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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Italy; with sketches of Spain and Portugal, by 
+William Beckford
+
+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/license
+
+
+Title: Italy; with sketches of Spain and Portugal
+
+Author: William Beckford
+
+Release Date: October 23, 2012 [EBook #41150]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ITALY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was
+produced from scanned images of public domain material
+from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber’s note: This etext, which includes the two volumes, attempts
+to replicate the printed book as closely as possible. Obvious errors in
+spelling and punctuation have been corrected. A list follows the etext.
+The archaic spelling of words used by the author (chesnuts, befel,
+visiters, cotemporary, woful, etc.) has not been corrected or modernized
+by the etext transcriber. Footnotes have been moved to the end of the
+text body.
+
+
+
+
+ITALY;
+
+WITH SKETCHES OF
+
+SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
+
+BY THE AUTHOR OF “VATHEK.”
+
+THIRD EDITION.
+
+IN TWO VOLUMES.
+
+VOL. I.
+
+LONDON:
+RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
+Publisher in Ordinary to His Majesty.
+1835.
+
+
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENT.
+
+
+Some justly admired Authors having condescended to glean a few stray
+thoughts from these Letters, which have remained dormant a great many
+years; I have been at length emboldened to lay them before the public.
+Perhaps, as they happen to contain passages which persons of
+acknowledged taste have honoured with their notice, they may possibly be
+less unworthy of emerging from the shade into daylight than I imagined.
+
+Most of these Letters were written in the bloom and heyday of youthful
+spirits and youthful confidence, at a period when the old order of
+things existed with all its picturesque pomps and absurdities; when
+Venice enjoyed her piombi and submarine dungeons; France her bastile;
+the Peninsula her holy Inquisition. To look back upon what is beginning
+to appear almost a fabulous era in the eyes of the modern children of
+light, is not unamusing or uninstructive; for, still better to
+appreciate the present, we should be led not unfrequently to recall the
+intellectual muzziness of the past.
+
+But happily these pages are not crowded with such records: they are
+chiefly filled with delineations of landscape and those effects of
+natural phenomena which it is not in the power of revolutions or
+constitutions to alter or destroy.
+
+A few moments snatched from the contemplation of political crimes,
+bloodshed, and treachery, are a few moments gained to all lovers of
+innocent illusion. Nor need the statesman or the scholar despise the
+occasional relaxation of light reading. When Jupiter and the great
+deities are represented by Homer as retiring from scenes of havoc and
+carnage to visit the blameless and quiet Ethiopians, who were the
+farthest removed of all nations, the Lord knows whither, at the very
+extremities of the ocean,--would they have given ear to manifestos or
+protocols? No, they would much rather have listened to the Tales of
+Mother Goose.
+
+London, June 12th, 1834.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+OF
+
+THE FIRST VOLUME.
+
+
+THE LOW COUNTRIES AND GERMANY.
+
+LETTER I.
+
+Passage to Ostend.--The Capuchin church.--Ghent.--Quiet
+and Content, the presiding deities of Flanders.--Antwerp.--The
+Place de Meir.--Silence and solitude of the town,
+contrasted with the tumult and uproar of London.      Page 3
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+Visit to the cabinets of pictures in Antwerp.--Monsieur
+Van Lencren’s collection.--The Canon Knyff’s house and
+gallery of paintings.--The Canon himself.--His domestic
+felicity.--Revisit the cathedral.--Grand service in honour of
+Saint John the Baptist.--Mynheer Van den Bosch, the organist’s
+astonishing flashes of execution.--Evening service in the
+cathedral.--Magical effect of the music of Jomelli.--Blighted
+avenues.--Slow travelling.--Enter the United Provinces.--Level
+scenery.--Chinese prospects.--Reach Meerdyke.--Arrival at the Hague.  14
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+The Prince of Orange’s cabinet of paintings.--Temptation
+of St. Anthony, by Breughel.--Exquisite pictures by
+Berghem and Wouvermans.--Mean garrets stored with inestimable
+productions of the Indies.--Enamelled flasks of oriental
+essences.--Vision of the wardrobe of Hecuba.--Disenchantment.--Cabinet
+of natural history.--A day dream.--A delicious morsel.--Dinner
+at Sir Joseph Yorke’s.--Two honourable boobies.--The Great
+Wood.--Parterres of the Greffier Fagel.--Air poisoned by the
+sluggish canals.--Fishy locality of Dutch banquetting
+rooms.--Derivation of the inhabitants of Holland.--Origin
+and use of enormous galligaskins.--Escape from damp alleys
+and lazy waters.                                                      24
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+Leave the Hague.--Leyden.--Wood near Haerlem.--Waddling
+fishermen.--Enter the town.--The great fair.--Riot
+and uproar.--Confusion of tongues.--Mine hostess.                     32
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+Amsterdam.--The road to Utrecht--Country-houses and
+gardens.--Neat enclosures.--Comfortable parties.--Ladies
+and Lapdogs.--Arrival at Utrecht.--Moravian establishment--The
+woods.--Shops.--Celestial love.--Musical
+Sempstresses.--Return to Utrecht.                                     35
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+Arrival at Aix-la-Chapelle.--Glimpse of a dingy grove.--Melancholy
+saunterers.--Dusseldorf Gallery.--Nocturnal
+depredators.--Arrival at Cologne.--Shrine of the Three
+Wise Sovereigns.--Peregrinations of their beatified bones.--Road
+to Bonn.--Delights of Catholicism.--Azure mountains.--Visionary
+palaces.                                                              39
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+Borders of the Rhine.--Richly picturesque road from Bonn
+to Andernach.--Scheme for a floating village.--Coblentz.--A
+winding valley.--The river Lahn.--Ems.--The planet.--A
+supposed Apparition.--A little sequestered Paradise.                  47
+
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+Inveterate Idlers.--The planet Orloff and his satellites.--A
+Storm.--Scared women.--A dreary Forest.--Village
+of Wiesbaden.--Manheim.--Ulm.--The Danube--unlimited
+plains on its margin.--Augsburg.--Sketch of the
+Town.--Pomposities of the Town House.                                 53
+
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+Extensive woods of fir in Bavaria.--Grand Fair at
+Munich.--The Elector’s country palace.--Court Ladies.--Fountains.--Costume.--Garden
+and tea-room.--Hoydening
+festivities there.--The Palace and Chapel.--Gorgeous riches
+of the latter.--St. Peter’s thumb.--The Elector’s collection
+of pictures.--The Churches.--Hubbub and confusion
+of the Fair.--Wild tract of country.--Village of Wolfrathshausen.--Perpetual
+forests.--A Tempest.--A night
+at a cottage.                                                         63
+
+
+LETTER X.
+
+Mittenwald.--Mountain chapels.--Saint Anna’s young
+and fair worshippers.--Road to Inspruck.--Maximilian’s
+tomb.--Vast range of prospects.--A mountain torrent.--Schönberg.      73
+
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+Steinach.--Its torrent and gloomy strait.--Achievements
+of Industry.--A sleepy Region.--Beautiful country round
+Brixen.                                                               84
+
+
+ITALY.
+
+LETTER I.
+
+Bolsano.--Indications of approaching Italy.--Fire-flies.--Appearance
+of the Peasantry.--A forest Lake.--Arrive
+at Borgo di Volsugano.--Prospect of Hills in the Venetian
+State.--Gorgeous Flies.--Fortress of Covalo.--Leave the
+country of crags and precipices and enter the territory
+of the Bassanese.--Groves of olives and vines.--Classic appearance
+of Bassano.--Happy groups.--Pachierotti, the
+celebrated singer.--Anecdote of him.                                  89
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+Villa of Mosolente.--The route to Venice.--First view
+of that city.--Striking prospect from the Leon Bianco.--Morning
+scene on the grand canal.--Church of Santa
+Maria della Salute.--Interesting group of stately buildings.--Convent
+of St. Giorgio Maggiore.--The Redentore--Island
+of the Carthusians.                                                   97
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+Church of St. Mark.--The Piazza.--Magnificent festivals
+formerly celebrated there.--Stately architecture of Sansovino.--The
+Campanile.--The Loggetta.--The Ducal Palace.--Colossal
+Statues.--Giants’ Stairs.--Fit of enthusiasm.--Evening-scene
+in the great Square.--Venetian
+intrigue.--Confusion of languages.--Madame de Rosenberg.--Character
+of the Venetians.                                                    111
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+Excessive heat.--The Devil and Senegal.--A dreary
+shore.--Scene of the Doge’s nuptials with the sea.--Return
+to the Place of St. Mark.--Swarm of Lawyers.--Receptacles
+for anonymous accusations.--The Council of Ten.--Terrible
+punishments of its victims.--Statue of Neptune.--Fatal
+Waters.--Bridge of Sighs.--The Fondamenti Nuovi.--Conservatory
+of the Mendicanti.--An Oratorio.--Profound
+attention of the Audience.                                           123
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+M. de Villoison and his attendant Laplander.--Drawings
+of ancient Venetian costume in one of the Gradanigo palaces.--Titian’s
+master-piece in the church of San Giovanni
+e Paolo.--The distant Euganean hills.                                132
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+Isles of Burano, Torcello, and Mazorbo.--The once populous
+city of Altina.--An excursion.--Effects of our music
+on the inhabitants of the Islands.--Solitary fields infested
+by serpents.--Remains of ancient sculpture.--Antique and
+fantastic ornaments of the Cathedral of Torcello.--San Lorenzo’s
+chair.--Dine in a Convent.--The Nuns.--Oratorio
+of Sisera.--Remarks on the music.--Singing of the Marchetti.--A
+female orchestra.                                                    137
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+Coast of Fusina.--The Brenta.--A Village of Palaces.--Fiesso.--Exquisite
+singing of the Galuzzi.--Marietta
+Cornaro.--Scenes of enchantment and fascination.                     145
+
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+Reveries.--Walls of Padua.--Confused Pile dedicated to
+Saint Anthony.--Devotion at his Shrine.--Penitential
+Worshippers.--Magnificent Altar.--Sculpture of Sansovino.--Colossal
+Chamber like Noah’s Ark.                                             149
+
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+Church of St. Justina.--Tombs of remote antiquity.--Ridiculous
+attitudes of rheumatic devotees.--Turini’s music.--Another
+excursion to Fiesso.--Journey to the Euganean
+hills.--Newly discovered ruins.--High Mass in the great
+Church of Saint Anthony.--A thunder-storm.--Palladio’s
+Theatre at Vicenza.--Verona.--An aërial chamber.--Striking
+prospect from it.--The amphitheatre.--Its interior.--Leave
+Verona.--Country between that town and
+Mantua.--German soldiers.--Remains of the palace of the
+Gonzagas.--Paintings of Julio Romano.--A ruined garden.--Subterranean
+apartments.                                                          153
+
+
+LETTER X.
+
+Cross the Po.--A woody country.--The Vintage.--Reggio.--Ridge
+of the Apennines.--Romantic ideas connected
+with those mountains.--Arrive at Modena.--Road to
+Bologna.--Magnificent Convent of Madonna del Monte.--Natural
+and political commotions in Bologna.--Proceed towards
+the mountains.--Dreary prospects.--The scenery
+improves.--Herds of goats.--A run with them.--Return
+to the carriage.--Wretched hamlet.--Miserable repast.                166
+
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+A sterile region.--Our descent into a milder landscape.--Distant
+view of Florence.--Moonlight effect.--Visit the
+Gallery.--Relics of ancient credulity.--Paintings.--A
+Medusa’s head by Leonardo da Vinci.--Curious picture
+by Polemberg.--The Venus de Medicis.--Exquisitely
+sculptured figure of Morpheus.--Vast Cathedral.--Garden
+of Boboli.--Views from different parts of it.--Its resemblance
+to an antique Roman garden.                                          173
+
+
+LETTER XII.
+
+Rambles among the hills.--Excursions with Pacchierotti.--He
+catches cold in the mountains.--The whole Republic is
+in commotion, and send a deputation to remonstrate with
+the Singer on his imprudence.--The Conte Nobili.--Hill
+scenery.--Princely Castle and Gardens of the Garzoni
+Family.--Colossal Statue of Fame.--Grove of Ilex.--Endless
+bowers of Vines.--Delightful Wood of the Marchese
+Mansi.--Return to Lucca.                                             186
+
+
+LETTER XIII.
+
+Set out for Pisa.--The Duomo.--Interior of the Cathedral.--The
+Campo Santo.--Solitude of the streets at midday.--Proceed
+to Leghorn.--Beauty of the road.--Tower of
+the Fanale.                                                          198
+
+
+LETTER XIV.
+
+The Mole at Leghorn.--Coast scattered over with Watch-towers.--Branches
+of rare coral unexpectedly acquired.                                 200
+
+
+LETTER XV.
+
+Florence again.--Palazzo Vecchio.--View on the Arno.--Sculptures
+by Cellini and John of Bologna.--Contempt
+shown by the Austrians to the memory of the House of
+Medici.--Evening visit to the Garden of Boboli.--The
+Opera.--Miserable Singing.--A Neapolitan Duchess.                    203
+
+
+LETTER XVI.
+
+Detained at Florence by reports of the Malaria at Rome.--Ascend
+one of the hills celebrated by Dante.--View from
+its brow.--Chapel designed by Michael Angelo.--Birth of
+a Princess.--The christening.--Another evening visit to
+the woods of Boboli.                                                 209
+
+
+LETTER XVII.
+
+Pilgrimage to Valombrosa.--Rocky Steeps.--Groves of
+Pine.--Vast Amphitheatre of Lawns and Meadows.--Reception
+at the Convent.--Wild Glens where the Hermit
+Gualbertus had his Cell.--Conversation with the holy
+Fathers.--Legendary Tales.--The consecrated Cleft.--The
+Romitorio.--Extensive View of the Val d’Arno.--Return
+to Florence.                                                         214
+
+
+LETTER XVIII.
+
+Cathedral at Sienna.--A vaulted Chamber.--Leave Sienna.--Mountains
+round Radicofani.--Hunting Palace of the
+Grand Dukes.--A grim fraternity of Cats.--Dreary Apartment.          224
+
+
+LETTER XIX.
+
+Leave the gloomy precincts of Radicofani and enter the
+Papal territory.--Country near Aquapendente.--Shores of
+the Lake of Bolsena.--Forest of Oaks.--Ascend Monte
+Fiascone.--Inhabited Caverns.--Viterbo.--Anticipations
+of Rome.                                                             228
+
+
+LETTER XX.
+
+Set out in the dark.--The Lago di Vico.--View of the
+spacious plains where the Romans reared their seat of empire.--Ancient
+splendour.--Present silence and desolation.--Shepherd
+huts.--Wretched policy of the Papal Government.--Distant
+view of Rome.--Sensations on entering the City.--The
+Pope returning from Vespers.--St. Peter’s Colonnade.--Interior
+of the Church.--Reveries.--A visionary
+scheme.--The Pantheon.                                               230
+
+
+LETTER XXI.
+
+Leave Rome for Naples.--Scenery in the vicinity of Rome.--Albano.--Malaria.--Veletri.--Classical
+associations.--The
+Circean Promontory.--Terracina.--Ruined Palace.--Mountain
+Groves.--Rock of Circe.--The Appian Way.--Arrive
+at Mola di Gaeta.--Beautiful prospect.--A Deluge.--Enter
+Naples by night, during a fearful Storm.--Clear
+Morning.--View from my window.--Courtly Mob at the
+Palace.--The Presence Chamber.--The King and his Courtiers.--Party
+at the House of Sir W. H.--Grand Illumination
+at the Theatre of St. Carlo.--Marchesi.                              240
+
+
+LETTER XXII.
+
+View of the coast of Posilipo.--Virgil’s tomb.--Superstition
+of the Neapolitans with respect to Virgil.--Aërial
+situation.--A grand scene.                                           253
+
+
+LETTER XXIII.
+
+A ramble on the shore of Baii.--Local traditions.--Cross
+the bay.--Fragments of a temple dedicated to Hercules.--Wondrous
+reservoir constructed for the fleet of Nero.--The
+Dead Lake.--Wild scene.--Beautiful meadow.--Uncouth
+rocks.--An unfathomable gulph.--Sadness induced
+by the wild appearance of the place.--Conversation
+with a recluse.--Her fearful narration.--Melancholy
+evening.                                                             258
+
+
+LETTER XXIV.
+
+The Tyrol Mountains.--Intense cold.--Delight on beholding
+human habitations.                                                   280
+
+
+SECOND VISIT TO ITALY.
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+First day of summer.--A dismal plain.--Gloomy entrance
+to Cologne.--Labyrinth of hideous edifices.--Hotel of Der
+Heilige Geist.                                                       285
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+Enter the Tyrol.--Picturesque scenery.--Village of Nasseriet.--World
+of boughs.--Forest huts.--Floral abundance.                          288
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+Rapidity of our drive along the causeways of the Brenta.--Shore
+of Fusina.--A stormy sky.--Draw near to Venice.--Its
+deserted appearance.--Visit to Madame de R.--Cesarotti.              290
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+Excursion to Mirabello.--Beauty of the road thither.--Madame
+de R.’s wild-looking niece.--A comfortable
+Monk’s nest.                                                         294
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+Rome.--Strole to the Coliseo and the Palatine Mount.--A
+grand Rinfresco.--The Egyptian Lionesses.--Illuminations.            297
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+The Negroni Garden.--Its solitary and antique appearance.--Stately
+Porticos of the Lateran.--Dreary Scene.                              299
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+Naples.--Portici.--The King’s Pagliaro and Garden.--Description
+of that pleasant spot.                                               302
+
+
+GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
+
+LETTER I.
+
+Determination to visit the Grande Chartreuse.--Reach the
+Village of Les Echelles.--Gloomy region.--The Torrent.--Entrance
+of the Desert.--Portal of the consecrated Enclosure.--Dark
+Woods and Caverns.--Crosses.--Inscriptions.                          307
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+Thick forest of beech-trees.--Fearful glimpses of the torrent.--Throne
+of Moses.--Lofty bridge.--Distant view of
+the Convent.--Profound calm.--Enter the convent gate.--Arched
+aisle.--Welcomed by the father Coadjutor.--The
+Secretary and Procurator.--Conversation with them.--A
+walk amongst the cloisters and galleries.--Pictures of different
+Convents of the order.--Grand Hall adorned with
+historical paintings of St. Bruno’s life.                            314
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+Cloisters of extraordinary dimensions.--Cells of the
+Monks.--Severity of the order.--Death-like calm.--The
+great Chapel.--Its interior.--Marvellous events relating to
+St. Bruno.--Retire to my cell.--Strange writings of St.
