean and +comfortable, and we sat down in one corner, out of the reach of the +showers of sparks, which flew hissing from a red-hot horseshoe, that the +smith and his apprentice were hammering. A Piedmontese pedlar, who +carried the "Song of the Holy St. Philomene" to sell among the peasants, +came in directly, and bargained for a sleep on some hay, for two sous. +For a bed in the loft over the shop, we were charged five sous each, +which, with seven sous for supper, made our expenses for the night about +eleven cents! Our circumstances demanded the greatest economy, and we +began to fear whether even this spare allowance would enable us to reach +Lyons. Owing to a day's delay in Marseilles, we had left that city with +but fifteen francs each; the incessant storms of winter and the worn-out +state of our shoes, which were no longer proof against water or mud, +prolonged our journey considerably, so that by starting before dawn and +walking till dark, we were only able to make thirty miles a day. We +could always procure beds for five sous, and as in the country inns one +is only charged for what he chooses to order, our frugal suppers cost us +but little. We purchased bread and cheese in the villages, and made our +breakfasts and dinners on a bank by the roadside, or climbed the rocks +and sat down by the source of some trickling rill. This simple fare had +an excellent relish, and although we walked in wet clothes from morning +till night, often laying down on the damp, cold earth to rest, our +health was never affected. + +It is worth all the toil and privation we have as yet undergone, to +gain, from actual experience, the blessed knowledge that man always +retains a kindness and brotherly sympathy towards his fellow--that under +all the weight of vice and misery which a grinding oppression of soul +and body brings on the laborers of earth, there still remain many bright +tokens of a better nature. Among the starving mountaineers of the +Hartz--the degraded peasantry of Bohemia--the savage _contadini_ of +Central Italy, or the dwellers on the hills of Provence and beside the +swift Rhone, we almost invariably found kind, honest hearts, and an +aspiration for something better, betokening the consciousness that such +brute-like, obedient existence was not their proper destiny. We found +few so hardened as to be insensible to a kind look or a friendly word, +and nothing made us forget we were among strangers so much as the many +tokens of sympathy which met us when least looked for. A young +Englishman, who had traveled on foot from Geneva to Rome, enduring many +privations on account of his reduced circumstances, said to me, while +speaking on this subject: "A single word of kindness from a stranger +would make my heart warm and my spirits cheerful, for days afterwards." +There is not so much evil in man as men would have us believe; and it is +a happy comfort to know and feel this. + +Leaving our little inn before day break next morning, we crossed the +Sorgues, grown muddy since its infancy at Vaucluse, like many a young +soul, whose mountain purity goes out into the soiling world and becomes +sullied forever. The road passed over broad, barren ranges of hills, and +the landscape was destitute of all interest, till we approached Orange. +This city is built at the foot of a rocky height, a great square +projection of which seemed to stand in its midst. As we approached +nearer, however, arches and lines of cornice could be discerned, and we +recognized it as the celebrated amphitheatre, one of the grandest Roman +relics in the south of France. + +I stood at the foot of this great fabric, and gazed up at it in +astonishment. The exterior wall, three hundred and thirty-four feet in +length, and rising to the height of one hundred and twenty-one feet, is +still in excellent, preservation, and through its rows of solid arches +one looks on the broken ranges of seats within. On the crag above, and +looking as if about to topple down on it, is a massive fragment of the +fortress of the Princes of Orange, razed by Louis XIV. Passing through +the city, we came to the beautiful Roman triumphal arch, which to my eye +is a finer structure than that of Constantino at Rome. It is built of a +rich yellow marble and highly ornamented with sculptured trophies. From +the barbaric shields and the letters MARIO, still remaining, it has been +supposed to commemorate the victory of Marius over the barbarians, near +Aix. A frieze, running along the top, on each side, shows, although +broken and much defaced by the weather, the life and action which once +marked the struggling figures. These Roman ruins, scattered through +Provence and Languedoc, though inferior in historical interest, equal +in architectural beauty the greater part of those in the Eternal City +itself. + +The rest of the day the road was monotonous, though varied somewhat by +the tall crags of Mornas and Mont-dragon, towering over the villages of +the same name. Night came on as the rock of Pierrelatte, at whose foot +we were to sleep, appeared in the distance, rising like a Gibraltar from +the plain, and we only reached it in time to escape the rain that came +down the valley of the Rhone. + +Next day we passed several companies of soldiers on their way to Africa. +One of them was accompanied by a young girl, apparently the wife of the +recruit by whose side she was marching. She wore the tight blue jacket +of the troop, and a red skirt, reaching to the knees, over her soldier +pantaloons; while her pretty face showed to advantage beneath a small +military cap. It was a "Fille du Regiment" in real life. Near +Montelimart, we lost sight of Mont Ventoux, whose gleaming white crest +had been visible all the way from Vaucluse, and passed along the base of +a range of hills running near to the river. So went our march, without +particular incident, till we bivouacked for the night among a company of +soldiers in the little village of Loriol. + +Leaving at six o'clock, wakened by the trumpets which called up the +soldiery to their day's march, we reached the river Drome at dawn, and +from the bridge over its rapid current, gazed at the dim, ash-colored +masses of the Alps of Dauphine, piled along the sky, far up the valley. +The coming of morn threw a yellow glow along their snowy sides, and +lighted up, here and there, a flashing glacier. The peasantry were +already up and at work, and caravans of pack-wagons rumbled along in the +morning twilight We trudged on with them, and by breakfast-time had made +some distance of the way to Valence. The road, which does not approach +the Rhone, is devoid of interest and tiresome, though under a summer +sky, when the bare vine-hills are latticed over with green, and the +fruit-trees covered with blossoms and foliage, it might be a scene of +great beauty. + +Valence, which we reached towards noon, is a commonplace city on the +Rhone; and my only reasons for traversing its dirty streets in +preference to taking the road, which passes without the walls, were--to +get something for dinner, and because it _might_ have been the +birth-place of Aymer de Valence, the valorous Crusader, chronicled in +"Ivanhoe," whose tomb I had seen in Westminster Abbey. One of the +streets which was marked "_Rue Bayard_," shows that my valiant +namesake--the knight without fear and reproach--is still remembered in +his native province. The ruins of his chateau are still standing among +the Alps near Grenoble. + +In the afternoon we crossed the Isere, a swift, muddy river, which rises +among the Alps of Dauphine, We saw their icy range, among which is the +desert solitude of the Grand Chartreuse, far up the valley; but the +thick atmosphere hid the mighty Mont Blanc, whose cloudy outline, eighty +miles distant in a "bee line," is visible in fair weather. At Tain, we +came upon the Rhone again, and walked along the base of the hills which +contract its current. Here, I should call it beautiful. The scenery has +a wildness that approaches to that of the Rhine. Rocky, castellated +heights frown over the rushing waters, which have something of the +majesty of their "exulting and abounding" rival. Winding around the +curving hills, the scene is constantly varied, and the little willowed +islets clasped in the embrace of the stream, mingle a trait of softened +beauty with its sterner character. + +After passing the night at a village on its banks, we left it again at +St. Vallier, the next morning. At sunset, the spires of Vienne were +visible, and the lofty Mont Pilas, the snows of whose riven summits feed +the springs of the Loire on its western side, stretched majestically +along the opposite bank of the Rhone. In a meadow, near Vienne, stands a +curious Roman obelisk, seventy-six feet in height. The base is composed +of four pillars, connected by arches, and the whole structure has a +barbaric air, compared with the more elegant monuments of Orange and +Nismes. Vienne, which is mentioned by several of the Roman historians +under its present name, was the capital of the Allobroges, and I looked +upon it with a new and strange interest, on calling to mind my +school-boy days, when I had become familiar with that war-like race, in +toiling over the pages of Caesar. We walked in the mud and darkness for +what seemed a great distance, and finally took shelter in a little inn +at the northern end of the city. Two Belgian soldiers, coming from +Africa, were already quartered there, and we listened to their tales of +the Arab and the desert, while supper was preparing. + +The morning of the 25th was dull and rainy; the road, very muddy and +unpleasant, led over the hills, avoiding the westward curve of the +Rhone, directly towards Lyons. About noon, we came in sight of the broad +valley in which the Rhone first clasps his Burgundian bride--the Saone, +and a cloud of impenetrable coal-smoke showed us the location of Lyons. +A nearer approach revealed a large flat dome, and some ranges of tall +buildings near the river. We soon entered the suburb of La Guillotiere, +which has sprung up on the eastern bank of the Rhone. Notwithstanding +our clothes were like sponges, our boots entirely worn out, and our +bodies somewhat thin with nine days exposure to the wintry storms in +walking two hundred and forty miles, we entered Lyons with suspense and +anxiety. But one franc apiece remained out of the fifteen with which we +left Marseilles. B---- wrote home some time ago, directing a remittance +to be forwarded to a merchant at Paris, to whom he had a letter of +introduction, and in the hope that this had arrived, he determined to +enclose the letter in a note, stating our circumstances, and requesting +him to forward a part of the remittance to Lyons. We had then to wait at +least four days; people are suspicious and mistrustful in cities, and if +no relief should come, what was to be done? + +After wading through the mud of the suburbs, we chose a common-looking +inn near the river, as the comfort of our stay depended wholly on the +kindness of our hosts, and we hoped to find more sympathy among the +laboring classes. We engaged lodgings for four or five days; after +dinner the letter