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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, From the Thames to the Tiber, by J. Wardle
+
+
+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: From the Thames to the Tiber
+       or, My visit to Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Switzerland, etc.
+
+
+Author: J. Wardle
+
+
+
+Release Date: December 1, 2011  [eBook #38183]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM THE THAMES TO THE TIBER***
+
+
+This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler.
+
+                      [Picture: Portrait of Author]
+
+
+
+
+
+                                   FROM
+                                THE THAMES
+                              TO THE TIBER;
+
+
+                                   OR,
+                MY VISIT TO PARIS, ROME, FLORENCE, VENICE,
+                        MILAN, SWITZERLAND, ETC.,
+                           WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                    BY
+                                J. WARDLE
+
+                                Author of
+
+  “General Gordon, Saint and Soldier.”
+  “Tour in Palestine and Egypt.”
+  “Sound at heart,” etc.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                A. TAYLOR,
+                         CHAPEL BAR, NOTTINGHAM.
+                                  1909.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+                                                                  PAGE
+                              CHAPTER I.
+London: Its teeming millions of population; Its commercial           1
+aspect: Leaving Victoria Station for New Haven: On the
+boat: New found friends: Landing at Dieppe: Leaving for
+Paris: Arrival at Rouen: Its Cathedral, etc.
+                             CHAPTER II.
+Arrival at Paris: Our Hotel—“Hotel Londres and New York”:           11
+Visit to the Louvre: The Cathedral of Notre Dame: The
+Church of St. Geniveve: The Pantheon: Bloody Bartholomew:
+Its awful massacre.
+                             CHAPTER III.
+Paris: Palace de Concorde: Champs-Elysees: The Bois de              19
+Boulogne: The extensive Boulevards: The River Seine:
+Leaving Paris: Arrival at Dijon: Our Hotel: Dijon: Its
+Churches, etc.: Our journey to Chambery, etc.
+                             CHAPTER IV.
+Through Mont Cenis Tunnel: Passing the Customs: Our new             28
+friend—Nurse Reynolds: Our scrimmage for provisions at
+Turin: Arrival at Genoa and Table-de-hote: Arrival at
+Rome: Our Hotel, etc.
+                              CHAPTER V.
+Visit to the Forum and Coliseum: Crossing the Tiber:                36
+Castle of St. Angelo: Palace of Justice: Trajan’s Column:
+Garibaldi’s Monument: The Appian Way: St. Peter’s: Its
+magnitude and magnificence: Michael Angelo’s work.
+                             CHAPTER VI.
+Rome, continued: St. Peter’s Cathedral: St. Peter’s                 50
+Statue: His resting place: The Columns, Pictures, Fonts,
+Confessionals, etc., etc.: The Vatican: The Professional
+Letter Writer: The Arch of Titus: Statue of Nero, etc.
+                             CHAPTER VII.
+The Church of the Trinity: St. Maria: Church of Onesemus:           67
+The Grand Corso: The British and Foreign Bible Society:
+Outside view of the Quirinal: Nero’s House: Leaving Rome:
+Scene at a wayside station: Arrival at Florence: Visit to
+the Cathedral.
+                            CHAPTER VIII.
+Florence: Michael Angelo’s House: Baptistry of St. John:            77
+The Uffizi Gallery: The Tribune: A drive to the suburbs:
+Dante’s House: His Poems: Mrs. Browning on Vallambrosa:
+Michael Angelo’s work: Galileo, his trial, etc.
+                             CHAPTER IX.
+Appalling catastrophe in Italy: Messina: Savonarola: His            90
+defiance of the Pope: His excommunication: His prison
+cell, etc.: His martyrdom: Raphael: His genius as a
+painter: His works: The old Protestant Cemetery: Leaving
+Florence: Bologna: Crossing the Lagoons: Venice.
+                              CHAPTER X.
+Arrival at Venice: The ubiquitous Gondolo: The Grand               102
+Canal: The curious water ways: Our Hotel: A snap shot of a
+Gondolo and its freight: St. Mark’s Cathedral: Its curious
+history: Its wonderful Tower, and its interior
+possessions.
+                             CHAPTER XI.
+The Pigeons in St. Mark’s Square: Description of its               113
+interior: The Palace of the Doges: The Bridge of Sighs:
+The general Archives of Venice: Church of St. Maria dei
+Frari: A London Polytechnic Party: The slums of Venice:
+Our leaving.
+                             CHAPTER XII.
+Arrival in Milan: Our visit to the Cathedral: Its Spires,          127
+and Turrets: Its Stained Glass Windows, Altars, Pictures,
+and Sculpture: The Church of St. Ambrogio: The Bera
+Picture Gallery: The Hospital: Leaving Milan: Arrival at
+Como: Lake Como.
+                            CHAPTER XIII.
+Arrival at Lugano: The river Tessin and its bridge of ten          140
+arches: Bellinzono: Entrance to the great St. Gothard
+Tunnel: Station of Andermath: St. Bernard’s Hospice: The
+Devil’s Bridge: The Wood Cutter at Work: William Tell’s
+Chapel: His story: Lucerne: Our Hotel: Our run up the
+Sonnenberg, etc.
+                             CHAPTER XIV.
+The glacier gardens: The Lion of Lucerne: The glacier mill         153
+holes: The museum: The Bridge over the Reuss: The
+Cathedral: Pilatus Mountain: Leaving Lucerne: Zurich: Lake
+of Zurich: Zwingli, the reformer.
+                             CHAPTER XV.
+From Zurich to Basle: Arrival in Basle: Our Hotel: Our             165
+visit to the Rhine Bridge: “The Watch on the Rhine”: The
+Market: The Cathedral and its sculpture, etc.: Erasmus:
+The Museum: The Zoological gardens: Leaving Basle: Arrival
+at Belfort: Belfort besieged.
+                             CHAPTER XVI.
+At Marseilles: Our Hotel; Meeting Mr. and Mrs. Green and           175
+Mrs. Martin: The sights of the City: The Cathedral, etc.:
+En route for Mentone: Toulon: Passing Nice: Cannes:
+Arrival at Mentone: Our Hotel: Meeting Mr. and Miss Brown:
+The scenery, etc.: Visit to Monte Carlo.
+                            CHAPTER XVII.
+Monte Carlo: Its Casino and gardens: Leave taking at               185
+Mentone of Mr. and Miss Brown: Arrival at Cannes: Meeting
+Mr. and Mrs. Green: Cannes, its scenery, etc.: Visit to
+Grasse: Journey to Paris: London: Home, Sweet Home.
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+                                                                FACING
+                                                                  PAGE
+i.           St. Martin’s-le-Grand, London                           3
+ii.          The Marble Arch, London                                 4
+iii.         Triumphal Arch, Paris                                  15
+iv.          The Bastille Column, Paris                             20
+v.           Christian Martyrs in the Colosseum,                    37
+             Rome
+vi.          The Roman Forum, Rome                                  39
+vii.         The Pantheon, Rome                                     41
+viii.        Garibaldi’s Monument, Rome                             45
+ix.          St. Peter’s Cathedral, Rome                            49
+x.           The Arch of Titus, Rome                                61
+xi.          Church of the Trinity, Rome                            67
+xii.         Team of Oxen in Tuscany                                72
+xiii.        Dante and Beatrice, Florence                           83
+xiv.         Mrs. Wardle near the Duomo, Florence                   81
+xv.          St. Mark’s Cathedral, Venice                          109
+xvi.         Mrs. Wardle and Miss Himmel by the                    116
+             Doges Pillar, Venice
+xvii.        Ditto, in Gondola, Venice                             105
+xviii.       Milan Cathedral, Milan                                129
+xix.         St. Gothard Tunnel                                    141
+xx.          William Tell’s Monument                               145
+xxi.         Lion of Lucerne                                       153
+xxii.        The Rhine Bridge, Basle                               167
+xxiii.       The Casino, Monte Carlo                               185
+xiv.         Miss Brown at Mentone                                 183
+xxv.         Mr. and Mrs. Green, Mrs. Martin, Mrs.                 189
+             Wardle and Mrs. Giles at Cannes
+
+    “Go, little book, God send the good passage,
+    And specially let this be thy prayer:
+    Unto them all that thee will read or hear,
+    Where thou art wrong, after their help to call,
+    Thee to correct in any part or all.”
+
+                                                                 —CHAUCER.
+
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER I.
+
+
+London: Its teeming millions of population: Its commercial aspect:
+Leaving Victoria Station for New Haven: On the Boat: New found friends:
+Landing at Dieppe: Leaving for Paris: Rouen, its Cathedral, etc.
+
+We had settled to have a holiday—not a mere pic-nic, not a week-end at
+Blackpool, or a tour of a few days in the Isle of Man—but a real
+first-class, out-and-out trip.  Where then is it to be?  Why, to Rome and
+back, came the reply.  From St. Paul’s in London, the largest city in the
+world, to St. Peter’s in Rome, one of the great cities of the ancient
+world.
+
+“To Rome!” my friends said in astonishment.
+
+“Yes! to Rome.”  There seems to be magic in the very word.  Rome—The
+Eternal City.  The city of the seven hills.  The city of which St. Paul
+was proud to be a citizen.  See Acts, chapter 22, verse 25.  “Is it
+lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, uncondemned?” verse 28.
+“Then the Chief Captain came and said unto him.  Tell me, art thou a
+Roman?”  He said, “Yes.”
+
+Rome stands for power.  Her proud eagles once swept their wings over
+almost the then known world.  Rome stands for antiquity, greatness,
+wealth, splendour, conquest and colonization, liberty, law, self control,
+prowess, skill.  But, alas!  It also stands for cruelty, luxury, strife,
+war, humiliation, decay, decline.
+
+This is the objective really of our holiday.  Now it is settled, ways and
+means, and the route, etc., are but details.  Packing!  Well, I am a poor
+hand at packing.  I think it must be a gift to be able to pack well.  I
+think a good packer must be born, not made.  If I pack, sure as fate, the
+things I want first are at the bottom of the trunk.  My dear little wife,
+to whom I owe much for packing and general comfort during the tour, and,
+indeed, I owe to her well-kept journal, much that assists me to make this
+record of our holiday.
+
+                 [Picture: St. Martin’s Le-Grand, London]
+
+On the 25th September, 1907, we found ourselves en route for London,
+followed by the good wishes and prayers of loved ones left behind, also
+of the many friends we knew had kind thoughts of us.  We reached London
+about 6 p.m., and were soon snug and comfortable in “The Manchester
+Hotel.”  We had no time and no special wish just now to see London.
+London cannot be seen in a day or two.  Its magnitude bewilders, having a
+population of about 7,000,000, and for its teeming millions, there is
+need of bread, milk, beef, clothes, work, etc.  We cannot understand at a
+glance what it means.  In London we have the largest breweries,
+distilleries, and sugar refineries in the Kingdom; also many metal
+manufacturers and machine makers, including: plate, jewellery, watches,
+brass works, and all kinds of tin and zinc works; large printing and
+publishing houses; also, as you know, large millinery and tailoring
+establishments; cabinet-making on a most extensive scale,
+leather-working, coopering, coach-building, ship-building, hat-making,
+extensive chemical works, soap manufacturing and dye works; also dock
+labourers, ’bus drivers, cab drivers, tram guards and drivers, railway
+men and engine drivers, policemen, postmen, ministers of religion, there
+being over 3,000 churches in this great city, and many other means of
+living besides the few I have mentioned.  Then there are its hotels, as
+“The Manchester Hotel” where we are staying, “The Midland Grand,” “Grand
+Hotel,” Trafalgar Square, “The Victoria Hotel” in Northumberland Avenue.
+Many more offering accommodation to the tens of thousands of visitors to
+this great city from all lands.  We cannot refrain from mentioning the
+religious aspect of the city.  We have our noble Cathedral, St. Paul’s,
+always worth a visit, if only for its monuments and torn banners, and its
+choral service; then we have “Spurgeon’s Tabernacle”; “The City Temple,”
+where once ministered that mighty man of God, Dr. J. Parker; also
+Wesley’s Church; City Road West London Mission, and many others I cannot
+describe.
+
+Its theatres on all hands, who claim their votaries by tens of thousands
+nightly.  The underground electric railways give to the city traveller
+and visitor an idea of the vastness and importance of the City.  However,
+it was no part of my intention when I began this record to describe
+London, so I will content myself with saying we only spent one night in
+the city on our outward journey.
+
+[Picture: The Marble Arch, London] Many of my readers will be quite
+familiar with the streets, shops, bazaars and churches of this great hive
+of human life, human industry, and human skill.  A good night’s rest and
+we rose refreshed for our journey, now it is to Paris.  We had very
+little difficulty in re-packing our valise and trunk, settling our
+account and calling to our rescue a porter.  We were soon in train at
+Snow Hill for Victoria, arriving at this latter place in time to catch
+“The Continental” for New Haven and Dieppe.  It is not an easy matter
+even with a porter to guide you, to find out amidst such a labyrinth of
+platforms and stair-cases to find the train you want, and to get a
+comfortable seat.  We managed, however, ultimately to reach the right
+platform and to find a seat in a comfortable compartment.  We noticed our
+fellow passengers, by label on their luggage, were also going to foreign
+fields and to Continental cities.  The morning was a lovely autumn
+morning.  As we steamed out of Victoria Station we got a sight of the
+lovely landscape, the morning sun was shining in great brilliance.  We
+passed villages of importance, and towns in rapid succession.  Lewes was
+a stopping place not far from New Haven.  We did not stay long at this
+station, just long enough for the railway officials to satisfy themselves
+we were all furnished with tickets for the Continent.  After leaving
+Lewes, we were in New Haven in about half-an-hour.
+
+New Haven is about 56 miles from London.  A pretty place, lying at the
+foot of the white chalk cliffs.  It has a population of about 3,000.  It
+is, however, an important place, as the mail packets for the cities of
+Europe leave here twice daily.  Our train ran us very close up to the
+landing stage, and the securing our luggage and getting it conveyed from
+train to steamer was only the work of about ten minutes, and was managed
+without the least difficulty.  The weather continued all we could desire,
+and it seemed quite clear we were going to have a calm sea and a pleasant
+voyage across channel.  We got very nice seats on the boat; we found our
+fellow-passengers on the whole most agreeable, polite, and, indeed,
+friendly; were we not all on pleasure bent, and should we not now, on the
+wide ocean, show to others respect.  We strolled the deck of our pretty
+little vessel, she was a beauty, and behaved so well, we had not the
+least fear of that terrible disease that afflicts so many who sail the
+seas, I mean what the French call mal-de-mer—“the sickness of the sea.”
+We had hardly lost sight of the white cliffs of dear, old England, when
+our thoughts went back to home, and to loved ones.  Then we began to
+think of refreshments.  We found a menu that filled us with hopefulness
+that an agreeable meal at least might be obtained.  We went to the buffet
+and found we could get a real good English dinner.  This we had and
+enjoyed it heartily; I considered it excellent, and my wife, who is a
+connoisseur in the cookery line, declared she was well satisfied.
+
+A newly-married couple joined us.  We found they were on their honeymoon.
+A very happy couple apparently.  In our hearts we wished that their lives
+might be as smooth as the sea we were now crossing.  We became quite
+friends before we got half way across the channel.  I had my Kodak with
+me, so I must take a snap-shot or two of the happy pair; then I and my
+wife must submit to the same process.  So the time passed pleasantly, and
+in about three hours we were landing on the shores of France at Dieppe.
+
+Our little ship, as if in a hurry to serve us, was quickly up at the
+landing stage, and we were safe on shore with our baggage, en route for
+the Custom House.  We soon found out we were in a foreign land, because a
+foreign tongue was spoken, and although I am able to parley vous un peu,
+I could not hold conversation with a Frenchman, he speaks so quickly.  I,
+however, could ask a simple question in French and also give a simple
+answer to a question, and this was of immense value to me during this
+tour.  Our trunks duly examined, and free, we had a short time to look
+round Dieppe.
+
+On our strolling about a little, waiting for our train, we saw a little
+of this rather important French town and watering place.  It has a
+population of about 20,000; it lies in a hollow so to speak; the white
+chalk hills surround it; the quays are substantially built of solid
+masonry.  Dieppe seems to have an old castle, quite out-of-date, as a
+defence; there is also a citadel of modern construction; a small
+light-house, about 40-feet high, stands by the entrance of the town.  We
+learned that a large number of French people come to Dieppe for the
+summer and autumn holidays.  There are some works for the labouring
+classes, such as: ivory works, one of the most famous in Europe; also
+there are some works in horn, in bone, some in lace, some sugar
+refineries, a little ship-building, and the fishing industry is fairly
+prominent; a good supply of herring and mackerel is sent daily to Paris;
+also there are extensive oyster beds, which are a source of profit to the
+inhabitants.  We boarded the train about 4 o’clock p.m., and leaving
+Dieppe and the sea behind us, we steamed away at a rapid rate towards
+Paris.  We passed some lovely country, rich in fruit and foliage; some
+most beautiful Chalets, with grounds like fairyland; also, we saw the
+working-class home, apparently very poor, no windows and little
+furniture; they seem to live out of doors, and eat very much fruit and
+vegetables; they appear, however, healthy and strong.  We saw some one or
+two cemeteries, and so near we could see very strange archways of flowers
+or wood, or marble over the graves, and very large crucifix’s.
+
+We had left our new found friends at Dieppe, so now we were more alone to
+enjoy each others company, and to speak of the scenery and places as we
+passed them.  In about an hour-and-an-half we reached Rouen.  A very
+large and important railway station.  Here we stayed a little while, and
+we could see the town was large and important.  It was formerly the
+capital of the province of Normandy.  It is one of the best commercial
+centres in France.  It has been called the Manchester of France on
+account of its great cotton manufactories, producing goods to the value
+of 80,000,000 francs annually.  It has also manufactories of hosiery,
+silk and wool fabrics, hardware and machinery.  It is an important
+sea-port, as it has a harbour that can receive steamers of 600 tons.  It
+has a population of about 150,000.  The Cathedral of Notre Dame, built
+between 1207 and 1210, is a fine Gothic building.  The spire is nearly
+500 feet high.  In this old Cathedral rests the remains of Rollo, first
+Duke of Normandy, and his son William.
+
+M. B. Edwards, in a poem, says of this old-world Cathedral:—
+
+    “The isles grow dim, and as by winding ways,
+       Eager I climb St. Onen’s giddy height,
+    The silver censers vanish from my gaze
+       As shooting stars upon a dusky night
+    I hear the chanting vespers at my feet
+    Like wordless water, music fair and sweet.
+
+    “On priest and acolyte and people falls,
+       From western window many a sapphire ray;
+    The sculptured knights within the niched walls
+       Look not more mute and marble-like than they,
+    Living and dead with fingers clasped seem praying
+    God and the angels hear what they are saying.
+
+    “The city gleams with lights that come and go,
+       The hills are cut against the opal west;
+    The river hath a soft and onward flow
+       As some tired spirit fain to seek its rest,
+    While from the far outlying mists of green
+    Tinkle some vesper bells of Church unseen.
+
+    “Monk, Martyr, Saint, and paladin arise
+       Around me now in pinnacled array;
+    An hour ago they seemed to touch the skies,
+       At last I stand as near to heaven as they,
+    And at last ’mid this mute companionship of stone
+    I cannot feel that I am quite alone.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Arrival in Paris: Our Hotel—“Hotel Londres and New York”: Visit to the
+Louvre: The Cathedral of Notre Dame: The Church of St. Geniveve: The
+Pantheon: Bloody Bartholomew: Its awful massacre.
+
+Our stay in Rouen was of the briefest, so we were soon full steam ahead
+for Paris, and Rouen was left behind.  We crossed some wonderful bridges
+of the rivers, or river; I think we crossed the Seine several times.
+
+On approaching the suburbs of Paris, we saw large villas and larger
+mansions, surrounded with luxuriant foliage; indeed, the whole landscape
+is charming.  Soon we found the train rattling over points and crossings,
+and into Gare de Lazare.  So we are in Paris; the city of gaiety, the
+city of beauty, the goal of pleasure seekers from all parts of the world;
+a city, it is said by Victor Hugo, combines in itself—Athens, Rome,
+Jerusalem—such is the city we have just entered, and which is to be our
+home for two or three days.  The distance from the station to our
+Hotel—“Hotel Londres and New York,” 15, Place du Havre, is so short that
+our luggage was conveyed by porter, without a cab; we just walked across
+the square, and we were in the Hotel.  I had, however, a difficulty on
+hand with the porter.  My idea of remuneration for porter’s services were
+by no means up-to-date for Paris; I thought a franc for ten minutes’
+service ample.  He, evidently, did not think so, as he showed himself
+highly dissatisfied, and expressed himself in language (happily I
+understood but little of) anything but polite.  I told the Hotel Manager
+how I had acted, and he went and sent him away.
+
+When in Paris, if you are in doubt as to your exact position, and want
+direction (in England you would say, “ask a policeman”), in
+France—pardon, monsieur, Quel est le chemin pour le madoline.  If you put
+on side, he won’t notice you; if you offer him a tip, he will probably
+take you for a spy, and arrest you as an anarchist.  The lifting of the
+hat and the word “monsieur” is an open sesame which appeals to all
+Frenchmen, and smooths away many difficulties; it transforms the haughty
+policeman into the politest of bobbies; the frowning hotel-keeper into
+the most jovial of hosts; and the cross-grained custom house official
+into a most agreeable acquaintance.  You must avoid whistling while in
+Paris; the Scotchman says, “Ye mauna whustle on the Sabbath”; this saying
+must be applied to every day of the week in Paris; nothing is so
+irritating to a Frenchman, except perhaps the sight of a British tourist,
+arrayed in white flannels, marching in their grand Cathedrals, or even
+one of their ordinary Churches, with a cigarette in his mouth.  The
+untravelled man soon finds out the difference between an English and a
+Continental City, and habits of the people.
+
+We were shown to our rooms, which we found clean and comfortable; the
+Hotel is all we could desire.  A porter, at the entrance, speaks fairly
+good English.  We soon had a good square meal, in the shape of
+table-de-hote, which we were quite ready for and enjoyed; plenty of fruit
+on the tables, grapes, oranges, apples and peaches.  After satisfying the
+inner man, we strolled into the lounge or writing-room, which we found
+most convenient and pleasant—writing material, newspapers and bills of
+concerts, plays, etc.; also, here I could enjoy my pull at the weed.  We
+were not late in retiring to rest; rest we could, but not sleep for a
+time; I thought, O! restless Paris!  The only time that is quiet from
+tram, ’bus and cab seems to be from about 1 a.m. to 3 a.m.; after this
+early hour, wagons begin to lumber past, farmers from the country, I
+think, with produce which must be in the market early.  We slept,
+however, a few hours, rising fairly early for dejeuner, we were able to
+enjoy a cup of coffee made in Paris; coffee here is perfect; roll and
+butter, fish, eggs, etc.  Breakfast over we engaged a cab, a taxi-cab,
+and we drove round some parts of this wonderful city; we went by some
+parts of the banks of the river Seine, and here there are literally miles
+of quays, and the river is spanned by fifteen bridges, some of them of
+great strength and beauty.
+
+The Louvre was one of the places we visited.  No one would think of going
+to Paris without seeing this vast pile of buildings; no less than sixty
+acres, I learned, in the very heart of the city was taken up by this
+building.  It stands to-day as it has stood for more than an hundred
+years, with its grand facades, pavillions and colonnades, and its
+splendid halls, saloons and galleries, as a proud monument to the ancient
+Royalty of France.  It was the home of Henry III., till civil war drove
+him from his capital, and he perished at St. Cloud by the assassin’s
+knife.  Here for a time Henry of Navarre had his abode.  It is now a
+museum or a series of grand museums; miles of the most wonderful
+paintings, choice sculptures, Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman
+antiquities, bronzes, historic relics from far off lands, and from
+different races, engravings and models—indeed, it is a great storehouse
+of art.  During the war with Germany, the Communists set fire to one of
+the wings and the library of 90,000 volumes and many rare manuscripts
+were destroyed.
+
+                     [Picture: Triumphal Arch, Paris]
+
+It is said that on the night of the 23rd of May, a troop of Germans had
+entered the city and made their way so far, they ordered the porter or
+door-keeper of the Louvre to pour petroleum into the different rooms, and
+on his refusal, they imprisoned him and his wife in his own lodge, and
+then at once set fire to the place.  Next day the French troops arrived
+in time to release him from his sad plight, and also to arrest the flames
+in their destructive work.
+
+The Cathedral of Notre Dame, of course, came in for a visit.  It stands,
+we are told, on the site on which the Roman conqerors erected a temple to
+Jupiter.  This Cathedral is a marvel of architectural beauty.  As you
+gaze you wonder at the skill of the architect, and also of sculpture, for
+there are in marble and stone fanciful scenes from bible history
+portrayed—the Kings of Judah; a colossal image of the Virgin Mother; Adam
+and Eve.  There are many pointed arches and stained windows glistening in
+the sun’s rays.  Two massive towers rising to the height of 200 feet.
+The interior is in keeping with the exterior, only, if possible, richer
+and finer; the length is about 400 feet, and the breadth about 150.  It
+has stood in its beauty on this spot during the last 600 years.
+
+One of the Chapels of this Cathedral contains, they tell us, some
+wonderful relics.  For instance, “a part of the crown of thorns with
+which our Saviour was crowned in mockery”; also the sponge and winding
+sheet used at His death.  Kings and princes of the Roman Catholic
+persuasion have vied with each other in the costliness of their offering
+at this sacred shrine—cups, gold cups, silver cups, vases, candlesticks,
+crosses in gold and silver, some studded with diamonds, and all kinds of
+precious stones.  There are curiosities and art treasures in abundance
+within the precincts of this holy place.  It must have been a proud day
+for Napoleon when he came to be crowned in this great Cathedral, heralded
+by Popes, Marshalls and sword-bearers.  Bearers bore his train amidst the
+most brilliant assembly of this, or any other land.
+
+Another notable building we visited after the Cathedral of Notre Dame, I
+think more interesting in its way—what was at one time the Church of St.
+Geniveve—now it is known as the Pantheon.  It stands upon an elevation,
+and its magnificent dome can be seen from almost all parts of the city.
+It rises to a height of 267 feet.  The funds to build it with, we are
+told, were provided by lottery at the time of Louis XV.  Its approach is
+very attractive, being by a stately portico, and by a triumphal progress.
+The grand car, upon which the Sarcophagus containing the body of Voltaire
+was laid, was drawn by twelve white horses to the Pantheon.  It is said
+that 100,000 people joined in the procession.  Rousseau and Marat were
+buried with similar honours; but we are told, that so fickle is the
+populace, that six months after, the body of one of them was removed and
+buried in a common sewer.  Our guide was not shy in showing us the very
+sad effects of the German shells.  The large dome was shot through by
+their cannon balls, and, but for the timely help of the troops from
+Versailles, very likely this noble building would have shared the same
+fate as many others did.
+
+Opposite the grand collonade, near the Louvre, is the Church of St.
+Germain, with its strange gable, buttresses and gargoyles.  From the
+belfry of this Church, it is said, “rang out the tocsin,” which was the
+signal for the massacre of St. Bartholomew, on the 24th of August, 1572.