+Bruno.--Sketch of his Life.--Appalling occurrence.--Vision
+of the Bishop of Grenoble.--First institution of the Carthusian
+order.--Death of St. Bruno.--His translation.                        324
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+Mystic discourse.--A mountain ramble.--A benevolent
+Hermit.--Red light in the northern sky.--Lose my way in
+the solitary hills.--Approach of night.                              335
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+Pastoral scenery of Valombré.--Ascent of the highest
+Peak in the Desert.--Grand amphitheatre of Mountains.--Farewell
+benediction of the Fathers.                                          342
+
+
+SALEVE.
+
+LETTER I.
+
+Revisit the trees on the summit of Saleve.--Pas d’Echelle.--Moneti.--Bird’s-eye
+prospects.--Alpine flowers.--Extensive
+view from the summit of Saleve.--Youthful enthusiasm.--Sad
+realities.                                                           357
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+Chalet under the Beech-trees.--A mountain Bridge.--Solemnity
+of the night.--The Comedie.--Relaxation of
+Genevese Morality.                                                   366
+
+
+
+
+THE LOW COUNTRIES
+
+AND
+
+GERMANY.
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+     Passage to Ostend.--The Capuchin church.--Ghent.--Quiet and
+     Content, the presiding deities of Flanders.--Antwerp.--The Place de
+     Meir.--Silence and solitude of the town, contrasted with the tumult
+     and uproar of London.
+
+
+Ostend, 21st June, 1780.
+
+We had a rough passage, and arrived at this imperial haven in a piteous
+condition. Notwithstanding its renown and importance, it is but a scurvy
+place--preposterous Flemish roofs disgust your eyes when cast
+upwards--swaggering Dutch skippers and mongrel smugglers are the
+principal objects they meet with below; and then the whole atmosphere is
+impregnated with the fumes of tobacco, burnt peat, and garlick. I
+should esteem myself in luck, were the nuisances of this seaport
+confined only to two senses; but, alas! the apartment above my head
+proves a squalling brattery, and the sounds which proceed from it are so
+loud and frequent, that a person might think himself in limbo, without
+any extravagance.
+
+In hope of some relief, I went to the Capuchin church, a large solemn
+building, in search of silence and solitude; but here again was I
+disappointed. There happened to be an exposition of the holy wafer with
+ten thousand candles; and whilst half-a-dozen squeaking fiddles fugued
+and flourished away in the galleries, and as many paralytic monks
+gabbled before the altars, a whole posse of devotees, in long white
+hoods and flannels, were sweltering on either side.
+
+This papal piety, in warm weather, was no very fragrant circumstance; so
+I sought the open air again as fast as I was able. The serenity of the
+evening--for the black huddle of clouds, which the late storms had
+accumulated, were all melted away--tempted me to the ramparts. There, at
+least, thought I to myself, I may range undisturbed, and talk with my
+old friends the breezes, and address my discourse to the waves, and be
+as romantic and fanciful as I please; but I had scarcely begun a poetic
+apostrophe, before out flaunted a whole rank of officers, with ladies
+and abbés and puppy dogs, singing, and flirting, and making such a
+hubbub, that I had not one peaceful moment to observe the bright tints
+of the western horizon, or enjoy those ideas of classic antiquity which
+a calm sunset never fails to bring before my imagination.
+
+Finding, therefore, no quiet abroad, I returned to my inn, and should
+have gone immediately to bed, in hopes of relapsing into the bosom of
+dreams and delusions; but the limbo I mentioned before grew so very
+outrageous, that I was obliged to postpone my rest till sugarplums and
+nursery eloquence had hushed it to repose. At length peace was restored,
+and about eleven o’clock I fell into a slumber. My dreams anticipated
+the classic scenes of Italy, the proposed term of my excursion.
+
+Next morning I arose refreshed with these agreeable impressions. No
+ideas, but such as Nemi and Albano suggested, haunted me whilst
+travelling to Ghent. I neither heard the coarse dialect which was
+talking around me, nor noticed the formal avenues and marshy country
+which we passed. When we stopped to change horses, I closed my eyes upon
+the dull prospect, and was transported immediately to those Grecian
+solitudes which Theocritus so enchantingly describes.
+
+To one so far gone in the poetic lore of ancient days, Ghent is not the
+most likely place to recall his attention; and I know nothing more about
+it, than that it is a large, ill-paved, plethoric, pompous-looking city,
+with a decent proportion of convents and chapels, monuments, brazen
+gates, and gilded marbles. In the great church were several pictures by
+Rubens, so striking, so masterly, as to hold me broad awake; though, I
+must own, there are moments when I could contentedly fall asleep in a
+Flemish cathedral, for the mere chance of beholding in vision the temple
+of Olympian Jupiter.
+
+But I think I hear, at this moment, some grave and respectable personage
+chiding my enthusiasm--“Really, sir, you had better stay at home, and
+dream in your great chair, than give yourself the trouble of going post
+through Europe, in search of places where to fall asleep. If Flanders
+and Holland are to be dreamed over at this rate, you had better take
+ship at once, and doze all the way to Italy.” Upon my word, I should not
+have much objection to that scheme; and, if some enchanter would but
+transport me in an instant to the summit of Ætna, anybody might slop
+through the Low Countries that pleased.
+
+Being, however, so far advanced, there is no retracting; and I am
+resolved to journey along with Quiet and Content for my companions.
+These two comfortable deities have, I believe, taken Flanders under
+their especial protection; every step one advances discovering some new
+proof of their influence. The neatness of the houses, and the universal
+cleanliness of the villages, show plainly that their inhabitants live in
+ease and good humour. All is still and peaceful in these fertile
+lowlands: the eye meets nothing but round unmeaning faces at every door,
+and harmless stupidity smiling at every window. The beasts, as placid as
+their masters, graze on without any disturbance; and I scarcely
+recollect to have heard one grunting swine or snarling mastiff during
+my whole progress. Before every village is a wealthy dunghill, not at
+all offensive, because but seldom disturbed; and there sows and porkers
+bask in the sun, and wallow at their ease, till the hour of death and
+bacon arrives.
+
+But it is high time to lead you towards Antwerp. More rich pastures,
+more ample fields of grain, more flourishing willows! A boundless plain
+lies before this city, dotted with cows, and speckled with flowers; a
+level whence its spires and quaint roofs are seen to advantage! The pale
+colours of the sky, and a few gleams of watery sunshine, gave a true
+Flemish cast to the scenery, and everything appeared so consistent, that
+I had not a shadow of pretence to think myself asleep.
+
+After crossing a broad expanse of river, edged on one side by beds of
+osiers beautifully green, and on the other by gates and turrets
+preposterously ugly, we came through several streets of lofty houses to
+our inn. Its situation in the “Place de Meir,” a vast open space
+surrounded by buildings above buildings, and roof above roof, has
+something striking and singular. A tall gilt crucifix of bronze,
+sculptured by Cortels of Malines,[1] adds to its splendour; and the
+tops of some tufted trees, seen above a line of magnificent hotels, add
+greatly to the effect of the perspective.
+
+It was almost dusk when we arrived; and as I am very partial to new
+objects discovered by this dubious, visionary light, I went immediately
+a rambling. Not a sound disturbed my meditations: there were no groups
+of squabbling children or talkative old women. The whole town seemed
+retired into their inmost chambers; and I kept winding and turning
+about, from street to street, and from alley to alley, without meeting a
+single inhabitant. Now and then, indeed, one or two women in long cloaks
+and mantles glided by at a distance; but their dress was so shroud-like,
+and their whole appearance so ghostly, that I should have been afraid to
+accost them. As night approached, the ranges of buildings grew more and
+more dim, and the silence which reigned amongst them more awful. The
+canals, which in some places intersect the streets, were likewise in
+perfect solitude, and there was just light sufficient for me to observe
+on the still waters the reflection of the structures above them. Except
+two or three tapers glimmering through the casements, no one
+circumstance indicated human existence. I might, without being thought
+very romantic, have imagined myself in the city of petrified people
+which Arabian fabulists are so fond of describing. Were any one to ask
+my advice upon the subject of retirement, I should tell him--By all
+means repair to Antwerp. No village amongst the Alps, or hermitage upon
+Mount Lebanon, is less disturbed: you may pass your days in this great
+city without being the least conscious of its sixty thousand
+inhabitants, unless you visit the churches. There, indeed, are to be
+heard a few devout whispers, and sometimes, to be sure, the bells make a
+little chiming; but, walk about, as I do, in the twilights of midsummer,
+and be assured your ears will be free from all molestation.
+
+You can have no idea how many strange, amusing fancies played around me
+whilst I wandered along; nor how delighted I was with the novelty of my
+situation. But a few days ago, thought I within myself, I was in the
+midst of all the tumult and uproar of London: now, as if by some magic
+influence, I am transported to a city equally remarkable indeed for
+streets and edifices, but whose inhabitants seem cast into a profound
+repose. What a pity that we cannot borrow some small share of this
+soporific disposition! It would temper that restless spirit which throws
+us sometimes into such dreadful convulsions. However, let us not be too
+precipitate in desiring so dead a calm; the time may arrive when, like
+Antwerp, we may sink into the arms of forgetfulness; when a fine verdure
+may carpet our Exchange, and passengers traverse the Strand without any
+danger of being smothered in crowds or crushed by carriages.
+
+Reflecting, in this manner, upon the silence of the place, contrasted
+with the important bustle which formerly rendered it so famous, I
+insensibly drew near to the cathedral, and found myself, before I was
+aware, under its stupendous tower. It is difficult to conceive an object
+more solemn or more imposing than this edifice at the hour I first
+beheld it. Dark shades hindered my examining the lower galleries; their
+elaborate carved work was invisible; nothing but huge masses of building
+met my sight, and the tower, shooting up four hundred and sixty-six feet
+in the air, received an additional importance from the gloom which
+prevailed below. The sky being perfectly clear, several stars twinkled
+through the mosaic of the pinnacles, and increased the charm of their
+effect.
+
+Whilst I was indulging my reveries, a ponderous bell struck ten, and
+such a peal of chimes succeeded, as shook the whole edifice,
+notwithstanding its bulk, and drove me away in a hurry. I need not say,
+no mob obstructed my passage. I ran through a succession of streets,
+free and unmolested, as if I had been skimming along over the downs of
+Wiltshire. The voices of my servants conversing before the hotel were
+the only sounds which the great “Place de Meir” echoed.
+
+This characteristic stillness was the more pleasing, when I looked back
+upon those scenes of outcry and horror which filled London but a week or
+two ago, when danger was not confined to night only, and to the environs
+of the capital, but haunted our streets at mid-day. Here, I could
+wander over an entire city; stray by the port, and venture through the
+most obscure alleys, without a single apprehension; without beholding a
+sky red and portentous with the light of houses on fire, or hearing the
+confusion of shouts and groans mingled with the reports of artillery. I
+can assure you, I think myself very fortunate to have escaped the
+possibility of another such week of desolation, and to be peaceably
+lulled at Antwerp.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+     Visit to the cabinets of pictures in Antwerp.--Monsieur Van
+     Lencren’s collection.--The Canon Knyff’s house and gallery of
+     paintings.--The Canon himself.--His domestic felicity.--Revisit the
+     cathedral.--Grand service in honour of St. John the
+     Baptist.--Mynheer Van den Bosch, the organist’s astonishing flashes
+     of execution.--Evening service in the cathedral.--Magical effect of
+     the music of Jomelli.--Blighted avenues.--Slow travelling.--Enter
+     the United Provinces.--Level scenery.--Chinese prospects.--Reach
+     Meerdyke.--Arrival at the Hague.
+
+
+Antwerp, 23rd June, 1780.
+
+After breakfast this morning I began my pilgrimage to all the cabinets
+of pictures in Antwerp. First, I went to Monsieur Van Lencren’s, who
+possesses a suite of apartments, lined, from the base to the cornice,
+with the rarest productions of the Flemish school. Heaven forbid I
+should enter into a detail of their niceties! I might as well count the
+dew-drops upon the most spangled of Van Huysum’s flower-pieces, or the
+pimples on their possessor’s countenance; a very good sort of man,
+indeed; but from whom I was not at all sorry to be delivered.
+
+My joy was, however, of short duration, as a few minutes brought me into
+the court-yard of the Canon Knyff’s habitation; a snug abode, well
+furnished with ample fauteuils and orthodox couches. After viewing the
+rooms on the first floor, we mounted an easy staircase, and entered an
+ante-chamber, which they who delight in the imitations of art rather
+than of nature, in the likenesses of joint stools and the portraits of
+tankards, would esteem most capitally adorned: but it must be confessed,
+that amongst these uninteresting performances are dispersed a few
+striking Berghems and agreeable Polembergs. In the gallery adjoining,
+two or three Rosa de Tivolis merit observation; and a large Teniers,
+representing the Hermit St. Anthony surrounded by a malicious set of
+imps and leering devilesses, is well calculated to display the whimsical
+buffoonery of a Dutch imagination.
+
+I was enjoying this strange medley, when the canon made his appearance;
+and a most prepossessing figure he has, according to Flemish ideas. In
+my humble opinion, his reverence looked a little muddled or so; and, to
+be sure, the description I afterwards heard of his style of living
+favours not a little my surmises. This worthy dignitary, what with his
+private fortune and the good things of the church, enjoys a spanking
+revenue, which he contrives to get rid of in the joys of the table and
+the encouragement of the pencil.
+
+His servants, perhaps, assist not a little in the expenditure of so
+comfortable an income; the canon being upon a very social footing with
+them all. At four o’clock in the afternoon, a select party attend him in
+his coach to an ale-house about a league from the city; where a table,
+well spread with jugs of beer and handsome cheeses, waits their arrival.
+After enjoying this rural fare, the same equipage conducts them back
+again, by all accounts, much faster than they came; which may well be
+conceived, as the coachman is one of the brightest wits of the
+entertainment.
+
+My compliments, alas! were not much appreciated, you may suppose, by
+this jovial personage. I said a few favourable words of Polemberg, and
+offered up a small tribute of praise to the memory of Berghem; but, as I
+could not prevail upon Mynheer Knyff to expand, I made one of my best
+bows, and left him to the enjoyment of his domestic felicity.
+
+In my way home, I looked into another cabinet, the greatest ornament of
+which was a most sublime thistle by Snyders, of the heroic size, and so
+faithfully imitated that I dare say no Ass could see it unmoved. At
+length, it was lawful to return home; and as I positively refused
+visiting any more cabinets in the afternoon, I sent for a harpsichord of
+Rucker, and played myself quite out of the Netherlands.
+
+It was late before I finished my musical excursion, and I took advantage
+of this dusky moment to revisit the cathedral. A flight of starlings had
+just pitched on one of the pinnacles of the tower, whose faint chirpings
+were the only sounds that broke the evening stillness. Not a human form
+appeared at any of the windows around; no footsteps were audible in the
+opening before the grand entrance; and during the half hour I spent in
+walking to and fro, one solitary Franciscan was the only creature that
+accosted me. From him I learned that a grand service was to be performed
+next day in honour of St. John the Baptist, and the best music in
+Flanders would be called forth on the occasion, so I determined to stay
+one day longer at Antwerp.
+
+Having taken this resolution, I availed myself of a special invitation
+from Mynheer Van den Bosch, the first organist of the place, and sat
+next to him in his lofty perch during the celebration of high mass. The
+service ended, I strayed about the aisles, and examined the innumerable
+chapels which decorate them, whilst Mynheer Van den Bosch thundered and
+lightened away upon his huge organ with fifty stops.
+
+When the first flashes of execution had a little subsided, I took an
+opportunity of surveying the celebrated Descent from the Cross. This has
+ever been esteemed the master-piece of Rubens, which, large as it is,
+they pretend here that Old Lewis Baboon[2] offered to cover with gold. A
+swingeing St. Christopher, fording a brook with a child on his
+shoulders, cannot fail of attracting attention. This colossal personage
+is painted on the folding-doors which defend the grand effort of art
+just mentioned from vulgar eyes; and here Rubens has selected a very
+proper subject to display the gigantic boldness of his pencil.
+
+After I had most dutifully surveyed all his productions in this church,
+I walked half over Antwerp in quest of St. John’s relics, which were
+moving about in procession. If my eyes were not much regaled by the
+saint’s magnificence, my ears were greatly affected in the evening by
+the music which sang forth his praises. The cathedral was crowded with
+devotees, and perfumed with incense. A motet, in the lofty style of
+Jomelli, performed with taste and feeling, transported me to Italian
+climates; and I grieved, when a cessation dissolved the charm, to think
+that I had still so many tramontane regions to pass before I could in
+effect reach that classic country. Finding it was in vain to expect
+preternatural interposition, and perceiving no conscious angel or
+Loretto-vehicle waiting in some dark consecrated corner to bear me away,
+I humbly returned to my hotel.
+
+Monday, June 26th.--We were again upon the pavé, rattling and jumbling
+along between clipped hedges and blighted avenues. The plagues of Egypt
+have been renewed, one might almost imagine, in this country, by the
+appearance of the oak trees: not a leaf have the insects spared. After
+having had the displeasure of seeing no other objects for several hours
+but these blasted rows, the scene changed to vast tracts of level
+country, buried in sand and smothered with heath; the particular
+character of which I had but too good an opportunity of intimately
+knowing, as a tortoise might have kept pace with us without being once
+out of breath.
+
+Towards evening, we entered the dominions of the United Provinces, and
+had all their glory of canals, treck-schuyts, and windmills, before us.
+The minute neatness of the villages, their red roofs, and the lively
+green of the willows which shade them, corresponded with the ideas I had
+formed of Chinese prospects; a resemblance which was not diminished upon
+viewing on every side the level scenery of enamelled meadows, with
+stripes of clear water across them, and innumerable barges gliding
+busily along. Nothing could be finer than the weather; it improved each
+moment, as if propitious to my exotic fancies; and, at sun-set, not one
+single cloud obscured the horizon. Several storks were parading by the
+water-side, amongst flags and osiers; and, as far as the eye could
+reach, large herds of beautifully spotted cattle were enjoying the
+plenty of their pastures. I was perfectly in the environs of Canton, or
+Ning Po, till we reached Meerdyke. You know fumigations are always the
+current recipe in romance to break an enchantment; as soon, therefore,
+as I left my carriage and entered my inn, the clouds of tobacco which
+filled every one of its apartments dispersed my Chinese imaginations,
+and reduced me in an instant to Holland.
+
+Why should I enlarge upon my adventures at Meerdyke? To tell you that
+its inhabitants are the most uncouth bipeds in the universe would be
+nothing very new or entertaining; so let me at once pass over the
+village, leave Rotterdam, and even Delft, that great parent of pottery,
+and transport you with a wave of my pen to the Hague.
+
+As the evening was rather warm, I immediately walked out to enjoy the
+shade of the long avenue which leads to Scheveling, and proceeded to the
+village on the sea coast, which terminates the perspective. Almost every
+cottage door being open to catch the air, I had an opportunity of
+looking into their neat apartments. Tables, shelves, earthenware, all
+glisten with cleanliness; the country people were drinking tea, after
+the fatigues of the day, and talking over its bargains and contrivances.