was dispatched, and we wandered about through the +dark, dirty city until night. Our landlord, Monsieur Ferrand, was a +rough, vigorous man, with a gloomy, discontented expression; his words +were few and blunt; but a certain restlessness of manner, and a secret +flashing of his cold, forbidding eye betrayed to me some strong hidden +excitement. Madame Ferrand was kind and talkative, though passionate; +but the appearance of the place gave me an unfavorable impression, which +was heightened by the thought that it was now impossible to change our +lodgings until relief should arrive. When bed-time came, a ladder was +placed against a sort of high platform along one side of the kitchen; we +mounted and found a bed, concealed from the view of those below by a +dusty muslin curtain. We lay there, between heaven and earth--the dirty +earth of the brick floor and the sooty heaven of the ceiling--listening +until midnight to the boisterous songs, and loud, angry disputes in the +room adjoining. Thus ended our first day in Lyons. + +Five weary days, each of them containing a month of torturing suspense, +have since passed. Our lodging-place grew so unpleasant that we +preferred wandering all day through the misty, muddy, smoky streets, +taking refuge in the covered bazaars when it rained heavily. The gloom +of every thing around us, entirely smothered down the lightness of heart +which made us laugh over our embarrassments at Vienna. When at evening, +the dull, leaden hue of the clouds seemed to make the air dark and cold +and heavy, we walked beside the swollen and turbid Rhone, under an +avenue of leafless trees, the damp soil chilling our feet and striking a +numbness through our frames, and _then_ I knew what those must feel who +have _no_ hope in their destitution, and not a friend in all the great +world, who is not wretched as themselves. I prize the lesson, though the +price of it is hard. + +"This morning," I said to B----, "will terminate our suspense." I felt +cheerful in spite of myself; and this was like a presentiment of coming +good luck. To pass the time till the mail arrived we climbed to the +chapel of _Fourvieres_, whose walls are covered with votive offerings to +a miraculous picture of the Virgin. But at the precise hour we were at +the Post Office. What an intensity of suspense can be felt in that +minute, while the clerk is looking over the letters! And what a +lightning-like shock of joy when it _did_ come, and was opened with +eager, trembling hands, revealing the relief we had almost despaired of! +The city did not seem less gloomy, for that was impossible, but the +faces of the crowd which had appeared cold and suspicious, were now kind +and cheerful. we came home to our lodgings with changed feelings, and +Madame Ferrand must have seen the joy in our faces, for she greeted us +with an unusual smile. + +We leave to-morrow morning for Chalons. I do not feel disposed to +describe Lyons particularly, although I have become intimately +acquainted with every part of it, from _Presqu' isle Perrache to Croix +Rousse_. I know the contents of every shop in the Bazaar, and the +passage of the Hotel Dieu--the title of every volume in the bookstores +in the Place Belcour--and the countenance of every boot-block and +apple-woman on the Quais on both sides of the river. I have walked up +the Saone to _Pierre Seise_--down the Rhone to his muddy +marriage--climbed the Heights of _Fourvieres_, and promenaded in the +_Cours Napoleon_! Why, men have been presented with the freedom of +cities, when they have had far less cause for such an honor than this! + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +TRAVELING IN BURGUNDY--THE MISERIES OF A COUNTRY DILIGENCE. + + +_Paris, Feb. 6, 1840._--Every letter of the date is traced with an +emotion of joy, for our dreary journey is over. There was a magic in the +name that revived us during a long journey, and now the thought that it +is all over--that these walls which enclose us, stand in the heart of +the gay city--seems almost too joyful to be true. Yesterday I marked +with the whitest chalk, on the blackest of all tablets to make the +contrast greater, for I got out of the cramped diligence at the Barriere +de Charenton, and saw before me in the morning twilight, the immense +groy mass of Paris. I forgot my numbed and stiffened frame, and every +other of the thousand disagreeable feelings of diligence traveling, in +the pleasure which that sight afforded. + +We arose in the dark at Lyons, and after bidding adieu to morose +Monsieur Ferrand, traversed the silent city and found our way in the +mist and gloom to the steamboat landing on the Saone. The waters were +swollen much above their usual level, which was favorable for the boat, +as long as there was room enough left to pass under the bridges. After a +great deal of bustle we got under way, and were dashing out of Lyons, +against the swift current, before day-break. We passed _L'Isle Barbe_, +once a favorite residence of Charlemagne, and now the haunt of the +Lyonnaise on summer holidays, and going under the suspension bridges +with levelled chimneys, entered the picturesque hills above, which are +covered with vineyards nearly to the top; the villages scattered over +them have those square, pointed towers, which give such a quaintness to +French country scenery. + +The stream being very high, the meadows on both sides were deeply +overflowed. To avoid the strong current in the centre, our boat ran +along the banks, pushing aside the alder thickets and poplar shoots; in +passing the bridges, the pipes were always brought down flat on the +deck. A little after noon, we passed the large town of Macon, the +birth-place of the poet Lamartine. The valley of the Saone, no longer +enclosed among the hills, spread out to several miles in width. Along +the west lay in sunshine the vine-mountains of Cote d'Or, and among the +dark clouds in the eastern sky, we could barely distinguish the outline +of the Jura. The waters were so much swollen as to cover the plain for +two or three miles. We seemed to be sailing down a lake, with rows of +trees springing up out of the water, and houses and villages lying like +islands on its surface. A sunset that promised better weather tinged the +broad brown flood, as Chalons came in sight, looking like a city built +along the shore of a lake. We squeezed through the crowd of porters and +diligence men, declining their kind offers, and hunted quarters to suit +ourselves. + +We left Chalons on the morning of the 1st, in high spirits at the +thought that there were but little more than two hundred miles between +us and Paris. In walking over the cold, muddy plain, we passed a family +of strolling musicians, who were sitting on a heap of stones by the +roadside. An ill-dressed, ill-natured man and woman, each carrying a +violin, and a thin, squalid girl, with a tamborine, composed the group. +Their faces bore that unfeeling stamp, which springs from depravity and +degradation. When we had walked somewhat more than a mile, we overtook a +little girl, who was crying bitterly. By her features, from which the +fresh beauty of childhood had not been worn, and the steel triangle +which was tied to her belt, we knew she belonged to the family we had +passed. Her dress was thin and ragged and a pair of wooden shoes but ill +protected her feet from the sharp cold. I stopped and asked her why she +cried, but she did not at first answer. However, by questioning, I found +her unfeeling parents had sent her on without food; she was sobbing with +hunger and cold. Our pockets were full of bread and cheese which we had +bought for breakfast, and we gave her half a loaf, which stopped her +tears at once. She looked up and thanked us, smiling; and sitting down +on a bank, began to eat as if half famished. + +The physiognomy of this region is very singular. It appears as if the +country had been originally a vast elevated plain, and some great power +had _scooped_ out, as with a hand, deep circular valleys all over its +surface. In winding along the high ridges, we often looked down, on +either side, into such hollows, several miles in diameter, and sometimes +entirely covered with vineyards. At La Rochepot, a quaint, antique +village, lying in the bottom of one of these dells, we saw the finest +ruin of the middle ages that I have met with in France. An American lady +had spoken to me of it in Rome, and I believe Willis mentions it in his +"Pencillings," but it is not described in the guide books, nor could we +learn what feudal lord had ever dwelt in its halls. It covers the summit +of a stately rock, at whose foot the village is crouched, and the green +ivy climbs up to the very top of its gray towers. + +As the road makes a wide curve around the side of the hill, we descended +to the village by the nearer foot-path, and passed among its low, old +houses, with their pointed gables and mossy roofs. The path led close +along the foot of the rock, and we climbed up to the ruin, and stood in +its grass-grown courtyard. Only the outer walls and the round towers at +each corner are left remaining; the inner part has been razed to the +ground, and where proud barons once marshalled their vassals, the +villagers now play their holiday games. On one side, several Gothic +windows are left standing, perfect, though of simple construction, and +in the towers we saw many fire-places and door-ways of richly cut stone, +which looked as fresh as if just erected. + +We passed the night at Ivry (not the Ivry which gained Henri Quatre his +kingdom) and then continued our march over roads which I can only +compare to our country roads in America during the spring thaw. In +addition to this, the rain commenced early in the morning and continued +all day, so that we were completely wet the whole time. The plains, too +high and cold to produce wine, were varied by forests of beech and oak, +and the population was thinly scattered over them in small villages. +Travelers generally complain very much of the monotony of this part of +France, and, with such dreary weather, we could not disagree with them. + +As the day wore on, the rain increased, and the sky put on that dull, +gray cast, which denotes a lengthened storm. We were fain to stop at +nightfall, but there was no inn near at hand--not even a hovel of a +_cabaret_ in which to shelter ourselves, and, on enquiring of the +wagoners, we received the comforting assurance that there was yet a +league and a half to the nearest stopping place. On, then, we went, with +the pitiless storm beating in our faces and on our breasts, till there +was not a dry spot left, except what our knapsacks covered. We could not +have been more completely saturated if we had been dipped in the Yonne. +At length, after two hours of slipping and sliding along in the mud and +wet and darkness, we reached Saulieu, and, by the warm fire, thanked our +stars that the day's dismal tramp was over. + +By good or bad luck (I have not yet decided which) a vehicle was to +start the next morning for Auxerre, distant sixty miles, and the fare +being but five francs, we thought it wisest to take places. It was +always