+At the dead of night—fit time for such awful deeds of blood and murder—at
+the sound of this tocsin the courtly butchers went forth to their work of
+slaughter, armed and shouting “for God and the King.”  They forced the
+dwellings of the Christians.  Six thousand of these assassins, wielding
+the weapons of the brigand and the soldier, ran about in the wildest
+fury, murdering without mercy or distinction of sex, or suffering, or
+age.  Many of these fiends in human form ran shouting “kill the heretic,
+kill the heretic!  Death to the Huguenots—Kill!  Kill!!”
+
+That day the human seemed to be turned into the fiend.  It is said there
+perished in Paris alone, over 15,000 Christian Martyrs, and in the
+provinces more than as many more.  The sun of that beautiful sabbath
+shone with its pure light upon the desolate and dishonoured homes of the
+victims of this terrible massacre; and the air, which should have been
+hushed from sound until the psalm of praise woke it, bore upon its
+midnight billows the yell of fierce blasphemers flushed and drunk with
+murder.  Says one, “Unhappy, Paris, thou hast suffered many things since
+that unhappy time.”
+
+There are many interesting Churches in this gay city, but I must refrain
+from dwelling upon their beauty and utility.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Paris: Palace de Concorde: Champs Elysees: The Bois de Boulogne: The
+extensive Boulevards: The River Seine, etc.: Leaving Paris: Arrive at
+Dijon: Our Hotel: Dijon, its Churches, etc.: Our journey to Chambery,
+etc.
+
+The Place de la Concorde.  Here we were pointed out was a place where a
+terrible struggle took place between the Germans and the French in 1871.
+The work of devastation and ruin was only too apparent.  We drove to the
+Champs Elysees.  This is a most lovely place, with a broad avenue a mile
+long, with trees on each side of all sorts, and grass lawns and flower
+beds in the greatest profusion.  Here wander carelessly the gay crowds,
+or sit in beautiful little cafes under the spreading branches of the
+trees.  In the groves around the children are swarming, shouting, and
+playing.  We noticed there was the ever-loved of children, “The Punch and
+Judy,” also with stalls with toys, gingerbread, etc., etc.
+
+[Picture: The Bastille Column, Paris] When the darkness gathers and the
+numerous and brilliant gas jets are lighted, stretching for the distance
+of more than a mile, and music and song float on the air, the scene is
+very fascinating.  It is said, that along this broad avenue, in 1871,
+Paris with suppressed rage—watched the last of the German army disappear.
+Our jarvey then drove us to the Bois de Boulogne, which is not far from
+here.  This is a grand promenade for chariots and horses, a little like
+our Rotten Row, in London.  There are here to be seen lakes, islands,
+caverns, artificial mounds, avenues, and, indeed, everything to make a
+most charming retreat from the busy city life.  The Champ de Mars is
+another of the open spaces.  Napoleon, before the famous battle of
+Waterloo, held his last review of the grand army of France here.  Again,
+in 1852, 60,000 soldiers were brought together on the occasion of the
+distribution of eagles to the different regiments, also several Arabs, in
+native costume, as representative of the vanquished Algerian tribes.  And
+here again, sad to say, in 1871, the Germans levelled their dreadful
+“mitrailleuse” and shot down, in their helplessness, many of the French.
+We can hardly leave Paris without saying further that the boulevards of
+Paris are a great boon and joy to the city.  Whatever may be thought or
+said of the career of Napoleon III., in fourteen years he spent
+£60,000,000 in building seventy miles of streets and two hundred
+boulevards, eight churches, eighty schools, twelve wonderful bridges, and
+planted fifty thousand trees.  All added ultimately to the wealth as well
+as the attractions of the city.  To describe the streets is a task I
+shall not attempt.  They are called Rue—as Rue Lafitte, Rue de la
+Chausse, Rue de la Victorie, Rue St. Dennis.  The numerous places and
+things in and around Paris that call for remarks are legion, but I must
+forbear, only to give one passing reference to the river Seine and its
+many bridges.  Pont Notre Dame or the bridge of Our Lady, dates from the
+fifteenth century; a bridge of later date, we were told, was made of
+wood, and fell into the river taking sixty houses with it.  This is a
+fine bridge built of solid masonry.  The Pont d’Arcole is a suspension
+bridge for foot passengers only.  The Pont Neuf was built by Henry IV.
+There is a bronze horse on the bridge which was cast in Tuscany.  On its
+way to Paris, the vessel bringing it was wrecked off the Norman coast,
+and lay for a year at the bottom of the sea.  It was ultimately fished up
+and brought to its present position.  And now I must leave, for a time at
+least, any further reference to Paris, only to say we settled our account
+at the Hotel and drove off to Gare-de-Lyon to catch the train at 10.25
+for Dijon.  Our driver was a very interesting sort of Frenchman, and
+tried to explain and show us places and things, but we were little the
+better for his attempts to enlighten us.  We reached the station early,
+and were soon steaming away through France, and as we did so, we came to
+the conclusion it was as fair a land as e’er we had set eyes on; miles of
+lovely lawns; hedges cut and trimmed as if by a barber; the poplar trees
+rising in rows, long and even, all in order and beauty; then the rivers
+here and there rolling along, between grassy banks, and the lovely fat
+looking cattle browsing or sleeping in soft sunshine; cosy cottages,
+almost buried in bowers of roses; quaint old world villages, with
+red-tiled cottages; and stately churches with ivy covered towers, made
+one think of the poet who sang:—
+
+    “Through thy cornfields green and sunny vines,
+    O, pleasant land of France.”
+
+We had very comfortable seats in the train, and our travelling
+companions, I think, saw we were foreigners, therefore did not trouble us
+with any conversation.  The country scenery we passed was charming, as
+the autumn tints were visible upon the trees; also the rich corn harvest
+was gathered in, and stacks of wheat were plentiful.  Labourers we could
+see in the fields tilling the soil for next year’s produce.  The country
+we passed through in our journey from Paris to Dijon (our next stop) is
+comparatively flat, slightly undulating in places, and I should think the
+soil is of a rich nature.  About 6 o’clock we arrived at Dijon, and soon
+were out of the train and into the hotel ’bus.  We had arranged
+beforehand our hotel from a list supplied from “Cook & Sons.”  Here we
+had chosen the “Grand Hotel de la Cloche,” or we should call it the “Bell
+Hotel.”  After having secured our apartments—which were of a first-class
+order, most profusely decorated and richly furnished, and clean beyond
+description—we had a wash, and found table-de-hote was ready, and we were
+ready too.  A well prepared and well served dinner of eight courses;
+wines free and abundant to those who cared to have it; indeed, a bottle
+of the French red wine was placed to each individual at the table; fruit
+in abundance.  A very good company, and apparently very jolly.  All were
+foreigners, either French, German or Italian.  After dessert we went for
+a little while to the smoke room, and then to bed.  We slept well until
+very early in the morning, when a terrible storm of thunder and lightning
+broke over the town—it was very startling, being so severe.  We learned,
+when at breakfast, that a woman had been struck by lightning close by our
+hotel; she, however, was not killed.
+
+Dijon lies in a valley, the river Onche runs through it, and a beautiful
+undulating piece of land, covered with vines, lies to the left of the
+town, which is nearly 200 miles from Paris.  It has now, I believe, a
+population of about 50,000.  We took the best means of seeing it in the
+short time at our disposal, by hiring a car.  One of the most
+jolly-looking Frenchmen I ever saw, with a face as round and red as an
+apple, his horse was just as fat as a horse could be, and he cared for it
+as if it was human, or even more than some human beings are cared for.
+He drove us to some lovely gardens where there was a fine lake and a
+fountain which was then playing.  Having my Kodak with me I took a
+snap-shot, though I regret to say, I did not get a good picture.  We
+drove to the lovely Cathedral of St. Boniface, built, we were told, for
+the third time in the twelfth century.  The spire is very fine, rising to
+a height of 300 feet.  We also visited St. Michael’s, which is Grecian in
+its exterior, but it is Gothic in its interior.  We passed a very old
+Carmelite Church with rich carving about the entrance, and a fine old
+carved oak door.  On the steps sat two old men resting, typical of the
+labouring class of France.  I just managed to get a snap-shot.  There is
+a fine town hall, which shows itself to great advantage.  We learnt it
+was at one time the Palace of the Duke of Burgundy, and had then a very
+large collection of scientific and art subjects, and a library of 50,000
+volumes.  Dijon is one of the loveliest towns of France.  It has in it
+some manufacturies as woollen cloth, blankets, glue, baskets, mustard
+oil, saltpetre, and there is also a brewery.  At the time of the Roman
+invasion, it is said, Cæsar fixed and fortified a camp near here.  The
+Germans attacked it in 1871, and it capitulated on October 23rd of that
+year, after a long and severe struggle, and was made, for the time being
+(to the great chagrin of the inhabitants) the head-quarters of the German
+General Werder.  Having made as full an acquaintance of the place as we
+could in the short time at our disposal, we paid our hotel account and
+found ourselves again at the railway station.  Here I had a long and
+angry altercation with the ticket examiner.  I understood him to say our
+tickets were for another route; I closely scanned them, and assured him
+in the best French at my command, our tickets were in order, and, after
+considerable difficulty, he consented to our passing the stile and
+getting, to the train.  Again we were on rail, comfortably fixed and
+destined for Chambery.  We had not left Dijon long before we noticed the
+vine-clad hills, which indicated our approach to the South of France, and
+Alpine hills.  The scenery grew more beautiful as we sped along towards
+our destination.  We were able not only to enjoy the views as we passed
+villages and hamlets—but were able to get a fairly good square meal on
+the train.  We arrived safely at Chambery about 5 o’clock, and as usual
+we had fixed upon an hotel.  This time it is Hotel de France, and we were
+soon in a rumbling old ’bus and driven to a very quiet part of this quiet
+sleepy little town.  We found it fairly comfortable, and a hostess who
+had a robust and bonny appearance, and whose welcome in the French
+fashion was all we could wish.  Our rooms were lofty and rather barely
+furnished.  There was a feeling of chilliness about the place, but we
+were only staying for one night, so would put up with it.  A good hot
+table-de-hote dinner, and we felt better.  To bed at an early hour, was
+our habit, and here we did not break it.  A good night’s rest, and I was
+stirring early to look round and get information.  It is a town of about
+13,000 inhabitants.  An Archbishop resides here (of the Romish Church) of
+course.  It has some manufacturies in silk gauze, watches, leather, etc.
+I saw some soldiers on horseback on parade and took a snap-shot.  Also
+two fine bullocks pulling a wagon of timber.  We had a very good
+breakfast, as our hostess was most gracious and obliging.  We settled up
+accounts, which we found on a moderate scale, indeed, cheaper than a
+similar hotel in England.  We started for the station on foot, the
+morning being fine, while a porter conveyed our luggage on a wheelbarrow.
+Arriving in good time at the station we managed to get good comfortable
+corner seats, so we could “view the landscape o’er” at our leisure.  We
+soon found it was worth surveying, for we were nearing the Alps.  On our
+left, some fifty miles or more—Geneva and, between the city and Chambery,
+lay a rugged mountainous district scarcely matched in any part of the
+world.  For an hour or more we watched the changing scenery with an
+intense interest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+Our journey to and through Mont Cenis Tunnel: Passing the Customs: Our
+new friend Nurse Reynolds: Our scrimmage for provisions at Turin: Arrival
+at Genoa and Table-de-hote: Arrival at Rome and our Hotel, etc.
+
+Mountains, rivers, waterfalls, landscapes, vineyards, castles, chalets,
+and in some cases, so near the villages, we saw children playing on the
+village green, our train steaming on at a good speed, we soon found
+ourselves at Modane.  This is the frontier between France and Italy, and
+here I expected we should have to change trains, go through the Customs,
+and re-embark on another train.  So we got out of the train.  I soon
+found, however, we were not to change, so we re-entered another part of
+the same train, and here we were civilly and carefully dealt with; the
+very acme of politeness was shown.  Our bags and valises were just
+opened, but scarcely examined.  We declared we had nothing within, to the
+best of our knowledge and belief, upon which duty was payable. When asked
+the question, I answered “Non, Monsieur.”  When we came to settle down
+before the train proceeded on its journey we noticed our fellow
+travellers were different.  We found two ladies, mother and daughter,
+going to join a near relative in India; an Italian woman, not over clean,
+with a babe about four weeks’ old; and a nurse in uniform who was going
+to Rome to fill a position, also she wanted to learn the Italian
+language.  My dear wife and this nurse soon became close acquaintances,
+as they both had learned the profession, and for some time they were too
+absorbed almost to notice the scenery we were passing, for we were now
+nearing the Alps through which we were to pass.  We reached Mont Cenis
+duly, and, as we heard so much of this terrible tunnel, we almost dreaded
+passing through it.  At this point there is an old pass over Mont Cenis,
+or roadway between Piedmont and Savoy, the highest point 11,570 feet
+above sea level.  The pass was an old unused road, and dangerous on
+account of brigands and bandittis.  Bonaparte, be it said to his credit,
+in 1803, spent £300,000 in repairing it, and it was here the great
+Napoleon III. sent his troops into Italy against Austria in 1859.  The
+tunnel is about eight miles in length.  To make it was a work of almost
+superhuman labour and skill.  It was commenced by two sets of men, one on
+the Italian side and one set on the French side, in the year 1857; and so
+exact had been the calculations made, that when the men met in the
+middle, they were not a single foot out of their calculations.  The cost
+was nearly £3,000,000, and quite a number of valuable lives.  Now, both
+for business and pleasure, a way has been opened to the sunny south.  We
+settled in our respective corners as we pierced this great mountain, and
+gave ourselves up to reflection.  The great train thundered on, and
+silence largely held us all in its thrall.  The half-hour in going
+through Mont Cenis seemed almost half-a-day.  At last we emerged into the
+day light, and into the glorious sunshine of sunny Italy, with its
+vine-clad hills, and its serene and sunny sky—“Land of all lands the
+pride,” leaving behind us the Alpine heights (to revisit them on our
+return).  We were running for Turin.  We found we had no buffet on the
+train, and as we had not laid in a stock of refreshments, we began to
+feel the cravings of nature, and we began to wonder how they were to be
+satisfied.  We ultimately pulled up at Turin; how long we were to stop I
+did not know, and I could not ask, for now it was beyond my bit of
+French.  I said to my dear wife, here goes, we must have bread or starve:
+if the train leaves before I return to you—well, good-bye!  But I will do
+my best to be back in a few minutes and before the train leaves.  Without
+hat I rushed down the platform looking for a buffet, right at the bottom
+of a long platform I saw the word buffet.  I darted in, threw down a
+lire, and picked up two rolls of bread worth about twopence each, also
+some fruit worth about as much.  I seized these and hurried back to the
+carriage, passengers and people looking on and the waiters seemed to
+think I must be an escaped lunatic.  Well! I reached our carriage just as
+the train was moving out.  What would have happened if I had been left
+behind I do not care to think.  “All’s well that ends well.”  So we got
+at least something that would keep soul and body together until we could
+get a proper meal.  We had decided to stop at Genoa, but my wife said
+“well, now Nurse is going right through to Rome, let us keep her
+company.”  So we decided not to remain at Genoa, but to go right through;
+that meant twenty-four hours in the train.  As we were approaching Genoa
+we could see lovely vine-clad slopes, also the hills, the rivers and
+lakes, the landscapes, lovely beyond my power to describe.
+
+Genoa is a very fine city.  I felt I could say of it as is said of the
+City of Jerusalem.  Beautiful for situation is Genoa.  Here we found we
+should have time for dinner; twenty minutes being allowed.  We left our
+carriage—now I had two nurses to take care of—we had to go under some
+arches, and across several platforms, to get to the buffet; this took us
+five minutes out of the twenty.  We found, to our extreme satisfaction, a
+table-de-hote fully set out.  Soup was laid out and waiting; waiters
+plenty.  No sooner one course was over, another was before us—chicken,
+fish, saddle of mutton, pastry, ices, and more than we needed—so that in
+ten minutes we had well satisfied the inner man.  Cigars were lying on
+the counter, and each passenger having dinner just helped himself, also
+to as much fruit as we could conveniently take.  We were also helping
+ourselves to Post Cards but these, we were reminded, we must pay for as
+extra.  So we scampered back with all speed.  Never, I think, did a
+dinner of eight courses disappear so quickly.  We had no time to explore
+the town, and we could only get glimpses of it from the train going in.
+It is called “le Superb.”  Has some of the finest churches in Italy; is
+also a city of Commerce, of Shipping.  It is a garrisoned city, and has
+fortifications considered impregnable.  It is a city of palaces.  Also
+has a picture gallery containing some fine paintings by the old masters,
+one by Guercino, in the very best colouring, “Virgin and Child.”  This
+has been a favourite subject of the Artists, as both in oils and in
+marble and stone, this subject is prominent.  “The Flight into Egypt” is
+another favourite.  These, however, we had not the pleasure of seeing, so
+we could only have the pleasure of knowing we had been near them.  We
+left Genoa about 9 p.m.; it was quite dark, and so sultry we could hardly
+bear the heat of the atmosphere.  We hutched up into our corners to try
+to sleep, but with the rattle of the train, the screams of the baby, and
+the impatience of the mother, we could not sleep, at least I could not.
+I think my wife got a little sleep.  So did the nurse, our travelling
+companion.  Before midnight, there broke over us a thunder storm.  The
+lightning was so vivid I could clearly see the objects we passed, and it
+continued for several hours.  We passed the leaning tower of Pisa before
+daylight broke in upon us, we were also getting too tired to enjoy the
+look out when the day broke.
+
+As we sped on we expected to see the City of Rome about 10 a.m.  At last
+the vision burst upon our view.  Rome at last.  Yes, certainly, there is
+the proud City.  Its towers, spires and domes, and minarets, all
+glistening in the morning sun.  The monuments and ruins of this city
+still standing testifies to the greatness of its past history.  The
+gigantic Colosseum to the humblest of ruins, everything in Rome is
+eloquent in the language of history.  We soon hunted up our luggage, and
+made our way out of the carriage to the platform.  After a few words with
+our companion, the Nurse, we separated.  She was expecting to be met, and
+we were anxious to get to our hotel.  This time we had chosen the “Grand
+Hotel Continental,” and finding their ’bus at the station we were soon
+conveyed to our destination.
+
+The hotel was certainly of a high-class order, and very extensive.  The
+grand saloon for dining was most costly furnished.  Mirrors and paintings
+on the walls gave brilliancy and attractiveness to the scene.  The
+lecture room, the smoke room, the reading room, were all most luxuriantly
+fitted up.  The bed rooms also were sweet and clean.  Abundance of
+lavatories, bathrooms, lifts, etc., make the place a comfortable home
+from home.  After having fixed our number (I mean the number of our bed
+room, this was always our first business at a fresh hotel) we had
+breakfast, then a bath, for we had no opportunity of even a good wash
+since leaving Chambery twenty-four hours ago.  We were needing it badly.
+An ample supply of hot water for the bath, towels ready to hand, soap we
+carried with us.  We thought it strange, but we found it true, the hotels
+don’t find soap.  This reminds me of Mark Twain’s position when in Italy,
+in his “Innocents Abroad.”  He says, “We have had a bath in Milan, in a
+public house.  They were going to put all three of us in one bath tub,
+but we objected.  We chose to have three tubs, and large ones—tubs suited
+to the dignity of aristocrats who had real estate, and brought it with
+them.  After we were stripped and had taken the first chilly dash, we
+discovered that haunting atrocity that has embittered our lives in so
+many cities and villages of Italy, there was no soap.  I called.  A woman
+answered and I barely had time to throw myself against the door, before
+she would have been in, in another second.  I said, ‘Beware, woman!  Go
+away from here—go away, now, or it will be worse for you.  I am an
+unprotected male, but I will preserve my honour at the peril of my
+life.’”  We had a good bath, then to bed for a few hours, as we had had
+hardly any sleep in the train.  We rose about 2.30 p.m. refreshed, and
+after lunch we prepared for a stroll or ride to see the sights of this
+wonderful city.  We soon found it is a wonderful city.  The ancient and
+the modern are seen at almost every point.  And yet you seem to feel
+there is no jar on your taste or feeling.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+Visit to the Forum and the Colosseum: Crossing the Tiber: Castle of St.
+Angelo: Palace of Justice: Trajan’s Column: Garibaldi’s Monument: The
+Appian Way: St. Peter’s: Its magnitude and magnificence: Michael Angelo’s
+work.
+
+           [Picture: Christian martyrs in the Colosseum, Rome]
+
+Our first visit was to the Colosseum.  Among the many sights of Rome none
+give us a better idea of its ancient civilisation than the Forum and the
+Colosseum.  The heart of the great Roman Empire throbbed in the Forum.
+Here was, at one time, the Senate, the market, the courts, indeed, it was
+the very centre of the life of Rome.  As we gazed upon the ruins, the
+vast marble columns, still standing, its broken arches, and gables in
+ruins, it needed no great stretch of the imagination to fancy we were
+back to the palmy days of Rome, and the Forum is ringing with the cheers
+of the vast populace who have sat under Cicero’s eloquence; or, we fancy
+we can hear the tramp of Roman legions as they return from some nightly
+conquest, passing the gates of this remarkable building.  The ground it
+covered would be about 250,000 square feet.  These, of course, embraced
+the market place, the rostrum, several temples, and the triumphal arch.
+The whole building was of marble, and with its marvellous architecture,
+it must, in its glory, have presented a striking appearance.  The Palace
+of Cæsar stands just behind.  We had a chance of seeing a little of the
+gardens, once belonging to this palace.  Enough of the remains serve to
+show something of the wealth and luxury of those ancient Emperors.  I
+took two snap-shots of a part of the ruins of this wonderful place.  In
+my photograph the marble columns are seen to be standing, and they are
+where they have stood for the last fifteen hundred years at least.  From
+here to the Colosseum, no less wonderful than the Forum, we then made our
+way.  The first view of it filled us with awe.  In its ruins it is
+awfully grand.  It must surely be the most imposing ruin in Rome, and it
+is the most historically interesting relic of ruin in the world.
+Vespasian began to build it in the year 72 A.D., and the Emperor Titus
+completed it in the year 80 A.D.  Historians tell us it was built by the
+forced labour of Jews and Christians.  Its architect, they tell us, was
+one “Gaudentius,” who afterwards became a Christian, and died a martyr
+within the walls he himself had planned and helped to build.  Originally
+it would hold in all 100,000 people, and 90,000 could be seated in its
+vast galleries and rooms.  It would cover, apparently, about six acres of
+land.  Down to the sixth century it remained in its beauty undiminished,
+and little decayed.  Inside the vast building was a fine statue of Nero.
+The extreme length of the walls outside are about six hundred feet, and
+the width nearly five hundred feet.  There was originally a portico
+carried round the whole building, adorned with gilded columns, while
+statues of the finest marble filled the arcades, and there were rich
+awnings of silk for a protection from the sun’s heat.  It is stated the
+carnival lasted for several weeks, and no less than five thousand wild
+beasts, some from the Indian Jungles, and some from the African morasses
+took part.  These terrible gladiator fights were the amusements for the
+aristocracy of Italy, and were attended by stately courtiers and the
+nobles of the land.  We saw the bars still standing in the ruins, behind
+which the wild beasts lurked, waiting to be turned into the arena to
+fight with gladiators, i.e., men trained, who with their lives in their
+hands were prepared for this terrible ordeal.  If they came out with the
+trophy they were applauded, and with honours escorted through the streets
+of Rome.
+
+[Picture: The Roman Forum, Rome] Sometimes, at the bidding of the wicked
+Emperor Nero, one hundred Christians would be brought into the arena,
+when a vast crowd would be present to watch four or five lions and as
+many tigers turned in, wild with fury, and mad with hunger, the Christian
+martyrs were soon delivered from their fleshly tenement and went up to
+their reward.  It is said that St. Ignatius was brought from Antioch to
+be devoured by these wild beasts.  Church traditions record many martyrs
+within these now ruins.  Byron says:
+
+    “I see before me the Gladiator lie;
+    He leans upon his hand, his manly brow
+    Consents to death, but conquers agony.
+    The arena swims around him, he is gone
+    E’er ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won.
+    He heard it, but he heeded not; his eyes
+    Were with his heart, and that was far away.
+    There were his young barbarians all at play.
+    There was their Dacian mother—he their sire
+    Butchered to make a Roman holiday.”
+
+Or Keble:
+
+    “And now the gratings ope, with hideous roar
+    Leap forth those hungry brutes, while kneel in prayer,
+    Those heaps of Christians, how their spirits soar
+    Above or wounds or death.”
+
+I stood and gazed, and thought, by those terrible ruins.  I think I was
+as much affected as when I stood and gazed upon those marvellous
+structures, the Pyramids of Egypt.  I took a snap-shot of my dear little
+wife within the ruins of the Colosseum, and we left it to ponder over its
+history and its ruin.  We thought of the prophecy in prose of an
+Anglo-Saxon Pilgrim.  He said: “While stands the Colosseum, Rome shall
+stand; when falls the Colosseum, Rome shall fall.  And when Rome
+falls—the world.”
+
+                      [Picture: The Pantheon, Rome]
+
+“The Pantheon” was one of the places we were delighted with.  This dated
+from before Christ’s time, and is now in a wonderful state of
+preservation.  It was originally dedicated by Agrippa to “All the gods.”
+It was consecrated as a church in the year 610 A.D. by Pope Boniface IV.,
+under the name of St. Maria.  The portico consists of sixteen granite
+corinthian columns nearly forty feet high, eight in the front and the
+others in three colonnades.  Inside, we were struck with its beauty,
+especially by the arrangement for light which comes from a vast dome over
+our heads.  We walked reverently as we knew we were walking on the very
+same pavement as Augustus and Agrippa, and others whose dust has long
+centuries ago, gone to its mother earth.  Here rest the remains of one of
+the world’s greatest painters—Raphael.  He was buried in 1620.  In recent
+years a doubt was raised as to whether he really was buried here, and a
+search was allowed and made in 1833, it was then ascertained beyond the
+shadow of a doubt that he was buried here, as his remains were intact.
+On leaving the Pantheon, and before crossing the Tiber, we were reminded
+of the poet’s words referring to this church: “Simple, erect, austere,
+sublime—Shrine of all saints and temple of all gods from Jove to
+Jesus—Spared and blest by time, looking tranquilly while falls or nods
+arch, empire, each thing round thee, and man plods his way through thorns
+and ashes—glorious dome! shalt thou not last?  Times’ scythe and tyrant’s
+rods shiver upon thee—Sanctuary and home of art and piety—Pantheon!
+Pride of Rome.”
+
+After crossing the Tiber on one of its many wonderful bridges, adorned on
+each side by statues in stone of the celebrities of all ages, we found
+that just opposite this bridge is what is called the Castle of St.
+Angelo.  An immense pile, circular in form, on its summit a large
+monument, and in front a clock of very large dimensions.  It was erected
+by the Emperor Adrian, and intended to be for his own tomb and those of
+succeeding kings or emperors.  We did not go inside, but we learned it
+was fitted and filled with the finest works of art, specially that in
+marble finished by the sculptor’s chisel.  From here we started to drive
+to our hotel, for we were satiated with the wonderful sights of Rome.  We
+passed the Palace of Justice, a modern building, indeed, only just having
+the finishing touches put upon it.  It is of granite, the size is immense
+and the appearance noble.  As we passed, churches and theatres seemed to
+be numerous.  Gay and grave, sad and happy, new and old.  There “Beeston
+Humber Motor Cycle” advertised.  There the ruins of a building that had
+stood for a thousand years.
