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+Project Gutenberg's The Diary of an Ennuyee, by Anna Brownell Jameson
+
+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: The Diary of an Ennuyee
+
+Author: Anna Brownell Jameson
+
+Release Date: March 26, 2006 [EBook #18049]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DIARY OF AN ENNUYEE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Carlo Traverso, Diane Monico, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net. (This file was produced from images
+generously made available by the Bibliotheque nationale
+de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE DIARY
+
+OF
+
+AN ENNUYEE.
+
+_A NEW EDITION_.
+
+BY MRS. JAMESON,
+
+AUTHOR OF "VISITS AND SKETCHES AT HOME AND ABROAD,"
+ETC. ETC.
+
+    Sad, solemn, soure, and full of fancies fraile,
+    She woxe: yet wist she neither how nor why:
+    She wist not, silly Mayd, what she did aile,
+    Yet wist she was not well at ease, perdie;
+    Yet thought it was not Love, but some Melancholie.
+
+                                              SPENSER.
+
+
+PARIS,
+
+BAUDRY'S EUROPEAN LIBRARY,
+
+SOLD ALSO BY AMYOT, RUE DE LA PAIX; TRUCHY, BOULEVARD DES ITALIENS;
+THEOPHILE BARROIS, JUN., RUE RICHELIEU; LIBRAIRIE DES ETRANGERS,
+RUE NEUVE-SAINT-AUGUSTIN; AND HEIDELOFF AND CAMPE,
+RUE VIVIENNE.
+
+1836.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+DIARY OF AN ENNUYEE.[A]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Calais, June 21._--What young lady, travelling for the first time on
+the Continent, does not write a "Diary?" No sooner have we slept on
+the shores of France--no sooner are we seated in the gay salon at
+Dessin's, than we call, like Biddy Fudge, for "French pens and French
+ink," and forth steps from its case the morocco-bound diary, regularly
+ruled and paged, with its patent Bramah lock and key, wherein we are
+to record and preserve all the striking, profound, and original
+observations--the classical reminiscences--the thread-bare raptures--the
+poetical effusions--in short, all the never-sufficiently-to-be-exhausted
+topics of sentiment and enthusiasm, which must necessarily suggest
+themselves while posting from Paris to Naples.
+
+Verbiage, emptiness, and affectation!
+
+Yes--but what must I do, then, with my volume in green morocco?
+
+Very true, I did not think of that.
+
+We have all read the DIARY OF AN INVALID, the best of all
+diaries since old Evelyn's.--
+
+Well, then,--Here beginneth the DIARY OF A BLUE DEVIL.
+
+What inconsistent beings are we!--How strange that in such a moment as
+this, I can jest in mockery of myself! but I will write on. Some keep
+a diary, because it is the fashion--a reason why _I_ should not; some
+because it is _blue_, but I am not _blue_, only a _blue devil_; some
+for their amusement,--_amusement_!! alas! alas! and some that they may
+remember,--and I that I may forget, O! would it were possible.
+
+When, to-day, for the first time in my life, I saw the shores of
+England fade away in the distance--did the conviction that I should
+never behold them more, bring with it one additional pang of regret,
+or one consoling thought? neither the one nor the other. I leave
+behind me the scenes, the objects, so long associated with pain; but
+from pain itself I cannot fly: it has become a part of myself. I know
+not yet whether I ought to rejoice and be thankful for this
+opportunity of travelling, while my mind is thus torn and upset; or
+rather regret that I must visit scenes of interest, of splendour, of
+novelty--scenes over which, years ago, I used to ponder with many a
+sigh, and many a vain longing, now that I am lost to all the pleasure
+they could once have excited: for what is all the world to me
+now?--But I will not weakly yield: though time and I have not been
+long acquainted, do I not know what miracles he, "the all-powerful
+healer," can perform? Who knows but this dark cloud may pass away?
+Continual motion, continual activity, continual novelty, the absolute
+necessity for self-command, may do something for me. I cannot quite
+forget; but if I can cease to remember for a few minutes, or even, it
+may be, for a few hours? O how idle to talk of "_indulging_ grief:"
+talk of indulging the rack, the rheumatism! who ever indulged grief
+that truly felt it? to _endure_ is hard enough.
+
+    It is o'er! with its pains and its pleasures,
+      The dream of affection is o'er!
+    The feelings I lavish'd so fondly
+      Will never return to me more.
+
+    With a faith, O! too blindly believing--
+      A truth, no unkindness could move;
+    My prodigal heart hath expended
+      At once, an existence of love.
+
+    And now, like the spendthrift forsaken,
+      By those whom his bounty had blest,
+    All empty, and cold, and despairing,
+      It shrinks in my desolate breast.
+
+    But a spirit is burning within me,
+      Unquench'd, and unquenchable yet;
+    It shall teach me to bear uncomplaining,
+      The grief I can never forget.
+
+_Rouen, June 25._--I do not pity Joan of Arc: that heroic woman only
+paid the price which all must pay for celebrity in some shape or
+other: the sword or the faggot, the scaffold or the field, public
+hatred or private heart-break; what matter? The noble Bedford could
+not rise above the age in which he lived: but _that_ was the age of
+gallantry and chivalry, as well as superstition: and could Charles,
+the lover of Agnes Sorel, with all the knights and nobles of France,
+look on while their champion, and a woman, was devoted to chains and
+death, without one effort to save her?
+
+It has often been said that her fate disgraced the military fame of
+the English; it is a far fouler blot on the chivalry of France.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_St. Germains, June 27._--I cannot bear this place, another hour in it
+will kill me; this sultry evening--this sickening sunshine--this
+quiet, unbroken, boundless landscape--these motionless woods--the
+Seine stealing, creeping through the level plains--the dull grandeur
+of the old chateau--the languid repose of the whole scene--instead of
+soothing, torture me. I am left without resource, a prey to myself
+and to my memory--to reflection, which embitters the source of
+suffering, and thought, which brings distraction. Horses on to Paris!
+Vite! Vite!
+
+_Paris, 28._--What said the witty Frenchwoman?--_Paris est le lieu du
+monde ou l'on peut le mieux se passer de bonheur;_--in that case it
+will suit me admirably.
+
+_29._--We walked and drove about all day: I was amused. I marvel at my
+own versatility when I think how soon my quick spirits were excited by
+this gay, gaudy, noisy, idle place. The different appearance of the
+streets of London and Paris is the first thing to strike a stranger.
+In the gayest and most crowded streets of London the people move
+steadily and rapidly along, with a grave collected air, as if all had
+some business in view; _here_, as a little girl observed the other
+day, all the people walk about "like ladies and gentlemen going a
+visiting:" the women well-dressed and smiling, and with a certain
+jaunty air, trip along with their peculiar mincing step, and appear as
+if their sole object was but to show themselves; the men ill-dressed,
+slovenly, and in general ill-looking, lounge indolently, and stare as
+if they had no other purpose in life but to look about them.[B]
+
+_July 12._--"Quel est a Paris le supreme talent? celui d'amuser: et
+quel est le supreme bonheur? l'amusement."
+
+Then _le supreme bonheur_ may be found every evening from nine to ten,
+in a walk along the Boulevards, or a ramble through the Champs
+Elysees, and from ten to twelve in a salon at Tortoni's.
+
+What an extraordinary scene was that I witnessed to-night! how truly
+_French_! Spite of myself and all my melancholy musings, and all my
+philosophic allowances for the difference of national character, I was
+irresistibly compelled to smile at some of the farcical groups we
+encountered. In the most crowded parts of the Champs Elysees this
+evening (Sunday), there sat an old lady with a wrinkled yellow face
+and sharp features, dressed in flounced gown of dirty white muslin, a
+pink sash and a Leghorn hat and feathers. In one hand she held a small
+tray for the contribution of amateurs, and in the other an Italian
+bravura, which she sung or rather screamed out with a thousand
+indescribable shruggings, contortions, and grimaces, and in a voice to
+which a cracked tea-kettle, or a "brazen candlestick turned," had
+seemed the music of the spheres. A little farther on we found two
+elderly gentlemen playing at see-saw; one an immense corpulent man of
+fifteen stone at least, the other a thin dwarfish animal with gray
+mustachios, who held before him what I thought was a child, but on
+approaching, it proved to be a large stone strapped before him, to
+render his weight a counterpoise to that of his huge companion. We
+passed on, and returning about half an hour afterwards down the same
+walk, we found the same venerable pair pursuing their edifying
+amusement with as much enthusiasm as before.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Before the revolution, sacrilege became one of the most frequent
+crimes. I was told of a man who, having stolen from a church the
+silver box containing the consecrated wafers, returned the wafers next
+day in a letter to the Cure of the Parish, _having used one of them to
+seal his envelop_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+July 27.--A conversation with S** always leaves me sad. Can it then be
+possible that he is right? No--O no! my understanding rejects the idea
+with indignation, my whole heart recoils from it; yet if it should be
+so! what then: have I been till now the dupe and the victim of
+factitious feelings? virtue, honour, feeling, generosity, you are then
+but words, signifying nothing? Yet if this vain philosophy lead to
+happiness, would not S** be happy? it is evident he is _not_. When he
+said that the object existed not in this world which could lead him
+twenty yards out of his way, did this sound like happiness? I remember
+that while he spoke, instead of feeling either persuaded or convinced
+by his captivating eloquence, I was perplexed and distressed; I
+_suffered_ a painful compassion, and tears were in my eyes. I, who so
+often have pitied myself, pitied him at that moment a thousand times
+more; I thought, I would not buy tranquillity at such a price as he
+has paid for it. Yet _if_ he should be right? that _if_, which every
+now and then suggests itself, is terrible; it shakes me in the utmost
+recesses of my heart.
+
+S**, in spite of myself, and in spite of all that with most perverted
+pains he has made himself (so different from what he once was), can
+charm and interest, pain and perplex me:--not so D**, another disciple
+of the same school: he inspires me with the strongest antipathy I ever
+felt for a human being. Insignificant and disagreeable is his
+appearance, he looks as if all the bile under heaven had found its way
+into his complexion, and all the infernal irony of a Mephistopheles
+into his turned-up nose and insolent curled lip. He is, he _says_ he
+is, an atheist, a materialist, a sensualist: the pains he takes to
+deprave and degrade his nature, render him so disgusting, that I could
+not even speak in his presence; I dreaded lest he should enter into
+conversation with me. I might have spared myself the fear. He piques
+himself on his utter contempt for, and disregard of, women; and, after
+all, is not himself worthy these words I bestow on him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Aug. 25._--Here begins, I hope, a new aera. I have had a long and
+dangerous illness; the crisis perhaps of what I have been suffering
+for months. Contrary to my own wishes, and to the expectations of
+others, I _live_: and trusting in God that I have been preserved for
+some wise and good purpose, am therefore thankful: even supposing I
+should be reserved for new trials, I cannot surely in this world
+suffer more than I have suffered: it is not possible that the same
+causes can be again combined to afflict me.
+
+How truly can I say, few and evil have my days been! may I not say as
+truly, I have not weakly yielded, I have not "gone about to cause my
+heart to despair," but have striven, and not in vain? I took the
+remedies they gave me, and was grateful; I resigned myself to _live_,
+when had I but willed it, I might have died; and when to die and be at
+rest, seemed to my sick heart the only covetable boon.
+
+_Sept. 3._--A terrible anniversary at Paris--still ill and very weak.
+Edmonde came, _pour me desennuyer_. He has soul enough to bear a good
+deal of wearing down; but whether the fine qualities he possesses will
+turn to good or evil, is hard to tell: it is evident his character has
+not yet settled: it vibrates still as nature inclines him to good, and
+all the circumstances around him to evil. We talked as usual of women,
+of gallantry, of the French and English character, of national
+prejudices, of Shakspeare and Racine (never failing subjects of
+discussion), and he read aloud Delille's Catacombes de Rome, with
+great feeling, animation, and dramatic effect.
+
+_La mode_ at Paris is a spell of wondrous power: it is most like what
+we should call in England a rage, a mania, a torrent sweeping down the
+bounds between good and evil, sense and nonsense, upon whose surface
+straws and egg-shells float into notoriety, while the gold and the
+marble are buried and hidden till its force be spent. The rage for
+cashmeres and little dogs has lately given way to a rage for Le
+Solitaire, a romance written, I believe, by a certain Vicomte
+d'Arlincourt. Le Solitaire rules the imagination, the taste, the dress
+of half Paris: if you go to the theatre, it is to see the "Solitaire,"
+either as tragedy, opera, or melodrame; the men dress their hair and
+throw their cloaks about them _a la Solitaire_; bonnets and caps,
+flounces and ribbons, are all _a la Solitaire_; the print shops are
+full of scenes from Le Solitaire; it is on every toilette, on every
+work-table;--ladies carry it about in their reticules to show each
+other that they are _a la mode_; and the men--what can they do but
+humble their understandings and be _extasies_, when beautiful eyes
+sparkle in its defence and glisten in its praise, and ruby lips
+pronounce it divine, delicious; "quelle sublimite dans les
+descriptions, quelle force dans les caracteres! quelle ame! feu!
+chaleur! verve! originalite! passion!" etc.
+
+"Vous n'avez pas lu le Solitaire?" said Madame M. yesterday. "Eh mon
+dieu! il est donc possible! vous? mais, ma chere, vous etes perdue de
+reputation, et pour jamais!"
+
+To retrieve my lost reputation, I sat down to read Le Solitaire, and
+as I read my amazement grew, and I did in "gaping wonderment abound,"
+to think that fashion, like the insane root of old, had power to drive
+a whole city mad with nonsense; for such a tissue of abominable
+absurdities, bombast and blasphemy, bad taste and bad language, was
+never surely indited by any madman, in or out of Bedlam: not Maturin
+himself, that king of fustian,
+
+    "----ever wrote or borrowed
+    Any thing half so horrid!"
+
+and this is the book which has turned the brains of half Paris, which
+has gone through fifteen editions in a few weeks, which not to admire
+is "_pitoyable_," and not to have read "_quelque chose d'inouie_."
+
+The objects at Paris which have most struck me, have been those least
+vaunted.
+
+The view of the city from the Pont des Arts, to-night, enchanted me.
+As every body who goes to Rome views the Coliseum by moonlight, so
+nobody should leave Paris without seeing the effect from the Pont des
+Arts, on a fine moonlight night:--
+
+    "Earth hath not any thing to show more fair."
+
+It is singular I should have felt its influence at such a moment: it
+appears to me that those who, from feeling too strongly, have learnt
+to consider too deeply, become less sensible to the works of art, and
+more alive to nature. Are there not times when we turn with
+indifference from the finest picture or statue--the most improving
+book--the most amusing poem; and when the very commonest, and
+every-day beauties of nature, a soft evening, a lovely landscape, the
+moon riding in her glory through a clouded sky, without forcing or
+asking attention, sink into our hearts? They do not console,--they
+sometimes add poignancy to pain; but still they have a power, and do
+not speak in vain: they become a part of us; and never are we so
+inclined to claim kindred with nature, as when sorrow has lent us her
+mournful experience. At the time I felt this (and how many have felt
+it as deeply, and expressed it better!) I did not _think_ it, still
+less could I have _said it_; but I have pleasure in recording the past
+impression. "On rend mieux compte de ce qu'on a senti que de ce qu'on
+sent."
+
+_September 8._--Paris is crowded with English; and I do not wonder at
+it; it is, on the whole, a pleasant place to live in. I like Paris,
+though I shall quit it without regret as soon as I have strength to
+travel. Here the social arts are carried to perfection--above all, the
+art of conversation: every one talks much and talks well. In this
+multiplicity of words it must happen of course that a certain quantum
+of ideas is intermixed: and somehow or other, by dint of listening,
+talking, and looking about them, people _do_ learn, and information to
+a certain point is general. Those who have knowledge are not shy of
+imparting it, and those who are ignorant take care not to seem so; but
+are sometimes agreeable, often amusing, and seldom _betes_. Nowhere
+have I seen unformed sheepish boys, nowhere the surliness,
+awkwardness, ungraciousness, and uneasy proud bashfulness, I have seen
+in the best companies in England. Our French friend Lucien has, at
+fifteen, the air and conversation of a finished gentleman; and our
+English friend C---- is at eighteen, the veriest log of a lumpish
+school-boy that ever entered a room. What I have seen of society, I
+like: the delicious climate too, the rich skies, the clear elastic
+atmosphere, the _out of doors_ life the people lead, are all (in
+summer at least) delightful. There may be less _comfort_ here; but
+nobody feels the want of it; and there is certainly more
+amusement--and amusement is here truly "le supreme bonheur."
+Happiness, according to the French meaning of the word, lies more on
+the surface of life: it is a sort of happiness which is cheap and ever
+at hand. This is the place to live in for the merry poor man, or the
+melancholy rich one: for those who have too much money, and those who
+have too little; for those who only wish, like the Irishman "to live
+all the days of their life,"--_prendre en legere monnaie la somme des
+plaisirs_: but to the thinking, the feeling, the domestic man, who
+only exists, enjoys, suffers through his affections--
+
+    "Who is retired as noontide dew,
+    Or fountain in a noonday grove--"
+
+to such a one, Paris must be nothing better than a vast frippery shop,
+an ever-varying galantee show, an eternal vanity fair, a vortex of
+folly, a pandemonium of vice.
+
+_September 18._--Our imperials are packed, our passports signed, and
+we set off to-morrow for Geneva by Dijon and the Jura. I leave nothing
+behind me to regret, I see nothing before me to fear, and have no hope
+but in change; and now all that remains to be said of Paris, and all
+its wonders and all its vanities, all its glories and all its
+gaieties, are they not recorded in the ponderous chronicles of most
+veracious tourists, and what can I add thereto?
+
+_Geneva, Saturday Night, 11 o'clock._--Can it be the "blue rushing of
+the arrowy Rhone" I hear from my window? Shall I hear it to-morrow,
+when I wake? Have I seen, have I felt the reality of what I have so
+often imagined? and much, _much_ more? How little do I feel the
+contretemps and privations which affect others--and feel them _only_
+because they affect others! To me they are nothing: I have in a few
+hours stored my mind with images of beauty and grandeur which will
+last through my whole existence.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Yet I know I am not singular; others have felt the same: others, who,
+capable of "drinking in the soul of things," have viewed nature less
+with their eyes than their hearts. Now I feel the value of my own
+enthusiasm; now am I repaid in part for many pains and sorrows and
+errors it has cost me. Though the natural expression of that
+enthusiasm be now repressed and restrained, and my spirits subdued by
+long illness, what but enthusiasm could elevate my mind to a level
+with the sublime objects round me, and excite me to pour out my whole
+heart in admiration as I do now! How deeply they have penetrated into
+my imagination!--Beautiful nature! If I could but infuse into you a
+portion of my own existence as you have become a part of mine--If I
+could but bid you reflect back my soul, as it reflects back all your
+magnificence, I would make you my only friend, and wish no other;
+content "to love earth only for its earthly sake."
+
+I am so tired to-night, I can say nothing of the Jura, nor of the
+superb ascent of the mountain, to me so novel, so astonishing a scene;
+nor of the cheerful brilliance of the morning sun, illuminating the
+high cliffs, and throwing the deep woody vallies into the darkest
+shadow; nor of the far distant plains of France seen between the hills,
+and melting away into a soft vapoury light; nor of Morey, and its
+delicious strawberries and honey-comb; nor of that never-to-be-forgotten
+moment, when turning the corner of the road, as it wound round a cliff
+near the summit, we beheld the lake and city of Geneva spread at our
+feet, with its magnificent back-ground of the Italian Alps, peak beyond
+peak, snow-crowned! and Mont Blanc towering over all! No description
+had prepared me for this prospect; and the first impression was
+rapturous surprise; but by degrees the vastness and the huge gigantic
+features of the scene pressed like a weight upon "my amazed sprite,"
+and the feeling of its immense extent fatigued my imagination till my
+spirits gave way in tears. Then came remembrances of those I ought to
+forget, blending with all I saw a deeper power--raising up emotions,
+long buried though not dead, to fright me with their resurrection. I
+was so glad to arrive here, and shall be _so_ glad to sleep--even the
+dull sleep which laudanum brings me.
+
+_Oct. 1._--When next I submit (having the power to avoid it) to be
+crammed into a carriage and carried from place to place, whether I
+would or not, and be set down at the stated _points de vue_, while a
+detestable laquais points out what I am to admire, I shall deserve to
+endure again what I endured to-day. As there was no possibility of
+relief, I resigned myself to my fate, and was even amused by the
+absurdity of my own situation. We went to see the junction of the
+Arve and the Rhone: or rather to see the Arve pollute the rich, blue
+transparent Rhone, with its turbid waters. The day was heavy, and the
+clouds rolled in prodigious masses along the dark sides of the
+mountains, frequently hiding them from our view, and substituting for
+their graceful outlines and ever-varying contrast of tint and shade,
+an impenetrable veil of dark gray vapour.
+
+_3rd._--We took a boat and rowed on the lake for about two hours. Our
+boatman, a fine handsome athletic figure, was very talkative and
+intelligent. He had been in the service of Lord Byron, and was with
+him in that storm between La Meillerie and St. Gingough, which is
+described in the third canto of Childe Harold. He pointed out among
+the beautiful villas, which adorn the banks on either side, that in
+which the empress Josephine had resided for six months, not long
+before her death. When he spoke of her, he rested upon his oars to
+descant upon her virtues, her generosity, her affability, her goodness
+to the poor, and his countenance became quite animated with
+enthusiasm. Here, in France, wherever the name of Josephine is
+mentioned, there seems to exist but one feeling, one opinion of her
+beneficence and _amabilite_ of character. Our boatman had also rowed
+Marie Louise across the lake, on her way to Paris: he gave us no very
+captivating picture of her. He described her as "_grande, blonde, bien
+faite et extremement fiere_:" and told us how she tormented her ladies
+in waiting; "_comme elle tracassait ses dames d'honneur_." The day
+being rainy and gloomy, her attendants begged of her to defer the
+passage for a short time, till the fogs had cleared away, and
+discovered all the beauty of the surrounding shores. She replied
+haughtily and angrily, "Je veux faire ce que je veux--allez toujours."
+
+M. le Baron M----n, whom we knew at Paris, told me several delightful
+anecdotes of Josephine: he was attached to her household, and high in
+her confidence. Napoleon sent him on the very morning of his second
+nuptials, with a message and billet to the ex-empress. On hearing that
+the ceremony was performed which had passed her sceptre into the hands
+of the proud, cold-hearted Austrian, the feelings of the _woman_
+overcame every other. She burst into tears, and wringing her hands,
+exclaimed "Ah! au moins, qu'il soit heureux!" Napoleon resigned this
+estimable and amiable creature to narrow views of selfish policy, and
+with her his good genius fled: he deserved it, and verily he hath had
+his reward.
+
+We drove after dinner to Copet; and the Duchesse de Broglie being
+absent, had an opportunity of seeing the chateau. All things "were
+there of her"--of her, whose genuine worth excused, whose
+all-commanding talents threw into shade, those failings which belonged
+to the weakness of her sex, and her warm feelings and imagination. The
+servant girl who showed us the apartments, had been fifteen years in
+Madame de Stael's service. All the servants had remained long in the
+family, "elle etait si bonne et si charmante maitresse!" A picture of
+Madame de Stael when young, gave me the idea of a fine countenance and
+figure, though the features were irregular. In the bust, the
+expression is not so prepossessing:--_there_ the colour and brilliance
+of her splendid dark eyes, the finest feature of her face, are of
+course quite lost. The bust of M. Rocca[C] was standing in the Baron
+de Stael's dressing-room: I was more struck with it than any thing I
+saw, not only as a chef-d'oeuvre, but from the perfect and regular
+beauty of the head, and the charm of the expression. It was just such
+a mouth as we might suppose to have uttered his well-known reply--"_Je
+l'aimerai tellement qu'elle finira par m'aimer._" Madame de Stael had
+a son by this marriage, who had just been brought home by his brother,
+the Baron, from a school in the neighbourhood. He is about seven years
+old. If we may believe the servant, Madame de Stael did not
+acknowledge this son till just before her death; and she described the
+wonder of the boy on being brought home to the chateau, and desired to
+call _Monsieur le Baron_ "Mon frere" and "Auguste." This part of
+Madame de Stael's conduct seems incomprehensible; but her death is
+recent, the circumstances little known, and it is difficult to judge
+her motives. As a _woman_, as a _wife_, she might not have been able
+to brave "the world's dread laugh"--but as a _mother_?----
+
+We have also seen Ferney--a place which did not interest me much, for
+I have no sympathies with Voltaire:--and some other beautiful scenes
+in the neighbourhood.
+
+The Panorama exhibited in London just before I left it, is wonderfully
+correct, with one pardonable exception: the artist did not venture to
+make the waters of the lake of the intense ultramarine tinged with
+violet as I now see them before me;
+
+    "So darkly, deeply, beautifully blue;"
+
+it would have shocked English eyes as an exaggeration, or rather
+impossibility.
+
+    THE PANORAMA OF LAUSANNE.
+
+    Now blest for ever be that heaven-sprung art
+    Which can transport us in its magic power
+    From all the turmoil of the busy crowd,
+    From the gay haunts where pleasure is ador'd,
+    'Mid the hot sick'ning glare of pomp and light;
+    And fashion worshipp'd by a gaudy throng
+    Of heartless idlers--from the jarring world
+    And all its passions, follies, cares, and crimes--
+    And bids us gaze, even in the city's heart,
+    On such a scene as this! O fairest spot!
+    If but the pictured semblance, the dead image
+    Of thy majestic beauty, hath a power
+    To wake such deep delight; if that blue lake,
+    Over whose lifeless breast no breezes play,
+    Those mimic mountains robed in purple light,
+    Yon painted verdure that but _seems_ to glow,
+    Those forms unbreathing, and those motionless woods,
+    A beauteous mockery all--can ravish thus,
+    What would it be, could we now gaze indeed
+    Upon thy _living_ landscape? could we breathe
+    Thy mountain air, and listen to thy waves,
+    As they run rippling past our feet, and see
+    That lake lit up by dancing sunbeams--and
+    Those light leaves quivering in the summer air;
+    Or linger some sweet eve just on this spot
+    Where now we _seem_ to stand, and watch the stars
+    Flash into splendour, one by one, as night
+    Steals over yon snow-peaks, and twilight fades
+    Behind the steeps of Jura! here, O _here_!
+    'Mid scenes where Genius, Worth and Wisdom dwelt,[D]
+    Which fancy peopled with a glowing train
+    Of most divine creations--Here to stray
+    With _one_ most cherished, and in loving eyes
+    Read a sweet comment on the wonders round--
+    Would this indeed be bliss? would not the soul
+    Be lost in its own depths? and the full heart
+    Languish with sense of beauty unexprest,
+    And faint beneath its own excess of life?
+
+_Saturday._--Quitted Geneva, and slept at St. Maurice. I was ill
+during the last few days of our stay, and therefore left Geneva with
+the less regret. I suffer now so constantly, that a day tolerably free
+from pain seems a blessing for which I can scarce be sufficiently
+thankful. Such was yesterday.
+
+Our road lay along the south bank of the lake, through Evian, Thonon,
+St. Gingough: and on the opposite shores we had in view successively,
+Lausanne, Vevai, Clarens, and Chillon. A rain storm pursued, or almost
+surrounded us the whole morning; but we had the good fortune to escape
+it. We travelled faster than it could pursue, and it seemed to retire
+before us as we approached. The effect was surprisingly beautiful; for
+while the two extremities of the lake were discoloured and enveloped
+in gloom, that part opposite to us was as blue and transparent as
+heaven itself, and almost as bright. Over Vevai, as we viewed it from
+La Meillerie, rested one end of a glorious rainbow: the other
+extremity appeared to touch the bosom of the lake, and shone vividly
+against the dark mountains above Chillon. La Meillerie--Vevai! what
+magic in those names! and O what a power has genius to hallow with its
+lovely creations, scenes already so lavishly adorned by Nature! it was
+not, however, of St. Preux I thought, as I passed under the rock of
+the Meillerie. Ah! how much of happiness, of enjoyment, have I lost,
+in being forced to struggle against my feelings, instead of abandoning
+myself to them! but surely I have done right. Let me repeat it again
+and again to myself, and let that thought, if possible, strengthen and
+console me.
+
+_Monday._--I have resolved to attempt no description of scenery; but
+my pen is fascinated. I _must_ note a few of the objects which struck
+me to-day and yesterday, that I may at will combine them hereafter to
+my mind's eye, and recall the glorious pictures I beheld, as we
+travelled through the Vallais to Brig: the swollen and turbid (no
+longer "blue and arrowy") Rhone, rushing and roaring along; the
+gigantic mountains in all their endless variety of fantastic forms,
+which enclosed us round,--their summits now robed in curling clouds,
+and then, as the winds swept them aside, glittering in the sunshine;
+the little villages perched like eagles' nests on the cliffs, far, far
+above our heads; the deep rocky channels through which the torrents
+had madly broken a way, tearing through every obstacle till they
+reached the Rhone, and marking their course with devastation; the
+scene of direful ruin at Martigny; the cataracts gushing, bounding
+from the living rock and plunging into some unseen abyss below; even
+the shrubs and the fruit trees which in the wider parts of the valley
+bordered the road side; the vines, the rich scarlet barberries, the
+apples and pears which we might have gathered by extending our
+hands;--all and each, when I recall them, will rise up a vivid picture
+before my own fancy;--but never could be truly represented to the mind
+of another--at least through the medium of words.
+
+And yet, with all its wonders and beauties, this day's journey has not
+enchanted me like Saturday's. The scenery _then_ had a different
+species of beauty, a deeper interest--when the dark blue sky was above
+our heads, and the transparent lake shone another heaven at our feet,
+and the recollection of great and glorious names, and visions of
+poetic fancy, and ideal forms more lovely than ever trod this earth,
+hovered around us:--and then those thoughts which would
+intrude--remembrances of the far-off absent, who are or have been
+loved, mingled with the whole, and shed an imaginary splendour or a
+tender interest, over scenes which required no extraneous powers to
+enhance their native loveliness.--no charm borrowed from imagination
+to embellish the all-beautiful reality.
+
+_Duomo d'Ossola._--What shall I say of the marvellous, the miraculous
+Simplon? Nothing: every body has said already every thing that _can_
+be said and _exclaimed_.
+
+In our descent, as the valley widened, and the stern terrific features
+of the scene assumed a gentler character, we came to the beautiful
+village of Davedro, with its cottages and vineyards spread over a
+green slope, between the mountains and the torrent below. This lovely
+nook struck me the more from its contrast with the region of snows,
+clouds, and barren rocks to which our eyes had been for several hours
+accustomed. In such a spot as Davedro I fancied I should wish to
+_live_, could I in life assemble round me all that my craving heart
+and boundless spirit desire;--_or die_, when life had exhausted all
+excitement, and the subdued and weary soul had learned to be content
+with repose:--but not not till _then_.
+
+We are now in Italy; but have not yet heard the soft sounds of the
+Italian language. However, we read with great satisfaction the Italian
+denomination of our Inn, "La grande Alberga della Villa"--called out
+"Cameriere!" instead of "Garcon!"--plucked ripe grapes as they hung
+from the treillages above our heads--gathered green figs from the
+trees, bursting and luscious--panted with the intense heat--intense
+and overpowering from its contrast with the cold of the Alpine regions
+we had just left--and fancied we began to feel
+
+      "----cette vie enivrante,
+    Que le solei du sud inspire a tous les sens."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_11 at night._--Fatigue and excitement have lately proved too much for
+me: but I will not sink. I will yet bear up; and when a day thus
+passed amid scenes like those of a romance, amid all that would once
+have charmed my imagination, and enchanted my senses, brings no real
+pleasure, but is ended, as _now_ it ends, in tears, in bitterness of
+heart, in languor, in sickness, and in pain--ah! let me remember the
+lesson of resignation I have lately learned; and by elevating my
+thoughts to a better world, turn to look upon the miserable affections
+which have agitated me _here_ as----[E]
+
+Could I but become as insensible, as regardless of the painful past as
+I am of the all lovely present! Why was I proud of my victory over
+passion? alas! what avails it that I have shaken the viper from my
+hand, if I have no miraculous antidote against the venom which has
+mingled with my life-blood, and clogged the pulses of my heart! But
+the antidote of Paul--even faith--may it not be mine if I duly seek
+it?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Arona, on the banks of the Lago Maggiore._--Rousseau mentions
+somewhere, that it was once his intention to place the scene of the
+Heloise in the Borromean Islands. What a French idea! How strangely
+incongruous had the pastoral simplicity of his lovers appeared in such
+a scene! It must have changed, if not the whole plan, at least the
+whole colouring of the tale. Imagine _la divine_ JULIE tripping up and
+down the artificial terraces of the Isola Bella, among flower pots and
+statues, and colonnades and grottos; and St. Preux sighing towards
+her, from some trim fantastic wilderness in the Isola Madre!
+
+The day was heavenly, and I shall never forget the sunset, as we
+viewed it reflected in the lake, which appeared at one moment an
+expanse of living fire. This is the first we have seen of those
+effulgent sunsets with which Italy will make us familiar.
+
+_Milan._--Our journey yesterday, through the flat fertile plains of
+Lombardy, was not very interesting; and the want of novelty and
+excitement made it fatiguing, in spite of the matchless roads and the
+celerity with which we travelled.
+
+Whatever we may think of Napoleon in England, it is impossible to
+travel on the Continent, and more particularly through Lombardy,
+without being struck with the magnificence and vastness of his public
+works--either designed or executed. He is more regretted here than in
+France; or rather he has not been so soon banished from men's minds.
+In Italy he followed the rational policy of depressing the nobles, and
+providing occupation and amusement for the lower classes. I spoke
+to-day with an intelligent artisan, who pointed out to us a hall built
+near the public walk by Napoleon, for the people to dance and assemble
+in, when the weather was unfavourable. The man concluded some very
+animated and sensible remarks on the late events, by adding
+expressively, that though many had been benefited by the change, there
+was to him and all others of his class as much difference between the
+late reign and the present, as between _l'or et le fer_.
+
+The silver shrine of St. Carlo Borromeo, with all its dazzling waste
+of magnificence, struck me with a feeling of melancholy and
+indignation. The gems and gold which lend such a horrible splendour to
+corruption; the skeleton head, grinning ghastly under its invaluable
+coronet; the skeleton hand supporting a crozier glittering with
+diamonds, appeared so frightful, so senseless a mockery of the
+excellent, simple-minded, and benevolent being they were intended to
+honour, that I could but wonder, and escape from the sight as quickly
+as possible. The Duomo is on the whole more remarkable for the
+splendour of the material, than the good taste with which it is
+employed: the statues which adorn it inside and out, are sufficient of
+themselves to form a very respectable congregation: they are four
+thousand in number.
+
+_9th, Tuesday._--We gave the morning to the churches, and the evening
+to the Ambrosian library. The day was, on the whole, more fatiguing
+than edifying or amusing. I remarked whatever was remarkable, admired
+all that is usually admired, but brought away few impressions of
+novelty or pleasure. The objects which principally struck my
+capricious and fastidious fancy, were precisely those which passed
+unnoticed by every one else, and are not worth recording. In the first
+church we visited, I saw a young girl respectably and even elegantly
+dressed, in the beautiful costume of the Milanese, who was kneeling on
+the pavement before a crucifix, weeping bitterly, and at the same time
+fanning herself most vehemently with a large green fan. Another church
+(St. Alessandro, I think) was oddly decorated for a Christian temple.
+A statue of Venus stood on one side of the porch, a statue of Hercules
+on the other. The two divinities, whose attributes could not be
+mistaken, had been _converted_ from heathenism into two very
+respectable saints. I forget their _christian names_. Nor is this the
+most amusing metamorphosis I have seen here. The transformation of two
+heathen divinities into saints, is matched by the apotheosis of two
+modern sovereigns into pagan deities. On the frieze of the _salle_,
+adjoining the amphitheatre, there is a head of Napoleon, which, by the
+addition of a beard, has been converted into a Jupiter; and on the
+opposite side, a head of Josephine, which, being already beautiful and
+dignified, has required no alteration, except in name, to become a
+creditable Minerva.
+
+_10th._--At the Brera, now called the "Palace of the Arts and
+Sciences," we spent some delightful hours. There is a numerous
+collection of pictures by Titian, Guido, Albano, Schidone, the three
+Carraccis, Tintoretto, Giorgione, etc. Some old paintings in fresco,
+by Luini and others of his age, were especially pointed out to us,
+which had been cut from the walls of churches now destroyed. They are
+preserved here, I presume, as curiosities, and specimens of the
+progress of the arts, for they possess no other merit--none, at least,
+that I could discover. Here is the "Marriage of the Virgin," by
+Raffaelle, of which I had often heard. It disappointed me at the first
+glance, but charmed me at the second, and enchanted me at the third.
+The unobtrusive grace and simplicity of Raffaelle do not immediately
+strike an eye so unpractised, and a taste so unformed as mine still
+is: for though I have seen the best pictures in England, we have there
+no opportunity of becoming acquainted with the two divinest masters of
+the Italian art, Raffaelle and Correggio. There are not, I conceive,
+half a dozen of either in all the collections together, and those we
+do possess, are far from being among their best efforts. But Raffaelle
+must not make me forget the Hagar in the Brera: the affecting--the
+inimitable Hagar! what agony, what upbraiding, what love, what
+helpless desolation of heart in that countenance! I may well remember
+the deep pathos of this picture; for the face of Hagar has haunted me
+sleeping and waking ever since I beheld it. Marvellous power of art!
+that mere inanimate forms, and colours compounded of gross materials,
+should thus live--thus speak--thus stand a soul-felt presence before
+us, and from the senseless board or canvas, breathe into our hearts a
+feeling, beyond what the most impassioned eloquence could ever
+inspire--beyond what mere words can ever render.
+
+Last night and the preceding we spent at the Scala. The opera was
+stupid, and Madame Bellochi, who is the present primadonna, appeared
+to me harsh and ungraceful, when compared to Fodor. The new ballet
+however, amply indemnified us for the disappointment. Our Italian
+friends condoled with us on being a few days too late to see _La
+Vestale_, which had been performed for sixty nights, and is one of
+Vigano's masterpieces. I thought the _Didone Abbandonata_ left us
+nothing to regret. The immense size of the stage, the splendid
+scenery, the classical propriety and magnificence of the dresses, the
+fine music, and the exquisite acting (for there is very little
+dancing), all conspired to render it enchanting. The celebrated cavern
+scene in the fourth book of Virgil, is rather too closely copied in a
+most inimitable pas de deux; so closely, indeed, that I was
+considerably alarmed _pour les bienseances_; but little Ascanius, who
+is asleep in a corner (Heaven knows how he came there), wakes at the
+critical moment, and the impending catastrophe is averted. Such a
+scene, however beautiful, would not, I think, be endured on the
+English stage. I observed that when it began, the curtains in front of
+the boxes were withdrawn, the whole audience, who seemed to be
+expecting it, was hushed; the deepest silence, the most delighted
+attention prevailed during its performance; and the moment it was
+over, a third of the spectators departed. I am told this is always the
+case; and that in almost every ballet d'action, the public are
+gratified by a scene, or scenes, of a similar tendency.
+
+The second time I saw the _Didone_, my attention, in spite of the
+fascination of the scene, was attracted towards a box near us, which
+was occupied by a noble English family just arrived at Milan. In the
+front of the box sat a beautiful girl apparently not fifteen, with
+laughing lips and dimpled cheeks, the very personification of
+blooming, innocent, _English_ loveliness. I watched her (I could not
+help it, when my interest was once awakened) through the whole scene.
+I marked her increased agitation: I saw her cheeks flush, her eyes
+glisten, her bosom flutter, as if with sighs I could not overhear,
+till at length, overpowered with emotion, she turned away her head,
+and covered her eyes with her hand. Mothers!--English mothers! who
+bring your daughters abroad to finish their education--do you well to
+expose them to scenes like these, and _force_ the young bud of early
+feeling in such a precious hot-bed as this? Can a finer finger on the
+piano,--a finer taste in painting, or any possible improvement in
+foreign arts and foreign graces, compensate for one taint on that
+moral purity, which has ever been (and may it ever be!) the boast,
+the charm of Englishwomen? But what have I to do with all this?--I
+came here to be amused and to forget;--not to moralize or to
+criticise.
+
+Vigano, who is lately dead, composed the _Didone Abbandonata_ as well
+as _La Vestale_, Otello, Nina, and others. All his ballets are
+celebrated for their classical beauty and interest. This man, though
+but a dancing-master, must have had the soul of a painter, a musician,
+and a poet in one. He must have been a perfect master of design,
+grouping, contrast, picturesque, and scenic effect. He must have had
+the most exquisite feeling for musical expression, to adapt it so
+admirably to his purposes; and those gestures and movements with which
+he has so gracefully combined it, and which address themselves but too
+powerfully to the senses and the imagination--what are they, but the
+very "poetry of motion," _la poesie mise en action_, rendering words a
+superfluous and feeble medium in comparison?
+
+I saw at the Mint yesterday the medal struck in honour of Vigano,
+bearing his head on one side, and on the other, Prometheus chained; to
+commemorate his famous ballet of that name. One of these medals,
+struck in gold, was presented to him in the name of the government:--a
+singular distinction for a dancing-master;--but Vigano was a
+dancing-master of _genius_; and this is the land, where genius in
+every shape is deified.
+
+The enchanting music of the Prometteo by Beethoven, is well known in
+England, but to produce the ballet on our stage, as it was exhibited
+here, would be impossible. The entire tribe of our dancers and
+figurantes, with their jumpings, twirlings, quiverings, and
+pirouettings, must be first annihilated; and Vigano, or Didelot, or
+Noverre rise again to inform the whole corps de ballet with another
+soul and the whole audience with another spirit:--for
+
+    --"Poiche paga il volgo sciocco, e giusto
+    Scioccamente '_ballar_' per dargli gusto."
+
+
+The Theatre of the Scala, notwithstanding the vastness of my
+expectations, did not disappoint me. I heard it criticised as being
+dark and gloomy; for only the stage is illuminated: but when I
+remember how often I have left our English theatres with dazzled eyes
+and aching head,--distracted by the multiplicity of objects and faces,
+and "blasted with excess of light,"--I feel reconciled to this
+peculiarity; more especially as it heightens beyond measure the
+splendour of the stage effect.
+
+We have the Countess Bubna's box while we are here. She scarcely ever
+goes herself, being obliged to hold a sort of military drawing-room
+almost every evening. Her husband, General Bubna, has the command of
+the Austrian forces in the north of Italy: and though the Archduke
+Reinier is nominal viceroy, all real power seems lodged in Bubna's
+bands. He it was who suppressed the insurrection in Piedmont during
+the last struggle for liberty: 'twas his vocation--more the pity.
+Eight hundred of the Milanese, at the head of them Count Melzi, were
+connected with the Carbonari and the Piedmontese insurgents. On Count
+Bubna's return from his expedition, a list of these malcontents being
+sent to him by the police, he refused even to look at it, and merely
+saying that it was the business of the police to _surveiller_ those
+persons, but _he_ must be allowed to be ignorant of their names,
+publicly tore the paper. The same night he visited the theatre,
+accompanied by Count Melzi, was received with acclamations, and has
+since been deservedly popular.
+
+Bubna is a heavy gross-looking man, a victim to the gout, and with
+nothing martial or captivating in his exterior. He has talents,
+however, and those not only of a military cast. He was generally
+employed to arrange the affairs of the Emperor of Austria with
+Napoleon. His loyalty to his own sovereign, and the soldier-like
+frankness and integrity of his character, gained him the esteem of the
+French emperor; who, when any difficulties occurred in their
+arrangements, used to say impatiently--"Envoyez-moi donc Bubna!"
+
+The count is of an illustrious family of Alsace, which removed to
+Bohemia when that province was ceded to France. He had nearly ruined
+himself by gambling, when the emperor (so it is said) advised him, or,
+in other words, commanded him to marry the daughter of one Arnvelt or
+Arnfeldt, a baptized Jew, who had been servant to a Jewish banker at
+Vienna; and on his death left a million of florins to each of his
+daughters. He was a man of the lowest extraction, and without any
+education; but having sense enough to feel its advantages, he gave a
+most brilliant one to his daughters. The Countess Bubna is an elegant,
+an accomplished, and has the character of being also an amiable woman.
+She is here a person of the very first consequence, the wife of the
+archduke alone taking precedence of her. A propos of the viceroy, when
+on the Corso to-day with the Countess Bubna, we met him with the
+_vice-queen_, as she is styled, here, walking in public. The archduke
+has not (as the countess observed) _la plus jolie tournure du monde_:
+his appearance is heavy, awkward, and slovenly, with more than the
+usual Austrian stupidity of countenance: a complete _testa tedesca_.
+His beautiful wife, the Princess Maria of Savoy, to whom he has been
+married only a few months, held his arm; and as she moved a little in
+front, seemed to drag him after her like a mere appendage to her
+state. I gazed after them, amused by the contrast: he looking like a
+dull, stiff, old bachelor, the very figure of Moody in the Country
+Girl;--she, an elegant, sprightly, captivating creature; decision in
+her step, laughter on her lips, and pride, intelligence, and mischief
+in her brilliant eyes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We visited yesterday the military college, founded by the viceroy,
+Eugene Beauharnois, for the children of soldiers who had fallen in
+battle. The original design is now altered; and it has become a mere
+public school, to which any boys may be admitted, paying a certain sum
+a year. We went over the whole building, and afterwards saw the
+scholars, two hundred and eighty in number, sit down to dinner. Every
+thing appeared nice, clean, and admirably ordered. At the Mint, which
+interested me extremely, we found them coining silver crowns for the
+Levant trade, with the head of Maria Theresa, and the date 1780. We
+were also shown the beautifully engraved die for the medal which the
+university of Padua presented to Belzoni.
+
+The evening was spent at the Teatro Re, where we saw a bad sentimental
+comedy (una Commedia di Carattere) exceedingly well acted. One actor I
+thought almost equal to Dowton, in his own style;--we had afterwards
+some fine music. Some of the Milanese airs, which the itinerant
+musicians give us, have considerable beauty and character. There is
+less monotony, I think, in their general style than in the Venetian
+music; and perhaps less sentiment, less softness. When left alone
+to-night, to do penance on the sofa, for my late walks, and recruit
+for our journey to-morrow,--I tried to adapt English verses to one or
+two very pretty airs which Annoni brought me to-day, without the
+Italian words; but it is a most difficult and invidious task. Even
+Moore, with his unequalled command over the lyric harmonies of our
+language, cannot perfectly satisfy ears accustomed to the
+
+    "Linked sweetness long drawn out"
+
+of the Italian vowels, combined with musical sounds: fancy such
+dissonant syllables as _ex_, _pray_, _what_, _breaks_, _strength_,
+uttered in minim time, hissing and grating through half a bar, instead
+of the dulcet _anima mia_, _Catina amabile_--_Caro mio tesoro_, etc.
+
+    STANZAS FOR MUSIC.
+
+    All that it hoped
+      My heart believed,
+    And when most trusting,
+      Was most deceived.
+
+    A shadow hath fallen
+      O'er my young years;
+    And hopes when brightest,
+      Were quench'd in tears.
+
+    I make no plaint--
+      I breathe no sigh--
+    My lips can smile,
+      And mine eyes are dry.
+
+    I ask no pity,
+      I hope no cure--
+    The heart, tho' broken,
+      Can live, and endure!
+
+We left Milan two days ago, and arrived early the same day at Brescia;
+there is, I believe, very little to see there, and of that little, I
+saw nothing,--being too ill and too low for the slightest exertion.
+The only pleasurable feeling I can remember was excited by our
+approach to the Alps, after traversing the flat, fertile,
+uninteresting plains of Lombardy. The peculiar sensation of elevation
+and delight, inspired by mountain scenery, can only be understood by
+those who have felt it: at least I never had formed an idea of it till
+I found myself ascending the Jura.
+
+But Brescia ought to be immortalized in the history of our travels:
+for there, stalking down the Corso--_le nez en l'air_--we met our
+acquaintance L----, from whom we had parted last on the pave of
+Piccadilly. I remember that in London I used to think him not
+remarkable for wisdom,--and his travels have infinitely improved
+him--in folly. He boasted to us triumphantly that he had run over
+sixteen thousand miles in sixteen months: that he had bowed at the
+levee of the Emperor Alexander,--been slapped on the shoulder by the
+Archduke Constantine,--shaken hands with a Lapland witch,--and been
+presented in full volunteer uniform at every court between Stockholm
+and Milan. Yet is he not one particle wiser than if he had spent the
+same time in walking up and down the Strand. He has contrived,
+however, to pick up on his tour, strange odds and ends of foreign
+follies, which stick upon the coarse-grained materials of his own John
+Bull character like tinfoil upon sackcloth: so that I see little
+difference between what he was, and what he is, except that from a
+_simple goose_,--he has become a compound one. With all this, L---- is
+not unbearable--not _yet_ at least. He amuses others as a butt--and me
+as a specimen of a new genus of fools: for his folly is not like any
+thing one usually meets with. It is not, _par exemple_, the folly of
+stupidity, for he talks much; nor of dullness, for he laughs much; nor
+of ignorance, for he has seen much; nor of wrong-headedness, for he
+can be guided right; nor of bad-heartedness, for he is good-natured;
+nor of thoughtlessness, for he is prudent; nor of extravagance, for he
+can calculate even to the value of half a lira: but it is an essence
+of folly, peculiar to himself, and like Monsieur Jacques's melancholy,
+"compounded of many simples, extracted from various objects, and the
+sundry contemplation of his travels." So much, for the present, of our
+friend L----.
+
+We left Brescia early yesterday morning, and after passing Desenzano,
+came in sight of the Lago di Garda. I had from early associations a
+delightful impression of the beauty of this lake, and it did not
+disappoint me. It is far superior, I think, to the Lago Maggiore,
+because the scenery is more _resserre_, lies in a smaller compass, so
+that the eye takes in the separate features more easily. The mountains
+to the north are dark, broken, and wild in their forms, and their
+bases seemed to extend to the water edge: the hills to the south are
+smiling, beautiful, and cultivated, studded with white flat-roofed
+buildings, which glitter one above another in the sunshine. Our drive
+along the promontory of Sirmione, to visit the ruins of the Villa of
+Catullus, was delightful. The fresh breeze which ruffled the dark blue
+lake, revived my spirits, and chased away my head-ache. I was inclined
+to be enchanted with all I saw; and when our guide took us into an old
+cellar choked with rubbish, and assured us gravely that it was the
+very spot in which Catullus had written his Odes to Lesbia. I did not
+laugh in his face; for, after all, it would be as easy to prove that
+_it is_, as that it is _not_. The old town and castle of Sirmio are
+singularly picturesque, whether viewed from above or below, and the
+grove of olives which crowned the steep extremity of the promontory,
+interested us, being the first we had seen in Italy: on the whole I
+fully enjoyed the early part of this day.