with reluctance that we departed from our usual mode of +traveling, but, in the present instance, the circumstances absolutely +compelled it. + +Next morning, at sunrise, we took our seats in a large, square vehicle +on two wheels, calculated for six persons and a driver, with a single +horse. But, as he was fat and round as an elephant, and started off at a +brisk pace, and we were well protected from the rain, it was not so bad +after all, barring the jolts and jarred vertebrae. We drove on, over the +same dreary expanse of plain and forest, passing through two or three +towns in the course of the day, and by evening had made somewhat more +than half our journey. Owing to the slowness of our fresh horse, we were +jolted about the whole night, and did not arrive at Auxerre until six +o'clock in the morning. After waiting an hour in a hotel beside the +rushing Yonne, a lumbering diligence was got ready, and we were given +places to Paris for seven francs. As the distance is one hundred and ten +miles, this would be considered cheap, but I should not want to travel +it again and be paid for doing so. Twelve persons were packed into a box +not large enough for a cow, and no cabinet-maker ever dove-tailed the +corners of his bureaus tighter than we did our knees and nether +extremities. It is my lot to be blessed with abundance of stature, and +none but tall persons can appreciate the misery of sitting for hours +with their joints in an immovable vice. The closeness of the +atmosphere--for the passengers would not permit the windows to be opened +for fear of taking cold--combined with loss of sleep, made me so drowsy +that my head was continually falling on my next neighbor, who, being a +heavy country lady, thrust it indignantly away. I would then try my best +to keep it up awhile, but it would droop gradually, till the crash of a +bonnet or a smart bump against some other head would recall me, for a +moment, to consciousness. + +We passed Joigny, on the Yonne, Sens, with its glorious old cathedral, +and at dusk reached Montercau, on the Seine. This was the scene of one +of Napoleon's best victories, on his return from Elba. In driving over +the bridge, I looked down on the swift and swollen current, and hoped +that its hue might never be darkened again so fearfully as the last +sixty years have witnessed. No river in Europe has such an association +connected with it. We think of the Danube, for its majesty, of the +Rhine, for its wild beauty, but of the Seine--for its blood! + +In coming thus to the last famed stream I shall visit in Europe, I might +say, with Barry Cornwall: + + "We've sailed through banks of green, + Where the wild waves fret and quiver; + And we've down the Danube been-- + The dark, deep, thundering river! + We've thridded the Elbe and Rhone, + The Tiber and blood dyed Seine, + And we've been where the blue Garonne + Goes laughing to meet the main!" + +All that night did we endure squeezing and suffocation, and no morn was +ever more welcome than that which revealed to us Paris. With matted +hair, wild, glaring eyes, and dusty and dishevelled habiliments, we +entered the gay capital, and blessed every stone upon which we placed +our feet, in the fulness of our joy. + +In paying our fare at Auxerre, I was obliged to use a draft on the +banker, Rougemont de Lowenberg. The ignorant conductor hesitated to +change this, but permitted us to go, on condition of keeping it until we +should arrive. Therefore, on getting out of the diligence, after +forty-eight hours of sleepless and fasting misery, the _facteur_ of the +office went with me to get it paid, leaving B---- to wait for us. I knew +nothing of Paris, and this merciless man kept me for three hours at his +heels, following him on all _his_ errands, before he did mine, in that +time traversing the whole length of the city, in order to leave a +_chevre-feuille_ at an aristocratic residence in the Faubourg St. +Germain. Yet even combined weariness and hunger could not prevent me +from looking with vivid interest down a long avenue, at the Column of +the place Vendome, in passing, and gazing up in wonder at the splendid +portico of the Madeleine. But of anything else I have a very faint +remembrance. "You can eat breakfast, now, I think," said he, when we +returned, "we have walked more than four leagues!" + +I know we will be excused, that, instead of hurrying away to Notre Dame +or the Louvre, we sat down quietly to a most complete breakfast. Even +the most romantic must be forced to confess that admiration does not sit +well on an empty stomach. Our first walk was to a bath, and then, with +complexions several shades lighter, and limbs that felt us if lifted by +invisible wings, we hurried away to the Post Office. I seized the +welcome missives from my far home, with a beating heart, and hastening +back, read till the words became indistinct in the twilight. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +POETICAL SCENES IN PARIS. + + +What a gay little world in miniature this is! I wonder not that the +French, with their exuberant gaiety of spirit, should revel in its +ceaseless tides of pleasure, as if it were an earthly Elysium. I feel +already the influence of its cheerful atmosphere, and have rarely +threaded the crowds of a stranger city, with so light a heart as I do +now daily, on the thronged banks of the Seine. And yet it would be +difficult to describe wherein consists this agreeable peculiarity. You +can find streets as dark and crooked and dirty anywhere in Germany, and +squares and gardens as gay and sunny beyond the Alps, and yet they would +affect you far differently. You could not, as here, divest yourself of +every particle of sad or serious thought and be content to gaze for +hours on the showy scene, without an idea beyond the present moment. It +must be that the spirit of the croud is _magnetically_ contagious. + +The evening of our arrival we walked out past the massive and stately +_Hotel de Ville_, and took a promenade along the Quais. The shops facing +the river presented a scene of great splendor. Several of the Quais on +the north bank of the Seine are occupied almost entirely by jewellers, +the windows of whose shops, arranged in a style of the greatest taste, +make a dazzling display. Rows of gold watches and chains are arranged +across the crystal panes, and heaped in pyramids on long glass slabs; +cylindrical wheels of wire, hung with jewelled breastpins and earrings, +turn slowly around by some invisible agency, displaying row after row of +their glittering treasures. + +From the centre of the Pont Neuf, we could see for a long distance up +and down the river. The different bridges traced on either side a dozen +starry lines through the dark air, and a continued blaze lighted the +two shores in their whole length, revealing the outline of the Isle da +la Cite. I recognized the Palaces of the Louvre and the Tuileries in the +dusky mass beyond. Eastward, looming against the dark sky, I could +faintly trace the black towers of Notre Dame, The rushing of the swift +waters below mingled with the rattling of a thousand carts and +carriages, and the confusion of a thousand voices, till it seemed like +some grand nightly festival. + +I first saw Notre Dame by moonlight. The shadow of its stupendous front +was thrown directly towards me, hiding the innumerable lines of the +ornamental sculpture which cover its tall, square towers. I walked +forward until the interlacing, Moorish arches between them stood full +against the moon, and the light, struggling through the quaint openings +of the tracery, streamed in silver lines down into the shadow. The +square before it was quite deserted, for it stands on a lonely part of +the Isle de la Cite, and it looked thus far more majestic and solemn +than in the glaring daylight. + +The great quadrangle of the Tuileries encloses the Place du Carrousel, +in the centre of which stands a triumphal arch, erected by Napoleon +after his Italian victories. Standing in the middle of this arch, you +look through the open passage in the central building of the palace, +into the Gardens beyond. Further on, in a direct line, the middle avenue +of the Gardens extends away to the _Place de la Concorde_, where the +Obelisk of Luxor makes a perpendicular line through your vista; still +further goes the broad avenue through the Elysian Fields, until afar +off, the Arc de l'Etoile, _two miles distant_, closes this view through +the palace doorway. + +Let us go through it, and on, to the Place de la Concorde, reserving the +Gardens for another time. What is there in Europe--nay, in the +world,--equal to this? In the centre, the mighty obelisk of red granite +pierces the sky,--on either hand showers of silver spray are thrown up +from splendid bronze fountains--statues and pillars of gilded bronze +sweep in a grand circle around the square, and on each side magnificent +vistas lead the eye off, and combine the distant with the near, to +complete this unparalleled view! Eastward, beyond the tall trees in the +garden of the Tuileries, rises the long front of the Palace, with the +tri-color floating above; westward, in front of us, is the Forest of the +Elysian Fields, with the arch of triumph nearly a mile and a half +distant, looking down from the end of the avenue, at the Barriere de +Neuilly. To the right and left are the marble fronts of the Church of +the Madeleine and the Chamber of Deputies, the latter on the other side +of the Seine. Thus the groves and gardens of Paris--the palace of her +kings--the proud monument of her sons' glory--and the masterpieces of +modern French architecture are all embraced in this one splendid _coup +d'oeil_. + +Following the motley multitude to the bridge, I crossed and made my way +to the Hotel des Invalides. Along the esplanade, playful companies of +children were running and tumbling in their sports over the green turf, +which was as fresh as a meadow; while, not the least interesting feature +of the scene, numbers of scarred and disabled veterans, in the livery of +the Hospital, basked in the sunshine, watching with quiet satisfaction +the gambols of the second generation they have seen arise. What tales +could they not tell, those wrinkled and feeble old men! What visions of +Marengo and Austerlitz and Borodino shift still with a fiery vividness +through their fading memories! Some may have left a limb on the Lybian +desert; and the sabre of the Cossack may have scarred the brows of +others. They witnessed the rising and setting of that great meteor, +which intoxicated France with such a blaze of power and glory, and now, +when the recollection of that wonderful period seems almost like a +stormy dream, they are left to guard the ashes of their ancient General, +brought back from his exile to rest in the bosom of his own French +people. It was to me a touching and exciting thing, to look on those +whose eyes had witnessed the filling up of such a fated leaf in the +world's history. + +Entrance is denied to the tomb of Napoleon until it is finished, which +will not be for three or four yours yet. I went, however, into the +"Church of the Banners"--a large chapel, hung