+
+I left them to walk on the beach, and was so charmed with the vast azure
+expanse of ocean, which opened suddenly upon me, that I remained there a
+full half hour. More than two hundred vessels of different sizes were in
+sight, the last sunbeam purpling their sails, and casting a path of
+innumerable brilliants athwart the waves. What would I not have given to
+follow this shining track! It might have conducted me straight to those
+fortunate western climates, those happy isles which you are so fond of
+painting, and I of dreaming about. But, unluckily, this passage was the
+only one my neighbours the Dutch were ignorant of. It is true they have
+islands rich in spices, and blessed with the sun’s particular attention,
+but which their government, I am apt to imagine, renders by no means
+fortunate.
+
+Abandoning therefore all hopes of this adventurous voyage, I returned
+towards the Hague, and looked into a country-house of the late Count
+Bentinck, with parterres and bosquets by no means resembling, one should
+conjecture, the gardens of the Hesperides. But, considering that the
+whole group of trees, terraces, and verdure were in a manner created out
+of hills of sand, the place may claim some portion of merit. The walks
+and alleys have all the stiffness and formality which our ancestors
+admired; but the intermediate spaces, being dotted with clumps and
+sprinkled with flowers, are imagined in Holland to be in the English
+style. An Englishman ought certainly to behold it with partial eyes,
+since every possible attempt has been made to twist it into the taste of
+his country.
+
+I need not say how liberally I bestowed my encomiums on Count Bentinck’s
+tasteful intentions; nor how happy I was, when I had duly serpentized
+over his garden, to find myself once more in the grand avenue. All the
+way home, I reflected upon the unyielding perseverance of the Dutch, who
+raise gardens from heaps of sand, and cities out of the bosom of the
+waters. I had, almost at the same moment, a whimsical proof of the
+thrifty turn of this people; for just entering the town I met an
+unwieldy fellow--not ill clad--airing his carcase in a one-dog chair.
+The poor animal puffed and panted, Mynheer smoked, and gaped around him
+with the most blessed indifference.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+     The Prince of Orange’s cabinet of paintings.--Temptation of St.
+     Anthony, by Breughel.--Exquisite pictures by Berghem and
+     Wouvermans.--Mean garrets stored with inestimable productions of
+     the Indies.--Enamelled flasks of oriental essences.--Vision of the
+     wardrobe of Hecuba.--Disenchantment.--Cabinet of natural
+     history.--A day dream.--A delicious morsel.--Dinner at Sir Joseph
+     Yorke’s.--Two honourable boobies.--The Great Wood.--Parterres of
+     the Greffier Fagel.--Air poisoned by the sluggish canals.--Fishy
+     locality of Dutch banquetting rooms.--Derivation of the inhabitants
+     of Holland.--Origin and use of enormous galligaskins.--Escape from
+     damp alleys and lazy waters.
+
+
+30th June, 1780.
+
+I dedicated the morning to the Prince of Orange’s cabinet of paintings
+and curiosities both natural and artificial. Amongst the pictures which
+amused me the most is a temptation of the holy hermit St. Anthony, by
+Hell-fire Breughel, who has shown himself right worthy of the title; for
+a more diabolical variety of imps never entered the human imagination.
+Breughel has made his saint take refuge in a ditch filled with harpies
+and creeping things innumerable, whose malice, one should think, would
+have lost Job himself the reputation of patience. Castles of steel and
+fiery turrets glare on every side, whence issue a band of junior devils.
+These seem highly entertained with pinking poor Anthony, and whispering,
+I warrant ye, filthy tales in his ear. Nothing can be more rueful than
+the patient’s countenance; more forlorn than his beard; more piteous
+than his eye, forming a strong contrast to the pert winks and insidious
+glances of his persecutors; some of whom, I need not mention, are
+evidently of the female kind.
+
+But really I am quite ashamed of having detained you in such bad company
+so long; and had I a moment to spare, you should be introduced to a
+better set in this gallery, where some of the most exquisite Berghems
+and Wouvermans I ever beheld would delight you for hours. I do not think
+you would look much at the Polembergs; there are but two, and one of
+them is very far from capital; in short, I am in a great hurry; so
+pardon me, Carlo Cignani! if I do not do justice to your merit; and
+forgive me, Potter! if I pass by your herds without leaving a tribute of
+admiration.
+
+Mynheer Van Something was as eager to precipitate my step as I was to
+get out of the damps and perplexities of Sorgvliet yesterday evening;
+so, mounting a creaking staircase, he led me to a suite of garretlike
+apartments; which, considering the meanness of their exterior, I was
+rather surprised to find stored with some of the most valuable
+productions of the Indies. Gold cups enriched with gems, models of
+Chinese palaces in ivory, glittering armour of Hindostan, and Japan
+caskets, filled every corner of this awkward treasury. The most pleasing
+of all its baubles in my estimation was a large coffer of most elaborate
+workmanship, containing enamelled flasks of oriental essences, enough to
+perfume a zennana. If disagreeable fumes, as I mentioned before,
+dissolve enchantments, such aromatic oils have doubtless the power of
+raising them; for, whilst I scented their fragrancy, I could have
+persuaded myself, I was in the wardrobe of Hecuba,--
+
+    “Where treasured odours breathed a costly scent.”
+
+I saw, or seemed to see, the arched apartments, the procession of
+matrons, the consecrated vestments: the very temple began to rise upon
+my sight, when a sweltering Dutch porpoise approaching to make me a low
+bow, his complaisance proved full as notorious as Satan’s, when,
+according to Catholic legends, he took leave of Luther, that
+disputatious heresiarch. No spell can resist a fumigation of this
+nature; away fled palace, Hecuba, matrons, temple, &c. I looked up, and
+lo! I was in a garret. As poetry is but too often connected with this
+lofty situation, you will not wonder much at my flight. Being a little
+recovered from it, I tottered down the staircase, entered the cabinets
+of natural history, and was soon restored to my sober senses. A grave
+hippopotamus contributed a good deal to their re-establishment.
+
+The butterflies, I must needs confess, were very near leading me another
+dance: I thought of their native hills and beloved flowers, on the
+summits of Haynang and Nan-Hoa;[3] but the jargon which was gabbling all
+around me prevented the excursion, and I summoned a decent share of
+attention for that ample chamber which has been appropriated to bottled
+snakes and pickled fœtuses.
+
+After having enjoyed the same spectacle in the British Museum, no very
+new or singular objects can be selected in this. One of the rarest
+articles it contains is the representation in wax of a human head, most
+dexterously flayed indeed! Rapturous encomiums have been bestowed by
+amateurs on this performance. A German professor could hardly believe it
+artificial; and, prompted by the love of truth, set his teeth in this
+delicious morsel to be convinced of its reality. My faith was less
+hazardously established; and I moved off, under the conviction that art
+had never produced anything more horridly natural.
+
+It was one o’clock before I got through the mineral kingdom; and another
+hour passed before I could quit with decorum the regions of stuffed
+birds and marine productions. At length my departure was allowable; and
+I went to dine at Sir Joseph Yorke’s, with all nations and languages.
+Amongst the company were two honourable boobies and their governor, all
+from Ireland. The youngest, after plying me with a succession of
+innocent questions, wished to be informed where I proposed spending the
+carnival. “At Tunis,” was my answer. The questioner, not in the least
+surprised, then asked who was to sing there? To which I replied,
+“Farinelli.”
+
+This settled the business to our mutual satisfaction; so after coffee I
+strayed to the Great Wood, which, considering that it almost touches the
+town with its boughs, is wonderfully forest-like. Not a branch being
+ever permitted to be lopped, the oaks and beeches retain their natural
+luxuriance. In some places their straight boles rise sixty feet without
+a bough; in others, they are bent fantastically over the alleys, which
+turn and wind about just as a painter would desire. I followed them with
+eagerness and curiosity; sometimes deviating from my path amongst tufts
+of fern and herbage.
+
+In these cool retreats I could not believe myself near canals and
+windmills; the Dutch formalities were all forgotten whilst contemplating
+the broad masses of foliage above, and the wild flowers and grasses
+below. Hares and rabbits scudded by me while I sat; and the birds were
+chirping their evening song. Their preservation does credit to the
+police of the country, which is so exact and well regulated as to suffer
+no outrage within the precincts of this extensive wood, the depth and
+thickness of which might otherwise seem calculated to favour half the
+sins of a capital.
+
+Relying upon this comfortable security, I lingered unmolested amongst
+the beeches till late in the evening; then taking the nearest path, I
+suffered myself, though not without regret, to be conducted out of this
+fresh sylvan scene to the dusty, pompous parterres of the Greffier
+Fagel. Every flower that wealth can purchase diffuses its perfume on one
+side; whilst every stench a canal can exhale poisons the air on the
+other. These sluggish puddles defy all the power of the United
+Provinces, and retain the freedom of stinking in spite of any endeavour
+to conquer their filthiness.
+
+But perhaps I am too bold in my assertion; for I have no authority to
+mention any attempts to purify these noxious pools. Who knows but their
+odour is congenial to a Dutch constitution? One should be inclined to
+this supposition by the numerous banquetting-rooms and pleasure-houses
+which hang directly above their surface, and seem calculated on purpose
+to enjoy them. If frogs were not excluded from the magistrature of their
+country (and I cannot but think it a little hard that they are), one
+should not wonder at this choice. Such burgomasters might erect their
+pavilions in such situations; but, after all, I am not greatly
+surprised at the fishiness of their site, since very slight authority
+would persuade me there was a period when Holland was all water, and the
+ancestors of the present inhabitants fish. A certain oysterishness of
+eye and flabbiness of complexion, are almost proofs sufficient of this
+aquatic descent: and pray tell me for what purpose are such galligaskins
+as the Dutch burthen themselves with contrived, but to tuck up a
+flouncing tail, and thus cloak the deformity of a dolphinlike
+termination?
+
+Having done penance for some time in the damp alleys which line the
+borders of these lazy waters, I was led through corkscrew sand-walks to
+a vast flat, sparingly scattered over with vegetation. There was no
+temptation to puzzle myself in such a labyrinth; so taking advantage of
+the lateness of the hour, and muttering a few complimentary promises of
+returning at the first opportunity, I escaped the ennui of this endless
+scrubbery, and got home, with the determination of being wiser and less
+curious if ever my stars should bring me again to the Hague.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+     Leave the Hague.--Leyden.--Wood near Haerlem.--Waddling
+     fishermen.--Enter the town.--The great fair.--Riot and
+     uproar.--Confusion of tongues.--Mine hostess.
+
+
+Haerlem, July 1st, 1780.
+
+The sky was clear and blue when we left the Hague, and we travelled
+along a shady road for about an hour, when down sunk the carriage into a
+sand-bed, and we were dragged along so slowly that I fell into a
+profound repose. How long it lasted is not material; but when I awoke,
+we were rumbling through Leyden. There is no need to write a syllable in
+honour of this illustrious city: its praises have already been sung and
+said by fifty professors, who have declaimed in its university, and
+smoked in its gardens. Let us get out of it as fast as we can, and
+breathe the cool air of the wood near Haerlem.
+
+Here we arrived just as day declined: hay was making in the fields, and
+perfumed the country far and wide with its reviving fragrance. I
+promised myself a sentimental saunter in the groves, took up Gesner, and
+began to have pretty pastoral ideas as I walked forward; but instead of
+nymphs dispersed over the meadows, I met a gang of waddling fishermen.
+Letting fall the garlands I had wreathed for the shepherdesses, I jumped
+into the carriage, and was driven off to the town. Every avenue to it
+swarmed with people, whose bustle and agitation seemed to announce that
+something extraordinary was going forward. Upon inquiry I found it was
+the great fair at Haerlem; and before we had advanced much farther, our
+carriage was surrounded by idlers and gingerbread-eaters of all
+denominations. Passing the gate, we came to a cluster of little
+illuminated booths beneath a grove, glittering with toys and
+looking-glasses. It was not without difficulty that we reached our inn,
+and then the plague was to procure chambers; at last we were
+accommodated, and the first moment I could call my own has been
+dedicated to you.
+
+You will not be surprised at the nonsense I have written, since I tell
+you the scene of the riot and uproar from whence it bears date. At this
+very moment the confused murmur of voices and music stops all regular
+proceedings: old women and children tattling; apes, bears, and
+show-boxes under the windows; French rattling, English swearing,
+outrageous Italians, frisking minstrels; _tambours de basque_ at every
+corner; myself distracted; a confounded squabble of cooks and haranguing
+German couriers just arrived, their masters following open-mouthed,
+nothing to eat, the steam of ham and flesh-pots all the while provoking
+their appetite; squeaking chamber-maids in the galleries above, and mine
+hostess below, half inclined to receive the golden solicitations of
+certain beauties for admittance, but positively refusing them the moment
+some creditable personage appears; eleven o’clock strikes; half the
+lights in the fair are extinguished; scruples grow faint; and mammon
+gains the victory.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+     Amsterdam.--The road to Utrecht.--Country-houses and gardens.--Neat
+     enclosures.--Comfortable parties.--Ladies and Lapdogs.--Arrival at
+     Utrecht.--Moravian establishment--The woods.--Shops.--Celestial
+     love.--Musical Sempstresses.--Return to Utrecht.
+
+
+Utrecht, 2d July, 1780.
+
+Well, thank Heaven! Amsterdam is behind us; how I got thither signifies
+not one farthing; it was all along a canal, as usual. The weather was
+hot enough to broil an inhabitant of Bengal; and the odours, exhaling
+from every quarter, sufficiently powerful to regale the nose of a
+Hottentot.
+
+Under these pungent circumstances we entered the great city. The
+Stadt-huys being the only cool place it contained, I repaired thither as
+fast as the heat permitted, and walked in a lofty marble hall,
+magnificently coved, till the dinner was ready at the inn. That
+despatched, we set off for Utrecht. Both sides of the way are lined
+with the country-houses and gardens of opulent citizens, as fine as gilt
+statues and clipped hedges can make them. Their number is quite
+astonishing: from Amsterdam to Utrecht, full thirty miles, we beheld no
+other objects than endless avenues and stiff parterres scrawled and
+flourished in patterns like the embroidery of an old maid’s work-bag.
+Notwithstanding this formal taste, I could not help admiring the
+neatness and arrangement of every inclosure, enlivened by a profusion of
+flowers, and decked with arbours, beneath which a vast number of
+consequential personages were solacing themselves after the heat of the
+day. Each lusthuys we passed contained some comfortable party dozing
+over their pipes, or angling in the muddy fish-ponds below. Scarce an
+avenue but swarmed with female josses; little squat pug-dogs waddling at
+their sides, the attributes, I suppose, of these fair divinities.
+
+But let us leave them to loiter thus amiably in their Elysian groves,
+and arrive at Utrecht; which, as nothing very remarkable claimed my
+attention, I hastily quitted to visit a Moravian establishment at Ziest,
+in its neighbourhood. The chapel, a large house, late the habitation of
+Count Zinzendorf, and a range of apartments filled with the holy
+fraternity, are totally wrapped in dark groves, overgrown with weeds,
+amongst which some damsels were straggling, under the immediate
+protection of their pious brethren.
+
+Traversing the woods, we found ourselves in a large court, built round
+with brick edifices, the grass-plats in a deplorable way, and one ragged
+goat, their only inhabitant, on a little expiatory scheme, perhaps, for
+the failings of the fraternity. I left this poor animal to ruminate in
+solitude, and followed my guide into a series of shops furnished with
+gew-gaws and trinkets said to be manufactured by the female part of the
+society. Much cannot be boasted of their handy-works: I expressed a wish
+to see some of these industrious fair ones; but, upon receiving no
+answer, found this was a subject of which there was no discourse.
+
+Consoling myself as well as I was able, I put myself under the guidance
+of another slovenly disciple, who showed me the chapel, and harangued
+very pathetically upon celestial love. In my way thither, I caught a
+glimpse of some pretty sempstresses, warbling melodious hymns as they
+sat needling and thimbling at their windows above. I had a great
+inclination to approach this busy group, but the roll of a brother’s eye
+corrected me.
+
+Reflecting upon my unworthiness, I retired from the consecrated
+buildings, and was driven back to Utrecht, not a little amused with my
+expedition. If you are as well disposed to be pleased as I was, I shall
+esteem myself very lucky, and not repent sending you so hasty a
+narrative.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+     Arrival at Aix-la-Chapelle.--Glimpse of a dingy grove.--Melancholy
+     saunterers.--Dusseldorf Gallery.--Nocturnal depredators.--Arrival
+     at Cologne.--Shrine of the Three Wise Sovereigns.--Peregrinations
+     of their beatified bones.--Road to Bonn.--Delights of
+     Catholicism.--Azure mountains.--Visionary palaces.
+
+
+We arrived at Aix-la-Chapelle about ten at night, and saw the mouldering
+turrets of that once illustrious capital by the help of a candle and
+lantern. An old woman at the gate asked our names (for not a single
+soldier appeared); and after traversing a number of superannuated
+streets without perceiving the least trace of Charlemagne or his
+Paladins, we procured comfortable though not magnificent apartments, and
+slept most unheroically sound, till it was time to set forward for
+Dusseldorf.
+
+July 8th.--As we were driven out of the town, I caught a glimpse of a
+grove, hemmed in by dingy buildings, where a few water-drinkers were
+sauntering along to the sound of some rueful French horns; the wan
+greenish light admitted through the foliage made them look like unhappy
+souls condemned to an eternal lounge for having trifled away their
+existence. It was not with much regret that I left such a party behind;
+and, after experiencing the vicissitudes of good roads and rumbling
+pavements, crossed the Rhine and travelled on to Dusseldorf.
+
+Nothing but the famous gallery of paintings could invite strangers to
+stay a moment within its walls; more crooked streets, more indifferent
+houses, one seldom meets with; except soldiers, not a living creature
+moving about them; and at night a complete regiment of bugs “marked me
+for their own.” Thus I lay, at once the seat of war and the conquest of
+these detestable animals, till early in the morning (Sunday, July 9th),
+when Morpheus, compassionating my sufferings, opened the ivory gates of
+his empire, and freed his votary from the most unconscionable vermin
+ever engendered. In humble prose, I fell fast asleep; and remained
+quiet, in defiance of my adversaries, till it was time to survey the
+cabinet.
+
+This collection is displayed in five large galleries, and contains some
+valuable productions of the Italian school; but the room most boasted of
+is that which Rubens has filled with no less than three enormous
+representations of the last day, where an innumerable host of sinners
+are exhibited as striving in vain to avoid the tangles of the devil’s
+tail. The woes of several fat luxurious souls are rendered in the
+highest gusto. Satan’s dispute with some brawny concubines, whom he is
+lugging off in spite of all their resistance, cannot be too much admired
+by those who approve this class of subjects, and think such strange
+embroglios in the least calculated to raise a sublime or a religious
+idea.