+
+The Column of Trajan calls for a passing note.  It is a fine specimen of
+the Doric order, and very fortunately it is in a good state of
+preservation.  On three sides of the pedestal there are bas-reliefs, on
+the fourth side is an inscription to Trajan’s tomb.  On the column are
+over 20 very fine carvings, representing the various wars in which he had
+taken part.  On the top is a fine statue of the Apostle St. Peter.  As we
+stood and looked upon this ancient monument and thought of the fact that
+it had stood there for well nigh on 2,000 years, we re-called the words
+of a poet who represents fairly the condition of things in Trajan’s day.
+
+B. E. H. Plumbtree says:
+
+    “Through haughty Rome’s imperial street
+    The mighty Trajan rode,
+    And myrrh and balm and spices sweet
+    In silver censers glowed;
+    In car of state erect he stood,
+    And round him rushing like a flood
+    The people poured with shout and song,
+    And every eye through all that throng
+    Turned to him with delight.
+    For he had triumphed far and wide,
+    Had sated Rome’s high-soaring pride,
+    And, laying captive nations low,
+    Now dragged the pale and trembling foe
+    Bent down in sore affright.
+    And still before him spread afar
+    New pathways for his conquering car,
+    More crowns of world-wide fame to win
+    ’Mid shouts of warriors battle din:
+    One triumph being o’er he spurned
+    And still his fevered spirit burned
+    New realms, new worlds to gain.
+    And still his legions on he led,
+    Legions that ne’er from foe had fled,
+    The glory of his reign.”
+
+We left the mighty column standing in its solitary grandeur, a memorial
+of man’s achievement, while yet other things around us testified to the
+instability of all earthly things.  “Change and decay in all around I
+see.”
+
+We reached our hotel tired and hungry.  We, however, soon found the value
+of a good wash, then a good table-de-hote meal, and then to write up our
+diaries and think of the day’s experiences, then to go to rest.  After a
+good night’s sleep we rose refreshed.  Had a good wash, then breakfast.
+After letters, postcards, etc., we prepared for further investigations of
+the great city.  We went out, but no sooner did we appear in the great
+square facing our hotel, when, I should think, at least a dozen cabmen
+turned their horses heads towards us, asking for our patronage.  We could
+only hire one, so we had choice and it fell upon a decent looking man—the
+very picture of a son of Italy—with a very good looking horse.  This time
+we drove to the mound upon which stands the noble monument to General
+Garibaldi, the statue of one of Italy’s noblest heroes and patriots.
+Garibaldi was born at Nice in 1807.  His family were quite obscure, and
+without name or fame.  His father had a small coasting vessel, and to
+this, probably, is due something of the adventurous spirit of his son.
+When he had attained his manhood, he went to Genoa and then to Rome.
+Here he joined a band called “Young Italy,” and as a member of this band
+he was indicted for treason and sentenced to death.
+
+                  [Picture: Garibaldi’s Monument, Rome]
+
+By some means he escaped this sentence and fled to Marseilles in France.
+From here to South America, and here he joined the army and fought
+against Brazil.  He became a most adventurous and daring leader.  In 1848
+he returned to Italy with a view to give himself to the army of Italy.
+They, however, did not receive him with the cordiality he deserved.  He,
+however, raised an army of 1,500 brave men, like-minded with himself, and
+went against the Austrians, who were threatening Italy severely and
+dangerously.  He showed skill and bravery on the field of battle, and so
+attracted the notice of Victor Immanuel, who with his own hand fastened
+on the hero’s breast the gold medal for military bravery.  He became the
+idol of the nation of Italy, as General Gordon might be called the hero
+of the Soudan.  So Garibaldi may be called the hero of Italy, and as in
+Gordon’s case, riches, titles, conventional distinctions were as nothing,
+so in the case of this illustrious soldier and hero.  He had the honour
+of a seat in the Parliament of Italy in 1875.  The latter part of his
+life was spent in retirement, and he died suddenly in the year 1882.  And
+here to his memory is erected, in the very heart of the Eternal City, a
+splendid monument.  His life-sized figure in bronze on a fine charger,
+while around the monument are bas-reliefs of great interest.  From this
+high elevation we had a good view of the city and of the river Tiber,
+which is about equal to our river Trent for width, it is spanned in
+several places by bridges.  Here we could look down the Appian Way.  It
+would not be difficult, standing here, to imagine just away at yonder
+port, some ten or twelve miles away, a shipwrecked crew has landed its
+cargo of grain; also some soldiers with three prisoners, amongst them is
+Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles.  He is chained to a soldier;
+they come along the Appian Way, where we are just looking—a road that had
+often rung with the plaudits to the victors in many a hard fought fight.
+A strange sight to see this poor man, without money, friends, or
+influence.  Yet he was the true conqueror of Rome.  He said truly “God
+hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God
+hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are
+mighty.”  Cor., chapter I, verse 27.  St. Paul says again: “And so we
+went towards Rome, and from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they
+came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and the three taverns: whom when
+Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.”  Acts, chapter 28, verses 14
+& 15.  Paul is allowed to speak for himself, having appealed to Cæsar.
+“And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all
+that came to him, preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching those things
+which concern the Lord Jesus Christ.”
+
+Up this Way, it is likely, Titus brought up the spoils he had taken in
+his overthrow of the City of Jerusalem.  The spoils consisted of the “Ark
+of the Covenant,” overlaid round about with gold, the golden pot that had
+manna, “and Aaron’s rod that budded.”  Heb., chapter 9, verse 4.  From
+this vantage ground we could see Rome, regal Rome, republican Rome, and
+in the distance St. Peter’s and the Vatican, and many hundreds of other
+churches and prominent buildings which hold the records of ecclesiastical
+Rome.
+
+We visited, of course, the grand church or cathedral of St. Peter.  This
+is the one thing we _must_ see.  This is the goal of millions of pious
+pilgrims from all lands, and at all seasons.  I noticed in our
+illustrated papers of about November, 1908, the Pope had been celebrating
+his fifty years of priesthood, there was a great procession of thirty-six
+Cardinals, four hundred Bishops, fifty thousand spectators, and St.
+Peter’s offerings were asked for by His Holiness for chalices for the
+poorer churches.  The Duchess of Norfolk presented £500 as a response.
+The Pope was carried shoulder high in the Sedia Gestoria, over the heads
+of the vast masses, and as he was borne aloft, he bestowed his blessings
+on all sides, and amongst all classes of people.  Passing over or through
+the vast throng he was placed on his golden throne, whence he grants his
+indulgences and extends to his flock sympathy and prayers.
+
+When we got within sight of the noble building we were constrained to
+stand still and look and let our thoughts and feelings have full play,
+for just then they were of a very mixed character, as we thought of Rome
+and its history, of this building and its surroundings, and what it
+meant.  At the entrance we could see right through the large Piazza or
+Square, in the centre of which is an obelisk, I think Egyptian in
+character.  On either side are fountains throwing their sparkling waters
+from almost innumerable jets.  Then there are colonnades also, and 284
+columns, each column is about 40-feet high, and on the column a statue
+about 16-feet high, these give an idea of the vastness of the building
+beyond.  The obelisk in St. Peter’s Square weighs 3,270 tons—it is said
+that the ship that brought it from Egypt was so large that the Emperor
+Claudius had it sunk at the mouth of the Tiber to serve as part of the
+foundations for the outward wall of the Port of Ostia, in the year 39
+A.D.
+
+                       [Picture: St. Peter’s, Rome]
+
+It was left until the year 1566 before orders were given by Pope Sextus
+to have it placed in this square.  At the top of this great obelisk is a
+cross which is said to be a part of the real cross on which our Lord and
+Saviour was crucified.  Passing this outward display of grandeur in the
+shape of statuary, columns and colonnades, we reached the steps leading
+up to the vestibule, these are massive marble steps, with colossal
+statues of St. Peter and St. Paul at the foot.  It is said that this is
+the largest and the most costly church in the world.  It was built on the
+site of the Emperor Nero’s circus, which was the scene of the most
+terrible martyrdoms, and it is also said to be the place where St. Peter
+was buried after his crucifixion.  About the year 106 A.D., history tells
+us there was a monument erected here to mark the site of St. Peter’s
+tomb.  Earlier a basilica was founded on this spot, which stood for over
+one thousand years, then showing signs of decay (and one cannot wonder at
+it).  Nicholas V., in 1447, decided to erect one larger and better in its
+place.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Rome continued: St. Peter’s building: St. Peter’s Statue: St. Peter’s
+resting place: The vast Columns, Pictures, Fonts, Confessionals, etc.:
+The Vatican: The Professional Letter Writer: The Arch of Titus: Statue of
+Nero, etc.
+
+This decision, however, he never carried out, but in the year 1506,
+Julian II. laid the foundation of this vast church we are now about to
+enter.  The first architect died while the work was in its early stages.
+Then Raphael, with two other architects, were appointed, and these also
+died during the building.  Michael Angelo, who was then between seventy
+and eighty years of age, was selected to superintend the work.  He is
+credited with the designing of that marvellous dome and cross, but did
+not live to see it completed.  Indeed, not less than fifteen architects
+succeeded one another during the time of its building, and twenty-eight
+Popes reigned before it was completed (a time of 176 years).  Its actual
+completion was not until 1784, a term of 278 years.
+
+Carlo Fountana estimates the cost at £11,000,000.  He states that it
+required 400,000 lbs. of bronze to form the statue of St. Peter inside
+the cathedral.  The whole area is 240,000 square feet; when this is
+stated one may form some faint idea of the magnitude of the building.
+There are within and without the building columns in marble to the number
+of 756; 245 are inside.  There are 46 altars and 121 lamps, most of them
+are kept burning night and day.  One hundred and thirty-two Popes have
+been buried here, if you count as they do from St. Peter on to the last
+Pope who passed away.  It is stated that the cost of keeping the place in
+repair is over £6,000 per year.  Our first view of the Nave as we
+entered, created such a feeling of awe and reverence, that like the Queen
+of Sheba, of whom it is said, “when she saw the glory of Solomon there
+was no more spirit in her.”  “And behold the half was not told me.”  I.
+Kings, chapter 10, verses 5 and 7.  I gazed with awe and admiration at
+one time on the marvellous Niagara Falls, and the sight seemed to bring
+me into the very presence of the great Creator, God.  And now, to gaze
+upon works of such a colossal magnitude and of such a costly character,
+made us feel subdued and reverent.  I may safely assume, I think, that
+every one will not see it just as we saw it; I mean they will interpret
+its meaning differently.  We were some time before we came to realize the
+fact that it was of such extraordinary proportions.  Looking at the
+cherubs which support the fonts that contain holy water, at first you
+think they are models of children, but when you come beside them you find
+they are much larger than ordinary grown-up people.  On the floor we
+noticed there are stars or marks telling the length of the building as
+compared with other large cathedrals.  St. Paul’s in London, is here
+given as 516-feet long, the Cathedral in Milan as 440-feet, the Cathedral
+in Florence is given as 495-feet, St. Peter’s, at Bologna, 440-feet, and
+St. Sophia, at Constantinople, 364-feet, while this St. Peter’s is
+619-feet in length.  On your right hand passing up the nave is the
+gigantic statue of St. Peter in bronze, which, with the foot held out
+slightly, I suppose millions of visitors from all nations and peoples and
+tongues have stooped to kiss the large toe, which, in consequence, is
+worn seriously out of shape.  Some have gone so far as to say that this
+is the statue of Jupiter, only it has been slightly altered to suit its
+present purpose.  I think it is Dean Swift who said (in a joke) “that the
+difference between the ancient and modern Rome was, that the one was the
+worshipper of Jupiter, and the other the worshipper of Jew Peter.”  As we
+stood beside this image in bronze and looked to the right—the
+confessional to the left—the confessional.  Visitors in kneeling posture
+before an image of the Virgin, another before a picture.  Another walks
+up to the font and crosses his forehead with holy water, we felt that we
+could not but pity these poor deluded souls in bondage to a priestly
+intolerance, when they might have had the real liberty of the children of
+God.
+
+Above this great statue of St. Peter, sitting in a chair of marble, in
+the act of blessing the people, is a portrait in mosaic of Pope Pius IX.,
+and an inscription which states that he is the only Pope whose years of
+pontificate are more than were those of St. Peter.  In the niches around
+the pillars which support the cupola are some very fine specimens of
+statuary, and above these are several small galleries which contain the
+Holy Relics, these are shown to the public on the great festive days.
+There are sixteen windows round the cupola, and over these are sixteen
+richly gilded pillars, between each of these are beautiful mosaics
+representing Popes and Bishops buried in the church, also of the Virgin
+Mary, Jesus Christ, and the Apostles.  Over the High Altar under the
+cupola, where the Pope alone has the right to say Mass, rises a very
+costly canopy of bronze, supported by four spiral columns of richly
+gilded bronze about 60-feet high, including the cross.  The Altar is
+placed in such a position that the Pope saying Mass, faces the people.
+Under the Altar is St. Peter’s tomb; a double flight of steps of Greek
+marble lead down to it, and at the bottom is a statue of one of the Popes
+kneeling; at the sides are four large columns of alabaster, and above
+these are two pillars of agate with the statues of St. Peter and St.
+Paul.  The place in which St. Peter’s ashes rest, and that forms part of
+the oratory, is covered with the most costly marble.  When Peter said
+“silver and gold have I none,” Acts. chapter 3, verse 6, he could not
+have had the least idea of the costliness of his resting place in Rome.
+
+All things seem to be provided for the purpose of a worship meant to
+captivate the senses by its external splendour and beauty, until the very
+object of religion, the cultivation of the Christian virtues, which are
+meekness and humility, are forgotten in the magnificence of a priesthood
+of princes, combining their splendour and luxuries with their duties.  On
+all sides we see monuments to Popes and Bishops; such as one to Pope
+Innocent XII., with fine bas-reliefs in marble.  The Pope Gregory’s
+monument which has some fine sculpture on it in marble.  Another wing of
+this huge building designed by Michael Angelo contains an altar enriched
+with alabaster, amethyst, and other precious stones.  Over the altar is
+an image of the Madonna that is greatly venerated, as it is supposed to
+have been brought here from one of the early churches.  Altars, crosses,
+and confessionals confront you wherever you go in this great cathedral;
+also, pictures adorn the walls where there is no sculpture.  St. Peter
+raising Tabitha from the dead.  See Acts, chapter 9, verse 40.  “But
+Peter put them all forth and kneeling down prayed; and turning to the
+body, said, ‘Tabitha, arise,’ and she opened her eyes, and when she saw
+Peter she sat up.”
+
+Two porphry steps lead to the Tribune, about fifty yards long, where
+there is another altar, and over it four colossal bronze statues; on the
+right, the tomb of Urban VIII., on the left, that of Paul III.  In one of
+the wings of this building there are eleven confessionals for strangers,
+and inscriptions indicating the nationality or language.  On all sides we
+saw these relics of popery until we were sick of it.  We could not visit
+the grottos, as time did not permit, we were very desirous of making a
+visit to the Vatican, but we could not for the same reason.  We gathered
+from information gained in various ways, that the Vatican or Pope’s
+Palace is the largest palace in the world.  The Pope is allowed from
+Italy about £130,000 per annum, and the Peter’s pence, from many lands,
+amounts to as much as £20,000 per annum.  The Vatican contains 11,000
+rooms, there are also 22 court yards.  The ground it covers is the size
+of a town.  The museums, the picture galleries, the statues in marble,
+are worth many millions of pounds.  It is enriched with bronzes, marble
+columns, and the best things that can be had from all lands.  Paintings
+of the very richest and highest class from all the old masters.  Massive
+gold and silver goblets, the gifts of kings and of princes.  Ancient
+relics from Assyria and from Egypt.  Some Egyptian mummies in sarcophagi
+with hieroglyphics, indicating the locality from whence they came.  In
+the library are 26,000 manuscripts, about 19,000 are in Latin, 4,000 in
+Greek, and about 2,000 in the Eastern and Oriental languages, besides
+about 50,000 printed volumes.  In one of the halls there is a bible of
+the fifth century, which is a great rarity.  The gifts from kings,
+emperors, princes, presidents of almost all lands, which have been sent
+to the Pope are too many to name or specify.  We left St. Peter’s,
+pleased with some things, grieved with others.  The greatness of Rome’s
+intellectual power; her art in sculpture and painting; proofs of this we
+saw on all hands.  She had, at one time, over 400 temples, most of them
+with floors of marble, great domes with wonderful frescoes, gorgeous
+beyond anything we could conceive if we had not seen it.  Walls of
+marble, porphyry, jasper, precious stones, stones polished till they
+shine like a mirror.  Pictures, priceless and innumerable.  All this,
+side by side with the degradation of the people, as seen in their daily
+visit to the confessional; or to the holy water; or to seek a mass from
+the priest for some friend in sickness; or a more important one for the
+soul of some brother, sister, or friend in the agony of purgatory, and
+who must remain there until certain masses are said.  All this means the
+lowering of the poor to the enriching of the rich.  Rome, I say, is to be
+pitied in this thing, under the heel of the Pope.  Her wealth is lavished
+on churches, priests, cardinals, etc., but her poor abound on all hands.
+At the very church door you have the extremes of lavish wealth in church
+decoration, and extreme poverty in many worshippers.  We had a view of
+the Vatican from without; it seems one vast area of palaces, churches,
+temples, galleries, colonnades, etc.  I suppose we have some fine palaces
+in England; there are some, I believe, in France, Germany, in Egypt; but
+nowhere in the world is there a palace so large and costly as the Pope’s
+Palace in Rome.  How unlike his divine Lord, “who had not where to lay
+His Head,” or his predecessor (allowing the expression) who said, “silver
+and gold have I none.”  Mark Twain says of the place: “It is a perfect
+wilderness of statues, paintings, and curiosities of every description
+and every age.  The old masters fairly swarm there.  I shall remember the
+Transfiguration, by Raphael, because it was in a room by itself, and
+partly because it is acknowledged by all to be the first oil painting in
+the world.  It is fine in tone and feeling, it is a beauty, it is
+fascinating.  Acres and acres of walls and ceilings fairly papered with
+them.  There is one thing I am certain of, with all the Michael Angelo’s,
+the Raphael’s, the Guido’s, and the old masters, the sublime history of
+Rome remains unpainted!  They painted Virgins enough, Popes enough, and
+saintly scarecrows enough to people Paradise almost.”
+
+Leaving the great St. Peter’s and the Vatican to return to our hotel for
+dinner, we noticed the mixed crowds jostling one another in the streets.
+The men seemed to be broad shouldered, and their rugged bronze faces and
+dark piercing eyes give you an idea that they look upon you with
+curiosity.  Men dressed in home-spun blue cloth as a rule.  The women
+dress in colours, no unusual thing to see them apparently enjoying a feed
+of raw onions and salad with a good square piece of black bread.  Here we
+passed a professional letter writer, sitting in the open-air in the
+street with a table before him on which are pens, ink and paper.  Here he
+is ready to read or write letters for the unlearned, and they are by no
+means few in the city of Rome.  Many a declaration of passionate love
+must have been whispered into the ear of this old Italian, to be
+transmitted to some village maiden on the mountain heights, or in some
+sequestered village.  A rustic approaches the old scribe as we watch him,
+he has received an epistle from some Italian beauty far away.  As he
+waits his turn he looks over the precious documents with wandering eyes.
+Oh! if only he could himself spell out its sacred contents.  His cheeks
+are flushed, his heart throbs as he hands the paper to the scribe; and,
+as the old man reads, the smile plays upon his face, his dark eyes
+brighten with delight.  Yes! she is true to the boy who is far away, what
+a joy to know their hearts beat in unison and in passionate love.  What a
+strange task! that of the Italian scribe.  Sometimes his task is to read
+letters that tell of separations by death; the scalding tear, the heart
+throbs, tell of grief and anguish, a life’s hope crushed out.  A dear
+mother, sister or lover passed away.  All these experiences go through
+the old scribe’s hands daily.  Young Italy, however, is awaking to her
+need as a nation, for education and for the training of the young.
+
+Our hotel is our home of rest, and we certainly enjoyed it after hours of
+travel and inspection.  Sights seen that we had never dreamed of.
+Pictures, sculpture, arch, column, colonnades, so profuse and so
+attractive that we forgot we were tired until we turned away for a break
+and a rest.
+
+Again, we are on the tram, and down one of the principal boulevards, past
+shops, bazaars, cafes, hotels and churches, to the Pont du Angelo, over
+the Tiber.  This is a lovely piece of workmanship, built of solid
+masonry, and on the pont, or bridge, there are six statues on each side
+on pedestals, representing the various architects, sculptors and painters
+of ancient Rome, and as we crossed the bridge, right in front of us we
+saw the castle of St. Angelo, erected by one of the Emperors for his own
+tomb, and for the tombs of his successors.  As most of the important
+buildings in Rome, it is lavishly decorated with marble sculpture, more
+fitted for a palace than for a mausoleum.  [Picture: The Arch of Titus,
+Rome] In the tenth century it was turned into a fortress and fell into
+the hands of the barons, who, during a long time, made use of it against
+the city itself.  It is said that Clement VII. took refuge in it in the
+year 1527.  To-day it is a beautiful temple.  The floor is very largely
+composed of Italian marble; on the staircase, on our right on entering,
+is a fine statue of Michael the arch-angel, in a niche.  In another room
+are some fine paintings by Pierin; another room still retains some of the
+implements of torture of the Inquisition.  On the top stands the bronze
+statue of the arch-angel Michael, placed there in 1770; it is said it is
+placed there in memory of a vision of St. Gregory the Great.  According
+to tradition, when Rome was severely visited by a pestilence, and while
+the Pope was going in procession to St. Peter’s, to obtain the cessation
+of the scourge, he saw, on arriving at this bridge, an angel on the top
+of the mausoleum, in the act of replacing his sword in its sheath, as a
+sign that the visitation of the scourge was at an end.  On account of
+this the castle was named “The Castle of the Holy Angel.”  “The Arch of
+Titus” is another fine specimen of the builders’ art.  Erected to him by
+the people in homage of his great victory in Palestine over the Hebrews,
+and of the destruction of the Holy City of Jerusalem, in the year 79
+A.D., and consecrated to his memory by his successor in the year 81 A.D.
+It has somewhat suffered by the ages that have passed over it; still, it
+is marvellous that it has so long withstood the ravages of the iron tooth
+of time.  There is a fine frieze in the inside and some fine bas-reliefs.
+One, that of the Hebrew prisoners, and Titus’ triumphal march to Rome.
+In Macaulay’s we find the following verses, evidently written on the
+subject of Titus’ victory:
+
+    “Valerius struck at Titus and lopped off half his crest,
+    But Titus stabbed Valerius, a span deep in his breast.
+    Like a mast snapped by the tempest, Valerius reeled and fell.
+    Ah! woe is me for the good house that loves the people well!
+    Then shouted loud the Latins, and with one rush they bore
+    The struggling Romans backward, three lances length or more:
+
+    And up they took proud Tarquin, and laid him on the shield,
+    And four strong yeomen bore him, still senseless from the field.
+    But fiercer grew the fighting around Valerius dead,
+    For Titus dragged him by the foot, and Anlus by the head.
+    Twice tenfold round the body the roar of battle rose
+    Like the roar of a burning forest, when a strong north wind blows.
+
+    Now backward and now forward, rocked furiously the fray,
+    Till none could see Valerius, and none knew where he lay.
+    For shivered arms and ensigns were heaped there in a mound,
+    And corpses stiff, and dying men, that writhed upon the ground,
+    And wounded horses kicking, and snorting purple foam,
+    Right well did such a couch befit a Consular of Rome.”
+
+There are also, in this palace, the seven-branched candlesticks, and many
+other objects taken from the Temple of the Holy City.
+
+Next we saw the triumphal arch of Constantine (the first Christian
+Emperor of Rome), this seems to be the best preserved of all the arches
+we saw, although now it has been standing since 311 A.D.  We learned it
+was erected by the people of Rome in honour of the great victory achieved
+over Maxentius at Ponte Mollo.  The central arcade is about thirty-feet
+high, the side ones are about twenty-feet.  There are four beautiful
+columns of Corinthian marble which support the pillars upon which stand
+some fine statuary representing some of the “Dacian prisoners,” “Trajan’s
+entry into Rome after his victory in the east,” “The rest on the Appian
+Way,” “Trajan bringing help and succour to the poor children,” “Trajan
+speaking to his soldiers.”  Under these are bas-reliefs which represent
+hunts and sacrifices.  On the opposite side of the street we noticed a
+large pedestal which we were told held, in ancient times, a colossal
+statue of Nero, executed in bronze.  After his death it was thrown down
+and replaced by another called “The god of the sun.”  This, however, has
+been allowed to fall into decay; the iron tooth of time has done its
+work, and only the pedestal remains.
+
+The Navona Square or Piazza calls for a remark or two, it is the next
+largest to St. Peter’s.  There are three fine fountains in the square,
+These seem to be of a modern design and workmanship.  One represents
+Neptune coping with a sea monster, surrounded by sea horses.  In the
+basin rises a kind of rock; on the four sides of which are
+representations of “The Danube,” for Europe; “The Ganges,” for Asia; “The
+Nile,” for Africa; and the “Rio de la Plata,” for America.  The rock is
+surmounted by a very neatly-cut obelisk.  The first and largest fountain
+is about 100-feet high, and when in play has a very beautiful effect.
+The Church of St. Mary is but a plain looking building from the outside.
+We approached with little interest, but when we got inside we found it to
+be a perfect museum of painting and sculpture; also, there are many tombs
+of celebrated cardinals.  The guide showed us a picture said to be the
+work of St. Luke, and in all seriousness, told us it was supposed to have
+the power to work miracles still.  We did not stay to ask whether that
+power was ever evoked.  There is a chapel inside, the architecture of
+which was planned by Raphael.  The design of big mosaics on the vault of
+the dome is simply marvellous.  There is a representation of the heavenly
+bodies in their fullest splendour; also a fine statue of Jonah by
+Raphael.  There is attached to this church a monastery, in which reside
+the monks of the Order of St. Augustine.  It is said to have been the
+residence of the famous Martin Luther, during his visit to Rome.  He
+entered the city through the Porto del Popolo, and knelt down as soon as
+he had passed the gate, crying most sincerely, “I salute thee, Oh! holy
+Rome!—Rome, venerable through the blood and the tombs of the martyrs.”
+And then he went straightway to the convent, and there he celebrated
+mass.  And after the experiences he went through during his stay in the
+city, what he had seen, and what he had heard—he said, on passing again
+through the same gate out, with bitterness and grief, “Adieu, Oh! City,
+where everything is permitted, but to be a good man.”  Every place we
+visited brought some reminders of the sad fall of the papacy from real
+Christianity.
+
+To the Berbine picture gallery, was a visit which gave us much pleasure,
+as we saw pictures from the ablest of artists.  The paintings by Michael
+Angelo and Raphael, Francesco and Tiziano.  “Adam and Eve driven from
+Paradise,” by Guido Reni; “Christ and the Doctors of the Church,” by
+Dürer; “The Holy Family,” by Andrea; “The Annunciation,” by Bronzine; and
+many others that we considered marvels of the artists’ brush.  There is
+also within this gallery a very large room as a library in which, we
+learned, there are over 30,000 books in print, and over 8,000 in
+manuscript, by Dante, Galileo, Lasso and others.  The wonders of these
+places filled us with such admiration, we could stay and look until quite
+weary, so we take tram to hotel again for rest.