+
+At Peschiera, which is strongly fortified, we crossed the Mincio.--
+
+    O fountain Arethuse, and thou honoured flood,
+    Smooth-flowing Mincius crowned with vocal reeds.
+
+Its waters were exquisitely transparent; but it was difficult to
+remember its poetical pretensions, in sight of those odious barracks
+and batteries. The reeds mentioned by Virgil and Milton still flourish
+upon its banks, and I forgave them for spoiling in some degree the
+beauty of the shore, when I thought of Adelaide of Burgundy, who
+concealed herself among them for three days, when she fled from the
+dungeon of Peschiera to the arms of her lover. I was glad I had read
+her story in Gibbon, since it enabled me to add to classical and
+poetical associations, an interest at once romantic and real.
+
+The rest to-morrow--for I can write no more.
+
+_At Verona, Oct. 20._--I had just written the above when I was
+startled by a mournful strain from a chorus of voices, raised at
+intervals, and approaching gradually nearer. I walked to the window,
+and saw a long funeral procession just entering the church, which is
+opposite to the door of our inn. I immediately threw over me a veil
+and shawl, followed it, and stood by while the service was chaunted
+over the dead. The scene, as viewed by the light of about two hundred
+tapers, which were carried by the assistants, was as new to me as it
+was solemn and striking; but it was succeeded by a strange and forlorn
+contrast. The moment the service was over, the tapers were suddenly
+extinguished; the priests and the relatives all disappeared in an
+inconceivably short time, and before I was quite aware of what was
+going forward: the coffin, stripped of its embroidered pall and
+garlands of flowers, appeared a mere chest of deal boards, roughly
+nailed together; and was left standing on tressels, bare, neglected,
+and forsaken in the middle of the church. I approached it almost
+fearfully, and with a deeper emotion than I believed such a thing
+could now excite within me. And here, thought I, rests the human
+being, who has lived and loved, suffered and enjoyed, and, if I may
+judge by the splendour of his funeral rites, has been honoured,
+served, flattered while living:--and now not one remains to shed a
+last tear over the dead, but a single stranger, a wanderer from a land
+he perhaps knew not: to whom his very name is unknown! And while thus
+I moralized, two sextons appeared; and one of them seizing the
+miserable and deserted coffin, rudely and unceremoniously flung it on
+his shoulders, and vanished through a vaulted door; and I returned to
+my room, to write this, and to think how much better, how much more
+_humanely_, we manage these things in our own England.
+
+_Oct. 21._--Verona is a clean and quiet place, containing some fine
+edifices by Palladio and his pupils. The principal object of interest
+is the ancient amphitheatre; the most perfect I believe in Italy. The
+inner circle, with all its ranges of seats, is entire. We ascended to
+the top, and looked down into the Piazza d'arme, where several
+battalions of Austrian soldiers were exercising; their arms glittering
+splendidly in the morning sun. As I have now been long enough in Italy
+to sympathize in the national hatred of the Austrians, I turned from
+the sight, resolved not to be pleased. The arena of the amphitheatre
+is smaller, and less oval in form than I had expected: and in the
+centre, there is a little paltry gaudy wooden theatre for puppets and
+tumblers,--forming a grotesque contrast to the massive and majestic
+architecture around it: but even tumblers and puppets, as Rospo
+observed, are better than wild beasts and ferocious gladiators.
+
+There are also at Verona a triumphal arch to the Emperor Gallienus;
+the architecture and inscription almost as perfect as if erected
+yesterday;--and a most singular bridge of three irregular arches,
+built, I believe, by the Scaligieri family, who were once princes of
+Verona.
+
+It is well known that the story of Romeo and Juliet is here regarded
+as a traditionary and indisputable fact, and the tomb of Juliet is
+shown in a garden near the town. So much has been written and said on
+this subject, I can add only one observation. To the reality of the
+story it has been objected that the oldest narrator, Masuccio, relates
+it as having happened at Sienna: but might he not have heard the
+tradition at Verona, and transferred the scene to Sienna, since he
+represented it as related by a Siennese?--Della Corte, whose history
+of Verona I have just laid down, mentions it as a real historical
+event; and Louis da Porta, in his beautiful novel, la Giulietta,
+expressly asserts that he has written it down from tradition. If
+Shakespeare, as it is said, never saw the novel of Da Porta, how came
+he by the names of Romeo and Juliet, the Montagues and the Capulets:
+if he _did_ meet with it, how came he to depart so essentially from
+the story, particularly in the catastrophe? I must get some books, if
+possible, to clear up these difficulties.
+
+23d, _at Padua._--We spent yesterday morning pleasantly at Vicenza.
+Palladio's edifices in general disappointed me; partly because I am
+not architect enough to judge of their merits, partly because, of most
+of them the situation is bad, and the materials paltry: but the
+Olympic theatre, although its solid perspective be a mere trick of the
+art, surprised and pleased me. It has an air of antique and classic
+elegance in its decorations, which is very striking. I have heard it
+criticised as a specimen of bad taste and trickery: but why should its
+solid scenery be considered more a _trick_, and in bad taste, than a
+curtain of painted canvas? In both a deception is practised and
+intended. We saw many things in Vicenza and its neighbourhood, which I
+have not time nor spirits, to dwell upon.
+
+We arrived here (at Padua) last night, and to-day I am again ill:
+unable to see or even to wish to see any thing. My eyes are so full of
+tears that I can scarcely write. I must lay down my pencil, lest I
+break through my resolution, and be tempted to record feelings I
+afterwards tremble to see written down.--O bitter and too lasting
+remembrance! I must sleep it away--even the heavy and drug-bought
+sleep to which I am now reduced, is better than such waking moments as
+these.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Venice, October 25th._--I feel while I gaze round me, as if I had
+seen Venice in my dreams--as if it were itself the vision of a dream.
+We have been here two days; and I have not yet recovered from my first
+surprise. All is yet enchantment: all is novel, extraordinary,
+affecting from the many associations and remembrances excited in the
+mind. Pleasure and wonder are tinged with a melancholy interest; and
+while the imagination is excited, the spirits are depressed.
+
+The morning we left Padua was bright, lovely, and cloudless. Our drive
+along the shores of the Brenta crowned with innumerable villas and gay
+gardens was delightful; and the moment of our arrival at Fusina, where
+we left our carriages to embark in gondolas, was the most auspicious
+that could possibly have been chosen. It was about four o'clock: the
+sun was just declining towards the west: the whole surface of the
+_lagune_, smooth as a mirror, appeared as if paved with fire;--and
+Venice, with her towers and domes, indistinctly glittering in the
+distance, rose before us like a gorgeous exhalation from the bosom of
+the ocean. It is farther from the shore than I expected. As we
+approached, the splendour faded: but the interest and wonder grew. I
+can conceive nothing more beautiful, more singular, more astonishing,
+than the first appearance of Venice, and sad indeed will be the hour
+when she sinks (as the poet prophesies) "into the slime of her own
+canals."
+
+The moment we had disembarked our luggage at the inn, we hired
+gondolas and rowed to the Piazza di San Marco. Had I seen the church
+of St. Mark any where else, I should have exclaimed against the bad
+taste which every where prevails in it: but Venice is the proper
+region of the fantastic, and the church of St. Mark--with its four
+hundred pillars of every different order, colour, and material, its
+oriental cupolas, and glittering vanes, and gilding and
+mosaics--assimilates with all around it: and the kind of pleasure it
+gives is suitable to the place and the people.
+
+After dinner I had a chair placed on the balcony of our inn, and sat
+for some time contemplating a scene altogether new and delightful. The
+arch of the Rialto just gleamed through the deepening twilight; long
+lines of palaces, at first partially illuminated, faded away at length
+into gloomy and formless masses of architecture; the gondolas glided
+to and fro, their glancing lights reflected on the water. There was a
+stillness all around me, solemn and strange in the heart of a great
+city. No rattling carriages shook the streets, no trampling of horses
+echoed along the pavement: the silence was broken only by the
+melancholy cry of the gondoliers, and the dash of their oars; by the
+low murmur of human voices, by the chime of the vesper bells, borne
+over the water, and the sounds of music raised at intervals along the
+canals. The poetry, the romance of the scene stole upon me unawares. I
+fell into a reverie, in which visionary forms and recollections gave
+way to dearer and sadder realities, and my mind seemed no longer in my
+own power. I called upon the lost, the absent, to share the present
+with me,--I called upon past feelings to enhance that moment's
+delight. I did wrong--and memory avenged herself as usual. I quitted
+my seat on the balcony, with despair at my heart, and drawing to the
+table, took out my books and work. So passed our first evening at
+Venice.
+
+Yesterday we visited the Accademia where there are some fine pictures.
+The famous assumption by Titian is here, and first made me _feel_ what
+connoisseurs mean when they talk of the carnations and draperies of
+Titian. We were shown two designs for monuments to the memory of
+Titian, modelled by Canova. Neither of them has been erected; but the
+most beautiful, with a little alteration, and the substitution of a
+lady's bust for Titian's venerable head, has been dedicated, I
+believe, to the memory of the Archduchess Christina of Austria. I
+remember also an exquisite Canaletti, quite different in style and
+subject from any picture of this master I ever saw.
+
+We then rowed to the ducal palace. The council chamber (I thought of
+Othello as I entered it) is now converted into a library. The walls
+are decorated with the history of Pope Alexander the Third, and
+Frederic Barbarossa, painted by the Tintoretti, father and son, Paul
+Veronese and Palma. Above them, in compartments, hang the portraits of
+the Doges; among which Marino Faliero is _not_; but his name only,
+inscribed on a kind of black pall. The Ganymede is a most exquisite
+little group, attributed to the age of Praxiteles; and not without
+reason even to the hand of that sculptor.
+
+To-day we visited several churches--rich, on the outside, with all the
+luxury of architecture,--withinside, gorgeous with painting,
+sculpture, and many-coloured marbles. The prodigality with which the
+most splendid and costly materials are lavished here is perfectly
+amazing: pillars of lapis-lazuli, columns of Egyptian porphyry, and
+pavements of mosaic, altars of alabaster ascended by steps incrusted
+with agate and jasper:--but to particularize would be in vain. I will
+only mention three or four which I wish to recollect: the Church of
+the Madonna della Salute, so called because erected to the Virgin in
+gratitude for the deliverance of the city from a pestilence, which she
+miraculously drove into the Adriatic. It is remarkable for its
+splendid pictures, most of them by Luca Giordano; and the superb high
+altar. I think it was the Church of the Gesuata which astonished us
+most. The whole of the inside walls and columns are encrusted with
+Carrara marble inlaid with verd-antique, in a kind of damask pattern;
+over the pulpit it fell like drapery, so easy, so graceful, so
+exquisitely imitated, that I was obliged to touch it to assure myself
+of the material. Then by way of contrast followed the Church of San
+Giorgio Maggiore,--one of Palladio's masterpieces. After the dazzling
+and gorgeous buildings we had left, its beautiful simplicity and
+correct taste struck me at first with an impression of poverty and
+coldness. At the Church of St. John and St. Paul is the famous
+martyrdom, or rather assassination, of St. Peter Martyr, by Titian,
+one of the most magical pictures in the world. Its tragic horror is
+redeemed by its sublimity. Here too is a most admirable series of
+bas-reliefs in white marble, representing the history of our Saviour,
+the work of a modern sculptor. Here too the Doges are buried; and
+close to the Church is the equestrian statue of one of the Falieri
+family: near which Marino Faliero met the conspirators.
+
+At the Frati is the grave of Titian: a small square slab covers him,
+with this inscription:--
+
+    "Qui giace il gran Tiziano Vecelli.
+    Emulator dei Zeusi e degli Apelli."
+
+there is no monument:--and there needs none.
+
+It was, I think, in the Church of St. John and St. Paul, that I saw a
+singular and beautiful altar of black touch-stone, used when mass is
+said for the soul of an executed criminal.
+
+This is all I can remember of to-day. I am fatigued, and my head
+aches;--my imagination is yet dazzled:--my eyes are tired of admiring,
+my mind is tired of thinking, and my heart with feeling.----Now for
+repose.
+
+27.--To-day we visited the Manfrini Palace, the Casa Pisani, the
+Palazzo Barberigo, and concluded the morning in the colonnade of St.
+Mark, and the public gardens. The day has been far less fatiguing than
+yesterday: for though we have seen an equal variety of objects, they
+forced the attention less, and gratified the imagination more.
+
+At the Manfrini Palace there is the most valuable and splendid
+collection of pictures I have yet seen in Italy or elsewhere. I have
+no intention of turning my little Diary into a mere catalogue of names
+which I can find in every guide-book; but I cannot pass over
+Giorgione's beautiful group of himself, and his wife and child, which
+Lord Byron calls "love at full length and life, not love ideal," and
+it is indeed exquisite. A female with a guitar by the same master is
+almost equal to it. There are two Lucretias--one by Guido and one by
+Giordano: though both are beautiful, particularly the former, there
+was, I thought, an impropriety in the conception of both pictures: the
+figure was too voluptuous--too exposed, and did not give me the idea
+of the matronly Lucretia, who so carefully arranged her drapery before
+she fell. I remember, too, a St. Cecilia by Carlo Dolci, of most
+heavenly beauty,--two Correggios--Iphigenia in Aulis, by Padovanino:
+in this picture the figure of Agamemnon is a complete failure, but the
+lifeless beauty of Iphigenia, a wonderful effort of art: and a hundred
+others at least, all masterpieces.
+
+The Barberigo Palace was the school of Titian. We were shown the room
+in which he painted, and the picture he left unfinished when he died
+at the age of 99. It is a David--as vigorous in the touch and style as
+any of his first pictures.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is now some days since I had time to write; or rather the intervals
+of excitement and occupation found me too much exhausted to take up my
+pencil. Our stay at Venice has been rendered most agreeable by the
+kindness of Mr. H----, the British Consul, and his amiable and
+charming wife, and in their society we have spent much of the last few
+days.
+
+One of our pleasantest excursions was to the Armenian convent of St.
+Lazaro, where we were received by Fra Pasquale, an accomplished and
+intelligent monk, and a particular friend of Mr. H----. After we had
+visited every part of the convent, the printing press--the
+library--the laboratory--which contains several fine mathematical
+instruments of English make; and admired the beautiful little tame
+gazelle which bounded through the corridors, we were politely
+refreshed with most delicious sweetmeats and coffee; and took leave of
+Fra Pasquale with regret.
+
+There is no opera at present, but we have visited both the other
+theatres. At the San Luca, they gave us "Elizabeth, the Exile of
+Siberia," tolerably acted: but there was one trait introduced very
+characteristic of the place and people: Elizabeth in a tremendous snow
+storm, is pursued by robbers; and finding a crucifix, erected by the
+road side, embraces it for protection. The crucifix flies away with
+her in a clap of thunder, and sets her down safely at a distance from
+her persecutors. The audience appeared equally enchanted and edified
+by this scene: some of the women near me crossed themselves, and put
+their handkerchiefs to their eyes: the men rose from their seats,
+clapped with enthusiasm, and shouted "Bravo! Miracolo!"
+
+At the San Benedetto we were gratified by a deep tragedy entitled
+"Gabrielle Innocente," so exquisitely absurd, and so grotesquely
+acted, that the best comedy could scarcely have afforded us more
+amusement,--certainly not more _merriment_. In the course of the
+evening, coffee and ices were served in our box, as is the custom
+here.
+
+With Mrs. H---- this evening I had a long and pleasant conversation;
+she is really one of the most delightful and unaffected women I ever
+met with: and as there is nothing in my melancholy visage and
+shrinking reserve to tempt any person to converse with me, I must also
+set her down as one of the most good-natured. She talked much of Lord
+Byron, with whom, during his residence here she was on intimate terms.
+She spoke of him, not conceitedly as one vain of the acquaintance of a
+great character; nor with affected reserve, as if afraid of committing
+herself--but with openness, animation, and cordial kindness, as one
+whom she liked, and had reason to like. She says the style of Lord
+Byron's conversation is very much that of Don Juan: just in the same
+manner are the familiar, the brilliant, the sublime, the affecting,
+the witty, the ludicrous, and the licentious, mingled and contrasted.
+Several little anecdotes which she related I need not write down; I
+can scarcely forget them, and it would not be quite fair as they were
+told _en confiance_. I am no anecdote hunter, picking up articles for
+"my pocket book."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A little while ago Captain F. lent me D'Israeli's Essays on the
+Literary Character, which had once belonged to Lord Byron; and
+contained marginal notes in his hand-writing. One or two of them are
+so curiously characteristic that I copy them here.
+
+The first note is on a passage in which D'Israeli, in allusion to Lord
+Byron, traces his fondness for oriental scenery to his having read
+Rycaut at an early age. On this Lord Byron observes, that he read
+_every book_ relating to the east before he was ten years old,
+including De Tott and Cantemir as well as Rycaut: at that age, he says
+that he _detested_ all poetry, and adds, "when I was in Turkey, I was
+oftener tempted to turn mussulman than poet: and have often regretted
+since that _I did not_."
+
+At page 99 D'Israeli says,
+
+"The great poetical genius of our times has openly alienated himself
+from the land of his brothers" (over the word _brothers_ Lord Byron
+has written _Cains_.) "He becomes immortal in the _language_ of a
+_people_ whom he would _contemn_, he accepts with ingratitude the fame
+he loves more than life, and he is only truly great on that _spot_ of
+_earth_, whose genius, when he is no more, will contemplate his shade
+in sorrow and in anger."
+
+Lord Byron has underlined several words in this passage, and writes
+thus in the margin:
+
+"What was rumoured of me in that language, if _true_, I was unfit for
+England; and if _false_, England was unfit for me. But 'there is a
+world elsewhere.' I have never for an instant regretted that
+country,--but often that I ever returned to it. It is not my fault
+that I am obliged to write in English. If I understood any present
+language, Italian, for instance, equally well, I would write in
+it:--but it will require ten years, at least, to form a style. No
+tongue so easy to acquire a little of, and so difficult to master
+thoroughly, as Italian."
+
+The next note is amusing; at page 342 is mentioned the anecdote of
+Petrarch, who when returning to his native town, was informed that the
+proprietor of the house in which he was born had _often_ wished to
+make alterations in it, but that the town's-people had risen to insist
+that the house consecrated by his birth should remain unchanged;--"a
+triumph," adds D'Israeli, "more affecting to Petrarch than even his
+coronation at Rome."
+
+Lord Byron has written in the margin--"It would have pained _me_ more
+that the proprietor should _often_ have wished to make alterations,
+than it would give me pleasure that the rest of Arezzo rose against
+his right (for _right_ he had:) the depreciation of the lowest of
+mankind is more painful, than the applause of the highest is pleasing.
+The sting of the scorpion is more in _torture_ than the possession of
+any thing short of Venus would be in rapture."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The public gardens are the work of the French, and occupy the
+extremity of one of the islands. They contain the only trees I have
+seen at Venice:--a few rows of dwarfish unhappy-looking shrubs,
+parched by the sea breezes, and are little frequented. We found here a
+solitary gentleman, who was sauntering up and down with his hands in
+his pockets, and a look at once stupid and disconsolate. Sometimes he
+paused, looked vacantly over the waters, whistled, yawned, and turned
+away to resume his solemn walk. On a trifling remark addressed to him
+by one of our party, he entered into conversation, with all the
+eagerness of a man, whose tongue had long been kept in most unnatural
+bondage. He congratulated himself on having met with some one who
+would speak English; adding contemptuously, that "he understood none
+of the outlandish tongues the people spoke hereabouts:" he inquired
+what was to be seen here, for though he had been four days in Venice,
+he had spent every day precisely in the same manner; viz. walking up
+and down the public gardens. We told him Venice was famous for fine
+buildings and pictures; he knew nothing of _them_ things. And that it
+contained also, "some fine statues and antiques"--he cared nothing
+about them neither--he should set off for Florence the next morning,
+and begged to know what was to be seen there? Mr. R----told him, with
+enthusiasm, "the most splendid gallery of pictures and statues in the
+world!" He looked very blank and disappointed. "Nothing else?" then he
+should certainly not waste his time at Florence, he should go direct
+to Rome; he had put down the name of that _town_ in his pocket-book,
+for he understood it was a very _convenient_ place: he should
+therefore stay there a week; thence he should go to Naples, a place he
+had also heard of, where he should stay another week: then he should
+go to Algiers, where he should stay _three weeks_, and thence to
+Tunis, where he expected to be very comfortable, and should probably
+make a long stay; thence he should return home, having seen every
+thing worth seeing. He scarcely seemed to know how or by what route he
+had got to Venice--but he assured us he had come "fast enough;"--he
+remembered no place he had passed through except Paris. At Paris he
+told us there was a female lodging in the same hotel with himself, who
+by his description appears to have been a single lady of rank and
+fashion, travelling with her own carriages and a suite of servants. He
+had never seen her; but learning through the domestics that she was
+travelling the same route, he sat down and wrote her a long letter,
+beginning "Dear Madam," and proposing they should join company, "for
+the sake of good fellowship, and the _bit of chat_ they might have on
+their way." Of course she took no notice of this strange billet, "from
+which," added he with ludicrous simplicity, "I supposed she would
+rather travel alone."
+
+Truly, "Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time." After this
+specimen, sketched from life, who will say there are such things as
+caricatures?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We visited to-day the Giant's Staircase and the Bridge of Sighs, and
+took a last farewell of St. Mark--we were surprised to see the church
+hung with black--the festoons of flowers all removed--masses going
+forward at several altars, and crowds of people looking particularly
+solemn and devout. It is the "Giorno dei morte," the day by the Roman
+Catholics consecrated to the dead. I observed many persons, both men
+and women, who wept while they prayed, with every appearance of the
+most profound grief. Leaving St. Mark, I crossed the square. On the
+three lofty standards in front of the church formerly floated the
+ensigns of the three states subjects to Venice,--the Morea, Cyprus,
+and Candia: the bare poles remain, but the ensigns of empire are gone.
+One of the standards was extended on the ground, and being of immense
+length, I hesitated for a moment whether I should make a circuit, but
+at last stepped over it. I looked back with remorse, for it was like
+trampling over the fallen.
+
+We then returned to our inn to prepare for our departure. How I regret
+to leave Venice! not the less because I cannot help it.
+
+_Rovigo, Nov. 3._ We left Venice in a hurry yesterday, slept at Padua,
+and travelled this morning through a most lovely country, among the
+Enganean hills to Rovigo, where we are very uncomfortably lodged at
+the Albergo di San Marco.
+
+I have not yet recovered my regret at leaving Venice so unexpectedly;
+though as a residence, I could scarce endure it; the sleepy canals,
+the gliding gondolas in their "dusk livery of woe"--the absence of all
+verdure, all variety--of all _nature_, in short; the silence,
+disturbed only by the incessant chiming of bells--and, worse than all,
+the spectacle of a great city "expiring," as Lord Byron says, "before
+our eyes," would give me the horrors: but as a visitor, my curiosity
+was not half gratified, and I should have liked to have stayed a few
+days longer--perhaps after all, I have reason to rejoice that instead
+of bringing away from Venice a disagreeable impression of satiety,
+disgust and melancholy, I have quitted it with feelings of admiration,
+of deep regret, and undiminished interest.
+
+Farewell, then, Venice! I could not have believed it possible that it
+would have brought tears to my eyes to leave a place merely for its
+own sake, and unendeared by the presence of any one I loved.
+
+As Rovigo affords no other amusement I shall scribble a little longer.
+
+Nothing can be more arbitrary than the Austrian government at Venice.
+As a summary method of preventing robberies during the winter months,
+when many of the gondoliers and fishermen are out of employ, the
+police have orders to arrest, without ceremony, every person who has
+no permanent trade or profession, and keep them in confinement and to
+hard labour till the return of spring.
+
+The commerce of Venice has so much and so rapidly declined, that Mr.
+H---- told us when first he was appointed to the consulship, a hundred
+and fifty English vessels cleared the port, and this year only five.
+It should seem that Austria, from a cruel and selfish policy, is
+sacrificing Venice to the prosperity of Trieste: but why do I call
+that a cruel policy, which on recollection I might rather term
+poetical and retributive justice?
+
+The grandeur of Venice arose first from its trade in salt. I remember
+reading in history, that when the king of Hungary opened certain
+productive salt mines in his dominions, the Venetians sent him a
+peremptory order to shut them up; and such was the power of the
+Republic at that time, that he was forced to obey this insolent
+command, to the great injury and impoverishment of his states. The
+tables are now turned; the oppressor has become the oppressed.
+
+The principal revenue derived from Venice is from the tax on houses,
+there being no _land tax_. So rapid was the decay of the place, that
+in two years seventy houses and palaces were pulled down; the
+government forbade this by a special law, and now taxes are paid for
+many houses whose proprietors are too poor to live in them.
+
+There is no _society_, properly so called, at Venice; three old women
+of rank receive company now and then, and it is any thing rather than
+select.
+
+Mr. F. told us at Venice, that on entering the states subject to
+Austria, he had his Johnson's Dictionary taken from him, and could
+never recover it; so jealous is the government of English principles
+and English literature, that _all_ English books are prohibited until
+examined by the police.
+
+The whole country from Milan to Padua was like a vast garden, nothing
+could exceed its fertility and beauty. It was the latter end of the
+vintage; and we frequently met huge tub-like waggons loaded with
+purple grapes, reeling home from the vineyards, and driven by men
+whose legs were stained with treading in the wine-press--now and then,
+rich clusters were shaken to the ground, as I have seen wisps of straw
+fall from a hay-cart in England, and were regarded with equal
+indifference. Sometimes we saw in the vineyards by the road-side,
+groups of labourers seated among the branches of the trees, and
+plucking grapes from the vines, which were trailed gracefully from
+tree to tree and from branch to branch, and drooped with their
+luxurious burthen of fruit. The scene would have been as perfectly
+delightful, as it was new and beautiful, but for the squalid looks of
+the peasantry; more especially of the women. The principal productions
+of the country seem to be wine and silk. There were vast groves of
+mulberry-trees between Verona and Padua; and we visited some of the
+silk-mills, in which the united strength of men invariably performed
+those operations which in England are accomplished by steam or water.
+I saw in a huge horizontal wheel, about a dozen of these poor
+creatures labouring so hard, that my very heart ached to see them, and
+I begged that the machine might be stopped that I might speak to
+them:--but when it _Was_ stopped, and I beheld their half savage, half
+stupified, I had almost said _brutified_ countenances, I could not
+utter a single word--but gave them something, and turned away.
+
+"Compassion is wasted upon such creatures," said R----; "do you not
+see that their minds are degraded down to their condition? they do not
+pity themselves:"--but therefore did I pity them the more.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Bologna, Nov. 5._--I fear I shall retain a disagreeable impression of
+Bologna, for here I am again ill. I have seen little of what the town
+contains of beautiful and curious: and that little, under unpleasant
+and painful circumstances.
+
+Yesterday we passed through Ferrara; only stopping to change horses
+and dine. We snatched a moment to visit the hospital of St. Anna and
+the prison of Tasso--the glory and disgrace of Ferrara. Over the iron
+gate is written "Ingresso alia prigione di Torquato Tasso." The cell
+itself is miserably gloomy and wretched, and not above twelve feet
+square. How amply has posterity avenged the cause of the poet on his
+tyrant!--and as we emerge from his obscure dungeon and descend the
+steps of the hospital of St. Anna, with what fervent hatred,
+indignation, and scorn, do we gaze upon the towers of the ugly red
+brick palace, or rather fortress, which deforms the great square, and
+where Alphonso feasted while Tasso wept! The inscription on the door
+of the cell, calling on strangers to venerate the spot where Tasso,
+"Infermo piu di tristezza che delirio," was confined seven years and
+one month--was placed there by the French, and its accuracy may be
+doubted; as far as I can recollect. The grass growing in the wide
+streets of Ferrara is no poetical exaggeration; I saw it rank and long
+even on the thresholds of the deserted houses, whose sashless windows,
+and flapping doors, and roofless walls, looked strangely desolate.
+
+I will say nothing of Bologna;--for the few days I have spent here
+have been to me days of acute suffering, in more ways than I wish to
+remember, and therefore dare not dwell upon.
+
+_At Covigliajo in the Apennines._--O for the pencil of Salvator, or
+the pen of a Radcliffe! But could either, or could both united, give
+to my mind the scenes of to-day, in all their splendid combinations of
+beauty and brightness, gloom and grandeur? A picture may present to
+the eye a small portion of the boundless whole--one aspect of the
+every-varying face of nature; and words, how weak are they!--they are
+but the elements out of which the quick imagination frames and
+composes lovely landscapes, according to its power or its peculiar
+character; and in which the unimaginative man finds only a mere chaos
+of verbiage, without form, and void.
+
+The scenery of the Apennines is altogether different in character from
+that of the Alps: it is less bold, less lofty, less abrupt and
+terrific--but more beautiful, more luxuriant, and infinitely more
+varied. At one time, the road wound among precipices and crags,
+crowned with dismantled fortresses and ruined castles--skirted with
+dark pine forests--and opening into wild recesses of gloom, and
+immeasurable depths like those of Tartarus profound; then came such
+glimpses of paradise! such soft sunny valleys and peaceful
+hamlets--and vine-clad eminences and rich pastures, with here and
+there a convent half hidden by groves of cypress and cedars. As we
+ascended we arrived at a height from which, looking back, we could see
+the whole of Lombardy spread at our feet; a vast, glittering,
+indistinct landscape, bounded on the north by the summits of the Alps,
+just apparent above the horizon, like a range of small silvery clouds;
+and on the east a long unbroken line of bluish light marked the far
+distant Adriatic; as the day declined, and we continued our ascent
+(occasionally assisted by a yoke of oxen where the acclivity was very
+precipitate), the mountains closed around us, the scenery became more
+wildly romantic, barren, and bleak. At length, after passing the
+crater of a volcano, visible through the gloom by its dull red light,
+we arrived at the Inn of Covigliajo, an uncouth dreary edifice,
+situated in a lonely and desolate spot, some miles from any other
+habitation. This is the very inn, infamous for a series of the most
+horrible assassinations, committed here some years ago. Travellers
+arrived, departed, disappeared, and were never heard of more; by what
+agency, or in what manner disposed of, could not be discovered. It was
+supposed for some time that a horde of banditti were harboured among
+the mountains, and the police were for a long time in active search
+for them, while the real miscreants remained unsuspected for their
+seeming insignificance and helplessness; these were the mistress of
+the inn, the cameriere, and the curate of the nearest village, about
+two leagues off. They secretly murdered every traveller who was
+supposed to carry property--buried or burned their clothes, packages,
+and vehicles, retaining nothing but their watches, jewels, and money.
+The whole story, with all its horrors, the manner of discovery, and
+the fate of these wretches, is told, I think, by Forsyth, who can
+hardly be suspected of romance or exaggeration. I have him not with me
+to refer to; but I well remember the mysterious and shuddering dread
+with which I read the anecdote. I am glad no one else seems to
+recollect it. The inn at present contains many more than it can
+possibly accommodate. We have secured the best rooms, or rather the
+_only_ rooms--and besides ourselves and other foreigners, there are
+numbers of native travellers: some of whom arrived on horseback, and
+others with the Vetturini. A kind of gallery or corridor separates the
+sleeping rooms, and is divided by a curtain into two parts: the
+smaller is appropriated to us, as a saloon: the other half, as I
+contemplate it at this moment through a rent in the curtain, presents
+a singular and truly Italian spectacle--a huge black iron lamp,
+suspended by a chain from the rafters, throws a flaring and shifting
+light around. Some trusses of hay have been shaken down upon the
+floor, to supply the place of beds, chairs, and tables; and there,
+reclining in various attitudes, I see a number of dark looking
+figures, some eating and drinking, some sleeping; some playing at
+cards, some telling stories with all the Italian variety of
+gesticulation and intonation; some silently looking on, or listening.
+Two or three common looking fellows began to smoke their segars, but
+when it was suggested that this might incommode the ladies on the
+other side of the curtain, they with genuine politeness ceased
+directly. Through this motley and picturesque assemblage I have to
+make my way to my bed-room in a few minutes--I will take another look
+at them, and then--andiamo!
+
+_Florence, Nov. 8._--"La bellisema e famosissima figlia di Roma," as
+Dante calls her in some relenting moment. Last night we slept in a
+blood-stained hovel--and to-night we are lodged in a palace. So much
+for the vicissitudes of travelling.
+
+I am not subject to idle fears, and least of all to superstitious
+fears--but last night, at Covigliajo, I could not sleep--I could not
+even lie down for more than a few minutes together. The whispered
+voices and hard breathing of the men who slept in the corridor, from
+whom only a slight door divided me, disturbed and fevered my nerves;
+horrible imaginings were all around me: and gladly did I throw open my
+window at the first glimpse of the dawn, and gladly did I hear the
+first well-known voice which summoned me to a hasty breakfast. How
+reviving was the breath of the early morning, after leaving that
+close, suffocating, ill-omened inn! how beautiful the blush of light
+stealing downwards from the illumined summits to the valleys, tinting
+the fleecy mists, as they rose from the earth, till all the landscape
+was flooded with sunshine: and when at length we passed the mountains,
+and began to descend into the rich vales of Tuscany--when from the
+heights above Fesole we beheld the city of Florence, and above it the
+young moon and the evening star suspended side by side; and floating
+over the whole of the Val d'Arno, and the lovely hills which enclose
+it, a mist, or rather a suffusion of the richest rose colour, which
+gradually, as the day declined, faded, or rather deepened into purple;
+then I first understood all the enchantment of an Italian
+landscape.--O what a country is this! All that I see, I _feel_--all
+that I _feel_, sinks so deep into my heart and my memory! the deeper
+because I suffer--and because I never think of expressing, or sharing,
+one emotion with those around me, but lock it up in my own bosom; or
+at least in my little book--as I do now.
+
+_Nov. 10._--We visited the gallery for the first time yesterday
+morning; and I came away with my eyes and imagination so dazzled with
+excellence, and so distracted with variety, that I retained no
+distinct recollection of any particular object except the Venus; which
+of course was the first and great attraction. This morning was much
+more delightful; my powers of discrimination returned, and my power of
+enjoyment was not diminished. New perceptions of beauty and excellence
+seemed to open upon my mind; and faculties long dormant, were roused
+to pleasurable activity.
+
+I came away untired, unsated; and with a delightful and distinct
+impression of all I had seen. I leave to catalogues to particularise;
+and am content to admire and to remember.
+
+I am glad I was not disappointed in the Venus which I half expected.
+Neither was I surprised: but I felt while I gazed a sense of unalloyed
+and unmingled pleasure, and forgot the cant of criticism. It has the
+same effect to the eye, that perfect harmony has upon the ear: and I
+think I can understand why no copy, cast, or model, however accurate,
+however exquisite, can convey the impression of tenderness and
+sweetness, the divine and peculiar charm of the original.
+
+After dinner we walked in the grounds of the Cascine,--a dairy farm
+belonging to the grand Duke, just without the gates of Florence. The
+promenade lies along the bank of the river, and is sheltered and
+beautiful. We saw few native Italians, but great numbers of English
+walking and riding. The day was as warm, as sunny, as brilliant as the
+first days of September in England.
+
+To-night, after resting a little, I went out to view the effect of the
+city and surrounding scenery, by moonlight. It is not alone the
+brilliant purity of the skies and atmosphere, nor the peculiar
+character of the scenery which strikes a stranger; but here art
+harmonizes with nature: the style of the buildings, their flat
+projecting roofs, white walls, balconies, colonnades and statues, are
+all set off to advantage by the radiance of an Italian moon.
+
+I walked across the first bridge, from which I had a fine view of the
+Ponte della Trinita, with its graceful arches and light balustrade,
+touched with the sparkling moonbeams and relieved by dark shadow: then
+I strolled along the quay in front of the Corsini palace, and beyond
+the colonnade of the Uffizi, to the last of the four bridges; on the
+middle of which I stood and looked back upon the city--(how justly
+styled the Fair!)--with all its buildings, its domes, its steeples,
+its bridges, and woody hills and glittering convents, and marble
+villas, peeping from embowering olives and cypresses; and far off the
+snowy peaks of the Apennines, shining against the dark purple sky: the
+whole blended together in one delicious scene of shadowy splendour.
+After contemplating it with a kind of melancholy delight, long enough
+to get it by heart, I returned homewards. Men were standing on the
+wall along the Arno, in various picturesque attitudes, fishing, after
+the Italian fashion, with singular nets suspended to long poles; and
+as I saw their dark figures between me and the moonlight, and elevated
+above my eye, they looked like colossal statues. I then strayed into
+the Piazza del Gran Duca. Here the rich moonlight, streaming through
+the arcade of the gallery, fell directly upon the fine Perseus of
+Benvenuto Cellini; and illuminating the green bronze, touched it with
+a spectral and supernatural beauty. Thence I walked round the
+equestrian statue of Cosmo, and so home over the Ponte Alla Carrajo.
+
+_Nov. 11._--I spent about two hours in the gallery, and for the first
+time saw the Niobe. This statue has been for a long time a favourite
+of my imagination, and I approached it, treading softly and slowly,
+and with a feeling of reverence; for I had an impression that the
+original Niobe would, like the original Venus, surpass all the casts
+and copies I had seen both in beauty and expression: but apparently
+expression is more easily caught than delicacy and grace, and the
+grandeur and pathos of the attitude and grouping easily copied--for I
+think the best casts of the Niobe are accurate counterparts of the
+original; and at the first glance I was capriciously disappointed,
+because the statue did not _surpass_ my expectations. It should be
+contemplated from a distance. It is supposed that the whole group once
+ornamented the pediment of a temple--probably the temple of Diana or
+Latona. I once saw a beautiful drawing by Mr. Cockerell, of the manner
+in which he supposed the whole group was distributed. Many of the
+figures are rough and unfinished at the back, as if they had been
+placed on a height, and viewed only in front.
+
+In the same room with the Niobe is a head which struck me more--the
+_Alexandre mourant_. The title seemed to me misapplied; for there is
+something indignant and upbraiding, as well as mournful, in the
+expression of this magnificent head. It is undoubtedly Alexander--but
+Alexander reproaching the gods--or calling upon Heaven for new worlds
+to conquer.
+
+I visited also the gallery of Bronzes: it contains, among other
+master-pieces, the aerial Mercury of John of Bologna, of which we see
+such a multiplicity of copies. There is a conceit in perching him upon
+the bluff cheeks of a little Eolus: but what exquisite lightness in
+the figure!--how it mounts, how it floats, disdaining the earth! On
+leaving the gallery, I sauntered about; visited some churches, and
+then returned home depressed and wearied: and in this melancholy
+humour I had better close my book, lest I be tempted to write what I
+could not bear to see written.
+
+_Sunday._--At the English ambassador's chapel. To attend public
+worship among our own countrymen, and hear the praises of God in our
+native accents, in a strange land, among a strange people; where a
+different language, different manners, and a different religion
+prevail, affects the mind, or at least ought to affect it;--and deeply
+too: yet I cannot say that I felt devout this morning. The last day I
+visited St. Mark's, when I knelt down beside the poor weeping girl and
+her dove-basket, my heart was touched, and my prayers, I humbly trust,
+were not unheard: to-day, in that hot close crowded room, among those
+fine people flaunting in all the luxury of dress, I felt suffocated,
+feverish, and my head ached--the clergyman too----
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Samuel Rogers paid us a long visit this morning. He does not look as
+if the suns of Italy had _revivified_ him--but he is as _amiable_ and
+amusing as ever. He talked long, _et avec beaucoup d'onction_, of
+ortolans and figs; till methought it was the very poetry of epicurism;
+and put me in mind of his own suppers--
+
+    "Where blushing fruits through scatter'd leaves invite,
+    Still clad in bloom and veiled in azure light.
+    The wine as rich in years as Horace sings;"
+
+and the rest of his description, worthy of a poetical Apicius.
+
+Rogers may be seen every day about eleven or twelve in the Tribune,
+seated opposite to the Venus, which appears to be the exclusive object
+of his adoration; and gazing, as if he hoped, like another Pygmalion,
+to animate the statue; or rather perhaps that the statue might animate
+_him_. A young Englishman of fashion, with as much talent as
+espieglerie, placed an epistle in verse between the fingers of the
+statue, addressed to Rogers; in which the goddess entreats him not to
+come there _ogling_ every day;--for though "partial friends might deem
+him still alive," she knew by his looks that he had come from the
+other side of the Styx; and retained her _antique_ abhorrence of the
+spectral dead, etc. etc. She concluded by beseeching him, if he could
+not desist from haunting her with his _ghostly_ presence, at least to
+spare her the added misfortune of being be-rhymed by his muse.
+
+Rogers, with equal good nature and good sense, neither noticed these
+lines nor withdrew his friendship and intimacy from the writer.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Carlo Dolce is not one of my favourite masters. There is a cloying
+sweetness in his style, a general want of power which wearies me: yet
+I brought away from the Corsini Palace to-day an impression of a head
+by Carlo Dolce (La Poesia), which I shall never forget. Now I recall
+the picture, I am at a loss to tell where lies the charm which has
+thus powerfully seized on my imagination. Here are no "eyes upturned
+like one inspired"--no distortion--no rapt enthusiasm--no Muse full of
+the God;--but it is a head so purely, so divinely intellectual, so
+heavenly sweet, and yet so penetrating,--so full of sensibility, and
+yet so unstained by earthly passion--so brilliant, and yet so
+calm--that if Carlo Dolce had lived in our days, I should have thought
+he intended it for the personified genius of Wordsworth's poetry.
+There is such an individual reality about this beautiful head, that I
+am inclined to believe the tradition, that it is the portrait of one
+of Carlo Dolce's daughters who died young:--and yet
+
+    "Did ever mortal mixture of earth's mould
+    Breathe such divine, enchanting ravishment?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Nov. 15._--Our stay at Florence promises to be far gayer than either
+Milan or Venice, or even Paris; more diversified by society, as well
+as affording a wider field of occupation and amusement.
+
+Sometimes in the long evenings, when fatigued and over-excited, I
+recline apart on the sofa, or bury myself in the recesses of a
+_fauteuil_; when I am aware that my mind is wandering away to
+forbidden themes, I force my attention to what is going forward; and
+often see and hear much that is entertaining, if not improving. People
+are so accustomed to my pale face, languid indifference and, what
+M---- calls, my _impracticable_ silence, that after the first glance
+and introduction, I believe they are scarcely sensible of my presence:
+so I sit, and look, and listen, secure and harboured in my apparent
+dullness. The flashes of wit, the attempts at sentiment, the
+affectation of enthusiasm, the absurdities of folly, and the blunders
+of ignorance; the contrast of characters and the clash of opinions,
+the scandalous anecdotes of the day, related with sprightly malice,
+and listened to with equally malicious avidity,--all these, in my days
+of health and happiness, had power to surprise, or amuse, or provoke
+me. I could mingle _then_ in the conflict of minds; and hear my part
+with smiles in the social circle; though the next moment, perhaps, I
+might contemn myself and others: and the personal scandal, the
+characteristic tale, the amusing folly, or the malignant wit, were
+effaced from my mind--
+
+    ----"Like forms with chalk
+    Painted on rich men's floors for one feast night."
+
+Now it is different: I can smile yet, but my smile is in pity, rather
+than in mockery. If suffering has subdued my mind to seriousness, and
+perhaps enfeebled its powers, I may at least hope that it has not
+soured or imbittered my temper:--if what could once _amuse_, no longer
+amuses,--what could once _provoke_ has no longer power to irritate:
+thus my loss may be improved into a gain--_car tout est bien, quand
+tout est mal_.
+
+It is sorrow which makes our experience; it is sorrow which teaches us
+to feel properly for ourselves and for others. We must feel deeply,
+before we can think rightly. It is not in the tempest and storm of
+passions we can reflect,--but afterwards when _the waters have gone
+over our soul_; and like the precious gems and the rich merchandize
+which the wild wave casts on the shore out of the wreck it has
+made--such are the thoughts left by retiring passions.
+
+Reflection is the result of feeling; from that absorbing,
+heart-rending compassion for oneself (the most painful sensation,
+_almost_, of which our nature is capable), springs a deeper sympathy
+for others; and from the sense of our own weakness, and our own
+self-upbraiding, arises a disposition to be indulgent--to forbear--and
+to forgive--so at least it ought to be. When once we have shed those
+inexpressibly bitter tears, which fall unregarded, and which we forget
+to wipe away, O how we shrink from inflicting pain! how we shudder at
+unkindness!--and think all harshness even in thought, only another
+name for cruelty! These are but common-place truths, I know, which
+have often been a thousand times better expressed. Formerly I heard
+them, read them, and thought I believed them: now I feel them; and
+feeling, I utter them as if they were something new.--Alas! the
+lessons of sorrow are as old as the world itself.
+
+To-day we have seen nothing new. In the morning I was ill: in the
+afternoon we drove to the Cascina; and while the rest walked, I spread
+my shawl upon the bank and basked like a lizard in the sunshine. It
+was a most lovely day, a summer-day in England. In this paradise of a
+country, the common air, and earth, and skies, seem happiness enough.
+While I sat to-day, on my green bank--languid, indeed, but free from
+pain--and looked round upon a scene which has lost its novelty, but
+none of its beauty,--where Florence, with its glittering domes and its
+back-ground of sunny hills, terminated my view on one side, and the
+Apennines, tinted with rose colour and gold, bounded it on the other,
+I felt not only pleasure, but a deep thankfulness that such pleasures
+were yet left to me.
+
+Among the gay figures who passed and repassed before me, I remarked a
+benevolent but rather heavy-looking old gentleman, with a shawl
+hanging over his arm, and holding a parasol, with which he was
+gallantly shading a little plain old woman from the November sun.
+After them walked two young ladies, simply dressed; and then followed
+a tall and very handsome young man, with a plain but elegant girl
+hanging on his arm. This was the Grand Duke and his family; with the
+Prince of Carignano, who has lately married one of his daughters. Two
+servants in plain drab liveries, followed at a considerable distance.
+People politely drew on one side as they approached; but no other
+homage was paid to the sovereign, who thus takes his walk in public
+almost every day. Lady Morgan is merry at the expense of the Grand
+Duke's taste for brick and mortar: but monarchs, like other men, must
+have their amusements; some invent uniforms, some stitch
+embroidery;--and why should not this good-natured Grand Duke amuse
+himself with his trowel if he likes it? As to the Prince of Carignano,
+I give him up to her lash--_le traitre_--but perhaps he thought he was
+doing right: and at all events there are not flatterers wanting, to
+call his perfidy patriotism.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I am told that Florence retains its reputation of being the most
+devout capital in Italy, and that here love, music, and devotion hold
+divided empire, or rather are _tria juncta in uno_. The liberal
+patronage and taste of Lord Burghersh, contribute perhaps to make
+music so much a _passion_ as it is at present. Magnelli, the Grand
+Duke's Maestra di Cappella, and director of the Conservatorio, is the
+finest tenor in Italy. I have the pleasure of hearing him frequently,
+and think the purity of his taste at least equal to the perfection of
+his voice; rare praise for a singer in these "most brisk and
+giddy-paced times." He gave us last night the beautiful recitative
+which introduces Desdemona's song in Othello--
+
+    "Nessun maggior dolore,
+    Che ricordarsi del tempo felice
+    Nella miseria!"
+
+and the words, the music, and the divine pathos of the man's voice
+combined, made me feel--as I thought I never could have felt again.
+
+    TO ----
+
+    As sounds of sweetest music, heard at eve,
+    When summer dews weep over languid flowers,
+    When the still air conveys each touch, each tone,
+    However faint--and breathes it on the ear
+    With a distinct and thrilling power, that leaves
+    Its memory long within the raptur'd soul.--
+    --Even _such_ thou art to me!--and thus I sit
+    And feel the harmony that round thee lives,
+    And breathes from every feature. Thus I sit--
+    And when most quiet--cold--or silent--_then_
+    Even then, I feel each word, each look, each tone!
+    There's not an accent of that tender voice,
+    There's not a day-beam of those sunbright eyes,
+    Nor passing smile, nor melancholy grace,
+    Nor thought half utter'd, feeling half betray'd
+    Nor glance of kindness,--no, nor gentlest touch
+    Of that dear hand, in amity extended,
+    That e'er was lost to me;--that treasur'd well,
+    And oft recall'd, dwells not upon my soul
+    Like sweetest music heard at summer's eve!
+
+Yesterday we visited the church of San Lorenzo, the Laurentian
+library, and the Pietra Dura manufactory, and afterwards spent an hour
+in the Tribune.
+
+In a little chapel in the San Lorenzo are Michel Angelo's famous
+statues, the Morning, the Noon, the Evening, and the Night. I looked
+at them with admiration rather than with pleasure; for there is
+something in the severe and overpowering style of this master, which
+affects me disagreeably, as beyond my feeling, and above my
+comprehension. These statues are very ill disposed for effect: the
+confined _cell_ (such it seemed) in which they are placed is so
+strangely disproportioned to the awful and massive grandeur of their
+forms.
+
+There is a picture by Michel Angelo, considered a chef-d'oeuvre,
+which hangs in the Tribune, to the right of the Venus: now if all the
+connaisseurs in the world, with Vasari at their head, were to harangue
+for an hour together on the merits of this picture, I might submit in
+silence, for I am no connoisseur; but that it is a disagreeable, a
+hateful picture, is an opinion which fire could not melt out of me. In
+spite of Messieurs les Connaisseurs, and Michel Angelo's fame, I would
+die in it at the stake: for instance, here is the Blessed Virgin, not
+the "Vergine Santa, d'ogni grazia piena," but a Virgin, whose
+brick-dust coloured face, harsh unfeminine features, and muscular,
+masculine arms, give me the idea of a washerwoman, (con rispetto
+parlando!) an infant Saviour with the proportions of a giant: and what
+shall we say of the nudity of the figures in the back-ground;
+profaning the subject and shocking at once good taste and good sense?