+
+For my own part, I turned from them with disgust, and hastened to
+contemplate a holy family by Camillo Procaccini, in another apartment.
+The brightest imagination can never conceive any figure more graceful
+than that of the young Jesus; and if ever I beheld an inspired
+countenance or celestial features, it was here: but to attempt conveying
+in words what the pencil alone can express, would be only reversing the
+absurdity of many a master in the gallery who aims to represent those
+ideas by the pencil which language alone is able to describe. Should
+you admit this opinion, you will not be surprised at my passing such a
+multitude of renowned pictures unnoticed; nor at my bringing you out of
+the cabinet without deluging ten pages with criticisms in the style of
+the ingenious Lady Miller.
+
+As I had spent so much time in the gallery, the day was too far advanced
+to think of travelling to Cologne; I was therefore obliged to put myself
+once more under the dominion of the most inveterate bugs in the
+universe. This government, like many others, made but an indifferent use
+of its power, and the subject suffering accordingly was extremely
+rejoiced at flying from his persecutors to Cologne.
+
+July 10th.--Clouds of dust hindered my making any remarks on the
+exterior of this celebrated city; but if its appearance be not more
+beautiful from without than within, I defy the most courteous compiler
+of geographical dictionaries to launch forth very warmly in its praise.
+But of what avail are stately palaces, broad streets, or airy markets,
+to a town which can boast of such a treasure as the bodies of those
+three wise sovereigns who were star-led to Bethlehem? Is not this
+circumstance enough to procure it every kind of respect? I really
+believe so, from the pious and dignified contentment of its inhabitants.
+They care not a hair of an ass’s ear whether their houses be gloomy and
+ill-contrived, their pavements overgrown with weeds, and their shops
+half choked up with filthiness, provided the carcasses of Gaspar,
+Melchior, and Balthazar might be preserved with proper decorum. Nothing,
+to be sure, can be richer than the shrine which contains these precious
+relics. I paid my devotions before it the moment I arrived; this step
+was inevitable: had I omitted it, not a soul in Cologne but would have
+cursed me for a Pagan.
+
+Do you not wonder at hearing of these venerable bodies so far from their
+native country? I thought them snug under some Arabian cupola ten feet
+deep in spice; but who can tell what is to become of one a few ages
+hence? Who knows but the Emperor of Morocco may be canonized some future
+day in Lapland? I asked, of course, how in the name of miracles they
+came hither? but found no story of a supernatural conveyance. It seems
+that great collectress of relics, the holy Empress Helena, first routed
+them out: then they were packed off to Rome. King Alaric, having no
+grace, bundled them down to Milan; where they remained till it pleased
+Heaven to inspire an ancient archbishop with the fervent wish of
+depositing them at Cologne; there these skeletons were taken into the
+most especial consideration, crowned with jewels and filigreed with
+gold. Never were skulls more elegantly mounted; and I doubt whether
+Odin’s buffet could exhibit so fine an assortment. The chapel containing
+these beatified bones is placed in a dark extremity of the cathedral.
+Several golden lamps gleam along the polished marbles with which it is
+adorned, and afford just light enough to read the following monkish
+inscription:--
+
+    “CORPORA SANCTORUM RECUBANT HIC TERNA MAGORUM:
+      EX HIS SUBLATUM NIHIL EST ALIBIVE LOCATUM.”
+
+After I had satisfied my curiosity with respect to the peregrinations of
+the consecrated skeletons, I examined their shrine; and was rather
+surprised to find it not only enriched with barbaric gold and pearl, but
+covered with cameos and intaglios of the best antique sculpture. Many an
+impious emperor and gross Silenus, many a wanton nymph and frantic
+bacchanal, figure in the same range with the statues of saints and
+evangelists. How St. Helena could tolerate such a mixed assembly (for
+the shrine, they say, was formed under her auspices) surpasses my
+comprehension. Perhaps you will say, it is no great matter; and give me
+a hint to move out of the chapel, lest the three kings and their star
+should lead me quite out of my way. Very well; I think I had better stop
+in time, to tell you, without further excursion, that we set off after
+dinner for Bonn.
+
+Our road-side was lined with beggarly children, high convent walls, and
+scarecrow crucifixes, lubberly monks, dejected peasants, and all the
+delights of Catholicism. Such scenery not engaging a share of my
+attention, I kept gazing at the azure irregular mountains which bounded
+our view, and in thought was already transported to their summits. Vast
+and wild were the prospects I surveyed from my imaginary exaltation, and
+innumerable the chimeras which trotted in my brain. Under their
+capricious influence my fancy built castles and capitols in the clouds
+with all the extravaganza of Piranesi. The magnificence and variety of
+my aërial structures hindered my thinking the way long. I was walking
+with a crowd of phantoms upon their terraces, when the carriage made a
+halt. Immediately descending the innumerable flights of steps which
+divide such lofty edifices from the lower world, I entered the inn at
+Bonn, and was shown into an apartment which commands the chief front of
+the Elector’s residence. You may guess how contemptible it appeared to
+one just returned from palaces bedecked with all the pomp of visionary
+splendour. In other respects I saw it at a very favourable moment, for
+the twilight, shading the whole façade, concealed its plastered walls
+and painted columns.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+     Borders of the Rhine.--Richly picturesque road from Bonn to
+     Andernach.--Scheme for a floating village.--Coblentz.--A winding
+     valley.--The river Lahn.--Ems.--The planet.--A supposed
+     Apparition.--A little sequestered Paradise.
+
+
+July 11, 1780.
+
+Let those who delight in picturesque country repair to the borders of
+the Rhine, and follow the road from Bonn to Coblentz. In some places it
+is suspended like a cornice above the waters; in others, it winds behind
+lofty steeps and broken acclivities, shaded by woods and clothed with an
+endless variety of plants and flowers. Several green paths lead amongst
+this vegetation to the summits of the rocks, which often serve as the
+foundation of abbeys and castles, whose lofty roofs and spires, rising
+above the cliffs, impress passengers with ideas of their grandeur, that
+might probably vanish upon a nearer approach. Not choosing to lose any
+prejudice in their favour, I kept a respectful distance whenever I left
+my carriage, and walked on the banks of the river.
+
+Just before we came to Andernach, an antiquated town with strange
+morisco-looking towers, I spied a raft, at least three hundred feet in
+length, on which ten or twelve cottages were erected, and a great many
+people employed in sawing wood. The women sat spinning at their doors,
+whilst their children played among the water-lilies that bloomed in
+abundance on the edge of the stream. A smoke, rising from one of these
+aquatic habitations, partially obscured the mountains beyond, and added
+not a little to their effect.
+
+Altogether, the scene was so novel and amusing, that I sat half an hour
+contemplating it from an eminence under the shade of some leafy walnuts;
+and should like extremely to build a moveable village, people it with my
+friends, and so go floating about from island to island, and from one
+woody coast of the Rhine to another. Would you dislike such a party? I
+am much deceived, or you would be the first to explore the shady
+promontories beneath which we should be wafted along.
+
+But I do not think you would find Coblentz, where we were obliged to
+take up our night’s lodging, much to your taste. It is a mean, dirty
+assemblage of plastered houses, striped with paint, and set off with
+wooden galleries, in the delectable taste of old St. Giles’s. Above, on
+a rock, stands the palace of the Elector, which seems to be remarkable
+for nothing except situation. I did not bestow many looks on this
+structure whilst ascending the mountain across which our road to Mayence
+conducted us.
+
+July 12.--Having attained the summit, we discovered a vast, irregular
+range of country, and advancing, found ourselves amongst downs purpled
+with thyme and bounded by forests. This sort of prospect extending for
+several leagues, I walked on the turf, and inhaled with avidity the
+fresh gales that blew over its herbage, till I came to a steep slope
+overgrown with privet and a variety of luxuriant shrubs in blossom. A
+cloudless sky and bright sunshine made me rather loth to move on; but
+the charms of the landscape, increasing every instant, drew me forward.
+
+I had not gone far, before a winding valley discovered itself, inclosed
+by rocks and mountains clothed to their very summits with the thickest
+woods. A broad river, flowing at the base of the cliffs, reflected the
+impending vegetation, and looked so calm and glassy that I was
+determined to be better acquainted with it. For this purpose we
+descended by a zigzag path into the vale, and making the best of our way
+on the banks of the Lahn (for so is the river called) came suddenly upon
+the town of Ems, famous in mineral story; where, finding very good
+lodgings, we took up our abode, and led an Indian life amongst the wilds
+and mountains.
+
+After supper I walked on a smooth lawn by the river, to observe the moon
+journeying through a world of silver clouds that lay dispersed over the
+face of the heavens. It was a mild genial evening; every mountain cast
+its broad shadow on the surface of the stream; lights twinkled afar off
+on the hills; they burnt in silence. All were asleep, except a female
+figure in white, with glow-worms shining in her hair. She kept moving
+disconsolately about; sometimes I heard her sigh; and if apparitions
+sigh, this must have been an apparition.
+
+July 13.--The pure air of the morning invited me abroad at an early
+hour. Hiring a skiff, I rowed about a mile down the stream, and landed
+on a sloping meadow, level with the waters, and newly mown. Heaps of hay
+still lay dispersed under the copses which hemmed in on every side this
+little sequestered paradise. What a spot for a tent! I could encamp here
+for months, and never be tired. Not a day would pass by without
+discovering some untrodden pasture, some unsuspected vale, where I might
+remain among woods and precipices lost and forgotten. I would give you,
+and two or three more, the clue of my labyrinth: nobody else should be
+conscious even of its entrance. Full of such agreeable dreams, I rambled
+about the meads, scarcely aware which way I was going; sometimes a
+spangled fly led me astray, and, oftener, my own strange fancies.
+Between both, I was perfectly bewildered, and should never have found
+my boat again, had not an old German naturalist, who was collecting
+fossils on the cliffs, directed me to it.
+
+When I got home it was growing late, and I now began to perceive that I
+had taken no refreshment, except the perfume of the hay and a few wood
+strawberries; airy diet, you will observe, for one not yet received into
+the realms of Ginnistan.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+     Inveterate Idlers.--The planet Orloff and his satellites.--A
+     Storm--Scared women.--A dreary Forest.--Village of
+     Wiesbaden.--Manheim.--Ulm.--The Danube--unlimited plains on its
+     margin.--Augsburg.--Sketch of the Town.--Pomposities of the Town
+     House.
+
+
+Ems, July 14.
+
+I have just made a discovery, that this place is as full of idlers and
+water-drinkers as their Highnesses of Orange and Hesse Darmstadt can
+desire; for to them accrue all the profits of its salubrious fountains.
+I protest, I knew nothing of all this yesterday, so entirely was I taken
+up with the rocks and meadows; and conceived no chance of meeting either
+card or billiard players in their solitudes. Both however abound at Ems,
+unconscious of the bold scenery in their neighbourhood, and totally
+insensible to its charms. They had no notion, not they, of admiring
+barren crags and precipices, where even the Lord would lose his way, as
+a clumsy lubber decorated with stars and orders very ingeniously
+observed to me; nor could they form the least conception of any pleasure
+there was in climbing like a goat amongst the cliffs, and then diving
+into woods and recesses where the sun had never penetrated; where there
+were neither card-tables prepared nor sideboards garnished; no _jambon
+de Mayence_ in waiting; no supply of pipes, nor any of the commonest
+delights, to be met with in the commonest taverns.
+
+To all this I acquiesced with most perfect submission, but immediately
+left the orator to entertain a circle of antiquated dames and
+weather-beaten officers who were gathering around him. Scarcely had I
+turned my back upon this polite assembly, when _Monsieur
+l’Administrateur des bains_, a fine pompous fellow, who had been _maitre
+d’hôtel_ in a great German family, came forward purposely to acquaint
+me, I suppose, that their baths had the honour of possessing Prince
+Orloff, “_avec sa crande maidresse, son shamperlan, et guelgues tames
+donneur_:” moreover, that his Highness came hither to refresh himself
+after his laborious employments at the Court of St. Petersburgh, and
+expected (_grace aux eaux_!) to return to the domains his august
+sovereign had lately bestowed upon him, perfectly regenerated.
+
+Wishing Monsieur d’Orloff all possible success, I should have left the
+company at a greater distance, had not a violent shower stopped my
+career, and obliged me to return to my apartment. The rain growing
+heavier, intercepted the prospect of the mountains, and spread such a
+gloom over the vale as sank my spirits fifty degrees; to which a close
+foggy atmosphere not a little contributed. Towards night the clouds
+assumed a more formidable aspect; thunder rolled along the distant
+cliffs, and torrents began to run down the steeps. At intervals a blue
+flash of lightning discovered the agitated surface of the stream, and
+two or three scared women rushing through the storm, and calling all the
+saints in Paradise to their assistance.
+
+Things were in this state, when the orator who had harangued so
+brilliantly on the folly of ascending mountains, bounced into the room,
+and regaled my ears with a woeful narration of murders which had
+happened the other day on the precise road I was to follow the next
+morning.
+
+“Sir,” said he, “your route is, to be sure, very perilous: on the left
+you have a chasm, down which, should your horses take the smallest
+alarm, you are infallibly precipitated; to the right hangs an impervious
+wood, and there, sir, I can assure you, are wolves enough to devour a
+regiment; a little farther on, you cross a desolate tract of forest
+land, the roads so deep and broken, that if you go ten paces in as many
+minutes you may think yourself fortunate. There lurk the most savage
+banditti in Europe, lately irritated by the Prince of Orange’s
+proscription; and so desperate, that if they make an attack, you can
+expect no mercy. Should you venture through this hazardous district
+to-morrow, you will, in all probability, meet a company of people who
+have just left the town to search for the mangled bodies of their
+relations; but, for Heaven’s sake, sir, if you value your life, do not
+suffer an idle curiosity to lead you over such dangerous regions,
+however picturesque their appearance.”
+
+It was almost nine o’clock before my kind adviser ceased inspiring me
+with terrors; then, finding myself at liberty, I retired to bed, not
+under the most agreeable impressions.
+
+Early in the morning we set forward; and proceeding along the edge of
+the precipices I had been forewarned of, journeyed through the forest
+which had so recently been the scene of murders and depredations. At
+length, after winding several hours amongst its dreary avenues, we
+emerged into open daylight. A few minutes more brought us safe to the
+village of Wiesbaden, where we slept in peace and tranquillity.
+
+July 16.--Our apprehensions being entirely dispersed, we rose much
+refreshed; and passing through Mayence, Oppenheim, and Worms, travelled
+gaily over the plain in which Manheim is situated. The sun set before we
+arrived there.
+
+Numbers of well-dressed people were amusing themselves with music and
+fireworks in the squares and open spaces; other groups appeared
+conversing in circles before their doors, and enjoying the serenity of
+the evening. Almost every window bloomed with carnations; and we could
+hardly cross a street without hearing the sound of music. A scene of
+such happiness and refinement formed a most agreeable contrast to the
+dismalities we had left behind. All around was security and contentment
+in their most engaging attire.
+
+July 20.--After travelling a post or two, we came in sight of a green
+moor, of vast extent, with insulated woods and villages; here and there
+the Danube sweeping majestically along, and the city of Ulm rising upon
+its banks. The fields in the neighbourhood of the town were overspread
+with cloths bleaching in the sun, and waiting for barks, which convey
+them down the great river in twelve days to Vienna, and thence, through
+Hungary, into the midst of the Turkish empire.
+
+You never saw a brighter sky nor more glowing clouds than those which
+gilded our horizon. For ten miles we beheld no other objects than smooth
+unlimited levels interspersed with thickets of oak, beyond which
+appeared a long series of mountains. Such were the very spots for
+youthful games and exercises, open spaces for the race, and spreading
+shades to skreen the spectators.
+
+Father Lafiteau tells us, there are many such vast and flowery Savannahs
+in the interior of America, to which the roving tribes of Indians
+repair once or twice in a century to settle the rights of the chase, and
+lead their solemn dances; and so deep an impression do these assemblies
+leave on the minds of the savages, that the highest ideas they entertain
+of future felicity consist in the perpetual enjoyment of songs and
+dances upon the green boundless lawns of their elysium. In the midst of
+these visionary plains rises the abode of Ateantsic, encircled by choirs
+of departed chieftains leaping in cadence to the sound of spears as they
+ring on the shell of the tortoise. Their favourite attendants, long
+separated from them while on earth, are restored again in this ethereal
+region, and skim freely over the vast level space; now, hailing one
+group of beloved friends; and now, another. Mortals newly ushered by
+death into this world of pure blue sky and boundless meads, see the
+long-lost objects of their affection advancing to meet them, whilst
+flights of familiar birds, the purveyors of many an earthly chase, once
+more attend their progress, and the shades of their faithful dogs seem
+coursing each other below. The whole region is filled with low murmurs
+and tinkling sounds, which increase in melody as its new denizens
+proceed, who, at length, unable to resist the thrilling music, spring
+forward in ecstasies to join the eternal round.
+
+A share of this celestial transport seemed communicated to me whilst my
+eyes wandered over the plains, which imagination widened and extended in
+proportion as the twilight prevailed, and so fully abandoned was I to
+the illusion of the moment, that I did not for several minutes perceive
+our arrival at Günzburg; whence we proceeded the next morning (July 21)
+to Augsburg, and rambled about this renowned city till evening. The
+colossal paintings on the walls of almost every considerable building
+gave it a strange air, which pleases upon the score of novelty.
+
+Having passed a number of streets decorated in this exotic manner, we
+found ourselves suddenly before the public hall, by a noble statue of
+Augustus; which way soever we turned, our eyes met some remarkable
+edifice, or marble basin into which several groups of sculptured
+river-gods pour a profusion of waters. These stately fountains and
+bronze statues, the extraordinary size and loftiness of the buildings,
+the towers rising in perspective, and the Doric portal of the
+town-house, answered in some measure the idea Montfaucon gives us of
+the scene of an ancient tragedy. Whenever a pompous Flemish painter
+attempts a representation of Troy or Babylon, and displays in his
+back-ground those streets of palaces described in the Iliad, Augsburg,
+or some such city, may easily be traced. Frequently a corner of Antwerp
+discovers itself; and sometimes, above a Corinthian portico, rises a
+Gothic spire: just such a jumble may be viewed from the statue of
+Augustus, under which I remained till the concierge came, who was to
+open the gates of the town-house and show me its magnificent hall.
+
+I wished for you exceedingly when ascending a flight of a hundred steps;
+I entered it through a portal, supported by tall pillars and crowned
+with a majestic pediment. Upon advancing, I discovered five more
+entrances equally grand, with golden figures of guardian genii leaning
+over the entablature; and saw, through a range of windows, each above
+thirty feet high, and nearly level with the marble pavement, the whole
+city, with all its roofs and spires, beneath my feet. The pillars,
+cornices, and panels of this striking apartment are uniformly tinged
+with brown and gold; and the ceiling, enriched with emblematical
+paintings and innumerable canopies and pendents of carved work, casts a
+very magisterial shade. Upon the whole, I should not be surprised at a
+burgomaster assuming a formidable dignity in such a room.