with two or three hundred +flags taken by the armies of the Empire. The greater part of them were +Austrian and Russian. It appeared to be empty when I entered, but on +looking around, I saw an old gray-headed soldier kneeling at one side. +His head was bowed over his hands, and he seemed perfectly absorbed in +his thoughts. Perhaps the very tattered banners which hung down +motionless above his head, he might have assisted in conquering. I +looked a moment on those eloquent trophies, and then noiselessly +withdrew. + +There is at least one solemn spot near Paris; the laughing winds that +come up from the merry city sink into sighs under the cypress boughs of +Pere Lachaise. And yet it is not a gloomy place, but full of a serious +beauty, fitting for a city of the dead. I shall never forget the sunny +afternoon when I first entered its gate and walked slowly up the hill, +between rows of tombs, gleaming white amid the heavy foliage, while the +green turf around them was just beginning to be starred by the opening +daisies, From the little chapel on its summit I looked back at the blue +spires of the city, whose roar of life dwindled to a low murmur. +Countless pyramids, obelisks and urns, rising far and wide above the +cedars and cypresses, showed the extent of the splendid necropolis, +which is inhabited by pale, shrouded emigrants from its living sister +below. The only sad part of the view, was the slope of the hill alloted +to the poor, where legions of plain black crosses are drawn up into +solid squares on its side and stand alone gloomy--the advanced guard of +the army of Death! I mused over the tombs of Moliere and La Fontaine; +Massena, Mortier and Lefebre; General Foy and Casimir Perier; and +finally descended to the shrine where Abelard reposes by the side of his +Heloise. The old sculptured tomb, brought away from the Paraclete, still +covers their remains, and pious hands (of lovers, perhaps,) keep fresh +the wreaths of _immortelles_ above their marble effigies. + +In the Theatre Francais, I saw Rachel, the actress. She appeared in the +character of "Virginia," in a tragedy of that name, by the poet Latour. +Her appearance as she came upon the stage alone, convinced me she would +not belie her renown. She is rather small in stature, with dark, +piercing eyes and rich black hair; her lips are full, but delicately +formed, and her features have a marked yet flexible outline, which +conveys the minutest shades of expression. Her voice is clear, deep and +thrilling, and like sonic grand strain of music, there is power and +meaning in its slightest modulations. Her gestures embody the very +spirit of the character; she has so perfectly attained that rare harmony +of thought, sound and action, or rather, that unity of feeling which +renders them harmonious, that her acting seems the unstudied, +irrepressible impulse of her soul. With the first sentence she uttered, +I forgot Rachel. I only saw the innocent Roman girl; I awaited in +suspense and with a powerful sympathy, the developement of the oft-told +tragedy. My blood grew warm with indignation when the words of Appius +roused her to anger, and I could scarcely keep back my tears, when, with +a voice broken by sobs, she bade farewell to the protecting gods of her +father's hearth. + +Among the bewildering variety of ancient ornaments and implements in the +Egyptian Gallery of the Louvre, I saw an object of startling interest. A +fragment of the Iliad, written nearly three thousand years ago! One may +even dare to conjecture that the torn and half-mouldered slip of +papyrus, upon which he gazes, may have been taken down from the lips of +the immortal Chiun. The eyes look on those faded characters, and across +the great gulf of Time, the soul leaps into the Past, brought into +shadowy nearness by a mirage of the mind. There, as in the desert, +images start up, vivid, yet of a vague and dreamy beauty. We see the +olive groves of Greece--white-robed youths and maidens sit in the shade +of swaying boughs--and one of them reads aloud, in words that sound like +the clashing of shields, the deeds of Achilles. + +As we step out the western portal of the Tuileries, a beautiful scene +greets us. We look on the palace garden, fragrant with flowers and +classic with bronze copies of ancient sculpture. Beyond this, broad +gravel walks divide the flower-bordered lawns and ranks of marble +demigods and heroes look down on the joyous crowd. Children troll their +hoops along the avenues or skip the rope under the clipped lindens, +whose boughs are now tinged a pale yellow by the bursting buds. The +swans glide about on a pond in the centre, begging bread of the +bystanders, who watch a miniature ship which the soft breeze carries +steadily across. Paris is unseen, but _heard_, on every side; only the +Column of Luxor and the Arc de Triomphe rise blue and grand above the +top of the forest. What with the sound of voices, the merry laughter of +the children and a host of smiling faces, the scene touches a happy +chord in one's heart, and he mingles with it, lost in pleasant reverie, +till the sounds fade away with the fading light. + +Just below the Baths of the Louvre, there are several floating barges +belonging to the washer-women, anchored at the foot of the great stone +staircase leading down to the water. They stand there day after day, +beating their clothes upon flat boards and rinsing them in the Seine. +One day there seemed to have been a wedding or some other cause of +rejoicing among them, for a large number of the youngest were talking in +great glee on one of the platforms of the staircase, while a handsome, +German-looking youth stood near, with a guitar slung around his neck. He +struck up a lively air, and the girls fell into a droll sort of a dance. +They went at it heavily and roughly enough, but made up in good humor +what they lacked in grace; the older members of the craft looked up from +their work with satisfaction and many shouts of applause wore sent down +to them from the spectators on the Quai and the Pont Neuf. Not content +with this, they seized on some luckless men who were descending the +steps, and clasping them with their powerful right arms, spun them +around like so many tops and sent them whizzing off at a tangent. Loud +bursts of laughter greeted this performance, and the stout river maidens +returned to their dance with redoubled spirit. + +Yesterday, the famous procession of the "_boeuf gras_" took place for +the second time, with great splendor. The order of march had been duly +announced beforehand, and by noon all the streets and squares through +which it was to pass, were crowded with waiting spectators. Mounted gens +d'armes rode constantly to and fro, to direct the passage of vehicles +and keep an open thoroughfare. Thousands of country peasants poured into +the city, the boys of whom were seen in all directions, blowing +distressingly through hollow ox-horns. Altogether, the spirit of +nonsense which animated the crowd, displayed itself very amusingly. + +A few mounted guards led the procession, followed by a band of music. +Then appeared Roman lictors and officers of sacrifice, leading +Dagobert, the famous bull of Normandy, destined to the honor of being +slaughtered as the Carnival beef. He trod rather tenderly, finding, no +doubt, a difference between the meadows of Caen and the pavements of +Paris, and I thought he would have been willing to forego his gilded +horns and flowery crown, to get back there again. His weight was said to +be four thousand pounds, and the bills pompously declared that he had no +rival in France, except the elephant in the _Jardin des Plantes_. + +After him came the farmer by whom he was raised, and M. Roland, the +butcher of the carnival, followed by a hundred of the same craft, +dressed as cavaliers of the different ages of France. They made a very +showy appearance, although the faded velvet and soiled tinsel of their +mantles were rather too apparent by daylight. + +After all these had gone by, came an enormous triumphal car, very +profusely covered with gilding and ornamental flowers. A fellow with +long woollen hair and beard, intended to represent Time, acted as +driver. In the car, under a gilded canopy, reposed a number of persons, +in blue silk smocks and yellow "fleshtights," said to be Venus, Apollo, +the Graces, &c. but I endeavored in vain to distinguish one divinity +from another. However, three children on the back seat, dressed in the +same style, with the addition of long flaxy ringlets, made very passable +Cupids. This closed the march; which passed onward towards the Place de +la Concorde, accompanied by the sounds of music and the shouts of the +mob. The broad, splendid line of Boulevards, which describe a +semi-circle around the heart of the city, were crowded, and for the +whole distance of three miles, it required no slight labor to make one's +way. People in masks and fancy costumes were continually passing and +re-passing, and I detected in more than one of the carriages, checks +rather too fair to suit the slouched hunter's hats which shaded them. It +seemed as if all Paris was taking a holiday, and resolved to make the +most of it. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +A GLIMPSE OF NORMANDY. + + +After a residence of five weeks, which, in spite of some few troubles, +passed away quickly and delightfully, I turned my back on Paris. It was +not regret I experienced on taking my seat in the cars for Versailles, +but that feeling of reluctance with which we leave places whose +brightness and gaiety force the mind away from serious toil. Steam, +however, cuts short all sentiment, and in much less time than it takes +to bid farewell to a German, we had whizzed past the Place d'Europe, +through the barrier, and were watching the spires start up from the +receding city, on the way to St. Cloud. + +At Versailles I spent three hours in a hasty walk through the palace, +which allowed but a bare glance at the gorgeous paintings of Horace +Vernet. His "Taking of Constantine" has the vivid look of reality. The +white houses shine in the sun, and from the bleached earth to the blue +and dazzling sky, there seems to hang a heavy, scorching atmosphere. The +white smoke of the artillery curls almost visibly off the canvass, and +the cracked and half-sprung walls look as if about to topple down on the +besiegers. One series of halls is devoted to the illustration of the +knightly chronicles of France, from the days of Charlemagne to those of +Bayard and Gaston de Foix. Among these pictured legends, I looked with +the deepest interest on that of the noble girl of Orleans. Her +countenance--the same in all these pictures and in a beautiful statue of +her, which stands in one of the corridors--is said to be copied from an +old and well-authenticated portrait. United to the sweetness and purity +of peasant beauty, she has the lofty brow and inspired expression of a +prophetess. There is a soft light in her full blue eye that does not +belong to earth. I wonder not the soldiery deemed her chosen by God to +lead them to successful battle; had I lived in those times I could have +followed her consecrated banner to the ends of the earth. In the statue, +she stands musing, with her head drooping forward, as if the weight of +the breastplate oppressed her woman's heart; the melancholy soul which +shines through the marble seems to forebode the fearful winding-up of +her eventful destiny. + +The afternoon was somewhat advanced, by the time I had seen the palace +and gardens. After a hurried dinner at a restaurant, I shouldered my +knapsack and took the road to St. Germain. The day was gloomy and +cheerless, and I should have felt very lonely but for the thought of +soon reaching England. There is no time of the year more melancholy than +a cold, cloudy day in March; whatever may be the beauties of pedestrian +traveling in fairer seasons, my experience dictates that during winter +storms and March glooms, it had better be dispensed with. However, I +pushed on to St. Germain, threaded its long streets, looked down from +the height over its magnificent tract of forest and turned westward down +the Seine. Owing to the scantiness of villages, I was obliged to walk an +hour and a half in the wind and darkness, before I reached a solitary +inn. As I opened the door and asked for lodging, the landlady inquired +if I had the necessary papers. I answered in the affirmative and was +admitted. While I was eating supper, they prepared their meal on the +other end of the small table and sat down together. They fell into the +error, so common to ignorant persons, of thinking a foreigner could not +understand them, and began talking quite unconcernedly about me. "Why +don't he take the railroad?" said the old man: "he must have very little +money--it would be bad for us if he had none." "Oh!" remarked his son, +"if he had none, he would not be sitting there so quiet and +unconcerned." I thought there was some knowledge of human nature in this +remark. "And besides," added the landlady, "there is no danger for us, +for we have his passport." Of course I enjoyed this in secret, and +mentally pardoned their suspicions, when I reflected that the high roads +between Paris and London are frequented by many imposters, which makes +the people naturally mistrustful. I walked all the next day through a +beautiful and richly cultivated country. The early fruit trees were +bursting into bloom, and the farmers led out their cattle to pasturage +in the fresh meadows. The scenery must be delightful in summer--worthy +of all that has been said or sung about lovely Normandy. On the morning +of the third day, before reaching Rouen, I saw at a distance the remains +of Chateau Galliard, the favorite castle of Richard Coeur de Lion. Rouen +breathes everywhere of the ancient times of Normandy. Nothing can be +more picturesque than its quaint, irregular wooden houses, and the low, +mossy mills, spanning the clear streams which rush through its streets. +The Cathedral, with its four towers, rises from among the clustered +cottages like a giant rook, split by the lightning and worn by the rains +of centuries is into a thousand fantastic shapes. + +Resuming my walk in the afternoon, I climbed the heights west of the +city, and after passing through a suburb four or five miles in length, +entered the vale of the Cailly. This is one of the sweetest scenes in +France. It lies among the woody hills like a Paradise, with its velvet +meadows and villas and breathing gardens. The grass was starred with +daisies and if I took a step into the oak and chesnut woods, I trampled +on thousands of anemones and fragrant daffodils. The upland plain, +stretching inward from the coast, wears a different character. As I +ascended, towards evening, and walked over its monotonous swells, I felt +almost homesick beneath its saddening influence. The sun, hazed over +with dull clouds, gave out that cold and lifeless light which is more +lonely than complete darkness. The wind, sweeping dismally over the +fields, sent clouds of blinding dust down the road, and as it passed +through the forests, the myriads of fine twigs sent up a sound as deep +and grand as the roar of a roused ocean. Every chink of the Norman +cottage where I slept, whistled most drearily, and as I looked out the +little window of my room, the trees were swaying in the gloom, and long, +black clouds scudded across the sky. Though my bed was poor and hard, it +was a sublime sound that cradled me into slumber. Homer might have used +it as the lullaby of Jove. + +My last day on the continent came. I rose early and walked over the +hills towards Dieppe. The scenery grew more bleak as I approached the +sea, but the low and sheltered valleys preserved the pastoral look of +the interior. In the afternoon, as I climbed a long, elevated ridge, +over which a strong northwester was blowing, I was struck with a +beautiful rustic church, in one of the dells below me. While admiring +its neat tower I had gained unconsciously the summit of the hill, and on +turning suddenly around, lo! there was the glorious old Atlantic +stretching far before and around me! A shower was sweeping mistily along +the horizon and I could trace the white line of the breakers that foamed +at the foot of the cliffs. The scene came over me like a vivid electric +shock, and I gave an involuntary shout, which might have been heard in +all the valleys around. After a year and a half of wandering over the +continent, that gray ocean was something to be revered and loved, for it +clasped the shores of my native America. + +I entered Dieppe in a heavy shower, and after finding an inn suited to +my means and obtaining a _permis d'embarquement_ from the police office, +I went out to the battlements and looked again on the sea. The landlord +promised to call me in time for the boat, but my anxiety waked me +sooner, and mistaking the strokes of the cathedral bell, I shouldered my +knapsack and went down to the wharf at one o'clock. No one was stirring +on board the boat, and I was obliged to pace the silent, gloomy streets +of the town for two hours. I watched the steamer glide out on the rainy +channel, and turning into the topmost berth, drew the sliding curtain +and strove to keep out cold and sea-sickness. But it was unavailing; a +heavy storm of snow and rain rendered our passage so dreary that I did +not stir until we were approaching the chain pier of Brighton. + +I looked out on the foggy shores of England with a feeling of relief; my +tongue would now be freed from the difficult bondage of foreign +languages, and my ears be rejoiced with the music of my own. After two +hours' delay at the Custom House, I took my seat in an open car for +London. The day was dull and cold; the sun resembled a milky blotch in +the midst of a leaden sky. I sat and shivered, as we flew onward, amid +the rich, cultivated English scenery. At last the fog grew thicker; the +road was carried over the tops of houses; the familiar dome of St. +Paul's stood out above the spires; and I was again in London! + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +LOCKHART, BERNARD BARTON AND CROLY--LONDON CHIMES AND GREENWICH FAIR. + + +My circumstances, on arriving at London, were again very reduced. A +franc and a half constituted the whole of my funds. This, joined to the +knowledge of London expenses, rendered instant exertion necessary, to +prevent still greater embarrassment. I called on a printer the next +morning, hoping to procure work, but found, as I had no documents with +me to show I had served a regular apprenticeship, this would be +extremely difficult, although workmen were in great demand. Mr. Putnam, +however, on whom I had previously called, gave me employment for a time +in his publishing establishment, and thus I was fortunately enabled to +await the arrival of a remittance from home. + +Mrs. Trollope, whom I met in Florence, kindly gave me a letter to +Murray, the publisher, and I visited him soon after my arrival. In his +library I saw the original portraits of Byron, Moore, Campbell and the +other authors who were intimate with him and his father. A day or two +afterwards I had the good fortune to breakfast with Lockhart and Bernard +Barton, at the house of the former. Mr. Murray, through whom the +invitation was given, accompanied me there. As it was late when we +arrived at Regent's Park, we found them waiting, and sat down +immediately to breakfast. + +I was much pleased with Lockhart's appearance and manners. He has a +noble, manly countenance--in fact, the handsomest English face I ever +saw--a quick, dark eye and an ample forehead, shaded by locks which +show, as yet, but few threads of gray. There is a peculiar charm in his +rich, soft voice; especially when reciting poetry, it has a clear, +organ-like vibration, which thrills deliciously on the ear. His +daughter, who sat at the head of the table, is a most lovely and amiable +girl. + +Bernard Burton, who is now quite an old man, is a very lively and +sociable Friend. His head is gray and almost bald, but there is still +plenty of fire in his eyes and life in his limbs. His many kind and +amiable qualities endear him to a large circle of literary friends. He +still continues writing, and within the last year has brought out a +volume of simple, touching "Household Verses." A picture of cheerful and +contented old age has never been more briefly and beautifully drawn, +than in the following lines, which he sent me, in answer to my desire to +possess one of his poems in his own hand: + + STANZAS. + + I feel that I am growing old, + Nor wish to hide that truth; + Conscious my heart is not more cold + Than in my by-gone youth. + + I cannot roam the country round, + As I was wont to do; + My feet a scantier circle bound, + My eyes a narrower view. + + But on my mental vision rise + Bright scenes of beauty still: + Morn's splendor, evening's glowing skies, + Valley, and grove, and hill. + + Nor can infirmities o'erwhelm + The purer pleasures brought + From the immortal spirit's realm + Of feeling and of Thought! + + My heart! let not dismay or doubt + In thee an entrance win! + Thou _hast_ enjoyed thyself _without_-- + _Now seek thy joy within_! + +During breakfast he related to us a pleasant anecdote of Scott. He once +wrote to the poet in behalf of a young lady, who wished to have the +description of Melrose, in the "Lay of the last Minstrel," in the poet's +own writing. Scott sent it, but added these lines to the conclusion: + + "Then go, and muse with deepest awe + On what the writer never saw; + Who would not wander 'neath the moon + To see what he could see at noon!" + +We went afterwards into Lockhart's library, which was full of +interesting objects. I saw the private diary of Scott, kept until within +a short time of his death. It was melancholy to trace the gradual +failing of all his energies in the very wavering of the autograph. In a +large volume of his correspondence, containing letters from Campbell, +Wordsworth, Byron, and all the distinguished characters of the age, I +saw Campbell's "Battle of the Baltic" in his own hand. I was highly +interested and gratified with the whole visit; the more so, as Mr. +Lockhart had invited me voluntarily, without previous acquaintance. I +have