+
+                  [Picture: Church of the Trinity, Rome]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+The Church of the Trinity: St. Maria: Church of Onesemus: The Grand
+Corso: The British and Foreign Bible Society: Outside view of the
+Quirinal: Nero’s House: Leaving Rome: Scene at a wayside station: Arrival
+at Florence: Visit to the Cathedral.
+
+The wonderful Church called the Church of the Trinity, up a very broad
+staircase of some 330 steps; then a very fine piazza or square, and an
+obelisk, at the top of which they say is a piece of the cross on which
+St. Peter suffered martyrdom.  In this square we found artists’ models
+waiting to be engaged.  Some of them very pretty Italian peasant girls
+fresh from mountain homes, in costumes quaint and queer; old men with
+white beards and capacious cloaks; shepherd boys from the Campagna;
+bag-pipers from Abruzzi; also mendicants of more than one nationality;
+also vendors of wares of various kinds, principally small brooches, photo
+frames and pins, with nic-nacs that were considered to be attractive.  A
+scene of very great interest to the Britisher.  We left here to have a
+stroll in the streets, to watch with interest the customs and habits of
+the people.  Hotels almost without number; beer-houses, only a few;
+cafes, many; confectioners, many; chemists and doctors, fairly numerous;
+dentists, several at any rate; restaurants, many, and some on a very
+large scale; telephone call offices; lavatories; specialities, as
+jewellers who sell Roman pearls, mosaics, religious ornaments, bronzes,
+marble, etc.; porters standing in various places to give you a hand with
+a parcel; omnibuses running to the station from all parts of the city;
+carriages for hire at about eightpence per mile, English money.  So we
+passed an hour in watching the ever changing street scenes, until tired,
+then to our hotel and to rest once more.  Returning to our further
+inspection of churches, museums, and places of interest, we went to see
+the old St. Maria.  This is a very interesting place, and is said to be
+built upon the site of what was Paul’s “own hired house in which he dwelt
+for two whole years,” see Acts, ch. 28, v. 30.  It is said that on this
+spot, Onesimus, the runaway slave, was converted, and that he received
+the gifts sent by the Philippians and the Colossians, by Epaphroditus,
+which he so thankfully acknowledges.  Philippians., chapter 4, verse 18.
+“I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent
+from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable,
+well-pleasing to God.”  Three rooms in the basement of the church are
+shown as the very rooms in which St. Paul and St. Luke taught and wrote.
+Col., chapter 4, verse 14.
+
+Leaving this place we enter the Corso, the principal street of the city.
+To our surprise and delight we saw a depot of the British and Foreign
+Bible Society; the window full of Italian copies of the scriptures spread
+open, some showing clearly one passage, and some another; so that he who
+runs can read.  We found we could buy the New Testament for threepence in
+English money.  A separate gospel for less than one penny.  It is not
+many years since when this would not have been allowed in Rome or in
+Italy.  Before the Pope’s power was broken, I mean his temporal power, he
+did not allow a circulation of the Bible, nor did he allow a public
+assembly of heretics (Christians) within the city.  Now, thank God, there
+are numerous Protestant Churches in the city.  The Wesleyans have one or
+more churches.  The Americans, the Lutheran, the Greek, the English
+church and others are now allowed the privileges not long since denied to
+them.  We had the pleasure of an outside view of the Quirinal, the
+present residence of the King of Italy in Rome.  It was at one time the
+residence of the Pope.  It is an old building, 1574 is the date.  It is
+said the Popes prepared this residence because the air was so fresh, and
+the neighbourhood so healthy.  While the King is in Rome the Quirinal
+palace is not open to visitors.  The gardens are on an extensive scale.
+Within the palace are sculpture, museums, library, paintings by Raphael,
+Michael Angelo and Luigi Serra.  Some of the subjects are simply
+masterpieces.  We went from the Quirinal to the Baths of Titus, erected
+by the Emperor of that name, it is said upon the same place where once
+stood the house of Nero.  The excavators in 1811 laid bare many
+interesting facts concerning the times of Titus, about the year 80 A.D.
+Only a semicircle can be seen showing the foundations, yet it seems to be
+clear that these are the only remains of the baths referred to.  We left
+here feeling we were satiated with sight seeing, and our time for leaving
+Rome was near at hand, so we determined upon a few purchases.  Then to
+our hotel to reflect, to think, to recall, if possible, to memory what we
+had seen and heard.  To fill up our diary, to settle our hotel accounts,
+and to get ready to leave the “Eternal City.”  We reviewed in our mind at
+leisure, where we had been, and what we had seen in Rome.  And we read up
+history which tells us in the palmy days of Rome, there would be within
+the city over 400 temples, and over 17,000 palaces, over 13,000
+fountains, more than 30 theatres, 8 amphitheatres, 11 baths, some of
+which would accommodate some 1,500 bathers at once, 80 gilt statues, and
+over 3,700 bronze statues, 82 statues of figures on horseback, so we
+think of Rome in her imperial pride, when luxury lay on the lap of so
+many of her nobles.  Since then she has been humbled to the dust.  Many
+of these costly buildings and statuary are in ruins, but there is enough
+left to show her once illustrious position.
+
+We had certainly made the best of the time at our disposal, so we leave
+thee, Oh! Rome! the great, the illustrious.  “It may be for years, or it
+may be for ever.”  We said good-bye, and soon we were en route for
+Florence.  The scenery for some distance is not particularly attractive.
+The usual Italian villages, in some cases just a cottage or two, the
+tenants of which are out with their ox and plough, or a pair of donkeys
+and a rickety old cart, or the man is draining his farm.  We saw about
+eight or ten women at a large stone trough by the side of a highway
+washing.  It seems this is their custom, for the women of several
+families to have a joint washday, and go to the nearest clean flowing
+water.
+
+As we proceeded northward, we noticed the country became more undulating
+and richer in fruits and flowers.  The season for the grapes being ripe
+was just on, and we noticed as we journeyed, on all sides, grape vines;
+there seemed to be miles of them, and still, as we hurried along, more
+vineyards.  Oxen in wagons in the rows of vines, were being loaded with
+the luscious fruit.  Six white oxen in each wagon mostly.  The husband,
+wife and children, all seemed to be engaged in plucking and loading the
+fruit.  We passed scores of miles of vineyards of this sort.  We stopped
+at a station called Cartona.  I saw a typical Italian girl with a grape
+stall on the platform.  I alighted and selected two large bunches of
+beautiful ripe grapes, and as I could not ask the price, not speaking
+Italian, I held out my hand with a number of coins of various value for
+her to take the cost of the grapes.  She selected twenty centimes, that
+is about twopence in English money; so very cheap are grapes.  The
+country is a lovely country and rich beyond compare.  Our train, we could
+perceive at times, was climbing, so slow was the speed, but as we got
+higher the scene became more lovely; the Italian lakes in the distance;
+the towns with the usual Duomo or Church always noticeable.
+
+                    [Picture: Team of oxen in Tuscany]
+
+At every road crossing we noticed an Italian woman, usually aged, sat at
+the gate crossing, with horn in hand ready to give warning of an
+approaching train.  About four o’clock in the afternoon we came in sight
+of Florence.  The first view was entrancing.  The city lies in a hollow,
+the surrounding hillsides are, here and there, dotted over with castles
+and mansions, each in their own lovely and extensive grounds.  They were
+mostly of white marble.  The river Arno runs through the city.  Florence
+is essentially a city of flowers, as its name indicates.  All around for
+miles castles, mansions, villas, gardens and shady nooks fill the soul
+with a consciousness that Nature here has bestowed her gifts of beauty in
+no stinted degree.  Florence has been called, and I think very aptly, the
+Athens of Italy.  This city possesses the memories of some of the world’s
+greatest men, “the priceless heirlooms of a glorious past.”  Here the
+peerless bard, “Dante” sang his deathless song and made his lovely
+Beatrice immortal.  Was it not from these very hills and fields on which
+we were gazing, that Galileo every night scanned the heavens to compel
+the distant orbs to reveal their secrets?
+
+Here we see her peerless domes and towers rise in all their stately
+grandeur beneath a lovely Italian sky.  We are now at the station.
+Alighting, we soon found the ’bus for “Hotel Minerva” (this we had
+selected before hand) so were soon once more settled for a little while.
+Our hotel was very comfortable, and we found mine host most gracious, and
+evidently most desirous to satisfy us, and so keep our patronage as long
+as possible.  The rooms were lofty and furnished with taste, dinner
+served in good style, which included everything we could wish for.  A
+look round the city for a little while, was our first thought, so out we
+went into the great open square, facing which is the Duomo or Cathedral
+Maria del Fiore, so called from the lily which figures in the arms of
+Florence.  This vast pile of buildings was begun in the year 1298, and
+finished in the year 1462.  It is stated it was built on the foundations
+of an earlier church.  It is a grand example of the Gothic art.  The
+length of the building is 185 yards, and its width, 114 yards.  The dome
+is 300 feet high, and with the lantern 352 feet.  On the 8th of
+September, 1298, a representative of Pope Boniface VIII. blessed the
+foundations of this new grand temple in the presence of the “Gonfaloniere
+Borgo,” many bishops, “the chapter,” all the Florentine clergy, the
+captains of the arts, and the magnificent and sublime “Signori of the
+Republic,” as they were called.  The words with which the community gave
+charge of this sumptuous building were, literally translated, “to make it
+so magnificent and so sublime that it would be impossible that it should
+be surpassed.”  And it seemed to us that for size and strength and
+adornments, few can compare with it.  Many vicissitudes occurred during
+the building—wars, deaths of architects, etc.—till in the year 1492 it
+was something like a completed building.  In April, 1860, King Victor
+Emmanuel laid the foundation of a new facade, which was to replace one
+taken away, as the design was considered unsuitable.  Above the south
+door is a Madonna between two angels.  Inside we were struck with its
+massiveness, more than with its decorations.  On the right there is a
+fine equestrian statue of John Hawkswood, of date 1384, an English
+soldier of fortune, who had served the Republic with unswerving fidelity.
+Over the portico is a fine picture of the Virgin Mary in mosaic.  On the
+right side are some fine marble figures of great men of ancient dates.
+In the east nave are fine statues of St. John and St. Peter; a fine
+stained-glass window with most attractive and telling designs.  Inside
+the great dome is a very peculiar, very grotesque frieze, by a great
+painter named Vasari, depicting the flames of hell and awful monsters
+around them.  Also the heaven of delight and bliss.
+
+Near the Cathedral is the wonderful Campagna or tower, which visitors
+through centuries have visited and admired.  A distinguished visitor once
+said, “The Florentines should enclose this tower in a glass case, and
+only let it be on exhibition during the great festivals.”  It is solid
+and strong, though it rises to the height of 292 feet.  It has four
+stories, the lower ones are richly fixed with variegated marble, and
+covered almost with statues of illustrious men.  A view of this tower
+from a distance is very fine.  We had seen nothing like it before in all
+our travels on the continent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+Florence: Michael Angelo’s House: Baptistry of St. John: The Uffizi
+Gallery: The Tribune: A drive to the suburbs: Dante’s House: Dante’s
+Poems: The Gardens: Mrs. Browning’s description of Vallambrosa: Michael
+Angelo’s work: Galileo, his trial, etc.
+
+As we had little time for visiting other places of interest, the day
+being now far advanced, we determined to give our minds and bodies a
+rest.  So we entered a cafe for refreshment, we found them exceedingly
+clean and most obliging; we took what refreshment we needed, then went
+for a stroll on the streets to see the shops, and we found the city has
+some fine streets and shops of almost every kind.  The city has a
+population of about 200,000.  We were reminded frequently of some of the
+worthies of the city in sculpture or in painting.  Michael Angelo, though
+not born in Florence, spent a great deal of his life here, and here some
+of his finest works were completed, and in Florence he died and was
+buried.  At the corner of the Via Buonarotti stands the house in which he
+lived.  It is now (like the house of the immortal Shakespeare) a museum
+given to the city.
+
+“Farewell,” said Michael Angelo, on setting out for where he was to
+undertake the finishing of the great St. Peter’s, in Rome.  “Farewell, I
+go to try to make thy sister, but I cannot hope to make thy equal.”
+
+About the old Baptistry of St. John, to which, we are told, all the
+children of the city are taken to be christened, there are two bronze
+gates at which a famous workman was employed forty years.  Michael Angelo
+declared “these gates were worthy to be the gates of Paradise.”
+
+1st design.       The creation of man.
+2nd   ,,          Expulsion of our first parents from the Garden of
+                  Eden.
+3rd    ,,         Noah after the deluge.
+4th    ,,         Abraham on Mount Moriah.
+5th    ,,         Esau selling his birthright.
+6th    ,,         Joseph and his brethren, and the law given on
+                  Sinai.
+7th    ,,         The walls of Jericho.
+8th    ,,         The battle with the Ammonites.
+9th    ,,         Queen of Sheba in Solomon’s palace.
+
+I believe there is a cast of these gates exhibited at the South
+Kensington Museum.
+
+The Uffizi Gallery or museum or both, where I should think may be found
+the most wonderful collection of art to be found in the world.  Even in
+Rome we had seen nothing to equal it.  It contains over 13,000 paintings.
+Cameos and original designs without number.  There are long corridors
+where statues of celebrated Tuscans fill the niches.  There is sculptured
+marble, or painted canvas, of all imaginable beings in heaven or on
+earth.  Emperors and kings, saintly Madonnas, angels, gods and goddesses,
+muses and nymphs; all may be found in this marvellous collection.  And on
+the ceiling are frescoes setting forth the annals of Florence.  In one of
+the halls stands a painting of Niobe with her sons and daughters clinging
+around her, victims of the cruel vengeance of Diana and Apollo.  In
+another room are some angels surrounding a Madonna, making a lovely
+picture.  There is a gallery in which are paintings of the painters of
+all nations, painted by themselves.  Vandyck, with his clear blue eye,
+long hair and fair countenance; Raphael, looking sad and gentle and very
+sallow; Michael Angelo, simple yet sublime, he is in his dressing gown.
+We were simply surrounded and bewildered by the fascinating sights on
+every hand.  There are cabinets also, containing rare gems, cameos and
+bronzes of all sizes and shapes.  The Tribune also demands notice, as it
+contains vast masses of valuable treasures.  One room is paved with the
+most costly marble.  There are five masterpieces of antiquity.  In the
+centre stands the Venus de Medicis, serene, pure, delicate, and perfectly
+lovely; another, the Dancing Fawn; another, “Apollino,” “The Wrestlers,”
+and the “Grinder.”  There is also here, one of the finest and best of
+Raphael’s paintings, “The Glorious Madonna.”  Two others by Titian.  We
+soon became exhausted and weary, so we left the entrancing scenes for
+another day.  To our hotel was but the work of ten minutes; safely
+housed.  Table-de-hote dinner, to write up our diaries, to commend our
+lives and our loved ones to the care of our Heavenly Father, we slept.
+During the night there was a severe thunder storm, the lightning played
+round our hotel, lighting up the great square in front, but so far as we
+know, no damage was done.  We rose in health, refreshed and ready for a
+good breakfast; this, the Italians know how to provide.  Their coffee is
+the best I have ever tasted.  Fish, eggs, cold meats and fruits in
+abundance.  We made a fine breakfast, and after writing some letters and
+post cards we ventured out, this time for a drive to the suburbs.  I soon
+found carriage and driver and made terms.
+
+             [Picture: Mrs. Wardle near The Duomo, Florence]
+
+Before starting, however, I took a snapshot of my wife in the carriage,
+with the archway or part of the facade of the Duomo for background.  We
+passed through the principal parts of the city, and our driver pointed
+out the house, still standing, where Dante, the greatest of all the great
+poets of Italy, was born.  It is very near to the church of Santa Croce,
+a very old building, but in its vicinity lies the dust of some of Italy’s
+noblest sons.  Near here in the year 1865, on the 5th day of May, a vast
+concourse of people assembled to see the unveiling of a statue of Dante.
+It is 19 feet in height, and it is mounted on a pedestal 23 feet in
+height.  This was the six hundredth anniversary of the poet’s birthday.
+Dante was not buried here, but at Ravenna, where he died in exile away
+from the city he loved so much.  In the “Sheep-fold of St. John” as he
+called it.  His life was full of strange vicissitudes, apparently more of
+cloud and storm than of sunshine.  His father was in the legal
+profession, and this, Dante adopted, and studied very successfully at
+several schools in Italy and Germany.  At an early age he fell madly in
+love with one, Beatrice, but she married another man, and left him with a
+great sore in his heart.  He was called to bear arms against Ariezo and
+Pisa, where he served with great assiduity.  He afterwards married, but
+not happily, at the age of 28.  He had a family, however, and his
+first-born being a girl, he called her Beatrice, after his first love.  A
+civil war had been brewing for some time.  Again Dante took the field,
+this time, unfortunately, on the weaker side, and a revolutionary
+government being formed, he, with other ringleaders who wished to resist
+the extreme pretensions of the Pope, were sentenced to be burned alive.
+He, however, managed to escape into Germany, where he wandered about from
+place to place, finding no settled residence, and desiring to return to
+his native city, but this was denied him.  He died, as we have seen, in
+Ravenna.  His daughter Beatrice was a nun in one of the convents, but to
+do some tardy justice to the noble bard, a sum of money was raised for
+her own special use.  I can hardly leave this interesting subject without
+a passing reference to his poems, as are now principally read.  The
+volume I refer to includes the “Inferno,” “The Purgatorio,” and “The
+Paradiso.”  It is here surmised that Virgil and St. Bernard conduct Dante
+through these divisions of the universal world, to help him to write
+something that would show up the source of Italy’s ruin.  The poem is a
+fine allegory, showing, as it does in the first part, a Panther,
+representing Florence or envy; a Lion, France or ambition; a She-Wolf,
+the Court of Rome or avarice; a Greyhound, Our Saviour or His vicegerent
+the Pope; Virgil, human wisdom; and Beatrice, heavenly wisdom.  His
+representation of Hell as a dark valley, at the mouth of which is Limbo,
+and which are nine circles indicating nine different degrees of sin to be
+punished.  The wise and good even are represented as lying in tears and
+sorrow, because they were not baptized.  Purgatory is a step hill in the
+hemisphere opposite hell.  Seven rounds have to be climbed before the
+seven stains of sin are washed away.  At the top is the Garden of Eden.
+It is most interesting to follow Dante, as he ascends with his beloved
+Beatrice to Paradise, through the various heavens of the moon, Mercury,
+Venus, Mars, the Sun, Jupiter, etc.  The eighth heaven contains the
+triumph of Christ; and the Virgin Mary and Adam he makes to dwell there
+also.  In the ninth heaven is a manifestation of the Divine Essence,
+viewed by three hierarchies of Angels.  While these poems are
+allegorical, they are full of interest and show that Dante was greatly
+moved and influenced by “the things that are unseen which are eternal.”
+In his youthful days he paced the fields and groves of lovely Italy,
+writing sonnets to his beloved Beatrice.  In his later years he had to
+eat the bread of bitterness, being an outcast from his friends and from
+the city he loved.  The world, however, has been enriched by his poverty.
+A sight of the place where he was born has suggested to us this
+commentary.  We left the place not without reflection upon the
+immutability of things that are earthly.  From here our driver took us
+towards the lovely gardens across the river Arno, the gardens of Boboli;
+these are open to the public Thursday and Sunday.  Approaching the bridge
+which spans this lovely river, we were struck with its massiveness as
+well as its beauty.  It is called the Jewellers’ Bridge, as jewellers’
+shops line the bridge on each side fully, except a very small break in
+the middle through which you get a very nice view of the river as it
+rolls along.  A bridge further on is adorned with statues, and is
+considered the most beautiful of the seven that cross the Arno.  When
+over the bridge the road is very steep; our driver left his box to give
+the horse the benefit.  Now we seem getting into the suburbs, the road is
+lined with trees of all sorts; the acacia, the box, the walnut, the
+maple, the olive and many others, I do not think I could tell the names
+of them all.  Up and up we went, in a semicircular fashion, until we
+gained the summit.  When we had gone through the gate into the garden,
+the view was simply entrancing.  Florence, with its towers and spires and
+domes, lay like a fine panorama at our feet, and the river gliding gently
+through the city.  The villages in the distances nestling amidst
+luxuriant foliage of trees and plants.  The gardens around us full of
+beauty, adorned with statuary, and a profusion of moss and creeper and
+colour of flowers, we may never see again.  Just across the river, we
+could see the tower of Galileo, where the great astronomer nightly
+watched the stars, or
+
+    “Moon, whose orb
+    Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views,
+    At evening from the top of Fiesole,
+    Or in Voldarno, to descry new lands,
+    Rivers or mountains, in his spotty globe.”
+
+                 [Picture: Dante And Beatrice, Florence]
+
+Farther out the Casine, or the Hyde Park of Florence, could be seen.
+Perhaps no better description can be given than by Mrs. Browning:
+
+    “You remember, down at Florence, our Casine,
+    Where the people on the fast days walk and drive,
+    And through the trees, long drawn in many a green way,
+    O’er roofing hum and murmur like a hive,
+    The river and the mountain look alive.
+
+    You remember the Piazzo there, the stand place
+    Of carriages abrim with Florence beauties,
+    Who lean and meet to music as the band plays,
+    Or smile and chat with some one who afoot is
+    Or on horseback, in observance of male duties.
+
+    ’Tis so pretty in the afternoon of summer,
+    So many gracious faces brought together;
+    Call it rout, or call it concert, they have come here
+    In the floating of the fan and of the feather,
+    To reciprocate with beauty the fine weather.”
+
+Along the valley of Vallambrosa, as you look across, pine forests, lawns
+and mountains combined, make a scene the fairest fair Italy can show.
+Milton, in his “Paradise Lost,” alludes to this valley, speaking of the
+fallen angels who
+
+    “Lay entranced,
+    Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks
+    In Vallambrosa’s, where oh! Etrurian shades
+    High over arched embower.”
+
+This was one of the favourite walks of Dante, where he loved to wander
+and muse on his lovely Beatrice.  The views from this elevation on all
+sides were very beautiful, and we left it with a feeling we could never
+again gaze on scenes so delightful.
+
+Returning from these lovely scenes, in and from the Boboli Gardens, over
+the same bridge we turned to the left and passed the Mozzi Square, where
+is the Mozzi Palace.  A very large building that has connected with it,
+we were told, a very fine picture gallery, but we had not time to visit
+it.  We then came to the Necropolis of St. Miniato, a church considered
+to be one of the oldest on the continent.  The Florentine Republic
+considered its splendid military position, and ordered Michael Angelo to
+fortify it.  He therefore threw a strong rampart around it, with strong
+bastions which were provided with cannon.  It is said that many Christian
+martyrs died for the faith and were buried in this church.  The tower was
+greatly damaged by Charles V., but Michael Angelo saved it from utter
+ruin.  Rev. D. M. Pratt says of Michael Angelo:
+
+    “A master mind before the marble stood,
+    Fresh quarried was it, rough and all unhewn,
+    To other eyes it seemed a shapeless stone;
+    To his, a stately form and beautiful.
+    Chisel in hand he wrought and what he saw
+    Came forth a statue, living and divine.
+    An artist stood and gazed on fallen man:
+    He to the soul, what to the marble rough
+    Was Angels, he saw and sinful man
+    A seraphs form.  He wrought, and forth there came
+    Manhood divine—the lifeless took on life,
+    Oh! for the artist’s eye!  In every man
+    God’s image dwells, and he who sees the Christ
+    Sees God in man restored, and with him seeks to bring
+    His thoughts to life in saving men.”
+
+A poet has written:
+
+    “In Santa Croce’s holy precincts lie
+    Ashes which make it holier, dust which is
+    Even in itself an immortality.
+    Though there were nothing save the past, and this
+    The particles of those sublimities
+    Which have relapsed to chaos, here repose
+    Angelo’s Alfieris bones, and his
+    The starry Galileo with his woes;
+    Here Machiavelli’s earth returned to whence it rose.”
+
+The tomb of Galileo calls for a passing remark, as he dared to contravert
+the old world notions of a central earth fixed in space, immovable with
+planets curling round it.  The church had stood by the old theory for
+ages.  If now they adopt Galileo’s theory, where is their infallibility.
+And so ignorant monks shut him up in prison and burnt his books in the
+public market place, and led out this great philosopher in mockery before
+a gaping crowd, with a wax taper in his hand and a halter round his neck,
+and demanded he should recant his opinions.  Amidst the jeers of his
+friends and the awful threats of his enemies, he was induced to go
+through a certain form of recantation, in which he was required to
+declare “With a sincere heart and faith unfeigned, I abjure, curse and
+detest the said errors—I swear for the future never to say anything
+verbally, or in writing, which may cause to any further suspicion against
+me.”  Rising from his knees he whispered: “But it does move for all
+that.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+Appalling catastrophe in Italy: Messina: Savonarola, the enthusiastic
+preacher: His defiance of the Pope: His excommunication: His cell, etc.:
+His martyrdom: Raphael, his genius as a painter: Some of his works: The
+old Protestant Cemetery: Our leaving Florence: Journey to Bologna and on
+to Venice.
+
+While I am here writing of the beauties of Italy, its fertile plains, its
+sunny skies, its lovely lakes, its great works of art and its still
+greater artists, a newsboy is calling out in the streets: “Appalling
+catastrophe in Italy.”  An earthquake killing not thousands merely, but
+tens of thousands.  What! is that fair land devastated, and death swept
+by such a calamity?  Is it true that loveliness and danger lie so near
+together?  What! is there no spot on earth where we may be absolutely
+free from danger?  Here in lovely Messina and Reggio, I passed them on
+board the S.S. “Benares” about two years ago.  The sun shone brilliantly
+on the scene, a lovelier it would be difficult to describe.  On my left
+Messina, with its marble buildings glistening in the sun.  Temples and
+towers, churches and barracks, all giving signs of strength and beauty to
+the fair city; on our right Reggio, which appeared to be a city of great
+beauty and prosperity.  Mount Etna in the distance, slumbering for a
+time.  Stromboli as we passed was alive hurling up stones, fire and
+smoke.  Now the cities named are practically wiped out.  _The Daily
+News_, of December 31st, 1908, says: “Yesterday, the total of the dead
+was calculated as from fifty thousand to seventy-five thousand.  To-day
+it is two hundred thousand.  This morning’s news helps us to form a
+clearer idea of the awful scene as it occurred.  It was early morn just
+before daylight, and all the beautiful towns along the coast of these
+historic straits were still asleep.  Death came suddenly and unawares.
+By five successive shocks, the cities were toppled down, and where they
+had stood great columns of dust were rising.  Men, women and children,
+soldiers in barracks, the sick in hospital and prisoners in gaol were
+killed together as they slept.  They died like ants in a blown up nest.”