+
+I must confess it had a somewhat similar effect upon me; and I descended
+the flight of steps with as much pomposity as if on the point of giving
+audience to the Queen of Sheba. It happened to be a high festival, and
+half the inhabitants of Augsburg were gathered together in the opening
+before their hall; the greatest numbers, especially the women, still
+exhibiting the very dresses which Hollar engraved. My lofty gait imposed
+upon this primitive assembly, which receded to give me passage with as
+much silent respect as if I had really been the wise sovereign of
+Israel. When I got home, an execrable sourcroutish supper was served up
+to my majesty; I scolded in an unroyal style, and soon convinced myself
+I was no longer Solomon.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+     Extensive woods of fir in Bavaria.--Grand fair at Munich.--The
+     Elector’s country palace.--Court
+     Ladies.--Fountains.--Costume.--Garden and tea-room.--Hoydening
+     festivities there.--The Palace and Chapel.--Gorgeous riches of the
+     latter.--St. Peter’s thumb.--The Elector’s collection of
+     pictures.--The Churches.--Hubbub and confusion of the Fair.--Wild
+     tract of country.--Village of Wolfrathshausen.--Perpetual
+     forests.--A Tempest.--A night at a cottage.
+
+
+July 22.
+
+Joy to the Electors of Bavaria! for preserving such extensive woods of
+fir in their dominions as shade over the chief part of the road from
+Augsburg to Munich. Near the last-mentioned city, I cannot boast of the
+scenery changing to advantage. Instead of flourishing woods and verdure,
+we beheld a parched dreary flat, diversified by fields of withering
+barley, and stunted avenues drawn formally across them; now and then a
+stagnant pool, and sometimes a dunghill, by way of regale. However, the
+wild rocks of the Tyrol terminate the view, and to them imagination may
+fly, and ramble amidst springs and lilies of her own creation. I speak
+from authority, having had the delight of anticipating an evening in
+this romantic style.
+
+Tuesday next is the grand fair at Munich, with horse-races and
+junketings: a piece of news I was but too soon acquainted with; for the
+moment we entered the town, good-natured creatures from all quarters
+advised us to get out of it; since traders and harlequins had filled
+every corner of the place, and there was not a lodging to be procured.
+The inns, to be sure, were hives of industrious animals sorting their
+merchandise, and preparing their goods for sale. Yet, in spite of
+difficulties, we got possession of a quiet apartment.
+
+July 23.--We were driven in the evening to Nymphenburg, the Elector’s
+country palace, the bosquets, jets-d’eaux, and parterres of which are
+the pride of the Bavarians. The principal platform is all of a glitter
+with gilded Cupids and shining serpents spouting at every pore. Beds of
+poppies, hollyhocks, scarlet lychnis, and other flame-coloured flowers,
+border the edge of the walks, which extend till the perspective appears
+to meet and swarm with ladies and gentlemen in party-coloured raiment.
+The queen of Golconda’s gardens in a French opera are scarcely more
+gaudy and artificial. Unluckily too, the evening was fine, and the sun
+so powerful that we were half roasted before we could cross the great
+avenue and enter the thickets, which barely conceal a very splendid
+hermitage, where we joined Mr. and Mrs. Trevor, and a party of
+fashionable Bavarians.
+
+Amongst the ladies was Madame la Comtesse, I forget who, a production of
+the venerable Haslang, with her daughter, Madame de Baumgarten, who has
+the honour of leading the Elector in her chains. These goddesses
+stepping into a car, vulgarly called a cariole, the mortals followed and
+explored alley after alley and pavilion after pavilion. Then, having
+viewed Pagodenburg, which is, as they told me, all Chinese; and
+Marienburg, which is most assuredly all tinsel; we paraded by a variety
+of fountains in full squirt, and though they certainly did their best
+(for many were set agoing on purpose) I cannot say I greatly admired
+them.
+
+The ladies were very gaily attired, and the gentlemen, as smart as
+swords, bags, and pretty clothes could make them, looked exactly like
+the fine people one sees represented on Dresden porcelain. Thus we kept
+walking genteelly about the orangery, till the carriage drew up and
+conveyed us to Mr. Trevor’s.
+
+Immediately after supper, we drove once more out of town, to a garden
+and tea-room, where all degrees and ages dance jovially together till
+morning. Whilst one party wheel briskly away in the waltz, another amuse
+themselves in a corner with cold meat and rhenish. That despatched, out
+they whisk amongst the dancers, with an impetuosity and liveliness I
+little expected to have found in Bavaria. After turning round and round,
+with a rapidity that is quite astounding to an English dancer, the music
+changes to a slower movement, and then follows a succession of zig-zag
+minuets, performed by old and young, straight and crooked, noble and
+plebeian, all at once, from one end of the room to the other. Tallow
+candles snuffing and stinking, dishes changing at the risk of showering
+down upon you their savoury contents, heads scratching, and all sorts of
+performances going forward at the same moment; the flutes, oboes, and
+bassoons, snorting, grunting, and whining with peculiar emphasis; now
+fast, now slow, just as Variety commands, who seems to rule the
+ceremonial of this motley assembly, where every distinction of rank and
+privilege is totally forgotten. Once a week, on Sundays that is to say,
+the rooms are open, and Monday is generally far advanced before they are
+deserted. If good humour and coarse merriment are all that people
+desire, here they are to be found in perfection.
+
+July 24.--Custom condemned us to visit the palace, which glares with
+looking-glass, gilding, and furbelowed flounces of cut velvet, most
+sumptuously fringed and spangled. The chapel, though small, is richer
+than anything Crœsus ever possessed, let them say what they will. Not
+a corner but shines with gold, diamonds, and scraps of martyrdom studded
+with jewels. I had the delight of treading amethysts and the richest
+gems under foot, which, if you recollect, Apuleius[4] thinks such
+supreme felicity. Alas! I was quite unworthy of the honour, and had much
+rather have trodden the turf of the mountains. Mammon would never have
+taken his eyes off the pavement; mine soon left the contemplation of it
+and fixed on St. Peter’s thumb, enshrined with a degree of elegance, and
+adorned by some malapert enthusiast with several of the most delicate
+antique cameos I ever beheld; the subjects, Ledas and sleeping Venuses,
+are a little too pagan, one should think, for an apostle’s finger.
+
+From this precious repository we were conducted through the public
+garden to a large hall, where part of the Elector’s collection is piled
+up, till a gallery can be finished for its reception. It was matter of
+great favour to view, in this state, the pieces that compose it, a very
+imperfect one too, since some of the best were under operation. But I
+would not upon any account have missed the sight of Rubens’s Massacre of
+the Innocents. Such expressive horrors were never yet transferred to
+canvass. Moloch himself might have gazed at them with pleasure.
+
+After dinner we were led round the churches; and if you are as much
+tired with reading my voluminous descriptions, as I was with the
+continual repetition of altars and reliquaries, the Lord have mercy upon
+you! However, your delivery draws near. The post is going out, and
+to-morrow we shall begin to mount the cliffs of the Tyrol; but, do not
+be afraid of any long-winded epistles from their summits: I shall be too
+well employed in ascending them.
+
+July 25.--The noise of the people thronging to the fair did not allow me
+to slumber very long in the morning. When I got up, every street was
+crowded with Jews and mountebanks, holding forth and driving their
+bargains in all the guttural hoarseness of the Bavarian dialect. Vast
+quantities of rich merchandise glittered in the shops as we passed to
+the gates. Heaps of fruit and sweetmeats set half the grandams and
+infants in the place cackling with felicity.
+
+Mighty glad was I to make my escape; and in about an hour or two, we
+entered a wild tract of country, not unlike the skirts of a princely
+park. A little farther on stands a cluster of cottages, where we stopped
+to give our horses some refreshment, and were pestered with swarms of
+flies, most probably journeying to Munich fair, there to feast upon
+sugared tarts and honied gingerbread.
+
+The next post brought us over hill and dale, grove and meadow, to a
+narrow plain, watered by rivulets and surrounded by cliffs, under which
+lies scattered the village of Wolfrathshausen, consisting of several
+remarkably large cottages, built entirely of fir, with strange galleries
+projecting from them. Nothing can be neater than the carpentry of these
+complicated edifices, nor more solid than their construction; many of
+them looked as if they had braved the torrents which fell from the
+mountains a century ago; and, if one may judge from the hoary appearance
+of the inhabitants, here are patriarchs coeval with their mansions.
+Orchards of cherry-trees cover the steeps above the village, which to
+our certain knowledge produce most admirable fruit.
+
+Having refreshed ourselves with their cooling juice, we struck into a
+grove of pines, the tallest and most flourishing we had yet beheld.
+There seemed no end to these forests, except where little irregular
+spots of herbage, fed by cattle, intervened. Whenever we gained an
+eminence it was only to discover more ranges of dark wood, variegated
+with meadows and glittering streams. White clover and a profusion of
+sweet-scented flowers clothe their banks; above, waves the mountain-ash,
+glowing with scarlet berries: and beyond, rise hills, rocks and
+mountains, piled upon one another, and fringed with fir to their topmost
+acclivities. Perhaps the Norwegian forests alone, equal these in
+grandeur and extent. Those which cover the Swiss highlands rarely convey
+such vast ideas. There, the woods climb only half way up their ascents,
+which then are circumscribed by snows: here no boundaries are set to
+their progress, and the mountains, from base to summit, display rich
+unbroken masses of vegetation.
+
+As we were surveying this prospect, a thick cloud, fraught with thunder,
+obscured the horizon, whilst flashes of lightning startled our horses,
+whose snorts and stampings resounded through the woods. The impending
+tempests gave additional gloom to the firs, and we travelled several
+miles almost in total darkness. One moment the clouds began to fleet,
+and a faint gleam promised serener intervals, but the next was all
+blackness and terror; presently a deluge of rain poured down upon the
+valley, and in a short time the torrents beginning to swell, raged with
+such violence as to be forded with difficulty. Twilight drew on, just as
+we had passed the most terrible; then ascending a mountain, whose pines
+and birches rustled with the storm, we saw a little lake below. A deep
+azure haze veiled its eastern shore, and lowering vapours concealed the
+cliffs to the south; but over its western extremities hung a few
+transparent clouds; the rays of a struggling sunset streamed on the
+surface of the waters, tingeing the brow of a green promontory with
+tender pink.
+
+I could not help fixing myself on the banks of the lake for several
+minutes, till this apparition faded away. Looking round, I shuddered at
+a craggy mountain, clothed with forests and almost perpendicular, that
+was absolutely to be surmounted before we could arrive at Walchen-see.
+No house, not even a shed appearing, we were forced to ascend the peak,
+and penetrate these awful groves. At length, after some perils but no
+adventure, we saw lights gleam upon the shore of the Walchen lake, which
+served to direct us to a cottage, where we passed the night, and were
+soon lulled to sleep by the fall of distant waters.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER X.
+
+     Mittenwald.--Mountain chapels.--Saint Anna’s young and fair
+     worshippers.--Road to Inspruck.--Maximilian’s tomb.--Vast range of
+     prospects.--A mountain torrent.--Schönberg.
+
+
+July 26.
+
+The sun rose many hours before me, and when I got up was spangling the
+surface of the lake, which spreads itself between steeps of wood,
+crowned by lofty crags and pinnacles. We had an opportunity of
+contemplating this bold assemblage as we travelled on the banks of the
+lake, where it forms a bay sheltered by impending forests; the water,
+tinged by their reflection with a deep cerulean, calm and tranquil.
+Mountains of pine and beech rising above, close every outlet; and, no
+village or spire peeping out of the foliage, impress an idea of more
+than European solitude.
+
+From the shore of Walchen-see, our road led us straight through arching
+groves, which the axe seems never to have violated, to the summit of a
+rock covered with daphnes of various species, and worn by the course of
+torrents into innumerable craggy forms. Beneath, lay extended a chaos of
+shattered cliffs, with tall pines springing from their crevices, and
+rapid streams hurrying between their intermingled trunks and branches.
+As yet, no hut appeared, no mill, no bridge, no trace of human
+existence.
+
+After a few hours’ journey through the wilderness, we began to discover
+a wreath of smoke; and presently the cottage from whence it arose,
+composed of planks, and reared on the very brink of a precipice. Piles
+of cloven fir were dispersed before the entrance, on a little spot of
+verdure browsed by goats; near them sat an aged man with hoary whiskers,
+his white locks tucked under a fur cap. Two or three beautiful children
+with hair neatly braided, played around him; and a young woman dressed
+in a short robe and Polish-looking bonnet, peeped out of a wicket
+window.
+
+I was so much struck with the appearance of this sequestered family,
+that, crossing a rivulet, I clambered up to their cottage and sought
+some refreshment. Immediately there was a contention amongst the
+children, who should be the first to oblige me. A little black-eyed girl
+succeeded, and brought me an earthen jug full of milk, with crumbled
+bread, and a platter of strawberries fresh picked from the bank. I
+reclined in the midst of my smiling hosts, and spread my repast on the
+turf: never could I be waited upon with more hospitable grace. The only
+thing I wanted was language to express my gratitude; and it was this
+deficiency which made me quit them so soon. The old man seemed visibly
+concerned at my departure; and his children followed me a long way down
+the rocks, talking in a dialect which passes all understanding, and
+waving their hands to bid me adieu.
+
+I had hardly lost sight of them and regained my carriage before we
+entered a forest of pines, to all appearance without bounds, of every
+age and figure; some, feathered to the ground with flourishing branches;
+others, decayed into shapes like Lapland idols. Even at noonday, I
+thought we should never have found our way out.
+
+At last, having descended a long avenue, endless perspectives opening
+on either side, we emerged into a valley bounded by hills, divided into
+irregular inclosures, where many herds were grazing. A rivulet flows
+along the pastures beneath; and after winding through the village of
+Walgau, loses itself in a narrow pass amongst the cliffs and precipices
+which rise above the cultivated slopes and frame in this happy pastoral
+region. All the plain was in sunshine, the sky blue, the heights
+illuminated, except one rugged peak with spires of rock, shaped not
+unlike the views I have seen of Sinai, and wrapped, like that sacred
+mount, in clouds and darkness. At the base of this tremendous mass lies
+the hamlet of Mittenwald, surrounded by thickets and banks of verdure,
+and watered by frequent springs, whose sight and murmurs were so
+reviving in the midst of a sultry day, that we could not think of
+leaving their vicinity, but remained at Mittenwald the whole evening.
+
+Our inn had long airy galleries, with pleasant balconies fronting the
+mountain; in one of these we dined upon trout fresh from the rills, and
+cherries just culled from the orchards that cover the slopes above. The
+clouds were dispersing, and the topmost peak half visible, before we
+ended our repast, every moment discovering some inaccessible cliff or
+summit, shining through the mists, and tinted by the sun, with pale
+golden colours. These appearances filled me with such delight and with
+such a train of romantic associations, that I left the table and ran to
+an open field beyond the huts and gardens to gaze in solitude and catch
+the vision before it dissolved away. You, if any human being is able,
+may conceive true ideas of the glowing vapours sailing over the pointed
+rocks, and brightening them in their passage with amber light.
+
+When all was faded and lost in the blue ether, I had time to look around
+me and notice the mead in which I was standing. Here, clover covered its
+surface; there, crops of grain; further on, beds of herbs and the
+sweetest flowers. An amphitheatre of hills and rocks, broken into a
+variety of glens and precipices, open a course for several clear
+rivulets, which, after gurgling amidst loose stones and fragments, fall
+down the steeps, and are concealed and quieted in the herbage of the
+vale.
+
+A cottage or two peep out of the woods that hang over the waterfalls;
+and on the brow of the hills above, appears a series of eleven little
+chapels, uniformly built. I followed the narrow path that leads to them,
+on the edge of the eminences, and met a troop of beautiful peasants, all
+of the name of Anna (for it was St. Anna’s day) going to pay their
+devotion, severally, at these neat white fanes. There were faces that
+Guercino would not have disdained copying, with braids of hair the
+softest and most luxuriant I ever beheld. Some had wreathed it simply
+with flowers, others with rolls of a thin linen (manufactured in the
+neighbourhood), and disposed it with a degree of elegance one should not
+have expected on the cliffs of the Tyrol.
+
+Being arrived, they knelt all together at the first chapel, on the
+steps, a minute or two, whispered a short prayer, and then dispersed
+each to her fane. Every little building had now its fair worshipper, and
+you may well conceive how much such figures, scattered about the
+landscape, increased its charms. Notwithstanding the fervour of their
+adorations (for at intervals they sighed and beat their white bosoms
+with energy), several bewitching profane glances were cast at me as I
+passed by. Do not be surprised, then, if I became a convert to idolatry
+in so amiable a form, and worshipped Saint Anna on the score of her
+namesakes.
+
+When got beyond the last chapel, I began to hear the roar of a cascade
+in a thick wood of beech and chestnut that clothes the steeps of a wide
+fissure in the rock. My ear soon guided me to its entrance, which was
+marked by a shed encompassed with mossy fragments and almost concealed
+by bushes of rhododendron in full red bloom--amongst these I struggled,
+till reaching a goat-track, it conducted me, on the brink of the foaming
+waters, to the very depths of the cliff, whence issues a stream which,
+dashing impetuously down, strikes against a ledge of rocks, and
+sprinkles the impending thicket with dew. Big drops hung on every spray,
+and glittered on the leaves partially gilt by the rays of the declining
+sun, whose mellow hues softened the rugged summits, and diffused a
+repose, a divine calm, over this deep retirement, which inclined me to
+imagine it the extremity of the earth--the portal of some other region
+of existence,--some happy world beyond the dark groves of pine, the
+caves and awful mountains, where the river takes its source! Impressed
+with this romantic idea, I hung eagerly over the gulph, and fancied I
+could distinguish a voice bubbling up with the waters; then looked into
+the abyss and strained my eyes to penetrate its gloom--but all was dark
+and unfathomable as futurity! Awakening from my reverie, I felt the
+damps of the water chill my forehead; and ran shivering out of the vale
+to avoid them. A warmer atmosphere, that reigned in the meads I had
+wandered across before, tempted me to remain a good while longer
+collecting dianthi freaked with beautifully varied colours, and a
+species of white thyme scented like myrrh. Whilst I was thus employed, a
+confused murmur struck my ear, and, on turning towards a cliff, backed
+by the woods from whence the sound seemed to proceed, forth issued a
+herd of goats, hundreds after hundreds, skipping down the steeps: then
+followed two shepherd boys, gamboling together as they drove their
+creatures along: soon after, the dog made his appearance, hunting a
+stray heifer which brought up the rear. I followed them with my eyes
+till lost in the windings of the valley, and heard the tinkling of their
+bells die gradually away. Now the last blush of crimson left the summit
+of _Sinai_, inferior mountains being long since cast in deep blue shade.