since heard him spoken of in the highest terms of esteem. + +I went one Sunday to the Church of St. Stephen, to hear Croly, the poet. +The service, read by a drowsy clerk, was long and monotonous; I sat in a +side-aisle, looking up at the dome, and listening to the rain which +dashed in torrents against the windowpanes. At last, a tall, gray-haired +man came down the passage. He bowed with a sad smile, so full of +benevolence and resignation, that it went into my heart at once, and I +gave him an involuntary tribute of sympathy. He has a heavy affliction +to bear--the death of his gallant son, one of the officers who were +slain in the late battle of Ferozeshaw. His whole manner betrays the +tokens of subdued but constant grief. + +His sermon was peculiarly finished and appropriate; the language was +clear and forcible, without that splendor of thought and dazzling +vividness of imagery which mark "Salathiel." Yet I could not help +noticing that he delighted to dwell on the spiritualities of religion, +rather than its outward observances, which he seemed inclined to hurry +over as lightly as possible. His mild, gray eye and lofty forehead are +more like the benevolent divine than the poet. I thought of Salathiel, +and looked at the dignified, sorrowful man before me. The picture of the +accursed Judean vanished, and his own solemn lines rang on my ear: + + "The mighty grave + Wraps lord and slave, + Nor pride, nor poverty dares come + Within that prison-house, that tomb!" + +Whenever I hear them, or think of them again, I shall see, in memory, +Croly's calm, pale countenance. + + "The chimes, the chimes of Mother-land, + Of England, green and old; + That out from thane and ivied tower + A thousand years have tolled!" + +I often thought of Coxe's beautiful ballad, when, after a day spent in +Waterloo Place, I have listened, on my way homeward, to the chimes of +Mary-le-bone Chapel, sounding sweetly and clearly above all the din of +the Strand. There is something in their silvery vibration, which is far +more expressive than the ordinary tones of a bell. The ear becomes weary +of a continued toll--the sound of some bells seems to have nothing more +in it than the ordinary clang of metal--but these simple notes, +following one another so melodiously, fall on the ear, stunned by the +ceaseless roar of carriages or the mingled cries of the mob, as gently +and gratefully as drops of dew. Whether it be morning, and they ring out +louder and deeper through the mist, or midnight, when the vast ocean of +being beneath them surges less noisily than its wont, they are alike +full of melody and poetry. I have often paused, deep in the night, to +hear those clear tones, dropping down from the darkness, thrilling, with +their full, tremulous sweetness, the still air of the lighted Strand, +and winding away through dark, silent lanes and solitary courts, till +the ear of the care-worn watcher is scarcely stirred with their dying +vibrations. They seemed like those spirit-voices, which, at such times, +speak almost audibly to the heart. How delicious it must be, to those +who dwell within the limits of their sound, to wake from some happy +dream and hear those chimes blending in with their midnight fancies, +like the musical echo of the promised bliss. I love these eloquent +bells, and I think there must be many, living out a life of misery and +suffering, to whom their tones come with an almost human consolation. +The natures of the very cockneys, who never go without the horizon of +their vibrations, is, to my mind, invested with _one_ hue of poetry! + +A few days ago, an American friend invited me to accompany him to +Greenwich Fair. We took a penny steamer from Hungerford Market to London +Bridge, and jumped into the cars, which go every live minutes. Twelve +minutes' ride above the chimneys of London and the vegetable-fields of +Rotherhithe and Deptford brought us to Greenwich, we followed the stream +of people which was flowing from all parts of the city into the Park. + +Here began the merriment. We heard on every side the noise of the +"scratchers," or, as the venders of these articles denominated +them--"the fun of the fair." By this is meant a little notched wheel, +with a piece of wood fastened on it, like a miniature watchman's rattle. +The "fun" consists in drawing them down the back of any one you pass, +when they make a sound precisely like that of ripping cloth. The women +take great delight in this, and as it is only deemed politeness to +return the compliment, we soon had enough to do. Nobody seemed to take +the diversion amiss, but it was so irresistibly droll to see a large +crowd engaged in this singular amusement, that we both burst into hearty +laughter. + +As we began ascending Greenwich Hill, we were assailed with another kind +of game. The ground was covered with smashed oranges, with which the +people above and below were stoutly pelting each other. Half a dozen +heavy ones whizzed uncomfortably near my head as I went up, and I saw +several persons get the full benefit of a shot on their backs and +breasts. The young country lads and lasses amused themselves by running +at full spend down the steep side of a hill. This was, however, a feat +attended with some risk; for I saw one luckless girl describe an arc of +a circle, of which her feet was the centre and her body the radius. All +was noise and nonsense. They ran to and fro under the long, hoary bough +of the venerable oaks that crest the summit, and clattered down the +magnificent forest-avenues, whose budding foliage gave them little +shelter from the passing April showers. + +The view from the top is splendid. The stately Thames curves through the +plain below, which loses itself afar off in the mist; Greenwich, with +its massive hospital, lies just at one's feet, and in a clear day the +domes of London skirt the horizon. The wood of the Park is entirely +oak--the majestic, dignified, English oak--which covers, in picturesque +clumps, the sides and summits of the two billowy hills. It must be a +sweet place in summer, when the dark, massive foliage is heavy on every +mossy arm, and the smooth and curving sward shines with thousands of +field-flowers. + +Owing to the showers, the streets were coated with mud, of a consistence +as soft and yielding as the most fleecy Persian carpet. Near the gate, +boys were holding scores of donkeys, which they offered us at threepence +for a ride of two miles. We walked down towards the river, and came at +last to a group of tumblers, who with muddy hands and feet were throwing +somersets in the open street. I recognized them as old acquaintances of +the Rue St. Antoine and the Champs Elysees; but the little boy who cried +before, because he did not want to bend his head and foot into a ring, +like a hoop-snake, had learned his part better by this time, so that he +went through it all without whimpering and came off with only a fiery +red face. The exercises of the young gentlemen were of course very +graceful and classic, and the effect of their _poses_ of strength was +very much heightened by the muddy foot-marks which they left on each +other's orange-colored skins. + +The avenue of booths was still more diverting. Here under sheets of +leaky awning, were exposed for sale rows of gilded gingerbread kings and +queens, and I cannot remember how many men and women held me fast by the +arms, determined to force me into buying a pound of them. We paused at +the sign: "SIGNOR URBANI'S GRAND MAGICAL DISPLAY." The title was +attractive, so we paid the penny admission, and walked behind the dark, +mysterious curtain. Two bare brick walls, three benches and a little boy +appeared to us. A sheet hung before us upon which quivered the shadow of +some terrible head. At my friend's command, the boy (also a spectator) +put out the light, when the awful and grinning face of a black woman +became visible. While we were admiring this striking production, thus +mysteriously revealed, Signor Urbani came in, and seeing no hope of any +more spectators, went behind the curtain and startled our sensitive +nerves with six or seven skeleton and devil apparitions, winding up the +wonderful entertainment with the same black head. We signified our +entire approbation by due applause and then went out to seek further +novelties. + +The centre of the square was occupied by swings, where some eight or ten +boat-loads of persons were flying topsy-turvy into the air, making one +giddy to look at them, and constant fearful shrieks arose from the lady +swingers, at finding themselves in a horizontal or inverted position, +high above the ground. One of the machines was like a great wheel, with +four cars attached, which mounted and descended with their motley +freight. We got into the boat by way of experiment. The starting motion +was pleasant, but very soon it flew with a swiftness and to a height +rather alarming. I began to repent having chosen such a mode of +amusement, but held on as well as I could, in my uneasy place. Presently +we mounted till the long beam of our boat was horizontal; at one +instant, I saw three young ladies below me, with their heads downward, +like a shadow in the water--the next I was turned heels up, looking at +thorn as a shadow does at its original. I was fast becoming sea-sick, +when, after a few minutes of such giddy soaring, the ropes were +slackened and we all got out, looking somewhat pale, and feeling +nervous, if nothing else. + +There were also many great tents, hung with boughs and lighted with +innumerable colored lamps, where the people danced their country dances +in a choking cloud of dry saw-dust. Conjurors and gymnastic performers +were showing off on conspicuous platforms, and a continual sound of +drums, cymbals and shrill trumpets called the attention of the crowd to +some "Wonderful Exhibition"--some infant phenomenon, giant, or +three-headed pig. A great part of the crowd belonged evidently to the +very worst part of society, but the watchfulness of the police prevented +any open disorder. We came away early and in a quarter of an hour were +in busy London, leaving far behind us the revel and debauch, which was +prolonged through the whole night. + +London has the advantage of one of the most gloomy atmospheres in the +world. During this opening spring weather, no light and scarcely any +warmth can penetrate the dull, yellowish-gray mist, which incessantly +hangs over the city. Sometimes at noon we have for an hour or two a +sickly gleam of sunshine, but it is soon swallowed up by the smoke and +drizzling fog. The people carry umbrellas at all times, for the rain +seems to drop spontaneously out of the very air, without wailing for the +usual preparation of a gathering cloud. Professor Espy's rules would be +of little avail here. + +A few days ago we had a real fog--a specimen of November weather, as the +people said. If November wears such a mantle, London, during that sober +month, must furnish a good idea of the gloom of Hades. The streets wore +wrapped in a veil of dense mist, of a dirty yellow color, as if the air +had suddenly grown thick and mouldy. The houses on the opposite sides of +the street were invisible, and the gas lamps, lighted in the shops, +burned with a white and ghastly flame. Carriages ran together in the +streets, and I was kept constantly on the look-out, lest some one should +come suddenly out of the cloud around me, and we should meet with a +shock like that of two knights at a tournament. As I stood in the centre +of Trafalgar Square, with every object invisible around me, it reminded +me, (hoping the comparison will not be accepted in every particular) of +Satan resting in the middle of Chaos. The weather sometimes continues +thus for whole days together. + +_April 26._--An hour and a half of land are still allowed us, and then +we shall set foot on the back of the oak-ribbed leviathan, which will be +our home until a thousand leagues of blue ocean are crossed. I shall +hear the old Aldgate clock strike for the last time--I shall take a last +walk through the Minories and past the Tower yard, and as we glide down +the Thames, St. Pauls, half-hidden in mist and coal-smoke, will probably +be my last glimpse of London. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +HOMEWARD BOUND----CONCLUSION. + + +We slid out of St. Katharine's Dock at noon on the appointed day, and +with a pair of sooty steamboats hitched to our vessel, moved slowly down +the Thames in mist and drizzling rain. I stayed on the wet deck all +afternoon, that I might more forcibly and joyously feel we were again in +motion on the waters and homeward bound! My attention was divided +between the dreary views of Blackwall, Greenwich and Woolwich, and the +motley throng of passengers who were to form our ocean society. An +English family, going out to settle in Canada, were gathered together in +great distress and anxiety, for the father had gone ashore in London at +a late hour, and was left behind. When we anchored for the night at +Gravesend, their fears were quieted by his arrival in a skiff from the +shore, as he had immediately followed us by railroad. + +My cousin and B---- had hastened on from Paris to join me, and a day +before the sailing of the "Victoria," we took berths in the second +cabin, for twelve pounds ten shillings each, which in the London line of +packets, includes coarse but substantial fare for the whole voyage. Our +funds were insufficient to pay even this; but Captain Morgan, less +mistrustful than my Norman landlord, generously agreed that the +remainder of the fare should be paid in America. B---- and I, with two +young Englishmen, took possession of a State-room of rough boards, +lighted by a bull's-eye, which in stormy weather leaked so much that our +trunks swam in water. A narrow mattrass and blanket, with a knapsack for +a pillow, formed a passable bed. A long entry between the rooms, lighted +by a feeble swinging lamp, was filled with a board table, around which +the thirty-two second cabin passengers met to discuss politics and salt +pork, favorable winds and hard sea-biscuit. + +We lay becalmed opposite Sheerness the whole of the second day. At dusk +a sudden squall came up, which drove us foaming towards the North +Foreland. When I went on deck in the morning, we had passed Dover and +Brighton, and the Isle of Wight was rising dim ahead of us. The low +English coast on our right was bordered by long reaches of dazzling +chalky sand, which glittered along the calm blue water. + +Gliding into the Bay of Portsmouth, we dropped anchor opposite the +romantic town of Ryde, built on the sloping shore of the green Isle of +Wight. Eight or nine vessels of the Experimental Squadron were anchored +near us, and over the houses of Portsmouth, I saw the masts of the +Victory--the flag-ship in the battle of Trafalgar, on board of which +Nelson was killed. The wind was not strong enough to permit the passage +of the Needles, so at midnight we succeeded in wearing back again into +the channel, around the Isle of Wight. A head wind forced us to tack +away towards the shore of France. We were twice in sight of the rocky +coast of Brittany, near Cherbourg, but the misty promontory of Land's +End was our last glimpse of the old world. + +On one of our first days at sea, I caught a curlew, which came flying on +weary wings towards us, and alighted on one of the boats. Two of his +brethren, too much exhausted or too timid to do likewise, dropped flat +on the waves and resigned themselves to their fate without a struggle. I +slipped up and caught his long, lank legs, while he was resting with +flagging wings and half-shut eyes. We fed him, though it was difficult +to get anything down his reed-shaped bill; but he took kindly to our +force-work, and when we let him loose on the deck, walked about with an +air quite tame and familiar. He died, however, two days afterwards. A +French pigeon, which was caught in the rigging, lived and throve during +the whole of the passage. + +A few days afterwards, a heavy storm came on, and we were all sleepless +and sea-sick, as long as it lasted. Thanks, however, to a beautiful law +of memory, the recollection of that dismal period soon lost its +unpleasantness, while the grand forms of beauty the vexed ocean +presented, will remain forever, as distinct and abiding images. I kept +on deck as long as I could stand, watching the giant waves over which +our vessel took her course. They rolled up towards us, thirty or forty +feet in height--dark gray masses, changing to a beautiful vitriol tint, +wherever the light struck through their countless and changing crests. +It was a glorious thing to see our good ship mount slowly up the side of +one of these watery lulls, till her prow was lifted high in air, then, +rocking over its brow, plunge with a slight quiver downward, and plough +up a briny cataract, as she struck the vale. I never before realized the +terrible sublimity of the sea. And yet it was a pride to see how +man--strong in his godlike will--could bid defiance to those whelming +surges, and bravo their wrath unharmed. + +We swung up and down on the billows, till we scarcely knew which way to +stand. The most grave and sober personages suddenly found themselves +reeling in a very undignified manner, and not a few measured their +lengths on the slippery decks. Boxes and barrels were affected in like +manner; everything danced around us. Trunks ran out from under the +berths; packages leaped down from the shelves; chairs skipped across the +rooms, and at table, knives, forks and mugs engaged in a general waltz +and _break down_. One incident of this kind was rather laughable. One +night, about midnight, the gale, which had been blowing violently, +suddenly lulled, "as if," to use a sailor's phrase, "it had been chopped +off!" Instantly the ship gave a tremendous lurch, which was the signal +for a general breaking loose. Two or three others followed, so violent, +that for a moment I imagined the vessel had been thrown on her beam +ends. Trunks, crockery and barrels went banging down from one end of the +ship to the other. The women in the steerage set up an awful scream, and +the German emigrants, thinking we were in terrible danger, commenced +praying with might and main. In the passage near our room stood several +barrels, filled with broken dishes, which at every lurch went banging +from side to side, jarring the board partition and making a horrible +din. I shall not soon forget the Babel which kept our eyes open that +night. + +The 19th of May a calm came on. Our white wings flapped idly on the +mast, and only the top-gallant sails were bent enough occasionally to +lug us along at a mile an hour. A barque from Ceylon, making the most of +the wind, with every rag of canvass set, passed us slowly on the way +eastward. The sun went down unclouded, and a glorious starry night +brooded over us. Its clearness and brightness were to me indications of +America. I longed to be on shore. The forests about home were then +clothed in the delicate green of their first leaves, and that bland +weather embraced the sweet earth like a blessing of heaven. The gentle +breath from out the west seemed made for the odor of violets, and as it +came to me over the slightly-ruflled deep, I thought how much sweeter it +were to feel it, while "wasting in wood-paths the voluptuous hours." + +Soon afterwards a fresh wind sprung up, which increased rapidly, till +every sail was bent to the full. Our vessel parted the brine with an +arrowy glide, the ease and grace of which it is impossible to describe. +The breeze held on steadily for two or three days, which brought us to +the southern extremity of the Banks. Here the air felt so sharp and +chilling, that I was afraid we might be under the lee of an iceberg, but +in the evening the dull gray mass of clouds lifted themselves from the +horizon, and the sun set in clear, American beauty away beyond Labrador. +The next morning we were enveloped in a dense fog, and the wind which +bore us onward was of a piercing coldness. A sharp look-out was kept on +the bow, but as we could see but a short distance, it might have been +dangerous had we met one of the Arctic squadron. At noon it cleared away +again, and the bank of fog was visible a long time astern, piled along +the horizon, reminding me of the Alps, as seen from the plains of +Piedmont. + +On the 31st, the fortunate wind which carried us from the Banks, failed +us about thirty-five miles from Sandy Hook. We lay in the midst of the +mackerel fishery, with small schooners anchored all around us. Fog, +dense and impenetrable, weighed on the moveless ocean, like an +atmosphere of wool. The only incident to break the horrid monotony of +the day, was the arrival of a pilot, with one or two newspapers, +detailing the account of the Mexican War. We heard in the afternoon the +booming of the surf along the low beach of Long Island--hollow and +faint, like the murmur of a shell. When the mist lifted a little, we +saw the faint line of breakers along the shore. The Germans gathered on +deck to sing their old, familiar songs, and their voices blended +beautifully together in the stillness. + +Next morning at sunrise we saw Sandy Hook; at nine o'clock we were +telegraphed in New York by the station at Coney Island; at eleven the +steamer "Hercules" met us outside the Hook; and at noon we were gliding +up the Narrows, with the whole ship's company of four hundred persons on +deck, gazing on the beautiful shores of Staten Island and agreeing +almost universally, that it was the most delightful scene they had ever +looked upon. + +And now I close the story of my long wandering, as I began it--with a +lay written on the deep. + + HOMEWARD BOUND. + + + Farewell to Europe! Days have come and gone + Since misty England set behind the sea. + Our ship climbs onward o'er the lifted waves, + That gather up in ridges, mountain-high, + And like a sea-god, conscious in his power, + Buffets the surges. Storm-arousing winds + That sweep, unchecked, from frozen Labrador, + Make wintry music through the creaking shrouds. + Th' horizon's ring, that clasps the dreary view, + Lays mistily upon the gray Atlantic's breast. + Shut out, at times, by bulk of sparry blue, + That, rolling near us, heaves the swaying prow + High on its shoulders, to