+A survivor from Messina says: “The town is nothing but a dust heap, even
+the railway station is swallowed up, the railwaymen are nearly all
+killed.”  Another says: “It is too horrible to describe.”  The Pope has
+shown the greatest anxiety; has even asked permission at the Quirinal to
+transmit massages to the suffering and the bereaved.  He also summoned to
+the Vatican the Director of the Bank of Rome and had with him some
+private conversation, and arranged for the sum of £40,000 to be sent at
+once.  Our own King Edward sent to the King of Italy messages of
+condolence and sympathy.  The navies and soldiers of England, France,
+Germany and others are giving assistance in extricating sufferers from
+the debris, and feeding the hungry, and erecting temporary shelters and
+generally doing all that can be done to mitigate the distress and grief
+and pain.  Money is being sent liberally by all the Christian nations at
+least.  So all feel as nations and as individuals that “One touch of
+sorrow makes the world akin.”  It is at such a time that the brotherhood
+of nations asserts itself.  All racial barriers are swept away in the
+face of such a terrible catastrophe.  The latest news is that no less
+than 220,000 have perished, as many inland towns have suffered most
+severely.  The cathedral and churches, with all their valuable works of
+art, have been totally destroyed.  Scenes simply indescribable are
+enacted and too sad to relate.  So we see the uncertainty of things that
+are on earth.
+
+Notwithstanding the natural beauty of the surroundings, before we left
+the fair city of Florence, we must needs do a little shopping, and make
+some further investigations into the interests and associations of the
+place.  The convent of San Marco is a place worth a visit, and is open on
+receipt of a small fee or gratuity.  Here is the cell of Savonarola, in
+which he was confined before the martyrdom of flame.  Here is a fine
+portrait of the man who dared to face even death in his defence of the
+truth.  Here are some of his manuscripts, traced with his own pen.  Here
+are his tunic, girdle and crucifix, and even a charred piece of wood from
+the scene of his martyrdom.  Such sights fill the soul with thoughts of
+what men have endured to rescue the truth from Papal tyranny.  Of
+Savonarola it may be said, he was a great reformer, a religious
+enthusiast, and a martyr.  Born at Ferrara, in 1452, he early joined the
+religious order of Dominicans at Bologna.  At first his career as a
+preacher was not marked by any unusual event, nor did he meet with great
+success, but on his appointment to the Duomo, crowds came to listen to
+his preaching, and indeed so eloquent did he become and so effective
+that, at times, his discourses were interrupted by the masses of the
+people sobbing and crying in their pews.  He became so popular that the
+people pressed round him in the streets to kiss his garments.  He went
+forth like a flaming herald of the cross in defiance of pope, cardinal or
+priest.  It is stated that under his influence the morals of the city
+became purified.  The children were specially cared for, as many as 8,000
+at one time were banded together in a sort of republic, and were called
+“the children of Christ.”  The Pope did his very best to suppress this
+holy work, but it was useless to try to stop so God inspired a man as
+Savonarola.  When this was ineffectual, they said make him a Cardinal;
+give him a red hat, so make of him a friend.  He answered from the pulpit
+of St. Mark’s: “I will have no other red hat than that of martyrdom,
+coloured with my own blood.”  Then he was summoned to appear in Rome.
+This, however, he refused to do.  Then came the ban of excommunication,
+but this brought with it no terrors.  His answer to it is: “he who
+commands a thing contrary to the law of Christ, is himself
+excommunicated.”  “I may have failed in many things, for I am a sinner,
+but I have not shunned to declare the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  They
+threaten to burn me or fling me into the Arno, that gives me no concern.”
+Ultimately he was arrested and charged with impiety and sedition, of
+these, however, there was no proof shown, until a certain man named Ser
+Cocone presented a forged document, and our hero was condemned to be
+burned.  And on May 23rd, 1498, this noble saint of God passed away.
+Three platforms were erected in front of the palace; Savonarola was taken
+up to the central one, clad in his priestly robes.  Then piece by piece
+the Bishop removed his vestments in the presence of the multitude, and
+pronounced the degradation.  “I separate thee from the church militant
+and from the church triumphant.”  “Nay,” said the bold and daring saint,
+“from the church militant, if you please, but not from the church
+triumphant, that is more than you can do.”  He then mounted the pile and
+gave utterance to the following sentence; “Oh! Florence, what hast thou
+done this day.”  Soon there was nothing left but the ashes of Savonarola.
+His spirit leapt into the chariot of fire, and he was with the martyr
+throng before the Throne.  By order of the Commune, his ashes were thrown
+into the river Arno, so that no relic could be found of the patriot and
+martyr.
+
+We could hardly leave Florence without giving some reference to Raphael,
+one of our world’s greatest painters.  Though not born in Florence, he
+spent a good deal of his life in the city.  His education in the art was
+completed in Florence.  He was born in the year 1483.  Michael Angelo was
+to him an attraction and an inspiration.  It is said that so fine was his
+genius, that in his time of tuition he could surpass his tutors.  His
+most famous pictures are “Christ in the attitude of prayer on the Mount
+of Olives,” and “St. Michael and St. George,” which are now in the
+Louvre, at Paris.  The Pope gave him a grand reception on his entering
+Rome; and, while there, he executed some very fine pieces for his
+Holiness, which so pleased him that he ordered Raphael to give him other
+proofs of his artistic skill.  He then painted on the Vatican walls
+figures of “Poetry,” “Theology,” “Justice,” and “Philosophy”; also “The
+fall of Adam,” “Astronomy,” “Apollo,” and “Philosophy.”  On another wall
+he painted “Fortitude,” “Prudence,” “Temperance”; and on another place
+“The Emperor Justinian delivering the Roman law,” “Peter’s deliverance
+from prison,” “Moses viewing the burning bush,” “Jacob’s dream,” etc.  It
+is said he turned the Vatican into a picture gallery.  His pictures are
+in many countries and in many cities.  He died at the early age of
+thirty-seven, on the same date he was born, and his body was conveyed to
+the Pantheon, in Rome, where it now rests.  It is said of him, he was
+most affable, kind, and generous to a fault.  He had an open manly
+countenance which inspired all who met him.  Florence, fair city, must be
+credited with the training and making of this bright gem of the painter’s
+art.  Indeed, this city has given to the world some of the finest men of
+mind and soul the world has ever known.  We felt proud to walk its
+streets and to know we were on ground that should be reverenced for the
+purity and greatness of the lives of the men we have referred to.  We
+could not readily say good-bye, but time presses, and after a visit to
+the old Protestant Cemetery outside the Porta Pinta, which to Britishers
+is hallowed ground, as there are here the graves of Elizabeth Barrett
+Browning, the poetess to whom we have already referred our readers; also
+“Theodore Parker,” and “Arthur Hugh Clough.”  This “city of the dead” was
+closed in 1870, and a new cemetery has been opened for Protestants about
+a mile outside the city.  To try to describe the beauties of all the
+suburbs of Florence would require an abler pen than mine.  So we must
+close our account at the “Minerva,” take our last night’s repose and
+leave for Venice.
+
+We rose early in order to have a full day of interest and experiences.
+We left this lovely place in the forenoon, and as our train was about to
+leave, a lady traveller who spoke good English boarded the train and
+entered our compartment.  We soon became friendly and familiar.  She
+spoke our language, she was of a kindred spirit, though not from England,
+she was of English stock and we soon discovered she came from Dunedin,
+New Zealand (Miss M. Himmel).  She had visited Balmoral Castle in
+Scotland, and the Trossachs, Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh.  Also
+Dublin in Ireland, The Giants’ Causeway, Bantry Bay and the lovely Lakes
+of Killarney.  She spent three months in our great city of London, and
+visited every important church, museum, picture gallery, etc.  Also
+Norway with its weird and awe-inspiring scenery.  Rome with its telling
+old world stories in stone, marble and bronze.  Naples, Milan, Venice,
+Florence, Frankfort-on-the-Rhine, Bingen, Berlin, and to Cologne.  Then
+to Paris, the gay city of France, to see its Notre Dame, its fine
+Boulevards, etc.  Two weeks’ sight seeing in Paris.  Then to London and
+next Liverpool.  Then for Dunedin, New Zealand and home.  We found her
+well read and of wide experience, a lady both in manners, education, and
+by birth.  We could exchange ideas and enjoy each others company as the
+train sped on towards Venice.  The railway intersects a rich tract of
+land at the base of the Apennines.  On our right the picturesque castle
+of Monte Mario, near which, we learned, at one time, the Florentine
+Republicans with their troops were defeated and taken prisoners by the
+troops of Cosino, in the year 1537.  We soon found out our train was
+climbing, by the speed she made, up the great Etruscan Apennines we
+mount, now through a tunnel, then across a fine aqueduct.  Again and
+again this occurred, while the sides of the vast mountain ranges, we
+noticed, were covered with trees—pines, poplars, chestnuts, olive, fig,
+mulberry, and others.  The plains of Tuscany, which were now below us,
+are reputed to be the richest in Europe.  Wheat is largely cultivated.
+Rice is also sown in considerable quantities, and is used by the peasant
+for food.  The use of buffaloes as beasts for farm use are common.  No
+less than 3,000 are in constant use on the farms and vineyards of
+Tuscany.  We saw waggons drawn by six buffaloes frequently.  The grapes
+of the neighbourhood, through which we were passing are said to be of an
+exceptional quality.  As we passed villages on the slopes of the hills,
+we saw the natives in their simplicity of dress and manner, at work and
+at home.  At every gate where there was a crossing of the railway there
+was a woman, mostly aged, with a horn to warn travellers of the
+approaching train.  Reaching a wayside station our train stopped, and I
+noticed on the platform an Italian girl with a rude simple table or stall
+on which were large bunches of grapes, I presumed for sale, so I alighted
+from the train and seized two bunches about one pound each.  As I could
+not speak to her in her language, I took some change from my pocket and
+offered her the cost, so she took what she wished.  She took twenty
+centimes, that is the value of twopence, so cheap are grapes in Italy.
+At this station an Italian lady, and evidently two daughters, came into
+our compartment with a little fancy dog, which one of the daughters
+carefully nursed.  They brought with them one or two large baskets.  In a
+little while one of them took from a basket a very fine roast chicken,
+from which she began to feed the dog with the nicest pieces off the
+breast.  When the animal was satisfied they spread napkins on their
+knees, and evidently enjoyed the rest of the fowl.  Some rolls and butter
+and grapes for dessert, and also some bottles of wine were produced from
+the baskets.  Later, as we needed refreshments, we had to be satisfied
+with a few sandwiches, but the ladies seeing we had no napkins, at once
+offered theirs, and, indeed, spread them over our knees, with the
+greatest delicacy and politeness.  Then they offered us, and pressed us,
+though in a language we did not understand, to have grapes and wine with
+them.  Their kindness and manner of giving expression to it touched us
+very much.  They left us as we arrived at Bologna station, but our friend
+Miss Himmel, however, remained with us.  We did not stay long enough to
+look over the town, but from its appearance it is a large and prosperous
+city, having a population of about 100,000.  The cathedral is one of very
+great antiquity and importance.  There are 130 Roman Catholic Churches
+and twenty monasteries in this city.  There is a very fine Piazza or
+Square, called Victor Immanuel Square, in which is a fine bronze statue
+of Pope Gregory XIX.  St. Petronio is the largest church in the town, in
+the Gothic style.  Over the principal entrance is a bronze statue of Pope
+Julius II., with the keys and a sword in his hand, by Michael Angelo.  We
+left Bologna after a short time of waiting, and were soon speeding
+through lovely and fertile tracts of country.  The Adriatic on our right,
+not near enough to see, but the air seemed impregnated with its ozone.
+Our approach to Venice became apparent as we crossed the lagoons with a
+roar and a rattle, the numerous arches (miles of them) told us we were
+near the city.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Arrival at Venice: The ubiquitous Gondola: The Grand Canal: The curious
+water ways: Our Hotel: A snap shot of a Gondola and its freight: St.
+Mark’s Cathedral: Its curious history: Its wonderful Tower, and its
+interior adornments.
+
+I think it was the most thrilling moment of our tour, as our train left
+Mestra, and almost immediately we began crossing the long bridge
+(two-and-a-half miles long) which crosses the lagoon, we seem to be
+travelling right into the sea, the gentle ripple of the watery waves by
+moonlight as they extend on either side of the line, has a pleasing
+effect.  The peculiar smell of the seaweed is strong in the air, and
+right ahead is Venice, of which some poet has sung:
+
+    “There is a glorious city in the sea,
+    The sea is in the broad, the narrow streets
+    Ebbing and flowing, and the salt seaweed
+    Clings to the marble of her palaces.
+    No track of men, no footsteps to and fro
+    Lead to her gates! the path lies o’er the sea,
+    Invisible: And from the land we went
+    As to a floating city—steering in,
+    And gliding up her streets as in a dream,
+    So smoothly, silently—by many a dome
+    Mosque-like, and many a stately portico
+    The statues ranged along an azure sky,
+    By many a pile, in more than Eastern pride,
+    Of old the residence of merchant kings;
+    The fronts of some, tho’ time hath shattered them,
+    Still glowing with the richest hues of art,
+    As though the wealth within them had run o’er.”
+
+Our arrival at Venice was about eight o’clock in the evening, surely no
+time so fitting to be introduced to the fair Queen of the Adriatic.  From
+the busy, bustling railway station we were concluded by a Fakena, who
+brought up our luggage to a gondola lying in the shimmering sea just
+outside.  No cabs or ’bus as at other stations, the gondola seemed to be
+everywhere.  As we stepped into our new found equipage we were entranced,
+imagination fails to picture a sight so bewitching.  Lights in a thousand
+directions, gondolas passing and repassing as we sweep through the
+principal waterway, then turn sharp round a corner as our gondolier
+cries: “Stali priene gai e” as he passes others with most wonderful
+precision.  We were thus conveyed to the door of the Grand Hotel
+Victoria, where for a short time we were to make our home.  We found the
+house all we could desire, warm, clean sweet, and fitted up almost
+luxuriantly.  To bed and a rest, and oh! how sweet after toil and travel.
+We were awake and out early to see the sights of this unique city.  We
+opened our eyes on a lovely picture, soft, dreamy, beautiful.  The water,
+dotted over in all directions, with this strange craft.  It seems this is
+the only means of locomotion.  No cabs, omnibuses, carts, or even a
+barrow.  There is no animal in Venice larger than a dog.  Here the
+universal bike cometh not.  The fashionable or unfashionable motor
+neither puffs nor smells.  The train must not approach nearer than the
+head of the Grand Canal.  A horse would be as great a novelty in Venice,
+I should think, as a ship in full sail would be in Wheeler Gate,
+Nottingham.  Right from the water’s edge at our hotel door, we could see
+gondolas gliding swiftly hither and thither.  In Byron’s “Beppo” we find
+the following lines:
+
+    “Did’st ever see a Gondola; for fear you should not
+    I’ll describe it exactly,
+    ’Tis a long covered boat common here,
+    Carved at the prow, built lightly but compactly,
+    Rowed by two rowers, each called gondolier;
+    It glides along the water looking blackly,
+    Just like a coffin clapt in a canal,
+    Where none can make out what you say or do.”
+
+        [Picture: Mrs. Wardle and Miss Himmel in gondola, Venice]
+
+Appearing suddenly, through unsuspected gateways and alleys, yonder, we
+see vast bridges and stately palaces of marble throw their shadows
+athwart the glittering waves.  There seems life and motion everywhere,
+and yet there is no noise.  There seems a hush as if suggestive of secret
+enterprise, of mysterious shadows, of the departed greatness of this
+still great city.  Old Petrarch might well exclaim: “I know not that the
+world hath the equal of this place.”
+
+Standing at our hotel door, the gondolier waiting for my wife and our
+friend Miss Himmel, I ventured (after they had seated themselves) to take
+a snap with my camera to secure some little permanent reminder of the
+curiosity of this manner of travel.  The gondola is a most handy and
+quick means of getting about.  We were out in the Grand Canal, and the
+sight was, to say the least, most interesting.  Here is a party of young
+ladies and gentlemen, with their gondola decorated with ribbons in
+various colours, and with them, evidently, an opera or chorus party, with
+their guitar, and some other peculiar instruments of music, but sweet as
+the evening zephyrs, as the sounds floated over the silvery sea.  The
+gondolas are all black, why?  I am unable to say; but I don’t think I saw
+one either brown or red, or green or white, simply painted black.  The
+stern of the boat is usually decorated with a kind of matting or carpet,
+at its prow the gondolier stands, he has only a single oar.  A long
+bladed oar, so he stands erect.  How he can scull ahead at such a speed
+is a mystery, and at once pull back when there is danger.  He seems to
+make all his calculations with the greatest precision, he never makes a
+mistake.  Mark Twain says: “The gondolier is a picturesque rascal for all
+he wears no satin harness, no plumed bonnet, no silken tights.  His
+attitude is stately, he is lithe and supple; all his movements are full
+of grace.”
+
+A party of ladies go out shopping in a gondola, this may seem strange,
+but it is really true.  They flit from street to street, and from shop to
+shop, they leave the gondola as a lady here leaves her carriage or her
+motor, by the curb, while they have rolls and rolls of silk or muslin or
+linen unrolled, and then, perhaps, have just enough cloth to make the pet
+dog at home a paletot.  Human nature, we find, is much the same the world
+over.  Boys and girls go to school in the gondola, while they jump and
+kick, and fight on the way, but only in play, until landed at the school
+house gateway.  Nurses are out in the gondola with babies for an airing,
+and to pass away the sunny hours on the waters.  Families go to church in
+the gondolas, dressed in their best, they are soon sculled to the place
+where they are wont to worship.  The mail boat is a gondola, with its
+freight of letters newly arrived, and is always interesting.  Funerals
+are also carried out in the same way.  The gondola is heavily draped in
+black velvet and silver trimmings, and furnished with huge candles
+lighted, surmounting the canopy, under which lies one who, in his turn
+has trodden the silent highways in the enjoyment of health, but is now on
+his last journey, accompanied by the solemn chant of the priestly
+requiem.  Business men come or go in the gondola as we do here in cab or
+motor.  The doctor visits his patients in and out of the quaint old city,
+not on a bicycle, but in a gondola.  We saw a party flitting, the
+furniture remover brought his gondolas, and furniture was handed out into
+this strange vehicle for such a purpose.  At Venice it is common, indeed,
+the only way possible of conveying goods or furniture from house to
+house.  So, for almost all purposes, the gondola is useful.  We found it
+a most enjoyable, as well as a speedy means of getting about.  To say
+there are no streets in Venice would be hardly true, or to say you cannot
+get from place to place only by water.  There are only three bridges
+cross the Grand Canal which divides the city into pretty nearly equal
+halves.  The city is built upon one hundred and seventeen islands,
+intersected by one hundred and fifty small canals, and two thousand five
+hundred and eighty passages or waterways; but almost all the waterways
+have a footpath bordering it, while four hundred bridges unite one island
+to another.  It is, however, very bewildering to pace the mazes of this
+strange city.  If you get five hundred yards from your starting point,
+you may have to cross half a dozen bridges before you can get back again.
+
+                 [Picture: St. Mark’s Cathedral, Venice]
+
+Our first visit was paid to the cathedral or church of St. Mark’s, and
+this wonderful building, for it is a wonderful place, has a wonderful
+history; it is this: when the Caliph of Alexandria, who was bitterly
+opposed to the Christian religion, was building for himself a magnificent
+palace, he gave orders that the most precious marbles were to be procured
+for its adornment, and to this end the Christian churches were to be
+stripped of their richest treasure.  A raid was made on the church of St.
+Mark at Alexandria, where the body of the Saint was said to rest in a
+state of spiritual repose, and so great was the grief of the two Greek
+Priests who officiated in the temple that their cries and lamentations
+came to the ears of two Venetian merchants who chanced to be trading in
+that port.  When these merchants found out the cause of their trouble
+they offered to take away the body of St. Mark and secure for it a sweet
+resting place in their own country.  The Priests at first disliked the
+idea, but when the temple was profaned and robbed and stripped of all
+that made it attractive, they gave consent.  It was a work that was very
+risky they thought, for St. Mark had been known to work strange miracles,
+and was held in great awe and veneration by the people.  However, they
+entered the tomb in which the body lay, cut open the wrapper in which the
+sacred remains were enfolded, removed the body and substituted the body
+of St. Claudian therein.  How to carry the body away safely was their
+next consideration.  They fell upon the following stratagem.  Placing the
+body in a large basket covered with herbs and savoury joints of pork,
+they bore it along the streets crying: “Khan zir!  Khan zir!”  Pork!
+Pork!  A cry hateful to all true Mussulmen.  In this manner they reached
+the vessel with their precious burden in safety, where, in order to make
+sure of their prize, they concealed the body in the sails until they left
+the city.  It is said the Venetians received the sacred remains with wild
+demonstrations of joy.  A succession of fetes were given, ceremonies were
+held in honour of the Saint, pilgrims flocked to the shrine from all
+parts of the world.  A revival in the fortunes of the Venetian Republic
+followed, and for a time the cry was often heard “Viva san Marco!”  To
+secure a fitting resting place for the body thus secured from Alexandria,
+this church of St. Mark was built.  It is a five domed Romanesque
+structure, decked with 500 marble columns.  It contains more than 45,000
+square feet of mosaics of the tenth century.  In form it is of a Greek
+cross.  Marble from the Haram floors of Eastern potentates panel its
+walls and cover its principal porticos, and over its grand portals stand
+the four horses of gilded bronze which were taken from the arches of Nero
+and Trajan at Rome.  They were first taken by Constantine in the fourth
+century after Christ to Venice.  Then they were taken from Venice again,
+and this time to Paris by Napoleon, but they were restored to Venice in
+the year 1815.  And here, as we saw them, they look most attractive.  The
+Campanile or Tower of St. Mark’s is not a part of the building, but
+stands a little way off.  It rises to the height of 322 feet, and at the
+top is one of the largest and finest vanes I ever saw, it is that of an
+angel with wings outstretched gilded with gold.  It was from the tower of
+St. Mark’s that Galileo made most of his astronomical observations.  We
+visited several churches of importance, but they are pretty much alike.
+All have their high altars and immense wax candles burning; the picture
+of the Madonna in prominent places.  The confessional box for the
+natives, also for strangers and travellers such as we were.  We, however,
+declined to patronize this particular line.  If we must confess at all,
+we certainly take the Psalmist for our ideal, he said: “I said I will
+confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity
+of my sins.”  Psalm 32, verse 5.  Plenty of Holy Water and evidently
+plentifully used, as nearly every one coming in puts his fingers in the
+bowl and makes the sign of the cross on his forehead.  Cowled monks paced
+the floor with noiseless tread.  Priests and Bishops in their distinctive
+dress are not scarce.  I gathered from some source that there are 1,200
+priests in Venice, a city of about 100,000 people.  It seems as if
+everything had to bend to the church and the priest.  In the church you
+have riches without end, there are huge columns carved out of solid
+marble and inlaid from top to bottom with hundreds of delicate figures
+wrought in costly verde antique; pulpits of the richest material, whose
+draperies hang down in many a lovely picture, showing the artist’s work
+from the loom.  The Grand Altar, brilliant with agate, jasper and all
+manner of precious stones and slabs of what is almost priceless, the
+lapis lazuli, which is on all sides lavishly laid as if of no value.  Yet
+in the midst of all this display of wealth and of lavish expenditure, all
+about and at the doors of the churches a dozen or more of hats or bonnets
+are doffed and heads bowed in mute appeal and a hundred hands extended
+appealing for help.  Appealing in a language we could not understand, but
+with sad, pitiful eyes and hollow cheeks and tattered garments, no words
+were needed to translate their wants.  I wondered why all these riches
+should lie idle and so many poor actually starving.  Mark Twain, when
+visiting Italy, said: “Oh! Sons of classic Italy, is the spirit of
+enterprize, of self reliance, of noble endeavour, utterly dead within ye.
+Why don’t you rob the church?”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+The Pigeons in St. Mark’s Square: Further description of the interior:
+The Palace of the Doges: “The Bridge of Sighs”: The general Archives of
+Venice: The Church of Santa Maria dei Frari: London Polytechnic Party:
+Some of the slums of Venice: Our farewell.
+
+In the Piazza of St. Mark’s there may be seen, almost any time, some
+hundreds of pigeons.  They are very tame, we passed them so closely I
+think we could have picked them up in our arms.  There is an old legend
+that these pigeons are the safety valve of Venice.  How? it is difficult
+to learn, but they are regarded almost with reverence.  Twice a day they
+are fed by the public authorities.  A huge bell is rung, and they come
+from all quarters of the city.  They know the time of feeding and to show
+visitors that this is true, when the bell is not rung, the pigeons are
+there.  If anyone hurts or kills one of these pigeons, he is fined
+heavily for the first offence, if it is repeated he is imprisoned.  We
+went inside this beautiful church of St. Mark’s and at first we could not
+realise the magnificence, the beauty, the costliness of its interior.
+The columns of porphry and amalachite and verde antique, panels
+glittering with gold and gems, pavements dazzling in mosaic work.
+
+After some time we began to realize the splendours by which we were
+surrounded.  Mr. Ruskin, I think, gives a fine picture in very simple
+words of the beauties and richness of St. Mark’s: “Then opens before us a
+vast cave hewn out in the form of a cross, and divided into shadowy
+aisles by many pillars.  Round the domes of its roof, the light enters
+only through narrow apertures, like large stars; here and there a ray or
+two from some far away casement wanders into darkness, and casts a narrow
+phosphoric stream upon the waves of marble that heave and fall in a
+thousand colours upon the floor.  What else there is of light is from
+torches or silver lamps burning ceaselessly in the recesses of the
+chapels.  The roof sheathed with gold, and the polished walls, covered
+with rich alabaster, gives back at every curve and angle some feeble
+gleaming to the flames: and the glories round the heads of the sculptured
+saints flash out upon us as we pass them, and sink into gloom.  Under
+foot and over head a continual succession of crowded imagery, one picture
+passing into another as in a dream; forms beautiful and terrible, mixed
+together, dragons and serpents and ravenous beasts of prey, and graceful
+birds that in the midst of them, drink from running fountains and feed
+from vases of crystal.  The passions and pleasures of human life
+symbolized together and the mystery of its redemption; for the mass of
+interwoven lines and changeful pictures lead always at last to the Cross
+lifted and carved in every place and upon every stone, sometimes with the
+serpent of eternity wrapped around it, with doves beneath its arms, and
+sweet herbage growing forth from its feet.  But conspicuous most of all
+is the great road that crosses the church before the altar, raised in the
+bright blazonry against the shadow of the Apse.”
+
+To describe all the interior of this lovely structure would be as easy as
+to describe our British Museum in London.  We were enchanted, bewildered,
+surprised.  The baptistery, with its sculptured front, and for an altar
+piece a massive granite slab, on which, it is alleged, our Lord stood
+when he preached to the inhabitants of Tyre.  Then the choir stalls are
+rich in carvings of every description, indeed, everywhere about us are
+treasures unspeakable.  The outside is hardly less wonderful than the
+inside, with its domes, spires, statues, arches and columns, which fairly
+bewilder you, as for the first time your eyes fall upon such marvellous
+productions of the skilful workmanship of man.  The King’s palace or what
+is called the Palace of the Doges is just against the Piazza or Square of
+St. Mark’s.  Against one of the columns at the entrance I took a snapshot
+of my dear wife and our friend Miss Himmel.  This place is full of things
+ancient and interesting.  Ruskin says of its many coloured marbles,
+columns, arches, and curiously sculptured windows: “A piece of rich and
+fantastic colour, as lovely a dream as ever filled the imagination.”  It
+has been twice destroyed by fire, but from the ashes it has arisen more
+beautiful than ever; here it stands to-day a monument of a strange and
+eventful history of over one thousand years.