+A little farther on, the eye rests on the divine Madre di Dio of
+Correggio: what beauty, what sweetness, what maternal love, and humble
+adoration are blended in the look and attitude with which she bends
+over her infant! Beyond it hangs the Madonna del Cardellino of
+Raffaelle: what heavenly grace, what simplicity, what saint-like
+purity, in the expression of that face, and that exquisite mouth! And
+from these must I turn back, on pain of being thought an ignoramus, to
+admire the coarse perpetration of Michel Angelo--because it is Michel
+Angelo's? But I speak in ignorance.[F]
+
+To return to San Lorenzo. The chapel of the Medici, begun by Ferdinand
+the First, where coarse brickwork and plaster mingle with marble and
+gems, is still unfinished and likely to remain so: it did not interest
+me. The fine bronze sarcophagus, which encloses the ashes of Lorenzo
+the Magnificent, and of his brother Giuliano, assassinated by the
+Pazzi, interested me far more. While I was standing carelessly in
+front of the high altar, I happened to look down, and under my feet
+were these words, "TO COSMO THE VENERABLE, THE FATHER OF HIS
+COUNTRY." I moved away in haste, and before I had decided to my
+own satisfaction upon Cosmo's claims to the gratitude and veneration
+of posterity, we left the church.
+
+At the Laurentian library we were edified by the sight of some famous
+old manuscripts, invaluable to classical scholars. To my unlearned
+eyes the manuscript of Petrarch, containing portraits of himself and
+Laura, was more interesting. Petrarch is hideous--but I was pleased
+with the head of Laura, which in spite of the antique dryness and
+stiffness of the painting, has a soft and delicate expression not
+unlike one of Carlo Dolce's Madonnas. Here we saw Galileo's
+forefinger, pointing up to the skies from a white marble pedestal; and
+exciting more derision than respect.
+
+At the Pietra Dura, notwithstanding the beauty and durability of some
+of the objects manufactured, the result seemed to me scarce worth the
+incredible time, patience, and labour required in the work. _Par
+exemple_, six months' hard labour spent upon a butterfly in the lid of
+a snuff-box seems a most disproportionate waste of time. Thirty
+workmen are employed here at the Grand Duke's expense; for this
+manufacture, like that of the Gobelins at Paris, is exclusively
+carried on for the sovereign.
+
+_Nov. 20._--I am struck in this place with grand beginnings and mean
+endings. I have not yet seen a finished church, even the Duomo has no
+facade.
+
+Yesterday we visited the Palazzo Mozzi to see Benvenuto's picture,
+"The Night after the Battle of Jena." Then several churches--the Santa
+Croce, which is hallowed ground: the Annonciata, celebrated for the
+frescos of Andrea del Sarto; and the Carmine, which pleased me by the
+light elegance of its architecture, and its fine alto-relievos in
+white marble. In this church is the chapel of the Madonna del Carmele,
+painted by Masuccio, and the most ancient frescos extant: they are
+curious rather than beautiful, and going to decay.
+
+To-day we visited the school of the Fine Arts: it contains a very
+fine and ample collection of casts after the antique; and some of the
+works of modern artists and students are exhibited. Were I to judge
+from the specimens I have seen here and elsewhere, I should say that a
+cold, glaring, hard _tea-tray_ style prevails in painting, and a still
+worse taste, if possible, in sculpture. No soul, no grandeur, no
+simplicity; a meagre insipidity in the conception, a nicety of finish
+in the detail; affectation instead of grace, distortion instead of
+power, and prettiness instead of beauty. Yet the artists who execute
+these works, and those who buy them, have free access to the marvels
+of the gallery, and the treasures of the Pitti Palace. Are they sans
+eyes, sans souls, sans taste, sans every thing, but money and
+self-conceit?
+
+_Nov. 22._--Our mornings, however otherwise occupied, are generally
+concluded by an hour in the gallery or at the Pitti Palace; the
+evenings are spent in the Mercato Nuovo, in the workshops of artists,
+or at the Cascina.
+
+To-day at the gallery I examined the Dutch school and the Salle des
+Portraits, and ended as usual with the Tribune. The Salle des
+Portraits contains a complete collection of the portraits of painters
+down to the present day. In general their respective countenances are
+expressive of their characters and style of painting. Poor Harlow's
+picture, painted by himself, is here.
+
+The Dutch and Flemish painters (in spite of their exquisite pots and
+pans, and cabbages and carrots, their birch-brooms, in which you can
+count every twig, and their carpets, in which you can reckon every
+thread) do not interest me; their landscapes too, however natural, are
+mere Dutch nature (with some brilliant exceptions), fat cattle,
+clipped trees, boors, and windmills. Of course I am not speaking of
+Vandyke, nor of Rubens, he that "in the colours of the rainbow lived,"
+nor of Rembrandt, that king of clouds and shadows; but for mine own
+part, I would give up all that Mieris, Netscher, Teniers, and Gerard
+Douw ever produced, for one of Claude's Eden-like creations, or one of
+Guido's lovely heads--or merely for the pleasure of looking at
+Titian's Flora once a day, I would give a whole gallery of Dutchmen,
+if I had them.
+
+In the daughter of Herodias, by Leonardo da Vinci, there is the same
+eternal face he always paints, but with a peculiar expression--she
+turns away her head with the air of a fine lady, whose senses are
+shocked by the sight of blood and death, while her heart remains
+untouched either by remorse or pity.
+
+His ghastly Medusa made me shudder while it fascinated me, as if in
+those loathsome snakes, writhing and glittering round the expiring
+head, and those abhorred and fiendish abominations crawling into life,
+there still lurked the fabled spell which petrified the beholder. Poor
+Medusa! was this the guerdon of thy love? and were those the tresses
+which enslaved the ocean's lord? Methinks that in this wild
+mythological fiction, in the terrific vengeance which Minerva takes
+for her profaned temple, and in the undying snakes which for ever hiss
+round the head of her victim--there is a deep moral, if woman would
+lay it to her heart.
+
+In Guercino's Endymion, the very mouth is asleep: in his Sybil the
+very eyes are prophetic, and glance into futurity.
+
+The boyish, but divine St. John, by Raffaelle, did not please me so
+well as some of his portraits and Madonnas; his Leo the Tenth, for
+instance, his Julius the Second, or even his Fornarina: and I may
+observe here, that I admire Titian's taste much more than Raffaelle's,
+_en fait de maitresse_. The Fornarina is a mere _femme du peuple_, a
+coarse virago, compared to the refined, the exquisite La Manto, in the
+Pitti Palace. I think the Flora must have been painted from the same
+lovely model, as far as I can judge from compared recollections, for I
+have no authority to refer to. The former is the most elegant, and the
+latter the most poetical female portrait I ever saw. At Titian's Venus
+in the Tribune, one hardly ventures to look up; it is the perfection
+of earthly loveliness, as the Venus de' Medici is all ideal--all
+celestial beauty. In the multiplied copies and engravings of this
+picture I see every where the bashful sweetness of the countenance,
+and the tender languid repose of the figure are made coarse, or
+something worse: degraded, in short, into a character altogether
+unlike the original.
+
+I say nothing of the Gallery of the Palazzo Pitti; which is not a
+collection so much as a _selection_ of the most invaluable gems and
+masterpieces of art. The imagination dazzled and bewildered by
+excellence can scarcely make a choice--but I think the Madonna Della
+Seggiola of Raffaelle, Allori's magnificent Judith, Guido's Cleopatra,
+and Salvator's Catiline, dwell most upon my memory.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Nov. 24._--After dinner, we drove to the beautiful gardens of the
+Villa Strozzi, on the Monte Ulivetto, and the evening we spent at the
+Cocomero, where we saw a detestable opera, capitally acted, and heard
+the most vile, noisy, unmeaning music, sung to perfection.
+
+_Nov. 26._--Yesterday we spent some hours at Morghen's gallery,
+looking over his engravings; and afterwards examined the bronze gates
+of the Baptistery, which Michel Angelo used to call the gates of
+Paradise. We then ascended the Campanile or Belfry Tower to see the
+view from its summit. Florence lay at our feet, diminished to a model
+of itself, with its walls and gates, its streets and bridges, palaces
+and churches, all and each distinctly visible; and beyond, the Val
+d'Arno with its amphitheatre of hills, its villas, and its
+vineyards--classical Fesole, with its ruined castle, and Monte
+Ulivetto, with its diadem of cypresses; luxuriant nature and graceful
+art, blending into one glorious picture, which no smoky vapours, no
+damp exhalations, blotted and discoloured; but all was serenely bright
+and fair, gay with moving life, and rich with redundant fertility.
+
+    "O dell' Etruria gran Citta Reina,
+    D'arti e di studj e di grand' or feconda;
+    Cui tra quanto il sol guarda, e 'l mar circonda,
+    Ogn' altra in pregio di belta s' inchina:
+    Monti superbi, la cui fronte alpina
+    Fa di se contra i venti argine e sponda:
+    Valli beate, per cui d'onda in onda
+    L'Arno con passo signoril cammina:
+    Bei soggiorni ove par ch' abbiansi eletto
+    Le grazie il seggio, e, come in suo confine,
+    Sia di natura il bel tutto ristretto, &c."
+
+Filicaja will be pardoned for his hyperboles by all who remember that
+he was himself a Florentine.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+28.--"Corinne" I find is a fashionable _vade mecum_ for sentimental
+travellers in Italy; and that I too might be _a la mode_, I brought it
+from Molini's to-day, with the intention of reading on the spot, those
+admirable and affecting passages which relate to Florence; but when I
+began to cut the leaves, a kind of terror seized me, and I threw it
+down, resolved not to open it again. I know myself weak--I feel myself
+unhappy; and to find my own feelings reflected from the pages of a
+book, in language too deeply and eloquently true, is not good for me.
+I want no helps to admiration, nor need I kindle my enthusiasm at the
+torch of another's mind. I can suffer enough, feel enough, think
+enough, without this.
+
+Not being well, I spent a long morning at home, and then strayed into
+the church of the Santo Spirito, which is near our hotel. There is in
+this church a fine copy of Michel Angelo's Pieta, which a monk, whom I
+met in the church, insisted was the original. But I believe the
+_originalissimo_ group is at Rome. There are also two fine pictures, a
+marriage of the Virgin, in a very sweet Guido-like style, and the
+woman taken in adultery. This church is the richest in paintings I
+have seen here. I remarked a picture of the Virgin said to be
+possessed of miraculous powers; and that part of it visible, is not
+destitute of merit as a painting; but some of her grateful devotees,
+having decorated her with a real blue silk gown, spangled with tinsel
+stars, and two or three crowns, one above another, of gilt foil, the
+effect is the oddest imaginable. As I was sitting upon a marble step,
+philosophizing to myself, and wondering at what seemed to me such
+senseless bad taste, such pitiable and ridiculous superstition, there
+came up a poor woman leading by the hand a pale and delicate boy,
+about four years old. She prostrated herself before the picture, while
+the child knelt beside her, and prayed for some time with fervour;
+she then lifted him up, and the mother and child kissed the picture
+alternately with great devotion; then making him kneel down and clasp
+his little hands, she began to teach him an Ave Maria, repeating it
+word for word, slowly and distinctly, so that I got it by heart too.
+Having finished their devotions, the mother put into the child's hands
+a piece of money, which she directed him to drop into a box,
+inscribed, "per i poveri vergognosi"--"for the bashful poor;" they
+then went their way. I was an unperceived witness of this little
+scene, which strongly affected me: the simple piety of this poor
+woman, though mistaken in its object, appeared to me respectable; and
+the Virgin, in her sky-blue brocade and her gilt tiara, no longer an
+object to ridicule. I returned home rejoicing in kinder, gentler,
+happier thoughts; for though I may wish these poor people a purer
+worship, yet, as Wordsworth says somewhere, far better than I could
+express it--
+
+    "Rather would I instantly decline
+    To the traditionary sympathies
+    Of a most rustic ignorance,--
+    This rather would I do, than see and hear
+    The repetitions wearisome of sense
+    Where soul is dead, and feeling hath no place."
+
+The Ave Maria which I learnt, or rather _stole_ from my poor woman,
+pleases me by its simplicity.
+
+AVE MARIA.
+
+Dio ti salvi, O Maria, piena di grazia! Il Signore e teco! tu sei
+benedetta fra le donne, e benedetto e il frutto del tuo seno, GESU!
+Santa Maria! madre di Dio! Prega per noi peccatori, adesso, e nell
+'ora della nostra morte! e cosi sia.[G]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Sunday._--Attended divine service at the English ambassador's, in the
+morning, and in the evening, not being well enough to go to the
+Cascine, I remained at home. I sat down at the window and read
+Foscolo's beautiful poem, "I sepoleri:" the subject of my book, and
+the sight of Alfieri's house meeting my eye whenever I looked up,
+inspired the idea of visiting the Santa Croce again, and I ventured
+out unattended. The streets, and particularly the Lung' Arno, were
+crowded with gay people in their holiday costumes. Not even our Hyde
+Park, on a summer Sunday, ever presented a more lively spectacle or a
+better dressed mob. I was often tempted to turn back rather than
+encounter this moving multitude; but at length I found my way to the
+Santa Croce, which presented a very different scene. The service was
+over; and a few persons were walking up and down the aisles, or
+kneeling at different altars. In a chapel on the other side of the
+cloisters, they were chanting the Via Crucis; and the blended voices
+swelled and floated round, then died away, then rose again, and at
+length sunk into silence. The evening was closing fast, the shadows of
+the heavy pillars grew darker and darker, the tapers round the high
+altar twinkled in the distance like dots of light, and the tombs of
+Michel Angelo, of Galileo, of Machiavelli, and Alfieri, were projected
+from the deep shadow in indistinct formless masses: but I needed not
+to see them to image them before me; for with each and all my fancy
+was familiar. I spent about an hour walking up and down--abandoned to
+thoughts which were melancholy, but not bitter. All memory, all
+feeling, all grief, all pain were swallowed up in the sublime
+tranquillity which was within me and around me. How could I think of
+myself, and of the sorrow which swells at my impatient heart, while
+all of genius that could die, was sleeping round me; and the spirits
+of the glorious dead--they who rose above their fellow men by the
+might of intellect--whose aim was excellence, the noble end "that made
+ambition virtue," were, or seemed to me, present?--and if those tombs
+could have opened their ponderous and marble jaws, what histories of
+sufferings and persecution, wrongs and wretchedness, might they not
+reveal! Galileo--
+
+                        "chi vide
+    Sotto l'etereo padiglion rotarsi
+    Piu mondi, e il sole iradiarli immoto."
+
+pining in the dungeons of the inquisition; Machiavelli,
+
+                "quel grande,
+    Che temprando lo scettro a'regnatori,
+    Gil allor ne sfronda----"
+
+tortured and proscribed; Michel Angelo, persecuted by envy; and
+Alfieri perpetually torn, as he describes himself, by two furies--"Ira
+e Malinconia"--
+
+    "La mente e il cor in perpetua lite."
+
+But they fulfilled their destinies: inexorable Fate will be avenged
+upon the favourites of Heaven and nature. I can remember but one
+instance in which the greatly gifted spirit was not also the
+conspicuously wretched mortal--our own divine Shakspeare--and of him
+we know but little.
+
+In some books of travels I have met with, Boccaccio, Aretino, and
+Guicciardini, are mentioned among the illustrious dead of the Santa
+Croce. The second, if his biographers say true, was a wretch, whose
+ashes ought to have been scattered in the air. He was buried I
+believe at Venice--or no matter where. Boccaccio's tomb _is_, or
+_was_, at Certaldo; and Guicciardini's--I forget the name of the
+church honoured by his remains--but it is not the Santa Croce.
+
+The finest figure on the tomb of Michel Angelo is architecture. It
+should be contemplated from the left, to be seen to advantage. The
+effect of Alfieri's monument depends much on the position of the
+spectator: when viewed in front, the figure of Italy is very heavy and
+clumsy; and in no point of view has it the grace and delicacy which
+Canova's statues generally possess.
+
+There is a most extraordinary picture in this church representing God
+the Father supporting a dead Christ, by Cigoli, a painter little known
+in England, though I have seen some admirable pictures of his in the
+collections here: his style reminds me of Spagnoletto's.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Our departure is fixed for Wednesday next: and though I know that
+change and motion are good for me, yet I dread the fatigue and
+excitement of travelling; and I shall leave Florence with regret. For
+a melancholy invalid like myself, there cannot be a more delightful
+residence: it is gay without tumult--quiet, yet not dull. I have not
+mingled in society; therefore cannot judge of the manners of the
+people. I trust they are not exactly what Forsyth describes: with all
+his taste he sometimes writes like a caustic old bachelor; and on the
+Florentines he is peculiarly severe.
+
+We leave our friend L. behind for a few days, and our Venice
+acquaintance V. will be our _compagnon de voyage_ to Rome. Of these
+two young men, the first amuses me by his follies, the latter rather
+fatigues _de trop de raison_. The first talks too much, the latter too
+little: the first speaks, and speaks egregious nonsense; the latter
+never says any thing beyond common-place: the former always makes
+himself ridiculous, and the latter never makes himself particularly
+agreeable: the first is (_con rispetto parlando_) a great fool, and
+the latter would be pleasanter were he less wise. Between these two
+_opposites_, I was standing this evening on the banks of the Arno,
+contemplating a sunset of unequalled splendour. L. finding that
+enthusiasm was his cue, played off various sentimental antics, peeped
+through his fingers, threw his head on one side, exclaiming,
+"Magnificent, by Jove! grand! grandissimo! It just reminds me of what
+Shakspeare says: 'Fair Aurora'--I forget the rest."
+
+V. with his hands in his pockets, contemplated the superb
+spectacle--the mountains, the valley, the city flooded with a crimson
+glory, and the river flowing at our feet like molten gold--he gazed on
+it all with a look of placid satisfaction, and then broke out--"Well!
+this does one's heart good!"
+
+L. (I owe him this justice) is not the author of the famous blunder
+which is now repeated in every circle. I am assured it was our
+neighbour, Lord G. though I scarce believe it, who on being presented
+with the Countess of Albany's card, exclaimed--"The Countess of
+Albany! Ah!--true--I remember: wasn't she the widow of Charles the
+Second, who married Ariosto?" There is in this celebrated _beveu_, a
+glorious confusion of times and persons, beyond even my friend L.'s
+capacity.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The whole party are gone to the Countess of Albany's to-night to take
+leave: that being, as L. says, "the correct thing." Our notions of
+correctness vary with country and climate. What Englishwoman at
+Florence would not be _au desespoir_, to be shut from the Countess of
+Albany's parties--though it is a known and indisputable fact, that she
+was never married to Alfieri? A propos d'Alfieri--I have just been
+reading a selection of his tragedies--his Filippo, the Pazzi,
+Virginia, Mirra; and when I have finished Saul, I will read no more of
+them for some time. There is a superabundance of harsh energy, and a
+want of simplicity, tenderness, and repose throughout, which fatigues
+me, until admiration becomes an effort instead of a pleasurable
+feeling. Marochesi, a celebrated tragedian, who, Minutti says,
+understood "_la vera filosofia della comica_," used to recite
+Alfieri's tragedies with him or to him. Alfieri was himself a bad
+actor and declaimer. I am surprised that the tragedy of Mirra should
+be a great favourite on the stage here. A very young actress, who made
+her debut in this character, enchanted the whole city by the admirable
+manner in which she performed it; and the piece was played for
+eighteen nights successively; a singular triumph for an actress,
+though not uncommon for a singer. In spite of its many beauties and
+the artful management of the story; it would, I think, be as
+impossible to make an English audience endure the Mirra, as to find an
+English actress who would exhibit herself in so revolting a part.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Tuesday._--Our last day at Florence. I walked down to the San Lorenzo
+this morning early, and made a sketch of the sarcophagus of Lorenzo
+de' Medici. Afterwards we spent an hour in the gallery, and bid adieu
+to the Venus--
+
+    "O bella Venere!
+      Che sola sei,
+    Piacer degli uomini
+      E degli dei!"
+
+When I went to take a last look of Titian's Flora, I found it removed
+from its station, and an artist employed in copying it. I could have
+envied the lady for whom this copy was intended; but comforted myself
+with the conviction that no hireling dauber in water-colours could do
+justice to the heavenly original, which only wants motion and speech
+to live indeed. We then spent nearly two hours in the Pitti Palace;
+and the court having lately removed to Pisa, we had an opportunity of
+seeing Canova's Venus, which is placed in one of the Grand Duke's
+private apartments. She stands in the centre of a small cabinet,
+pannelled with mirrors, which reflect her at once in every possible
+point of view. This statue was placed on the pedestal of the Venus de'
+Medicis during her forced residence at Paris; and is justly considered
+as the triumph of modern art: but though a most beautiful creature,
+she is not a goddess. I looked in vain for that full divinity, that
+ethereal _something_ which breathes round the Venus of the Tribune. In
+another private room are two magnificent landscapes by Salvator Rosa.
+
+Every good catholic has a portrait of the Virgin hung at the head of
+his bed; partly as an object of devotion, and partly to scare away the
+powers of evil: and for this purpose the Grand Duke has suspended by
+his bed-side one of the most beautiful of Raffaelle's Madonnas. Truly,
+I admire the good taste of his piety, though it is rather selfish thus
+to appropriate such a gem, when the merest daub would answer the same
+purpose. It was only by secret bribery I obtained a peep at this
+picture, as the room is not publicly shown.
+
+The lower classes at Florence are in general ill-looking; nor have I
+seen one handsome woman since I came here. Their costume too is
+singularly unbecoming; but there is an airy cheerfulness and vivacity
+in their countenances, and a civility in their manners which is
+pleasing to a stranger. I was surprised to see the women, even the
+servant girls, decorated with necklaces of real pearl of considerable
+beauty and value. On expressing my surprise at this to a shopkeeper's
+wife, she informed me that these necklaces are handed down as a kind
+of heir-loom from mother to daughter; and a young woman is considered
+as dowered who possesses a handsome chain of pearl. If she has no hope
+of one in reversion, she buys out of her little earnings a pearl at a
+time, till she has completed a necklace.
+
+The style of swearing at Florence is peculiarly elegant and classical;
+I hear the vagabonds in the street adjuring Venus and Bacchus; and my
+shoemaker swore "by the aspect of Diana," that he would not take less
+than ten pauls for what was worth about three;--yet was the knave
+forsworn.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+JOURNEY TO ROME.
+
+SOFFRI E TACI.
+
+    Ye empty shadows of unreal good!
+    Phantoms of joy!--too long--too far pursued,
+    Farewell! no longer will I idly mourn
+    O'er vanished hopes that never can return;
+    No longer pine o'er hoarded griefs--nor chide
+    The cold vain world, whose falsehood I have tried.
+    _Me_ never more can sweet affections move,
+    Nor smiles awake to confidence and love:
+    To _me_, no more can disappointment spring,
+    Nor wrong, nor scorn one bitter moment bring!
+    With a firm spirit--though a breaking heart,
+    Subdu'd to act through life my weary part,
+    Its closing scenes in patience I await,
+    And by a stern endurance, conquer fate.
+
+_December 8._--In beginning another volume, I feel almost inclined to
+throw the last into the fire; as in writing it I have generally begun
+the record of one day by tearing away the half of what was written the
+day before: but though it contains much that I would rather forget,
+and some things written under the impression of pain, and sick and
+irritable feelings, I will not yet _ungratefully_ destroy it. I have
+frequently owed to my little Diary not amusement only, but
+consolation. It has gradually become not only the faithful depository
+of my recollections, but the confidante of my feelings, and the sole
+witness of my tears. I know not if this be wise: but if it be folly, I
+have the comfort of knowing that a mere act of my will destroys for
+ever the record of my weakness; and meantime a confidante whose mouth
+is sealed with a patent lock and key, and whom I can put out of
+existence in a single moment, is not dangerous; so, as Lord Byron
+elegantly expresses it, "_Here goes_."
+
+We left Florence this morning; and saw the sun rise upon a country so
+enchantingly beautiful, that I dare not trust myself to description;
+but I felt it, and still feel it--almost in my heart. The blue
+cloudless sky, the sun pouring his beams upon a land, which even in
+this wintry season smiles when others languish--the soft varied
+character of the scenery, comprising every species of natural
+beauty--the green slope, the woody hill, the sheltered valley,--the
+deep dales, into which we could just peep, as the carriage whirled us
+too rapidly by--the rugged fantastic rocks, cultivated plains, and
+sparkling rivers, and, beyond all, the chain of the Apennines with
+light clouds floating across them, or resting in their recesses--all
+this I saw, and felt, and shall not forget.
+
+I write this at Arezzo, the birth-place of Petrarch, of Redi, of
+Pignotti, and of that Guido who discovered Counter-point. Whether
+Arezzo is remarkable for any thing else, I am too sleepy to recollect:
+and as we depart early to-morrow morning, it would only tantalize me
+to remember. We arrived here late, by the light of a most resplendent
+moon. If such is this country in winter, what must it be in summer?
+
+_9th, at Perugia._--All the beauties of natural scenery have been
+combined with historical associations, to render our journey of to-day
+most interesting; and with a mind more at ease, nothing has been
+wanting to render this one of the most delightful days I have spent
+abroad.
+
+At Cortona, Hannibal slept the night before the battle of Thrasymene.
+Soon after leaving this town on our left, we came in view of the lake,
+and the old tower on its banks. There is an ancient ruin on a high
+eminence to the left, which our postilion called the "Forteressa di
+Annibale il Carthago." Further on, the Gualandra hills seem to circle
+round the lake; and here was the scene of the battle. The channel of
+the Sanguinetto, which then ran red with the best blood of Rome and
+Carthage, was dry when we crossed it--
+
+        "And hooting boys might dry-shod pass,
+    And gather pebbles from the naked ford."
+
+While we traversed the field of battle at a slow pace, V. who had his
+Livy in his pocket, read aloud his minute description of the
+engagement; and we could immediately point out the different places
+mentioned by the historian. The whole valley and the hills around are
+now covered with olive woods; and from an olive tree which grew close
+to the edge of the lake, I snatched a branch as we passed by, and
+shall preserve it--an emblem of peace, from the theatre of slaughter.
+The whole landscape as we looked back upon it from a hill on this side
+of the Casa del Rano, was exceedingly beautiful. The lake seemed to
+slumber in the sunshine; and Passignano jutting into the water, with
+its castellated buildings, the two little woody islands, and the
+undulating hills enclosing the whole, as if to shut it from the world,
+made it look like a scene fit only to be peopled by fancy's fairest
+creations, if the remembrance of its blood-stained glories had not
+started up, to rob it of half its beauty. Mrs. R---- compared it to
+the lake of Geneva; but in my own mind, I would not admit the
+comparison. The lake of Geneva stands alone in its beauty; for there
+the sublimest and the softest features of nature are united: there the
+wonderful, the wild, and the beautiful, blend in one mighty scene; and
+love and heroism, poetry and genius, have combined to hallow its
+shores. The lake of Perugia is far more circumscribed: the scenery
+around it wants grandeur and extent; though so beautiful in itself,
+that if no comparison had been made, no want would have been
+suggested: and on the bloody field of Thrasymene I looked with
+curiosity and interest unmingled with pleasure. I have long survived
+my sympathy with the fighting heroes of antiquity. All this I thought
+as we slowly walked up the hill, but I was silent as usual: as Jaques
+says, "I can think of as many matters as other men, but I praise God,
+and make no boast of it." We arrived here too late to see any thing of
+the city.
+
+_Dec. 10th, at Terni._--The ridiculous _contre-temps_ we sometimes
+meet with would be matter of amusement to me, if they did not affect
+others. And in truth, as far as paying well, and scolding well, can
+go, it is impossible to travel more magnificently, more _a la milor
+Anglais_ than we do: but there is no controlling fate; and here, as
+our evil destinies will have it, a company of strolling actors had
+taken possession of the best quarters before our arrival; and our
+accommodations are, I must confess, tolerably bad.
+
+When we left Perugia this morning, the city, throned upon its lofty
+eminence, with its craggy rocks, its tremendous fortifications, and
+its massy gateways, had an imposing effect. Forwards, we looked over a
+valley, which so resembled a lake, the hills projecting above the
+glittering white vapour having the appearance of islands scattered
+over its surface, that at the first glance I was positively deceived;
+and all my topographical knowledge, which I had conned on the map the
+night before, completely put to the rout. As the day advanced, this
+white mist sank gradually to the earth, like a veil dropped from the
+form of a beautiful woman, and nature stood disclosed in all her
+loveliness.
+
+Trevi, on its steep and craggy hill, detached from the chain of
+mountains, looked beautiful as we gazed up at it, with its buildings
+mingled with rocks and olives--
+
+I had written thus far, when we were all obliged to decamp in haste to
+our respective bed-rooms; as it is found necessary to convert our
+salon into a dormitory. I know I shall be tired, and very tired
+to-morrow,--therefore add a few words in pencil, before the
+impressions now fresh on my mind are obscured.
+
+After Trevi came the Clitumnus with its little fairy temple; and we
+left the carriage to view it from below, and drink of the classic
+stream. The temple (now a chapel) is not much in itself, and was voted
+in bad taste by some of our party. To me the tiny fane, the glassy
+river, more pure and limpid than any fabled or famous fountain of old,
+the beautiful hills, the sunshine, and the associations connected with
+the whole scene, were enchanting; and I could not at the moment
+descend to architectural criticism.
+
+The road to Spoleto was a succession of olive grounds, vineyards, and
+rich woods. The vines with their skeleton boughs looked wintry and
+miserable; but the olives, now in full fruit and foliage, intermixed
+with the cypress, the ilex, the cork tree, and the pine, clothed the
+landscape with a many-tinted robe of verdure.
+
+While sitting in the open carriage at Spoleto, waiting for horses, I
+saw one of that magnificent breed of "milk white steers," for which
+the banks of the Clitumnus have been famed from all antiquity, led
+past me gaily decorated, to be baited on a plain without the city. As
+the noble creature, serene and unresisting, paced along, followed by a
+wild, ferocious-looking, and far more brutal rabble, I would have
+given all I possessed to redeem him from his tormentors: but it was
+in vain. As we left the city, we heard his tremendous roar of agony
+and rage echo from the rocks. I stopped my ears, and was glad when we
+were whirled out of hearing. The impression left upon my nerves by
+this rencontre, makes me dislike to remember Spoleto: yet I believe it
+is a beautiful and interesting place. Hannibal, as I recollect,
+besieged this city, but was bravely repulsed. I could say much more of
+the scenes and the feelings of to-day; but my pencil refuses to mark
+another letter.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Dec. 11th, at Civita Castellana._--I could not write a word to-night
+in the salon, because I wished to listen to the conversation of two
+intelligent travellers, who, arriving after us, were obliged to occupy
+the same apartment. Our accommodations here are indeed deplorable
+altogether. After studying the geography of my bed, and finding no
+spot thereon, to which Sancho's couch of pack-saddles and pummels
+would not be a bed of down in comparison, I ordered a fresh faggot on
+my hearth: they brought me some ink in a gally-pot--_invisible_
+ink--for I cannot see what I am writing; and I sit down to scribble,
+_pour me desennuyer_.
+
+This morning we set off to visit the Falls of Terni (la cascata di
+Marmore) in two carriages and four: O such equipages!--such ratlike
+steeds! such picturesque accoutrements! and such poetical looking
+guides and postilions, ragged, cloaked, and whiskered!--but it was all
+consistent: the wild figures harmonized with the wild landscape. We
+passed a singular fortress on the top of a steep insulated rock, which
+had formerly been inhabited by a band of robbers and their families,
+who were with great difficulty, and after a regular siege, dislodged
+by a party of soldiers, and the place dismantled. In its present
+ruined state, it has a very picturesque effect; and though the
+presence of the banditti would no doubt have added greatly to the
+romance of the scene, on the present occasion we excused their
+absence.
+
+We visited the falls both above and below, but unfortunately we
+neither saw them from the best point of view, nor at the best season.
+The body of waters is sometimes ten times greater, as I was
+assured--but can scarce believe it possible. The words "Hell of
+waters," used by Lord Byron, would not have occurred to me while
+looking at this cataract, which impresses the astonished mind with an
+overwhelming idea of power, might, magnificence, and impetuosity; but
+blends at the same time all that is most tremendous in sound and
+motion, with all that is most bright and lovely in forms, in colours,
+and in scenery.
+
+As I stood close to the edge of the precipice, immediately under the
+great fall, I felt my respiration gone: I turned giddy, almost faint,
+and was obliged to lean against the rock for support. The mad plunge
+of the waters, the deafening roar, the presence of a power which no
+earthly force could resist or control, struck me with an awe almost
+amounting to terror. A bright sunbow stood over the torrent, which,
+seen from below, has the appearance of a luminous white arch bending
+from rock to rock. The whole scene was--but how can I say what it was?
+I have exhausted my stock of fine words; and must be content with
+silent recollections, and the sense of admiration and wonder
+unexpressed.
+
+Below the fall, an inundation which took place a year ago, undermined
+and carried away part of the banks of the Nera, at the same time
+laying open an ancient Roman bridge, which had been buried for ages.
+The channel of the river and the depth of the soil must have been
+greatly altered since this bridge was erected.
+
+When we returned to the inn at Terni, and while the horses were
+putting to, I took up a volume of Eustace's tour, which some traveller
+had accidentally left on the table; and turning to the description of
+Terni, read part of it, but quickly threw down the book with
+indignation, deeming all his verbiage the merest nonsense I had ever
+met with: in fact, it _is_ nonsense to attempt to image in words an
+individual scene like this. When we had made out our description as
+accurately as possible, it would do as well for any other cataract in
+the world: we can only combine rocks, wood, and water, in certain
+proportions. A good picture may give a tolerable idea of a particular
+scene or landscape: but no picture, no painter, not Ruysdael himself,
+can give a just idea of a cataract. The lifeless, silent, unmoving
+image is there: but where is the thundering roar, the terrible
+velocity, the glory of refracted light, the eternity of sound, and
+infinity of motion, in which essentially its effect consists?
+
+In the valley beneath the Falls of Terni, there is a beautiful retired
+little villa, which was once occupied by the late Queen Caroline: and
+in the gardens adjoining it, we gathered oranges from the trees
+ourselves for the first time. After passing Mount Soracte, of
+classical fame, we took leave of the Apennines; having lived amongst
+them ever since we left Bologna.
+
+The costume of this part of the country is very gay and picturesque:
+the women wear a white head-dress formed of a square kerchief, which
+hangs down upon the shoulders, and is attached to the hair by a silver
+pin: a boddice half laced, and decorated with knots of ribbon, and a
+short scarlet petticoat complete their attire. Between Perugia and
+Terni I did not see one woman without a coral necklace; and those who
+have the power, load themselves with trinkets and ornaments.
+
+_Rome, December 12._--The morning broke upon us so beautifully between
+Civita Castellana and Nevi, that we lauded our good fortune, and
+anticipated a glorious approach to the "Eternal City." We were
+impatient to reach the heights of Baccano; from which, at the distance
+of fifteen miles, we were to view the cross of St. Peter's glittering
+on the horizon, while the postilions rising in their stirrups, should
+point forward with exultation, and exclaim "ROMA!" But, O
+vain hope! who can controul their fate? just before we reached
+Baccano, impenetrable clouds enveloped the whole Campagna. The mist
+dissolved into a drizzling rain; and when we entered the city, it
+poured in torrents. Since we left England, this is only the third time
+it has rained while we were on the road; it seems therefore
+unconscionable to murmur. But to lose the first view of Rome! the
+first view of the dome of St. Peter's! no--that lost moment will never
+be retrieved through our whole existence.
+
+We found it difficult to obtain suitable accommodation for our
+numerous _cortege_, the Hotel d'Europe, and the Hotel de Londres being
+quite full: and for the present we are rather indifferently lodged in
+the Albergo di Parigi.
+
+So here we are, in ROME! where we have been for the last five
+hours, and have not seen an inch of the city beyond the dirty pavement
+of the Via Santa Croce; where an excellent dinner cooked _a
+l'Anglaise_, a blazing fire, a drawing-room snugly carpeted and
+curtained, and the rain beating against our windows, would almost
+persuade us that we are in London; and every now and then, it is with
+a kind of surprise that I remind myself that I am really in Rome.
+Heaven send us but a fine day to-morrow!
+
+13.--The day arose as beautiful, as brilliant, as cloudless, as I
+could have desired for the first day in Rome. About seven o'clock, and
+before any one was ready for breakfast, I walked out; and directing my
+steps by mere chance to the left, found myself in the Piazza di Spagna
+and opposite to a gigantic flight of marble stairs leading to the top
+of a hill. I was at the summit in a moment; and breathless and
+agitated by a thousand feelings, I leaned against the obelisk, and
+looked over the whole city. I knew not where I was: nor among the
+crowded mass of buildings, the innumerable domes and towers, and vanes
+and pinnacles, brightened by the ascending sun, could I for a while
+distinguish a single known object; for my eyes and my heart were both
+too full: but in a few minutes my powers of perception returned; and
+in the huge round bulk of the castle of St. Angelo, and the immense
+facade and soaring cupola of St. Peter's, I knew I could not be
+mistaken. I gazed and gazed as if I would have drunk it all in at my
+eyes: and then descending the superb flight of steps rather more
+leisurely than I had ascended, I was in a moment at the door of our
+hotel.
+
+The rest of the day I wish I could forget--I found letters from
+England on the breakfast table--
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Until dinner time were we driving through the narrow dirty streets at
+the mercy of a stupid _laquais de place_, in search of better
+accommodations, but without success: and, on the whole, I fear I shall
+always remember too well the disagreeable and painful impressions of
+my first day in Rome.
+
+_Dec. 18._--A week has now elapsed, and I begin to know and feel Rome
+a little better than I did. The sites of the various buildings, the
+situations of the most interesting objects, and the bearings of the
+principal hills, the Capitol, the Palatine, the Aventine, and the
+AEsquiline, have become familiar to me, assisted in my perambulations
+by an excellent plan. I have been disappointed in nothing, for I
+expected that the general appearance of modern Rome would be mean; and
+that the impression made by the ancient city would be melancholy; and
+I had been, unfortunately, too well prepared, by previous reading, for
+all I see, to be astonished by any thing except the Museum of the
+Vatican.
+
+I entered St. Peter's expecting to be struck dumb with admiration, and
+accordingly it was so. A feeling of vastness filled my whole mind, and
+made it disagreeable, almost impossible to speak or exclaim: but it
+was a style of grandeur, exciting rather than oppressive to the
+imagination, nor did I experience any thing like that sombre and
+reverential awe, I have felt on entering one of our Gothic minsters.
+The interior of St. Peter's is all airy magnificence, and gigantic
+splendour; light and sunshine pouring in on every side; gilding and
+gay colours, marbles and pictures, dazzling the eye above, below,
+around. The effect of the whole has not diminished in a second and
+third visit; but rather grows upon me. I can never utter a word for
+the first ten minutes after I enter the church.
+
+For the Museum of the Vatican, I confess I was totally unprepared; and
+the first and second time I walked through the galleries, I was so
+amazed--so intoxicated, that I could not fix my attention upon any
+individual object, except the Apollo, upon which, as I walked along
+confused and lost in wonder and enchantment, I stumbled accidentally,
+and stood spell-bound. Gallery beyond gallery, hall within hall,
+temple within temple, new splendours opening at every step! of all the
+creations of luxurious art, the Museum of the Vatican may alone defy
+any description to do it justice, or any fancy to conceive the
+unimaginable variety of its treasures. When I remember that the French
+had the audacious and sacrilegious vanity to snatch from these
+glorious sanctuaries the finest specimens of art, and hide them in
+their villanous old gloomy Louvre, I am confounded.
+
+I have been told and can well believe, that the whole _giro_ of the
+galleries exceed two miles.
+
+I have not yet studied the frescos of Raffaelle sufficiently to feel
+all their perfection; and should be in despair at my own dullness,
+were I not consoled by the recollection of Sir Joshua Reynolds. At
+present one of Raffaelle's divine Virgins delights me more than all
+his camere and logie together; but I can look upon them with due
+veneration, and grieve to see the ravages of time and damp.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+19.--Last night we took advantage of a brilliant full moon to visit
+the Coliseum by moonlight; and if I came away disappointed of the
+pleasure I had expected, the fault was not in me nor in the scene
+around me. In its sublime and heart-stirring beauty, it more than
+equalled, it surpassed all I had anticipated--but--(there must always
+be a _but!_ always in the realities of this world something to
+disgust;) it happened that one or two gentlemen joined our
+party--young men too, and classical scholars, who perhaps thought it
+fine to affect a well-bred _nonchalance_, a fashionable disdain for
+all romance and enthusiasm, and amused themselves with _quizzing_ our
+guide, insulting the gloom, the grandeur, and the silence around them,
+with loud impertinent laughter at their own poor jokes; and I was
+obliged to listen, sad and disgusted, to their empty and tasteless and
+misplaced flippancy. The young barefooted friar, with his dark
+lanthorn, and his black eyes flashing from under his cowl, who acted
+as our cicerone, was in picturesque unison with the scene; but--more
+than one murder having lately been committed among the labyrinthine
+recesses of the ruin, the government has given orders that every
+person entering after dusk should be attended by a guard of two
+soldiers. These fellows therefore necessarily walked close after our
+heels, smoking, spitting, and spluttering German. Such were my
+companions, and such was my _cortege_. I returned home vowing that
+while I remained at Rome, nothing should induce me to visit the
+Coliseum by moonlight again.
+
+To-day I was standing before the Laocoon with Rogers, who remarked
+that the absence of all parental feeling in the aspect of Laocoon, his
+self-engrossed indifference to the sufferings of his children (which
+is noticed and censured, I think, by Dr. Moore) adds to the pathos, if
+properly considered, by giving the strongest possible idea of that
+physical agony which the sculptor intended to represent. It may be so,
+and I thought there was both truth and _tacte_ in the poet's
+observation.
+
+The Perseus of Canova does not please me so well as his Paris; there
+is more simplicity and repose in the latter statue, less of that
+theatrical air which I think is the common fault of Canova's figures.
+
+It is absolutely necessary to look at the Perseus before you look at
+the Apollo, in order to do the former justice. I have gazed with
+admiration at the Perseus for minutes together, then walked from it to
+the Apollo and felt instantaneously, but could not have expressed, the
+difference. The first is indeed a beautiful statue, the latter
+"breathes the flame with which 'twas wrought," as if the sculptor had
+left a portion of his own soul within the marble to half animate his
+glorious creation. The want of this informing life is strongly felt in
+the Perseus, when contemplated after the Apollo. It is delightful when
+the imagination rises in the scale of admiration, when we ascend from
+excellence to perfection: but excellence after perfection is absolute
+inferiority; it sinks below itself, and the descent is so disagreeable
+and disappointing, that we can seldom estimate justly the object
+before us. We make comparisons involuntarily in a case where
+comparisons are odious.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The weather is cold here during the prevalence of the tramontana: but
+I enjoy the brilliant skies and the delicious purity of the air, which
+leaves the eye free to wander over a vast extent of space. Looking
+from the gallery of the Belvedere at sunset this evening, I clearly
+saw Tivoli, Albano, and Frascati, although all Rome and part of the
+Campagna lay between me and those towns. The outlines of every
+building, ruin, hill, and wood were so distinctly marked, and _stood
+out_ so brightly to the eye! and the full round moon, magnified
+through the purple vapour which floated over the Apennines, rose just
+over Tivoli, adding to the beauty of the scene. O Italy! how I wish I
+could transport hither all I love! how I wish I were well enough,
+happy enough, to enjoy all the lovely things I see! but pain is
+mingled with all I behold, all I feel: a cloud seems for ever before
+my eyes, a weight for ever presses down my heart. I know it is wrong
+to repine: and that I ought rather to be thankful for the pleasurable
+sensations yet spared to me, than lament that they are so few. When I
+take up my pen to record the impressions of the day, I sometimes turn
+within myself, and wonder how it is possible that amid the strife of
+feelings not all subdued, and the desponding of the heart, the mind
+should still retain its faculties unobscured, and the imagination all
+its vivacity and its susceptibility to pleasure,--like the beautiful
+sunbow I saw at the Falls of Terni, bending so bright and so calm over
+the verge of the abyss which toiled and raged below.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+22.--This morning was devoted to the Capitol, where the objects of art
+are ill arranged and too crowded: the lights are not well managed, and
+on the whole I could not help wishing, in spite of my veneration for
+the Capitol, that some at least among the divine master-pieces it
+contains could be transferred to the glorious halls of the Vatican,
+and shrined in temples worthy of them.
+
+The objects which most struck me were the dying Gladiator, the
+Antinous, the Flora, and the statue called (I know not on what
+authority) the Faun of Praxiteles.
+
+The dying Gladiator is the chief boast of the Capitol. The antiquarian
+Nibby insists that this statue represents a Gaul, that the sculpture
+is Grecian, that it formed part of a group on a pediment, representing
+the vengeance which Apollo took on the Gauls, when, under their king
+Brennus, they attacked the temple of Delphi: that the cord round the
+neck is a twisted chain, an ornament peculiar to the Gauls; and that
+the form of the shield, the bugles, the style of the hair, and the
+mustachios, all prove it to be a Gaul. I asked, "why should such
+faultless, such exquisite sculpture be thrown away upon a high
+pediment? the affecting expression of the countenance, the head 'bowed
+low and full of death,' the gradual failure of the strength and
+sinking of the form, the blood slowly trickling from his side--how
+could any spectator, contemplating it at a vast height, be sensible of
+these minute traits--the distinguishing perfections of this matchless
+statue?" It was replied, that many of the ancient buildings were so
+constructed, that it was possible to ascend and examine the sculpture
+above the cornice, and though some statues so placed were unfinished
+at the back, (for instance, some of the figures which belonged to the
+group of Niobe,) others (and he mentioned the AEgina marbles as an
+example) were as highly finished behind as before. I owned myself
+unwilling to consider the Gladiator a Gaul, but the reasoning struck
+me, and I am too unlearned to weigh the arguments he used, much less
+confute them. That the statue being of Grecian marble and Grecian
+sculpture must therefore have come from Greece, does not appear a
+conclusive argument, since the Romans commonly employed Greek artists:
+and as to the rest of the argument,--suppose that in a dozen centuries
+hence, the charming statue of Lady Louisa Russell should be discovered
+under the ruins of Woburn Abbey, and that by a parity of reasoning,
+the production of Chantrey's chisel should be attributed to Italy and
+Canova, merely because it is cut from a block of Carrara marble? we
+might smile at such a conclusion.
+
+Among the pictures in the gallery of the Capitol, the one most highly
+valued pleases me least of all--the Europa of Paul Veronese. The
+splendid colouring and copious fancy of this master can never
+reconcile me to his strange anomalies in composition, and his sins
+against good taste and propriety. One wishes that he had allayed the
+heat of his fancy with some cooling drops of discretion. Even his
+colouring so admired in general, has something florid and meretricious
+to my eye and taste.
+
+One of the finest pictures here is Domenichino's Cumean Sibyl, which,
+like all other masterpieces, defies the copyist and engraver. The
+Sibilla Persica of Guercino hangs a little to the left; and with her
+contemplative air, and the pen in her hand, she looks as if she were
+recording the effusions of her more inspired sister. The former is a
+chaste and beautiful picture, full of feeling and sweetly coloured;
+but the vicinity of Domenichino's magnificent creation throws it
+rather into shade. Two unfinished pictures upon which Guido was
+employed at the time of his death are preserved in the Capitol: one is
+the Bacchus and Ariadne, so often engraved and copied; the other, a
+single figure, the size of life, represents the Soul of the righteous
+man ascending to heaven. Had Guido lived to finish this divine
+picture, it would have been one of his most splendid productions; but
+he was snatched away to realize, I trust, in his own person, his
+sublime conception. The head alone is finished, or nearly so; and has
+a most extatic expression. The globe of the earth seems to sink from
+beneath the floating figure, which is just sketched upon the canvass,
+and has a shadowy indistinctness which to my fancy added to its
+effect. Guercino's chef-d'oeuvre, the Resurrection of Saint
+Petronilla, (a saint, I believe, of very hypothetical fame,) is also
+here; and has been copied in mosaic for St. Peters. A magnificent
+Rubens, the She Wolf nursing Romulus and Remus; a fine copy of
+Raffaelle's Triumph of Galatea by Giulo Romano; Domenichino's Saint
+Barbara, with the same lovely inspired eyes he always gives his female
+saints, and a long et cetera.
+
+From the Capitol we immediately drove to the Borghese palace, where I
+spent half an hour looking at the picture _called_ the Cumean Sibyl of
+Domenichino, and am more and more convinced that it is a Saint Cecilia
+and not a Sibyl.
+
+We have now visited the Borghese palace four times; and a-propos to
+pictures, I may as well make a few memoranda of its contents. It is
+not the most numerous, but it is by far the most valuable and select
+private gallery in Rome.
+
+Domenichino's Chase of Diana, with the two beautiful nymphs in the
+foreground, is a splendid picture. Titian's Sacred and Profane Love
+puzzles me completely: I neither understand the name nor the intention
+of the picture. It is evidently allegorical: but an allegory very
+clumsily expressed. The aspect of Sacred Love would answer just as
+well for Profane Love. What is that little cupid about, who is groping
+in the cistern behind? why does Profane Love wear gloves? The picture,
+though so provokingly obscure in its subject, is most divinely
+painted. The three Graces by the same master is also here; two heads
+by Giorgione, distinguished by all his peculiar depth of character and
+sentiment, some exquisite Albanos; one of Raffaelle's finest
+portraits--and in short, an endless variety of excellence. I feel my
+taste become more and more fastidious every day.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This morning we heard mass at the Pope's Chapel; the service was read
+by Cardinal Fesche, and the venerable old pope himself, robed and
+mitred _en grand costume_, was present. No females are allowed to
+enter without veils, and we were very ungallantly shut up behind a
+sort of grating, where, though we had a tolerable view of the
+ceremonial going forward, it was scarcely possible for us to be seen.
+Cardinal Gonsalvi sat so near us, that I had leisure and opportunity
+to contemplate the fine intellectual head and acute features of this
+remarkable man. I thought his countenance had something of the
+Wellesley cast.
+
+The Pope's Chapel is decorated in the most exquisite taste; splendid
+at once and chaste. There are no colours--the whole interior being
+white and gold.