descend again + Ploughing a thousand cascades, and around + Spreading the frothy foam. These watery gulfs, + With storm, and winds far-sweeping, hem us in, + Alone upon the waters! + + Days must pass-- + Many and weary--between sea and sky. + Our eyes, that long e'en now for the fresh green + Of sprouting forests, and the far blue stretch + Of regal mountains piled along the sky, + Must see, for many an eve, the level sun + Sheathe, with his latest gold, the heaving brine, + By thousand ripples shivered, or Night's pomp + Brooding in silence, ebon and profound, + Upon the murmuring darkness of the deep, + Broken by flashings, that the parted wave + Sends white and star-like throujch its bursting foam. + Yet not more dear the opening dawn of heaven + Poured on the earth in an Italian May, + When souls take wings upon the scented air + Of starry meadows, and the yearning heart + Pains with deep sweetness in the balmy time, + Than these gray morns, and days of misty blue, + And surges, never-ceasing;--for our prow + Points to the sunset like a morning ray, + And o'er the waves, and through the sweeping storms, + Through day and darkness, rushes ever on, + Westward and westward still! What joy can send + The spirit thrilling onward with the wind, + In untamed exultation, like the thought + That fills the Homeward Bound? + + Country and home! + Ah! not the charm of silver-tongued romance, + Born of the feudal time, nor whatsoe'er + Of dying glory fills the golden realms + Of perished song, where heaven-descended Art + Still boasts her later triumphs, can compare + With that one thought of liberty inherited-- + Of free life giv'n by fathers who were free, + And to be left to children freer still! + That pride and consciousness of manhood, caught + From boyish musings on the holy graves + Of hero-martyrs, and from every form + Which virgin Nature, mighty and unchained, + Takes in an empire not less proudly so-- + Inspired in mountain airs, untainted yet + By thousand generations' breathing--felt + Like a near presence in the awful depths + Of unhewn forests, and upon the steep + Where giant rivers take their maddening plunge-- + Has grown impatient of the stifling damps + Which hover close on Europe's shackled soil. + Content to tread awhile the holy steps + Of Art and Genius, sacred through all time, + The spirit breathed that dull, oppressive air-- + Which, freighted with its tyrant-clouds, o'erweighs + The upward throb of many a nation's soul-- + Amid those olden memories, felt the thrall. + But kept the birth-right of its freer home, + Here, on the world's blue highway, comes again + The voice of Freedom, heard amid the roar + Of sundered billows, while above the wave + Rise visions of the forest and the stream. + Like trailing robes the morning mists uproll, + Torn by the mountain pines; the flashing rills + Shout downward through the hollows of the vales; + Down the great river's bosom shining sails + Glide with a gradual motion, while from all-- + Hamlet, and bowered homestead, and proud town-- + Voices of joy ring up into heaven! + + Yet louder, winds! Urge on our keel, ye waves, + Swift as the spirit's yearnings! We would ride + With a loud stormy motion o'er your crests, + With tempests shouting like a sudden joy-- + Interpreting our triumph! 'Tis your voice, + Ye unchained elements, alone can speak + The sympathetic feeling of the free-- + The arrowy impulse of the Homeward Bound! + + * * * * * + +Although the narrative of my journey, "with knapsack and staff," is now +strictly finished, a few more words of explanation seem necessary, to +describe more fully the method of traveling which we adopted. I add them +the more willingly, as it is my belief that many, whose circumstances +are similar to mine, desire to undertake the same romantic journey. Some +matter-of-fact statements may be to them useful as well as interesting. + +We found the pedestrian style not only by far the best way to become +acquainted with the people and sceneryof a country, but the pleasantest +mode of traveling. To be sure, the knapsack was, at first, rather heavy, +our feet were often sore and our limbs weary, but a few days walking +made a great difference, and after we had traveled two weeks, this +disappeared altogether. Every morning we rose as fresh and strong as if +it had been the first day--even after a walk of thirty miles, we felt +but little fatigue. We enjoyed slumber in its fullest luxury, and our +spirits were always light and joyous. We made it a rule to pay no regard +to the weather, unless it was so bad as to render walking unhealthy. +Often, during the day, we rested for half an hour on the grassy bank, +or sometimes, if it was warm weather, lay at full length in the shade +with our knapsacks under our heads. This is a pleasure which none but +the pedestrian can comprehend. + +We always accepted a companion, of whatever kind, while walking--from +chimney-sweeps to barons. In a strange country one can learn something +from every peasant, and we neglected no opportunity, not only to obtain +information, but impart it. We found everywhere great curiosity +respecting America, and we were always glad to tell them all they wished +to know. In Germany, we were generally taken for Germans from some part +of the country where the dialect was a little different, or, if they +remarked our foreign peculiarities, they supposed we were either Poles, +Russians, or Swiss. The greatest ignorance in relation to America, +prevails among the common people. They imagine we are a savage race, +without intelligence and almost without law. Persons of education, who +had some slight knowledge of our history, showed a curiosity to know +something of our political condition. They are taught by the German +newspapers (which are under a strict censorship in this respect) to look +only at the evil in our country, and they almost invariably began by +adverting to Slavery and Repudiation. While we admitted, often with +shame and mortification, the existence of things so inconsistent with +true republicanism, we endeavored to make them comprehend the advantages +enjoyed by the free citizen--the complete equality of birth--which +places America, despite her sins, far above any other nation on earth. I +could plainly see, by the kindling eye and half-suppressed sigh, that +they appreciated a freedom so immeasurably greater than that which they +enjoyed. + +In large cities we always preferred to take the second or third-rate +hotels, which are generally visited by merchants and persons who travel +on business; for, with the same comforts as the first rank, they are +nearly twice as cheap. A traveler, with a guide-book and a good pair of +eyes, can also dispense with the services of a _courier_, whose duty it +is to conduct strangers about the city, from one lion to another. We +chose rather to find out and view the "sights" at our leisure. In small +villages, where we were often obliged to stop, we chose the best hotels, +which, particularly in Northern Germany and in Italy, are none too +good. But if it was a _post_, that is, a town where the post-chaise +stops to change horses, we usually avoided the post-hotel, where one +must pay high for having curtains before his windows and a more elegant +cover on his bed. In the less splendid country inns, we always found +neat, comfortable lodging, and a pleasant, friendly reception from the +people. They saluted us on entering, with "Be you welcome," and on +leaving, wished us a pleasant journey and good fortune. The host, when +he brought us supper or breakfast, lifted his cap, and wished us a good +appetite--and when he lighted us to our chambers, left us with "May you +sleep well!" We generally found honest, friendly people; they delighted +in telling us about the country around; what ruins there were in the +neighborhood--and what strange legends were connected with them. The +only part of Europe where it is unpleasant to travel in this manner, is +Bohemia. We could rarely find a comfortable inn; the people all spoke an +unknown language, and were not particularly celebrated for their +honesty. Beside this, travelers rarely go on foot in those regions; we +were frequently taken for traveling handworker, and subjected to +imposition. + +With regard to passports, although they were vexatious and often +expensive, we found little difficulty when we had acquainted ourselves +with the regulations concerning them. In France and Germany they are +comparatively little trouble; in Italy they are the traveler's greatest +annoyance. Americans are treated with less strictness, in this respect, +than citizens of other nations, and, owing to the absence of rank among +us, we also enjoy greater advantages of acquaintance and intercourse. + +The expenses of traveling in England, although much greater than in our +own country, may, as we learned by experience, be brought, through +economy, within the same compass. Indeed, it is my belief, from +observation, that, with few exceptions, throughout Europe, where a +traveler enjoys the same comfort and abundance as in America, he must +pay the same prices. The principal difference is, that he only pays for +what he gets, so that, if he be content with the necessities of life, +without its luxuries, the expense is in proportion. I have given, at +times, through the foregoing chapters, the cost of travel and residence +in Europe, yet a connected estimate will better show the _minimum_ +expense of a two years' pilgrimage: + + Voyage to Liverpool, in the second cabin . . . . . . . . . . . $24.00 + Three weeks' travel in Ireland and Scotland . . . . . . . . . 25.00 + A week in London, at three shillings a day . . . . . . . . . . 4.50 + From London to Heidelberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00 + A month at Heidelberg, and trip to Frankfort . . . . . . . . . 20.00 + Seven months in Frankfort, at $10 per month . . . . . . . . . 70.00 + Fuel, passports, excursions and other expenses . . . . . . . . 30.00 + Tour through Cassel, the Hartz, Saxony, Austria, Bavaria, etc. 40.00 + A month in Frankfort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 + From Frankfort through Switzerland, and over the Alps + to Milan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00 + From Milan to Genoa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 + Expenses from Genoa to Florence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.00 + Four months in Florence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00 + Eight day's journey from Florence to Rome, two weeks in + Rome, voyage to Marseilles and journey to Paris . . . . . . 40.00 + Five weeks in Paris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00 + From Paris to London . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00 + Six weeks in London, at three shillings a day . . . . . . . . 31.00 + Passage home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60.00 + ------ + $472.00 + +The cost for places of amusement, guides' fees, and other small +expenses, not included in this list, increase the sum total to $500, for +which the tour may be made. 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