+The village was already hushed when I regained it, and in a few moments
+I followed its example.
+
+July 27.--We pursued our journey to Inspruck, through the wildest scenes
+of wood and mountain, where the rocks were now beginning to assume a
+loftier and more majestic appearance, and to glisten with snows. I had
+proposed passing a day or two at Inspruck, visiting the castle of
+Embras, and examining Count Eysenberg’s cabinet, enriched with the
+rarest productions of the mineral kingdom, and a complete collection of
+the moths and flies peculiar to the Tyrol; but, upon my arrival, the
+azure of the skies and the brightness of the sunshine inspired me with
+an irresistible wish of hastening to Italy. I was now too near the
+object of my journey, to delay possession any longer than absolutely
+necessary, so, casting a transient look on Maximilian’s tomb, and the
+bronze statues of Tyrolese Counts, and worthies, solemnly ranged in the
+church of the Franciscans, set off immediately.
+
+We crossed a broad noble street, terminated by a triumphal arch, and
+were driven along the road to the foot of a mountain waving with fields
+of corn, and variegated with wood and vineyards, encircling lawns of
+the finest verdure, scattered over with white houses. Upon ascending the
+mount, and beholding a vast range of prospects of a similar character, I
+almost repented my impatience, and looked down with regret upon the
+cupolas and steeples we were leaving behind. But the rapid succession of
+lovely and romantic scenes soon effaced the former from my memory.
+
+Our road, the smoothest in the world (though hewn in the bosom of rocks)
+by its sudden turns and windings, gave us, every instant, opportunities
+of discovering new villages, and forests rising beyond forests; green
+spots in the midst of wood, high above on the mountains, and cottages
+perched on the edge of promontories. Down, far below, in the chasm,
+amidst a confusion of pines and fragments of stone, rages the torrent
+Inn, which fills the country far and wide with a perpetual murmur.
+Sometimes we descended to its brink, and crossed over high bridges;
+sometimes mounted halfway up the cliffs, till its roar and agitation
+became, through distance, inconsiderable.
+
+After a long ascent we reached Schönberg,[5] a village well worthy of
+its appellation: and then, twilight drawing over us, began to descend.
+We could now but faintly discover the opposite mountains, veined with
+silver rills, when we came once more to the banks of the Inn. This
+turbulent stream accompanied us all the way to Steinach, and broke by
+its continual roar the stillness of the night, half spent, before we
+retired to rest.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+     Steinach.--Its torrent and gloomy strait.--Achievements of
+     Industry.--A sleepy Region.--Beautiful country round Brixen.
+
+
+July 28.
+
+I rose early to enjoy the fragrance of the vegetation, bathed in a
+shower which had lately fallen, and looking around me, saw nothing but
+crags hanging over crags, and the rocky shores of the stream, still dark
+with the shade of the mountains. The small opening in which Steinach is
+situated, terminates in a gloomy strait, scarce leaving room for the
+road and the torrent, which does not understand being thwarted, and will
+force its way, let the pines grow ever so thick, or the rocks be ever so
+formidable.
+
+Notwithstanding the forbidding air of this narrow dell, Industry has
+contrived to enliven its steeps with habitations, to raise water by
+means of a wheel, and to cover the surface of the rocks with soil. By
+this means large crops of oats and flax are produced, and most of the
+huts have gardens filled with poppies, which seem to thrive in this
+parched situation.
+
+    “Urit enim lini campum seges, urit avenæ,
+     Urunt Lethæo perfusa papavera somno.”
+
+The farther we advanced in the dell, the larger were the plantations
+which discovered themselves. For what specific purpose these gaudy
+flowers meet with such encouragement, I had neither time nor language to
+enquire; the mountaineers stuttering a gibberish unintelligible even to
+Germans. Probably opium is extracted from them; or, perhaps, if you love
+a conjecture, Morpheus has transferred his abode from the Cimmerians to
+a cavern somewhere or other in the recesses of these endless mountains.
+Poppies, you know, in poetic travels, always denote the skirts of his
+soporific reign, and I do not remember a region better calculated for
+undisturbed repose than the narrow clefts and gullies which run up
+amongst these rocks, lost in vapours impervious to the sun, and
+moistened by rills and showers, whose continual trickling inspire a
+drowsiness not easily to be resisted. Add to these circumstances the
+waving of the pines, and the hum of bees seeking their food in the
+crevices, and you will have as sleepy a region as that in which Spenser
+and Ariosto have placed the nodding deity.
+
+But we may as well keep our eyes open for the present, and look at the
+beautiful country round Brixen, where I arrived in the cool of the
+evening, and breathed the freshness of a garden immediately beneath my
+window. The thrushes, which nest amongst its shades, saluted me the
+moment I awoke next morning.
+
+
+
+
+ITALY.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+     Bolsano.--Indications of approaching
+     Italy.--Fire-flies.--Appearance of the Peasantry.--A forest
+     Lake.--Arrive at Borgo di Volsugano.--Prospect of Hills in the
+     Venetian State.--Gorgeous Flies.--Fortress of Covalo.--Leave the
+     country of crags and precipices and enter the territory of the
+     Bassanese.--Groves of olives and vines.--Classic appearance of
+     Bassano.--Happy groups.--Pachierotti, the celebrated
+     singer.--Anecdote of him.
+
+
+July 29, 1780.
+
+We proceeded over fertile mountains to Bolsano. It was here first that I
+noticed the rocks cut into terraces, thick set with melons and Indian
+corn; fig-trees and pomegranates hanging over garden walls, clustered
+with fruit. In the evening we perceived several further indications of
+approaching Italy; and after sun-set the Adige, rolling its full tide
+between precipices, which looked terrific in the dusk. Myriads of
+fire-flies sparkled amongst the shrubs on the bank. I traced the course
+of these exotic insects by their blue light, now rising to the summits
+of the trees, now sinking to the ground, and associating with vulgar
+glow-worms. We had opportunities enough to remark their progress, since
+we travelled all night; such being my impatience to reach the promised
+land!
+
+Morning dawned just as we saw Trent dimly before us. I slept a few
+hours, then set out again (July 30th), after the heats were in some
+measure abated, and leaving Bergine, where the peasants were feasting
+before their doors, in their holiday dresses, with red pinks stuck in
+their ears instead of rings, and their necks surrounded with coral of
+the same colour, we came through a woody valley to the banks of a lake,
+filled with the purest and most transparent water, which loses itself in
+shady creeks, amongst hills entirely covered with shrubs and verdure.
+
+The shores present one continual thicket, interspersed with knots of
+larches and slender almonds, starting from the underwood. A cornice of
+rock runs round the whole, except where the trees descend to the very
+brink, and dip their boughs in the water.
+
+It was six o’clock when I caught the sight of this unsuspected lake,
+and the evening shadows stretched nearly across it. Gaining a very rapid
+ascent, we looked down upon its placid bosom, and saw several airy peaks
+rising above tufted foliage. I quitted the contemplation of them with
+regret, and, in a few hours, arrived at Borgo di Volsugano; the scene of
+the lake still present before the eye of my fancy.
+
+July 31st.--My heart beat quick when I saw some hills, not very distant,
+which I was told lay in the Venetian State, and I thought an age, at
+least, had elapsed before we were passing their base. The road was never
+formed to delight an impatient traveller; loose pebbles and rolling
+stones render it, in the highest degree, tedious and jolting. I should
+not have spared my execrations, had it not traversed a picturesque
+valley, overgrown with juniper, and strewed with fragments of rock,
+precipitated, long since, from the surrounding eminences, blooming with
+cyclamens.
+
+I clambered up several of these crags,
+
+    Fra gli odoriferi ginepri,[6]
+
+to gather the flowers I have just mentioned, and found them deliciously
+scented. Fratillarias, and the most gorgeous flies, many of which I
+here noticed for the first time, were fluttering about and expanding
+their wings to the sun. There is no describing the numbers I beheld, nor
+their gaily varied colouring. I could not find in my heart to destroy
+their felicity; to scatter their bright plumage and snatch them for ever
+from the realms of light and flowers. Had I been less compassionate, I
+should have gained credit with that respectable corps, the torturers of
+butterflies; and might, perhaps, have enriched their cabinets with some
+unknown captives. However, I left them imbibing the dews of heaven, in
+free possession of their native rights; and having changed horses at
+Tremolano, entered at length my long-desired Italy.
+
+The pass is rocky and tremendous, guarded by the fortress of Covalo, in
+possession of the empress queen, and only fit, one should think, to be
+inhabited by her eagles. There is no attaining this exalted hold but by
+the means of a cord let down many fathoms by the soldiers, who live in
+dens and caverns, which serve also as arsenals, and magazines for
+powder; whose mysteries I declined prying into, their approach being a
+little too aërial for my earthly frame. A black vapour, tinging their
+entrance, completed the romance of the prospect, which I never shall
+forget.
+
+For two or three leagues there was little variation in the scenery;
+cliffs, nearly perpendicular on both sides, and the Brenta foaming and
+thundering below. Beyond, the rocks began to be mantled with vines and
+gardens. Here and there a cottage shaded with mulberries, made its
+appearance, and we often discovered, on the banks of the river, ranges
+of white buildings, with courts and awnings, beneath which numbers of
+women and children were employed in manufacturing silk. As we advanced,
+the stream gradually widened, and the rocks receded; woods were more
+frequent and cottages thicker strown.
+
+About five in the evening we left the country of crags and precipices,
+of mists and cataracts, and were entering the fertile territory of the
+Bassanese. It was now I beheld groves of olives, and vines clustering
+the summits of the tallest elms; pomegranates in every garden, and vases
+of citron and orange before almost every door. The softness and
+transparency of the air soon told me I was arrived in happier climates;
+and I felt sensations of joy and novelty run through my veins, upon
+beholding this smiling land of groves and verdure stretched out before
+me. A few hazy vapours, I can hardly call them clouds, rested upon the
+extremities of the landscape; and, through their medium, the sun cast an
+oblique and dewy ray. Peasants were returning home, singing as they
+went, and calling to each other over the hills; whilst the women were
+milking goats before the wickets of the cottage, and preparing their
+country fare.
+
+I left them enjoying it, and soon beheld the ancient ramparts and
+cypresses of Bassano; whose classic appearance recalled the memory of
+former times, and answered exactly the ideas I had pictured to myself of
+Italian edifices. Though encompassed by walls and turrets, neither
+soldiers nor custom-house officers start out from their concealment, to
+question and molest a weary traveller, for such is the happiness of the
+Venetian state, at least of the terra firma provinces, that it does not
+contain, I believe, above four regiments. Istria, Dalmatia, and the
+maritime frontiers, are more formidably guarded, as they touch, you
+know, the whiskers of the Turkish empire.
+
+Passing under a Doric gateway, we crossed the chief part of the town in
+the way to our locanda, pleasantly situated, and commanding a level
+green, where people walk and take ices by moonlight. On the right, the
+Franciscan church, and convent, half hid in the religious gloom of pine
+and cypress; to the left, a perspective of walls and towers rising from
+the turf, and marking it, when I arrived, with long shadows, in front;
+where the lawn terminates, meadow, wood, and garden run quite to the
+base of the mountains.
+
+Twilight coming on, this beautiful spot swarmed with company, sitting in
+circles upon the grass, refreshing themselves with fruit and sherbets,
+or lounging upon the bank beneath the towers. They looked so free and
+happy that I longed to be acquainted with them; and, thanks to a
+warm-hearted old Venetian, (the Senator Querini,) was introduced to a
+group of the principal inhabitants. Our conversation ended in a promise
+to meet the next evening at the villa of La Contessa Roberti, about a
+league from Bassano, and then to return together and sing to the praise
+of Pachierotti, their idol, as well as mine.
+
+You can have no idea what pleasure we mutually found in being of the
+same faith, and believing in one singer; nor can you imagine what
+effects that musical divinity produced at Padua, where he performed a
+few years ago, and threw his audience into such raptures, that it was
+some time before they recovered. One in particular, a lady of
+distinction, fainted away the instant she caught the pathetic accents of
+his voice, and was near dying a martyr to its melody. La Contessa, who
+sings in the truest taste, gave me a detail of the whole affair. “Egli
+ha fatto veramente un fanatismo a Padua,” was her expression. I assured
+her we were not without idolatry in England, upon his account; but that
+in this, as well as in other articles of belief, there were many
+abominable heretics.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+     Villa of Mosolente--The route to Venice.--First view of that
+     city.--Striking prospect from the Leon Bianco.--Morning scene on
+     the grand canal.--Church of Santa Maria della Salute.--Interesting
+     group of stately buildings.--Convent of St. Giorgio Maggiore.--The
+     Redentore.--Island of the Carthusians.
+
+
+August 1st, 1780.
+
+The whole morning not a soul stirred who could avoid it. Those who were
+so active and lively the night before, were now stretched languidly upon
+their couches. Being to the full as idly disposed, I sat down and wrote
+some of this dreaming epistle; then feasted upon figs and melons; then
+got under the shade of the cypress, and slumbered till evening, only
+waking to dine, and take some ice.
+
+The sun declining apace, I hastened to my engagement at Mosolente (for
+so is the villa called) placed on a verdant hill encircled by others as
+lovely, and consisting of three light pavilions connected by porticos;
+just such as we admire in the fairy scenes of an opera. A vast flight of
+steps leads to the summit, where Signora Roberti and her friends
+received me with a grace and politeness that can never want a place in
+my memory. We rambled over all the apartments of this agreeable edifice,
+characterised by airiness and simplicity. The pavement encrusted with a
+composition as cool and polished as marble; the windows, doors, and
+balconies adorned with silver iron work, commanding scenes of meads and
+woodlands that extend to the shores of the Adriatic; slender towers and
+cypresses rising above the levels; and the hazy mountains beyond Padua,
+diversifying the expanse, form altogether a landscape which the elegant
+imagination of Horizonti never exceeded.
+
+I gazed on this delightful view till it faded in the dusk; then
+returning to Bassano, repaired to an illuminated hall, and heard Signora
+Roberti sing the very air which had excited such transport at Padua. As
+soon as she had ended, a band of various instruments stationed in the
+open street began a lively symphony, which would have delighted me at
+any other time; but now, I wished them a thousand leagues away, so
+pleasingly melancholy an impression did the air I had been listening to
+leave on my mind.
+
+At midnight I took leave of my obliging hosts, who were just setting out
+for Padua. They gave me a thousand kind invitations, and I hope some
+future day to accept them.
+
+
+August 2.
+
+Our route to Venice lay winding about the variegated plains I had
+surveyed from Mosolente; and after dining at Treviso we came in two
+hours and a half to Mestre, between grand villas and gardens peopled
+with statues. Embarking our baggage at the last-mentioned place, we
+stepped into a gondola, whose even motion was very agreeable after the
+jolts of a chaise. We were soon out of the canal of Mestre, terminated
+by an isle which contains a cell dedicated to the Holy Virgin, peeping
+out of a thicket, whence spire up two tall cypresses. Its bells tingled
+as we passed along and dropped some paolis into a net tied at the end of
+a pole stretched out to us for that purpose.
+
+As soon as we had doubled the cape of this diminutive island, an expanse
+of sea opened to our view, the domes and towers of Venice rising from
+its bosom. Now we began to distinguish Murano, St. Michele, St. Giorgio
+in Alga, and several other islands, detached from the grand cluster,
+which I hailed as old acquaintances; innumerable prints and drawings
+having long since made their shapes familiar. Still gliding forward, we
+every moment distinguished some new church or palace in the city,
+suffused with the rays of the setting sun, and reflected with all their
+glow of colouring from the surface of the waters.
+
+The air was calm; the sky cloudless; a faint wind just breathing upon
+the deep, lightly bore its surface against the steps of a chapel in the
+island of San Secondo, and waved the veil before its portal, as we rowed
+by and coasted the walls of its garden overhung with fig-trees and
+surmounted by spreading pines. The convent discovers itself through
+their branches, built in a style somewhat morisco, and level with the
+sea, except where the garden intervenes.
+
+We were now drawing very near the city, and a confused hum began to
+interrupt the evening stillness; gondolas were continually passing and
+repassing, and the entrance of the Canal Reggio, with all its stir and
+bustle, lay before us. Our gondoliers turned with much address through
+a crowd of boats and barges that blocked up the way, and rowed smoothly
+by the side of a broad pavement, covered with people in all dresses and
+of all nations.
+
+Leaving the Palazzo Pesaro, a noble structure with two rows of arcades
+and a superb rustic, behind, we were soon landed before the Leon Bianco,
+which being situated in one of the broadest parts of the grand canal,
+commands a most striking assemblage of buildings. I have no terms to
+describe the variety of pillars, of pediments, of mouldings, and
+cornices, some Grecian, others Saracenic, that adorn these edifices, of
+which the pencil of Canaletti conveys so perfect an idea as to render
+all verbal description superfluous. At one end of this grand scene of
+perspective appears the Rialto; the sweep of the canal conceals the
+other.
+
+The rooms of our hotel are spacious and cheerful; a lofty hall, or
+rather gallery, painted with grotesque in a very good style, perfectly
+clean, floored with a marbled stucco, divides the house, and admits a
+refreshing current of air. Several windows near the ceiling look into
+this vast apartment, which serves in lieu of a court, and is rendered
+perfectly luminous by a glazed arcade, thrown open to catch the
+breezes. Through it I passed to a balcony which impends over the canal,
+and is twined round with plants forming a green festoon springing from
+two large vases of orange trees placed at each end. Here I established
+myself to enjoy the cool, and observe, as well as the dusk would permit,
+the variety of figures shooting by in their gondolas.
+
+As night approached, innumerable tapers glimmered through the awnings
+before the windows. Every boat had its lantern, and the gondolas moving
+rapidly along were followed by tracks of light, which gleamed and played
+upon the waters. I was gazing at these dancing fires when the sounds of
+music were wafted along the canals, and as they grew louder and louder,
+an illuminated barge, filled with musicians, issued from the Rialto, and
+stopping under one of the palaces, began a serenade, which stilled every
+clamour and suspended all conversation in the galleries and porticos;
+till, rowing slowly away, it was heard no more. The gondoliers catching
+the air, imitated its cadences, and were answered by others at a
+distance, whose voices, echoed by the arch of the bridge, acquired a
+plaintive and interesting tone. I retired to rest, full of the sound;
+and long after I was asleep, the melody seemed to vibrate in my ear.
+
+
+August 3.