+
+    [Picture: Mrs. Wardle and Miss Himmel by The Doges Pillar, Venice]
+
+The power of the Doges it seems, was an absolute power for a time, yet
+was of uncertain tenure.  Out of fifty, it is said, five abdicated, nine
+were exiled, five were banished and their eyes put out, and five were
+massacred, this up to 1172.  Life was of little value in those days, even
+amongst kings, nor was it less so amongst the people, as often a man
+accused was condemned without trial, punishment was swift and sure and
+secret, generally by strangulation in prison, or by drowning, hands tied
+and body weighted.  It was no uncommon sight in those days in this land
+to see a body swinging from the gallows by the wayside.  No one dared to
+enquire about the unhappy man’s fate, or he stood in danger of similar
+treatment.  Everywhere there was unsafety and fear.  As Rogers, one of
+our poets, puts it:
+
+    “A strange mysterious power was there,
+    Moving throughout; subtle, invisible
+    And universal as the air they breathed.
+    A power that never slumbered, never pardoned,
+    All eye, all ear, nowhere, and everywhere;
+    Most potent when least thought of—Nothing dropt
+    In secret, when the heart was on the lips,
+    Nothing in feverish sleep, but instantly
+    Observed and judged—A power that if but glanced at
+    In casual converse, be it where it might,
+    The speaker lowered at once his eyes, his voice
+    And pointed upwards as to God in heaven.
+    But, let him in the midnight air indulge
+    A word, a thought against the laws of Venice,
+    And in that hour he vanished from the earth.”
+
+Those were dark days in this city of wealth and power.  We were not
+permitted inside the palace, but were allowed to ascend the staircase at
+the head of which is the famous “lions’ mouths,” into which, in ancient
+times, were placed terrible denunciations, secret letters, etc., which
+meant, what I have already referred to, imprisonment, torture or death.
+Also, along a long corridor, where we could see the busts of the Venetian
+heroes, whose names were enrolled in the “Golden Book.”  Beyond is the
+hall of the Grand Council, in which are some of the richest and most
+valuable pictures in Venice.  There is Tintoretto’s masterpiece, “The
+glory of Paradise,” the largest picture (74 feet long) ever painted on
+canvas, the most precious thing in Venice to-day.  From the hall of the
+Grand Council, there is further on the hall of the Council of Ten.
+Indeed, the rooms are so many, so large and so full of things of
+interest, we left the place greatly interested and very tired.
+
+Another marvellous old church we visited was erected in 1565.  It is,
+however, much like other churches, full of pictures, bronze statues and
+carvings in wood in great variety.  The tomb of Titian is an object of
+interest in the Church of Frari, but time does not permit us to dwell
+upon it.  The offices of the general archives of Venice are very fine
+buildings, they were in the cloisters of the Frari, they are now simply
+the resting places of the most ancient records of the old republic.  It
+is said there are now over fourteen million volumes of immense value
+stored there.  They occupy thirteen large rooms.  The museum is a place
+worth a visit to those who are interested in curios.  It belongs to the
+city, and in it are many curiosities, chiefly artistical and
+archaeological—antique medals, armoury, engravings, books, ivory,
+engraved stones.  It is a place of great interest.
+
+We crossed the famous “Bridge of Sighs,” immortalised by Lord Byron, who
+says:
+
+    “I stood in Venice, on the bridge of sighs,
+    A palace and a prison on each hand.”
+
+It was built in the year 1610.  We could not fail to remember Tom Hood’s
+pathetic poem, written, it is believed, after seeing a poor girl, one of
+the unfortunates, whose corpse has just been discovered in the cold black
+waters under this bridge of sighs—Drowned! drowned!
+
+    “One more unfortunate weary of breath,
+    Rashly importunate, gone to her death;
+    Take her up tenderly, lift her with care;
+    Fashioned so slenderly, young and so fair.
+    Touch her not scornfully, think of her mournfully,
+    Gently and humanly; not of the stains of her,
+    All that remains of her now is pure womanly.
+    Make no deep scrutiny into her mutiny,
+    Rash and undutiful, past all dishonour,
+    Death has left on her only the beautiful.
+    Still for all slips of hers, one of Eve’s family,
+    Wipe those poor lips of hers, oozing so clammily.
+    Loop up her tresses, escaped from the comb,
+    Her fair auburn tresses, while wonderment guesses
+    Where was her home?  Who was her father?
+    Who was her mother?  Had she a sister?
+    Had she a brother?  Or was there a dearer one
+    Still and a nearer one yet than the others?
+    Alas for the rarity of christian charity
+    Under the sun, Oh! it was pitiful!
+    Near to a city full, home she had none.
+    Where the lamps quiver, so far on the river,
+    With many a light from window and casement
+    From garret to basement, she stood with amazement
+    Homeless by night.  The bleak wind of March
+    Made her tremble and quiver, but not the dark arch
+    Or the black flowing river, mad with life’s history
+    Glad to death’s mystery, swift to be hurled
+    Anywhere, anywhere, out of the world.
+    In she plunged boldly, no matter how coldly
+    The rough river ran.
+    Over the brink of it.  Picture it, think of it.
+    Then if you can, take her up tenderly,
+    Lift her with care; fashioned so slenderly,
+    So young and so fair.  E’er her limbs frigidly
+    Stiffen so rigidly, decently, kindly
+    Smooth and compose them, and her eyes close them
+    Staring so blindly, dreadfully staring
+    Through muddy impurity.  As when the daring
+    Last look of despairing, fixed on futurity.
+    Perishing gloomily, spurned by contumely,
+    Cold inhumanity, burning insanity,
+    Into her rest—Cross her hands humbly
+    As if praying dumbly, over her breast.
+    Owning her weakness, her evil behaviour,
+    And leaving with meakness her sins to her Saviour.”
+
+The bridge derives its name from the fact that criminals crossed it from
+the judge’s chamber to the prison.  This passage used to be on the
+bridge: “The way of the transgressors is hard.”  The bridge is a single
+arch of one span of ninety feet.  There are some nice shops on the top.
+Our next visit was to the church of San G. Maggiore.  Amongst so many
+churches that we visited, I must not omit to name the old church of Santa
+Mari dei Frari.  It is about five hundred years old.  It is said the
+heart of Titian lies somewhere here.  He died at the age of about one
+hundred years.  A plague was raging at the time of his death, which
+carried away something like fifty thousand of the inhabitants of Venice.
+Yet such was the esteem in which he was held, the state permitted a
+public funeral in that season of death and terror.  In this church there
+is a fine monument to one of the Kings “Foscari.”  It is in its way a
+curiosity.  It is over forty feet high, and is fronted in such a peculiar
+fashion, I could only liken it to some heathen temple.  Against it are
+four black men, as black as the blackest marble could be, dressed in
+white garments of marble.  Their black legs are bare, and through places
+that seem torn in breeches and sleeves, the shining black marble shows.
+Above all this sits the departed Doge or King.
+
+“The Church of Santa Maria della Salute.”  On our way home we dropped
+from our gondola to have a look at this sacred building.  It stands
+nearly at the entrance of the Grand Canal.  A hundred statues adorn the
+facades.  It is said the building rests upon over one million massive
+piles driven deeply into the sea.  It was erected in response to a vow,
+so it is said, in the year 1631.  Sixty thousand inhabitants were swept
+away by a terrible plague.  The then Doge vowed a vow to build a costly
+church in honour of the Virgin, if the plague was stayed, from the day
+the vow was made, no more deaths occurred, and every year this event is
+commemorated in a festival.  Reaching home tired, we soon went to bed and
+rested.  Rising refreshed and it being Sunday morning, we felt a need of
+our English Sabbath with its quiet rest and worship.  This, however, was
+partly supplied by a party from the Polytechnic in London, who, we found,
+were sleeping at our hotel, so we joined them, after we had breakfasted,
+in their songs, and so passed a part of the sacred day happily and
+pleasantly.  We visited one of the principal manufactories of mosaics and
+carvings.  A gentleman, who spoke fairly good English, escorted us
+through these extensive works.  The building was, at one time, one of the
+Ducal Palaces.  Room after room, full of the finest mosaics, cameos,
+china works in every conceivable variety, statuary, and carvings.  Some
+of these works of art are almost priceless.  We bought a few small
+specimens of the Venetians’ workmanship.  These large palaces of days
+long past are crumbling to ruins.  Byron says:
+
+    “In Venice Tasso’s echoes are no more,
+       And silent rows the songless gondolier.
+    Her palaces are crumbling on the shore,
+       And music greets not always now the ear.”
+
+Among the many places of interest in this very interesting old-world
+city, that we cannot stay to describe, are the Mint, the Arsenal, the
+Public Gardens, Titian’s house, Academy of Fine Arts, etc.  We had just a
+look at what we should call the slums, I mean the places where live the
+poor, and the poor are very poor.  Someone has compared Venice to a page
+of music, with its curious streets, palaces, museums, canals and bridges,
+resembling lines, notes, double notes, crotchets, pauses; its long and
+straight, its short, narrow and crooked ways, its open spaces scattered
+up and down, its mounting and descending of bridges.  The comparison
+holds good in as far as the stranger may easily lose his way and not
+easily find it again, in this maze of land and water.  In Venice nearly
+everything is sold in the open-air in the poorer quarters, and almost
+everything that is eaten, is eaten in the open-air.  Stalls, where fish
+or mutton is grilled or fried, and passed hot into the al fresco
+customer’s hands.  Turning into a sequestered nook resembling one of the
+openings in our Narrow Marsh, we saw a number of girls, very good looking
+damsels, with guitars and dulcimers, they were giving a serenade to the
+poor of that quarter.  They are the pearl threaders.  The pearl threading
+is an occupation prevalent in Venice, as embroidery was at one time in
+England.  A home of the poor was being removed from one house to another,
+the furniture consisted simply of a bedstead and a huge chest or coffer
+with a stool or two, and a small wooden table.  These constituted their
+whole inventory.  Nothing of marble or mosaic here.  Nothing of gold or
+purple, only squalor, poverty and rags.  And now we think we have seen
+Venice, our time also is used up or nearly so.  We have surely seen
+enough of the profusion of costly ornamentation in the old churches.  We
+gazed upon pictures until our eyes were weary of looking at the finest
+works of the painters’ art ever produced.  We have surely learned
+something in this old-world city of the deeds and doings of bygone ages.
+To have seen St. Mark’s and its wonderful Campanile or Tower, and the
+Palace of the ancient Kings or Doges, and the Grand Square, and the
+Bronze Horses that figure in so many legends (it is said there are
+hundreds of people in this curious old city that have never seen a living
+horse).  We think we have now seen Venice, and if this had been all we
+had seen on this tour, it would be worth all the cost and all the trouble
+to have seen this city on the sea.
+
+Our new found friend, Miss Himmel, left us in the early morning, her next
+visit was to Munich.  We wished her good-bye and God speed, for in our
+very short acquaintance we had learned to look upon her as a dear friend.
+And so we leave Venice, calling it as Goethe does: “a grand work of
+collective human effort.  A glorious monument, not of a ruler, but a
+people.”  So we departed, our gondola was at our hotel door early, we
+settled up, he swung out and we were at the station and caught the 9.45
+for Milan.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+Arrival in Milan: Our visit to the Cathedral: Its Spires, and Turrets:
+Its Stained Glass Windows, Altars, Pictures, and Sculpture: The Church of
+St. Ambrogio: The Bera Picture Gallery: The Hospital: Leaving Milan:
+Arrival at Como: Lake Como.
+
+As we steamed out of this dear old city, a palace of dreams, we looked
+back with a lingering desire to know her better.  Across the lagoons we
+were soon out of waterways and amongst the mountains of Italy; scenery
+lovely, bewitching, enchanting.  With a certain poet
+
+    “I ask myself is this a dream?
+       Will it all vanish into thin air?
+    Is there a land of such supreme
+       And perfect beauty anywhere?”
+
+For a long time we sped on through mountainous country whose peaks were
+bright with sunshine, the hillsides were dotted with pretty villas, which
+were surrounded with lovely gardens full of shubbery, or ravines that
+looked cool and shady.  Before the day had begun to wane, we caught
+glimpses of the great city of Milan, and soon we were being driven to
+“Hotel Europe.”  We found it all we could desire, large, clean, well
+fitted and most moderate.  Our great desire, of course, was to see the
+wonderful cathedral.  We had heard so much of this grand, solemn, vast,
+airy, peaceful building, that we could hardly sleep for the thought that
+we were so near what our eyes were aching to see.  We rose refreshed,
+and, after a good breakfast, we sallied forth to feast our eyes on the
+object we had heard of so often, but never seen.  Into the streets we
+went in a fever of excitement.  In this direction and in that, around us,
+behind us, before us were busy crowds.  At last, a very forest of
+graceful spires, shimmering in the light of the lovely morning sun, burst
+upon our view.  We needed no one to tell us what it was.  The Cathedral!
+my dear wife exclaimed.  We knew it in a moment.  How sharply its angles
+and its hundred of spires are cut against the sky.  It is like a vision!
+Some one has said: “a poem wrought in marble.”  From whatever standpoint
+you view Milan Cathedral, it is noble, it is beautiful.  You can see it
+from almost any point of the city, and for many miles outside it is
+visible.  We were at its doors early in the morning.  The central one of
+the five is finely bordered with a bas-relief of birds and fruits, beasts
+and insects, so ingeniously carved that they look as if they were really
+living things.  On entering, we felt as though we might hear a strange
+voice saying: “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon
+thou standst is holy ground.”
+
+                    [Picture: Milan Cathedral, Milan]
+
+And the lines of Milton at once rose to our lips.
+
+    “But let my dear feet never fail
+    To walk the studious cloisters’ pale,
+    And love the high embowered roof
+    With antique pillars, massive proof
+    And storied windows richly dight,
+    Casting a dim religious light.
+    There let the pealing organ blow
+    In service high and anthems clear
+    As may with sweetness through mine ear
+    Dissolve me into ecstacies,
+    And bring all heaven before mine eyes.”
+
+And Tennyson says:
+
+    “Oh! Milan! oh! the charming choirs!
+    The giant windows blazoned fires,
+    The height, the space, the gloom, the glory,
+    A mount of marble, a hundred spires.”
+
+We were amazed at the magnitude, the brilliancy, the beauty of all its
+interior parts.  In every nook and cranny and corner there is some lovely
+statuary, or vase, or painting, and every one is a study in itself, every
+face is eloquent with expression, and every attitude is full of grace.
+You can trace the master mind and hand of Michael Angelo or Raphael in
+the many objects of interest that arrest attention.  “Long rows of fluted
+columns, like huge mountains, divide the building into broad aisles.”
+The lovely stained glass windows, one of which contains no less than
+sixty panes; these throw in the soft morning light their shadows upon the
+marble floor of the aisles.  We quietly strolled along, viewing with
+admiration the pictures and mosaics so artistically arranged by their
+thousands of small pieces of coloured glass, until the whole seems to
+have the finish of a picture.  Our guide showed us many things of
+interest, which we might have missed but for his aid.  A piece of
+sculpture, the colour of a coffee bean, was shown to us, and our guide
+stated it was believed to be the work of that famous artist, Phidias.  It
+is a figure of a man without a skin, with every vein, artery and muscle,
+every fibre and tendon and tissue of the human frame shown in the
+minutest detail.  It was not a very attractive object to look upon, yet
+it was a work of skill and genius.  The staircases to the roof are of the
+whitest of white marble.  There is no stone, no brick, no wood apparently
+amongst its building material.  We did not feel like going up the one
+hundred and eighty-two steps, to gain the summit of this great block, we
+contented ourselves with a general view from the floor.  The statues up
+in the niches high, looked like tiny dolls, while they are really the
+size of a man.  There are niches for nearly five thousand statues, but
+only about three thousand are filled up-to-date.  We were not allowed to
+see the treasures and relics, these are most valuable and curious.  We
+learn there is treasure inside the coffers to the value of six million
+francs.  This is in silver and gold bas-reliefs and images of Bishops,
+Cardinals, Madonnas and Saints, Crosses, Croziers and Candlesticks.  For
+relics they have a stone from the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a fragment
+of the purple robe worn by Our Saviour, two of St. Paul’s fingers, and a
+bone of Judas Iscariot, a nail from the real cross on which Our Saviour
+died.  Once every year these sacred relics come out of their dusty
+archives, and are carried in a grand procession through the city, amid
+the acclaims of a deluded people.  On the High Altar is a very fine
+tabernacle of gilt bronze adorned with figures of Our Saviour and the
+twelve disciples, the gift of one of the ancient Popes.  A magnificent
+candelabrum hangs from the roof of the choir stall.  Beneath the choir is
+a small subterranean church, in which services are held in the winter
+months, as it is much warmer than in the great cathedral above.  This
+lower church is from the designs of Pellegrini, and from this church is
+an entrance to the Chapel of St. Carlo.  This Saint, it appears, was born
+about 1505, and was specially good to the poor, as he sold his life
+interest in some property and distributed it amongst the hospitals and
+charities of the city.  He tried to introduce some salutary improvements
+into the church, for the scandalous manner of living of the priests had
+become notorious.  For his desire to reform their habits, an attempt was
+made to assassinate him.  Several of the attempts failed, they then hired
+a priest named Farina to execute the bloody deed.  He gained access to
+this private chapel, and as San Carlo was kneeling before the altar, he
+fired at him with an old blunderbuss, just at the moment he was chanting:
+“Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  The bullet
+struck him on the back but did not penetrate his silken stole, but
+dropped harmlessly to the ground.  This failure of the attempt to murder
+him was considered an interposition of Divine Providence.  He died,
+however, at the early age of forty-six.  His death was hastened by the
+severe austerity of his life.  His body is deposited in a gorgeous shrine
+of silver, the gift of Philip IV., of Spain, and he lies in his full
+canonicals and can be seen through panes of rock crystals.  Upon the
+sarcophagus is worked in rich tapestry San Carlo’s favourite motto:
+“Humility.”  There are several busts of San Carlo, also a fine statue.  A
+mitre, also said to be worn by this Italian worthy during the plague, it
+is beautifully embroidered with feathers of the choicest and richest
+hues.  There are many churches in all the cities of Italy that are full
+of interest, some have been so much modernized that, from the outside,
+there appears nothing unusual, but once you are inside, surprise follows
+surprise.  Saint Ambrogio is one of these.  The moment you get inside you
+are interested, statues of costly marble, silver shrines, columns of
+marble, vast and numerous.  One of the great sights is the splendid
+facing of the altar, which is a marvellous display of the goldsmiths’
+art.  A fee of five francs must be paid to see it, the front of the altar
+is of rich plates of gold, the back and sides are of silver, all richly
+enamelled and set with precious stones, the golden front is in three
+divisions, each contains smaller compartments; in the centre one are nine
+containing the emblems of the four Evangelists and the twelve Apostles.
+The transfiguration is also clearly seen amongst them.  On one side are
+to be seen eight angels bearing vials, on the other side are the four
+archangels—Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel.  But the back is quite as
+full of interest; like the front it consists of three grand compartments,
+and these are divided into similar tablets.  On one of the first is seen
+a swarm of bees buzzing around the head of a sleeping child.  The legend,
+when explained, tells us that when St. Ambrose was born in the year 340
+A.D., a swarm of bees were thus seen around the head of the infant while
+in his cradle while lying in the palace of his father, and as no harm
+followed, it was said to be an omen of his future eloquence and power.
+He was chosen Bishop of Milan in the year 375 A.D.  Other emblems, indeed
+they are too numerous to mention.  On the right side of the nave is a
+large serpent of brass.  Tradition states it is the serpent of brass
+which was set up in the wilderness for the serpent-bitten Israelites to
+look upon and live.  Tradition is not always truth.  In the centre of the
+choir is a curious marble throne, called the chair of St. Ambrose, its
+appearance is very ancient, it is decorated with figures of lions and
+strange carvings.  We left this interesting sanctum as we had left other
+churches—impressed, instructed and grieved.  The Brera Picture Gallery or
+Museum is also well worth a visit.  It originally belonged to the
+Umiliate Order of Jesuits.  It is of immense size, and its frescoes are
+simply magnificent.  Amongst them I may name “The Virgin and Child, with
+St. John and the Lamb”; three girls playing a game then called “hot
+cockles”; “A youth riding on a white horse”; “Child seated amongst vines
+and grapes”; “The Virgin and St. Joseph proceeding to their marriage at
+the Temple”; two minstrels, such as usually accompany wedding parties;
+“The martyrdom of St. Sebastian;” “The Israelites preparing to leave
+Egypt”; “The Prophet Habakkuk awakened by the Angel”; “Three cupids with
+musical instruments.”  I believe there are thirteen rooms all full of the
+finest works of arts to be found anywhere out of Rome.  The botanical
+gardens are not, to my mind, equal even to our own in this country.  The
+Grand Hospital of Milan is well worth looking at from the outside, built
+in the year 1456.  The first stone was laid by Antonia Filarte.  As you
+enter the great gateway, a very fine quadrangle appears in view, and
+there is a double colonnade of arches, twenty-one on one side and
+nineteen on the other.  I was told that over thirty thousand patients
+passed through this hospital every year.  It can accommodate at once
+about five thousand people.  Monuments abound outside that have been
+raised to the memory of the principal benefactors.  The theatres of Milan
+are really palaces of beauty; indeed, I learn that Milan is known by the
+magnificence of its theatres.  The principal one is La Scala.  It is said
+to be the largest and the best arranged of any in Italy, It is capable of
+holding three thousand six hundred spectators easily.  There are
+forty-one boxes in each row.  We did not go inside as our time was fully
+taken up with other scenes and places.  There is a Church of England, or
+rather services rendered by a clergyman of the Church of England.  The
+Protestants in Milan are very few.  There are several Free Church
+services conducted in the city, but the buildings are not of any special
+character.  From observation I should say four-fifths of the inhabitants
+are Roman Catholics.  The city has now a population of over four hundred
+thousand.  We visited a good many parts of this beautiful busy city.  It
+has some very fine squares, some noble monuments, some pretty gardens;
+also shops of all kinds, and goods may be had at reasonable prices.  We
+secured some small mementoes that were not very difficult to pack and
+carry away.  After a few days stay we agreed to move on.  So packing once
+again, and settling up our accounts, and tipping the waiters (it is
+unpardonable to leave without doing this), our luggage was once more on
+the ’bus, and we were lumbering along to the railway station, now to make
+our way to Como, and so on to Lucerne through the great St. Gothard
+tunnel.  We had only a little while to wait, and our train came in with a
+roar and a hiss.  A few minutes and we have left behind us one of the
+sights that will linger long with us.  “The Cathedral of Milan,” for some
+distance we could see it behind us, and in front of us snow-clad
+mountains some twenty miles away, our interest deepened as we proceeded,
+for the beauties nature’s bounteous hand has spread all over Italy is one
+continual surprise and joy.  In less than an hour our train steamed into
+the station at Como.  This is not a large place, but looks very pretty as
+it nestles in quite an amphitheatre of hills.  Como was the home of
+Pliny, and it is said to have been a very fashionable resort at the time
+of the Cæsars.  In the middle ages it became an independent republic, and
+for a long time held its own against the large city of Milan.  It is now
+a very prosperous little town, and it is said rivals Lyons in some
+respects for its beautiful production of silks.  It is surrounded by
+Olive yards and Orange groves, and near by is the beautiful lake of Como.
+This is one of the most beautiful of all lakes of lovely Italy we have
+seen, and we had seen several from our carriage windows, and it was only
+from this point we could gaze upon this scene of loveliness.  Time did
+not permit us to leave the train to explore and to enjoy.  We could see
+its blue waters shimmering under a warm glow of sunshine.  The
+surroundings are very interesting and beautiful, the eye does not grow
+weary in tracing the outline of the hills which surround it.  I do not
+wonder at the Psalmist saying: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,
+from whence cometh my help.”  Psalm 121.  For surely earth cannot
+present, nor unassisted reason fancy or conceive an object more
+profoundly significant of Divine Majesty than these hills clothed in
+their vestures at the top, by everlasting snow.  In their presence “There
+is silence deep as death, and the boldest hold their breath.”  The slopes
+of the hills are covered with a very lovely verdure of green, intersected
+here and there by glens.  On one side there are crags and precipices,
+under whose shelter the vine hangs in bright green festoons.  The Olive
+tree also is in good evidence, as shown by its gnarled and knotted stem;
+Orchards and fine Chestnut trees in rich profusion.  Passing along we see
+the white foam of a waterfall as it shines amongst the verdure or leaps
+over the rocky crags and comes dashing and splashing down the hillside.
+Further on we see the little white houses dotting the hillsides, as if
+they grew out of the same.  Then a single arch of a bridge that spans a
+small ravine and unites one little cluster of houses with another, giving
+interest to the whole surroundings.  In another hour and a half we were
+steaming into beautiful Lugano.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+Lugano: The river Tessin and its bridge of ten arches: Bellinzono:
+Entrance to the great St. Gothard Tunnel: Andermatt Station: St.
+Bernard’s Hospice: The Devil’s Bridge: The Wood Cutter at Work: William
+Tell’s Chapel: His story: Entrance to Lucerne: Our Hotel: Our visit to
+the mountain top of Sonnenberg, etc.
+
+Our stay at Lugano was only for a few minutes, it looks very much like
+the town of Buxton, in Derbyshire, “Peakland.”  The houses are built of
+stone, the streets are white and clean looking.  It has a population of
+about 7,000, and has a little trade in silks, leather, hats, and some
+shoes.  It is an important railway depot, as it stands very near the
+frontier, dividing Italy and Switzerland.  The Roman Catholics have a
+very fine church, and, as an accessory, a very extensive nunnery.  The
+river Tessin runs near and the town is protected by a very large dam,
+nearly a mile long.  We crossed this river as we left for Lucerne, over a
+fine granite bridge of ten arches and something like seven hundred feet
+long.  As we left behind us this pretty little town, we were soon
+recompensed by ever changing scenery that no pen can fully describe.
+
+                      [Picture: St. Gothard Tunnel]
+
+About an hour brought us to another stopping place, Bellinzono.  From
+here we run side by side with the river Ticino, a very fine river, and
+here began to ascend rapidly towards the Alps and the great tunnel of St.
+Gothard, which is the largest in the world, and by a long way the most
+costly.  On our way we had a good view of Monte San Salvatore, some three
+thousand feet high, and beautifully covered with green vegetation right
+to the summit, and its sides are dotted over with little white
+homesteads, they look very pretty in the distance.  We soon reached the
+entrance to the great tunnel, which is a marvel of engineering skill.  It
+is built in corkscrew fashion.  As we proceeded into the darkness, in
+about ten minutes or less we came into daylight for a few seconds and
+found we were about two hundred feet above the little church we had
+passed a few minutes before.  Again we plunged into darkness, again we
+emerge into daylight, only to find the church is now about six hundred
+feet below us, and this is repeated, we see the church five times and
+ultimately we reach the top, about seven thousand feet above sea level.
+I think the station is called Andermatt.  Here we stopped for a little
+while, we bought some postcards with views of the tunnel and of some of
+the scenery about here.  The cold was intense, the air very rarified.