+
+At an unfortunate moment, Lady Morgan's ludicrous description of the
+twisting and untwisting of the Cardinal's tails came across me, and
+made me smile very _mal a-propos_: it is certainly from the life.
+Whenever this lively and clever woman describes what she has actually
+seen with her own eyes, she is as accurately true as she is witty and
+entertaining. Her sketches after nature are admirable; but her
+observations and inferences are coloured by her peculiar and rather
+unfeminine habits of thinking. I never read her "_Italy_" till the
+other day, when L., whose valet had contrived to smuggle it into Rome,
+offered to lend it to me. It is one of the books most rigorously
+proscribed here; and if the Padre Anfossi or any of his satellites had
+discovered it in my hands, I should assuredly have been fined in a sum
+beyond what I should have liked to pay.
+
+We concluded the morning at St. Peter's, where we arrived in time for
+the anthem.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+23.--Our visit to the Barberini palace to-day was solely to view the
+famous portrait of Beatrice Cenci. Her appalling story is still as
+fresh in remembrance here, and her name and fate as familiar in the
+mouths of every class, as if instead of two centuries, she had lived
+two days ago. In spite of the innumerable copies and prints I have
+seen, I was more struck than I can express by the dying beauty of the
+Cenci. In the face the expression of heart-sinking anguish and terror
+is just not _too_ strong, leaving the loveliness of the countenance
+unimpaired; and there is a woe-begone negligence in the streaming hair
+and loose drapery which adds to its deep pathos. It is consistent too
+with the circumstances under which the picture is traditionally said
+to have been painted--that is, in the interval between her torture and
+her execution.
+
+A little daughter of the Princess Barberini was seated in the same
+room, knitting. She was a beautiful little creature; and as my eye
+glanced from her to the picture and back again, I fancied I could
+trace a strong family resemblance; particularly about the eyes, and
+the very peculiar mouth. I turned back to ask her whether she had ever
+been told that she was like _that_ picture? pointing to Cenci. She
+shook back her long curls, and answered with a blush and a smile,
+"Yes, often."[H]
+
+The Barberini Palace contains other treasures beside the Cenci.
+Poussin's celebrated picture of the Death of Germanicus, Raffaelle's
+Fornarina, inferior I thought to the one at Florence, and a St. Andrew
+by Guido, in his very best style of heads, "mild, pale, and
+penetrating;" besides others which I cannot at this moment recall.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+24.--Yesterday, after chapel, I walked through part of the Vatican;
+and then, about vesper-time, entered St. Peter's, expecting to hear
+the anthem: but I was disappointed. I found the church as usual
+crowded with English, who every Sunday convert St. Peter's into a kind
+of Hyde Park, where they promenade arm in arm, show off their finery,
+laugh, and talk aloud: as if the size and splendour of the edifice
+detracted in any degree from its sacred character. I was struck with a
+feeling of disgust; and shocked to see this most glorious temple of
+the Deity metamorphosed into a mere theatre. Mr. W. told me this
+morning, that in consequence of the shameful conduct of the English,
+in pressing in and out of the chapel, occupying all the seats,
+irreverently interrupting the service, and almost excluding the
+natives, the anthem will not be sung in future.
+
+This is not the first time that the behaviour of the English has
+created offence, in spite of the friendly feeling which exists towards
+us, and the allowances which are made for our national character. Last
+year the pope objected to the indecent custom of making St. Peter's a
+place of fashionable rendezvous, and notified to Cardinal Gonsalvi his
+desire that English ladies and gentlemen should not be seen arm in arm
+walking up and down the aisles, during and after divine service. The
+cardinal, as the best means of proceeding, spoke to the Duchess of
+Devonshire, who signified the wishes of the Papal Court to a large
+party, assembled at her house. The hint so judiciously and so
+delicately given, was at the time attended to, and during a short
+interval the offence complained of ceased. New comers have since
+recommenced the same course of conduct: and in fact, nothing _could_
+be worse than the exhibition of gaiety and frivolity, gallantry and
+coquetterie at St. Peter's yesterday. I almost wish the pope may
+interfere, and with rigour; though, individually, I should lose a high
+gratification, if our visits to St. Peter's were interdicted. It is
+surely most ill-judged and unfeeling (to say nothing of the
+_profanation_, for such it is), to show such open contempt for the
+Roman Catholic religion in its holiest, grandest temple, and under the
+very eyes of the head of that church. I blushed for my countrywomen.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On Christmas Eve we went in a large party to visit some of the
+principal churches, and witness the celebration of the Nativity; one
+of the most splendid ceremonies of the Romish Church. We arrived at
+the chapel of Monte Cavallo about half-past nine; but the pope being
+ill and absent, nothing particular was going forward; and we left it
+to proceed to the San Luigi dei Francesi, where we found the church
+hung from the floor to the ceiling with garlands of flowers, blazing
+with light, and resounding with heavenly music: but the crowd was
+intolerable, the people dirty, and there was such an effluence of
+strong perfumes, in which garlic predominated, that our physical
+sensations overcame our curiosity: and we were glad to make our
+escape. We then proceeded to the church of the Ara Celi, built on the
+site of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, and partly from its ruins.
+The scene here from the gloomy grandeur and situation of the church,
+was exceedingly fine: but we did not stay long enough to see the
+concluding procession, as we were told it would be much finer at the
+Santa Maria Maggiore; for there the _real_ manger which had received
+our Saviour at his birth was deposited: and this inestimable relic was
+to be displayed to the eyes of the devout; and with a waxen figure
+laid within (called here Il Bambino), was to be carried in procession
+round the church, "with pomp, with music, and with triumphing."
+
+The _real_ cradle was a temptation not to be withstood: and to witness
+this signal prostration of the human intellect before ignorant and
+crafty superstition, we adjourned to the Santa Maria Maggiore. For
+processions and shows I care very little, but not for any thing, not
+for all I suffered at the moment, would I have missed the scene which
+the interior of the church exhibited; for it is impossible that any
+description could have given me the faintest idea of it. This most
+noble edifice, with its perfect proportions, its elegant Ionic
+columns, and its majestic simplicity, appeared transformed, for the
+time being, into the temple of some Pagan divinity. Lights and
+flowers, incense and music, were all around: and the spacious aisles
+were crowded with the lowest classes of the people, the inhabitants of
+the neighbouring hills, and the peasantry of the Campagna, who with
+their wild ruffianlike figures and picturesque costumes, were lounging
+about, or seated at the bases of pillars, or praying before the
+altars. How I wished to paint some of the groups I saw! but only
+Rembrandt could have done them justice.
+
+We remained at the Santa Maria Maggiore till four o'clock, and no
+procession appearing, our patience was exhausted. I nearly fainted on
+my chair from excessive fatigue; and some of our party had absolutely
+laid themselves down on the steps of an altar, and were fast asleep;
+we therefore returned home completely knocked up by the night's
+dissipation.
+
+27.--"Come," said L. just now, as he drew his chair to the fire, and
+rubbed his hands with great complacency, "I think we've worked pretty
+hard to-day; three palaces, four churches--besides odds and ends of
+ruins we dispatched in the way: to say nothing of old Nibby's lectures
+in the morning about the Volces, the Saturnines, the Albanians, and
+the other old Romans--by Jove! I almost fancied myself at school
+again----
+
+    'Armis vitrumque canter,'
+
+as old Virgil or somebody else says. So now let's have a little ecarte
+to put it all out of our heads:--for my brains have turned round like
+a windmill, by Jove! ever since I was on the top of that cursed
+steeple on the capitol," etc., etc.
+
+I make a resolution to myself every morning before breakfast, that I
+will be prepared with a decent stock of good-nature and forbearance,
+and not laugh at my friend L.'s absurdities; but in vain are my
+amiable intentions: his blunders and his follies surpass all
+anticipation, as they defy all powers of gravity. I console myself
+with the conviction that such is his slowness of perception, he does
+not see that he is the _butt_ of every party; and such his obtuseness
+of feeling, that if he did see it, he would not mind it; but he is the
+heir to twenty-five thousand a year, and therefore, as R. said, he can
+afford to be laughed at.
+
+We "dispatched," as L. says, a good deal to-day, though I did not
+"work quite so hard" as the rest of the party: in fact, I was obliged
+to return home from fatigue, after having visited the Doria and
+Sciarra Palaces (the last for the second time), and the church of San
+Pietro in Vincoli.
+
+The Doria Palace contains the largest collection of pictures in Rome:
+but they are in a dirty and neglected condition, and many of the best
+are hung in the worst possible light: added to this there is such a
+number of bad and indifferent pictures, that one ought to visit the
+Doria Gallery half a dozen times merely to select those on which a
+cultivated taste would dwell with pleasure. Leonardo da Vinci's
+portrait of Joanna of Naples, is considered one of the most valuable
+pictures in the collection. It exhibits the same cast of countenance
+which prevails through all his female heads, a sort of sentimental
+simpering affectation which is very disagreeable, and not at all
+consistent with the character of Joanna. I was much more delighted by
+some magnificent portraits by Titian and Rubens; and by a copy of the
+famous antique picture, the Nozze Aldobrandini, executed in a kindred
+spirit by the classic pencil of Poussin.
+
+The collection at the Sciarra Palace is small but very select. The
+pictures are hung with judgment, and well taken care of. The Magdalen,
+which is considered one of Guido's masterpieces, charmed me most: the
+countenance is heavenly; though full of ecstatic and devout
+contemplation, there is in it a touch of melancholy, "all sorrow's
+softness charmed from its despair," which is quite exquisite: and the
+attitude, and particularly the turn of the arm, are perfectly
+graceful: but why those odious turnips and carrots in the foreground?
+They certainly do not add to the sentiment and beauty of the
+picture.--Leonardo da Vinci's Vanity and Modesty, and Caravaggio's
+Gamblers, both celebrated pictures in very different styles, are in
+this collection. I ought not to forget Raffaelle's beautiful portrait
+of a young musician who was his intimate friend. The Doria and Sciarra
+palaces contain the only Claudes I have seen in Rome. Since the
+acquisition of the Altieri Claudes, we may boast of possessing the
+finest productions of this master in England. I remember but one
+solitary Claude in the Florentine gallery; and I see none here equal
+to those at Lord Grosvenor's and Angerstein's. We visited the church
+of San Pietro in Viscoli, to see Michel Angelo's famous statue of
+Moses,--of which, who has not heard? I must confess I never was so
+disappointed by any work of art as I was by this statue, which is
+easily accounted for. In the first place, I had not seen any model or
+copy of the original; and, secondly, I _had_ read Zappi's sublime
+sonnet, which I humbly conceive does rather more than justice to its
+subject. The fine opening--
+
+    "Chi e costui che in dura pietra scolto
+    Siede _Gigante_"--
+
+gave me the impression of a colossal and elevated figure: my surprise,
+therefore, was great to see a sitting statue, not much larger than
+life, and placed nearly on the level of the pavement; so that, instead
+of looking up at it, I almost looked down upon it. The "Doppio raggio
+in fronte," I found in the shape of a pair of horns, which, at the
+first glance, gave something quite Satanic to the head, which disgusted
+me. When I began to recover from this first disappointment--although
+my eyes were opened gradually to the sublimity of the attitude, the
+grand forms of the drapery, and the lips, which unclose as if about to
+speak--I still think that Zappi's sonnet (his acknowledged
+chef-d'oeuvre) is a more sublime production than the chef-d'oeuvre it
+celebrates.
+
+The mention of Zappi reminds me of his wife, the daughter of Carlo
+Maratti, the painter. She was so beautiful that she was her father's
+favourite model for his Nymphs, Madonnas, and Vestal Virgins; and to
+her charms she added virtue, and to her virtue uncommon musical and
+literary talents. Among her poems, there is a sonnet addressed to a
+lady, once beloved by her husband, beginning
+
+    "Donna! che tanto al mio sol piacesti,"
+
+which is one of the most graceful, most feeling, most delicate
+compositions I ever read. Zappi celebrates his beautiful wife under
+the name of Clori, and his first mistress under that of Filli: to the
+latter he has addressed a sonnet, which turns on the same thought as
+Cowley's well known song, "Love in thine eyes." As they both lived
+about the same time, it would be difficult to tell which of the two
+borrowed from the other; probably they were both borrowers from some
+elder poet.
+
+The characteristics of Zappi's style, are tenderness and elegance; he
+occasionally rises to sublimity; as in the sonnet on the Statue of
+Moses, and that on Good Friday. He never emulates the flights of Guido
+or Filicaja, but he is more uniformly graceful and flowing than
+either; his happy thoughts are not spun out too far,--and his _points_
+are seldom mere _concetti_.
+
+SONETTO.
+
+DI GIAMBATTISTA ZAPPI.
+
+    Amor s'asside alia mia Filli accanto,
+      Amor la segue ovunque i passi gira:
+      In lei parla, in lei tace, in lei sospira,
+      Anzi in lei vive, ond'ella ed ei puo tanto.
+
+    Amore i vezzi, amor le insegna il canto;
+      E se mai duolsi, o se pur mai s'adira,
+      Da lei non parte amor, anzi se mira
+      Amor ne le belle ire, amor nel pianto.
+
+    Se avvien che danzi in regolato errore,
+      Darle il moto al bel piede, amor riveggio,
+      Come l'auretto quando muove un fiore.
+
+    Le veggio in fronte amor come in suo seggio,
+      Sul crin, negli occhi, su le labbra amore,
+      Sol d'intorno al suo cuore, amor non veggio.[I]
+
+After being confined to the house for three days, partly by
+indisposition, and partly by a vile sirocco, which brought, as usual,
+vapours, clouds, and blue devils in its train--this most lovely day
+tempted me out; and I walked with V. over the Monte Cavallo to the
+Forum of Trajan. After admiring the view from the summit of the
+pillar, we went on towards the Capitol, which presented a singular
+scene: the square and street in front, as well as the immense flight
+of steps, one hundred and fifty in number, which lead to the church of
+the Ara Celi, were crowded with men, women, and children, all in their
+holiday dresses. It was with difficulty we made our way through them,
+though they very civilly made way for us, and we were nearly a quarter
+of an hour mounting the steps, so dense was the multitude ascending
+and descending, some on their hands and knees out of extra-devotion.
+At last we reached the door of the church, where we understood, from
+the exclamations and gesticulations of those of whom we inquired,
+something extraordinary was to be seen. On one side of the entrance
+was a puppet show, on the other a band of musicians, playing "Di tanti
+palpati." The interior of the church was crowded to suffocation; and
+all in darkness, except the upper end, where upon a stage brilliantly
+and very artificially lighted by unseen lamps, there was an exhibition
+in wax-work, as large as life, of the Adoration of the Shepherds. The
+Virgin was habited in the court dress of the last century, as rich as
+silk and satin, gold lace, and paste diamonds could make it, with a
+flaxen wig, and high-heeled shoes. The infant Saviour lay in her lap,
+his head encircled with rays of gilt wire, at least two yards long.
+The shepherds were very well done, but the sheep and dogs best of all;
+I believe they were the real animals stuffed. There was a distant
+landscape, seen between the pasteboard trees, which was well painted,
+and from the artful disposition of the light and perspective, was
+almost a deception--but by a blunder very consistent with the rest of
+the show, it represented a part of the Campagna of Rome. Above all was
+a profane representation of that Being, whom I dare scarcely allude
+to, in conjunction with such preposterous vanities, encircled with
+saints, angels, and clouds; the whole got up very like a scene in a
+pantomime, and accompanied by music from a concealed orchestra, which
+was intended, I believe, to be sacred music, but sounded to me like
+some of Rossini's airs. In front of the stage there was a narrow
+passage divided off, admitting one person at a time, through which a
+continued file of persons moved along, who threw down their
+contributions as they passed, bowing and crossing themselves with
+great devotion. It would be impossible to describe the ecstasies of
+the multitude, the lifting up of hands and eyes, the string of
+superlatives--the bellissimos, santissimos, gloriosissimos, and
+maravigliosissimos, with which they expressed their applause and
+delight. I stood in the back-ground of this strange scene, supported
+on one of the long-legged chairs which V---- placed for me against a
+pillar, at once amazed, diverted, and disgusted by this display of
+profaneness and superstition, till the heat and crowd overcame me, and
+I was obliged to leave the church. I shall never certainly forget the
+"Bambino" of the Ara Celi: for though the exhibition I saw afterwards
+at the San Luigi (where I went to look at Domenichino's fine pictures)
+surpassed what I have just described, it did not so much surprise me.
+Something in the same style is exhibited in almost every church,
+between Christmas day and the Epiphany.
+
+During our examination of Trajan's Forum to-day, I learnt nothing new,
+except that Trajan levelled part of the Quirinal to make room for it.
+The ground having lately been cleared to the depth of about twelve
+feet, part of the ancient pavement has been discovered, and many
+fragments of columns set upright: pieces of frieze and broken capitals
+are scattered about. The pillar, which is now cleared to the base,
+stands in its original place, but not, as it is supposed, at its
+original level, for the Romans generally raised the substructure of
+their buildings, in order to give them a more commanding appearance.
+The antiquarians here are of opinion that both the pavement of the
+Basilica and the base of the pillar were raised above the level of the
+ancient street, and that there is a flight of steps, still concealed,
+between the pillar and the pavement in front. The famous Ulpian
+Library was on each side of the Basilica, and the Forum differed from
+other Forums in not being an open space surrounded by buildings, but a
+building surrounded by an open space.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Dec 31.-Jan. 1._--That hour in which we pass from one year to
+another, and begin a new account with ourselves, with our fellow
+creatures, and with God, must surely bring some solemn and serious
+thoughts to the bosoms of the most happy and most unreflecting among
+the triflers on this earth. What then must it be to me? The first
+hour, the first moment of the expiring year was spent in tears, in
+distress, in bitterness of heart--as it began so it ends. Days, and
+weeks, and months, and seasons, came and "passed like visions to
+their viewless home," and brought no change. Through the compass of
+the whole year I have not enjoyed one single day--I will not say of
+happiness--but of health and peace; and what I have endured has left
+me little to learn in the way of suffering. Would to heaven that as
+the latest minutes now ebb away while I write, memory might also pass
+away! Would to heaven that I could efface the last year from the
+series of time, hide it from myself, bury it in oblivion, stamp it
+into annihilation, that none of its dreary moments might ever rise up
+again to haunt me, like spectres of pain and dismay! But this is
+wrong--I feel it is--and I repent, I recall my wish. That great Being,
+to whom the life of a human creature is a mere point, but who has
+bestowed on his creatures such capacities of feeling and suffering, as
+extend moments to hours and days to years, inflicts nothing in vain,
+and if I have suffered much, I have also learned much. Now the last
+hour is past--another year opens; may it bring to those I love all I
+wish them in my heart! to me it can bring nothing. The only blessing I
+hope from time is _forgetfulness_--my only prayer to heaven
+is--_rest, rest, rest_.
+
+_Jan. 4._--We _dispatched_, as L** would say, a good deal to-day: we
+visited the Temple of Vesta, the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmadino,
+the Temple of Fortune, the Ponte Rotto, and the house of Nicolo
+Rienzi: all these lie together in a dirty, low, and disagreeable part
+of Rome. Thence we drove to the Pyramid of Caius Cestus.--As we know
+nothing of this Caius Cestus, but that he lived, died, and was buried,
+it is not possible to attach any fanciful or classical interest to his
+tomb, but it is an object of so much beauty in itself, and from its
+situation so striking and picturesque, that it needs no additional
+interest. It is close to the ancient walls of Rome, which stretch on
+either side as far as the eye can reach in huge and broken masses of
+brickwork, fragments of battlements and buttresses, overgrown in many
+parts with shrubs and even trees. Around the base of the Pyramid lies
+the burying-ground of strangers and heretics. Many of the monuments
+are elegant, and their frail materials and diminutive forms are in
+affecting contrast with the lofty and solid pile which towers above
+them. The tombs lie around in a small space "amicably close," like
+brothers in exile, and as I gazed I felt a kindred feeling with all;
+for I, too, am a wanderer, a stranger and a heretic; and it is
+probable that my place of rest may be among them. Be it so! for
+methinks this earth could not afford a more lovely, a more tranquil,
+or more sacred spot. I remarked one tomb, which is an exact model, and
+in the same material with the sarcophagus of Cornelius Scipio, in the
+Vatican. One small slab of white marble bore the name of a young girl,
+an only child, who died at sixteen, and "left her parents
+disconsolate:" another elegant and simple monument bore the name of a
+young painter of genius and promise, and was erected "by his
+companions and fellow students as a testimony of their affectionate
+admiration and regret." This part of old Rome is beautiful beyond
+description, and has a wild, desolate, and poetical grandeur, which
+affects the imagination like a dream.--The very air disposes one to
+reverie. I am not surprised that Poussin, Claude, and Salvator Rosa
+made this part of Rome a favourite haunt, and studied here their
+finest effects of colour, and their grandest combinations of
+landscape. I saw a young artist seated on a pile of ruins with his
+sketch book open on his knee, and his pencil in his hand--during the
+whole time we were there he never changed his attitude, nor put his
+pencil to the paper, but remained leaning on his elbow, like one lost
+in ecstasy.
+
+_Jan 5._--To-day we drove through the quarter of the Jews, called the
+Ghetta degli Ebrei. It is a long street enclosed at each end with a
+strong iron gate, which is locked by the police at a certain hour
+every evening (I believe at ten o'clock); and any Jew found without
+its precincts after that time, is liable to punishment and a heavy
+fine. The street is narrow and dirty, the houses wretched and ruinous,
+and the appearance of the inhabitants squalid, filthy, and
+miserable--on the whole, it was a painful scene, and one I should have
+avoided, had I followed my own inclinations. If this specimen of the
+effects of superstition and ignorance was depressing, the next was not
+less ridiculous. We drove to the Lateran: I had frequently visited
+this noble Basilica before, but on the present occasion we were to go
+over it _in form_, with the usual torments of laquais and ciceroni. I
+saw nothing new but the cloisters, which remain exactly as in the time
+of Constantine. They are in the very vilest style of architecture, and
+decorated with Mosaic in a very elaborate manner: but what most amused
+us was the collection of relics, said to have been brought by
+Constantine from the Holy Land, and which our cicerone exhibited with
+a sneering solemnity which made it very doubtful whether he believed
+himself in their miraculous sanctity. Here is the stone on which the
+cock was perched when it crowed to St. Peter, and a pillar from the
+Temple of Jerusalem, split asunder at the time of the crucifixion; it
+looks as if it had been _sawed_ very accurately in half from top to
+bottom; but this of course only renders it more miraculous. Here is
+also the column in front of Pilate's house, to which our Saviour was
+bound, and the very well where he met the woman of Samaria. All these,
+and various other relics, supposed to be consecrated by our Saviour's
+Passion, are carelessly thrown into the cloisters--not so the heads of
+St. Peter and St. Paul, which are considered as the chief treasures in
+the Lateran, and are deposited in the body of the church in a rich
+shrine. The beautiful sarcophagus of red porphyry, which once stood
+in the Portico of the Pantheon, and contained the ashes of Agrippa,
+is now in the Corsini chapel here, and encloses the remains of some
+Pope Clement. The bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, which
+stands on the Capitol, was dug from the cloisters of the Lateran. The
+statue of Constantine in the portico was found in the baths of
+Constantine: it is in a style of sculpture worthy the architecture of
+the cloisters.--Constantine was the first Christian emperor, a glory
+which has served to cover a multitude of sins; it is indeed impossible
+to forget that he was the chosen instrument of a great and blessed
+revolution; but in other respects it is as impossible to look back to
+the period of Constantine without horror--an era when bloodshed and
+barbarism, and the general depravity of morals and taste seemed to
+have reached their climax.
+
+On leaving the Lateran, we walked to the Scala Santa, said to be the
+very flights of steps which led to the judgment hall at Jerusalem, and
+transported hither by the Emperor Constantine; but while the other
+relics which his pious benevolence bestowed on the city of Rome have
+apparently lost some of their efficacy, the Scala Santa is still
+regarded with the most devout veneration. At the moment of our
+approach, an elegant barouche drove up to the portico, from which two
+well-dressed women alighted, and pulling out their rosaries, began to
+crawl up the steps on their hands and knees, repeating a Paternoster
+and an Ave Maria on every step. A poor diseased beggar had just gone
+up before them, and was a few steps in advance. This exercise, as we
+are assured, purchases a thousand years of indulgence. The morning was
+concluded by a walk on the Mont Pincio.
+
+I did not know on that first morning after our arrival, when I ran up
+the Scalla della Trinita to the top of the Pincian hill, and looked
+around me with such transport, that I stood by mere chance on that
+very spot from which Claude used to study his sun sets, and his
+beautiful effects of evening. His house was close to me on the left,
+and those of Nicolo Poussin and Salvator Rosa a little beyond. Since
+they have been pointed out to me, I never pass from the Monte Pincio
+along the Via Felice without looking up at them with interest: such
+power has genius, "to hallow in the core of human hearts even the ruin
+of a wall."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Jan. 6._--Sunday, at the English chapel, which was crowded to excess,
+and where it was at once cold and suffocating. We had a plain but
+excellent sermon, and the officiating clergyman, Mr. W., exhorted the
+congregation to conduct themselves with more decorum at St. Peter's,
+and to remember what was due to the temple of that God who was equally
+the God of all Christians. We afterwards went to St. Peter's; where
+the anthem was performed at vespers as usual, and the tenor of the
+Argentino sung. The music was indeed heavenly--but I did not enjoy it:
+for though the behaviour of the English was much more decent than I
+have yet seen it, the crowd round the chapel, the talking, pushing,
+whispering, and movement, were enough to disquiet and discomfort me; I
+withdrew, therefore, and walked about at a little distance, where I
+could just hear the swell of the organ. Such is the immensity of the
+building, that at the other side of the aisle the music is perfectly
+inaudible.
+
+7.--Visited the Falconieri Palace to see Cardinal Fesche's gallery.
+The collection is large and contains many fine pictures, but there is
+such a _melange_ of good, bad, and indifferent, that on the whole I
+was disappointed. L** attached himself to my side the whole
+morning--to benefit, as he said, by my "tasty remarks;" he hung so
+dreadfully heavy on my hands, and I was so confounded by the
+interpretations and explanations his ignorance required, that I at
+last found my patience nearly at an end. Pity he is so good-natured
+and so good-tempered, that one can neither have the comfort of
+heartily disliking him, nor find nor make the shadow of an excuse to
+shake him off!
+
+In the evening we had a gay party of English and foreigners: among
+them----
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+A REPLY TO A COMPLAINT
+
+    Trust not the ready smile!
+      'Tis a delusive glow--
+    For cold and dark the while
+      The spirits flag below.
+
+    With a beam of departed joy,
+      The eye may kindle yet:
+    As the cloud in yon wintry sky,
+      Still glows with the sun that is set,
+
+    The cloud will vanish away--
+      The sun while shine to morrow--
+    To me shall break no day
+      On this dull night of sorrow!
+
+
+A REPLY TO A REPROACH.
+
+    I would not that the world should know,
+      How deep within my panting heart
+    A thousand warmer feelings glow,
+      Than word or look could e'er impart.
+
+    I would not that the world should guess
+      At aught beyond this outward show;
+    What happy dreams in secret bless--
+      What burning tears in secret flow.
+
+    And let them deem me cold or vain;
+       --O there is one who thinks not so!
+    In one devoted heart I reign,
+        And what is all the rest below?
+
+9.--We have had two days of truly English weather; cold, damp, and
+gloomy, with storms of wind and rain. I know not why, but there is
+something peculiarly deforming and discordant in bad weather here; and
+we are all rather stupid and depressed. To me, sunshine and warmth are
+substitutes for health and spirits; and their absence inflicts
+positive suffering. There is not a single room in our palazzetto which
+is weather-proof; and as to a good fire, it is a luxury unknown, but
+not unnecessary, in these regions. In such apartments as contain no
+fire-place, a stufa, or portable stove, is set, which diffuses little
+warmth, and renders the air insupportably close and suffocating.
+
+I witnessed a scene last night, which was a good illustration of that
+extraordinary indolence for which the Romans are remarkable. Our
+laquais Camillo suffered himself to be turned off, rather than put
+wood on the fire three times a-day; he would rather, he said, "starve
+in the streets than break his back by carrying burdens like an ass;
+and though he was miserable to displease the Onoratissimo Padrone, his
+first _duty_ was to take care of his own health, which, with the
+blessing of the saints, he was determined to do." R---- threw him his
+wages, repeating with great contempt the only word of his long speech
+he understood, "_Asino!_" "Sono Romano, io," replied the fellow,
+drawing himself up with dignity. He look his wages, however, and
+marched out of the house.
+
+The impertinence of this Camillo was sometimes amusing, but oftener
+provoking. He piqued himself on being a profound antiquarian, would
+confute Nibby, and carried Nardini in his pocket, to whom he referred
+on all occasions: yet the other day he had the impudence to assure us
+that Caius Cestus was an English Protestant, who was excommunicated by
+Pope Julius Caesar; and took his Nardini out of his pocket to prove his
+assertion.
+
+V---- brought me to-day the "Souvenirs de Felicie," of Madame de
+Genlis, which amused me delightfully for a few hours. They contain
+many truths, many half or whole falsehoods, many impertinent things,
+and several very interesting anecdotes. They are written with all the
+graceful simplicity of style, and in that tone of lady-like feeling
+which distinguishes whatever she writes: but it is clear that though
+she represents these "Souvenirs" as mere extracts from her journal,
+they have been carefully composed or re-composed for publication, and
+were always intended to be seen. Now if my poor little Diary should
+ever be seen! I tremble but to think of it!--what egotism and vanity,
+what discontent--repining--caprice--should I be accused of?--neither
+perhaps have I always been just to others; _quand on sent, on
+reflechit rarement_. Such strange vicissitudes of temper--such
+opposite extremes of thinking and feeling, written down at the moment,
+without noticing the intervening links of circumstances and
+impressions which led to them, would appear like detraction, if they
+should meet the eye of any indifferent person--but I think I have
+taken sufficient precautions against the possibility of such an
+exposure, and the only eyes which will ever glance over this blotted
+page, when the hand that writes it is cold, will read, not to
+_criticise_, but to _sympathise_.
+
+10.--A lovely brilliant day, the sky without a cloud and the air as
+soft as summer. The carriages were ordered immediately after
+breakfast, and we sallied forth in high spirits--resolved as L** said,
+with his usual felicitous application of Shakspeare,
+
+    "To take the tide in the affairs of men."
+
+The baths of Titus are on the AEsquiline; and nothing remains of them
+but piles of brickwork, and a few subterranean chambers almost choked
+with rubbish. Some fragments of exquisite arabesque painting are
+visible on the ceilings and walls; and the gilding and colours are
+still fresh and bright. The brickwork is perfectly solid and firm, and
+appeared as if finished yesterday. On the whole the impression on my
+mind was, that not the slow and gentle hand of time, but sudden rapine
+and violence had caused the devastation around us; and looking into
+Nardini on my return, I found that the baths of Titus were nearly
+entire in the thirteenth century, but were demolished with great
+labour and difficulty by the ferocious Senator Brancaleone, who, about
+the year 1257, destroyed an infinite number of ancient edifices, "per
+togliere ai Nobili il modo di fortificarsi." The ruins were excavated
+during the pontificate of Julius the Second, and under the direction
+of Raffaelle, who is supposed to have taken the idea of the arabesques
+in the Loggie of the Vatican, from the paintings here. We were shown
+the niche in which the Laocoon stood, when it was discovered in 1502.
+After leaving the baths, we entered the neighbouring church of San
+Pietro in Vincoli, to look again at the beautiful fluted Doric columns
+which once adorned the splendid edifice of Titus: and on this occasion
+we were shown the chest in which the fetters of St. Peter are
+preserved in a triple enclosure of iron, wood, and silver. My
+unreasonable curiosity not being satisfied by looking at the mere
+outside of this sacred coffer, I turned to the monk who exhibited it,
+and civilly requested that he would open it, and show us the
+miraculous treasure it contained. The poor man looked absolutely
+astounded and aghast at the audacity of my request, and stammered out,
+that the coffer was never opened, without a written order from his
+holiness the pope, and in the presence of a cardinal, and, that this
+favour was never granted to a heretic (con rispetto parlando); and
+with this excuse we were obliged to be satisfied.
+
+The church of San Martino del Monte is built on part of the
+substructure of the baths of Titus; and there is a door opening from
+the church, by which you descend into the ancient subterranean vaults.
+The small, but exquisite pillars, and the pavement, which is of the
+richest marbles, were brought from the Villa of Adrian at Tivoli. The
+walls were painted in fresco by Nicolo and Gaspar Poussin, and were
+once a celebrated study for young landscape painters; almost every
+vestige of colouring is now obliterated by the damp which streams down
+the walls. There are some excellent modern pictures in good
+preservation, I think by Carluccio. This church, though not large, is
+one of the most magnificent we have yet seen, and the most precious
+materials are lavished in profusion on every part. The body of
+Cardinal Tomasi is preserved here, embalmed in a glass case. It is
+exhibited conspicuously, and in my life I never saw (or smelt)
+anything so abominable and disgusting.
+
+The rest of the morning was spent in the Vatican.
+
+I stood to-day for some time between those two great masterpieces, the
+Transfiguration of Raffaelle, and Domenichino's Communion of St.
+Jerome. I studied them, I examined them figure by figure, and then in
+the ensemble, and mused upon the different effects they produce, and
+were designed to produce, until I thought I could decide to my own
+satisfaction on their respective merits. I am not ignorant that the
+Transfiguration is pronounced the "grandest picture in the world," nor
+so insensible to excellence as to regard this glorious composition
+without all the admiration due to it. I am dazzled by the flood of
+light which bursts from the opening heavens above, and affected by the
+dramatic interest of the group below. What splendour of colour! What
+variety of expression! What masterly grouping of the heads! I see all
+this--but to me Raffaelle's picture wants unity of interest: it is two
+pictures in one: the demoniac boy in the foreground always shocks me;
+and thus from my peculiarity of taste the pleasure it gives me is not
+so perfect as it ought to be.
+
+On the other hand, I never can turn to the Domenichino without being
+thrilled with emotion, and touched with awe. The story is told with
+the most admirable skill, and with the most exquisite truth and
+simplicity: the interest is one and the same; it all centres in the
+person of the expiring saint; and the calm benignity of the
+officiating priest is finely contrasted with the countenances of the
+group who support the dying form of St. Jerome: anxious tenderness,
+grief, hope, and fear, are expressed with such deep pathos and
+reality, that the spectator forgets admiration in sympathy; and I have
+gazed, till I could almost have fancied myself one of the assistants.
+The colouring is as admirable as the composition--gorgeously rich in
+effect, but subdued to a tone which harmonizes with the solemnity of
+the subject.
+
+There is a curious anecdote connected with this picture, which I wish
+I had noted down at length as it was related to me, and at the time I
+heard it: it is briefly this. The picture was painted by Domenichino
+for the church of San Girolamo della Carita. At that time the factions
+between the different schools of painting ran so high at Rome, that
+the followers of Domenichino and Guido absolutely stabbed and poisoned
+each other; and the popular prejudice being in favour of the latter,
+the Communion of St. Jerome was torn down from its place, and flung
+into a lumber garret. Some time afterwards, the superiors of the
+convent wishing to substitute a new altar-piece, commissioned Nicolo
+Poussin to execute it; and sent him Domenichino's rejected picture as
+old canvas to paint upon. No sooner had the generous Poussin cast his
+eyes on it, than he was struck, as well he might be, with astonishment
+and admiration. He immediately carried it into the church, and there
+lectured in public on its beauties, until he made the stupid monks
+ashamed of their blind rejection of such a masterpiece, and boldly
+gave it that character it has ever since retained, of being the second
+best picture in the world.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+11.--A party of four, including L** and myself, ascended the dome of
+St. Peter's; and even mounted into the gilt ball. It was a most
+fatiguing expedition, and one I have since repented. I gained,
+however, a more perfect, and a more sublime idea of the architectural
+wonders of St. Peter's, than I had before; and I was equally pleased
+and surprised by the exquisite neatness and cleanliness of every part
+of the building. We drove from St. Peter's to the church of St.
+Onofrio, to visit the tomb of Tasso. A plain slab marks the spot,
+which requires nothing but his name to distinguish it. "After life's
+fitful fever he sleeps well." The poet Guidi lies in a little chapel
+close by; and his effigy is so placed that the eyes appear fixed upon
+the tomb of Tasso.
+
+In the church of Santa Maria Trastevere (which is held in peculiar
+reverence by the Tresteverini), there is nothing remarkable, except
+that like many others in Rome, it is rich in the spoils of antique
+splendour: afterwards to the palazzo Farneze and the Farnesina, to see
+the frescos of Raffaelle, Giulio Romano, and the Caraccis, which have
+long been rendered familiar to me in copies and engravings.
+
+12.--I did penance at home for the fatigue of the day before, and
+to-day (the 13th) I took a delightful drive of several hours attended
+only by Saccia. Having examined at different times, and in detail,
+most of the interesting objects within the compass of the ancient
+city, I wished to generalize what I had seen, by a kind of _survey_ of
+the whole. For this purpose, making the Capitol a central point, I
+drove first slowly through the Forum, and made the circuit of the
+Palatine Hill, then by the arch of Janus (which by a late decision of
+the antiquarians, has no more to do with Janus than with Jupiter), and
+the temple of Vesta, back again over the site of the Circus Maximus,
+between the Palatine and the Aventine (the scene of the Rape of the
+Sabines), to the baths of Caracalla, where I spent an hour, musing,
+sketching, and poetizing; thence to the church of San Stefano Rotundo,
+once a temple dedicated to Claudius by Agrippina; over the Celian
+Hill, covered with masses of ruins, to the church of St. John and St.
+Paul, a small but beautiful edifice; then to the neighbouring church
+of San Gregorio, from the steps of which there is such a noble view.
+Thence I returned by the arch of Constantine, and the Coliseum, which
+frowned on me in black masses through the soft but deepening twilight,
+through the street now called the Suburra, but formerly the Via
+Scelerata, where Tullia trampled over the dead body of her father, and
+so over the Quirinal home.
+
+My excursion was altogether delightful, and gave me the most
+magnificent, and I had almost said, the most _bewildering_ ideas of
+the grandeur and extent of ancient Rome. Every step was classic
+ground: illustrious names, and splendid recollections crowded upon the
+fancy--
+
+    "And trailing clouds of glory did they come."
+
+On the Palatine Hill were the houses of Cicero and the Gracchi;
+Horace, Virgil, and Ovid resided on the Aventine; and Mecaenas and
+Pliny on the AEsquiline. If one little fragment of a wall remained,
+which could with any shadow of probability be pointed out as belonging
+to the residence of Cicero, Horace, or Virgil, how much dearer, how
+much more sanctified to memory would it be than all the magnificent
+ruins of the fabrics of the Caesars! But no--all has passed away. I
+have heard the remains of Rome coarsely ridiculed, because, after the
+researches of centuries, so little is comparatively known--because of
+the endless disputes of antiquarians, and the night and ignorance in
+which all is involved; but to the imagination there is something
+singularly striking in this mysterious veil which hangs like a cloud
+upon the objects around us. I trod to-day over the shapeless masses of
+building, extending in every direction as far as the eye could reach.
+Who had inhabited the edifices I trampled under my feet? What hearts
+had burned--what heads had thought--what spirits had kindled _there_,
+where nothing was seen but a wilderness and waste, and heaps of ruins,
+to which antiquaries--even Nibby himself--dare not give a name? All
+swept away--buried beneath an ocean of oblivion, above which rise a
+few great and glorious names, like rocks, over which the billows of
+time break in vain.
+
+    "Indi esclamo, qual' notte atra, importuua
+    Tutte l'ampie tue glorie a un tratto amorza?
+    Glorie di senno, di valor, di forza
+    Gia mille avesti, or non hai pur una!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One of the most striking scenes I saw to-day was the Roman forum,
+crowded with the common people gaily dressed (it is a festa or saint's
+day); the women sitting in groups upon the fallen columns, nursing or
+amusing their children. The men were playing at mora, or at a game
+like quoits. Under the vast side of the Palatine Hill, on the side of
+the Circus Maximus, I met a woman mounted on an ass, habited in a most
+beautiful and singular holiday costume, a man walked by her side,
+leading the animal she rode, with lover-like watchfulness. He was _en
+veste_, and I observed that his cloak was thrown over the back of the
+ass as a substitute for a saddle. Two men followed behind with their
+long capotes hanging from their shoulders, and carrying guitars, which
+they struck from time to time, singing as they walked along. A little
+in advance there is a small chapel, and Madona. A young girl
+approached, and laying a bouquet of flowers before the image, she
+knelt down, hid her face in her apron, and wrung her hands from time
+to time as if she was praying with fervor. When the group I have just
+mentioned came up, they left the pathway, and made a circuit of many
+yards to avoid disturbing her, the men taking off their hats, and the
+woman inclining her head, in sign of respect, as they passed.
+
+All this sounds, while I soberly write it down, very sentimental, and
+picturesque, and poetical. It was exactly what I saw--what I often
+see: such is the place, the scenery, the people. Every group is a
+picture, the commonest object has some interest attached to it, the
+commonest action is dignified by sentiment, the language around us is
+music, and the air we breathe is poetry.
+
+Just as I was writing the word _music_, the sounds of a guitar
+attracted me to the window, which looks into a narrow back street, and
+is exactly opposite a small white house belonging to a vetturino, who
+has a very pretty daughter. For her this serenade was evidently
+intended; for the moment the music began, she placed a light in the
+window as a signal that she listened propitiously, and then retired.
+The group below consisted of two men, the lover and a musician he had
+brought with him: the former stood looking up at the window with his
+hat off, and the musician, after singing two very beautiful airs,
+concluded with the delicious and popular Arietta "Buona notte, amato
+bene!" to which the lover _whistled_ a second, in such perfect tune,
+and with such exquisite taste, that I was enchanted. Rome is famous
+for serenades and serenaders; but at this season they are seldom
+heard. I remember at Venice being wakened in the dead of the night by
+such delicious music, that (to use a hyperbole common in the mouths
+of this poetical people) I was "transported to the seventh heaven:"
+before I could perfectly recollect myself, the music ceased, the
+inhabitants of the neighbouring houses threw open their casements, and
+vehemently and enthusiastically applauded, clapping their hands, and
+shouting bravos: but neither at Venice, at Padua, nor at Florence did
+I hear any thing that pleased and touched me so much as the serenade
+to which I have just been listening.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+14.--To-day was quite heavenly--like a lovely May-day in England: the
+air so pure, so soft, and the sun so warm, that I would gladly have
+dispensed with my shawl and pelisse. We went in carriages to the other
+side of the Palatine, and then dispersing in small parties, as will or
+fancy led, we lounged and wandered about in the Coliseum, and among
+the neighbouring ruins till dinner time. I climbed up the western side
+of the Coliseum, at the imminent hazard of my neck; and looking down
+through a gaping aperture, on the brink of which I had accidentally
+seated myself, I saw in the colossal corridor far below me, a young
+artist, who, as if transported out of his senses by delight and
+admiration, was making the most extraordinary antics and gestures:
+sometimes he clasped his hands, then extended his arms, then stood
+with them folded as in deep thought; now he snatched up his portfolio
+as if to draw what so much enchanted him, then threw it down and
+kicked it from him as if in despair. I never saw such admirable dumb
+show: it was better than any pantomime. At length, however, he
+happened to cast up his eyes, as if appealing to heaven, and they
+encountered mine peeping down upon him from above. He stood fixed and
+motionless for two seconds, staring at me, and then snatching up his
+portfolio and his hat, ran off and disappeared. I met the same man
+afterwards walking along the Via Felice, and could not help smiling as
+he passed: he smiled too, but pulled his hat over his face and turned
+away.
+
+I discovered to-day (and it is no slight pleasure to make a discovery
+for one's self), the passage which formed the communication between
+the Coliseum and the Palace of the Caesars, and in which the Emperor
+Commodus was assassinated. I recognized it by its situation, and the
+mosaic pavement described by Nibby. If I had time I might moralize
+here, and make an eloquent tirade _a la Eustace_ about imperial
+monsters and so forth,--but in fact I _did_ think while I stood in the
+damp and gloomy corridor, that it was a fitting death for Commodus to
+die by the giddy playfulness of a child, and the machinations of an
+abandoned woman. It was not a favourable time or hour to contemplate
+the Coliseum--the sunshine was too resplendent--
+
+    It was a garish, broad, and peering day,
+    Loud, light, suspicious, full of eyes and ears;
+    And every little corner, nook, and hole,
+    Was penetrated by the insolent light.
+
+We are told that five thousand animals were slain in the amphitheatre
+on its dedication--how dreadful! The mutual massacres of the
+gladiators inspire less horror than this disgusting butchery! To what
+a pitch must the depraved appetite for blood and death have risen
+among the corrupted and ferocious populace, before such a sight could
+be endured!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+15.--We drove to-day to the tomb of Cecilia Metella, on the Appian
+Way, to the Fountain of Egeria, and the tomb of the Scipios near the
+Porta Cappena.
+
+I wish the tomb of Cecilia Metella had been that of Cornelia or
+Valeria. There may be little in a name, but how much there is in
+association! What this massy fabric wanted in classical fame Lord
+Byron has lately supplied in poetical interest. The same may be said
+of the Fountain of Egeria, to which he has devoted some of the most
+exquisite stanzas in his poem, and has certainly invested it with a
+charm it could not have possessed before. The woods and groves which
+once surrounded it, have been all cut down, and the scenery round it
+is waste and bleak; but the fountain itself is pretty, overgrown with
+ivy, moss, and the graceful capillaire plant (capello di venere)
+drooping from the walls, and the stream is as pure as crystal. L**,
+who was with us, took up a stone to break off a piece of the statue,
+and maimed, defaced, and wretched as it is, I could not help thinking
+it a profanation to the place, and stopped his hand, calling him a
+_barbarous Vandyke_: he looked so awkwardly alarmed and puzzled by the
+epithet I had given him! The identity of this spot (like all other
+places here) has been vehemently disputed. At every step to-day we
+encountered doubt, and contradiction, and cavilling: authorities are
+marshalled against each other in puzzling array, and the modern
+unwillingness to be cheated by fine sounds and great names has become
+a general scepticism. I have no objection to the "shadows, doubts, and
+darkness" which rest upon all around us; it rather pleases my fancy
+thus to "dream over the map of things," abandoned to my own
+cogitations and my own conclusions; but then there are certain points
+upon which it is very disagreeable to have one's faith disturbed; and
+the Fountain of Egeria is one of these. So leaving the more learned
+antiquarians to fight it out, _secundum artem_, and fire each other's
+wigs if they will, I am determined, and do steadfastly believe, that
+the Fountain of Egeria I saw to-day is the very identical and original
+Fountain of Egeria--of Numa's Egeria--and therefore it _is_ so.
+
+The tomb of the Scipios is a dirty dark wine cellar: all the urns, the
+fine sarcophagus, and the original tablets and inscriptions have been
+removed to the Vatican. I thought to-day while I stood in the
+sepulchre, and on the very spot whence the sarcophagus of Publius was
+removed, if Scipio, or Augustus, or Adrian, could return to this
+world, how would their Roman pride endure to see their last
+resting-places, the towers and the pyramids in which they fortified
+themselves, thus violated and put to ignoble uses, and the urns which
+contained their ashes stuck up as ornaments in a painted room, where
+barbarian visitors lounge away their hours, and stare upon their
+relics with scornful indifference or idle curiosity!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The people here, even the lowest and meanest among them seem to have
+imbibed a profound respect for antiquity and antiquities, which
+sometimes produces a comic effect. I am often amused by the exultation
+with which they point out a bit of old stone, or piece of brick wall,
+or shapeless fragment of some nameless statue, and tell you it is
+_antico, molto, antico_, and the half contemptuous tone in which they
+praise the most beautiful modern production, _e moderna--ma pure non e
+cativa!_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+18.--We had an opportunity of witnessing to-day one of the most
+splendid ceremonies of the Catholic church. It is one of the four
+festivals at which the Pope performs mass in state at the Vatican, the
+anniversary of St. Peter's entrance into Rome, and of his taking
+possession of the Papal chair; for here St. Peter is reckoned the
+first Pope. To see the high priest of an ancient and wide-spread
+superstition publicly officiate in his sacred character, in the
+grandest temple in the universe, and surrounded by all the trappings
+of his spiritual and temporal authority, was an exhibition to make sad
+a reflecting mind, but to please and exalt a lively imagination: I
+wished myself a Roman Catholic for one half hour only. The procession,
+which was so arranged as to produce the most striking theatrical
+effect, moved up the central aisle, to strains of solemn and beautiful
+music from an orchestra of wind instruments. The musicians were placed
+out of sight, nor could I guess from what part of the buildings the
+sounds proceeded; but the blended harmony, so soft, yet so powerful
+and so equally diffused, as it floated through the long aisles and
+lofty domes, had a most heavenly effect. At length appeared the Pope,
+borne on the shoulders of his attendants, and habited in his full
+Pontifical robes of white and gold; fans of peacocks' feathers were
+waved on each side of his throne, and boys flung clouds of incense
+from their censers. As the procession advanced at the slowest possible
+foot-pace, the Pope from time to time stretched forth his arms which
+were crossed upon his bosom, and solemnly blessed the people as they
+prostrated themselves on each side. I could have fancied it the
+triumphant approach of an Eastern despot, but for the mild and
+venerable air of the amiable old Pope, who looked as if more humbled
+than exalted by the pageantry around him. It might be _acting_, but if
+so, it was the most admirable acting I ever saw: I wish all his
+attendants had performed their parts as well. While the Pope assists
+at mass, it is not etiquette for him to do anything for himself: one
+Cardinal kneeling, holds the book open before him, another carries his
+handkerchief, a third folds and unfolds his robe, a priest on each
+side supports him whenever he rises or moves, so that he appears among
+them like a mere helpless automaton going through a certain set of
+mechanical motions, with which his will has nothing to do. All who
+approach or address him prostrate themselves and kiss his embroidered
+slipper before they rise.