+
+It was not five o’clock before I was aroused by a loud din of voices and
+splashing of water under my balcony. Looking out, I beheld the grand
+canal so entirely covered with fruits and vegetables, on rafts and in
+barges, that I could scarcely distinguish a wave. Loads of grapes,
+peaches and melons arrived, and disappeared in an instant, for every
+vessel was in motion; and the crowds of purchasers hurrying from boat to
+boat, formed a very lively picture. Amongst the multitudes, I remarked a
+good many whose dress and carriage announced something above the common
+rank; and upon enquiry I found they were noble Venetians, just come from
+their casinos, and met to refresh themselves with fruit, before they
+retired to sleep for the day.
+
+Whilst I was observing them, the sun began to colour the balustrades of
+the palaces, and the pure exhilarating air of the morning drawing me
+abroad, I procured a gondola, laid in my provision of bread and grapes,
+and was rowed under the Rialto, down the grand canal to the marble steps
+of S. Maria della Salute, erected by the Senate in performance of a vow
+to the Holy Virgin, who begged off a terrible pestilence in 1630. The
+great bronze portal opened whilst I was standing on the steps which lead
+to it, and discovered the interior of the dome, where I expatiated in
+solitude; no mortal appearing except an old priest who trimmed the lamps
+and muttered a prayer before the high altar, still wrapt in shadows. The
+sun-beams began to strike against the windows of the cupola, just as I
+left the church and was wafted across the waves to the spacious platform
+in front of St. Giorgio Maggiore, one of the most celebrated works of
+Palladio.
+
+When my first transport was a little subsided, and I had examined the
+graceful design of each particular ornament, and united the just
+proportion and grand effect of the whole in my mind, I planted my
+umbrella on the margin of the sea, and viewed at my leisure the vast
+range of palaces, of porticos, of towers, opening on every side and
+extending out of sight. The Doge’s palace and the tall columns at the
+entrance of the place of St. Mark, form, together with the arcades of
+the public library, the lofty Campanile and the cupolas of the ducal
+church, one of the most striking groups of buildings that art can boast
+of. To behold at one glance these stately fabrics, so illustrious in the
+records of former ages, before which, in the flourishing times of the
+republic, so many valiant chiefs and princes have landed, loaded with
+oriental spoils, was a spectacle I had long and ardently desired. I
+thought of the days of Frederic Barbarossa, when looking up the piazza
+of St. Mark, along which he marched in solemn procession, to cast
+himself at the feet of Alexander the Third, and pay a tardy homage to
+St. Peter’s successor. Here were no longer those splendid fleets that
+attended his progress; one solitary galeass was all I beheld, anchored
+opposite the palace of the Doge and surrounded by crowds of gondolas,
+whose sable hues contrasted strongly with its vermilion oars and shining
+ornaments. A party-coloured multitude was continually shifting from one
+side of the piazza to the other; whilst senators and magistrates in long
+black robes were already arriving to fill their respective offices.
+
+I contemplated the busy scene from my peaceful platform, where nothing
+stirred but aged devotees creeping to their devotions, and, whilst I
+remained thus calm and tranquil, heard the distant buzz of the town.
+Fortunately some length of waves rolled between me and its tumults; so
+that I ate my grapes, and read Metastasio, undisturbed by officiousness
+or curiosity. When the sun became too powerful, I entered the nave.
+
+After I had admired the masterly structure of the roof and the lightness
+of its arches, my eyes naturally directed themselves to the pavement of
+white and ruddy marble, polished, and reflecting like a mirror the
+columns which rise from it. Over this I walked to a door that admitted
+me into the principal quadrangle of the convent, surrounded by a
+cloister supported on Ionic pillars, beautifully proportioned. A flight
+of stairs opens into the court, adorned with balustrades and pedestals,
+sculptured with elegance truly Grecian. This brought me to the
+refectory, where the chef-d’œuvre of Paul Veronese, representing the
+marriage of Cana in Galilee, was the first object that presented itself.
+I never beheld so gorgeous a group of wedding-garments before; there is
+every variety of fold and plait that can possibly be imagined. The
+attitudes and countenances are more uniform, and the guests appear a
+very genteel, decent sort of people, well used to the mode of their
+times and accustomed to miracles.
+
+Having examined this fictitious repast, I cast a look on a long range of
+tables covered with very excellent realities, which the monks were
+coming to devour with energy, if one might judge from their appearance.
+These sons of penitence and mortification possess one of the most
+spacious islands of the whole cluster, a princely habitation, with
+gardens and open porticos, that engross every breath of air; and, what
+adds not a little to the charms of their abode, is the facility of
+making excursions from it, whenever they have a mind.
+
+The republic, jealous of ecclesiastical influence, connives at these
+amusing rambles, and, by encouraging the liberty of monks and churchmen,
+prevents their appearing too sacred and important in the eyes of the
+people, who have frequent proofs of their being mere flesh and blood,
+and that of the frailest composition. Had the rest of Italy been of the
+same opinion, and profited as much by Fra Paolo’s maxims, some of its
+fairest fields would not, at this moment, lie uncultivated, and its
+ancient spirit might have revived. However, I can scarcely think the
+moment far distant, when it will assert its natural prerogatives, and
+look back upon the tiara, with all its host of scaring phantoms, as the
+offspring of a feverish dream.
+
+Full of prophecies and bodings, I moved slowly out of the cloisters;
+and, gaining my gondola, arrived, I know not how, at the flights of
+steps which lead to the Redentore, a structure so simple and elegant,
+that I thought myself entering an antique temple, and looked about for
+the statue of the God of Delphi, or some other graceful divinity. A huge
+crucifix of bronze soon brought me to times present.
+
+The charm being thus dissolved, I began to perceive the shapes of rueful
+martyrs peeping out of the niches around, and the bushy beards of
+capuchin friars wagging before the altars. These good fathers had
+decorated the nave with orange and citron trees, placed between the
+pilasters of the arcades; and on grand festivals, it seems, they turn
+the whole church into a bower, strew the pavement with leaves, and
+festoon the dome with flowers.
+
+I left them occupied with their plants and their devotions. It was
+mid-day, and I begged to be rowed to some woody island, where I might
+dine in shade and tranquillity. My gondoliers shot off in an instant;
+but, though they went at a very rapid rate, I wished to advance still
+faster, and getting into a bark with six oars, swept along the waters,
+soon left the Zecca and San Marco behind; and, launching into the plains
+of shining sea, saw turret after turret, and isle after isle, fleeting
+before me. A pale greenish light ran along the shores of the distant
+continent, whose mountains seemed to catch the motion of my boat, and to
+fly with equal celerity.
+
+I had not much time to contemplate the beautiful effects on the
+waters--the emerald and purple hues which gleamed along their surface.
+Our prow struck, foaming, against the walls of the Carthusian garden,
+before I recollected where I was, or could look attentively around me.
+Permission being obtained, I entered this cool retirement, and putting
+aside with my hands the boughs of figs and pomegranates, got under an
+ancient bay-tree on the summit of a little knoll, near which several
+tall pines lift themselves up to the breezes. I listened to the
+conversation they held, with a wind just flown from Greece, and charged,
+as well as I could understand this airy language, with many
+affectionate remembrances from their relations on Mount Ida.
+
+I reposed amidst fragrant leaves, fanned by a constant air, till it
+pleased the fathers to send me some provisions, with a basket of fruit
+and wine. Two of them would wait upon me, and ask ten thousand questions
+about Lord George Gordon, and the American war. I, who was deeply
+engaged with the winds, and a thousand agreeable associations excited by
+my Grecian fancies, wished my interrogators in purgatory, and pleaded
+ignorance of the Italian language. This circumstance extricated me from
+my embarrassment, and procured me a long interval of repose.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+     Church of St. Mark.--The Piazza.--Magnificent festivals formerly
+     celebrated there.--Stately architecture of Sansovino.--The
+     Campanile.--The Loggetta.--The Ducal Palace.--Colossal
+     Statues.--Giants’ Stairs.--Fit of enthusiasm.--Evening-scene in the
+     great Square.--Venetian intrigue.--Confusion of languages.--Madame
+     de Rosenberg.--Character of the Venetians.
+
+
+The rustling of the pines had the same effect as the murmurs of other
+old story-tellers, and I dozed undisturbed till the people without, in
+the boat, (who wondered not a little, I dare say, what was become of me
+within,) began a sort of chorus in parts, full of such plaintive
+modulation, that I still thought myself under the influence of a dream,
+and, half in this world and half in the other, believed, like the heroes
+of Fingal, that I had caught the music of the spirits of the hill.
+
+When I was thoroughly convinced of the reality of these sounds, I moved
+towards the shore whence they proceeded: a glassy sea lay before me; no
+gale ruffled the expanse; every breath had subsided, and I beheld the
+sun go down in all its sacred calm. You have experienced the sensations
+this moment inspires; imagine what they must have been in such a scene,
+and accompanied with a melody so simple and pathetic. I stepped into my
+boat, and now instead of encouraging the speed of the gondoliers, begged
+them to abate their ardour, and row me lazily home. They complied, and
+we were near an hour reaching the platform in front of the ducal palace,
+thronged as usual with a variety of nations. I mixed a moment with the
+crowd; then directed my steps to the great mosque, I ought to say the
+church of St. Mark; but really its cupolas, slender pinnacles, and
+semicircular arches, have so oriental an appearance, as to excuse this
+appellation. I looked a moment at the four stately coursers of bronze
+and gold that adorn the chief portal, and then took in, at one glance,
+the whole extent of the piazza, with its towers and standards. A more
+noble assemblage was never exhibited by architecture. I envied the good
+fortune of Petrarch, who describes, in one of his letters, a tournament
+held in this princely opening.
+
+Many are the festivals which have been here celebrated. When Henry the
+Third left Poland to mount the throne of France, he passed through
+Venice, and found the Senate waiting to receive him in their famous
+square, which by means of an awning stretched from the balustrades of
+opposite palaces, was metamorphosed into a vast saloon, sparkling with
+artificial stars, and spread with the richest carpets of the East. What
+a magnificent idea! The ancient Romans, in the zenith of power and
+luxury, never conceived a greater. It is to them, however, the Venetians
+are indebted for the hint, since we read of the Coliseo and Pompey’s
+theatre being sometimes covered with transparent canvas, to defend the
+spectators from the heat or sudden rain, and to tint the scene with soft
+agreeable colours.
+
+Having enjoyed the general perspective of the piazza, I began to enter
+into particulars, and examine the bronze pedestals of the three
+standards before the great church, designed by Sansovino in the true
+spirit of the antique, and covered with relievos, at once bold and
+elegant. It is also to this celebrated architect we are indebted for the
+stately façade of the _Procuratie nuove_, which forms one side of the
+square, and presents an uninterrupted series of arcades and marble
+columns exquisitely wrought. Opposite this magnificent range appears
+another line of palaces, whose architecture, though far removed from the
+Grecian elegance of Sansovino, impresses veneration, and completes the
+pomp of the view.
+
+There is something strange and singular in the Tower or Campanile, which
+rises distinct from the smooth pavement of the square, a little to the
+left as you stand before the chief entrance of St. Mark’s. The design is
+barbarous, and terminates in uncouth and heavy pyramids; yet in spite of
+these defects it struck me with awe. A beautiful building called the
+Loggetta, and which serves as a guard-house during the convocation of
+the Grand Council, decorates its base. Nothing can be more enriched,
+more finished than this structure; which, though far from diminutive, is
+in a manner lost at the foot of the Campanile. This enormous fabric
+seems to promise a long duration, and will probably exhibit Saint Mark
+and his Lion to the latest posterity. Both appear in great state towards
+its summit, and have nothing superior, but an archangel perched on the
+topmost pinnacle, and pointing to the skies. The dusk prevented my
+remarking the various sculptures with which the Loggetta is crowded.
+
+Crossing the ample space between this graceful edifice and the ducal
+palace, I passed through a labyrinth of pillars and entered the
+principal court, of which nothing but the great outline was visible at
+so late an hour. Two reservoirs of bronze richly sculptured diversify
+the area. In front a magnificent flight of steps presents itself, by
+which the senators ascend through vast and solemn corridors, which lead
+to the interior of the edifice. The colossal statues of Mars and Neptune
+guard the entrance, and have given the appellation of _scala dei
+giganti_ to the steps below, which I mounted not without respect; and,
+leaning against the balustrades, formed like the rest of the building of
+the rarest marbles, contemplated the tutelary divinities.
+
+My admiration was shortly interrupted by one of the sbirri, or officers
+of police, who take their stands after sunset before the avenues of the
+palace, and who told me the gates were upon the point of being closed.
+So, hurrying down the steps, I left a million of delicate sculptures
+unexplored; for every pilaster, every frieze, every entablature, is
+encrusted with porphyry, verde antique, or some other precious marble,
+carved into as many grotesque wreaths of foliage as we admire in the
+loggie of Raphael. The various portals, the strange projections; in
+short, the striking irregularity of these stately piles, delighted me
+beyond idea; and I was sorry to be forced to abandon them so soon,
+especially as the twilight, which bats and owls love not better than I
+do, enlarged every portico, lengthened every colonnade, and increased
+the dimensions of the whole, just as imagination desired. This faculty
+would have had full scope had I but remained an hour longer. The moon
+would then have gleamed upon the gigantic forms of Mars and Neptune, and
+discovered the statues of ancient heroes emerging from the gloom of
+their niches.
+
+Such an interesting combination of objects, such regal scenery, with the
+reflection that many of their ornaments once contributed to the
+decoration of Athens, transported me beyond myself. The sbirri thought
+me distracted. True enough, I was stalking proudly about like an actor
+in an ancient Grecian tragedy, lifting up his hands to the consecrated
+fanes and images around, expecting the reply of his attendant chorus,
+and declaiming the first verses of Œdipus Tyrannus.
+
+This fit of enthusiasm was hardly subsided, when I passed the gates of
+the palace into the great square, which received a faint gleam from its
+casinos and palaces, just beginning to be lighted up, and to become the
+resort of pleasure and dissipation. Numbers were walking in parties upon
+the pavement; some sought the convenient gloom of the porticoes with
+their favourites; others were earnestly engaged in conversation, and
+filled the gay illuminated apartments, where they resorted to drink
+coffee and sorbet, with laughter and merriment. A thoughtless giddy
+transport prevailed; for, at this hour, anything like restraint seems
+perfectly out of the question; and however solemn a magistrate or
+senator may appear in the day, at night he lays up wig and robe and
+gravity to sleep together, runs intriguing about in his gondola, takes
+the reigning sultana under his arm, and so rambles half over the town,
+which grows gayer and gayer as the day declines.
+
+Many of the noble Venetians have a little suite of apartments in some
+out-of-the-way corner, near the grand piazza, of which their families
+are totally ignorant. To these they skulk in the dusk, and revel
+undisturbed with the companions of their pleasures. Jealousy itself
+cannot discover the alleys, the winding passages, the unsuspected doors,
+by which these retreats are accessible. Many an unhappy lover, whose
+mistress disappears on a sudden with some fortunate rival, has searched
+for her haunts in vain. The gondoliers themselves, though the prime
+managers of intrigue, are often unacquainted with these interior
+cabinets. When a gallant has a mind to pursue his adventures with
+mystery, he rows to the piazza, orders his bark to wait, meets his
+goddess in the crowd, and vanishes from all beholders. Surely, Venice is
+the city in the universe best calculated for giving scope to the
+observations of a devil upon two sticks. What a variety of
+lurking-places would one stroke of his crutch uncover!
+
+Whilst the higher ranks were solacing themselves in their casinos, the
+rabble were gathered in knots round the strollers and mountebanks,
+singing and scaramouching in the middle of the square. I observed a
+great number of Orientals amongst the crowd, and heard Turkish and
+Arabic muttering in every corner. Here the Sclavonian dialect
+predominated; there some Grecian jargon, almost unintelligible. Had
+Saint Mark’s church been the wondrous tower, and its piazza the chief
+square, of the city of Babylon, there could scarcely have been a greater
+confusion of languages.
+
+The novelty of the scene afforded me no small share of amusement, and I
+wandered about from group to group, and from one strange exotic to
+another, asking and being asked innumerable ridiculous questions, and
+settling the politics of London and Constantinople, almost in the same
+breath. This instant I found myself in a circle of grave Armenian
+priests and jewellers; the next amongst Greeks and Dalmatians, who
+accosted me with the smoothest compliments, and gave proof that their
+reputation for pliability and address was not ill-founded.
+
+I was entering into a grand harum-scarum discourse with some Russian
+counts or princes, or whatever you please, just landed with dwarfs, and
+footmen, and governors, and staring like me, about them, when Madame de
+Rosenberg arrived, to whom I had the happiness of being recommended. She
+presented me to some of the most distinguished of the Venetian families
+at their great casino, which looks into the piazza, and consists of five
+or six rooms, fitted up in a gay flimsy taste, neither rich nor elegant,
+where were a great many lights, and a great many ladies negligently
+dressed, their hair falling very freely about them, and innumerable
+adventures written in their eyes. The gentlemen were lolling upon the
+sofas, or lounging about the apartments.
+
+The whole assembly seemed upon the verge of gaping, till coffee was
+carried round. This magic beverage diffused a temporary animation; and,
+for a moment or two, conversation moved on with a degree of pleasing
+extravagance; but the flash was soon dissipated, and nothing remained
+save cards and stupidity.
+
+In the intervals of shuffling and dealing, some talked over the affairs
+of the grand council with less reserve than I expected; and two or three
+of them asked some feeble questions about the late tumults in London. It
+was one o’clock before all the company were assembled, and I left them
+at three, still dreaming over their coffee and card-tables. Trieze is
+their favourite game: _uno_, _due_, _tre_, _quatro_, _cinque_, _fante_,
+_cavallo re_, are eternally repeated; the apartments echoed no other
+sound.
+
+I wonder a lively people can endure such monotony, for I have been told
+the Venetians are remarkably spirited; and so eager in the pursuit of
+amusement as hardly to allow themselves any sleep. Some, for instance,
+after declaiming in the Senate, walking an hour in the square, and
+fidgeting about from one casino to another till morning dawns, will get
+into a gondola, row across the Lagunes, take the post to Mestre or
+Fusina, and jumble over craggy pavements to Treviso, breakfast in haste,
+and rattle back again as if the Devil were charioteer: by eleven the
+party is restored to Venice, resumes robe and periwig, and goes to
+council.
+
+This may be very true, and yet I will never cite the Venetians as
+examples of vivacity. Their nerves unstrung by early debaucheries, allow
+no natural flow of lively spirits, and at best but a few moments of a
+false and feverish activity. The approaches of sleep, forced back by an
+immoderate use of coffee, render them weak and listless, and the
+facility of being wafted from place to place in a gondola, adds not a
+little to their indolence. In short, I can scarcely regard their Eastern
+neighbours in a more lazy light; who, thanks to their opium and their
+harems, pass their lives in one perpetual doze.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+     Excessive heat.--The Devil and Senegal.--A dreary shore.--Scene of
+     the Doge’s nuptials with the sea.--Return to the Place of St.