+Not far from here is a Hospice where the dogs, the great St. Bernard dogs
+are kept for the purpose of protecting the mountain pass.  Before the
+railway was made there was a road that was passable with guides and
+mules, though, not unfrequently, storms would overtake the party and they
+would get lost in the snow, or some venturesome individual would go very
+near the edge of the precipice, and, as the snow hung over considerably,
+with his weight it would break loose and cause an avalanche of snow to
+fall, which would take the whole party into the gulf below, sometimes two
+or three thousand feet.  At other times, overtaken by terrible
+snowstorms, the party and guide would lose their way, and so get buried
+in the drifts.  On such nights the monks of the hospice would go out with
+the dogs and listen for cries of help.  It is stated that scores have
+been saved from being frozen to death by the great St. Bernard dogs.
+After leaving Andermatt, we again pierced the mountain in this great
+tunnel, now we began to descend.  Coming into daylight the sight that met
+our view was simply enchanting, we were right on the top of the Alps and
+could see the great peaks and the lesser mountains covered with eternal
+snow.  Down we descended to Wassen, here we crossed a foaming cataract
+(by an iron bridge) that had cut for itself a deep gorge in the side of
+the mountain.  A little further we crossed what has come to be called
+“The Devil’s Bridge.”  This is in the midst of scenery of the wildest
+nature imagination can conceive.  Why it is called by such a name I don’t
+know, only the awful desolation of the place, the awe inspiring grandeur
+of the cliffs, the terrible roar of the river one hundred feet below, and
+the shrieking of the wild wind, aptly called by the natives, “Hutshelm,”
+or “hat rogue.”  Certainly it is an eerie, creepy sensation that steals
+over you as you pass.  On we glide, now through narrow rocky defiles,
+then crossing chasms of great depths, as we did so we leaned out of the
+windows and tried to guess the depth of the yawning gulf beneath us.  It
+made us dizzy to look down.  Proceeding, we came into the pine zone, and
+the black forests of these lovely pine trees seemed to be stuck on their
+mountain shelves as if staring at us and saying: “Why do you come
+uninvited into this quiet sanctuary of nature, too deep, too awful to be
+trodden by man?”  Passing along we discovered the woodcutters were
+clearing out the pine trees on their mountain heights.  To fell the trees
+the men seemed to be chained or roped on the rocky precipices, and the
+trees, when cut down, fall upon wires ingeniously hung from trees or
+large posts fastened in the mountain side and reaching for a distance of
+two or three miles.  We saw the trunks of trees sliding along and down
+these wires as fast as our train was running.  We were not long before we
+came to the Lake of Uri, which may be said to be out of the mountain
+ranges, and just by there we saw the Chapel, erected at a very early
+date, and re-built in 1880, to the memory of Switzerland’s great hero,
+William Tell.
+
+                    [Picture: William Tell’s Monument]
+
+He was famous as a crossbowman, could shoot an arrow with great
+precision.  The Canton in which he was born and lived was partly, if not
+entirely, under Austrian rule of that time, and so imperious was Gesler,
+the Governor, that he demanded of his people that when his hat was hung
+up in the market place of the town, every one passing should doff his hat
+and bow to it.  William Tell refused to be so humiliated, and, as the
+result of his refusal, he was arrested, and it was demanded of him to
+shoot through an apple placed on the head of his only child, a boy of
+ten, at a distance of fifty yards.  This, Tell accomplished without
+injury to his son; he, however, declared in his own mind the next arrow
+should go into the heart of Gesler, the tyrant.  Tell, however, was not
+liberated, but was being taken a prisoner to the castle across this lake.
+While crossing, a very sudden squall arose, threatening to upset the boat
+which had Gesler and his prisoner Tell on board.  So severe was the storm
+that Tell was liberated from his chains and asked to take an oar, it was
+known that he was a clever oarsman.  Tell saw his opportunity, he ran the
+boat on the rocks, then leaping out he pushed the boat off into the lake
+again.  Gesler, however, managed to land, but he fell to the arrow of
+Tell who had watched and waited for him for some time.  To be relieved of
+so imperious a Governor was to constitute Tell an hero, hence the keeping
+his memory green by building a chapel; he is also commemorated in song as
+well as in story.  Tell sings:
+
+    “Ye crags and peaks, I’m with you once again!
+    I hold to you the hands you first beheld,
+    To show they still are free.  Methinks I hear
+    A spirit in your echoes answer me,
+    And bid your tenant welcome to his home
+    Again!  Oh! sacred forms, how proud you look!
+    How high you lift your heads unto the sky;
+    How huge you are! how mighty and how free,
+    Ye are the things that tower, that shine, whose smile
+    Makes glad—whose frown is terrible—whose forms
+    Robed or unrobed, do all the impress wear
+    Of awe divine.  Ye guards of liberty,
+    I’m with you once again!  I call to you
+    With all my voice, I hold my hands to you
+    To show they still are free, I rush to you
+    As though I could embrace you!  Scaling yon height
+    I saw an eagle near its brow
+    O’er the abyss: his proud expanded wings
+    Lay calm and motionless upon the air,
+    As if he floated there without their aid,
+    By the sole act of his unlorded will,
+    I bent my bow, yet kept he rounding still
+    His airy circle, as if in great delight.
+    The death that threatened him, he knew it not,
+    I could not shoot!—’Twas liberty,
+    I turned my bow aside and let him soar away.
+
+Passing along we were on the side of the lovely lake of Lucerne, and as
+it was after seven o’clock as we rounded the hillside, and passed the
+rocky precipices of the hills we could see the twinkling lights of the
+town some two miles away.  We steamed into a beautiful station, I think
+Lucerne station, for beauty, for comfort, and arrangement, is the best we
+have seen on our lengthy tour.  We alighted from the carriage on to a
+lovely platform.  Porters in attendance, our luggage conveyed most
+expeditiously to the ’bus of the Hotel de L’Europe, and soon we were
+bowling along to that very delightful hotel.  We found the place all that
+could be desired by the most scrupulous.  We had an excellent bedroom,
+clean, dry and comfortable.  Our luggage disposed of, a wash and brush,
+and away we go to enjoy a splendid table-de-hote.  We did justice, I am
+sure, to the good things so abundantly provided, for there was no stint,
+no lack of variety, and served with great delicacy and tact.  We were not
+long after we had had dessert before we began to feel we needed Nature’s
+sweet restorer, balmy sleep, and to bed we went.  Seeing the nets for the
+mosquitoes were hanging on, we examined the room as far as we could and
+we came to the conclusion the room was void of the troublesome creatures.
+Sleep fell upon us sound and refreshing, when we awoke we found we had
+been the victims of the evil creatures, for we were both bitten in one or
+more places.  Still, as the Yorkshire man said, “It mud a bin war.”  We
+arose refreshed, and were anxious to see the Rigi mountain, and the still
+more popular Pilatus.  First we drew the blinds, stepped out on to the
+balcony, we found a lovely garden under our window.  It was beautifully
+laid out with flower beds and gravel walks.  We stood and gazed, seeming
+to doubt if it was real, that we were really on earth.  Could it be the
+Garden of Eden?  It is like an exquisite dream.  The scene seems to
+thrill like the sweetest chords of music.  The hotel is like a palace,
+such lovely roses, charming walks, sculpture and vases on all sides,
+broad flights of stone steps leading in and out of the grounds to the
+hotel, and around the grounds massive trees with all manner of names.
+The Lake of Lucerne, just peeping through the trees, and the mountain
+ranges beyond, peak above peak covered with their snow white mantle made
+the scene entrancing.  After we had tired our eyes with looking on the
+lovely landscape we went to enjoy our dejeuner of fish, fowl, bacon, eggs
+and coffee.  We left our hotel for the first visit into the lovely town
+of Lucerne.  It is not a large town but well built and kept very clean.
+The accommodation for getting about is good, by tram or ’bus or cab, and
+not too expensive.  We soon found ourselves in the centre of an industry
+of silk and cotton works, making all kinds of fancy articles of ladies’
+wear and of the very finest materials.  Young girls sitting in the shop
+fronts, and, indeed, in the doorway, plying their needles and crocheting
+hooks.  A large number are employed in this branch of industry.  Also the
+shops for toys were strangely attractive, chiefly made of wood by the
+mountaineers, while waiting for parties.  The Swiss guide lives in the
+rocky regions, has a cow or two, and two or three goats, and is prepared
+to be used as a guide, or he fills in his time with making boxes of all
+sizes and shapes, pipes, animals of various kinds, indeed, almost
+anything you can imagine he can carve out of wood, with his knife.  Time
+is not very valuable, so he works away until he has completed his work,
+which finds its way into the shops and so, finally, gets to England,
+France or Germany, as a toy for boys’ or girls’ amusement.  We soon found
+our way to the front of the Lake of Lucerne.  It is a charming lake, the
+colour is simply indescribable, it is neither blue nor green, but a
+lovely tint made up of both.  As we looked across this beautiful water we
+could see orchards and meadows sloping right down to the water’s brink.
+Straight in front stood the mighty mountain called the Rigi.  As we stood
+awe struck with delight to watch the vapours chased away by the coming
+sun and the rugged face of the mountain laid bare in all its grandeur and
+power, the sun shed its glow over rock and tree, and the stony monarch
+seemed to salute you with a smile.  On the other side, that is at our
+right hand, old Pilatus, rugged and bare, seemed to look down upon the
+lake with a frown, and between the two giant mountains we could see the
+wondrous Alps, peak upon peak in a wonderful variety, clad in their
+mantle of eternal snow.  And now above us and around us is the sunshine
+of, to us, unusual brilliancy and a sky of faultless blue, not a single
+cloud to be seen anywhere.  The picture is one that will never fade from
+our memories.  It will enter into our life to remain a constant joy to
+think of.
+
+It was our intention to go up by rail to the top of the Rigi or Pilatus
+or both, but other sights were so attractive that we kept putting off
+that pleasure, as there seemed to be doubts if, on the very summit, there
+might not be clouds to obscure the view, as the height of the Rigi is six
+thousand feet, the height of old Pilatus seven thousand feet, and there
+is an old saying put in rhyme that
+
+    “If Pilatus wears his cap, serene will be the day;
+    If his collar he puts on, you may venture on the way.
+    But if his sword he wields, at home you’d better stay.”
+
+We ventured a visit up the Sonnenbergh.  This is done by train, or it
+would be more correct to say by carriage, for the train consists of one
+carriage only.  The engines seem to have their boilers tilted up on ends.
+The railway has a central rail which is cogged, and into this endless cog
+fits a wheel underneath the engine.  This is really the driving wheel by
+which it slowly moves up the steep gradient.  We passed farms, orchards
+and plantations, up and up.  It is a curious sensation to find yourself
+steadily moving up without any effort of your own, but still up we went
+until we landed on a lovely plateau, with a charming hotel.  The view
+from this mountain height was beyond description.  We left the train and
+wandered into the woods and viewed our surroundings.  I had a camera with
+me so must get one or two pictures.  We were ready to return by the next
+train after being up almost in the clouds for two hours.  Our curious old
+steamer soon put us in safety again by the side of the lake, and from
+here we made our way to our hotel for some refreshments and for a rest.
+Again leaving our good “hostel” we visited the Glacier Gardens, these are
+now enclosed and protected, and a small fee is charged to see the natural
+wonders of this lovely and picturesque scenery.  At the very entrance you
+see what is called “The Lion Monument.”  It is cut out of the solid rock.
+
+                        [Picture: Lion of Lucerne]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+The glacier gardens: The Lion of Lucerne: The glacier mill holes: The
+museum: The Bridge over the Reuss: The Cathedral: Pilatus Mountain:
+Leaving Lucerne: Zurich: Lake of Zurich: Zwingli, the reformer.
+
+As we entered the Glacier Gardens our eyes were at once drawn to this
+massive and very interesting and pathetic piece of sculpture, “The Lion
+of Lucerne.”  The smooth face of this quarry is about fifty feet high,
+and it looks to be about as wide, it is overshadowed by some very nice
+trees and climbing plants.  It is protected by a wooden rail, so you
+could not, if you so wished, carve your name on the rocky surface.  In
+the very centre of this vast square is a wounded and dying lion.  The
+size in stone (for it is really a part of the rock itself) is about
+twenty-eight feet in length.  It was hewn by the order and from a model
+by the renowned Danish sculptor, Morwalsden, and was finished in the year
+1821.  This famous masterpiece is dedicated to the memory of the Swiss
+Guards of Louis XVI., who fell a prey to the fury of the populace, as
+they retreated unarmed into the French Tuileries.  The sculptured figure
+is in a lying position, and a broken arrow or spear is in its side.  I
+don’t remember ever being so impressed with an object in stone as I was
+by this.  It has an expression of the deepest grief, and such as must
+have moved many to tears.  Above the figure you may read (as it is carved
+into the rock) the following words: “To the fidelity and bravery of the
+Swiss.”  Beneath it the names of the twenty-six officers who fell on that
+terrible day.  Passing into the gardens we were soon beside one of the
+glacier pots or holes.  These glacier pots or mill holes were discovered
+in the year 1872, and it is asserted by geologists that they were formed
+in far past ages.  One of them, Albert Heim, says: “I hereby testify both
+as a geologist and an eye witness of the first unexpected discovery, as
+also of the subsequent careful excavations of this wonderful phenomenon,
+that the hand of man had nothing to do with the formation of these
+glacier mills and polished surface of the glacier, nor with the erratic
+boulders that lie about, or in those mill holes, but that we have here to
+deal with a marvellous operation of free organic nature, a relic of a
+time when these countries were not inhabited by man.”  In those days
+almost the whole of Switzerland and, indeed, the greatest part of the
+Northern Hemisphere was buried under immense masses of ice, as can now be
+proved with the greatest certainty, with here and there an oasis
+inhabited by animals long ago extinct.  Our attention was drawn to a
+large hole in the solid rock almost round, and the sides quite smooth and
+about eight or ten feet deep, and at the bottom a large boulder or stone,
+also smooth.  This hole is made by the whirling of the stone round and
+round by the force of melting ice, causing the waters to flow in strong
+descending streams.  It is thus these glacier mills are formed.  In these
+gardens are quite a number of these interesting specimens of the work of
+Nature in the far past ages.  The largest of all the mill stones we saw,
+was one which weighs over five tons.  This having in some remote age,
+been whirled round and round like a toy.  There are also some large
+boulders carried by the glaciers from the high Alps and left here.  We
+also found some very fine specimens of fossils and ferns that had been
+petrified into stone.  We left this most interesting part of the gardens
+and mounted up a large number of steps to the imitation of a lovely
+little Swiss Chalet, surrounded by tall trees which seem to be growing
+out of the side of the rocky eminence on which the Chalet is perched.  It
+is called “An Alpine Cottage.”  The president of the Alpine Club
+describes it thus: “This cottage, cleverly and accurately imitated, gives
+us a true picture of these highland places of refuge.  Not many men, and
+still fewer women, are enabled to see such a building in its airy
+district.  Here it is, within reach of every one in perfect imitation of
+the real thing, inside and out.  Even the inscription, here dedicated to
+the section Pilatus is not wanting.  Let us walk in!  The hut contains
+that homely furniture, those poor and scanty utensils, the view of which,
+however, is so welcome to him who, in the evening twilight, tired and
+weary, enters the hospitable and friendly space, and makes use of them to
+take his frugal meal.  Let us go to the window!  O wonder! what a sight!
+We are, as if by magic, transported to God’s beautiful world of the Alps.
+We stand far above the glacier which descends majestically from the land
+of eternal snow.  It requires a long time and a close observation to
+realize that this is an illusion.  The foreground is a plastic formation
+as in a panorama.  All the characteristics of the world of glaciers are
+wonderfully rendered with scientific accuracy.”  I have here given in his
+own words the description of this most wonderful imitation of a Swiss
+Cottage and its surroundings.  The museum is one that would give
+entertainment and information to an enquirer after knowledge for some
+time, particularly in geology and the condition of our race in these
+regions in the far back past.  Instruments of defence made of stone or
+flint or of bone.  These have all been discovered in the immediate
+neighbourhood and preserved.  A pick axe made of flint, chisels of flint
+stone, sling-stones, lance-like instruments, earthenware vessels,
+carbonized wheat, half of an apple petrified, hand hatchet of bone, knife
+of bone, dagger of bone, dagger of horn, shovel of stag’s horn, tumbler
+of horn, shuttle made of bear’s teeth, sewing needle, very crude, made of
+bird’s bone.  In another part of the museum there are groups of the
+animals of the Alps.  The otter, the eagle, the horned owl, the bearded
+vulture, a group of Alpine hares, a wild boar, a group of bears, a pole
+cat, the common ibex, foxes, Alpine jackdaw, wild cats, sea swallow, the
+chamois, the St. Bernard dog, and many other interesting relics of past
+ages, preserved for the pleasure and benefit of the present generation.
+A fine collection of the mountain ferns are to be seen in their richness
+and beauty, with notices of the places in the Alps where they may be
+found.  There is the ice grotto, which we did not descend to see, but we
+were greatly pleased with our visit to this very interesting place.
+Before leaving the gardens I took a snap-shot of my dear little wife on
+the bridge, crossing from the glacier gardens to the Alpine Chalet.  We
+visited several other places of interest in the town, one, particularly,
+attracted our attention.  It is a very old bridge over the river Reuss.
+It has stood against “the iron tooth of time which devours men and their
+works together,” for about four hundred years.  Anything more quaint I
+think I never saw.  It is covered in and is in length about one hundred
+yards.  In the triangular spaces formed by the beams that go to support
+the roof, pictures have been painted, I should think for the amusement of
+passers over, as they are not, as a whole, very edifying.  I should say,
+perhaps, two hundred paintings are to be found on the bridge.  There are
+some that may claim some merit; these are representations of the various
+battles and victories by the Swiss armies.  About the centre of the
+bridge is a curiosity shop or bazaar, containing toys, bronzes, etc.
+Hastening across, for time began to be valuable, as we had seen so little
+of this wonderful city, and our time for leaving grew near, we needed to
+use the time left us wisely and well.  The old cathedral must be visited.
+We had, however, seen so many, it hardly seemed likely this one would be
+at all interesting, but we determined to pay it a visit; and, although
+there is much about it that is similar to others we had seen, still there
+is a difference.  On the outside and near the entrance is a large metal
+plaque in bronze, with a large cross on which is an image of the
+suffering Saviour, and a good number of names of persons deceased, who
+had left the instructions for the erection of the tablet.  Inside, the
+usual array of bowls of holy water, confessional boxes, candles burning
+on the altar.  There is also some very fine sculpture in marble, also
+some very fine pictures by the old masters.  Of course it is Roman
+Catholic, consequently the priest is in evidence everywhere.  We left the
+church with feelings that a great deal of the religion of the Roman
+Catholics, as we have seen it on the continent, is a soulless religion.
+It has a framework but no soul.  We really hoped, before leaving Lucerne,
+to have gone up the Pilatus mountain, as from there we understand, can be
+had a splendid view of the Bernese hills, the highest of which is the
+Tomlishorn, about seven thousand feet.  It used to be most difficult to
+climb the Pilatus, but now it is easy and safe.  It used to be associated
+with legends of hobgoblins, fairies, dragons, etc.  It is said to get its
+name from Pontius Pilate, who crucified the Christ, after which he was so
+smitten with remorse that he fled the Judean country and found his way to
+Switzerland, finding here in this awe inspiring mountain, a fit place to
+close his wretched career, and in a tiny lake near on the summit, he
+ended his miserable life.  There is still a superstition abroad that his
+spirit, in its restlessness, visits this mountain periodically, and may
+be seen washing its hands as we read “And when Pilate saw that he could
+prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and
+washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood
+of this just person; see ye to it.”  Matthew, chapter 27, verse 24.  It
+may, however, be only imaginary, but superstition dies hard in such
+lonely localities.  As we could not visit its summit this time, we must
+content ourselves with viewing it in the distance.  And now our time in
+this lovely city closes.  Our stay has been of the pleasantest; the
+manager of our hotel (The Hotel de L’Europe) has been to us the very
+essence of kindness; even the mosquitoes were fairly generous, only on
+one or two occasions have they troubled us.  So we packed up, paid our
+bills and left, very reluctantly.  It was on a very lovely morning we
+bade adieu to the most pleasant and enjoyable scenery of the lakes and
+mountains around the pretty town of Lucerne.  Having boarded the train
+our first impulse was to get snugly into a corner and live over again the
+past few days, but the scenery around us was of such a character, we
+could not rest in forgetfulness of things passing.  We could see in the
+distance the great Jura mountains.  Then near to us homely, lovely
+scenery; there a little stone farm and farmyard, a little stream flowing
+by, the farmer’s maid on an iron bridge spanning the stream, giving the
+whole surroundings a picture of rusticity.  A little further and we see
+an old mill, with its massive wheel in motion and the miller’s man in
+dusty garments, standing with his arms akimbo, giving orders for the
+unloading of a heavily laden mule wagon; around us is forest and field in
+pleasing variety.  We are not very long before we near the lake of
+Zurich, which is very extensive, and like all the Swiss lakes, it is very
+beautiful.  Then to Zurich.  I was greatly surprised at the importance
+and the accommodation at and about the railway station.  I think it was
+one of the best we had seen, and for attractiveness I should say the
+finest.  The town itself is of importance, having a population of over
+one hundred and twenty thousand people.  From the railway the city shows
+itself well, as a part of it is built on the side of a rocky eminence,
+with the River Limmet running at the foot.  Indeed, this river divides
+the town, the upper and lower Zurich.  There are six bridges (and they
+know how to make useful and beautiful bridges on the continent).  Three
+are used for carriages, wagons, etc., and the other three only for foot
+passengers.  The streets in Zurich are very narrow, crooked and dirty.
+On the hill stands conspicuously, a grand Cathedral, the Grosse Minster;
+of course, it is a Roman Cathedral, but it is, I learn, very rich in
+sculpture and pictures, although, I fear, very poor in that which should
+make any church rich—the Divine in-dwelling.  There is a very fine Post
+Office, and all the modern appliances and conveniences for the
+acceleration of information.  It is a very ancient town, indeed, it was,
+as history tells us, at one time a Roman city.  Zwingli, the great Swiss
+reformer, played an important part in the history of Zurich.  It was then
+the centre of the reformation in Switzerland, and Zwingli was leader.  He
+was a contemporary with Martin Luther.  He had studied at Basle and Bern,
+and was made parish priest in 1506.  He was a great student of Holy
+Scripture; it is said he copied the epistles of St. Paul in Greek and
+committed them to memory wholly.  He accompanied the Pope’s army against
+France as a Chaplain, and was granted a pension by the Pope for his
+sympathetic attention to the wounded and the dying.  His knowledge of the
+Bible led him to examine closely into the teaching of the Romish Church
+and he, led doubtless by the good Spirit of God, discovered many things
+his conscience could not approve amongst them—the sale of indulgences.
+He wrote a work of great importance condemning the feasts of the Church,
+also against the worship of images, the mass, the confessional, and other
+abuses he conceived existed.  In 1524 he married a lady of standing and
+importance, by this act he broke away from the Romish Church and incurred
+the Pope’s displeasure.  Soon after this he joined the German Reformers;
+at that time Martin Luther was leader.  Zwingli’s Bible was to him
+everything, he found in it complete and unbroken rest to his soul.  To
+him it was the one only ground of appeal, also the test of faith and
+practice.  On minor points such as baptism and sacraments, Luther and he
+did not see eye to eye; but on the main points of Christian theology and
+general church discipline they were in agreement.  He fought and fell in
+a war between Zurich Canton and the Roman Catholic Cantons of
+Switzerland, in the year 1531.  His great battle cry was “my countrymen,
+trust in God.”  Our stay at Zurich was only short, we soon found
+ourselves en route for Basle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+From Zurich to Basle: Arrival in Basle: Our Hotel: Our visit to the Rhine
+Bridge: “The Watch on the Rhine”: The Market: The Cathedral and its
+sculpture, etc.: Erasmus: The Museum: The Zoological gardens: Leaving
+Basle: Arrival at Belfort: Belfort besieged.
+
+As we journeyed from Zurich, we felt we were leaving behind us sights we
+might never see again.  A certain poet’s words came to my memory:
+
+    “Beautiful world,
+    Though bigots condemn thee:
+    My tongue finds no words
+    For the graces that gem thee!
+    Beaming with sunlight,
+    Beautiful ever,
+    Streaming with gay delight,
+    Full as a river.
+    Bright world!  Brave world!
+    Let cavaliers blame thee,
+    I bless thee and bend
+    To the God that did frame thee.”
+
+Between Zurich and Basle we contrived to get a little relief from the
+excitement of new scenes.  We had really been surfeited almost with the
+richness and beauty of our surroundings for so long a time that it was a
+relief to allow the train to speed on, and to get into a corner and
+contemplate and rest.  We arrived at Basle in the afternoon, and found it
+a great railway centre, and indeed, a very important town, both for
+commercial men and for pleasure seekers.  It is a great centre for
+cyclists, as there are at least forty castles to be seen within a radius
+of fifty miles.  You can be in Germany in about twenty minutes.  From the
+north, east and west, a number of the most important lines of central
+Europe are focussed here, and swelling to a mighty mass, branch off again
+in every direction to the interior of Switzerland.  Thus inner
+Switzerland is laid open to the world’s traffic and pleasure.  The
+surroundings of the city are very pretty, and we saw it when it was most
+charming, i.e., when the autumn tints are seen.  Here we see field and
+forest around this grand old city in all the glory of the season’s
+attractions.  We were advised by the manager of our hotel in Lucerne, to
+go to the Hotel Victoria in Basle, so we secured the usual fakeno to
+carry our luggage across, for it is only about two hundred yards from the
+station.  We were, however, disappointed in the hotel and its management.
+They were neither obliging nor scrupulously true or honest, the very
+worst treatment we met with in all our travels.
+
+                    [Picture: The Rhine Bridge, Basle]
+
+However, our stay was short, so we determined to make the best of it, the
+bedroom was good; and, although close by the station, we slept well.  We
+decided to see the city the day following; and going out, we soon found
+it to be a great centre of commerce.  It has a population of about one
+hundred and thirty thousand inhabitants.  Great silk factories rear their
+heads in the centre of this great city.  There are also manufacturies of
+chemicals, tobacco, machinery, etc.; also some very large breweries.  It
+is said to be the wealthiest town in Europe, measured by its population.
+It has plenty of open-air spaces, as parks, gardens and monuments; cool
+avenues and well trimmed gardens are plentiful in the suburbs.  We went
+to see the wonderful Rhine which flows through Basle, and we stood on
+that wonderfully constructed bridge of which the poet writes:
+
+    “A voice resounds like thunder peal
+    Mid dashing waves and clang of steel:
+    The Rhine, the Rhine, the German Rhine!
+    Who guards to-day my stream divine?
+
+    Dear fatherland, no danger thine,
+    Firm stand thy sons to watch the Rhine!
+    They stand a hundred thousand strong,
+    Quick to revenge their country’s wrong;
+    With filial love their bosoms swell,
+    They’ll guard the sacred land, mark well.
+
+    While flows one drop of German blood,
+    A sword remains to guard thy flood.
+    While rifle rests in patriot’s hand,
+    No foe shall tread thy sacred strand!
+
+    Our oath resounds, the river flows,
+    In golden light our banner glows,
+    Our hearts will guard thy stream divine;
+    The Rhine, the Rhine, the glorious Rhine!”