+
+When the whole ceremony was over, and most of the crowd dispersed, the
+Pope, after disrobing, was passing through a private part of the
+church where we were standing accidentally, looking at one of the
+monuments. We made the usual obeisance, which he returned by inclining
+his head. He walked without support, but with great difficulty, and
+appeared bent by infirmity and age: his countenance has a melancholy
+but most benevolent expression, and his dark eyes retain uncommon
+lustre and penetration. During the twenty-one years he has worn the
+tiara, he has suffered many vicissitudes and humiliations with dignity
+and fortitude. He is not considered a man of very powerful intellect
+or very shining talents: he is not a Ganganelli or a Lambertini; but
+he has been happy in his choice of ministers, and his government has
+been distinguished by a spirit of liberality, and above all by a
+partiality to the English, which calls for our respect and gratitude.
+There were present to-day in St. Peter's about five thousand people,
+and the church would certainly have contained ten times the number.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+19.--We went to-day to view the restored model of the Coliseum
+exhibited in the Piazza di Spagna; and afterwards drove to the
+manufactory of the beads called _Roman Pearl_, which is well worth
+seeing _once_. The beads are cut from thin laminae of alabaster, and
+then dipped into a composition made of the scales of a fish (the
+Argentina). When a perfect imitation of pearl is intended, they can
+copy the accidental defects of colour and form which occur in the real
+gem, as well as its brilliance, so exquisitely, as to deceive the most
+practised eye.
+
+20.--I ordered the open carriage early this morning, and, attended
+only by Scaccia, partly drove and partly walked through some of the
+finest parts of ancient Rome. The day has been perfectly lovely; the
+sky intensely blue without a single cloud; and though I was weak and
+far from well, I felt the influence of the soft sunshine in every
+nerve: the pure elastic air seemed to penetrate my whole frame, and
+made my spirits bound and my heart beat quicker. It is true, I had to
+regret at every step the want of a more cultivated companion, and that
+I felt myself shamefully--no--not _shamefully_, but _lamentably_
+ignorant of many things. There is so much of which I wish to know and
+learn more: so much of my time is spent in hunting books, and
+acquiring by various means the information with which I ought already
+to be prepared; so many days are lost by frequent indisposition, that
+though I enjoy, and feel the value of all I _do_ know and observe, I
+am tantalized by the thoughts of all I must leave behind me
+unseen--there must necessarily be so much of what I do not even
+_hear_! Yet, in spite of these drawbacks, my little excursion to-day
+was delightful. I took a direction just contrary to my last
+expedition, first by the Quattro Fontane to the Santa Maria Maggiore,
+which I always see with new delight; then to the ruins called the
+temple of Minerva Medici, which stand in a cabbage garden near another
+fine ruin, once called the Trofei di Mario, and now the Acqua Giulia:
+thence to the Porta Maggiore, built by Claudius; and round by the
+Santa Croce di Gerusalemme. This church was built by Helena, the
+mother of Constantine, and contains her tomb, besides a portion of the
+_True Cross_ from which it derives its name. The interior of this
+Basilica struck me as mean and cold. In the fine avenue in front of
+the Santa Croce, I paused a few minutes to look round me. To the right
+were the ruins of the stupendous Claudian Aqueduct with its gigantic
+arches, stretching away in one unbroken series far into the Campagna:
+behind me the amphitheatre of Castrense: to the left, other ruins,
+once called the Temple of Venus and Cupid, and now the Sessorium: in
+front, the Lateran, the obelisk of Sesostris, the Porta San Giovanni,
+and great part of the ancient walls; and thence the view extended to
+the foot of the Apennines. All this part of Rome is a scene of
+magnificent desolation, and of melancholy yet sublime interest: its
+wildness, its vastness, its waste and solitary openness, add to its
+effect upon the imagination. The only human beings I beheld in the
+compass of at least two miles, were a few herdsmen driving their
+cattle through the gate of San Giovanni, and two or three strangers
+who were sauntering about with their note books and portfolios,
+apparently enthusiasts like myself, lost in the memory of the past and
+the contemplation of the present.
+
+I spent some time in the Lateran, then drove to the Coliseum, where I
+found a long procession of penitents, their figures and faces totally
+concealed by their masks and peculiar dress, chaunting the Via Crucis.
+I then examined the site of the Temple of Venus and Rome, and
+satisfied myself by ocular demonstration of the truth of the
+measurements which gave sixty feet for the height of the columns and
+eighteen feet for the circumference. I knew enough of geometrical
+proportion to prove this to my own satisfaction. On examining the
+fragments which remain, each fluting measured a foot, that is, eight
+inches right across. This appears prodigious, but it is nevertheless
+true. I am forced to believe to-day what I yesterday doubted, and
+deemed a piece of mere antiquarian exaggeration.
+
+This magnificent edifice was designed and built by the Emperor Adrian,
+who piqued himself on his skill in architecture, and carried his
+jealousy of other artists so far, as to banish Apollodorus, who had
+designed the Forum of Trajan. When he had finished the Temple of Venus
+and Rome, he sent to Apollodorus a plan of his stupendous structure,
+challenging him to find a single fault in it. The architect severely
+criticised some trifling oversights; and the Emperor, conscious of the
+justice of his criticisms, and unable to remedy the defects, ordered
+him to be strangled. Such was the fate of Apollodorus, whose
+misfortune it was to have an Emperor for his rival.
+
+They are now clearing the steps which lead to this temple, from which
+it appears that the length of the portico in front was three hundred
+feet, and of the side five hundred feet.
+
+While I was among these ruins, I was struck by a little limpid
+fountain, which gushed from the crumbling wall and lost itself among
+the fragments of the marble pavement. All looked dreary and desolate;
+and that part of the ruin which from its situation must have been the
+_sanctum sanctorum_, the shrine of the divinity of the place, is now a
+receptacle of filth and every conceivable abomination.
+
+I walked on to the ruins now called the Basilica of Constantine, once
+the Temple of Peace. This edifice was in a bad style, and constructed
+at a period when the arts were at a low ebb: yet the ruins are vast
+and magnificent. The exact direction of the Via Sacra has long been a
+subject of vehement dispute. They have now laid open a part of it
+which ran in front of the Basilica: the pavement is about twelve feet
+below the present pavement of Rome, and the soil turned up in their
+excavations is formed entirely of crumbled brickwork and mortar, and
+fragments of marble, porphyry, and granite. I returned by the Forum
+and the Capitol, through the Forums of Nerva and Trajan, and so over
+the Monte Cavallo, home.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+23.--Last night we had a numerous party, and Signor P. and his
+daughter came to sing. _She_ is a private singer of great talent, and
+came attended by her lover or her _fiance_; who, according to Italian
+custom, attends his mistress every where during the few weeks which
+precede their marriage. He is a young artist, a favourite pupil of
+Camuccini, and of very quiet, unobtrusive manners. La P. has the
+misfortune to be plain; her features are irregular, her complexion of
+a sickly paleness, and though her eyes are large and dark, they
+appeared totally devoid of lustre and expression. Her plainness, the
+bad taste of her dress, her awkward figure, and her timid and
+embarrassed deportment, all furnished matter of amusement and
+observation to some young people, (English of course,) whose
+propensities for _quizzing_ exceeded their good breeding and good
+nature. Though La P. does not understand a word of either French or
+English, I thought she could not mistake the significant looks and
+whispers of which she was the object, and I was in pain for her, and
+for her modest lover. I drew my chair to the piano, and tried to
+divert her attention by keeping her in conversation, but I could get
+no farther than a few questions which were answered in monosyllables.
+At length she sang--and sang divinely: I found the pale automaton had
+a soul as well as a voice. After giving us, with faultless execution,
+as well as great expression, some of Rossini's finest songs, she sung
+the beautiful and difficult cavatina in Otello, "_Assisa al pie d'un
+Salice_," with the most enchanting style and pathos, and then stood as
+unmoved as a statue while the company applauded loud and long. A
+moment afterwards, as she stooped to take up a music book, her lover,
+who had edged himself by degrees from the door to the piano, bent his
+head too, and murmured in a low voice, but with the most passionate
+accent, "O brava, brava cara!" She replied only by a look--but it was
+such a look! I never saw a human countenance so entirely, so
+instantaneously changed in character: the vacant eyes kindled and
+beamed with tenderness: the pale cheek glowed, and a bright smile
+playing round her mouth, just parted her lips sufficiently to discover
+a set of teeth like pearls. I could have called her at that moment
+beautiful; but the change was as transient as sudden--it passed like a
+gleam of light over her face and vanished, and by the time the book
+was placed on the desk, she looked as plain, as stupid, and as
+statue-like as ever. I was the only person who had witnessed this
+little by-scene; and it gave me pleasant thoughts and interest for the
+rest of the evening.
+
+Another trait of character occurred afterwards, which amused me, but
+in a very different style. Our new Danish friend, the Baron B----,
+told us he had once been present at the decapitation of nine men,
+having first fortified himself with a large goblet of brandy. After
+describing the scene in all its horrible details, and assuring us in
+his bad German French that it was "_une chose bien mauvaise a voir_,"
+I could not help asking him with a shudder, how he felt afterwards;
+whether it was not weeks or months before the impressions of horror
+left his mind? He answered with smiling naivete and taking a pinch of
+snuff, "_Ma foi! madame, je n'ai pas pu manger de la viande toute
+cette journee-la?_"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+27.--We drove to the Palazzo Spada, to see the famous Spada Pompey,
+said to be the very statue at the base of which Caesar fell. I was
+pleased to find, contrary to my expectations, that this statue has
+great intrinsic merit, besides its celebrity, to recommend it. The
+extremities of the limbs have a certain clumsiness which may perhaps
+be a feature of resemblance, and not a fault of the sculptor; but the
+attitude is noble, and the likeness of the head to the undisputed bust
+of Pompey in the Florentine gallery, struck me immediately. The
+Palazza Spada, with its splendid architecture, dirt, discomfort, and
+dilapidation, is a fair specimen of the Roman palaces in general. It
+contains a corridor, which from an architectural deception appears
+much longer than it really is. I hate tricks--in architecture
+especially. We afterwards visited the Pantheon, the Church of Santa
+Maria sopra Minerva, (an odd combination of names,) and concluded the
+morning at Canova's. It is one of the pleasures of Rome to lounge in
+the studj of the best sculptors; and it is at Rome only that sculpture
+seems to flourish as in its native soil. Rome is truly the _city of
+the soul_, the home of art and artists. With the divine models of the
+Vatican ever before their eyes, these inspiring skies above their
+heads, and the quarries of marble at a convenient distance--it is here
+only they can conceive and execute those works which are formed from
+the _beau-ideal_; but it is not here they meet with patronage: the
+most beautiful things I have seen at the various studj have all been
+executed for English, German, and Russian noblemen. The names I heard
+most frequently were those of the Dukes of Bedford and Devonshire,
+Prince Esterhazy, and the King of England.
+
+Canova has been accused of a want of simplicity, and of giving a too
+voluptuous expression to some of his figures: with all my admiration
+of his genius, I confess the censure just. It is particularly
+observable in the Clori svegliata (the Nymph awakened by Love), the
+Cupid and Psyche, for Prince Yousouppoff, the Endymion, the Graces,
+and some others.
+
+In some of Thorwaldson's works there is exquisite grace, simplicity,
+and expression: the Shepherd Boy, the Adonis, the Jason, and the Hebe,
+have a great deal of antique spirit. I did not like the colossal
+Christ which the sculptor has just finished in clay: it is a proof
+that bulk alone does not constitute sublimity: it is deficient in
+dignity, or rather in _divinity_.
+
+At Rodolf Schadow's, I was most pleased by the Cupid and the
+Filatrice. His Cupid is certainly the most beautiful Cupid I ever saw,
+superior, I think, both to Canova's and to Thorwaldson's. The
+Filatrice, though so exquisitely natural and graceful, a little
+disappointed me; I had heard much of it, and had formed in my own
+imagination an idea different and superior to what I saw. This
+beautiful figure has repose, simplicity, nature, and grace, but I felt
+a _want_--the want of some internal sentiment: for instance, if,
+instead of watching the rotation of her spindle with such industrious
+attention, the Filatrice had looked careless, or absent, or pensive,
+or disconsolate, (like Faust's Margaret at her spinning-wheel,) she
+would have been more interesting--but not perhaps what the sculptor
+intended to represent.
+
+Schadow is ill, but we were admitted by his order into his private
+study; we saw there the Bacchante, which he has just finished in clay,
+and which is to emulate or rival Canova's Dansatrice. He has been at
+work upon a small but beautiful figure of a piping Shepherd-boy, which
+is just made out: beside it lay Virgil's Eclogues, and his spectacles
+were between the leaves.[J]
+
+Almost every thing I saw at Max Laboureur's struck me as vapid and
+finikin. There were some pretty groups, but nothing to tempt me to
+visit it again.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+30.--We spent the whole morning at the Villa Albani, where there is a
+superb collection of antique marbles, most of them brought from the
+Villa of Adrian at Tivoli. To note down even a few of the objects
+which pleased me would be an endless task. I think the busts
+interested me most. There is a basso-relievo of Antinous--the
+beautiful head declined in his usual pensive attitude: it is the most
+finished and faultless piece of sculpture in relievo I ever saw; and
+as perfect and as polished as if it came from the chisel yesterday.
+There is another basso-relievo of Marcus Aurelius, and Faustina, equal
+to the last in execution, but not in interest.
+
+We found Rogers in the gardens: the old poet was sunning
+himself--walking up and down a beautiful marble portico, lined with
+works of art, with his note-book in his hand. I am told he is now
+writing a poem of which Italy is the subject; and here, with all the
+Campagna di Roma spread out before him--above him, the sunshine and
+the cloudless skies--and all around him, the remains of antiquity in a
+thousand elegant, or venerable, or fanciful forms: he could not have
+chosen a more genial spot for inspiration. Though we disturbed his
+poetical reveries rather abruptly, he met us with his usual amiable
+courtesy, and conversed most delightfully. I never knew him more
+pleasant, and never saw him so animated.
+
+Our departure from Rome has been postponed from day to day in
+consequence of a _trifling_ accident. An Austrian colonel was taken by
+the banditti near Fondi, and carried up into the mountains: ten
+thousand scudi were demanded for his ransom; and for many days past,
+the whole city has been in a state of agitation and suspense about his
+ultimate fate. The Austrians, roused by the insult, sent a large body
+of troops (some say three thousand men) against about one hundred and
+fifty robbers, threatening to exterminate them. They were pursued so
+closely, that after dragging their unfortunate captive over the
+mountains from one fastness to another, till he was nearly dead from
+exhaustion and ill-treatment, they either abandoned or surrendered him
+without terms. The troops immediately marched back to Naples, and the
+matter rests here: I cannot learn that any thing farther will be done.
+The robbers being at present panic-struck by such unusual energy and
+activity, and driven from their accustomed haunts, by these valorous
+champions of good order and good policy, it is considered that the
+road is now more open and safe than it has been for some time, and if
+nothing new happens to alarm us, we set off on Friday next.
+
+I visited to-day the baths of Dioclesian, and the noble church which
+Michel Angelo has constructed upon, and out of, their gigantic ruins.
+It has all that grand simplicity, that _entireness_ which
+characterizes his works: it contains, too, some admirable pictures. On
+leaving the church, I saw on each side of the door, the monuments of
+Salvator Rosa and Carlo Maratti--what a contrast do they exhibit in
+their genius, in their works, in their characters, in their
+countenances, in their lives! Near this church (the Santa Maria dei
+Angeli) is the superb fountain of the Acqua Felice, the first view of
+which rather disappointed me. I had been told that it represented
+Moses striking the rock,--a magnificent idea for a fountain! but the
+execution falls short of the conception. The water, instead of gushing
+from the rock, is poured out from the mouths of two prodigious lions
+of basalt, brought, I believe, from Upper Egypt: they seem misplaced
+here. A little beyond the Ponta Pia is the Campo Scelerato, where the
+Vestals were interred alive. We afterwards drove to the Santi Apostoli
+to see the tomb of the excellent Ganganelli, by Canova. Then to Sant'
+Ignazio, to see the famous ceiling painted in perspective by the
+jesuit Pozzo. The effect is certainly marvellous, making the interior
+appear to the eye, at least twice the height it really is; but though
+the illusion pleased me as a work of art, I thought the trickery
+unnecessary and misplaced. At the magnificent church of the Gesuiti
+(where there are two entire columns of giallo antico) I saw a list of
+relics for which the church is celebrated, and whose efficacy and
+sanctity were vouched for by a very respectable catalogue of miracles.
+Among these relics there are a few worth mentioning for their oddity,
+viz. one of the Virgin's _shifts_, three of her hairs, and the skirt
+of Joseph's coat.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+31.--We spent nearly the whole day in the gallery of the Vatican, and
+in the Pauline and Sistine chapels.
+
+_February 1st, at Valletri._--I left Rome this morning exceedingly
+depressed: Madame de Stael may well call travelling _un triste
+plaisir_. My depression did not arise from the feeling that I left
+behind me any thing or any person to regret, but from mixed and
+melancholy emotions, and partly perhaps from that weakness which makes
+my hand tremble while I write--which has bound down my mind, and all
+its best powers, and all its faculties of enjoyment, to a languid
+passiveness, making me feel at every moment, I am not what I was, or
+ought to be, or might have been.
+
+We arrived, after a short and most delightful journey by Albano, the
+Lake Nemi, Gensao, etc. at Velletri, the birth-place of that wretch
+Octavius, and famous for its wine. The day has been as soft and as
+sunny as a May-day in England, and the country, through which we
+travelled but too rapidly, beyond description lovely. The blue
+Mediterranean spread far to the west, and on the right we had the
+snowy mountains, with their wild fantastic peaks "rushing on the sky."
+I felt it all in my heart with a mixture of sadness and delight which
+I cannot express.
+
+This land was made by nature a paradise: it seems to want no charm,
+"unborrowed from the eye,"--but how has memory sanctified, history
+illustrated, and poetry illumined the scenes around us; where every
+rivulet had its attendant nymph, where every wood was protected by its
+sylvan divinity; where every tower has its tale of heroism, and "not a
+mountain lifts its head unsung;" and though the faith, the glory, and
+the power of the antique time be passed away--still
+
+                            A spirit hangs,
+    Beautiful region! o'er thy towns and farms,
+    Statues and temples, and memorial tombs.
+
+I can allow that one-half, at least, of the beauty and interest we
+see, lies in our own souls; that it is our own enthusiasm which sheds
+this mantle of light over all we behold: but, as colours do not exist
+in the objects themselves, but in the rays which paint them--so beauty
+is not less real, is not less BEAUTY, because it exists in
+the medium through which we view certain objects, rather than in those
+objects themselves. I have met persons who think they display a vast
+deal of common sense, and very uncommon strength of mind, in rising
+superior to all prejudices of education and illusions of romance--to
+whom enthusiasm is only another name for affectation--who, where the
+cultivated and the contemplative mind finds ample matter to excite
+feeling and reflection, give themselves airs of fashionable
+_nonchalance_, or flippant scorn--to whom the crumbling ruin is so
+much brick and mortar, no more--to whom the tomb of the Horatii and
+Curiatii is a _stack of chimneys_, the Pantheon _an old oven_, and the
+Fountain of Egeria a _pig-sty_. Are such persons aware that in all
+this there is an affectation, a thousand times more gross and
+contemptible, than that affectation (too frequent perhaps) which they
+design to ridicule?
+
+    "Whose mind is but the mind of his own eyes,
+    He is a slave--the meanest we can meet."
+
+2.--Our journey to-day has been long, but delightfully diversified,
+and abounding in classical beauty and interest. I scarce know what to
+say, now that I open my little book to record my own sensations: they
+are so many, so various, so painful, so delicious--my senses and my
+imagination have been so enchanted, my heart so very heavy--where
+shall I begin?
+
+In some of the scenes of to-day--at Terracina, particularly, there was
+beauty beyond what I ever beheld or imagined: the scenery of
+Switzerland is of a different character, and on a different scale: it
+is beyond comparison grander, more gigantic, more overpowering, but it
+is not so poetical. Switzerland is not Italy--is not the enchanting
+_south_. This soft balmy air, these myrtles, orange-groves,
+palm-trees; these cloudless skies, this bright blue sea, and sunny
+hills, all breathe of an enchanted land; "a land of Faery."
+
+Between Velletri and Terracina the road runs in one undeviating line
+through the Pontine Marshes. The accounts we have of the baneful
+effects of the malaria here, and the absolute solitude, (not a human
+face or a human habitation intervening from one post-house to
+another,) invest the wild landscape with a frightful and peculiar
+character of desolation. As for the mere exterior of the country, I
+have seen more wretched and sterile looking spots, (in France, for
+instance,) but none that so affected the imagination and the spirits.
+On leaving the Pontine Marshes, we came almost suddenly upon the sunny
+and luxuriant region near Terracina: here was the ancient city of
+Anxur; and the gothic ruins of the castle of Theodoric, which frown on
+the steep above, are contrasted with the delicate and Grecian
+proportions of the temple below. All the country round is famed in
+classic and poetic lore. The Promontory (once poetically the _island_)
+of Circe is still the Monte Circello: here was the region of the
+Lestrygons, and the scene of part of the AEneid and Odyssey; and
+Corinne has superadded romantic and charming associations quite as
+delightful, and quite as _true_.
+
+Antiquarians, who, like politicians, "seem to see the things that are
+not," have placed all along this road, the sites of many a celebrated
+town and fane--"making hue and cry after many a city which has run
+away, and by certain marks and tokens pursuing to find it:" as some
+old author says so quaintly. At every hundred yards, fragments of
+masonry are seen by the road-side; portions of brickwork, sometimes
+traced at the bottom of a dry ditch, or incorporated into a fence;
+sometimes peeping above the myrtle bushes on the wild hills, where the
+green lizards lie basking and glittering on them in thousands, and the
+stupid ferocious buffalo, with his fierce red eyes, rubs his hide and
+glares upon us as we pass. No--not the grandest monuments of Rome--not
+the Coliseum itself, in all its decaying magnificence, ever inspired
+me with such profound emotions as did those nameless, shapeless
+vestiges of the dwellings of man, starting up like memorial tombs in
+the midst of this savage but luxuriant wilderness. Of the beautiful
+cities which rose along this lovely coast, the colonies of elegant and
+polished Greece--one after another swallowed up by the "insatiate maw"
+of ancient Rome, nothing remains--their sites, their very names have
+passed away and perished. We might as well hunt after a forgotten
+dream.
+
+    Vain was the chief's, the sage's pride,
+    They had no POET, and they died!
+    In vain they toil'd, in vain they bled,
+    They had no POET--and are dead.
+
+I write this a Gaeta--a name famous in the poetical, the classical,
+the military story of Italy, from the day of AEneas, from whom it
+received its appellation, down to the annals of the late war. On the
+site of our inn, (the Albergo di Cicerone,) stood Cicero's Formian
+Villa; and in an adjoining grove he was murdered in his litter by the
+satellites of the Triumviri, as he attempted to escape. I stood
+to-night on a little terrace, which hung over an orange grove, and
+enjoyed a scene which I would paint, if words were forms, and hues,
+and sounds--not else. A beautiful bay, enclosed by the Mola di Gaeta,
+on one side, and the Promontory of Misenum on the other: the sky
+studded with stars and reflected in a sea as blue as itself--and so
+glassy and unruffled, it seemed to slumber in the moonlight: now and
+then the murmur of a wave, not hoarsely breaking on rock and shingles,
+but kissing the turfy shore, where oranges and myrtles grew down to
+the water edge. These, and the remembrances connected with all, and a
+mind to think, and a heart to feel, and thoughts both of pain and
+pleasure mingling to render the effect more deep and touching.--Why
+should I write this? O surely I need not fear that I shall _forget_!
+
+LINES WRITTEN AT MOLA DI GAETA, NEAR THE RUINS OF CICERO'S FORMIAN
+VILLA.
+
+    We wandered through bright climes, and drank the beams
+    Of southern suns: Elysian scenes we view'd,
+    Such as we picture oft in those day dreams
+    That haunt the fancy in her wildest mood.
+    Upon the sea-heat vestiges we stood,
+    Where Cicero dwelt, and watch'd the latest gleams
+    Of rosy light steal o'er the azure flood:
+    And memory conjur'd up most glowing themes,
+    Filling the expanded heart, till it forgot
+    Its own peculiar grief!--O! if the dead
+    Yet haunt our earth, around this hallow'd spot,
+    Hovers sweet Tully's spirit, since it fled
+    The Roman Forum--Forum now no more!
+    Though cold and silent be the sands we tread,
+    Still burns the "eloquent air," and to the shore
+    There rolls no wave, and through the orange shade
+    There sighs no breath, which doth not speak of him,
+    THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY: and though dim
+    Her day of empire--and her laurel crown
+    Torn and defaced, and soiled with blood and tears,
+    And her imperial eagles trampled down--
+    Still with a queen-like grace, Italia wears
+    Her garland of bright names,--her coronal of stars,
+    (Radiant memorials of departed worth!)
+    That shed a glory round her pensive brow,
+    And make her still the worship of the earth!
+
+_Naples. Sunday 3rd._--We left Gaeta early. If the scene was so
+beautiful in the evening--how bright, how lovely it was this morning!
+The sun had not long risen; and a soft purple mist hung over part of
+the sea; while to the north and west the land and water sparkled and
+glowed in the living light. Some little fishing boats which had just
+put off, rocked upon the glassy sea, which lent them a gentle motion,
+though itself appeared all mirror-like and motionless. The orange and
+lemon trees in full foliage literally bent over the water; and it was
+so warm at half past eight that I felt their shade a relief.
+
+After leaving Gaeta, the first place of note is or _was_ Minturnum,
+where Marius was taken, concealed in the marshes near it. The marshes
+remain, the city has disappeared. Capua is still a large town; but it
+certainly does not keep up its ancient fame for luxury and good cheer:
+for we found it extremely difficult to procure any thing to eat. The
+next town is Avversa, a name unknown, I believe, in the classical
+history of Italy: it was founded, if I remember rightly, by the Norman
+knights. Near this place is or was the convent where Queen Joanna
+strangled her husband Andrea, with a silken cord of her own weaving.
+So says the story: _non lo credo io_.
+
+From Avversa to Naples the country is not interesting; but fertile and
+rich beyond description: an endless succession of vineyards and orange
+groves. At length we reached Naples; all tired and in a particularly
+sober and serious mood: we remembered it was the Sabbath, and had
+forgotten that it was the first day of the Carnival; and great was our
+amazement at the scene which met us on our arrival--
+
+    I looked, I stared, I smiled, I laughed: and all
+    The weight of sadness was in wonder lost.
+
+The whole city seemed one vast puppet-show; and the noisy gaiety of
+the crowded streets almost stunned me. One of the first objects we
+encountered was a barouche full of Turks and Sultanas, driven by an
+old woman in a tawdry court dress as coachman; while a merry-andrew
+and a harlequin capered behind as footmen. Owing to the immense size
+of the city, and the difficulty of making our way through the motley
+throng of masks, beggars, lazzaroni, eating-stalls, carts and
+carriages, we were nearly three hours traversing the streets before we
+reached our inn on the Chiaja.
+
+I feel tired and over-excited: I have been standing on my balcony
+looking out upon the moonlit bay, and listening to the mingled shouts,
+the laughter, the music all around me; and thinking--till I feel in no
+mood to write.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+7.--Last night we visited the theatre of San Carlo. It did not strike
+me as equal to the Scala at Milan. The form is not so fine, the extent
+of the stage is, or appeared to be, less; but there is infinitely more
+gilding and ornament; the mirrors and lights, the sky-blue draperies
+produce a splendid effect, and the coup-d'oeil is, on the whole,
+more gay, more theatre-like. It was crowded in every part, and many of
+the audience were in dominos and fancy dresses: a few were masked.
+Rossini's Barbiere di Seviglia, which contains, I think more _melody_
+than all his other operas put together, (the Tancredi perhaps
+excepted,) was most enchantingly sung, and as admirably acted; and the
+beautiful classical ballet of "Niobe and her Children," would have
+appeared nothing short of perfection, had I not seen the Didone
+Abbandonata at Milan. But they have no actress here like the graceful,
+the expressive Pallerini; nor any actor equal to the AEneas of the
+Scala.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Austrians, who are paramount here, allow masks only twice a week,
+Sundays and Thursdays. The people seem determined to indemnify
+themselves for this restriction on their pleasures by every allowed
+excess during the two days of merriment, which their despotic
+conquerors have spared them. I am told by M** and S**, our Italian
+friends, that the Carnival is now fallen off from its wild spirit of
+fanciful gaiety; that it is stupid, dull, tasteless, in comparison to
+what it was formerly, owing to the severity of the Austrian police. I
+know nothing about the propriety of the measures which have been
+resorted to for curbing the excesses of the Carnival: I think if
+people _will_ run away instead of fighting for their national rights,
+they must be content to suffer accordingly--but I meddle not with
+politics, and with all my heart abhor them. Whatever the gaities of
+the Carnival may have been formerly, it is scarce possible to conceive
+a more fantastic, a more picturesque, a more laughable scene than the
+Strada di Toledo exhibited to-day; the whole city seemed to wear "one
+universal grin;" and such an incessant fire of sugar-plums (or what
+seemed such) was carried on, and with such eagerness and mimic fury,
+that when our carriage came out of the conflict, we all looked as if a
+sack of flour had been shaken over us. The implements used in this
+ridiculous warfare, are, for common purposes, little balls of plaster
+of Paris and flour, made to resemble small comfits: friends and
+acquaintances pelted each other with real confetti, and those of the
+most delicious and expensive kinds. A double file of carriages moved
+in a contrary direction along the Corso; a space in the middle and on
+each side being left for horsemen and pedestrians, and the most exact
+order was maintained by the guards and police; so that if by chance a
+carriage lost its place in the line it was impossible to recover it,
+and it was immediately obliged to leave the street, and re-enter by
+one of the extremities. Besides the warfare carried on below, the
+balconies on each side were crowded with people in gay or grotesque
+dresses, who had _sacks_ of bon-bons before them, from which they
+showered vollies upon those beneath, or aimed across the street at
+each other: some of them filled their handkerchiefs, and then
+dexterously loosening the corners, and taking a certain aim, flung a
+volley at once. This was like a cannon loaded with grape-shot, and
+never failed to do the most terrific execution.
+
+Among the splendid and fanciful equipages of the masqueraders, was
+one, containing the Duke of Monteleone's family, in the form of a
+ship, richly ornamented, and drawn by six horses mounted by masks for
+postilions. The fore part of the vessel contained the Duke's party,
+dressed in various gay costumes, as Tartar warriors and Indian queens.
+In the stern were the servants and attendants, _travestied_ in the
+most grotesque and ludicrous style. This magnificent and unwieldly car
+had by some chance lost its place in the procession, and vainly
+endeavoured to whip in; as it is a point of honour among the
+charioteers not to yield the _pas_. Our coachman, however, was ordered
+(though most unwilling) to draw up and make way for it; and this
+little civility was acknowledged, not only by a profusion of bows, but
+by such a shower of delicious sugar plums, that the seats of our
+carriage were literally covered with them, and some of the gentlemen
+flung into our laps elegant little baskets, fastened with ribbons, and
+filled with exquisite sweetmeats. I could not enter into all this with
+much spirit; "_non son io quel ch'un tempo fui:_" but I was an amused,
+though a quiet spectator; and sometimes saw much more than those who
+were actually engaged in the battle. I observed that to-day our
+carriage became an object of attention, and a favourite point of
+attack to several parties on foot, and in carriages; and I was at no
+loss to discover the reason. I had with me a lovely girl, whose truly
+English style of beauty, her brilliant bloom, heightened by her eager
+animation, her lips dimpled with a thousand smiles, and her whole
+countenance radiant with glee and mischievous archness, made her an
+object of admiration, which the English expressed by a fixed stare,
+and the Italians by sympathetic smiles, nods, and all the usual
+superlatives of delight. Among our most potent and malignant
+adversaries, was a troop of elegant masks in a long open carriage, the
+form of which was totally concealed by the boughs of laurel, and
+wreaths of artificial flowers, with which it was covered. It was drawn
+by six fine horses, fancifully caparisoned, ornamented with plumes of
+feathers, and led by grotesque masks. In the carriage stood twelve
+persons in black silk dominos, black hats, and black masks; with
+plumes of crimson feathers, and rich crimson sashes. They were armed
+with small painted targets and tin tubes, from which they shot vollies
+of confetti, in such quantities, and with such dexterous aim, that we
+were almost overwhelmed whenever we passed them. It was in vain we
+returned the compliment; our small shot rattled on their masks, or
+bounded from their shields, producing only shouts of laughter at our
+expense.
+
+A favourite style of mask here, is the dress of an English sailor,
+straw hats, blue jackets, white trowsers, and very white masks with
+pink cheeks: we saw hundreds in this whimsical costume.
+
+13.--On driving home rather late this evening, and leaving the noise,
+the crowds, the confusion and festive folly of the Strada di Toledo,
+we came suddenly upon a scene, which, from its beauty, no less than by
+the force of contrast, strongly impressed my imagination. The shore
+was silent, and almost solitary: the bay as smooth as a mirror, and as
+still as a frozen lake; the sky, the sea, the mountains round were all
+of the same hue, a soft grey tinged with violet, except where the
+sunset had left a narrow crimson streak along the edge of the sea.
+There was not a breeze, not the slightest breath of air, and a single
+vessel, a frigate with all its white sails crowded, lay motionless as
+a monument on the bosom of the waters, in which it was reflected as in
+a mirror. I have seen the bay more splendidly beautiful; but I never
+saw so peculiar, so lovely a picture. It lasted but a short time: the
+transparent purple veil became a dusky pall, and night and shadow
+gradually enveloped the whole.[K]
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+How I love these resplendent skies and blue seas! Nature here seems to
+celebrate a continual Festa, and to be for ever decked out in holiday
+costume! A drive along the "_sempre beata Mergellina_" to the
+extremity of the Promontory of Pausilippo is positive enchantment:
+thence we looked over a landscape of such splendid and unequalled
+interest! the shores of Baia, where Cicero, Horace, Virgil, Pliny,
+Mecaenas, lived; the white towers of Puzzuoli and the Islands of
+Ischia, Procida, and Nisida. There was the Sybil's Cave, Lake Acheron,
+and the fabled Lethe; there the sepulchre of Misenus, who defied the
+Triton; and the scene of the whole sixth book of the AEneid, which I am
+now reading in Annibal Caro's translation: there Agrippina mourned
+Germanicus; and there her daughter fell a victim to her monster of a
+son. At our feet lay the lovely little Island of Nisida, the spot on
+which Brutus and Portia parted for the last time before the battle of
+Philippi.
+
+To the south of the bay the scenery is not less magnificent, and
+scarcely less dear to memory: Naples, rising from the sea like an
+amphitheatre of white palaces, and towers, and glittering domes:
+beyond, Mount Vesuvius, with the smoke curling from its summits like a
+silver cloud, and forming the only speck upon the intense blue sky;
+along its base Portici, Annunziata, Torre del Greco, glitter in the
+sun; every white building--almost every window in every building,
+distinct to the eye at the distance of several miles: farther on, and
+perched like white nests on the mountainous promontory, lie Castel a
+Mare, and Sorrento, the birth-place of Tasso, and his asylum when the
+injuries of his cold-hearted persecutors had stung him to madness, and
+drove him here for refuge to the arms of his sister. Yet, farther on,
+Capua rises from the sea, a beautiful object in itself, but from which
+the fancy gladly turns to dwell again upon the snowy buildings of
+Sorrento.
+
+    "O de la liberte vieille et sainte patrie!
+    Terre autrefois feconde en sublimes vertus!
+    Sous d'indignes Cesars maintenant asservie
+    Ton empire est tombe! tes heros ne sont plus!
+      Mais dans son sein l'ame aggrandie
+      Croit sur leurs monumens respirer leur genie,
+      Comme on respire encore dans un temple aboli
+      La Majeste du Dieu dont il etait rempli."
+
+                             DE LA MARTINE.
+
+THE SONG OF THE SYREN PARTHENOPE.
+
+A RHAPSODY,
+
+WRITTEN AT NAPLES.
+
+    Mine are these waves, and mine the twilight depths
+    O'er which they roll, and all these tufted isles
+    That lift their backs like dolphins from the deep,
+    And all these sunny shores that gird us round!
+
+    Listen! O listen to the Sea-maid's shell!
+    Ye who have wander'd hither from far climes,
+    (Where the coy summer yields but half her sweets,)
+    To breathe my bland luxurious airs, and drink
+    My sunbeams! and to revel in a land
+    Where Nature--deck'd out like a bride to meet
+    Her lover--lays forth all her charms, and smiles
+    Languidly bright, voluptuously gay,
+    Sweet to the sense, and tender to the heart.
+
+    Listen! O listen to the Sea-maid's shell;
+    Ye who have fled your natal shores in hate
+    Or anger, urged by pale disease, or want,
+    Or grief, that clinging like the spectre bat,
+    Sucks drop by drop the life-blood from the heart,
+    And hither come to learn forgetfulness,
+    Or to prolong existence! ye shall find
+    Both--though the spring Lethean flow no more,
+    There is a power in these entrancing skies
+    And murmuring waters and delicious airs,
+    Felt in the dancing spirits and the blood,
+    And falling on the lacerated heart
+    Like balm, until that life becomes a boon,
+    Which elsewhere is a burthen and a curse.
+
+    Hear then--O hear the Sea-maid's airy shell,
+    Listen, O listen! 'tis the Syren sings,
+    The spirit of the deep--Parthenope--
+    She who did once i' the dreamy days of old
+    Sport on these golden sands beneath the moon,
+    Or pour'd the ravishing music of her song
+    Over the silent waters; and bequeath'd
+    To all these sunny capes and dazzling shores
+    Her own immortal beauty, and her _name_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This is the last day of the Carnival, the last night of the opera; the
+people are permitted to go in masks, and after the performances there
+will be a ball. To-day, when Baldi was describing the excesses which
+usually take place during the last few hours of the Carnival, he said,
+"the man who has but half a shirt will pawn it to-night to buy a good
+supper and an opera-ticket: to-morrow for fish and soup-maigre--fasting
+and repentance!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Saturday, 23._--I have just seen a most magnificent sight; one which
+I have often dreamed of, often longed to behold, and having beheld,
+never shall forget. Mount Vesuvius is at this moment blazing like a
+huge furnace; throwing up every minute, or half minute, columns of
+fire and red-hot stones, which fall in showers and bound down the side
+of the mountain. On the east, there are two distinct streams of lava
+descending, which glow with almost a white heat, and every burst of
+flame is accompanied by a sound resembling cannon at a distance.--
+
+I can hardly write, my mind is so overflowing with astonishment,
+admiration, and sublime pleasure: what a scene as I looked out on the
+bay from the Sante Lucia! On one side, the evening star and the
+thread-like crescent of the new moon were setting together over
+Pausilippo, reflected in lines of silver radiance on the blue sea; on
+the other the broad train of fierce red light glared upon the water
+with a fitful splendour, as the explosions were more or less violent:
+before me all was so soft, so lovely, so tranquil! while I had only to
+turn my head to be awe-struck by the convulsion of fighting elements.
+
+I remember, that on our first arrival at Naples, I was disappointed
+because Vesuvius did not smoke so much as I had been led to expect
+from pictures and descriptions. The smoke then lay like a scarcely
+perceptible cloud on the highest point, or rose in a slender white
+column; to-day and yesterday, it has rolled from the crater in black
+volumes, mixing with the clouds above, and darkening the sky.
+
+_Half-past twelve._--I have walked out again: the blaze from the
+crater is less vivid; but there are now four streams of lava issuing
+from it, which have united in two broad currents, one of which extends
+below the hermitage. It is probable that by to-morrow night it will
+have reached the lower part of the mountain.
+
+_Sunday, 24._--Just returned from chapel at the English ambassador's,
+where the service was read by a dandy clergyman to a crowd of fine and
+superfine ladies and gentlemen, crushed together into a hot room. I
+never saw extravagance in dress carried to such a pitch as it is by my
+countrywomen here,--whether they dress at the men or against each
+other, it is equally bad taste. The sermon to-day was very
+appropriate, from the text, "_Take ye no thought what ye shall eat, or
+what ye shall drink, or what ye shall put on_," and, I dare say, it
+was listened to with singular edification.
+
+_5 o'clock._--We have been driving along the Strada Nuova in L**'s
+britschka, whence we had a fine view of Vesuvius. There are tremendous
+bursts of smoke from the crater. At one time the whole mountain, down
+to the very base, was almost enveloped, and the atmosphere round it
+loaded with the vapour, which seemed to issue in volumes half as
+large as the mountain itself. If horses are to be had we go up
+to-night.
+
+_Monday night._--I am not in a humour to describe, or give way to any
+poetical flights, but I must endeavour to give a faithful, sober, and
+circumstantial account of our last night's expedition, while the
+impression is yet fresh on my mind; though there is, I think, little
+danger of my forgetting. We procured horses, which, from the number of
+persons proceeding on the same errand with ourselves, was a matter of
+some difficulty. We set out at seven in the evening in an open
+carriage, and almost the whole way we had the mountain before us,
+spouting fire to a prodigious height. The road was crowded with groups
+of people who had come out from the city and environs to take a nearer
+view of the magnificent spectacle, and numbers were hurrying to and
+fro in those little flying _corricoli_ which are peculiar to Naples.
+As we approached, the explosions became more and more vivid, and at
+every tremendous burst of fire our friend L** jumped half off his
+seat, making most loud and characteristic exclamations,--"By Jove! a
+magnificent fellow! now for it, whizz! there he goes, sky high, by
+George!" The rest of the party were equally enthusiastic in a
+different style; and I sat silent and quiet from absolute inability to
+express what I felt. I was almost breathless with wonder, and
+excitement, and impatience to be nearer the scene of action. While my
+eyes were fixed on the mountain, my attention was, from time to time,
+excited by regular rows of small shining lights, six or eight in
+number, creeping, as it seemed, along the edge of the stream of lava;
+and, when contrasted with the red blaze which rose behind, and the
+gigantic black back-ground, looking like a procession of glowworms.
+These were the torches of travellers ascending the mountain, and I
+longed to be one of them.
+
+We reached Resina a little before nine, and alighted from the
+carriage; the ascent being so rugged and dangerous, that only asses
+and mules accustomed to the road are used. Two only were in waiting at
+the moment we arrived, which L** immediately secured for me and
+himself; and though reluctant to proceed without the rest of the
+party, we were compelled to go on before, that we might not lose time,
+or hazard the loss of our _monture_. We set off then, each with two
+attendants, a man to lead our animals and a torch-bearer. The road, as
+we ascended, became more and more steep at every step, being over a
+stream of lava, intermixed with stones and ashes, and the darkness
+added to the difficulty. But how shall I describe the scene and the
+people who surrounded us; the landscape partially lighted by a fearful
+red glare, the precipitous and winding road bordered by wild looking
+gigantic aloes, projecting their huge spear-like leaves almost across
+our path, and our lazzaroni attendants with their shrill shouts, and
+strange dresses, and wild jargon, and striking features, and dark
+eyes flashing in the gleam of the torches, which they flung round
+their heads to prevent their being extinguished, formed a scene so
+new, so extraordinary, so like romance, that my attention was
+frequently drawn from the mountain, though blazing in all its
+tumultuous magnificence.
+
+The explosions succeeded each other with terrific rapidity about two
+in every three minutes; and the noise I can only compare to the
+roaring and hissing of ten thousand imprisoned winds, mingled at times
+with a rumbling sound like artillery, or distant thunder. It
+frequently happened that the guides, in dashing their torches against
+the ground, set fire to the dried thorns and withered grass, and the
+blaze ran along the earth like wildfire, to the great alarm of poor
+L**, who saw in every burning bush a stream of lava rushing to
+overwhelm us.
+
+Before eleven o'clock we reached the Hermitage, situated between
+Vesuvius and the Somma, and the highest habitation on the mountain. A
+great number of men were assembled within, and guides, lazzaroni,
+servants, and soldiers, were lounging round. I alighted, for I was
+benumbed and tired, but did not like to venture among those people,
+and it was proposed that we should wait for the rest of our party a
+little further on. We accordingly left our donkeys and walked forward
+upon a kind of high ridge which serves to fortify the Hermitage and
+its environs against the lava. From this path, as we slowly ascended,
+we had a glorious view of the eruption; and the whole scene around us,
+in its romantic interest and terrible magnificence, mocked all power
+of description. There were, at this time, five distinct torrents of
+lava rolling down like streams of molten lead; one of which extended
+above two miles below us and was flowing towards Portici. The showers
+of red-hot stones flew up like thousands of sky rockets: many of them
+being shot up perpendicularly fell back into the crater, others
+falling on the outside bounded down the side of the mountain with a
+velocity which would have distanced a horse at full speed: these
+stones were of every size, from two to ten or twelve feet in diameter.
+
+My ears were by this time wearied and stunned by the unceasing roaring
+and hissing of the flames, while my eyes were dazzled by the glare of
+the red, fierce light: now and then I turned them for relief to other
+features of the picture, to the black shadowy masses of the landscape
+stretched beneath us, and speckled with shining lights, which showed
+how many were up and watching that night; and often to the calm
+vaulted sky above our heads, where thousands of stars (not twinkling
+as through our hazy or frosty atmosphere, but shining out of "heaven's
+profoundest azure," with that soft steady brilliance peculiar to a
+highly rarified medium) looked down upon this frightful turmoil in all
+their bright and placid loveliness. Nor should I forget one other
+feature of a scene, on which I looked with a painter's eye. Great
+numbers of the Austrian forces, now occupying Naples, were on the
+mountains, assembled in groups, some standing, some sitting, some
+stretched on the ground and wrapped in their cloaks, in various
+attitudes of amazement and admiration: and as the shadowy glare fell
+on their tall martial figures and glittering accoutrements, I thought
+I had never beheld any thing so wildly picturesque.
+
+The remainder of our party not yet appearing, we sent back for our
+asses and guides, and determined to proceed. About half a mile beyond,
+our companions came up, and here a division took place; some agreeing
+to go forward, the rest turning back to wait at the Hermitage. I was
+of course one of those who advanced. My spirits were again raised, and
+the grand object of all this daring and anxiety was to approach near
+enough to a stream of lava to have some idea of its consistency, and
+the manner in which it flowed, or trickled down. The difficulties of
+our road now increased, "if _road_ that might be called, which road
+was none," but black loose ashes, and masses of scoria and lava heaped
+in ridges, or broken into hollows in a manner not to be described.
+Even my animal, though used to the path, felt his footing at every
+step, and if the torch was by accident extinguished, he stopped, and
+nothing could make him move. My guide, Andrea, was very vigilant and
+attentive, and, in the few words of Italian he knew, encouraged me,
+and assured me there was no danger. I had, however, no fear: in fact,
+I was infinitely too much interested to have been alive to danger, had
+it really existed. Salvador, well known to all who have visited Mount
+Vesuvius, had been engaged by Mr. R. as his guide. He is the principal
+cicerone on the mountain. It is his business to despatch to the king
+every three hours, a regular account of the height of the eruption,
+the progress, extent, and direction of the lava, and, in short, the
+most minute particulars. He also corresponds, as he assured me, with
+Sir Humphry Davy;[L] and is employed to inform him of every
+interesting phenomenon which takes place on the mountain. This man has
+resided at the foot of it, and been principal guide, for thirty-three
+years, and knows every inch of its territory.
+
+As the lava had overflowed the usual footpath leading to that conical
+eminence which forms the summit of the mountain and the exterior of
+the crater, we were obliged to alight from our sagacious steeds; and,
+trusting to our feet, walked over the ashes for about a quarter of a
+mile. The path, or the ground rather, for there was no path, was now
+dangerous to the inexperienced foot; and Salvador gallantly took me
+under his peculiar care. He led me on before the rest, and I followed
+with confidence. Our object was to reach the edge of a stream of
+lava, formed of two currents united in a point. It was glowing with an
+intense heat; and flowing, not with such rapidity as to alarm us, but
+rather slowly, and by fits and starts. _Trickling_, in short, is the
+word which expresses its motion: if one can fancy it applied to any
+object on so large a scale.
+
+At this time the eruption was at its extreme height. The column of
+fire was from a quarter to a third of a mile high; and the stones were
+thrown up to the height of a mile and a quarter. I passed close to a
+rock about four feet in diameter, which had rolled down some time
+before: it was still red-hot, and I stopped to warm my hands at it. At
+a short distance from it lay another stone or rock, also red-hot, but
+six times the size. I walked on first with Salvador, till we were
+within a few yards of the lava--at this moment a prodigious stone,
+followed by two or three smaller ones, came rolling down upon us with
+terrific velocity. The gentlemen and guides all ran; my first impulse
+was to run too; but Salvador called on me to stop and see what
+direction the stone would take. I saw the reason of this advice, and
+stopped. In less than a second he seized my arm and hurried me back
+five or six yards. I heard the whizzing sound of the stone as it
+rushed down behind me. A little further on it met with an impediment,
+against which it bolted with such force, that it flew up into the air
+to a great height, and fell in a shower of red-hot fragments. All this
+passed in a moment; I have shuddered since when I thought of that
+moment; but at the time, I saw the danger without the slightest
+sensation of terror. I remember the ridiculous figures of the men, as
+they scrambled over the ridges of scoria; and was struck by Salvador's
+exclamation, who shouted to them in a tone which would have become
+Caesar himself,--"Che tema!--Sono Salvador!"[M]
+
+We did not attempt to turn back again: which I should have done
+without any hesitation if any one had proposed it. To have come thus
+far, and be so near the object I had in view, and then to run away at
+the first alarm! It was a little provoking. The road was extremely
+dangerous in the descent. I was obliged to walk part of the way, as
+the guides advised, and but for Salvador, and the interesting
+information he gave me from time to time, I think I should have been
+overpowered. He amused and fixed my attention, by his intelligent
+conversation, his assiduity, and solicitude for my comfort, and the
+_naivete_ and self-complacency with which his information was
+conveyed. He told me he had visited Mount AEtna (_en amateur_) during
+the last great eruption of that mountain, and acknowledged with
+laudable candour, that Vesuvius, in its grandest moments, was a mere
+bonfire in comparison: the whole cone of Vesuvius, he said, was not
+larger than some of the masses of rock he had seen whirled from the
+crater of Mount AEtna, and rolling down its sides. He frequently made
+me stop and look back: and here I should observe that our guides
+seemed as proud of the performances of the mountain, and as anxious to
+show it off to the best advantage, as the keeper of a menagerie is of
+the tricks of his dancing bear, or the proprietor of "Solomon in all
+his glory" of his raree-show. Their enthusiastic shouts and
+exclamations would have kept up my interest had it flagged. "O veda,
+Signora! O bella! O stupenda!" The last great burst of fire was
+accompanied by a fresh overflow of lava, which issued from the crater,
+on the west side, in two broad streams, and united a few hundred feet
+below, taking the direction of Torre del Greco. After this explosion
+the eruption subsided, and the mountain seemed to repose: now and then
+showers of stones flew up, but to no great height, and unaccompanied
+by any vivid flames. There was a dull red light over the mouth of the
+crater, round which the smoke rolled in dense tumultuous volumes, and
+then blew off towards the south-west.
+
+After a slow and difficult descent we reached the Hermitage. I was so
+exhausted that I was glad to rest for a few minutes. My good friend
+Salvador brought me a glass of _Lachryma Christi_ and the leg of a
+chicken; and with recruited spirits we mounted our animals and again
+started.
+
+The descent was infinitely more slow and difficult than the ascent,
+and much more trying to the nerves. I had not Salvador at my side, nor
+the mountain before me, to beguile me from my fears; at length I
+prevailed on one of our attendants, a fine tall figure of a man, to
+sing to me; and though he had been up the mountain _six_ times in the
+course of the day, he sang delightfully and with great spirit and
+expression, as he strided along with his hand upon my bridle,
+accompanied by a magnificent rumbling bass from the mountain, which
+every now and then drowned the melody of his voice, and made me start.
+It was past three when we reached Resina, and nearly five when we got
+home: yet I rose this morning at my usual hour, and do not feel much
+fatigued. About twelve to-day I saw Mount Vesuvius, looking as quiet
+and placid as the first time I viewed it. There was little smoke, and
+neither the glowing lava nor the flames were visible in the glare of
+the sunshine. The atmosphere was perfectly clear, and as I gazed,
+almost misdoubting my senses, I could scarcely believe in the reality
+of the tremendous scene I had witnessed but a few hours before.
+
+26.--The eruption burst forth again to-day, and is exceedingly grand;
+though not equal to what it was on Sunday night. The smoke rises from
+the crater in dense black masses, and the wind having veered a few
+points to the southward, it is now driven in the direction of Naples.
+At the moment I write this, the skies are obscured by rolling vapours,
+and the sun, which is now setting just opposite to Vesuvius, shines,
+as I have seen him through a London mist, red, and shorn of his beams.
+The sea is angry and discoloured; the day most oppressively sultry,
+and the atmosphere thick, sulphureous, and loaded with an almost
+impalpable dust, which falls on the paper as I write.
+
+_March 4._--We have had delicious weather almost ever since we arrived
+at Naples, but these last three days have been perfectly heavenly. I
+never saw or felt any thing like the enchantment of the earth, air,
+and skies. The mountain has been perfectly still, the atmosphere
+without a single cloud, the fresh verdure bursting forth all around
+us, and every breeze visits the senses, as if laden with a renovating
+spirit of life, and wafted from Elysium. Whoever would truly enjoy
+nature, should see her in this delicious land: "ou la plus douce nuit
+succede au plus beau jour;" for here she seems to keep holiday all the
+year round. To stand upon my balcony, looking out upon the sunshine
+and the glorious bay; the blue sea, and the pure skies--and to feel
+that indefinite sensation of excitement, that _superflu de vie_,
+quickening every pulse and thrilling through every nerve, is a
+pleasure peculiar to this climate, where the mere consciousness of
+existence is happiness enough. Then evening comes on, lighted by a
+moon and starry heavens, whose softness, richness, and splendour, are
+not to be conceived by those who have lived always in the vapoury
+atmosphere of England--dear England! I love, like an Englishwoman, its
+fireside enjoyments, and home-felt delights: an English drawing-room,
+with all its luxurious comforts--carpets and hearth-rugs, curtains let
+down, sofas wheeled round, and a group of family faces round a blazing
+fire, is a delightful picture; but for the languid frame, and the sick
+heart, give me this pure elastic air, "redolent of spring;" this
+reviving sunshine and all the witchery of these deep blue skies!--
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Numbers of people set off post-haste from Rome to see the eruption of
+Mount Vesuvius, and arrived here Wednesday and Thursday; just time
+enough to be too late. Among them our Roman friend Frattino, who has
+afforded me more amusement than all our other acquaintance together,
+and deserves a niche in my gallery of characters.
+
+Frattino is a young Englishman, who, if he were in England, would
+probably be pursuing his studies at Eton or Oxford, for he is scarce
+past the age of boyhood; but having been abroad since he was twelve
+years old, and early plunged into active and dissipated life, he is an
+accomplished man of fashion, and of the world, with as many airs and
+caprices as a spoiled child. He is by far the most _beautiful_
+creature of his sex I ever saw; so like the Antinous, that at Rome he
+went by that name. The exquisite regularity of his features, the
+graceful air of his head, his _antique_ curls, the faultless
+proportions of his elegant figure, make him a _thing_ to be gazed on,
+as one looks at a statue. Then he possesses talents, wit, taste, and
+information: the most polished and captivating manners, where he
+wishes to attract,--high honour and generosity, where women are not
+concerned,--and all the advantages attending on rank and wealth: but
+under this fascinating exterior, I suspect our Frattino to be a very
+worthless, as well as a very unhappy being. While he pleases, he
+repels me. There is a want of heart about him, a want of fixed
+principles--a degree of profligacy, of selfishness, of fickleness,
+caprice and ill-temper, and an excess of vanity, which all his courtly
+address and _savoir faire_ cannot hide. What would be insufferable in
+another, is in him bearable, and even interesting and amusing: such is
+the charm of manner. But all this cannot last: and I should not be
+surprised to see Frattino, a few years hence, emerge from his foreign
+frippery, throw aside his libertine folly, assume his seat in the
+senate, and his rank in British society; and be the very character he
+now affects to despise and ridicule--"a true-bred Englishman, who
+rides a thorough-bred horse."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Our excursion to Pompeii yesterday was "a pic-nic party of pleasure,"
+_a l'Anglaise_. Now a party of pleasure is proverbially a _bore_: and
+our expedition was in the beginning so unpromising, so mismanaged--our
+party so numerous, and composed of such a heterogeneous mixture of
+opposite tempers, tastes, and characters, that I was in pain for the
+result. The day, however, turned out more pleasant than I expected:
+exterior polish supplied the want of something better, and our
+excursion had its pleasures, though they were not such as I should
+have sought at Pompeii. I felt myself a simple _unit_ among many, and
+found it easier to sympathise with others, than to make a dozen others
+sympathise with me.
+
+We were twelve in number, distributed in three light barouches, and
+reached Pompeii in about two hours and a half--passing by the foot of
+Vesuvius, through Portici, Torre del Greco, and l'Annonziata. The
+streams of lava, which overwhelmed Torre del Greco in 1794, are still
+black and barren; but the town itself is rising from its ruins; and
+the very lava which destroyed it serves as the material to rebuild it.
+
+We entered Pompeii by the street of the tombs: near them are the
+semicircular seats, so admirably adapted for conversation, that I
+wonder we have not sofas on a similar plan, and similar scale. I need
+not dwell on particulars, which are to be found in every book of
+travels: on the whole, my expectations were surpassed, though my
+curiosity was not half gratified.
+
+The most interesting thing I saw--in fact the only thing, for which
+paintings and descriptions had not previously prepared me, was a
+building which has been excavated within the last fortnight: it is
+only partly laid open, and labourers are now at work upon it.
+Antiquarians have not yet pronounced on its name and design; but I
+should imagine it to be some public edifice, perhaps dedicated to
+religious purposes. The paintings on the walls are the finest which
+have yet been discovered: they are exquisitely and tastefully
+designed; and though executed merely for _effect_, that effect is
+beautiful. I remarked one female figure in the act of entering a
+half-open door: she is represented with pencils and a palette of
+colours in her hand, similar to those which artists now use: another
+very graceful female holds a lyre of peculiar construction. These, I
+presume, were two of the muses: the rest remained hidden. There were
+two small pannels occupied by sea-pieces, with gallies; and two
+charming landscapes, so well coloured, and drawn with such knowledge
+of perspective and effect, that if we may form a comparative idea of
+the best pictures, from the specimens of taste and skill in mere
+house-painting, the ancients must have excelled us as much in painting
+as in sculpture. I remarked on the wall of an entrance or corridor, a
+dog starting at a wreathed and crested snake, vividly coloured, and
+full of spirit and expression. While I lingered here a little behind
+the rest, and most reluctant to depart, a ragged lazzarone boy came up
+to me, and seizing my dress, pointed to a corner, and made signs that
+he had something to show me. I followed him to a spot where a quantity
+of dust and ashes was piled against a wall. He began to scratch away
+this heap of dirt with hands and nails, much after the manner of an
+ape, every now and then looking up in my face and grinning. The
+impediment being cleared away, there appeared on the wall behind, a
+most beautiful aerial figure with floating drapery, representing
+either Fame or Victory: but before I had time to examine it, the
+little rogue flung the earth up again so as to conceal it completely,
+then pointing significantly at the other workmen, he nodded, shrugged,
+gesticulated, and held out both his paws for a recompense, which I
+gave him willingly; at the same time laughing and shaking my head to
+show I understood his knavery. I rewarded him apparently beyond his
+hopes, for he followed me down the street, bowing, grinning, and
+cutting capers like a young savage.
+
+The streets of Pompeii are narrow, the houses are very small, and the
+rooms, though often decorated with exquisite taste, are constructed
+without any regard to what _we_ should term comfort and convenience;
+they are dark, confined, and seldom communicate with each other, but
+have a general communication with a portico, running round a central
+court. This court is in general beautifully paved with mosaic, having
+a fountain or basin in the middle, and possibly answered the purpose
+of a drawing-room. It is evident that the ancient inhabitants of this
+lovely country lived like their descendants mostly in the open air,
+and met together in their public walks, or in the forums, and
+theatres. If they _saw company_, the guests probably assembled under
+the porticoes, or in the court round the fountain. The houses seem
+constructed on the same principle as birds construct their nests; as
+places of retreat and shelter, rather than of assemblage and
+recreation: the grand object was to exclude the sunbeams; and this,
+which gives such gloomy and chilling ideas in our northern climes,
+must here have been delicious.
+
+Hurried on by a hungry, noisy, merry party, we at length reached the
+Caserna (the ancient barracks, or as Forsyth will have it, the
+praetorium). The central court of this building has been converted into
+a garden: and here, under a weeping willow, our dinner table was
+spread. Where Englishmen are, there will be good cheer if possible;
+and our banquet was in truth most luxurious. Besides more substantial
+cates, we had oysters from Lake Lucrine, and classically excellent
+they were; London bottled porter, and half a dozen different kinds of
+wine. Our dinner went off most gaily, but no order was kept
+afterwards: the purpose of our expedition seemed to be forgotten in
+general mirth: many witty things were said and done, and many merry
+ones, and not a few silly ones. We visited the beautiful public walk
+and the platform of the old temple of Hercules (I call it _old_,
+because it was a ruin when Pompeii was entire); the Temple of Isis,
+the Theatres, the Forum, the Basilica, the Amphitheatre, which is in a
+perfect state of preservation, and more elliptical in form than any of
+those I have yet seen, and the School of Eloquence, where R** mounted
+the rostrum, and gave us an oration extempore, equally pithy,
+classical and comical. About sunset we got into the carriages, and
+returned to Naples.
+
+Of all the heavenly days we have had since we came to Naples, this has
+been the most heavenly: and of all the lovely scenes I have beheld in
+Italy, what I saw to-day has most enchanted my senses and imagination.
+The view from the eminence on which the old temple stood, and which
+was anciently the public promenade, was splendidly beautiful, the
+whole landscape was at one time overflowed with light and sunshine,
+and appeared as if seen through an impalpable but dazzling veil.
+Towards evening the outlines became more distinct: the little white
+towns perched upon the hills, the gentle sea, the fairy island of
+Rivegliano with its old tower, the smoking crater of Vesuvius, the
+bold forms of Mount Lactarius and Cape Minerva, stood out full and
+clear under the cloudless sky: as we returned, I saw the sun sink
+behind Capri, which appeared by some optical illusion like a glorious
+crimson transparency suspended above the horizon: the sky, the earth,
+the sea, were flushed with the richest rose colour, which gradually
+softened and darkened into purple: the short twilight faded away, and
+the full moon, rising over Vesuvius, lighted up the scenery with a
+softer radiance.
+
+Thus ended a day which was not without its pleasures:--yet had I
+planned a party of pleasure to Pompeii, methinks I could have managed
+better. _Par exemple_, I would have deferred it a fortnight later, or
+till the vines were in leaf; I would have chosen for my companions two
+or at most three persons whom I could name, whose cultivated minds and
+happy tempers would have heightened their own enjoyment and mine.
+After spending a few hours in taking a general view of the whole city,
+we would have sat down on the platform of the old Greek Temple which
+commands a view of the mountains and the bay; or, if the heat were too
+powerful, under the shade of the hill near it. There we would make our
+cheerful and elegant repast, on bread and fruits, and perhaps a bottle
+of Malvoisie or Champagne: the rest of the day should be devoted to a
+minute examination of the principal objects of interest and curiosity:
+we would wait till the shadows of evening had begun to steal over the
+scene, purpling the mountains and the sea; we would linger there to
+enjoy all the splendours of an Italian sunset; and then, with minds
+softened and elevated by the loveliness and solemnity of the scenes
+around, we would get into our carriage, and drive back to Naples
+beneath the bright full moon; and, by the way, we would "talk the
+flowing heart," and make our recollections of the olden time, our deep
+impressions of the past, heighten our enjoyment of the present: and
+this would be indeed a day of _pleasure_, of such pleasure as I think
+I am capable of feeling--of imparting--of remembering with unmixed
+delight. Such was _not_ yesterday.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+M** brought with him this evening, for our amusement, an old man, a
+native of Cento, who gains his livelihood by a curious exhibition of
+his peculiar talents. He is blind, and plays well on the violin: he
+can recite the whole of the Gerusalemme from beginning to end without
+missing a word: he can repeat any given stanza or number of stanzas
+either forwards or backwards: he can repeat the last words one after
+another of any stanzas: if you give him the first word and the last,
+he can name immediately the particular line, stanza, and book: lastly,
+he can tell instantly the exact number of words contained in any given
+stanza. This exhibition was at first amusing; but as I soon found that
+the man's head was a mere machine, that he was destitute of
+imagination, and that far from feeling the beauty of the poet, he did
+not even understand the meaning of the lines he thus repeated up and
+down, and backwards and forwards, it ceased to interest me after the
+first sensations of surprise and curiosity were over.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After I had read Italian with Signior B** this evening, he amused me
+exceedingly by detailing to me the plan of two tragedies he is now
+writing or about to write. He has already produced one piece on the
+story of Boadicea, which is rather a drama than a regular tragedy. It
+was acted here with great success. After giving his drama due praise,
+I described to him the plan and characters of Fletcher's Bonduca; and
+attempted to give him in Italian some idea of the most striking scenes
+of that admirable play: he was alternately in enchantment and despair,
+and I thought he would have torn and bitten his Boadicea to pieces, in
+the excess of his vivacity.
+
+The subject of one of his tragedies is to be the Sicilian Vespers.
+Casimir Delavigne, who wrote _Les Vepres Siciliennes_, which obtained
+some years ago such amazing popularity at Paris, and in which the
+national vanity of the French is flattered at the expense of the
+Italians, received a pension from Louis XVIII. B** spoke with contempt
+of Casimir Delavigne's tragedy, and with indignation of what he called
+"his wilful misrepresentation of history." He is determined to give
+the reverse of the picture: the French will be represented as "_gente
+crudeli--tiranni--oppressori, senza fede_;" Giovanni di Procida, as a
+hero and patriot, _a l'antique_, and the Sicilians as rising in defence
+of their freedom and national honour. The other tragedy is to be
+founded on the history of the famous _Congiura dei Baroni_ in the
+reign of Ferdinand the First, as related by Giannone. The simple facts
+of this history need not any ornaments, borrowed from invention or
+poetry, to form a most interesting tale, and furnish ample materials
+for a beautiful tragedy, in incident, characters, and situations. B**
+is a little man, dwarfish and almost deformed in person; but full of
+talent, spirit, and enthusiasm. I asked him why he did not immediately
+finish these tragedies, which appeared from the sketches he had given
+me, so admirably calculated to succeed. He replied, that under the
+present regime, he dared not write up to his own conceptions; and if
+he curbed his genius, he could do nothing; "Besides," added he
+mournfully, "I have no time; I am poor--poverissimo! I must work hard
+all to-day to supply the wants of to-morrow: I am always surveille by
+the police, as a known liberal and _literato_." "_Davvero_," added he,
+gaily, "I would soon do, or say, or write something to attract the
+honour of their more particular notice, if I could be certain they
+would only imprison me for a couple of years, and ensure me during
+that time a blanket, bread and water, and the use of pen and ink: then
+I would write! I would write! _dalla mattina alla sera_; and thank my
+gaolers as my best friends: but pens are poignards, ink is poison in
+the eyes of the present government; imprisonment for life, or
+banishment, is the least I could expect. Now the mere idea of
+imprisonment for life would kill me in a week, and banishment!--_Ah
+lungi dalla mia bella Patria, come cantare! come scrivere! come
+vivere! moriro io anzi nell' momento di partire!_"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I drove to-day, tete-a-tete with Laura, to the Lago d'Agnano, about a
+mile and a half beyond Pausilippo. This lovely fair lake is not more
+than two miles in circuit; and embosomed in romantic woody hills:
+innumerable flocks of wild fowl were skimming over its surface, and
+gave life and motion to the beautiful but quiet landscape. While we
+were wandering here, enjoying the stillness and solitude, so
+delightfully contrasted with the unceasing noise, bustle, and crowd of
+the city, the charm was rudely broken by the appearance of the king;
+who, attended by a numerous party of his guards and huntsmen, had been
+wild boar shooting in the neighbouring woods. The waterfowl, scared by
+the report of fire arms, speedily disappeared, and the guards shouted
+to each other, and galloped round the smooth sloping banks; cutting up
+the turf with their horses' hoofs, and deforming the whole scene with
+uproar, confusion, and affright. Devoutly did I wish them all twenty
+miles off. The famous Grotto del Cane is on the south bank of the
+lake, a few yards from the edge of the water. We saw the torch, when
+held in the vapour, instantaneously extinguished. The ground all
+around the entrance of the grotto is hot to the touch; and when I
+plunged my hand into the deleterious gas, which rises about a foot, or
+a foot and a half, above the surface of the ground, it was so warm I
+was glad to withdraw it. The disagreeable old woman who showed us this
+place, brought with her a wretched dog with a rope round his neck,
+bleared eyes, thin ribs, and altogether of a most pitiful aspect. She
+was most anxious to exhibit the common but cruel experiment of
+suspended animation, by holding his head over the mephitic vapour,
+insisting that he was accustomed to it, and even liked it; of course,
+we would not suffer it. The poor animal made no resistance; only
+drooped his head, and put his tail between his legs, when his tyrant
+attempted to seize him.
+
+Though now so soft, so lovely, and so tranquil, the Lago d'Agnano owes
+its existence to some terrible convulsion of the elements. The basin
+is the crater of a sunken volcano, which, bursting forth here,
+swallowed up a whole city. And the whole region round, bears evident
+marks of its volcanic origin.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This morning we visited several churches, not one of them worthy of a
+remark. The architecture is invariably in the vilest taste; and the
+interior decorations, if possible, still worse: white-washing gilding,
+and gaudy colours, every where prevail. We saw, however, some good
+pictures. At the San Gennaro are the famous frescos of Domenichino and
+Lanfranco: the church itself is hideous. At the Girolomini there is no
+want of magnificence and ornament; but a barbarous misapplication of
+both, as usual. The church of the convent of Santa Chiara was painted
+in fresco by Ghiotto: it is now white-washed all over. At this
+church, which I first visited during the merry days of the carnival, I
+saw a large figure of our Saviour suspended on the cross, dressed in a
+crimson domino, and blue sash. To what a pitch, thought I, must the
+love of white-washing and masquerading be carried in this strange
+city, where the Deity himself is burlesqued, and bad taste is carried
+to profanation! To-day I saw the same crucifix in a suit of mourning;
+why should not our South Sea missionaries come and preach here?
+
+The church of San Severo is falling to ruins, owing to some defect in
+the architecture. It is only remarkable for containing three
+celebrated statues. The man enveloped in a net, and the Pudicita
+draped from head to foot, pleased me only as specimens of the patience
+and ingenuity of the sculptor. The dead Christ covered with a veil, by
+Corradini, has a merit of a higher class: it is most painful to look
+upon; and affected me so strongly, that I was obliged to leave the
+church, and go into the air.
+
+I went to-day with two agreeable and intelligent friends, to take
+leave of the Studeo and the Museum. I have often resolved not to make
+my little journal a mere catalogue of objects, which are to be found
+in my pocket guide, and bought for a few pence; but I cannot resist
+the temptation of making a few notes of admiration, and commemoration,
+for my own peculiar use.
+
+The Gallery of Painting contains few pictures; but among them are some
+master-pieces. The St. John of Leonardo da Vinci (exquisite as it is,
+considered as a mere painting), provoked me. I am sick of his eternal
+simpering face: the aspect is that of a Ganymede or a young Bacchus;
+and if instead of _Ecce Agnus Dei_, they had written over it, _Ecce
+vinum bonum_, all would have been in character.
+
+How I coveted the beautiful "Carita," the Capo d'Opera of
+Schidone!--and next to it, Parmegiano's Gouvernante--a delicious
+picture. A portrait of Columbus, said to be by the same master, is not
+like him, I am sure; for the physiognomy is vacant and disagreeable.
+Domenichino's large picture of the Angel shielding Innocence from a
+Demon pleases me, as all his pictures do--but not perfectly: the devil
+in the corner, with his fork, and hoofs, and horns, shocks my taste as
+a ludicrous and vulgar idea, far removed from poetry; but the figure
+of the angel stretching a shield over the infant, is charming. There
+are also two fine Claudes, two Holy Families, by Raffaelle, in his
+sweetest style; and one by Correggio, scarcely less beautiful.
+
+The Gallery of Sculpture is so rich in chef-d'oeuvres, that to
+particularise would be a vain attempt. Passing over those which every
+one knows by heart, the statue of Aristides struck me most. It was
+found in Herculaneum; and is marked with ferruginous stains, as if by
+the action of fire or the burning lava; but it is otherwise
+uninjured, and the grave, yet graceful simplicity of the figure and
+attitude, and the extreme elegance of the drapery, are truly Grecian.
+It is the union of _power_ with _repose_--of perfect _grace_ with
+perfect _simplicity_, which distinguishes the ancient from the modern
+style of sculpture. The sitting Agrippina, for example, furnished
+Canova with the model for his statue of Madame Letitia--the two
+statues are, in point of fact, nearly the same, except that Canova has
+turned Madame Letitia's head a little on one side; and by this single
+and trifling alteration has destroyed that quiet and beautiful
+simplicity which distinguishes the original, and given his statue at
+once a modern air.
+
+The Flora Farnese is badly placed, in a space too confined for its
+size, and too near the eye; so that the exquisite harmony and delicacy
+of the figure are partly lost in its colossal proportions: it should
+be placed at the end of a long gallery or vista.
+
+There is here a statue of Nero when he was ten years old; from which
+it would seem that he was not by nature the monster he afterwards
+became. The features are beautiful; and the expression all candour and
+sweetness.
+
+One statue struck me exceedingly--not by the choice of the subject,
+nor the beauty of the workmanship, but from its wonderful force of
+expression. It is a dying gladiator; but very different from the
+gladiator of the Capitol. The latter declines gradually, and sickens
+into death; but memory and feeling are not yet extinct: and what
+thoughts may pass through that brain while life is thus languishing
+away! what emotions may yet dwell upon the last beatings of that
+heart! it is the _sentiment_ which gives such profound pathos to that
+matchless statue: but the gladiator of the Studii has only physical
+expression: it is sudden death in all its horrors: the figure is still
+erect, though the mortal blow has been given; the sword has dropt from
+the powerless hand; the limbs are stiffening in death; the eyes are
+glazed; the features fixed in an expression of mortal agony; and in
+another moment you expect the figure to fall at your feet.
+
+The Venus, the Hercules, the Atlas, the Antinous (not equal to that in
+the Capitol,) the Ganymede, the Apollo, the equestrian statues of the
+two Balbi, etc. are all familiar to my imagination, from the numerous
+copies and models I have seen: but the most interesting department of
+the Museum is the collection of antiques from Herculaneum and Pompeii,
+which have lately been removed hither from Portici. One room contains
+specimens of cooking utensils, portable kitchens, tripods, instruments
+of sacrifice, small bronze Lares, and Penates, urns, lamps, and
+candelabras of the most elegant forms, and the most exquisite
+workmanship. Another room contains specimens of ancient armour,
+children's toys, etc. I remarked here a helmet which I imagine formed
+part of a trophy; or at least was intended for ornament rather than
+use. It is exceedingly heavy; and on it is represented in the most
+exquisite relievo the War of Troy. Benvenuto Cellini himself never
+produced any thing equal to the chased work on this helmet.
+
+In a third room is the paraphernalia of a lady's toilette: mirrors of
+different sizes, fragments of combs, a small crystal box of rouge,
+etc. Then follow flutes and pipes, all carved out of bone, surgical
+instruments, moulds for pastry, sculptors' tools, locks and keys,
+bells, etc.
+
+The room containing the antique glass, astonished me more than any
+thing else. I knew that glass was an ancient invention: but I thought
+that its application to domestic purposes was of modern date. Here I
+found window panes, taken from the Villa of Diomed at Pompeii; bottles
+of every size and form, white and coloured; pitchers and vases;
+necklaces; imitations of gems, etc.
+
+There is a little jeu d'esprit of Voltaire's "La Toilette de Madame de
+Pompadour," in which he wittily exalts the moderns above the ancients,
+and ridicules their ignorance of the luxuries and comforts of life:
+but Voltaire had not seen the museum of Portici. We can add few
+distinct articles to the list of comforts and luxuries it contains:
+though it must be confessed that we have improved upon them, and
+varied them _ad infinitum_. In those departments of the mechanics
+which are in any way connected with the fine arts, the ancients appear
+to have attained perfection. To them belongs the invention of all that
+embellishes life, of all the graceful forms of imitative art, varied
+with such exquisite taste, such boundless fertility of fancy, that
+nothing is left to us but to refine upon their ideas, and copy their
+creations. With all our new invented machines, and engines, we can do
+little more than what the ancients performed without them.
+
+I ought not to forget one room containing some objects, more curious
+and amusing than beautiful, principally from Pompeii, such as loaves
+of bread, reduced to a black cinder, figs in the same state, grain of
+different kinds, colours from a painter's room, ear-rings and
+bracelets, gems, specimens of mosaic, etc. etc.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_March 7._--Frattinto brought me to-day the last numbers of the
+Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews: a great treat so far from home. Both
+contain some clever essays: among them, an article on prisons, in the
+Edinburgh, interested me most.
+
+Methinks these two Reviews stalk through the literary world, like the
+two giants in Pulci's Morgante Maggiore: the one pounding, slaying,
+mangling, despoiling with blind fury, like the heavy orthodox
+club-armed Morgante; the other, like the sneering, witty, half-pagan,
+half-baptized Margutte, slashing and cutting, and piercing through
+thick and thin; _a tort et a travers_. Truly the simile is more
+a-propos than I thought when it first occurred to me.
+
+I went the other day to a circulating library and reading-room kept
+here by a little cross French-woman, and asked to see a catalogue. She
+showed me, first, a list of all the books, Italian, French, and
+English, she was allowed to keep and sell: it was a thin pamphlet of
+about one hundred pages. She then showed me the catalogue of
+prohibited books, which was at least as thick as a good sized octavo.
+The book to which I wished to refer, was the second volume of
+Robertson's Charles the Fifth. After some hesitation, Madame P** led
+me into a back room; and opening a sliding pannel, discovered a shelf
+let into the wall, on which were arranged a number of authors, chiefly
+English and French. I was not surprised to find Rousseau and Voltaire
+among them; but am still at a loss to guess what Robertson has done or
+written to entitle him to a place in such select company.
+
+8th.--Forsyth might well say that Naples has no parallel on earth.
+Viewed from the sea it appears like an amphitheatre of palaces,
+temples and castles, raised one above another, by the wand of a
+necromancer: viewed within, Naples gives me the idea of a vast
+Bartholomew fair. No street in London is ever so crowded as I have
+seen the streets of Naples. It is a crowd which has no pause or
+cessation: early in the morning, late at night, it is ever the same.
+The whole population seems poured into the streets and squares; all
+business and amusement is carried on in the open air: all those minute
+details of domestic life, which, in England, are confined within the
+sacred precincts of _home_, are here displayed to public view. Here
+people buy and sell, and work, wash, wring, brew, bake, fry, dress,
+eat, drink, sleep, etc. etc. all in the open streets. We see every
+hour, such comical, indescribable appalling sights; such strange
+figures, such wild physiognomies, picturesque dresses, attitudes and
+groups--and eyes--no! I never saw such eyes before, as I saw to-day,
+half languor and half fire, in the head of a ruffian Lazzarone, and a
+ragged Calabrian beggar girl. They would have _embrase_ half London or
+Paris.
+
+I know not whether it be incipient illness, or the enervating effects
+of this soft climate, but I feel unusually weak, and the least
+exertion or excitement is not only disagreeable but painful. While the
+rest were at Capo di Monte, I stood upon my balcony looking out upon
+the lovely scene before me, with a kind of pensive dreamy rapture,
+which if not quite pleasure, had at least a power to banish pain: and
+thus hours passed away insensibly--
+
+    "As if the moving time had been
+    A thing as stedfast as the scene,
+    On which we gazed ourselves away."[N]
+
+
+All my activity of mind, all my faculties of thought and feeling and
+suffering, seemed lost and swallowed up in an indolent delicious
+reverie, a sort of vague and languid enjoyment, the true "_dolce far
+niente_" of this enchanting climate. I stood so long leaning on my
+elbow without moving, that my arm has been stiff all day in
+consequence.
+
+"How I wish," said I this evening, when they drew aside the curtain,
+that I might view the sunset from my sofa, and sky, earth and ocean,
+seemed to commingle in floods of glorious light--"how I wish I could
+transport those skies to England!" _Cruelle!_ exclaimed an Italian
+behind me, _otez-nous notre beau ciel, tout est perdu pour nous_.
+
+
+
+
+THE LAST EVENING AT NAPLES
+
+    Yes, Laura! draw the shade aside
+      And let me gaze--while yet I may,
+    Upon that gently heaving tide,
+      Upon that glorious sun-lit bay.
+
+    Land of Romance! enchanting shore!
+      Fair scenes, near which I linger yet!
+    Never shall I behold ye more,
+      Never this last--last look forget!
+
+    What though the clouds that o'er me lour
+      Have tinged ye with a mournful hue,
+    Deep in my heart I felt your power,
+      And bless ye, while I sigh--Adieu!
+
+
+_Velletri, March 13._--It is now a week since I opened my little book.
+Ever since the 9th I have been seriously ill: and yesterday morning I
+left Naples still low and much indisposed, but glad of a change which
+should substitute any external excitement, however painful, to that
+unutterable dying away of the heart and paralysis of the mind which I
+have suffered for some days past. When we turned into the Strada
+Chiaja, and I gave a last glance at the magnificent bay and the shores
+all resplendent with golden light, I could almost have exclaimed like
+Eve, "must I then leave thee, Paradise!" and dropped a few natural
+tears--tears of weakness, rather than of grief: for what do I leave
+behind me worthy one emotion of regret? Even at Naples, even in this
+all-lovely land, "fit haunt for gods," has it not been with me as it
+has been elsewhere? as long as the excitement of change and novelty
+lasts, my heart can turn from itself "to luxuriate with indifferent
+things:" but it cannot last long; and when it is over, I suffer, I am
+ill: the past returns with tenfold gloom; interposing like a dark
+shade between me and every object: an evil power seems to reside in
+every thing I see, to torment me with painful associations, to perplex
+my faculties, to irritate and mock me with the perception of what is
+lost to me: the very sunshine sickens me, and I am forced to confess
+myself weak and miserable as ever. O time! how slowly you move! how
+little you can do for me! and how bitter is that sorrow which has no
+relief to hope but from time alone!
+
+Last night we reached Mola di Gaeta, which looked even more beautiful
+than before, in the eyes of all but _one_, whose senses were blinded
+and dulled by dejection, lassitude, and sickness. When I felt myself
+passively led along the shore, placed where the eye might range at
+freedom over the living and rejoicing landscape--when I heard myself
+repeating mechanically the exclamations of others, and felt no ray of
+beauty, no sense of pleasure penetrate to my heart--shall I own, even
+to myself, the mixture of anguish and terror with which I shrunk back,
+conscious of the waste within me? The conviction that now it was all
+over, that the last and only pleasures hitherto left to me had
+perished, that my mind was contracted by the selfishness of
+despondency, and my quick spirit of enjoyment utterly subdued into
+apathy, gave me for a moment a pang sharper than if a keen knife had
+cut me to the quick; and then I relapsed into a kind of torpid languor
+of mind and frame, which I thought was resignation, and as such
+indulged it.
+
+From my bed this morning I stepped out upon my balcony just as the sun
+was rising. I wished to convince myself whether the beauty on which I
+had lately looked with such admiration and delight, had indeed lost
+all power to touch my heart. The impression made upon my mind at that
+instant I can only compare to the rolling away of a palpable and
+suffocating cloud: every thing on which I looked had the freshness and
+brightness of novelty: a glory beyond its own was again diffused over
+the enchanting scene from the stores of my own imagination: the sea
+breeze which blew against my temples new-strung every nerve; and I
+left Mola with a heart so lightened and so grateful, that not for
+hours afterwards, not till fatigue and hurry had again wearied down my
+spirits, did that impression of happy thankfulness pass away.
+
+I am sensible I owed this sudden renovation of health solely to the
+contemplation of Nature; and a true feeling for all the "maggior
+pompa" she has poured forth over this glorious region. The shores of
+Terracina, the azure sea, dancing in the breeze, the waves rolling to
+our feet, the sublime cliffs, the fleet of forty sail stretching away
+till lost in the blaze of the horizon, the Circean promontory, even
+the picturesque fisherman, whom we saw throwing his nets from an
+insulated rock at some distance from the shore, and whom a very
+trifling exertion of fancy might have converted into some sea
+divinity, a Glaucus, or a Proteus, formed altogether a picture of the
+most wonderful and luxuriant beauty. In England there is a peculiar
+charm in the soft aerial perspective, which even in the broadest glare
+of noonday, blends and masses the forms of the distant landscape; and
+in that mingling of colours into a cool neutral gray tint so grateful
+to the eye. Hence it has happened that in some of the Italian pictures
+I have seen in England, I have often been struck by what appeared to
+me a violence in the colouring, and a sharp decision in the outline,
+o'erstepping the modesty of nature--that is, of _English nature_: but
+there is in this climate a prismatic splendour of tint, a glorious
+all-embracing light, a vivid distinctness of outline, something in the
+reality more gorgeous, glowing, and luxuriant, than poetry could dare
+to express, or painting imitate.
+
+    "Ah that such beauty, varying in the light
+    Of living nature, cannot be portrayed
+    By words, nor by the pencil's silent skill;
+    But is the property of those alone
+    Who have beheld it, noted it with care,
+    And in their minds recorded it with love."
+
+                                   WORDSWORTH.
+
+And now we have left the enchanting south; myrtle-hedges, palm-trees,
+orange-groves, bright Mediterranean, all adieu! How, under other
+circumstances, should I regret you, with what reluctance should I
+leave you, thus half explored, half enjoyed! but now other thoughts
+engross me, the hard struggle to overcome myself, or at least to
+appear the thing I am not.----
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Man has done what he can to deform this lovely region. The most
+horrible places we have yet met with are Itri and Fondi, which look
+like recesses of depravity and dirt, and the houses more like the dens
+and kennels of wild beasts, than the habitations of civilized human
+beings. In fact, the populace of these towns consists chiefly of the
+families of the briganti. The women we saw here were bold coarse
+Amazons; and the few men who appeared had a slouching gait, and looked
+at us from under their eyebrows with an expression at once cunning and
+fierce. We met many begging friars--horrible specimens of their
+species: altogether I never beheld such a desperate set of canaille as
+appear to have congregated in these two wretched towns.
+
+At Mola I remarked several beautiful women. Their head-dress is
+singularly graceful: the hair being plaited round the back of the
+head, and there fastened with two silver pins, much in the manner of
+some of the ancient statues. The costume of the peasantry, there, and
+all the way to Rome, is very striking and picturesque. I remember one
+woman whom I saw standing at her door spinning with her distaff: her
+long black hair, floating down from its confinement, was spread over
+her shoulders; not hanging in a dishevelled and slovenly style, but in
+the most rich and luxuriant tresses. Her attitude as she stood
+suspending her work to gaze at _me_, as I gazed at her with open
+admiration, was graceful and dignified; and her form and features
+would have been a model for a Juno or a Minerva.[O]
+
+LINES.
+
+    Quenched is our light of youth!
+      And fled our days of pleasure,
+    When all was hope and truth,
+      And trusting--without measure.
+
+    Blindly we believed
+      Words of fondness spoken--
+    Cruel hearts deceived,
+      So our peace was broken!
+
+    What can charm us more?
+      Life hath lost its sweetness!
+    Weary lags the hour--
+      "Time hath lost its fleetness!"
+
+    As the buds in May
+      Were the joys we cherished,
+    Sweet--but frail as they,
+      Thus they passed and perished!
+
+    And the few bright hours
+      Wintry age can number,
+    Sickly, senseless flowers,
+      Lingering through December!
+
+_Rome, March 15._--We arrived here yesterday morning about one, after
+a short but delightful journey from Velletri. We have now a suite of
+apartments in the Hotel d'Europe; and our accommodations are in all
+respects excellent, almost equal to Schneiderf's at Florence.
+
+On entering Rome through the gate of the Lateran, I was struck by the
+emptiness and stillness of the streets, contrasted with those of
+Naples; and still more by the architectural grandeur and beauty which
+everywhere met the eye. This is as it should be: the merry, noisy,
+half-naked, merry-andrew set of ragamuffins which crowd the streets
+and shores of Naples, would strangely misbecome the desolate majesty
+of the "Eternal City." Though we now reside in the most fashionable
+and frequented part of Rome, the sound of carts and carriages is
+seldom heard. After nine in the evening a profound stillness reigns;
+and I distinguish nothing from my window but the splashing of the
+Fountain della Barchetta.
+
+The weather is lovely; we were obliged to close our Venetian blinds
+against the heat at eight this morning, and afterwards we drove to the
+gardens of the Villa Borghese, where we wandered about in search of
+coolness and shade.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+26.--I must now descend to the common occurrences of our every-day
+life.
+
+For the last week we have generally spent the whole or part of the
+morning, in some of the galleries of art; and the afternoon in the
+gardens of the neighbouring villas. Those of the Villa Medici have
+their vicinity to our inn, and their fine air to recommend them. From
+the Villa Lanti, and the Monte Mario, we have a splendid view of the
+whole city and Campagna of Rome. The Pope's gardens on the Monte
+Cavallo, are pleasant, accessible, and very private: the gardens of
+the Villa Pamfili, are enchanting; but our usual haunt is the garden
+of the Villa Borghese. In this delightful spot we find shade and
+privacy, or sunshine and society, as we may feel inclined. To-day it
+was intensely hot; but we found the cool sequestered walks and alleys
+of cypress and ilex, perfectly delicious. I spread my shawl upon a
+green bank carpeted with violets, and lounged in most luxurious
+indolence. I had a book with me, but felt no inclination to read. The
+soft air, the trickling and murmuring of innumerable fountains, the
+urns, the temples, the statues--the localities of the scene--all
+dispose the mind to a kind of vague but delightful reverie to which we
+"find no end, in wandering mazes lost."
+
+In these gardens we frequently meet the Princess Pauline: sometimes
+alone, but oftener surrounded by a cortege of beaux. She is no longer
+the "Venere Vincitrice" of Canova; but her face, though faded, is
+pretty and intelligent; and she still preserves the "andar celeste,"
+and all the distinguished elegance of her petite and graceful figure.
+Of the stories told of her, I suppose one half _may_ be true--and that
+half is quite enough. She is rather more famous for her gallantries,
+than for her bon-gout in the choice of her favourites; but it is
+justice to Pauline to add, that her native benevolence of heart seems
+to have survived all her frailties; and every one who speaks of her
+here, even those who must condemn her, mention her in a tone of
+kindness, and even of respect. She is still in deep mourning for the
+Emperor.
+
+The Villa Pamfili is about two miles from Rome on the other side of
+the Monte Gianicolo. The gardens are laid out in the artificial style
+of Italian gardening, a style which in England would horrify me as in
+the vilest and most old-fashioned taste--stiff, cold, unnatural, and
+altogether detestable. Through what inconsistency or perversity of
+taste is it then, that I am enchanted with the fantastic elegance, and
+the picturesque gaiety of the Pamfili gardens; where sportive art
+revels and runs wild amid the luxuriance of nature? Or is it, as I
+would rather believe, because these long arcades of verdure, these
+close _walls_ of laurel, pervious to the air, but impervious to the
+sunshine, these broad umbrageous avenues and marble terraces, these
+paved grottoes and ever trickling fountains, these gods and nymphs,
+and urns and sarcophagi, meeting us at every turn with some classical
+or poetical association, harmonize with the climate and the country,
+and the minds of the people; and are _comfortable_ and consistent as a
+well carpeted drawing-room and a warm chimney-corner would be in
+England?
+
+"But it is all so artificial and unnatural"--Agreed;--so are our
+yellow unsheltered gravel walks, meandering through smooth shaven
+lawns, which have no other beauty than that of being dry when every
+other place is wet; our shapeless flower-beds so elaborately
+irregular, our clumps and dots of trees, and dwarfish shrubberies. I
+have seen some over-dressed grounds and gardens in England, the
+perpetrations of Capability Brown and his imitators, the landscape
+gardeners, quite as bad as any thing I see here, only in a different
+style, and certainly more adapted to England and English taste. I must
+confess, that in these enchanting gardens of the Villa Pamfili, a
+little less "ingenuity and artifice" would be better. I hate _mere_
+tricks and gimcrackery, of which there are a few instances, such as
+their hydraulic music, jets-d'eau--water-works that play occasionally
+to the astonishment of children and the profit of the gardeners--but
+how different, after all, are these Italia gardens to the miserable
+grandeur, and senseless, tasteless parade of Versailles!
+
+In these gardens an interesting discovery has just been made; an
+extensive burial place, or columbarium, in singular preservation. The
+skeletons and ashes have not been removed. Some of the tombs are
+painted in fresco, others floored with very pretty mosaic. The
+disposition of the urns is curious: they are imbedded in the masonry
+of the wall with moveable lids. On a tile I found the name of Sextus
+Pompeius, in letters beautifully formed, and deeply and distinctly
+cut, and an inscription which I was not Latinist enough to translate
+accurately, but from which it appears that these columbaria belonged
+to a branch of the Pompey family.
+
+27.--To-day, after English chapel, I look a walk to the San Gregorio,
+on the other side of the Palatine, which since I first came to Rome
+has been to me a favourite and chosen spot. I sat down on the steps of
+the church to rest, and enjoy at leisure the fine view of the hill
+and ruins opposite. Arches on arches, a wilderness of desolation! and
+mingled with massive fragments of the halls and towers of the Caesars,
+were young shrubs just putting on their brightest green, and the
+almond-trees covered with their gay blossoms, and the cloudless and
+resplendent skies bending over all.
+
+I tried to sketch the scene before me, but could not form a stroke. I
+cannot now take a short walk without feeling its ill effects; and my
+hand shook so much from nervous weakness, that after a few vain
+efforts to steady it, I sorrowfully gave up the attempt. On returning
+home by the Coliseum, and through the Forum and Capitol, I met many
+things I should wish to remember. After all, what place is like Rome,
+where it is impossible to move a step without meeting with some
+incident or object to excite reflection, to enchant the eye, or
+interest the imagination? Rome may yield to Naples or Florence in mere
+external beauty; but every other spot on earth, Athens perhaps alone
+excepted, must yield to Rome in interest.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+28.--This morning we walked down to the studio of Mr. Wagenal, to see
+the AEgina marbles; which, as objects of curiosity, interested me
+extremely. These statues are on a smaller scale than I expected, being
+not much more than half the size of life, but of better workmanship,
+and in a style of sculpture altogether different from any thing I ever
+saw before. They formed the ornaments of the pediment of the Temple of
+Jupiter in the island of AEgina, and represented a group of fighting
+and dying warriors, with an armed Pallas in the centre: but the
+subject is not known.
+
+The execution of these statues must evidently be referred to the
+earliest ages of Grecian art; to a period when sculpture was confined
+to the exact imitation of natural forms. Several of the figures were
+extremely spirited, and very correct both in design and execution; but
+there is no attempt at grace, and a total deficiency of ideal beauty:
+in the Pallas, especially, the drapery and forms are but one remove
+from the cold formal Etruscan style, which in its turn is but one
+remove from the yet more tasteless Egyptian. I think it was at the
+Villa Albani, I saw the singular Etruscan basso-relievo which I was
+able to compare mentally with what I saw to-day; and the resemblance
+in _manner_ struck me immediately. Thorwaldson is now restoring these
+marbles in the most admirable style for the King of Bavaria, to whom
+they were sold by Messrs. Cockerel and Linkh (the original
+discoverers) for 8000_l._
+
+Gibson, the celebrated English sculptor, joined us while looking at
+the AEgina marbles, and accompanied us to the studio of Pozzi, the
+Florentine statuary. Here I saw several instances of that affected and
+meretricious taste which prevails too much among the foreign
+sculptors. I remember one example almost ludicrous, a female Satyr
+with her hair turned up behind and dressed in the last Parisian
+fashion; as if she had just come from under the hands of Monsieur
+Hyppolite. By the same hand which committed this odd solecism, I saw a
+statue of Moses, now modelling in clay, which, if finished in marble
+in a style worthy of its conception, and if not spoiled by some
+affected niceties in the execution, will be a magnificent and sublime
+work of art.
+
+Gibson afterwards showed us round his own studio: his exquisite group
+of Psyche borne away by the Zephyrs enchanted me. The necessity which
+exists for supporting all the figures has rendered it impossible to
+give them the same aerial lightness I have seen in paintings of the
+same subject, yet they are all _but_ aerial. Psyche was criticised by
+two or three of our party; but I thought her faultless: she is a
+lovely timid girl; and as she leans on her airy supporters, she seems
+to contemplate her flight down the precipice, half-shrinking, though
+secure. Mr. W** told me that in the original design, the left foot of
+one of the Zephyrs rested upon the ground: and that Canova, coming in
+by chance while Gibson was working on the model, lifted it up, and
+this simple and masterly alteration has imparted the most exquisite
+lightness to the attitude.
+
+Gibson was Canova's favourite pupil: he has quite the air of a genius:
+plain features, but a countenance all beaming with fire, spirit, and
+intelligence. His Psyche remains still in the model, as he has not yet
+found a patron munificent enough to order it in marble; at which I
+greatly wonder. Could I but afford to bestow seven hundred pounds on
+my own gratification, I would have given him the order on the spot.[P]
+
+30.--Yesterday we dined _al fresco_ in the Pamfili gardens: and though
+our party was rather too large, it was well assorted, and the day went
+off admirably. The queen of our feast was in high good humour, and
+irresistible in charms; Frattino very fascinating, T** was caustic and
+witty, W** lively and clever, Sir J** mild, intelligent, and elegant,
+V**, as usual, quiet, sensible, and self-complacent, L** as absurd and
+assiduous as ever. Every body played their part well, each by a tacit
+convention sacrificing to the _amour propre_ of the rest. Every
+individual really occupied with his own particular _role_, but all
+apparently happy, and mutually pleased. Vanity and selfishness,
+indifference and ennui, were veiled under a general mask of good
+humour and good breeding, and the flowery bonds of politeness and
+gallantry held together those who knew no common tie of thought or
+interest; and when parted (as they soon will be, north, south, east,
+and west), will probably never meet again in this world; and whether
+they do or not, who thinks or cares!
+
+Our luxurious dinner, washed down by a competent proportion of
+Malvoisie and Champagne, were spread upon the grass, which was
+literally _flowery turf_, being covered with violets, iris, and
+anemones of every dye. Instead of changing our plates, we washed them
+in a beautiful fountain which murmured near us, having first, by a
+libation, propitiated the presiding nymph for this pollution of her
+limpid waters. For my own peculiar taste there were too many servants
+(who on these occasions are always _de trop_), too many luxuries, too
+much fuss; but considering the style and number of our party, it was
+all consistently and admirably managed: the grouping of the company,
+picturesque because unpremeditated, the scenery round, the arcades,
+and bowers, and columns, and fountains, had an air altogether quite
+poetical and romantic; and put me in mind of some of Watteau's
+beautiful garden-pieces, and Stothard's fetes-champetres.
+
+To me the day was not a day of pleasure; for the small stock of
+strength and spirits with which I set out was soon exhausted, and the
+rest of the day was wasted in efforts to appear cheerful and support
+myself to the end, lest I should spoil the general mirth: on all I
+looked with complacency tinged with my habitual melancholy. What I
+most admired was the delicious view, from an eminence in the wildest
+part of the gardens, over the city and Campagna to the blue Apennines,
+where Frascati and Albano peeped forth like nests of white buildings
+glittering upon a rich back ground, tinted with blue and purple; the
+hill where Cato's villa stood, and still called the Portian Hill, and
+on the highest point the ruined temple of Jupiter Latialis visible at
+the distance of seventeen miles, and shining in the setting sun like
+burnished gold. What I most felt and enjoyed was the luxurious
+temperature of the atmosphere, the purity and brilliance of the skies,
+the delicious security with which I threw myself down on the turf
+without fear of damp and cold, and the thankful consciousness, that
+neither the light or worldly beings round me, nor the sadness which
+weighed down my own heart, had quite deadened my once quick sense of
+pleasure, but left me still some perception of the splendour and
+classical interest of the glorious scenes around me, combined as it
+was with all the enchantment of natural beauty--
+
+      "----The music and the bloom
+    And all the mighty ravishment of spring."