+
+For some time we stood and watched the rolling river flow by until tired
+of watching, we left after I had taken a snap-shot, and retracing our
+steps to the market, a place of peculiar interest, as everything seems
+different from our English ways.  The stalls are set out differently, and
+their fruits, vegetables, pots, flowers and shoes, indeed almost
+everything you can need, we saw in the great space of the market here in
+Basle.  The curious customs, dresses, language and money were all
+strange; and we thought the dress of the country folk was very quaint and
+queer.  We spent sometime in looking over this great place, so many
+things offer attractions; without however, making any purchases save a
+few post-cards and a little fruit for our immediate use.  We strolled on
+to the principal streets to note some of the very fine buildings that
+adorn the city.  The Post Office is an imposing building, I should say it
+was partly ancient and partly modern.  It is a Gothic building and seems
+to be well suited for, and capable of dealing with the work it has to do.
+The House of Parliament, or shall I say Government House, in the great
+market square, to look at it, it seems to rise terrace-like, up to the
+Martin’s Grasse; in the centre of each terrace is a court, round which
+the halls and the various offices are grouped.  There is a fine statue
+close by the stairs representing a Roman pro-Consul, who had to do with
+the founding of the city.  Of course, we must see the Cathedral.  In all
+the continental cities there is a Duomo or Cathedral, and many of them
+are well worth a visit.  The Cathedral of Basle stands on an elevation
+and consequently shows itself well.  It has two steeples, not very lofty
+but very pretty.  It dates from the year 1010, but has been restored and
+very nearly re-built, as there was a great fire which destroyed a large
+part of it in the year 1185.  Again, in the year 1356, there was an
+earthquake, so serious that the vault of the central nave fell in, and
+the upper portion of the choir was thrown into the Rhine.  Over the
+entrance is a fine stone gallery, and above this a very large window,
+with Madonna and Child in fine colours.  There are several fine pieces of
+statuary inside.  The Emperor Henry II. and his Consort Kunigundi, in
+colossal figures.  To the left of one of the steeples is St. George in
+the act of killing the dragon.  To the right, or St. Martin’s steeple, is
+a figure of St. Martin sharing his cloak with a poor beggar.  On the side
+of the nave are some very fine works of art in sculpture, such as four
+life-size figures of the “Four Evangelists”; there is St. Peter and St.
+Paul; “The Seven Wise and Seven Foolish Virgins”; “Christ, as Judge of
+the World”; “John the Baptist and John the Evangelist.”  Above these are
+seen angels blowing their trumpets; the dead arising from their graves
+and preparing for judgment; over the doorway inside, “The Wheel of
+Fortune.”  There is an absence of the confessional, the Holy Water and
+other symbols of the weakness of the faith of the Roman Catholics.  We
+were greatly interested with our visit to this, one more of the
+Continental Cathedrals, and especially so as one of the men who played
+some part in the great reformation lies buried here, I refer to Erasmus.
+He was a learned divine of the fourteenth century.  He published some
+very fine pastorals and works of theology, that even now are considered
+worthy of reading.  It does not seem that he ever joined Martin Luther in
+his crusade against the Pope and Popery in general, but he became a
+staunch protestant.  It is said that King Henry VIII. offered him a
+church in Oxford.  He travelled much, visiting Rome, Venice, England and
+Paris.  He ended his days here in Basle, and in the sacred precincts of
+the Cathedral his dust reposes.  The “blue house” is an attractive
+building; it was the residence of the Emperor and Empress of Austria
+during the war of liberation, at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
+It has a fine front and commands a full view of the river Rhine.  The
+museum is one of the quaintest and strangest I have ever seen.  It is
+said to be the most interesting museum in Switzerland.  I cannot pretend
+to tabulate all there is to be seen here, only indicate some of the most
+curious: “The dance of death,” “Tankards,” “Bowls,” “Carved Altars of
+curious designs,” but very costly; the gold and silver plate belonging to
+the Cathedral, many trophies taken in war and weapons also.  There are
+ancient household implements; also several important heirlooms of
+Erasmus; some fine figures of Samson and Delilah are to be seen at the
+entrance.
+
+“The Strassburg Monument” in the Elizabeth Gardens, close to the Central
+Railway Station, is a fine sculpture in white marble (I took a snap-shot)
+by Bartholdi, and was presented to the city by Baron Herve de Gringer, in
+commemoration of the assistance given by the Swiss in 1870, to the
+citizens of Strassburg when sorely pressed by the enemy.  The Zoological
+Gardens of Basle are very extensive, and so far as I know, are the only
+gardens of this description in Switzerland.  The way to it is full of
+beauty and interest.  There is also another place some people might think
+important, we did not—that is the Crematorium.  Many other places of
+interest in and around this fine old city, we had not time to visit, our
+time being limited.  We could not help being struck with the fact that
+the ancient landmarks of this old world city are fast disappearing, and
+old buildings being pulled down and new palatial ones being erected on
+all hands.  The crumbling walls of the middle ages are fallen; the moats
+are all filled in; narrow streets and alleys are being swept away in the
+onward march of time; and the broad squares and commodious dwelling
+houses are being put up.  The beauty after all, is the rolling river
+Rhine.  We closed our account at the hotel, wrote up our journals and
+prepared to leave this interesting old city.  We left our hotel early in
+the morning, and were soon seated in a train for Belfort, in France.  We
+had to cross the Rhine over a fine railway bridge, and as we crossed it
+we had a good view of the river as it rolled past.  It comes through
+Alsace and Lorraine, the territory ceded by France to Germany after the
+great victory achieved by the latter, in the year 1870.  The scenery,
+since leaving Switzerland, is less rugged and mountainous, but the
+foliage, in its autumn colours, is very pretty.  A couple of hours
+brought us to the town of Belfort.  It has now a population of about
+thirty thousand.  We could see first of all, it was well fortified.  The
+castle has a fine appearance in the distance, as it stands on a rocky
+eminence; something like our castle here in Nottingham.  There is a fine
+old parish church (the religious element is well represented wherever we
+find ourselves).  It is a manufacturing centre, especially for mats, but
+also wax tapers.  There are several large breweries.  This town was
+surrounded by the Germans in the great Franco-German war of 1870.  But
+month after month it bravely, resolutely withstood all their attempts at
+capture; and although both food and ammunition became scanty, they still
+held on, until by sheer force of lack of provisions, they capitulated in
+February, 1871, to the great satisfaction of the Germans, and to the
+chagrin of the proud French.  The Germans, in their generosity, and as a
+recognition of the bravery of the French soldiers, allowed them to march
+out of the town with full military honours.  It is one of the towns that
+closely border Alsace and Lorraine of the Haut Rhin that was left to the
+French at the annexation in February, 1871.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+At Marseilles: Our Hotel; Meeting Mr. and Mrs. Green and Mrs. Martin: The
+sights of the City: The Cathedral, etc.: En route for Mentone: Toulon:
+Passing Nice: Cannes: Arrival at Mentone: Our Hotel: Meeting Mr. and Miss
+Brown: The scenery, etc.: Visit to Monte Carlo.
+
+Our visit to Marseilles was made in the earlier part of the year, also to
+the Riviera.  On reaching Marseilles after a long and tedious journey, we
+proceeded to the “Grand Hotel du Louvre et Paix,” that we had previously
+arranged should be our stopping place, during our stay in the city.  The
+hotel ’bus was at the station and we were soon safely inside and our
+baggage on the top; through some rambling streets we soon found ourselves
+at an hotel of no mean pretensions.  The front is facing a very fine
+street, and is of massive proportions.  Inside is even better than the
+outside.  Everything up-to-date; lovely chandeliers with electric light;
+mirrors, carpets of the richest and best quality; writing rooms, coffee
+rooms, dining rooms and several hundreds of bed rooms.  We just looked
+round and got the number of our bed room and were about to step into the
+lift, which had just descended, when to our surprise we met face to face,
+a dear old friend of ours, Mrs. Martin, of Glasgow, and she was
+apparently as much surprised to see us.  We hurried through our toilet
+and went down stairs to learn why she was here alone.  She told us her
+father, G. Green, Esq. (a very dear and almost life-long friend of ours)
+was returning from a visit to America and the West Indies, and she
+expected him and Mrs. Green arriving at Marseilles at once; indeed, she
+was just going down to the docks to see if the boat was in.  In the
+meantime we had lunch, which just then was very necessary and most
+acceptable.  We wanted to see a bit of the city, as our time was limited,
+and we could ill afford to lose any of it.  We found the shops fairly
+good, but prices very high for anything that was worth having.  We
+omitted spending at present, so went back to our hotel where we met Mr.
+and Mrs. Green to our great surprise and pleasure.  After the usual
+salutations, etc., we wanted to know each other’s programme, to see if we
+could not have at least a few days together.  We had arranged to go on to
+Mentone, and had booked hotel beforehand; they had decided, with Mrs.
+Martin, to go to Cannes the same day, so we arranged to return from
+Mentone earlier than we had thought, and visit Cannes; and they arranged
+to stay at Cannes till we arrived, and have at least two days with us.
+So they left us for Cannes after having some refreshments.  We further
+explored the city; the population now numbers nearly half a million, it
+is the next largest city in France save Paris.  There is a grand
+Triumphal Arch not far from the railway termini, erected to commemorate
+the French campaign in Spain.  The docks are most extensive, as they
+cover an area of about one hundred and seventy acres, and they must have
+cost many millions of pounds sterling.  On the south side of the city may
+be seen, a long distance off, “The Notre Dame de la Garde.”  It stands on
+a bare rock hill.  To reach it you pass through an enclosure protected by
+iron railings, you take tickets and get into an elevator which quickly
+raises you over three hundred feet.  From here, however, you have to
+reach this curious old Cathedral by many steps.  When you have just
+gained the summit, there is a very fine view of the city at your feet,
+and of the Mediterranean Sea, with the graceful curves of the coast line
+lending enchantment to the view.  The island of Monte Cristo is also well
+in sight, reminding you of Dumas’ novel.  It is said that, on the spot
+where this church stands, the Druids celebrated their crafts and
+mysteries.  Inside there are some very fine columns of blue marble from
+the Alps.  The ceilings and walls are hung with pious offerings,
+commemorating strange deliverances at sea.  There is an image of the
+Virgin in the shape of a flying mermaid, appearing to a ship in a storm.
+The Cornish Road or Chemin de Centure, is a great attraction, as it runs
+along the coast for a long distance, indeed, it is said to run along the
+coast to Naples, following the sea all the way; curving and jutting out,
+just as the sea has apparently found the bays and the promontories.  The
+principal streets of Marseilles are very broad, and there is some lovely
+architecture.  I give a picture, as I took the snap-shot of what stands
+at the junction of three or four of their main streets.  The city is well
+surrounded by hills, covered with vineyards and oliveyards; and the
+country round, for some distance, is specked with white country houses.
+Our stay is of short duration, so good-bye to the port, to the shops, to
+the Cathedral.  Our hotel bill is to be settled, and, this done, the
+great lumbering ’bus is awaiting us.  We say adieu to our French waiters,
+boots and Concierge, and are soon at the railway station and in the train
+for Mentone.  Leaving Marseilles we noticed the scenery began to be
+rugged and rocky, for some distance.  The sea, however, was a great
+attraction, the blue Mediterranean is I think always pleasing to look at;
+and we could feel the pure bracing air as it came up from the sea.  About
+two hours brought us to an important station called Toulon.  This is said
+to be the Plymouth of France.  The dockyard and fleet of Toulon were
+destroyed by a British force under Sir Sidney Smith, detached from the
+fleet of Lord Hood, in November, 1793.  There is a wonderful history
+attached to this city, which I have neither the time nor the disposition
+to enter upon.  Our train was delayed here, so I dismounted to get some
+oranges, when, to my dismay, the train moved on and left me hatless on an
+open platform.  However, I found it was only to move to the tank to take
+water.  In ten minutes’ time it returned, so set at rest my little wife’s
+troubles and my own.  We soon left behind us this apparently prosperous
+and busy town, and were again surrounded by hills and the sea.
+Landscapes of bays and promontories, rocks and ravines.  To my mind I
+have seen nothing in all my travels (and I have been over four
+continents) to equal the stretch of coast and country from Marseilles to
+Mentone.  It is beyond all question the loveliest part of the fair land
+of France.  On all sides as the train steams along it is pretty, gay and
+captivating, as the sunny shores are washed by the rolling sea, and an
+azure sky is overhead; and beyond, in the background, you can
+occasionally see lines of lofty hills crowned with eternal snow.  As we
+passed the various stations, as Nice, the scenery becomes richer and more
+beautiful.  Lovely avenues bordered with flowers, winding through the
+plain; and shady footpaths meandering among fields of asphodel and
+lavender.  As we passed St. Raphael Station we noticed a very peculiar
+formation of the sea-shore.  On we sped through the most beautiful
+scenery, palm trees began to seem plentiful; the first I saw looked so
+lovely I took my camera and got a snap-shot; but as we proceeded they
+became quite common.  At Nice, the races were just over, and we saw
+numerous horses and horsemen leaving the race course.  We had passed
+Cannes, and after which, Monte Carlo, and soon reached our destination
+where we remained for a few days (Mentone).  We had selected, as was our
+custom, a hotel beforehand, this time it was “Hotel de Mentone.”  So on
+the arrival of our train in the station we looked out for the hotel
+omnibus.  We were surrounded by porters to carry our baggage, and almost
+a quarrel ensued which should have the job.  However, we were conducted
+to the ’bus and very quickly driven to the hotel named.  We found it all
+we could wish, indeed, the most comfortable and best managed we had found
+in all our travels.  The manager, M. C. Husson, is the very acme of
+kindness and attention, our wants seemed to be anticipated and met most
+expeditiously.  Our bedroom, large and airy, facing and within one
+hundred yards of the blue Mediterranean; the garden full of the most
+lovely palm trees.  My little wife said: “this is like paradise.”  The
+climate of this lovely town is very mild, and fogs, they tell us, are
+unknown.  It is surrounded by an amphitheatre of mountains, consequently
+no north or east winds affect them; the hills intervening between these
+Alpine Mountains and the town and the sea, are covered with gardens of
+the orange tree (in full fruitage when we saw them January 18th); also
+the lemon and olive tree.  Mentone is a favourite winter resort for
+English visitors.
+
+In our hotel we found some interesting people, some of them from England;
+and those who could speak English were to us, more than usually
+interesting.  We seemed to be specially drawn toward a lady and gentleman
+from Southend-on-Sea—a Mr. Brown and Miss Brown, his daughter.  She made
+herself particularly useful and nice to my little wife.  We were
+strangers, and all about us a strange tongue was spoken and new customs
+in vogue.  Miss Brown most kindly offered her aid at any time and on any
+point that was desired.  This was most gratefully accepted, and in a few
+days we were fast friends.  A correspondence has been kept up since we
+left, so that in all likelihood the friendship formed in Mentone will be
+continuous and pleasant.  We took our walks each morning along the fine
+promenade in the clear fresh sunshine and bracing sea breeze, so we could
+feel we were gaining strength and getting a real good bracing up.  We
+took lunch, more than once, at a sweet little Swiss restaurant,
+everything was scrupulously clean and sweet.  We visited the Park
+Gardens, where the band was every day discoursing sweet music.  These
+gardens are filled on two sides with orange trees; and as we passed them
+the fruit was just lovely, ripe and ready for plucking.  The borders and
+beds were full of the most beautiful flowers in full bloom.  I got two or
+three snapshots of this pretty place and surroundings.
+
+                     [Picture: Miss Brown at Mentone]
+
+We visited the cemetery on the hillside.  It is difficult to reach, as
+there are so many steps, but it is well worth a visit.  Here are laid to
+rest the dust of many generations.  We found marble monuments in memory
+of several English residents, who had died in Mentone and were buried
+here.  The graves or mausoleums are carefully kept.  Flowers bloom most
+luxuriantly, and intertwine themselves in and around the sculpture on all
+sides.  Some graves have, built over them, a small tent or room, which is
+adorned with pictures and filled with flowers.  Here the relations of the
+deceased come, and seem to commune with the departed; at any rate they
+find some kind of solace in spending a little time near the sacred dust
+of loved ones.  We visited the Market Place, and on market day too, to
+see the costers from the country in dresses quaint and queer, with their
+donkeys and carts of the rudest make.  One would really have liked to
+have laughed at their simplicity.  The fruit, flowers and vegetables were
+of a very fine quality; nothing so large in England.  New potatoes in
+January, and new green peas, tomatoes; indeed, everything that our
+gardens will produce in June, they get here in January.  Monte Carlo is
+only a few miles from Mentone, and there is a tram running; so we
+determined to pay a visit to this interesting place before we left the
+Riviera.  A lovely day found us on the tram en route for Monte Carlo.  Up
+the hillsides our tram went, and round some curves that to us seemed
+dangerous, across some deep ravines, ascending, then descending, for the
+road is along the rocky mountain side.  In about forty minutes we reached
+this place of notoriety.  It is certainly one of the loveliest places
+under the sun.  Someone has said “it is my ideal, in outward appearance,
+of what heaven will be.”  Words are too poor to paint the beauties of
+Monte Carlo.  Some of the places in my native county, Derbyshire, such as
+“Lovers’ Leap,” “Monsale Dale,” “High Tor,” and others, but on a small
+and insignificant scale, remind me of the Riviera, only the sea and
+climate is lacking.
+
+                    [Picture: The Casino, Monte Carlo]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+Monte Carlo: Its Casino and gardens: Leave taking at Mentone of Mr. and
+Miss Brown: Arrival at Cannes: Meeting Mr. and Mrs. Green: Cannes, its
+scenery, etc.: Visit to Grasse: Journey to Paris: London: Home, Sweet
+Home.
+
+It seems as if Nature had lavished her richest treasures on Monte Carlo.
+Its terraces covered with palms; its orange groves and oliveyards; its
+massive hotels of marble; its azure sky and ever blue Mediterranean
+sparkling at its foot.  Then there is the Casino, “the gambling hell,” as
+it has been called.  A building upon which no money or care has been
+spared to make it an attraction, and it has undoubtedly been a success,
+for thousands throng its rooms daily. We had no difficulty in getting
+inside.  I presented my card to an official in braided coat, who, when he
+saw it, and had given a look at us, I presume, thought it would be safe
+to give us admission, and took us to a ticket box where the usual
+entrance ticket was granted, and we were admitted inside.  Oh! what a
+scene!  Tables covered with green baize and marked with figures; the
+gamblers or players crowded round every table, staking mostly five franc
+pieces; sometimes one five franc piece and sometimes five.  Two men
+representing the bank with hooks or rakes, drew in the cash, as the
+Roulette declared for the bank; the winners raking their gains in as the
+tale of the Roulette was in their favour.  The faces of the players were
+a study and tempted one to moralize and try to predict the effect of this
+sort of thing on the character of the gamblers.  It is an awful thing to
+be caught in the clutches of a gambling saloon—this one in particular.
+There are many tables, all full; and crowds round waiting for an
+opportunity.  We went through the vast building, it is richly carpeted
+and the upholstering is of the best; settees, mirrors, chandeliers, etc.,
+all give to it an appearance of wealth.  Monte Carlo is in the territory
+of Monaco, which is the smallest independent state in Europe at least.
+It only covers about eight square miles.  It formerly included Mentone
+and Roccabruna, but these have been ceded to France for four million
+francs.  The Palace of the Prince is on the promontory or rock just below
+the Casino.  Surrounding it are some lovely gardens, and the appearance
+of some protection in the shape of cannon, etc.; these, however, would be
+useless if they were ever needed.  It is said that his chief revenue is
+from the Casino, which pays him about two hundred thousand pounds per
+annum.  The population under the Prince is now about ten thousand.  I
+took a snap-shot or two, and we strolled about until weary, then we found
+our way to the tram and in about an hour were in our hotel enjoying
+table-de-hote.  Our time for leaving Mentone had arrived, and again we
+packed, at least, my little wife did.  We said good-bye, with reluctance,
+to a place that had given us so much pleasure; also to our new found
+friends—specially Miss Brown—my dear wife had grown quite fond of her.  I
+think it was because she showed such kindness to us when we arrived, also
+she spoke English; and that, in itself, attracts an Englishman when away
+from home.  The leave taking between them was quite affectionate and,
+doubtless, correspondence will follow.  We left Mentone in the lovely
+sunshine, and from under the lovely palm trees, and were soon passing
+Monaco, Monte Carlo and Nice.  We reached Cannes all safe and sound.  A
+lovely motor carriage was at our disposal for the “Hotel de la Plage.”
+We were met by our old friend—George Green, Esq., and his good wife and
+daughter, Mrs. Martin, who also had a friend with her from Glasgow, Mrs.
+Giles.  They gave us a hearty welcome to our hotel, second to none on the
+continent, I think, and lovely for situation, close by the sea; and
+surrounded with the most lovely semi-tropical plants, as the photo or
+snap-shot shows.  We enjoyed the two or three days immensely with our
+friends in this lovely spot; for Cannes is lovely.  The Bay of Cannes
+surpasses, it is said, the Bay of Naples for beauty.  “Then there is the
+Cape of Antibes, with its gardens of dreamland and fairies!”  The Estrel,
+with its profound solitude, and with its masses of red porphyry, like
+buildings erected by the Titians; with its arid soil covered with crooked
+pines, raising their branches towards the pure azure sky.  Cannes is said
+to be a vast garden, where the flowers are scattered in profusion by
+Nature with a lavish and never wearying hand.  There is also the orange,
+the lemon, the oleander, the pepper plant, and the palm tree; all growing
+side by side with the olive, the oak, and the stone pine.  Of Cannes, it
+is said: “She is the daughter of the Sirens, and sprang into existence
+one morning under the glowing kisses of the sun.”  It has had a chequered
+history, but it is now merged into the liberty of a gay and prosperous
+town of thirty-five thousand inhabitants.
+
+ [Picture: Mr. and Mrs. Green, Mrs. Martin, Mrs. Wardle and Mrs. Giles at
+                                 Cannes]
+
+Over twenty thousand visitors come to Cannes for the winter to escape the
+northern fogs and frosts.  Mr. Green and I strolled the Promenade and
+talked over olden times.  The ladies enjoyed their tete-a-tete and their
+shopping expeditions; so the days slipped quickly away and we must lose
+our friends, who go to Marseilles, then by sea to Glasgow.  So again we
+say good-bye, expecting, however, to meet again soon in London.  They
+leave early for Marseilles in order to catch their steamer.  We visited
+Grasse the day after they left us.  This is about twenty miles from
+Cannes by rail, and it lies up in the mountains; it is about one thousand
+feet above the sea level, yet it is surrounded by the Alps, at least east
+and north.  The town has a population about fifteen thousand, and is
+built on the slope of a hill.  It is steep climbing up from the station.
+Facing the town is a lovely valley or plain, where they cultivate
+flowers.  The town is largely supported by the manufacturing of scent.
+There are several factories; one factory sends away over eleven million
+francs worth of scents yearly.  It is a town of great interest.  It has a
+fine old Cathedral, also some fairly good shops.  The streets being on
+the hillside are not easy to walk along.  Our stay was only for a few
+hours, but long enough to satisfy us; the place was health-giving and
+very interesting.  On arriving at our hotel in Cannes we were tired; so
+after the usual table-de-hote and rest, we went to bed early, as the
+following morning we were to pack up and go.  After the usual tips, bill
+settling, etc., we left Cannes and its many attractions, and as we
+rounded the bay we could see the town for miles with its white hotels,
+etc., amidst the luxuriant palm trees.  We soon lost sight of the town
+and were spinning over deep ravines with rugged sides; there with jutting
+spurs of rock; here the sea pushing up in inlets and creeks, sparkling in
+the rays of the southern sun.  Our train hurried us away from scenes of
+such perfect loveliness, past Toulon, and about 7.30 we reached
+Marseilles.  Here we met again Mrs. Martin and her friend Mrs. Giles.  We
+only stayed here about half-an-hour, but we began to feel the change in
+the atmosphere, and our rugs were brought into use, as we were travelling
+all night.  About midnight we reached Lyons, and on looking out we found
+the snow was falling thick and fast.  Oh! what a change in a few hundred
+miles!  The sunny south was now behind us, and again we must face the
+biting frost and snow of winter.
+
+We reached Paris about 11 a.m., and soon found our way to “Hotel du
+Nord.”  We spent a night at the “Magenta Hotel,” where we found friends
+in Dr. Mochwyn Hughes and his sister, who were going into Switzerland.
+We decided to “do Paris,” as they say, in a motor.  So we engaged one and
+were quickly through some of the busy streets of this wonderful city.  We
+visited Notre Dame, of course, and went inside.  There was a funeral
+cortege, and the mourners sitting by the bier; while the priests, with
+their incantations, mummeries and ceremonies, and genuflections, just by.
+We felt how little was the comfort to be had here for the grief stricken
+relatives.  From here we passed the great Eiffel Tower, the Bourse, the
+Louvre, the Tuileries, the Champs Elysees, the Bois de Boulogne, and the
+New Opera House.  The Pont Neuf or the New Bridge over the Seine.  Then
+to the tomb where lies all that remains of the great Napoleon.  Here,
+with uncovered heads, we gazed into the grand mausoleum, and were
+constrained to moralize on the vanity of human ambition; and of how
+short-lived and unsatisfactory all worldly wealth, pomp and pleasure.  We
+passed the Pantheon and several places of great interest, but time flies
+and we must away from Paris.  My wife, however, had become quite friendly
+and even affectionate with Miss Hughes, so at parting there was the usual
+promise of postcards, etc.  We spent a little time with Mrs. Martin and
+her French friend, then to the railway, and in a few hours ride we found
+ourselves once again in Calais.  We were not long in finding our way to
+the boat, our travels had made us quite experts in getting from boat to
+train and from train to boat.  My little wife had to go below; Mrs.
+Martin, who travelled with us, bravely stood it.  However, we faced the
+sea bravely because we knew that beyond it lay our home and loved ones
+anticipating our home-coming.  I spent my time on deck, and really got a
+good blow from the briny.  We landed at Dover safe and well; and, after a
+very little time, we were on the train, bound for the great city of
+London.  It was dark as we travelled through the country, so we could not
+see the places of interest.  We were glad to reach the “Manchester
+Hotel,” our home from home.  The Manager, Mr. Hanscomb, received us with
+a warm welcome; and soon we felt we were amongst English people and could
+again enjoy an English meal in the English fashion.  Only a night in the
+city and again we are entrained for Nottingham.  We had travelled now
+nearly two thousand five hundred miles.  Oh! the anticipation!  The
+slowness of the train, as we thought; though it was a fast train.  We,
+however, reached Home, sweet Home, safely and well, after many strange
+experiences; and Oh! what a Welcome! from my precious daughter, Ivy, and
+son Gordon, and dear Auntie; then our dearest baby boy, with his smiles
+and his dimples; and oh! what a hug!  Welcome home, was apparent even
+from the servants, and we thought there is much truth in Leonard Cooke’s
+poetry:
+
+    “We have basked in the far off Eastern Sun,
+    ’Neath skies of unchanging gold;
+    Held by the spell of the Orient
+    With its mystery and charm untold.
+
+    But, Oh! to the heart that is English,
+    There is nought in a distant clime
+    As fair as a field in England
+    Decked out in the summer time.
+
+    There is joy in the white faced daisy,
+    No country afar can excel;
+    There’s a charm that out rivals the orchids
+    In the tints of the pimpernel.
+
+    There’s a scent in the fields of England
+    Rich spices can ne’er surpass,
+    A pang to the heart of the exile;
+    ’Tis the scent of the cool green grass.”
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                 [FINIS].
+
+
+
+
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