+
+TOLSE AI MARTIRI OGNI CONFIN, CHI AL CORE TOGLIER POTEO
+LA LIBERTA DEL PIANTO!
+
+    O ye blue luxurious skies!
+        Sparkling fountains,
+        Snow-capp'd mountains,
+    Classic shades that round me rise!
+
+    Towers and temples, hills and groves,
+        Scenes of glory,
+        Fam'd in story,
+    Where the eye enchanted roves!
+
+    O thou rich embroider'd earth!
+        Opening flowers,
+        Leafy bowers,
+    Sights of gladness, sounds of mirth!
+
+    Why to my desponding heart,
+        Darkly thinking,
+        Sadly sinking,
+    Can ye no delight impart?[Q]
+
+_Sunday, 31._--To-day the Holy week begins, and a kind of programma of
+the usual ceremonies of each day was laid on my toilette this morning.
+The bill of fare for this day runs thus:--
+
+"Domenica delle Palme, nel Capella Papale nel Palazzo Apostolico,
+canta messa un Cardinal Prete. Il Sommo Pontefice fa la benedizione
+delle Palme, con processione per la Sala Regia."
+
+I gave up going to the English service accordingly, and consented to
+accompany R** and V** to the Pope's Chapel. We entered just as the
+ceremony of blessing the palms was going on: a cardinal officiated for
+the poor old pope, who is at present ill.
+
+After the palms had been duly blessed, they were carried in procession
+round the splendid anti-chamber, called the Sala Regia; meantime the
+chapel doors were closed upon them, and on their return, they (not the
+palms, but the priests) knocked and demanded entrance in a fine
+recitative; two of the principal voices replied from within; the choir
+without sung a response, and after a moment's silence the doors were
+opened, and the service went on.
+
+This was very trivial and tedious. Rospo said, very truly, that the
+procession in Blue Beard was much better _got up_. All these
+processions sound very fine in mere description, but in the reality
+there is always something to disappoint or disgust; something which
+leaves either a ludicrous or a painful impression on the mind. The old
+priests and cardinals to-day looking like so many old beggar-women
+dressed up in the cast-off finery of a Christmas pantomime, the
+assistants smirking and whispering, the singers grinning at each
+other between every solemn strain of melody, and blowing their noses
+and spitting about like true Italians--in short, the want of keeping
+in the _tout ensemble_ shocked my taste and my imagination, and, I may
+add, better, more serious feelings. It is well to see these things
+once, that we may not be cheated with fine words, but judge for
+ourselves. I foresee, however, that I shall not be tempted to
+encounter any of the more crowded ceremonies.
+
+I remarked that all the Italians wore black to-day.
+
+We spent the afternoon at the Vatican. We found St. Peter's almost
+deserted; few people, no music, the pictures all muffled, and the
+altars hung with black drapery. The scaffolding was preparing for the
+ceremonies of the week; and, on the whole, St. Peter's appeared, for
+the first time, disagreeable and gloomy.
+
+_Monday, April 1._--Non riconosco oggi la mia bella Italia! Clouds,
+and cold, and rain, to which we have been so long unaccustomed, seem
+unnatural; and deform that peculiar character of sunny loveliness
+which belongs to this country: and, a-propos to climate, I may as well
+observe now, that since the 1st of February, when we left Rome for
+Naples, up to this present 1st of April, not one day has been so rainy
+as to confine us to the house: and on referring to my memoranda of the
+weather, I find that at Naples it rained one day for a few hours only,
+and for about two hours on the morning we left it: since then, not a
+drop of rain has fallen: all hot, cloudless, lovely weather. We have
+been for the last three weeks in summer costume, and guard against the
+heat as we should in England during the dog-days. To have an idea of
+an Italian summer, Mr. W** says we must fancy the present heat
+_quadrupled_.
+
+The day, notwithstanding, has been unusually pleasant, the afternoon,
+though not brilliant, was clear and soft; and we drove in the open
+carriage first to the little church of Santa Maria della Pace, to see
+Raffaelle's famous fresco, the Four Sybils. It is in the finest
+preservation, and combines all his peculiar graces of design and
+expression. The colouring has not suffered from time and damp like
+that of the frescos in the Vatican, but it is at once brilliant and
+delicate. Nothing can exceed the exquisite grace of the Sibilla
+Persica, nor the beautiful drapery and inspired look of the Cumana.
+Fortunately, I had never seen any copy or engraving of this master
+piece: its beauty was to me enhanced by surprise and all the charm of
+novelty: and my gratification was complete.
+
+We afterwards spent half an hour in the gardens of the Villa Lanti, on
+the Monte Gianicolo. The view of Rome from these gardens is superb:
+though the sky was clouded, the atmosphere was perfectly pure and
+clear: the eye took in the whole extent of ancient and modern Rome;
+beyond it the Campagna, the Alban Hills, and the Apennines, which
+appeared of a deep purple, with pale clouds floating over their
+summits. The city lay at our feet, silent, and clothed with the
+daylight as with a garment--no smoke, no vapour, no sound, no motion,
+no sign of life: it looked like a city whose inhabitants had been
+suddenly petrified, or smitten by a destroying angel; and such was the
+effect of its strange and solemn beauty, that, before I was aware, I
+felt my eyes fill with tears as I looked upon it.
+
+I saw Naples from the Castle of Saint Elmo--setting aside the sea and
+Mount Vesuvius, those unequalled features in that radiant picture--the
+view of the _city_ of Naples is not so fine as the view of Rome: it
+is, comparatively, deficient in sentiment, in interest, and in
+dignity. Naples wears on her brow the voluptuous beauty of a
+syren--Rome sits desolate on her seven-hilled throne, "_the Niobe of
+Nations_."
+
+I wish I could have painted what I saw to-day _as_ I saw it. Yet
+no--the reality was perhaps too much like a picture to please in a
+picture: the exquisite harmony of the colouring, the softness of the
+lights and shades, the solemn death-like stillness, the distinctness
+of every form and outline, and the classic interest attached to every
+noble object, combined to form a scene, which hereafter, in the
+silence of my own thoughts, I shall often love to recall and to dwell
+upon.
+
+To-night I read with Incoronati, the Fourth book of Dante, and two of
+Petrarch's Canzoni "I' vo pensando," and "Verdi panni," making notes
+from his explanations and remarks as I went along. These two Canzoni I
+had selected as being among the most _puzzling_ as well as the most
+beautiful. Those are strangely mistaken, who from a superficial study
+of a few of his amatory sonnets, regard Petrarch as a mere love-sick
+poet, who spent his time in be-rhyming an obdurate mistress; and those
+are equally mistaken who consider him as the poetical votarist of an
+imaginary fair one. I know but little, even of the little that is
+known of his life; for I remember being as much terrified by the
+ponderous quartos of the Abbe de Sade, as I was discomfited and
+disappointed by the flimsy octavo of Mrs. Dobson. I am now studying
+Petrarch in his own works; and it seemeth to me, in my simple wit,
+that such exquisite touches of truth and nature, such depth and purity
+of feeling, such felicity of expression, such vivid yet delicate
+pictures of female beauty, could spring only from a real and heartfelt
+passion. We know too little of Laura: but it is probable, if she had
+always preserved a stern and unfeeling indifference, she would not
+have so entirely commanded the affections of a feeling heart; and had
+she yielded she would not so long have preserved her influence.
+
+    Think you if Laura had been Petrarch's wife,
+    He would have written sonnets all his life?
+
+In truth she appears to have been the most finished coquette of her
+own or any other age.[R]
+
+3.--What a delight it would be, if, at the end of a day like this, I
+had _somebody_ with whom I could talk over things--with whose feelings
+and impressions I could compare my own--who would direct my judgment,
+and assist me in arranging my ideas, and double every pleasure by
+sharing it with me! What would have become of me if I had not thought
+of keeping a Diary? I should have died of a sort of mental repletion!
+What a consolation and employment has it been to me to let my
+overflowing heart and soul exhale themselves on paper! When I have
+neither power nor spirits to join in common-place conversation, I open
+my dear little Diary, and feel, while my pen thus swiftly glides
+along, much less as if I were writing than as if I were speaking--yes!
+speaking to one who perhaps will read this when I am no more--but not
+till _then_.
+
+I was well enough to _walk_ up to the Rospigliosi Palace this morning
+to see Guido's Aurora: it is on the ceiling of a pavilion: would it
+were not! for I looked at it till my neck ached, and my brain turned
+round "like a parish top." I can only say that it far surpassed my
+expectations: the colouring is the most brilliant, yet the most
+harmonious, in the world: and there is a depth, a strength, a richness
+in the tints, not common to Guido's style. The whole is as fresh as if
+painted yesterday; though Guido must have died sometime about 1640.
+
+On each side of the hall or pavilion adorned by the Aurora, there is a
+small room, containing a few excellent pictures. The Triumph of David,
+by Domenichino, a fine rich picture; an exquisite Andromeda, by Guido,
+painted with his usual delicacy and sentiment; the twelve Apostles, by
+Rubens, some of them very fine; "the Five Senses," said to be by Carlo
+Cignani, but if so he has surpassed himself: it is like Domenichino.
+The Death of Samson, by L. Carracci, wearies the eye by the number and
+confusion of the figures: it has no principal group upon which the
+attention can rest. There is also a fine portrait of Nicolo Poussin,
+by himself, and an interesting head of Guido.
+
+At three o'clock we went down to the Capella Sistina to hear the
+Miserere. In describing the effect produced by this divine music, the
+time, the place, the scenic contrivance should be taken into account:
+the time--solemn twilight, just as the shades begin to fall around:
+the place--a noble and lofty hall where the terrors of Michel Angelo's
+Last Judgment are rendered more terrible by the gathering gloom, and
+his sublime Prophets frown dimly upon us from the walls above. The
+extinguishing of the tapers, the concealed choir, the angelic voices
+chosen from among the finest in the world, and blended by long
+practice into the most perfect unison, were combined to produce that
+overpowering effect which has so often been described. Many ladies
+wept, and one fainted. Unassisted vocal music is certainly the finest
+of all: no power of instruments could have thrilled me like the
+blended stream of melancholy harmony, breathed forth with such an
+expression of despairing anguish, that it was almost too much to bear.
+
+_Good-Friday._--I saw more new, amusing, and delightful things
+yesterday, than I can attempt to describe or even enumerate: but I
+think there is no danger of my forgetting general impressions: if my
+memory should fail me in particulars, my imagination can always recall
+the whole.
+
+In the morning I declined going to see the ceremonies at the Vatican.
+The procession of the host from the Sistine to the Pauline Chapel; the
+washing of the Pilgrims' feet, etc.--all these things are less than
+indifferent to me; and the illness and absence of the poor old pope
+rendered them particularly uninteresting. Every body went but myself;
+and it was agreed that we should all meet at the door of the Sistine
+Chapel at five o'clock. I remained quietly at home on my sofa till
+one; and then drove to the Museum of the Vatican, where I spent the
+rest of the day; it was a grand festa, and the whole of the Vatican,
+including the immense suite of splendid libraries, was thrown open to
+the public. All the foreigners in Rome having crowded to St. Peter's,
+or the chapels, to view the ceremonies going on, I was the only
+stranger amidst an assemblage of the common people and peasantry, who
+had come to lounge there till the lighting up of the Cross. I walked
+on and on, hour after hour, lost in amazement, and wondering where and
+when this glorious labyrinth was to end; successive galleries fitted
+up with the gay splendour of an Oriental Haram, in which the books and
+manuscripts are all arranged and numbered in cases; the beautiful
+perspective of hall beyond hall vanishing away into immeasurable
+distance; the refulgent light shed overall; and add to this, the
+extraordinary visages and costumes of the people, who with their
+families wandered along in groups or singly, all behaving with the
+utmost decorum, and making emphatic exclamations on the beauties
+around them. "_Ah! che bella cosa! Cosa rara! O bella assai!_" all
+furnished me with such ample matter for amusement, and observation,
+and admiration, that I was insensible to fatigue, and knew not that in
+five hours I had scarcely completed the circuit of the Museum.
+
+One room (the Camera del Papiri) struck me particularly: it is a small
+octagon, the ceiling and ornaments painted by Raffaelle Mengs with
+exquisite taste. The group on the ceiling represents the Muse of
+History writing, while her book reposes on the wings of Time, and a
+Genius supplies her with materials: the pannels of this room are
+formed of old manuscripts, pasted up against the walls and glazed.
+The effect of the whole is as singular as beautiful.
+
+A new gallery of marbles has lately been opened by the Pope, called
+from its form the _Sala della Croce_: in splendid, classical, and
+tasteful decoration, it equals any of the others, but is not, perhaps,
+so remarkable for the intrinsic value of its contents.
+
+I never more deeply felt my own ignorance and deficiencies than I did
+to-day. I saw so many things I did not understand, so much which I
+wished to have explained to me, I longed so inexpressibly for someone
+to talk to, to exclaim to, to help me to wonder, to admire, to be
+_extasiee_! but I was alone: and I know not how it is, or why, but
+when I am alone, not only my powers of enjoyment seem to fail me in a
+degree, but even my mental faculties; and the multitude of my own
+ideas and sensations confuse, oppress, and irritate me.
+
+I walked through the whole gyro of the Museum, examining the busts and
+pictures particularly, with the help of Este's admirable catalogue
+raisonnee, and at half-past five I reached the Sistine just in time to
+hear the second Miserere: neither the music nor the effort were equal
+to the first evening. The music, though inferior to Allegri's, was
+truly beautiful and sublime; but the scenic pageantry did not strike
+so much on repetition: the chapel was insufferably crowded, I was sick
+and stupid from heat and fatigue, and to crown all, just in the midst
+of one of the most overpowering strains, the cry of condemned souls
+pleading for mercy, which made my heart pause, and my flesh creep--a
+lady behind me whispered loudly, "Do look what lovely broderie Mrs.
+L** has on her white satin spencer!"
+
+After the Miserere, we adjourned to St. Peter's, to see the
+illumination of the Girandola. I confess the first glance disappointed
+me; for the cross, though more than thirty feet in height, looks
+trivial and diminutive, compared with the immensity of the dome in
+which it is suspended; but just as I was beginning to admire the
+sublime effect of the whole scene, I was obliged to leave the church,
+being unable to stand the fatigue any longer.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+To-day we have remained quietly at home, recruiting after the
+exertions of yesterday. After dinner, Colonel ---- and Mr. W** began
+to discuss the politics of Italy, and from abusing the governments
+they fell upon the people; and being of very opposite principles and
+parties, they soon began an argument which ended in a warm dispute,
+and sent me to take refuge in my own room. How I detest politics and
+discord! How I hate the discussion of politics in Italy! and, above
+all, the discussion of Italian politics, which offer no point upon
+which the mind can dwell with pleasure. I have not wandered to
+Italy--"this land of sun-lit skies and fountains clear," as Barry
+Cornwall calls it, only to scrape together materials for a quarto
+tour, or to sweep up the leavings of the "fearless" Lady Morgan; or to
+dwell upon the heart-sickening realities which meet me at every turn;
+evils of which I neither understand the cause nor the cure. And yet
+say not to Italy
+
+    "Caduta e la tua gloria--e tu nol' vedi!"
+
+She does see it,--she does feel it. A spirit is silently and gradually
+working its way beneath the surface of society, which must, erelong,
+break forth either for good or for evil. Between a profligate and
+servile nobility, and a degraded and enslaved populace, a middle class
+has lately sprung up; the men of letters, the artists, the professors
+in the sciences, who have obtained property, or distinction at least,
+in the commotions which have agitated their country, and those who
+have served at home or abroad in the revolutionary wars. These all
+seem impelled by one and the same spirit; and make up for their want
+of numbers by their activity, talents, enthusiasm, and the secret but
+increasing influence which they exert over the other classes of
+society. But on subjects like these, however interesting, I have no
+means of obtaining information at once general and accurate: and I
+would rather not think, nor speak, nor write, upon "matters which are
+too high for me." Let the modern Italians be what they may,--what I
+hear them styled six times a day at least--a dirty, demoralized,
+degraded, unprincipled race,--centuries behind our thrice-blessed,
+prosperous, and comfort-loving nation in civilization and morals; if I
+were come among them as a resident, this picture might alarm me;
+situated as I am, a nameless sort of person, a mere bird of passage,
+it concerns me not. I am not come to spy out the nakedness of the
+land, but to implore from her healing airs and lucid skies the health
+and peace I have lost, and to worship as a pilgrim at the tomb of her
+departed glories.--I have not many opportunities of studying the
+national character; I have no dealings with the lower classes, little
+intercourse with the higher. No tradesmen cheat me, no hired menials
+irritate me, no innkeepers fleece me, no postmasters abuse me. I love
+these rich delicious skies; I love this genial sunshine, which, even
+in December, sends the spirits dancing through the veins; this pure
+elastic atmosphere, which not only brings the distant landscape, but
+almost heaven itself nearer to the eye; and all the treasures of art
+and nature which are poured forth around me; and over which my own
+mind, teeming with images, recollections, and associations, can fling
+a beauty even beyond their own. I willingly turn from all that excites
+the spleen and disgust of others; from all that may so easily be
+despised, derided--reviled, and abandon my heart to that state of calm
+benevolence towards all around me, which leaves me undisturbed, to
+enjoy, admire, observe, reflect, remember, with pleasure, if not with
+profit, and enables me to look upon the glorious scenes with which I
+am surrounded, not with the impertinent inquisition of a book-maker,
+nor the gloomy calculations of a politician, nor the sneering selfism
+of a Smelfungus--but with the eye of the painter, and the feeling of
+the poet.
+
+A-propos to poets!--Lady C** has just sent us tickets for Sestini's
+Accademia to-morrow night. So far from the race of Improvvisatori
+being extinct, or living only in the pages of Corinne, or in the
+memory of the Fantastici, and the Bandinelli, the Gianas, and the
+Corillas of other days,--there is scarcely a small town in Italy, as I
+am informed, without its Improvvisatore; and I know several
+individuals in the higher classes of society, both here, and at
+Florence more particularly, who are remarkable for possessing this
+extraordinary talent--though, of course, it is only exercised for the
+gratification of a private circle. Of those who make a public
+exhibition of their powers, Sgricci and Sestini are the most
+celebrated--and of these Sgricci ranks first. I never heard him; but
+Signior Incoronati, who knows him well, described to me his talents
+and powers as almost supernatural. A wonderful display of his art was
+the _improvvisazione_--we have no English word for a talent which in
+England is unknown,--of a regular tragedy on the Greek model, with the
+choruses and dialogue complete. The subject proposed was from the
+story of Ulysses, which afforded him an opportunity of bringing in the
+whole sonorous nomenclature of the Heathen Mythology,--which, says
+Forsyth, enters in the web of every improvvisatore, and assists the
+poet both with rhymes and ideas. Most of the celebrated improvvisatori
+have been Florentines: Sgricci is, I believe, a Neapolitan, and his
+rival Sestini a Roman.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_April 7._--Any public exhibition of talent in the Fine Arts is here
+called an _Accademia_. Sestini gave his Accademia in an anti-chamber
+of the Palazzo ----, I forget its name, but it was much like all the
+other _palaces_ we are accustomed to see here; exhibiting the same
+strange contrast of ancient taste and magnificence, with present
+meanness and poverty. We were ushered into a lofty room of noble size
+and beautiful proportions, with its rich fresco-painted walls and
+ceiling faded and falling to decay; a common brick floor, and sundry
+window panes broken, and stuffed with paper. The room was nearly
+filled by the audience, amongst whom I remarked a great number of
+English. A table with writing implements, and an old shattered
+jingling piano, occupied one side of the apartment, and a small space
+was left in front for the poet. Whilst we waited with some impatience
+for his appearance, several persons present walked up to the table and
+wrote down various subjects; which on Sestini's coming forward, he
+read aloud, marking those which were distinguished by the most general
+applause. This selection formed our evening's entertainment. A lady
+sat down in her bonnet and shawl to accompany him; and when fatigued,
+another fair musician readily supplied her place. It is seldom that an
+improvvisatore attempts to recite without the assistance of music.
+When Dr. Moore heard Corilla at Florence, she sung to the
+accompaniment of two violins.[S] La Fantastici preferred the guitar;
+and I should have preferred either to our jingling harpsichord.
+However, a few chords struck at intervals were sufficient to support
+the voice, and mark the time. Several airs were tried, and considered
+before the poet could fix on one suited to his subject and the measure
+he intended to employ. In general they were pretty and simple,
+consisting of very few notes, and more like a chant or recitative,
+than a regular air: one of the most beautiful I have obtained, and
+shall bring with me to England.
+
+The moment Sestini had made his choice, he stepped forward, and
+without further pause or preparation, began with the first subject
+upon his list,--"_Il primo Navigatore_."
+
+Gesner's beautiful Idyl of "_The First Navigator_," supplied Sestini
+with the Story, in all its details; but he versified it with
+surprizing facility: and, as far as I could judge, with great spirit
+and elegance. He added, too, some trifling circumstances, and several
+little _traits_, the naivete of which afforded considerable amusement.
+When an accurate rhyme, or apt expression, did not offer itself on the
+instant it was required, he knit his brows and clenched his fingers
+with impatience; but I think he never hesitated more than half a
+second. At the moment the chord was struck, the rhyme was ready. In
+this manner he poured forth between thirty and forty stanzas, with
+still increasing animation; and wound up his poem with some beautiful
+images of love, happiness, and innocence. Of his success I could form
+some idea by the applauses he received from better judges than myself.
+
+After a few minutes' repose and a glass of water, he next called on
+the company to supply him with rhymes for a sonnet. These, as fast as
+they were suggested by various persons, he wrote down on a slip of
+paper. The last rhyme given was "_Ostello_,"--(a common alehouse)--at
+which he demurred, and submitting to the company the difficulty of
+introducing so vulgar a word into an heroic sonnet, respectfully
+begged that another might be substituted. A lady called out "_Avello_"
+the poetical term for a grave, or a sepulchre, which expression bore
+a happy analogy to the subject proposed. The poet smiled, well
+pleased;--and stepping forward with the paper in his hand, he
+immediately, without even a moment's preparation, recited a sonnet on
+the second subject upon his list,--"_La Morte di Alfieri_."--I could
+better judge of the merit of this effusion, because he spoke it
+unaccompanied by music; and his enunciation was remarkably distinct.
+The subject was popular, and treated with much feeling and poetic
+fervour. After lamenting Alfieri as the patriot, as well as the bard,
+and as the glory of his country, he concluded, by indignantly
+repelling the supposition that "the latest sparks of genius and
+freedom were buried in the tomb of Vittorio Alfieri." A thunder of
+applause followed; and cries of "O bravo Sestini! bravo Sestini!" were
+echoed from the Italian portion of the audience, long after the first
+acclamations had subsided. The men rose simultaneously from their
+seats; and I confess I could hardly keep mine. The animation of the
+poet, and the enthusiasm of the audience, sent a thrill through every
+nerve and filled my eyes with tears.
+
+The next subject was "_La Morte di Beatrice Cenci_;"--and this, I
+think, was a failure. The frightful story of _Cenci_ is too well known
+in England since the publication of Shelley's Tragedy. Here it is
+familiar to all classes; and though two centuries have since elapsed,
+it seems as fresh in the memory, or rather in the imagination of these
+people, as if it had happened but yesterday. The subject was not well
+chosen for a public and mixed assembly; and Sestini, without adverting
+to the previous details of horror, confined himself most scrupulously,
+with propriety, to the subject proposed. He described Beatrice led to
+execution,--"_con baldanza casta e generosa_"--and the effect produced
+on the multitude by her youth:--not forgetting to celebrate "_those
+tresses like threads of gold whose wavy splendour dazzled all
+beholders_," as they are described by a contemporary writer. He put
+into her mouth a long and pious dying speech, in which she expressed
+her trust in the blessed Virgin, and her hopes of pardon from eternal
+justice and mercy. To my surprise, he also made her in one stanza
+confess and repent the murder, or rather sacrifice,[T] which she had
+perpetrated; which is contrary to the known fact, that Beatrice
+_never_ confessed to the last moment of existence, nor gave any reason
+to suppose that she repented. The whole was drawn out to too great a
+length, and, with the exception of a few happy touches, and pathetic
+sentiments, went off flatly. It was very little applauded.
+
+The next subject was the "_Immortality of the Soul_," on which the
+poet displayed amazing pomp and power of words, and a wonderful
+affluence of ideas. He showed, too, an intimate acquaintance with all
+that had ever been said, or sung, upon the same subject, from Plato to
+Thomas Aquinas. I confess I derived little benefit from all this
+display of poetry and erudition; for, after the first few stanzas,
+finding himself irretrievably perplexed by the united difficulties of
+the language and the subject, I withdrew my attention, and amused
+myself with the paintings on the walls, and with reveries on the past
+and present, till I was roused by the acclamations that followed the
+conclusion of the poem; which excited very general admiration and
+applause.
+
+The company then furnished the _bouts-rimes_ for another sonnet: the
+subject was "_L'Amor della Patria_." The title, even before he began,
+was hailed by a round of plaudits; and the sonnet itself was excellent
+and spirited. _Excellent_ I mean in its general effect, as an
+_improvvisazione_:--how it would stand the test of cool criticism I
+cannot tell; nor is that any thing to the purpose: these
+extemporaneous effusions ought to be judged merely as what they
+are,--not as finished or correct poems, but as wonderful exercises of
+tenacious memory, ready wit, and that quickness of imagination which
+can soar
+
+    ----"al bel cimento
+    Sulle ali dell' momento."
+
+To return to Sestini. It may be imagined, that on such a subject as
+"_L'Amor della Patria_," the ancient Roman worthies were not
+forgotten, and accordingly, a Brutus, a Scipio, a Fabius, or a
+Fabricius, figured in every line. And surely on no occasion could they
+have been more appropriately introduced:--in Rome, and when addressing
+Romans, who showed, by their enthusiastic applause, that though the
+spirit of their forefathers may be extinct, their memory is not.
+
+The next subject, which formed a sort of _pendant_ to the Cenci, was
+the "_Parricide of Tullia_." In this again his success was complete.
+The stanza in which Tullia ordered her charioteer to "drive on," was
+given with such effect as to electrify us: and a sudden burst of
+approbation which caused a momentary interruption, evidently lent the
+poet fresh spirits and animation.
+
+The evening concluded with a lively burlesque, entitled "_Il Mercato
+d'Amore_" which represented Love as setting up a shop to sell "_la
+Mercanzia della Gioventu_." The list of his stock in trade, though it
+could not boast of much originality, was given with admirable wit and
+vivacity. In conclusion, Love being threatened with a bankruptcy, took
+shelter, as the poet assured us, in the bright eyes of the ladies
+present. This farewell compliment was prettily turned, and intended,
+of course, to be general: but it happened, luckily for Sestini, that
+just opposite to him, and fixed upon him at the moment, were two of
+the brightest eyes in the world. Whether he owed any of his
+inspiration to their beams I know not; but the _a-propos_ of the
+compliment was seized immediately, and loudly applauded by the
+gentlemen round us.
+
+Sestini is a young man, apparently about five-and-twenty: of a slight
+and delicate figure, and in his whole appearance, odd, wild, and
+picturesque. He has the common foreign trick of running his fingers
+through his black bushy hair; and accordingly it stands on end in all
+directions. A pair of immense whiskers, equally black and luxuriant,
+meet at the point of his chin, encircling a visage of most cadaverous
+hue, and features which might be termed positively ugly, were it not
+for the "_vago spirito ardento_" which shines out from his dark eyes,
+and the fire and intelligence which light up his whole countenance,
+till it almost kindles into beauty. Though he afterwards conversed
+with apparent ease, and replied to the compliments of the company, he
+was evidently much exhausted by his exertions. I should fear that
+their frequent repetition, and the effervescence of mind, and nervous
+excitement they cannot but occasion, must gradually wear out his
+delicate frame and feeble temperament, and that the career of this
+extraordinary genius will be short as it is brilliant.[U]
+
+_April 8._--As Maupertuis said after his journey to Lapland--for the
+universe I would not have missed the sights and scenes of yesterday;
+but, for the whole universe, I would not undergo such another day of
+fatigue, anxiety, and feverish excitement.
+
+In the morning about ten o'clock, we all went down to St. Peter's, to
+hear high mass. The absence of the Pope (who is still extremely ill)
+detracted from the interest and dignity of the ceremony: there was no
+general benediction from the balcony of St. Peter's; and nothing
+pleased me, except the general _coup d'oeil_; which in truth was
+splendid. The theatrical dresses of the mitred priests, the countless
+multitude congregated from every part of Christendom, in every variety
+of national costume, the immensity and magnificence of the church, and
+the glorious sunshine--all these enchanted the eye; but I could have
+fancied myself in a theatre. I saw no devotion, and I felt none. The
+whole appeared more like a triumphal pageant acted in honour of a
+heathen deity, than an act of worship and thanksgiving to the Great
+Father of all.
+
+I observed an immense number of pilgrims, male and female, who had
+come from various parts of Italy to visit the shrine of St. Peter on
+this grand occasion. I longed to talk to a man who stood near me, with
+a very singular and expressive countenance, whose cape and looped hat
+were entirely covered with scallop shells and reliques, and his long
+staff surmounted by a death's head.
+
+I was restrained by a feeling which I now think rather ridiculous: I
+feared, lest by conversing with him, I should diminish the effect his
+romantic and picturesque figure had made on my imagination.
+
+The exposition of the relics was from a balcony half way up the dome,
+so high and distant that I could distinguish nothing but the
+impression of our Saviour's face on the handkerchief of St. Veronica,
+richly framed--at the sight whereof the whole multitude prostrated
+themselves to the earth: the other relics I forget, but they were all
+equally marvellous and equally credible.
+
+We returned after a long fatiguing morning to an early dinner; and
+then drove again to the Piazza of St. Peter's, to see the far-famed
+illumination of the church. We had to wait a considerable time; but
+the scene was so novel and beautiful, that I found ample amusement in
+my own thoughts and observations. The twilight rapidly closed round
+us: the long lines of statues along the roof and balustrades, faintly
+defined against the evening sky, looked like spirits come down to
+gaze; a prodigious crowd of carriages, and people on foot, filled
+every avenue: but all was still, except when a half-suppressed murmur
+of impatience broke through the hushed silence of suspense and
+expectation. At length, on a signal, which was given by the firing of
+a cannon, the whole of the immense facade and dome, even up to the
+cross on the summit, and the semicircular colonnades in front, burst
+into a blaze, as if at the touch of an enchanter's wand; adding the
+pleasure of surprise to that of delight and wonder. The carriages now
+began to drive rapidly round the piazza, each with a train of running
+footmen, flinging their torches round and dashing them against the
+ground. The shouts and acclamations of the crowd, the stupendous
+building with all its architectural outlines and projections, defined
+in lines of living flame, the universal light, the sparkling of the
+magnificent fountains--produced an effect far beyond any thing I could
+have anticipated, and more like the gorgeous fictions of the Arabian
+Nights, than any earthy reality.
+
+After driving round the piazza, we adjourned to a balcony which had
+been hired for us overlooking the Tiber, and exactly opposite to the
+Castle of St. Angelo. Hence we commanded a view of the fireworks,
+which were truly superb, but made me so nervous and giddy with noise
+and light and wonder, that I was rejoiced when all was over. A flight
+of a thousand sky-rockets sent up at once, blotting the stars and the
+moonlight--dazzling our eyes, stunning our ears, and amazing all our
+senses together, concluded the Holy Week at Rome.
+
+To-morrow morning we start for Florence, and to-night I close this
+second volume of my Diary. Thanks to my little ingenious Frenchmen in
+the Via Santa Croce, I have procured a lock for a third volume,
+almost equal to my patent _Bramah_ in point of security, though very
+unlike it in every other respect.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Viterbo_, _April 9._--"In every bosom Italy is the _second_ country
+in the world, the surest proof that it is in reality the _first_."
+
+This elegant and just observation occurs, I think, in Arthur Young's
+travels; I am not sure I quote the words correctly, but the sense will
+come home to every cultivated mind with the force of a proverbial
+truism.
+
+One leaves Naples as a man parts with an enchanting mistress, and Rome
+as we would bid adieu to an old and dear-loved friend. I love it, and
+grieve to leave it for its own sake; it is painful to quit a place
+where we leave behind us many whom we love and regret; and almost or
+quite as painful, I think, to quit a place in which we leave behind us
+no one to regret, or think of us more; a feeling like this mingled
+with the sorrow with which I bade adieu to Rome this morning.
+
+Our journey has been fatiguing, _triste_, and tedious.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Radicofani_, _10th._--I could almost regret at this moment that I am
+past the age of romance, for I am in a fine situation for mysterious
+and imaginary horrors, could I but feel again as I did at gay sixteen;
+but, alas! _ces beaux jours sont passes_! and here I am on the top of
+a dreary black mountain, in a rambling old inn which looks like a
+ci-devant hospital or dismantled barracks, in a bed-room which
+resembles one of the wards of a poor-house, one little corner lighted
+by my lamp, and the other three parts all lost in black ominous
+darkness; while a tempest rages without as if it would break in the
+rattling casements, and burst the roof over our heads; and yet,
+insensible that I am! I can calmly take up my pen to amuse myself by
+scribbling, since sleep is impossible. I can look round my vast and
+solitary room without fancying a ghost or an assassin in every corner,
+and listen to the raving and lamenting of the storm, without imagining
+I hear in every gust the shrieks of wailing spirits, or the groans of
+murdered travellers; only wishing that the wind were rather less cold,
+or my fire a little brighter, or my dormitory less _infinitely_
+spacious; for at present its boundaries are invisible.
+
+The first part of our journey this morning was delightful and
+picturesque; we passed the beautiful lake of Bolsena and
+Montepulciano, so famous for its wine (_il Rei di Vino_, as Redi calls
+it in the _Bacco in Toscana_). Later in the day we entered a gloomy
+and desolate country; and after crossing the rapid and muddy torrent
+of Rigo, which, as our _Guide des Voyageurs_ wittily informs us, we
+shall have to cross _four_ times if we are not drowned the _third_
+time, we began to ascend the mountainous region which divides the
+Tuscan from the Roman states--a succession of wild barren hills,
+intersected in every direction by deep ravines, and presenting a
+scene, sublime indeed from its waste and wild grandeur, but destitute
+of all beauty, interest, magnificence and variety.
+
+I remember the strange emotion which came across me, when--on the
+horses stopping to breathe on the summit of a lofty ridge, where all
+around, as far as the eye could reach, nothing was to be seen but the
+same unvarying, miserable, heart-sinking barrenness, without a trace
+of human habitation, except the black fort or the highest point of
+Radicofani--a soft sound of bells came over my ear as if brought upon
+the wind. There is something in the sound of bells in the midst of a
+solitude which is singularly striking, and may be cheering or
+melancholy, according to the mood in which we may happen to be.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Florence, April 14._--I have not written a word since we arrived at
+Sienna. What would it avail me to keep a mere journal of suffering? O
+that I could change as others do, could forget that such things have
+been which can never be again! that there were not this tenacity in my
+heart and soul which clings to the shadow though the substance be
+gone!
+
+This is not a mere effusion of low spirits; I was never more cheerful.
+I have just left a gay party, where Mr. Rogers (whom by special good
+fortune we meet at every resting-place, and who dined with us to-day)
+has been entertaining us delightfully. I disdain low spirits as a mere
+disease which comes over us, generally from some physical or external
+cause; to prescribe for them is as easy as to disguise them is
+difficult: but the hopeless, cureless sadness of a heart which droops
+with regret, and throbs with resentment, is easily, very easily
+disguised, but not so easily banished. I hear every body round me
+congratulating themselves, and _me_ more particularly, that we have at
+last reached Florence, that we are so far advanced on our road
+homewards, that soon we shall be at Paris, and Paris is to do
+wonders--Paris and Dr. R** are to _set me up_ again, as the phrase is.
+But I shall never be set up again, I shall never live to reach Paris;
+none can tell how I sicken at the very name of that detested place;
+none seem aware how fast, how very fast the principle of life is
+burning away within me: but why should I speak? and what earthly help
+can now avail me? I can suffer in silence, I can conceal the weakness
+which increases upon me, by retiring, as if from choice and not
+necessity, from all exertion not absolutely inevitable; and the change
+is so gradual, none will perceive it till the great change of all
+comes, and then I shall be at rest.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Florence looked most beautiful as we approached it from the south,
+girt with her theatre of verdant hills, and glittering in the
+sunshine. All the country from Sienna to Florence is richly
+cultivated; diversified with neat hamlets, farms and villas. I was
+more struck with the appearance of the Tuscan peasantry on my return
+from the Papal dominions than when we passed through the country
+before: no where in Tuscany have we seen that look of abject negligent
+poverty, those crowds of squalid beggars which shocked us in the
+Ecclesiastical States. In the towns where we stopped to change horses,
+we were presently surrounded by a crowd of people: the women came out
+spinning, or sewing and plaiting the Leghorn hats; the children threw
+flowers into our barouche, the men grinned and gaped, but there was no
+vociferous begging, no disgusting display of physical evils, filth,
+and wretchedness. The motive was merely that idle curiosity for which
+the Florentines in all ages have been remarked. I remember an amusing
+instance which occurred when I was here in December last. I was
+standing one evening in the Piazza del Gran Duca, looking at the group
+of the Rape of the Sabines: in a few minutes a dozen people gathered
+round me, gaping at the statue, and staring at that and at me
+alternately, either to enjoy my admiration, or find out the cause of
+it: the people came out of the neighbouring shops, and the crowd
+continued to increase, till at length, though infinitely amused, I was
+glad to make my escape.
+
+I suffered from cold when first we arrived at Florence, owing to the
+change of climate, or rather to mere weakness and fatigue: to-day I
+begin to doubt the possibility of outliving an Italian summer. The
+blazing atmosphere which depresses the eyelids, the enervating heat,
+and the rich perfume of the flowers all around us, are almost too
+much.
+
+_April 20._--During our stay at Florence, it has been one of my
+favourite occupations to go to the Gallery or the Pitti Palace, and
+placing my portable seat opposite to some favourite pictures, minutely
+study and compare the styles of the different masters. By the style of
+any particular painter, I presume we mean to express the combination
+of two separate essentials--first, his peculiar conception of his
+subject; secondly, his peculiar method of executing that conception,
+with regard to colouring, drawing, and what artists call handling. The
+former department of style lies in the mind, and will vary according
+to the feelings, the temper, the personal habits, and previous
+education of the painter: the latter is merely mechanical, and is
+technically termed the _manner_ of a painter; it may be cold or warm,
+hard, dry, free, strong, tender: as we say the cold manner of Sasso
+Ferrato, the warm manner of Giorgione, the hard manner of Holbein, the
+dry manner of Perugino, the free manner of Rubens, the strong manner
+of Carravaggio, and so forth; I heard an amateur once observe, that
+one of Morland's Pig-sties was painted with great _feeling_: all this
+refers merely to mechanical execution.
+
+I am no connaisseur; and I should have lamented, as a misfortune, the
+want of some fixed principles of taste and criticism to guide my
+judgment; some nomenclature by which to express certain effects,
+peculiarities, and excellencies which I felt, rather than understood;
+if my own ignorance had not afforded considerable amusement to myself,
+and perhaps to others. I have derived some gratification from
+observing the gradual improvement of my own taste: and from comparing
+the decisions of my own unassisted judgment and natural feelings, with
+the fiat of profound critics and connaisseurs: the result has been
+sometimes mortifying, sometimes pleasing. Had I visited Italy in the
+character of a ready-made connaisseur, I should have lost many
+pleasures; for as the eye becomes more practised, the taste becomes
+more discriminative and fastidious; and the more extensive our
+acquaintance with the works of art, the more limited is our sphere of
+admiration; as if the circle of enjoyment contracted round us, in
+proportion as our sense of beauty became more intense and exquisite. A
+thousand things which once had power to charm, can charm no longer;
+but, _en revanche_, those which _do_ please, please a thousand times
+more: thus what we lose on one side, we gain on the other. Perhaps, on
+the whole, a technical knowledge of the arts is apt to divert the mind
+from the general effect, to fix it on petty details of execution. Here
+comes a connaisseur, who has found his way, good man! from Somerset
+House, to the Tribune at Florence: see him with one hand passed across
+his brow, to shade the light, while the other extended forwards,
+describes certain indescribable circumvolutions in the air, and now he
+retires, now advances, now recedes again, till he has hit the exact
+distance from which every point of beauty is displayed to the best
+possible advantage, and there he stands--gazing, as never gazed the
+moon upon the waters, or love-sick maiden upon the moon! We take him
+perhaps for another Pygmalion? We imagine that it is those parted and
+half-breathing lips, those eyes that _seem_ to float in light; the
+pictured majesty of suffering virtue, or the tears of repenting
+loveliness; the divinity of beauty, or "_the beauty of holiness_,"
+which have thus transfixed him? No such thing: it is _fleshiness_ of
+the tints, the _vaghezza_ of the colouring, the brilliance of the
+carnations, the fold of a robe, or the fore-shortening of a little
+finger. O! whip me such connaisseurs! the critic's stop-watch was
+nothing to this.
+
+Mere mechanical excellence, and all the tricks of art have their
+praise as long as they are subordinate and conduce to the general
+effect. In painting as in her sister arts it is necessary
+
+    "Che l'arte che tutto fa nulla si scuopre."
+
+Of course I do not speak here of the Dutch school, whose highest aim,
+and highest praise, is exquisite mechanical precision in the
+representation of common nature and still life: but of those pictures
+which are the productions of mind, which address themselves to the
+understanding, the fancy, the feelings, and convey either a moral or a
+poetical pleasure.
+
+In taking a retrospective view of all the best collections in Italy
+and of the Italian school in particular, I have been struck by the
+endless multiplication of the same subjects, crucifixions, martyrdoms,
+and other scripture horrors;--virgins, saints, and holy families. The
+prevalence of the former class of subjects is easily explained, and
+has been ingeniously defended; but it is not so easily reconciled to
+the imagination. The mind and the eye are shocked and fatigued by the
+succession of revolting and sanguinary images which pollute the walls
+of every palace, church, gallery, and academy, from Milan to Naples.
+The splendour of the execution only adds to their hideousness; we at
+once seek for nature, and tremble to find it. It is hateful to see the
+loveliest of the arts degraded to such butcher-work. I have often gone
+to visit a famed collection with a secret dread of being led through a
+sort of intellectual shambles, and returned with the feeling of one
+who had supped full of horrors. I do not know how _men_ think, and
+feel, though I believe many a man, who with every other feeling
+absorbed in overpowering interest, could look unshrinking upon a real
+scene of cruelty and blood, would shrink away disgusted and sickened
+from the cold, obtrusive, _painted_ representation of the same object;
+for the truth of this I appeal to men. I can only see with woman's
+eyes, and think and feel as I believe every woman _must_, whatever may
+be her love for the arts. I remember that in one of the palaces at
+Milan--(I think it was in the collection of the Duca Litti)--we were
+led up to a picture defended from the air by a plate of glass, and
+which being considered as the gem of the collection, was reserved for
+the last as a kind of _bonne bouche_. I gave but one glance, and
+turned away loathing, shuddering, sickening. The cicerone looked
+amazed at my bad taste, he assured me it was _un vero Correggio_
+(which by the way I can never believe), and that the duke had refused
+for it I know not how many thousand scudi. It would be difficult to
+say what was most execrable in this picture, the appalling nature of
+the subject, the depravity of mind evinced in its conception, or the
+horrible truth and skill with which it was delineated. I ought to add
+that it hung up in the family dining-room and in full view of the
+dinner-table.
+
+There is as picture among the chefs-d'oeuvres in the Vatican, which,
+if I were pope (or Pope Joan) for a single day, should be burnt by the
+common hangman, "with the smoke of its ashes to poison the air," as it
+now poisons the sight by its unutterable horrors. There is another in
+the Palazzo Pitti, at which I shiver still, and unfortunately there is
+no avoiding it, as they have hung it close to Guido's lovely
+Cleopatra. In the gallery there is a Judith and Holofernes which
+irresistibly strikes the attention--if any thing would add to the
+horror inspired by the sanguinary subject, and the atrocious fidelity
+and talent with which it is expressed, it is that the artist was a
+_woman_. I must confess that Judith is not one of my favourite
+heroines; but I can more easily conceive how a woman inspired by
+vengeance and patriotism could execute such a deed, than that she
+could coolly sit down, and day after day, hour after hour, touch after
+touch, dwell upon and almost realize to the eye such an abomination as
+this.
+
+We can study anatomy, if (like a certain princess) we have a taste
+that way, in the surgeon's dissecting-room; we do not look upon
+pictures to have our minds agonized and contaminated by the sight of
+human turpitude and barbarity, streaming blood, quivering flesh,
+wounds, tortures, death, and horrors in every shape, even though it
+should be all very _natural_. Painting has been called the handmaid of
+nature; is it not the duty of a handmaid to array her mistress to the
+best possible advantage? At least to keep her infirmities from view
+and not to expose her too undressed?
+
+But I am not so weak, so cowardly, so fastidious, as to shrink from
+every representation of human suffering, provided that our sympathy be
+not strained beyond a certain point. To _please_ is the genuine aim of
+painting, as of all the fine arts; when pleasure is conveyed through
+deeply excited interest, by affecting the passions, the senses, and
+the imagination, painting assumes a higher character, and almost vies
+with tragedy: in fact, it _is_ tragedy to the eye, and is amenable to
+the same laws. The St. Sebastians of Guido and Razzi; the St. Jerome
+of Domenichino; the sternly beautiful Judith of Allori; the Pieta of
+Raffaelle; the San Pietro Martire of Titian; are all so many tragic
+_scenes_ wherein whatever is revolting in circumstances or character
+is judiciously kept from view, where human suffering is dignified by
+the moral lesson it is made to convey, and its effect on the beholder
+at once softened and heightened by the redeeming grace which genius
+and poetry have shed like a glory round it.
+
+Allowing all this, I am yet obliged to confess that I am wearied with
+this class, of pictures, and that I wish there were fewer of them.
+
+But there is one subject which never tires, at least never tires _me_,
+however varied, repeated, multiplied. A subject so lovely in itself
+that the most eminent painter cannot easily embellish it, or the
+meanest degrade it; a subject which comes home to our own bosoms and
+dearest feelings; and in which we may "lose ourselves in all
+delightfulness," and indulge unreproved pleasure. I mean the _Virgin
+and Child_, or in other words, the abstract personification of what is
+loveliest, purest, and dearest, under heaven--maternal tenderness,
+virgin meekness, and childish innocence, and the _beauty of holiness_
+over all.
+
+It occurred to me to-day, that if a gallery could be formed of this
+subject alone, selecting one specimen from among the works of every
+painter, it would form not only a comparative index to their different
+styles, but we should find, on recurring to what is known of the lives
+and characters of the great masters, that each has stamped some
+peculiarity of his own disposition on his Virgins; and that, after a
+little consideration and practice, a very fair guess might be formed
+of the character of each artist, by observing the style in which he
+has treated this beautiful and favourite subject.
+
+Take Raffaelle for example, whose delightful character is dwelt upon
+by all his biographers; his genuine nobleness of soul, which raised
+him far above interest, rivalship, or jealousy, the gentleness of his
+temper, the suavity of his manners, the sweetness of his disposition,
+the benevolence of his heart, which rendered him so deeply loved and
+admired, even by those who pined away at his success, and died of his
+superiority[V]--are all attested by contemporary writers: where but in
+his own harmonious character, need Raffaelle have looked for the
+prototypes of his half-celestial creations?
+
+His Virgins alone combine every grace which the imagination can
+require--repose, simplicity, meekness, purity, tenderness; blended
+without any admixture of earthly passion, yet so varied, that though
+all his Virgins have a general character, distinguishing them from
+those of every other master, no two are exactly alike. In the Madonna
+del Seggiola, for instance, the prevailing expression is a serious and
+pensive tenderness; her eyes are turned from her infant, but she
+clasps him to her bosom, as if it were not necessary to _see_ him, to
+_feel_ him in her heart. In another Holy Family in the Pitti Palace,
+the predominant expression is maternal rapture: in the Madonna di
+Foligno, it is a saintly benignity becoming the Queen of Heaven: in
+the Madonna del Cardellino, it is a meek and chaste simplicity: it is
+the "_Vergine dolce e pia_" of Petrarch. This last picture hangs
+close to the Fornarina in the Tribune,--a strange contrast!
+Raffaelle's love for that haughty and voluptuous virago, had nothing
+to do with his conception of ideal beauty and chastity; and could one
+of his own Virgins have walked out of her frame, or if her prototype
+could have been found on earth, he would have felt, as others have
+felt--that to look upon such a being with aught of unholy passion
+would be profanation indeed.
+
+Next to Raffaelle, I would rank Correggio, as a painter of Virgins.
+Correggio was remarkable for the humility and gentleness of his
+deportment, for his pensive and somewhat anxious disposition, and
+kindly domestic feelings: these are the characteristics which have
+poured themselves forth upon his Madonnas. They are distinguished
+generally by the utmost sweetness, delicacy, grace, and devotional
+feeling. I remember reading somewhere that Correggio had a large
+family, and was a particularly fond father; and it is certain, that in
+the expression of maternal tenderness, he is superior to all but
+Raffaelle: his Holy Family in the Studii at Naples, and his lovely
+Virgin in the gallery, are instances.
+
+Guido ranks next in my estimation, as a painter of Virgins. He is
+described as an elegant and accomplished man, remarkable for the
+modesty of his disposition, and the dignity and grace of his manner;
+as delicate in his personal habits, and sumptuous in his dress and
+style of living. He had unfortunately contracted a taste for gaming,
+which latterly plunged him into difficulties, and tinged his mind with
+bitterness and melancholy. All his heads have a peculiar expression of
+elevated beauty, which has been called Guido's air. His Madonnas are
+all but heavenly: they are tender, dignified, lovely:--but when
+compared with Raffaelle's, they seem more touched with earthly
+feeling, and have less of the pure ideal: they are, if I may so
+express myself, too _sentimental_: sentiment is, in truth, the
+distinguishing characteristic of Guido's style. It is remarkable, that
+towards the end of his life, Guido more frequently painted the Mater
+Dolorosa, and gave to the heads of his Madonnas a look of melancholy,
+disconsolate resignation, which is extremely affecting.
+
+Titian's character is well known: his ardent cheerful temper, his
+sanguine enthusiastic mind, his love of pleasure, his love of women;
+and true it is, that through all his glowing pictures, we trace the
+voluptuary. His Virgins are rather "_des jeunes epouses de la
+veille_"--far too like his Venuses and his mistresses: they are all
+luxuriant _human_ beauty; with that peculiar air of blandishment which
+he has thrown into all his female heads, even into his portraits, and
+his old women. Witness his lovely Virgin in the Vatican, his Mater
+Sapientiae, and his celebrated Assumption at Venice, in which the eyes
+absolutely float in rapture. There is nothing ideal in Titian's
+conception of beauty: he paints no saints and goddesses _fancy-bred_:
+his females are all true, lovely women; not like the heavenly creation
+of Raffaelle, looking as if a touch, a breath would profane them; but
+warm flesh and blood--heart and soul--with life in their eyes, and
+love upon their lips: even over his Magdalenes, his beauty-breathing
+pencil has shed a something which says,
+
+    A misura che amo--
+    Piange i suoi falli!
+
+But this is straying from my subject; as I have embarked in this
+fanciful hypothesis, I shall multiply my proofs and examples, as far
+as I can, from memory.
+
+In some account I have read of Murillo, he is emphatically styled _an
+honest man_: this is all I can remember of his character; and _truth_
+and nature prevail through all his pictures. In his Virgins, we can
+trace nothing elevated, poetical or heavenly: they have not the
+_ideality_ of Raffaelle's, nor the tender sweetness of Correggio's;
+nor the glowing loveliness of Titian's; but they have an individual
+reality about them, which gives them the air of portraits. That
+chef-d'oeuvre, in the Pitti Palace, for instance, call it a
+beautiful peasant girl and her baby, and it is faultless: but when I
+am told it is the "_Vergine gloriosa, del Re Eterno Madre, Figliuola,
+e Sposa_," I look instantly for something far beyond what I see
+expressed. All Murillo's Virgins are so different from each other,
+that it is plain the artist did not paint from any preconceived idea
+of his own mind, but from different originals; they are all impressed
+with that general air of truth, nature, and common life, which stamps
+upon them a peculiar and distinct character.
+
+Andrea del Sarto, who is in style as in character the very reverse of
+Murillo, fascinated me at first by his enchanting colouring, and the
+magical aerial depths of his chiaro-oscuro; but on a further
+acquaintance with his works, I was struck by the predominance of
+external form and colour over mind and feeling. His Virgins look as if
+they had been born and bred in the first circles of society, and have
+a particular air of elegance, an artificial grace, an attraction,
+which may be entirely traced to exterior; to the cast of the features,
+the contour of the form, the disposition of the draperies, the
+striking attitudes, and, above all, the divine colouring: beauty and
+dignity, and powerful effect, we always find in his pictures: but no
+_moral_ pathos--no poetry--no sentiment--above all, a strange and
+total want of devotional expression, simplicity and humility. His
+Virgin with St. Francis and St. John, which hangs behind the Venus in
+the Tribunes, is a wonderful picture; and there are two charming
+Madonnas in the Borghese Palace at Rome. In the first we are struck by
+the grouping and colouring; in the last, by a certain graceful
+_lengthiness_ of the limbs and fine animated drawing in the
+attitudes. But we look in vain for the "sacred and the sweet," for
+heart, for soul, for countenance.
+
+Andrea del Sarto had, in his profession, great talents rather than
+genius and enthusiasm. He was weak, dissipated, unprincipled; without
+elevation of mind or generosity of temper; and that his moral
+character was utterly contemptible, is proved by one trait in his
+life. A generous patron who had relieved him in his necessity,
+afterwards entrusted him with a considerable sum of money, to be laid
+out in certain purchases; Andrea del Sarto perfidiously embezzled the
+whole, and turned it to his own use. This story is told in his life,
+with the addition that "he was persuaded to it by his wife, as
+profligate and extravagant as himself."
+
+Carlo Dolce's gentle, delicate, and melancholy temperament, are
+strongly expressed in his own portrait, which is in the Gallery of
+Paintings here. All his pictures are tinged by the morbid delicacy of
+his constitution, and the refinement of his character and habits. They
+have exquisite finish, but a want of power, degenerating at times into
+coldness and feebleness; his Madonnas are distinguished by regular
+feminine beauty, melancholy, devotion, or resigned sweetness: he
+excelled in Mater Dolorosa. The most beautiful of his Virgins is in
+Pitti Palace, of which picture there is a duplicate in the Borghese
+Palace at Rome.
+
+Carlo Marratti, without distinguished merit of any kind--unless it was
+a distinguished merit to be the father of Faustina Zappi,--owed his
+fortune, his title of _Cavaliere_, and the celebrity he once enjoyed,
+not to any superiority of genius, but to his successful arts as a
+courtier, and his assiduous flattery of the great. What can be more
+characteristic of the man, than his simpering Virgins, fluttering in
+tasteless, many-coloured draperies, with their sky blue back-grounds,
+and golden clouds?
+
+Caravaggio was a gloomy misanthrope and a profligate ruffian: we read,
+that he was banished from Rome, for a murder committed in a drunken
+brawl; and that he died at last of debauchery and want. Caravaggio was
+perfect in his gamblers, robbers, and martyrdoms, and should never
+have meddled with Saints and Madonnas. In his famous _Pieta_ in the
+Vatican, the Virgin is an old beggar-woman, the two Maries are
+fish-wives, in "maudlin sorrow," and St. Peter and St. John, a couple
+of bravoes, burying a murdered traveller: _dipinse ferocemente sempre
+perche feroce era il suo carrattere_, says his biographer; an
+observation, by the way, in support of my hypothesis.
+
+Rubens, with all his transcendent genius, had a coarse imagination: he
+bore the character of an honest, liberal, but not very refined man.
+Rubens painted Virgins--would he had let them alone! fat, comfortable
+farmers' wives, nursing their chubby children. Then follows Vandyke in
+the opposite extreme. Vandyke was celebrated in his day, for his
+personal accomplishments: he was, says his biographers, a complete
+scholar, courtier and gentleman. His beautiful Madonnas are,
+accordingly, what we might expect--rather too intellectual and
+lady-like: they all look as if they had been polished by education.
+
+The grand austere genius of Michel Angelo was little calculated to
+portray the dove-like meekness of the _Vergine dolce e pia_, or the
+playfulness of infantine beauty. In his Mater Amabilis, sweetness and
+beauty are sacrificed to expression; and dignity is exaggerated into
+masculine energy. In the Mater Dolorosa, suffering is tormented into
+agony: the anguish is too human: it is not sufficiently softened by
+resignation; and makes us turn away with a too painful sympathy. Such
+is the admirable head in the Palazzo Litti at Milan; such his sublime
+_Pieta_ in the Vatican--but the last, being in marble, is not quite a
+case in point.
+
+I will mention but two more painters of whose lives and characters I
+know nothing yet, and may therefore fairly make their works a test of
+both, and judge of them in their Madonnas, and afterwards measure my
+own penetration and the truth of my hypothesis, by a reference to the
+biographical writers.
+
+In the few pictures I have seen of Carlo Cignani, I have been struck
+by the predominance of mind and feeling over mere external form: there
+is a picture of his in the Rospigliosi Palace--or rather, to give an
+example which is nearer at hand, and fresh in my memory, there is in
+the gallery _here_, his Madonna del Rosario. It represents a beautiful
+young woman, evidently of plebeian race: the form of the face is
+round, the features have nothing of the beau-ideal, and the whole head
+wants dignity: yet has the painter contrived to throw into this lovely
+picture an inimitable expression which depends on nothing external,
+which in the living prototype we should term _countenance_; as if a
+chastened consciousness of her high destiny and exalted character
+shone through the natural rusticity of her features, and touched them
+with a certain grace and dignity, emanating from the mind alone, which
+only mind could give, and mind perceive. I have seen within the last
+few days, three copies of this picture, in all of them the charming
+simplicity and rusticity, but in none the exquisite expression of the
+original: even the hands are expressive, without any particular
+delicacy or beauty of form. An artist who was copying the picture
+to-day while I looked at it, remarked this; and confessed he had made
+several unsuccessful attempts to render the fond pressure of the
+fingers as she clasps the child to her bosom.
+
+Were I to judge of Carlo Cignani by his works, I should pronounce him
+a man of elevated character, noble by instinct, if not by descent, but
+simple in his habits, and a despiser of outward show and ostentation.
+
+The other painter I alluded to, is Sasso Ferrato, a great and admired
+manufacturer of Virgins, but a mere copyist, without pathos, power, or
+originality; sometimes he resembles Guido, sometimes Carlo Dolce; but
+the graceful harmonious delicacy of the former becomes coldness and
+flatness in his hands, and the refinement and sweetness of the latter
+sink into feebleness and insipidity. Were I to judge of his character
+by his Madonnas, I should suppose that Sasso Ferrato had neither
+original genius nor powerful intellect, nor warmth of heart, nor
+vivacity of temper; that he was, in short, a mere mild, inoffensive,
+good sort of man, studious and industrious in his art, not without a
+feeling for the excellence he wanted power to attain.[W]
+
+I might pursue this subject further, but my memory fails, my head
+aches, and my pen is tired for to-night.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Both here and at Rome, I have found considerable amusement in looking
+over the artists who are usually employed in copying or studying from
+the celebrated pictures in the different galleries; but I have been
+taught discretion on such occasions by a ridiculous incident which
+occurred the other day, as absurdly comic as it was unlucky and
+vexatious. A friend of mine observing an artist at work in the Pitti
+palace, whom, by his total silence and inattention to all around, she
+supposed to be a native Italian who did not understand a word of
+English, went up to him, and peeping over his shoulder, exclaimed with
+more truth than discretion, "Ah! what a hideous attempt! that will
+never be like, I'm sure!" "I am very sorry you think so, ma'am,"
+replied the painter, coolly looking up in her face. He must have read
+in that beautiful face an expression which deeply avenged the cause of
+his affronted picture.
+
+We have been twice to the opera since we arrived here. At the Pergola,
+Bassi, though a woman, is the _Primo Uomo_; the rare quality of her
+voice, which is a kind of rich deep counter-tenor, unfitting her for
+female parts. Her voice and science are so admirable, that it would be
+delicious to hear her blindfold; but her large clumsy figure
+disguised, or rather _exposed_, in masculine attire, is quite
+revolting.
+
+At the Cocomero we had the "Italiana in Algieri:" the Prima Donna, who
+is an admired singer, gave the comic airs with great power and effect,
+but her bold execution and her ungraceful unliquid voice disgusted me,
+and I came away fatigued and dissatisfied. The dancing is execrable at
+both theatres.
+
+From one end of Italy to the other, nothing is listened to in the way
+of music but Rossini and his imitators. The man must have a transcendant
+genius, who can lead and pervert the taste of his age as Rossini has
+done; but unfortunately those who have not his talent, who cannot
+reach his beauties nor emulate his airy brilliance of imagination,
+think to imitate his ornamented style by merely crowding note upon
+note, semi-quavers, demi-semi-quavers, and semi-demi-semi-quavers in
+most perplexed succession; and thus all Italy, and thence all Europe,
+is deluged with this busy, fussy, hurry-skurry music, which means
+nothing, and leaves no trace behind it either on the fancy or the
+memory. Must it be ever thus? are Paesiello, and Pergolesi, and
+Cimarosa--and those divine German masters, who formed themselves on
+the Italian school and surpassed it--Winter and Mozart[X] and
+Gluck--are they eternally banished? must sense and feeling be for ever
+sacrificed to mere sound, the human organ degraded into a mere
+instrument,[Y] and the ear tickled with novelty and meretricious
+ornament, till the taste is utterly diseased?
+
+There was a period in the history of Italian literature, when the
+great classical writers were decried and neglected, and the genius of
+one man depraved the taste of the age in which he lived. Marini
+introduced, or at least rendered general and fashionable, that
+far-fetched wit, that tinsel and glittering style, that luxurious pomp
+of words, which was easily imitated by talents of a lower order: yet
+in the Adonis there are many redeeming passages, some touches of real
+pathos, and some stanzas of natural and beautiful description: and
+thus it is with Rossini; his best operas contain some melodies among
+the finest ever composed, and even in his worst, the ear is every now
+and then roused and enchanted by a few bars of graceful and beautiful
+melody, to be in the next moment again bewildered in the maze of
+unmeaning notes, and the clash of overpowering accompaniments.
+
+_Lucca, April 23._--Lucca disappoints me in every respect: it was
+once, when a republic, one of the most flourishing, rich, and populous
+cities in Italy; it is now consigned over to the Ex-queen of Etruria;
+and its fate will be perhaps the same as that of Venice, Pisa, and
+Sienna, which, when they lost their independence, lost also their
+public spirit, their public virtue, and their prosperity.
+
+It is impossible to conceive any thing more rich and beautiful, than
+the country between Florence and Lucca, though it can boast little of
+the elevated picturesque, and is destitute of poetical associations.
+The road lay through valleys, with the Apennines (which are here
+softened down into gently sunny hills) on each side. Every spot of
+ground is in the highest state of cultivation; the boundaries between
+the small fields of wheat or lupines, were rows of olives or
+mulberries, with an interminable treillage of vines flung from tree to
+tree. In England we should be obliged to cut them all down for fear of
+depriving the crops of heat and sunshine, but here they have no such
+fears. The style of husbandry is exquisitely neat, and in general
+performed by manual labour. The only plough I saw would have excited
+the amusement and amazement of an English farmer: I should think it
+was exactly similar to the ploughs of Virgil's time: it was drawn by
+an ox and an ass yoked together, and guided by a woman. The whole
+country looked as if it had been laid out by skilful gardeners, and
+the hills in many parts were cut into terraces, that not one available
+inch of soil might be lost. The products of this luxuriant country are
+corn, silk, wine, and principally oil: potteries abound, the making of
+jars and flasks being an immense and necessary branch of trade.
+
+The city of Lucca has an appearance in itself of stately solemn
+dulness, and bears no trace of the smiling prosperity of the adjacent
+country: the shops are poor and empty, there are no signs of business,
+and the streets swarm with beggars. The interior of the Duomo is a
+fine specimen of Gothic: the exterior is Greek, Gothic, and Saracenic
+jumbled together in vile taste: it contains nothing very interesting.
+The palace is like other palaces, very fine and so forth; and only
+remarkable for not containing one good picture, or one valuable work
+of art.
+
+_Pisa, April 25._--Pisa has a look of elegant tranquillity, which is
+not exactly _dulness_, and pleases me particularly: if the thought of
+its past independence, the memory of its once proud name in arts,
+arms, and literature, came across the mind, it is not accompanied by
+any painful regret caused by the sight of present misery and
+degradation, but by that philosophic melancholy with which we are used
+to contemplate the mutability of earthly greatness.
+
+The Duomo, the Baptistry, the Leaning Tower, and the Campo Santo,
+stand altogether in a fine open elevated part of the city. The Duomo
+is a magnificent edifice in bad taste. The interior, with its noble
+columns of oriental granite, is grand, sombre, and very striking. As
+to the style of architecture, it would be difficult to determine what
+name to give it: it is not Greek, nor Gothic, nor Saxon, and exhibits
+a strange mixture of Pagan and Christian ornaments, not very
+unfrequent in Italian churches. The Leaning Tower should be
+contemplated from the portico of the church to heighten its effect:
+when the perpendicular column cuts it to the eye like a plumb line,
+the obliquity appears really terrific.
+
+The Campo Santo is an extraordinary place: it affects the mind like
+the cloisters of one of our Gothic cathedrals which it resembles in
+effect. Means have lately been taken to preserve the singular frescos
+on the walls, which for five hundred years have been exposed to the
+open air.
+
+I remarked the tomb of that elegant fabulist Pignotti; the last
+personage of celebrity buried in the Campo Santo.
+
+The university of Pisa is no longer what it was when France and Venice
+had nearly gone to war about one of its law professors, and its
+colleges ranked next to those of Padua: it has declined in fame, in
+riches, and in discipline. The Botanic Garden was a few years ago the
+finest in all Europe, and is still maintained with great cost and
+care: it contains a lofty magnolia, the stem of which is as bulky as a
+good sized tree: the gardener told us rather poetically, that when in
+blossom it perfumed the whole city of Pisa.
+
+_Leghorn, April 26._--So different from any thing we have yet seen in
+Italy! busy streets--gay shops--various costumes--Greeks, Turks, Jews,
+and Christians, mingled on terms of friendly equality--a crowded port,
+and all the activity of prosperous commerce.
+
+Leghorn is in every sense a _free_ port: all kinds of merchandise
+enter exempt from duty, all religions are equally tolerated, and all
+nations trade on an equal footing.
+
+The Jews, who are in every other city a shunned and degraded race, are
+among the most opulent and respectable inhabitants of Leghorn: their
+quarter is the richest, and, I may add, the _dirtiest_ in the city:
+their synagogue here is reckoned the finest in Europe, and I was
+induced to visit it yesterday at the hour of worship. I confess I was
+much disappointed; and, notwithstanding my inclination to respect
+always what is respectable in the eyes of others, I never felt so
+strong a disposition to smile. An old Rabbi with a beard of venerable
+length, a pointed bonnet, and a long white veil, got up into a superb
+marble pulpit and chanted in strange nasal tones, something which was
+repeated after him in various and discordant voices by the rest of the
+assembly. The congregation consisted of an uncouth set of men and
+boys, many of them from different parts of the Levant, in the dresses
+of their respective countries: there was no appearance of devotion, no
+solemnity; all wore their hats, some were poring over ragged books,
+some were talking, some sleeping, or lounging, or smoking. While I
+stood looking about me, without exciting the smallest attention, I
+heard at every pause a prodigious chattering and whispering, which
+seemed to come from the regions above, and looking up I saw a row of
+latticed and skreened galleries where the women were caged up like
+the monkies at a menagerie, and seemed as noisy, as restless, and as
+impatient of confinement: the door-keeper offered to introduce me
+among them, but I was already tired and glad to depart.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We have visited the pretty English burial-ground, and the tomb of
+Smollet, which in the true English style is cut and scratched all over
+with the names of fools, who think thus to link their own
+insignificance to his immortality. We have also seen whatever else is
+to be seen, and what all travellers describe: to-morrow we leave
+Leghorn--for myself without regret: it is a place with which I have no
+sympathies, and the hot, languid, damp atmosphere, which depresses the
+spirits and relaxes the nerves, has made me suffer ever since we
+arrived.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Lucca._--Had I never visited Italy I think I should never have
+understood the word _picturesque_. In England we apply it generally to
+rural objects or natural scenery, for nothing else in England _can_
+deserve the epithet. Civilization, cleanliness, and comfort are
+excellent things, but they are sworn enemies to the picturesque: they
+have banished it gradually from our towns, and habitations, into
+remote countries, and little nooks and corners, where we are obliged
+to hunt after it to find it; but in Italy the picturesque is every
+where, in every variety of form; it meets us at every turn, in town
+and in country, at all times and seasons; the commonest objects of
+every-day life here become picturesque, and assume from a thousand
+causes a certain character of poetical interest it cannot have
+elsewhere. In England, when travelling in some distant county, we see
+perhaps a craggy hill, a thatched cottage, a mill on a winding stream,
+a rosy milkmaid, or a smock-frocked labourer whistling after his
+plough, and we exclaim "How picturesque!" Travelling in Italy we see a
+piny mountain, a little dilapidated village on its declivity, the
+ruined temple of Jupiter or Apollo on its summit; a peasant with a
+bunch of roses hanging from his hat, and singing to his guitar, or a
+cotadina in her white veil and scarlet petticoat, and we exclaim "How
+picturesque!" but how different! Again--a tidy drill or a hay-cart,
+with a team of fine horses, is a very useful, valuable, civilized
+machine; but a grape-waggon reeling under its load of purple clusters,
+and drawn by a pair of oxen in their clumsy, ill-contrived harness,
+and bowing their patient heads to the earth, is much more picturesque.
+A spinning wheel is very convenient it must be allowed, but the
+distaff and spindle are much more picturesque. A snug English villa
+with its shaven lawn, its neat shrubbery, and its park, is a
+delightful thing--an Italian villa is probably far less _comfortable_,
+but with its vineyards, its gardens, its fountains, and statutes, is
+far more picturesque. A laundry-maid at her wash-tub, immersed in
+soap-suds, is a vulgar idea, though our clothes may be the better for
+it. I shall never forget the group of women I saw at Terracina washing
+their linen in a bubbling brook as clear as crystal, which rushed from
+the mountains to the sea--there were twenty of them at least grouped
+with the most graceful effect, some standing up to the mid-leg in the
+stream, others spreading the linen on the sunny bank, some, flinging
+back their long hair, stood shading their brows with their hands and
+gazing on us as we passed: it was a _scene_ for a poet, or a painter,
+or a melo-drama. An English garden, adorned at every turn with statues
+of the heathen deities (although they were all but personifications of
+the various attributes of nature,) would be ridiculous. Setting aside
+the injury they must sustain from our damp, variable climate, they
+would be _out of keeping_ with all around; here it is altogether
+different; the very air of Italy is embued with the spirit of ancient
+mythology; and though "the fair humanities of old religion," the
+Nymphs, the Fauns, the Dryads be banished from their haunts and live
+no longer in the faith of reason, yet still, whithersoever we turn,
+some statue, some temple in ruins, some fragment of an altar, some
+inscription half effaced, some name half-barbarized, recalls to the
+fancy those forms of light, of beauty, of majesty, which poetry
+created to people scenes for which mere humanity was not in itself
+half pure enough, fair enough, bright enough.
+
+What can be more grand than a noble forest of English oak? or more
+beautiful than a grove of beeches and elms, clothed in their rich
+autumnal tints? or more delicious than the apple orchard in full
+bloom? but it is true, notwithstanding, that the olive, and cypress,
+and cedar, the orange and the citron, the fig and the pomegranate, the
+myrtle and the vine, convey a different and more luxuriant feeling to
+the mind; and are associated with ideas which give to the landscape
+they adorn a character more delightfully, more _poetically_
+picturesque.
+
+When at Lord Grosvenor's or Lord Stafford's I have been seated
+opposite to some beautiful Italian landscape, a Claude or a Poussin,
+with a hill crowned with olives, a ruined temple, a group of peasants
+seated on a fallen column, or dancing to the pipe and the guitar, and
+over all the crimson glow of evening, or the violet tints of morning,
+I have exclaimed with others, "How lovely! how picturesque, how very
+poetical!" No one thought of saying "How _natural_!" because it is a
+style of nature with which we are totally unacquainted; and if some
+amateurs of real taste and feeling prefer a rural cattle scene of Paul
+Potter or Cuyp, to all the grand or lovely creations of Salvator, or
+Claude, or Poussin, it is perhaps, because the former are associated
+in their minds with reality and familiar nature, while the latter
+appear in comparison mere inventions of the painter's fertile fancy,
+mere visionary representations of what may or might exist but which do
+not come home to the memory or the mind with the force of truth or
+delighted recollection. So when I have been travelling in Italy how
+often I have exclaimed, "How like a picture!" and I remember once,
+while contemplating a most glorious sunset from the banks of the Arno,
+I caught myself saying, "This is truly one of Claude's sunsets!" Now
+should I live to see again one of my favourite Grosvenor Claudes I
+shall probably exclaim, "How natural! how like what I have seen so
+often on the Arno, or from the Monte Pincio!"
+
+And, in conclusion, let it be remembered by those who are inclined to
+smile (as I have often done) when travellers fresh from Italy _rave_
+almost in blank verse, and think it all as unmeaning as
+
+    "Lutes, laurels, seas of milk, and ships of amber!"
+
+let them recollect that it is not alone the _visible_ picturesque of
+Italy which thus intoxicates; it is not only her fervid skies, her
+sunsets, which envelope one-half of heaven from the horizon to the
+zenith, in living blaze; nor her soaring pine-clad mountains; nor her
+azure seas; nor her fields, "ploughed by the sunbeams;" nor her
+gorgeous cities, spread out with all their domes and towers,
+unobscured by cloud or vapours;--but it is something more than these,
+something beyond, and over all--
+
+                   ----The gleam,
+    The light that never was on sea or land
+    The consecration, and the poet's dream!
+
+_Genoa, 30._--We arrived here late, and I should not write now, weary,
+weak, sick, and down-spirited as I am, did I not know how the
+impressions of one day efface those of the former; and as I cannot
+sleep, it is better to scribble than to think.
+
+As to describing all I have seen, thought, and felt in three days,
+that were indeed impossible: I think I have exhausted all my prose
+eloquence, and all allowable raptures; so that unless I ramble into
+absolute poetry, I dare not say a word of the scenery around Sarzana
+and Lerici. After spending one evening at Sarzana, in lingering
+through green lanes and watching the millions of fire-flies, sparkling
+in the dark shade of the trees, and lost again in the brilliant
+moonlight--we left it the next morning about sunrise, to embark in a
+felucca at Lerici, as the road between Spezia and Sestri is not yet
+completed. The groves and vineyards on each side of the road were
+filled with nightingales, singing in concert loud enough to overpower
+the sound of our carriage-wheels, and the whole scene, as the sun rose
+over it, and the purple shadows drew off and disclosed it gradually to
+the eye, was so enchanting--that positively I will say nothing about
+it.
+
+Lerici is a small fishing town on the Gulf of Spezia. Here I met with
+an adventure which with a little exaggeration and embellishment, such
+as no real story-teller ever spares, would make an admirable morceau
+for a quarto tourist; but, in simple truth, was briefly thus.
+
+While some of our party were at breakfast, and the servants and
+sailors were embarking the carriages and baggage, I sat down to sketch
+the old grey fort on the cliff above the town; but every time I looked
+up, the scene was so inexpressibly gay and lovely, it was with
+difficulty and reluctance I could turn my eyes down to my paper again;
+and soon I gave up the attempt, and threw away both paper and pencil.
+It struck me that the view _from_ the castle itself must be a thousand
+times finer than the view of the castle from below, and without loss
+of time I proceeded to explore the path leading to it. With some
+fatigue and difficulty, and after losing myself once or twice, I
+reached the top of the rock, and there a wicket opened into a walled
+passage cut into steps to ease the ascent. I knocked at the wicket
+with three strokes, that being the orthodox style of demanding
+entrance into the court of an enchanted castle, using my parasol
+instead of a dagger,[Z] and no one appearing, I entered, and in a few
+moments reached a small paved terrace in front of the fortress,
+defended towards the sea by a low parapet wall. The massy portal was
+closed, and instead of a bugle horn hanging at the gate I found only
+the handle and fragments of an old birch-broom, which base utensil I
+presently applied to the purpose of a horn, viz. sounding an alarm,
+and knocked and knocked--but no hoary-headed seneschal nor armed
+warder appeared at my summons. After a moment's hesitation, I gave the
+door a push with all my strength: it yielded, creaking on its hinges,
+and I stepped over the raised threshold. I found myself in a low dark
+vaulted hall which appeared at first to have no communication with any
+other chamber: but on advancing cautiously to the end I found a low
+door in the side, which had once been defended by a strong iron
+grating of which some part remained: it led to a flight of stone
+stairs, which I began to ascend slowly, stopping every moment to
+listen; but all was still as the grave. On each side of this winding
+staircase I peeped into several chambers, all solitary and ruinous:
+more and more surprised, I continued to ascend till I put my head
+unexpectedly through a trap-door, and found myself on the roof on the
+tower: it was spacious, defended by battlements, and contained the
+only signs of warlike preparation I had met with; _videlicet_, two
+cannons, or culverins, as they are called, and a pyramidal heap of
+balls, rusted by the sea air.
+
+I sat down on one of the cannon, and leaning on the battlements,
+surveyed the scene around, below me, with a feeling of rapture, not a
+little enhanced by the novelty and romance of my situation. I was
+alone--I had no reason to think there was a single human being within
+hearing. I was at such a vast height above the town and the shore,
+that not a sound reached me, except an indistinct murmur now and then,
+borne upwards by the breeze, and the scream of the sea-fowl as they
+wheeled round and round my head. I looked down giddily upon the blue
+sea, all glowing and trembling in the sunshine: and the scenery around
+me was such, as the dullest eye--the coldest, the most _unimaginative_
+soul, could not have contemplated without emotion. I sat, I know not
+how long, abandoned to reveries, sweet and bitter, till I was startled
+by footsteps close to me, and turning round, I beheld a figure so
+strange and fantastic, and considering the time, place, and
+circumstance, so incomprehensible and extraordinary, that I was dumb
+with surprise. It was a little spare old man, with a face and form
+which resembled the anatomy of a baboon, dressed in an ample nightgown
+of flowered silk, which hung upon him as if it had been made for a
+giant, and trailed on the ground, a yard and a half behind him. He had
+no stockings, but on his feet a pair of red slippers, turned up in
+front like those the Turks wear. His beard was grizzled, and on his
+head he wore one of the long many-coloured woollen caps usually worn
+in this country, with two tassels depending from it, which nearly
+reached his knees. I had full time to examine the appearance and
+costume of this strange apparition as he stood before me, bowing
+profoundly, and looking as if fright and wonder had deprived him of
+speech. As soon as I had recovered from my first amazement, I replied
+to every low bow, by as low a courtesy, and waited till it should
+please him to begin the parley.
+
+At length he ventured to ask, in bad provincial Italian, what I did
+there?
+
+I replied that I was only admiring the fine prospect.
+
+He begged to know, "_come diavolo_," I had got there?
+
+I assured him I had not got there by any _diabolical_ aid, but had
+merely walked through the door.
+
+_Santi Apostoli!_ did not my excellency know, that, according to the
+laws and regulations of war, no one could enter the fort, without
+permission first obtained of the governor?
+
+I apologized politely: "And where," said I, "is the governor?"
+
+_Il Governatore son io per servirla!_ he replied, with a low bow.
+
+You! _O che bel ceffo!_ thought I--"and what, Signor Governor, is the
+use of your fort?"
+
+"To defend the bay and town of Lerici from enemies and pirates."
+
+"But," said I, "I see no soldier; where is the garrison to defend the
+fort?"
+
+The little old man stepped back two steps--"_Eccomi!_" he replied,
+spreading his hand on his breast, and bowing with dignity.
+
+It was impossible to make any reply: I therefore wished the governor
+and garrison good morning; and disappearing through my trap-door, I
+soon made my way down to the shore, where I arrived out of breath, and
+just in time to step into our felucca.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+If there be a time when we most wish for those of whom we always
+think, when we most love those who are always dearest, it must be on
+such a delicious night as that we passed at Sarzana, or on such a
+morning as that we spent at Lerici; and if there be a time when we
+least love those we always love--least wish for them, least think of
+them, it must be in such a moment as the noontide of yesterday--when
+the dead calm overtook us, half way between Lerici and Sestri, and I
+sat in the stern of our felucca, looking with a sort of despairing
+languor over the smooth purple sea, which scarcely heaved round us,
+while the flapping sails drooped useless round the masts, and the
+rowers indolently leaning on their oars, sung in a low and plaintive
+chorus. I sat hour after hour, still and silent, sickening in the
+sunshine, dazzled by its reflection on the water, and overcome with
+deadly nausea: I believe nothing on earth could have roused me at that
+moment. But evening so impatiently invoked, came at last: the sun set,
+the last gleam of his "golden path of rays" faded from the waters, the
+sea assumed the hue of ink; the breeze sprung up, and our little
+vessel, with all its white sails spread, glanced like a white swan
+over the waves, leaving behind "a moon-illumined wake." Two hours
+after dark we reached Sestri, where we found miserable accommodations;
+and after foraging in vain for something to eat, after our day's fast,
+we crept to bed, all sick, sleepy, hungry, and tired.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We leave Genoa to-morrow: I can say but little of it, for I have been
+ill, as usual, almost ever since we arrived; and though my little
+Diary has become to me a species of hobby, I have lately found it
+fatiguing, even to write! and the pleasure and interest it used to
+afford me, diminish daily.
+
+Genoa, though fallen, is still "Genoa the proud." She is like a noble
+matron, blooming in years, and dignified in decay; while her rival
+Venice always used to remind me of a beautiful courtezan repenting in
+sackcloth and ashes, and mingling the ragged remnants of her former
+splendour with the emblems of present misery, degradation, and
+mourning. Pursue the train of similitude, Florence may be likened to a
+blooming bride dressed out to meet her lover; Naples to Tasso's
+Armida, with all the allurements of the Syren, and all the terrors of
+the Sorceress; Rome sits crowned upon the grave of her power, widowed
+indeed, and desolate, but still, like the queenly Constance, she
+maintains the majesty of Sorrow--
+
+    "This is my throne, let kings come bow to it!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The coup-d'oeil of Genoa, splendid as it is, is not equal to that of
+Naples, even setting poetical associations aside: it is built like a
+crescent round the harbour, rising abruptly from the margin of the
+water, which makes the view from the sea so beautiful: to the north
+the hills enclose it round like an amphitheatre. The adjacent country
+is covered with villas, gardens, vineyards, woods, and olive-groves
+forming a scene most enchanting to the eye and mind, though of a
+character very different from the savage luxuriance of the south of
+Italy.
+
+The view of the city from any of the heights around, more particularly
+from that part of the shore called the Ponente, where we were to-day,
+is grand beyond description; on every side the church of Carignano is
+a beautiful and striking object.
+
+There is but one street, properly so called, in Genoa--the Strada
+Nuova; the others are little paved alleys, most of them impassable to
+carriages, both from their narrowness and the irregularity of the
+ground on which the city is built.
+
+The Strada Nuova is formed of a double line of magnificent palaces,
+among which the Doria Palace is conspicuous. The architecture is in
+general fine; and when not good is at least pleasing; the fronts of
+the houses are in general gaily painted and stuccoed. The best
+apartments are usually at the top; and the roofs often laid out in
+terraces, or paved with marble and adorned with flowers and shrubs.
+
+I have seen few good pictures here: the best collections are those in
+the Brignolet and Durazzo palaces. In the latter are some striking
+pictures by Spagnoletto (or Ribera, as he is called here). In the
+Brignolet, the Roman Daughter, by Guido, struck me most. I was also
+pleased by some fine pictures of the Genoese painter Piola, who is
+little known beyond Genoa.
+
+The church of the Carignano, which is a miniature model of St.
+Peter's, contains Paget's admirable statue of St. Sebastian, which
+Napoleon intended to have conveyed to Paris.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Beauty is no rarity at Genoa: I think I never saw so many fine women
+in one place, though I have seen finer faces at Rome and Naples than
+any I see here. The mezzaro, a veil or shawl thrown over the head and
+round the shoulders, is universal, and is certainly the most natural
+and becoming dress which can be worn by our sex: the materials differ
+in fineness, from the most exquisite lace and the most expensive
+embroidery, to a piece of chintz or linen, but the effect is the same.
+This costume, which prevails more or less through all Italy, but here
+is general, gives something of beauty to the plainest face, and
+something of elegance to the most vulgar figure; it can make
+deformity itself look passable: and when worn by a really graceful
+and beautiful female, the effect is peculiarly picturesque and
+bewitching.
+
+It was a Festa to-day; and we drove slowly along the Ponente after
+dinner. Nothing could be more gay than the streets and public walks,
+crowded with holiday people: the women were in proportion as six to
+one; and looked like groups dressed to figure in a melodrame or
+ballet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When once we have left Genoa behind us, and have taken our last look
+of the blue Mediterranean, I shall indeed feel that we have quitted
+Italy. Piedmont is not Italy. Cities which are only famous for their
+sieges and fortifications, plains only celebrated as fields of battle
+and scenes of blood, have neither charms nor interest for me.
+
+On Monday we set off for Turin: how I dread travelling! and the motion
+of the carriage, which has now become _so_ painful! Yet a little, a
+very little longer, and it will all be over.
+
+
+      FAREWELL TO ITALY.
+
+      Mira il ciel com'e bello, e mira il sole,
+      Ch'a se par che n'inviti, e ne console.
+
+    Farewell to the Land of the South!
+      Farewell to the lovely clime
+    Where the sunny valleys smile in light,
+      And the piny mountains climb!
+
+    Farewell to her bright blue seas!
+      Farewell to her fervid skies!
+    O many and deep are the thoughts which crowd
+      On the sinking heart, while it sighs,
+      "Farewell to the Land of the South!"
+
+    As the look of a face beloved,
+      Was that bright land to me!
+    It enchanted my sense, it sunk on my heart
+      Like music's witchery!
+    In every kindling pulse
+      I felt the genial air,
+    For life is _life_ in that sunny clime,
+      --'Tis _death_ of life elsewhere:
+      Farewell to the Land of the South!
+
+    The poet's splendid dreams,
+      Have hallowed each grove and hill,
+    And the beautiful forms of ancient Faith
+      Are lingering round us still.
+    And the spirits of other days,
+      Invoked by fancy's spell,
+    Are rolled before the kindling thought,
+      While we breathe our last farewell
+      To the glorious Land of the South!
+
+    A long--a last adieu,
+      Romantic Italy!
+    Thou land of beauty, and love, and song
+      As once of the brave and free!
+    Alas! for thy golden fields!
+    Alas! for thy classic shore!
+    Alas! for thy orange and myrtle bowers!
+      I shall never behold them more--
+      Farewell to the Land of the South!
+
+_Turin, May 10th._--We arrived here yesterday, after a journey to me
+most trying and painful: I thought at Novi and afterwards at Asti,
+that I should have been obliged to give up and confess my inability to
+proceed; but we know not what we can bear till we prove ourselves; I
+can live and suffer still.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I agree with ---- who has just left me, that nothing can be more
+animating and improving than the conversation of intelligent and
+clever men, and that lady-society is in general very _fade_ and
+tiresome: and yet I truly believe that no woman can devote herself
+exclusively to the society of men without losing some of the best and
+sweetest characteristics of her sex. The conversation of men of the
+world and men of gallantry, gives insensibly a taint to the mind; the
+unceasing language of adulation and admiration intoxicates the head
+and perverts the heart; the habit of _tete-a-tetes_, the habit of
+being always either the sole or the principal object of attention, of
+mingling in no conversation which is not personal, narrows the
+disposition, weakens the mind, and renders it incapable of rising to
+general views or principles; while it so excites the senses and the
+imagination, that every thing else becomes in comparison stale, flat,
+and unprofitable. The life of a coquette is very like that of a
+drunkard or an opium eater, and its end is the same--the utter
+extinction of intellect, of cheerfulness, of generous feeling, and of
+self-respect.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_St. Michel, Monday._--I know not why I open my book, or why I should
+keep accounts of times and places. I saw nothing of Turin but what I
+beheld from my window: and as soon as I could travel we set off,
+crossed Mount Cenis in a storm, slept at Lans-le-bourg, and reached
+this place yesterday, where I am again ill, and worse--worse than
+ever.
+
+Is it not strange that while life is thus rapidly wasting, I should
+still be so strong to suffer? the pang, the agony is not less acute at
+this moment, than when, fifteen months ago, the poignard was driven to
+my heart. The cup, though I have nearly drained it to the last, is not
+less bitter now than when first presented to my lips. But this is not
+well; why indeed should I repine? mine was but a common fate--like a
+true woman, I did but stake my all of happiness upon one cast--and
+lost!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Lyons, 19th._--Good God! for what purpose do we feel! why within our
+limited sphere of action, our short and imperfect existence have we
+such boundless capacity for enjoying and suffering? no doubt for some
+good purpose. But I cannot think as I used to think: my ideas are
+perplexed: it is all pain of heart and confusion of mind; a sense of
+bitterness, and wrong, and sorrow, which I cannot express, nor yet
+quite _suppress_. If the cloud would but clear away that I might feel
+and see to do what is right! but all is dark, and heavy, and vacant;
+my mind is dull, and my eyes are dim, and I am scarce conscious of any
+thing around me.
+
+A few days passed here in quiet, and kind Dr. P** have revived me a
+little.
+
+All the way from Turin I have slept almost constantly, if that can be
+called _sleep_, which was rather the stupor of exhaustion, and left me
+still sensible of what was passing round me. I heard voices, though I
+knew not what they said; and I felt myself moved from place to place
+though I neither knew nor cared whither.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+All that I have seen and heard, all that I have felt and suffered,
+since I left Italy, recalls to my mind that delightful country. I
+should regret what I have left behind, had I not outlived all
+regrets--but one--for there, though
+
+    I vainly sought from outward forms to win
+    The passion and the life whose fountains are within;
+
+all feeling was not yet worn out of my heart: I was not then blinded
+nor stupified by sorrow and weakness as I have been since.
+
+There are some places we remember with pleasure, because we have been
+happy there; others, because endeared to us as the residence of
+friends. We love our country because it is _our country_; our home
+because it is _home_: London or Paris we may prefer, as comprehending
+in themselves, all the intellectual pleasures, and luxuries of life:
+but, dear Italy!--we love it, simply for its own sake: not as in
+general we are attached to places and things, but as we love a friend,
+and the face of a friend; there it was "_luxury to be_,"--there I
+would willingly have died, if so it might have pleased God.
+
+Till this evening we have not seen a gleam of sunshine, nor a glimpse
+of the blue sky, since we crossed Mount Cenis. We entered Lyons during
+a small drizzling rain. The dirty streets, the black gloomy-looking
+house, the smoking manufactories, and busy looks of the people, made
+me think of Florence and Genoa, and their "fair white walls" and
+princely domes; and when in the evening I heard the whining organ
+which some wretched Savoyard was grinding near us, I remembered even
+with emotion the delightful voices I heard singing "_Di piacer mi
+balza il cor_" under my balcony at Turin--my last recollection of
+Italy: and to-night, when they opened the window to give me air, I
+felt, on recovering, the cold chill of the night breeze; and as I
+shivered, and shrunk away from it, I remembered the delicious and
+genial softness of our Italian evenings--
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+22.--No letters from England.
+
+Now that it is past, I may confess, that till now, a faint--a very
+faint hope did cling to my heart. I thought it might have been just
+possible; but it is over now--_all_ is over!
+
+We leave Lyons on Tuesday, and travel by short easy stages; and they
+think I may still reach Paris. I will hold up--if possible.
+
+Yet if they would but lay me down on the road-side, and leave me to
+die in quietness! to rest is all I ask.
+
+24.--St. Albin. We arrived here yesterday--
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     The few sentences which follow are not legible.
+
+     Four days after the date of the last paragraph, the writer
+     died at Autun in her 26th year, and was buried in the garden
+     of the Capuchin Monastery, near that city.--EDITOR.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote A: First published in 1826.]
+
+[Footnote B: It must not be forgotten that this was written ten years
+ago: the aspect of Paris is much changed since then.]
+
+[Footnote C: By Christian Friederich Tieck.]
+
+[Footnote D: "Rousseau, Voltaire, our Gibbon, and De Stael,
+              Leman! those names are worthy of thy shore."
+                                               LORD BYRON.]
+
+[Footnote E: The sentence which follows is so blotted as to be
+illegible.--ED.]
+
+[Footnote F: This was indeed ignorance! (1834.)]
+
+[Footnote G: Hail, O Maria, full of grace! the Lord is with thee!
+blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
+even JESUS. Holy Virgin Mary, mother of God! pray for us
+sinners--both now and in the hour of death! Amen.--ED.]
+
+[Footnote H: The family of the Cenci was a branch of the house of
+Colonna, now extinct in the direct male line. The last Prince Colonna,
+left two daughters, co-heiresses, of whom one married the Prince
+Sciarra, and the other the Prince Barberini. In this manner the
+portrait of Beatrice Cenci cane into the Barberini family. The
+authenticity of this interesting picture has been disputed: but last
+night after hearing the point extremely well contested by two
+intelligent men, I remained convinced of its authenticity.]
+
+[Footnote I: TRANSLATION, EXTEMPORE.
+
+Love, by my fair one's side is ever seen,
+  He hovers round her steps, where'er she strays,
+  Breathes in her voice, and in her silence speaks,
+  Around her lives, and lends her all his arms.
+
+Love is in every glance--Love taught her song;
+  And if she weep, or scorn contract her brow,
+  Still Love departs not from her, but is seen
+  Even in her lovely anger and her tears.
+
+When, in the mazy dance she glides along
+  Still Love is near to poize each graceful step:
+  So breathes the zephyr o'er the yielding flower.
+
+Love in her brow is throned, plays in her hair,
+  Darts from her eye and glows upon her lip.
+  But, oh! he never yet approached her heart.]
+
+[Footnote J: Poor Schadow died yesterday. He caught cold the other
+evening at the Duke of Bracciano's uncomfortable, ostentatious palace,
+where we heard him complaining of the cold of the Mosaic floors: three
+days afterwards he was no more. He is universally regretted.--_Author's
+note._]
+
+[Footnote K: A chasm occurs here of about twenty pages, which in the
+original MS. are torn out. Nearly the whole of what was written at
+Naples has suffered mutilation, or has been purposely effaced; so that
+in many parts only a detached sentence, or a few words, are legible in
+the course of several pages.--EDITOR.]
+
+[Footnote L: Was the letter addressed 'Alla Sua Excellenza
+_Seromfridevi_,' which caused so much perplexity at the Post Office
+and British Museum, and exercised the acumen of a minister of state,
+from Salvador to his illustrious correspondent?]
+
+[Footnote M: Quid times? &c.]
+
+[Footnote N: Wordsworth.]
+
+[Footnote O: Beyond Fondi I remarked among the wild myrtle-covered
+hills, a wreath of white smoke rise as if from under ground, and I
+asked the postilion what it meant? He replied with an expressive
+gesture, "Signora,--i briganti!" I thought this was a mere trick to
+alarm us; but it was truth: within twenty hours after we had passed
+the spot, a carriage was attacked; and a desperate struggle took place
+between the banditti and the sentinels, who are placed at regular
+distances along the road, and within hearing of each other. Several
+men were killed, but the robbers at length were obliged to fly.]
+
+[Footnote P: It is understood that this beautiful group has since been
+executed in marble for Sir George Beaumont.--EDITOR.]
+
+[Footnote Q: Written on an old pedestal in the gardens of the Villa
+Pamfili, yesterday (March 29th).]
+
+[Footnote R: See the admirable and eloquent "Essays on Petrarch, by Ugo
+Foscolo," which have appeared since this Diary was written--EDITOR.]
+
+[Footnote S: Corilla (whose real name was Maddaleno Morelli) often
+accompanied herself on the violin; not holding it against her
+shoulder, but resting it in her lap. She was reckoned a fine performer
+on this instrument; and for her distinguished talents was crowned in
+the Capitol in 1779.--ED.]
+
+[Footnote T: Othello--Thou mak'st me call what I intend to do
+                      A murder,--which I thought a sacrifice.--]
+
+[Footnote U: Sestini died of a brain fever at Paris in November,
+1822.--ED.]
+
+[Footnote V: The allusion is to La Francia. When Raffaelle sent his
+famous St. Cecilia to Bologna, it was intrusted to the care of La
+Francia, who was his particular friend, to be unpacked and hung up. La
+Francia was old, and had for many years held a high rank in his
+profession; no sooner had he cast his eyes on the St. Cecilia, than
+struck with despair at seeing his highest efforts so immeasurably
+outdone, he was seized with a deep melancholy, and died shortly
+after.--ED.]
+
+[Footnote W: Forsyth complains of some celebrated Madonnas being
+_unimpassioned_: with submission to Forsyth's taste and
+acumen--_ought_ they to be _impassioned_?]
+
+[Footnote X: Dr. Holland once told me, that when travelling in
+Iceland, he had heard one of Mozart's melodies played and sung by an
+Icelandic girl, and that some months afterwards he heard the very same
+air sung to the guitar by a Greek lady at Salonica. Yet the son of
+that immortal genius, who has dispensed delight from one extremity of
+Europe to the other, and from his urn still rules the entranced senses
+of millions--Charles Mozart, is a poor music master at Milan! this
+should not be.]
+
+[Footnote Y: What Beccaria said in his day is most true of ours, "on
+paie les musiciens pour emouvoir, on paie les danseurs de corde pour
+etonner, et la plus grande partie des musiciens veulent faire les
+danseurs de corde."]
+
+[Footnote Z: "With dagger's hilt upon the gate,
+              Who knocks so loud and knocks so late?"--SCOTT.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
+
+Some minor punctuation, spelling inconsistencies, and typos have been
+changed from the original publication to reflect the authors' intent:
+
+P. 7 oclock--o'clock (Saturday Night, 11 o'clock.)
+P. 23 dissapointed--disappointed (edifices in general disappointed me)
+P. 25 on--or (martyrdom, or rather assassination)
+P. 28 reman--remain (by his birth should remain unchanged)
+P. 30 pehaps--perhaps (perhaps after all)
+P. 33 Cavigliajo--Covigliajo (Covigliajo, an uncouth dreary)
+P. 44 maitresse--maitresse (fait de maitresse)
+P. 50 Madonas--Madonnas (Raffaelle's Madonnas.)
+P. 51 Appenines--Apennines (Apennines with light clouds)
+P. 52 creatons--creations (fancy's fairest creations,)
+P. 56 sungly--snugly (a drawing-room snugly carpeted)
+P. 57 appeartance--appearance (the general appearance)
+P. 57 rathers--rather (rather grows upon me)
+P. 59 Appenines--Apennines (Apennines, rose just over Tivoli,)
+P. 60 Russel--Russell (Lady Louisa Russell)
+P. 65 Changed " to ' (nested quotes) ('Armis vitrumque canter,')
+P. 66 chef d'oeuvre--chef-d'oeuvre (hyphenated for consistency)
+P. 77 San Gioralmo--San Girolamo (San Girolamo della Carita)
+P. 79 senerade--serenade (serenade was evidently)
+P. 80 comtemplate--contemplate (contemplate the coliseum)
+P. 81 valls--walls (walls, and the stream)
+P. 90 enthusiam--enthusiasm (to whom enthusiasm is only another name)
+P. 118 Wet--We (We met many begging friars)
+P. 120 acessible--accessible (pleasant, accessible, and very private)
+P. 126 thought--though (the afternoon, though not brilliant, was)
+P. 126 amosphere--atmosphere (the atmosphere was perfectly)
+P. 127 Appennines--Apennines (Alban Hills, and the Apennines)
+P. 152 in--it (it affects the mind)
+P. 155 Added closing quotes ("ploughed by the sunbeams;").
+P. 157 Removed unnecessary opening quotes (The little old man).
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Diary of an Ennuyee, by Anna Brownell Jameson
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