+     Mark.--Swarm of Lawyers.--Receptacles for anonymous
+     accusations.--The Council of Ten.--Terrible punishments of its
+     victims.--Statue of Neptune.--Fatal Waters.--Bridge of Sighs.--The
+     Fondamenti Nuovi.--Conservatory of the Mendicanti.--An
+     Oratorio.--Profound attention of the Audience.
+
+
+August 4th, 1780.
+
+The heats were so excessive in the night, that I thought myself several
+times on the point of suffocation, tossed about like a wounded fish, and
+dreamt of the Devil and Senegal. Towards sunrise, a faint breeze
+restored me to life and reason. I slumbered till late in the day, and
+the moment I was fairly awake, ordered my gondolier to row out to the
+main ocean, that I might plunge into the waves, and hear and see nothing
+but waters around me.
+
+We shot off, wound amongst a number of sheds, shops, churches, casinos,
+and palaces, growing immediately out of the canals, without any
+apparent foundation. No quay, no terrace, not even a slab is to be seen
+before the doors; one step brings you from the hall into the bark, and
+the vestibules of the stateliest structures lie open to the waters, and
+but just above their level. I observed several, as I glided along,
+supported by rows of well-proportioned columns, adorned with terms and
+vases, beyond which the eye generally discovers a grand court, and
+sometimes a garden.
+
+In about half an hour, we had left the thickest cluster of isles behind,
+and, coasting the Place of St. Mark opposite to San Giorgio Maggiore,
+whose elegant frontispiece was distinctly reflected by the calm waters,
+launched into the blue expanse of sea, from which rise the Carthusian
+and two or three other woody islands. I hailed the spot where I had
+passed such a happy visionary evening, and nodded to my friends the
+pines.
+
+A few minutes more brought me to a dreary, sun-burnt shore, stalked over
+by a few Sclavonian soldiers, who inhabit a castle hard by, go regularly
+to an ugly unfinished church, and from thence, it is to be hoped, to
+paradise; as the air of their barracks is abominable, and kills them
+like blasted sheep.
+
+Forlorn as this island appeared to me, I was told it was the scene of
+the Doge’s pageantry at the feast of the Ascension; and the very spot to
+which he sails in the Bucentaur, previously to wedding the sea. You have
+heard enough, and if ever you looked into a show-box, seen full
+sufficient of this gaudy spectacle, without my enlarging upon the topic.
+I shall only say, that I was obliged to pursue, partly, the same road as
+the nuptial procession, in order to reach the beach, and was broiled and
+dazzled accordingly.
+
+At last, after traversing some desert hillocks, all of a hop with toads
+and locusts (amongst which English heretics have the honour of being
+interred), I passed under an arch, and suddenly the boundless plains of
+ocean opened to my view. I ran to the smooth sands, extending on both
+sides out of sight, and dashed into the waves, which were coursing one
+another with a gentle motion, and breaking lightly on the shores. The
+tide rolled over me as I lay floating about, buoyed up by the water, and
+carried me wheresoever it listed. It might have borne me far out into
+the main before I had been aware, so totally was I abandoned to the
+illusion of the moment. My ears were filled with murmuring undecided
+sounds; my limbs, stretched languidly on the surge, rose or sunk just as
+it swelled or subsided. In this passive state I remained, till the sun
+cast a less intolerable light, and the fishing-vessels, lying out in the
+bay at a great distance, spread their sails and were coming home.
+
+Hastening back over the desert of locusts, I threw myself into the
+gondola; and, no wind or wave opposing, was soon wafted across to those
+venerable columns, so conspicuous in the Place of St. Mark. Directing my
+course immediately to the ducal palace, I entered the grand court,
+ascending the giants’ stairs, and examined at my leisure its
+bas-reliefs. Then, taking the first guide that presented himself, I was
+shown along several cloisters and corridors, sustained by innumerable
+pillars, into the state apartments, which Tintoret and Paolo Veronese
+have covered with the triumphs of their country.
+
+A swarm of lawyers filled the Sala del Maggior Consiglio, and one of the
+first advocates in the republic was pleading with all his might, before
+a solemn row of senators. The eyes and ears of the assembly seemed
+equally affected. Clouds of powder, and volleys of execrations issuing
+every instant from the disputants, I got out of their way; and was led
+from hall to hall, and from picture to picture, with exemplary
+resignation. To be sure, I was heartily tired, but behaved with decency,
+having never once expressed how much I wished the chefs-d’œuvre I had
+been contemplating, less smoky and numerous.
+
+At last, I reached once more the colonnades at the entrance, and caught
+the sea-breeze in the open porticoes which front San Giorgio Maggiore.
+The walls are covered in most places with grim visages sculptured in
+marble, whose mouths gape for accusations, and swallow every lie that
+malice and revenge can dictate. I wished for a few ears of the same
+kind, dispersed about the Doge’s residence, to which one might apply
+one’s own, and catch some account of the mysteries within; some little
+dialogue between the three Inquisitors, or debate in the Council of Ten.
+
+This is the tribunal which holds the wealthy nobility in continual awe;
+before which they appear with trembling and terror; and whose summons
+they dare not disobey. Sometimes, by way of clemency, it condemns its
+victims to perpetual imprisonment, in close, stifling cells, between
+the leads and beams of the palace; or, unwilling to spill the blood of a
+fellow-citizen, generously sinks them into dungeons, deep under the
+canals which wash its foundations; so that, above and below, its majesty
+is contaminated by the abodes of punishment. What other sovereign could
+endure the idea of having his immediate residence polluted with tears?
+or revel in his halls, conscious that many of his species were consuming
+their hours in lamentations above his head, and that but a few beams
+separated him from the scene of their tortures? However gaily disposed,
+could one dance with pleasure on a pavement, beneath which lie damp and
+gloomy caverns, whose inhabitants waste away by painful degrees, and
+feel themselves whole years a-dying? Impressed by these terrible ideas,
+I could not regard the palace without horror, and wished for the
+strength of a thousand antediluvians, to level it with the sea, lay open
+the secret recesses of punishment, and admit free gales and sunshine
+into every den.
+
+When I had thus vented my indignation, I repaired to the statue of
+Neptune, whom twenty ages ago I should have invoked to second my
+enterprise. Once upon a time no deity had a freer hand at razing cities.
+His execution was renowned throughout all antiquity, and the proudest
+monarchs deprecated the wrath of KΡΕΙΩΝ ΕΝΟΣΙΧΘΩΝ. But, like
+the other mighty ones of ancient days, his reign is past and his trident
+disregarded. Formerly any wild spirit found favour in the eyes of
+fortune, and was led along the career of glory to the deliverance of
+captives and the extirpation of monsters; but, in our degenerate times,
+this easy road to fame is no longer open, and the means of producing
+such signal events are perplexed and difficult.
+
+Abandoning therefore the sad tenants of the Piombi to their fate, I left
+the courts, and stepping into my bark, was rowed down a canal
+overshadowed by the lofty walls of the palace. Beneath these fatal
+waters the dungeons I have also been speaking of are situated. There the
+wretches lie marking the sound of the oars, and counting the free
+passage of every gondola. Above, a marble bridge, of bold majestic
+architecture, joins the highest part of the prisons to the secret
+galleries of the palace; from whence criminals are conducted over the
+arch to a cruel and mysterious death. I shuddered whilst passing below;
+and believe it is not without cause, this structure is named PONTE DEI
+SOSPIRI. Horrors and dismal prospects haunted my fancy upon my return. I
+could not dine in peace, so strongly was my imagination affected; but
+snatching my pencil, I drew chasms and subterraneous hollows, the domain
+of fear and torture, with chains, racks, wheels, and dreadful engines in
+the style of Piranesi. About sunset I went and refreshed myself with the
+cool air and cheerful scenery of the Fondamenti nuovi, a vast quay or
+terrace of white marble, which commands the whole series of isles, from
+San Michele to Torcello,
+
+    “That rise and glitter o’er the ambient tide.”
+
+Nothing can be more picturesque than the groups of towers and cupolas
+which they present, mixed with flat roofs and low buildings, and now and
+then a pine or cypress. Afar off, a little woody isle, called Il
+Deserto, swells from the ocean and diversifies its expanse.
+
+When I had spent a delightful half-hour in viewing the distant isles, M.
+de Benincasa accompanied me to the Mendicanti, one of the four
+conservatorios, which give the best musical education conceivable to
+near one hundred young women. You may imagine how admirably those of
+the Mendicanti in particular are taught, since their establishment is
+under the direction of Bertoni, who breathes around him the very soul of
+harmony. The chapel in which we sat to hear the oratorio was dark and
+solemn; a screen of lofty pillars, formed of black marble and highly
+polished, reflected the lamps which burn perpetually before the altar.
+Every tribune was thronged with people, whose profound silence showed
+them worthy auditors of this master’s music. Here were no cackling old
+women, or groaning Methodists, such as infest our English tabernacles,
+and scare one’s ears with hoarse coughs accompanied by the naso
+obligato. All were still and attentive, imbibing the plaintive notes of
+the voices with eagerness; and scarce a countenance but seemed deeply
+affected with David’s sorrows, the subject of the performance. I sat
+retired in a solitary tribune, and felt them as my own. Night came on
+before the last chorus was sung, and I still seem to hear its sacred
+melody.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+     M. de Viloison and his attendant Laplander.--Drawings of ancient
+     Venetian costume in one of the Gradanigo palaces.--Titian’s
+     master-piece in the church of San Giovanni e Paolo.--The distant
+     Euganean hills.
+
+
+August 18, 1780.
+
+It rains; the air is refreshed and I have courage to resume my pen,
+which the sultry weather had forced to lie dormant so long. I like this
+odd town of Venice, and find every day some new amusement in rambling
+about its innumerable canals and alleys. Sometimes I pry about the great
+church of Saint Mark, and examine the variety of marbles and mazes of
+delicate sculpture with which it is covered. The cupola, glittering with
+gold, mosaic, and paintings of half the wonders in the Apocalypse, never
+fails to transport me to the period of the Eastern empire. I think
+myself in Constantinople, and expect Michael Paleologus with all his
+train. One circumstance alone prevents my observing half the treasures
+of the place, and holds down my fancy just springing into the air: I
+mean the vile stench which exhales from every recess and corner of the
+edifice, and which all the incense of the altars cannot subdue.
+
+When no longer able to endure this noxious atmosphere, I run up the
+Campanile in the piazza, and seating myself amongst the pillars of the
+gallery, breathe the fresh gales which blow from the Adriatic; survey at
+my leisure all Venice beneath me, with its azure sea, white sails, and
+long tracks of islands shining in the sun. Having thus laid in a
+provision of wholesome breezes, I brave the vapours of the canals, and
+venture into the most curious and murky quarters of the city, in search
+of Turks and Infidels, that I may ask as many questions as I please
+about Cairo and Damascus.
+
+Asiatics find Venice very much to their taste, and all those I conversed
+with allowed its customs and style of living had a good deal of
+conformity to their own. The eternal lounging in coffee-houses and
+sipping of sorbets agree perfectly well with the inhabitants of the
+Ottoman empire, who stalk about here in their proper dresses, and smoke
+their own exotic pipes, without being stared and wondered at as in most
+other European capitals. Some few of these Orientals are communicative
+and enlightened; but, generally speaking, they know nothing beyond the
+rule of three, and the commonest transactions of mercantile affairs.
+
+The Greeks are by far a more lively generation, still retaining their
+propensity to works of genius and imagination. Metastasio has been
+lately translated into their modern language, and some obliging papa or
+other has had the patience to put the long-winded romance of Clelia into
+a Grecian dress. I saw two or three of these volumes exposed on a stall,
+under the grand arcades of the public library, as I went one day to
+admire the antiques in its vestibules.
+
+Whilst I was intent upon my occupation, a little door, I never should
+have suspected, flew open, and out popped Monsieur de Viloison, from a
+place where nothing, I believe, but broomsticks and certain other
+utensils were ever before deposited. This gentleman, the most active
+investigator of Homer since the days of the good bishop of Thessalonica,
+bespatters you with more learning in a minute than others communicate in
+half a year; quotes Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, &c. with formidable
+fluency; and drove me from one end of the room to the other with a storm
+of erudition. Syllables fell thicker than hail, and in an instant I
+found myself so weighed down and covered, that I prayed, for mercy’s
+sake, to be introduced, by way of respite, to a Laplander whom he leads
+about as a curiosity; a poor harmless good sort of a soul, calm and
+indifferent, who has acquired the words of several Oriental languages to
+perfection: ideas he has in none.
+
+We went all together to view a collection of medals in one of the
+Gradanigo palaces, and two or three inestimable volumes, filled with
+paintings that represent the dress of the ancient Venetians; so that I
+had an opportunity of observing to perfection all the Lapland
+nothingness of my companion. What a perfect void! Cold and silent as the
+polar regions, not one passion ever throbbed in his bosom; not one
+bright ray of fancy ever glittered in his mind; without love or anger,
+pleasure or pain, his days fleet smoothly along: all things considered,
+I must confess I envied such comfortable apathy.
+
+After having passed an instructive hour in examining the medals and
+drawings, M. de Viloison proposed conducting me to the Armenian convent,
+but I begged to be excused, and went to San Giovanni e Paolo, a church
+to be held most holy in the annals of painting, since it contains that
+masterpiece of Titian, the martyrdom of the hermits St. Paul and St.
+Peter.
+
+In the evening I rowed out as usual
+
+    “On the clear hyaline, the glassy sea,”
+
+to observe the effect of sunset on the tufted gardens of the Giudeca,
+and to contemplate the distant Euganean hills, once the happiest region
+of Italy; where wandering nations enjoyed the simplicity of a pastoral
+life, long before the arrival of Antenor. In these primeval days deep
+forests and extensive pastures covered the shores of the Adriatic, and
+innumerable flocks hung on the brow of the mountains. This golden period
+ended upon the incursion of the Trojans and Heneti; who, led by Antenor,
+drove away the unfortunate savages, and possessed themselves of their
+habitations.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+     Isles of Burano, Torcello, and Mazorbo.--The once populous city of
+     Altina.--An excursion.--Effects of our music on the inhabitants of
+     the Islands.--Solitary fields infested by serpents.--Remains of
+     ancient sculpture.--Antique and fantastic ornaments of the
+     Cathedral of Torcello.--San Lorenzo’s chair.--Dine in a
+     Convent.--The Nuns.--Oratorio of Sisera.--Remarks on the
+     music.--Singing of the Marchetti.--A female orchestra.
+
+
+I am just returned from visiting the isles of Burano, Torcello, and
+Mazorbo, distant about five miles from Venice. To these amphibious spots
+the Romans, inhabitants of eastern Lombardy, fled from the rapine of
+Attila; and, if we may believe Cassiodorus, there was a time when they
+presented a beautiful appearance. Beyond them, on the coast of the
+Lagunes, rose the once populous city of Altina, with its six stately
+gates, which Dandolo mentions. Its neighbourhood was scattered with
+innumerable villas and temples, composing altogether a prospect which
+Martial compares to Baiæ:
+
+    “Æmula Baianis Altini littora villis.”
+
+But this agreeable scene, like so many others, is passed entirely away,
+and has left nothing, except heaps of stones and mis-shapen fragments,
+to vouch for its former magnificence. Two of the islands, Costanziaco
+and Amiano, that are imagined to have contained the bowers and gardens
+of the Altinatians, have sunk beneath the waters; those which remain are
+scarcely worthy to rise above their surface.
+
+Though I was persuaded little was left to be seen above ground, I could
+not deny myself the imaginary pleasure of treading a corner of the earth
+once so adorned and cultivated; and of walking over the roofs, perhaps,
+of undiscovered palaces. M. de R. to whom I communicated my ideas,
+entered at once into the scheme; hiring therefore a _peiotte_, we took
+some provisions and music (to us equally necessaries of life) and
+launched into the canal, between Saint Michael and Murano. Our
+instruments played several delightful airs, that called forth the
+inhabitants of every island, and held them in silence, as if
+spell-bound, on the edge of their quays and terraces, till we were out
+of hearing.
+
+Leaving Murano far behind, Venice and its world of turrets began to
+sink on the horizon, and the low desert isles beyond Mazorbo to lie
+stretched out before us. Now we beheld vast wastes of purple flowers,
+and could distinguish the low hum of the insects which hover above them;
+such was the stillness of the place. Coasting these solitary fields, we
+wound amongst several serpentine canals, bordered by gardens of figs and
+pomegranates, with neat Indian-looking inclosures of cane and reed: an
+aromatic plant, which the people justly dignify with the title of marine
+incense, clothes the margin of the waters. It proved very serviceable in
+subduing a musky odour, which attacked us the moment we landed, and
+which proceeds from serpents that lurk in the hedges. These animals, say
+the gondoliers, defend immense treasures which lie buried under the
+ruins. Woe to those who attempt to invade them, or to pry too cautiously
+about!
+
+Not choosing to be devoured, we left many a mound of fragments
+unnoticed, and made the best of our way to a little green, bounded on
+one side by a miserable shed, decorated with the name of the Podesta’s
+residence, and on the other by a circular church. Some remains of
+tolerable antique sculpture are enchased in the walls; and the dome,
+supported by pillars of a smooth Grecian marble, though uncouth and
+ill-proportioned, impresses a sort of veneration, and transports the
+fancy to the twilight glimmering period when it was raised.
+
+Having surveyed what little was visible, and given as much career to our
+imaginations as the scene inspired, we walked over a soil composed of
+crumbling bricks and cement to the cathedral; whose arches, in the
+ancient Roman style, convinced us that it dates at least as high as the
+sixth or seventh century.
+
+Nothing can well be more fantastic than the ornaments of this structure,
+formed from the ruins of the Pagan temples of Altina, and encrusted with
+a gilt mosaic, like that which covers our Edward the Confessor’s tomb.
+The pavement, composed of various precious marbles, is richer and more
+beautiful than one could have expected, in a place where every other
+object savours of the grossest barbarism. At the farther end, beyond the
+altar, appears a semicircular niche, with seats like the gradines of a
+diminutive amphitheatre; above rise the quaint forms of the apostles, in
+red, blue, green, and black mosaic, and in the midst of the group a
+sort of marble chair, cool and penitential enough, where Saint Lorenzo
+Giustiniani sat to hold a provincial council, the Lord knows how long
+ago! The fount for holy water stands by the principal entrance, fronting
+this curious recess, and seems to have belonged to some place of Gentile
+worship. The figures of horned imps clinging round its sides, more
+devilish, more Egyptian, than any I ever beheld. The dragons on old
+china are not more whimsical; filled with bats’ blood it would have been
+an admirable present to the sabbath of witches, and have cut a capital
+figure in their orgies. The sculpture is not the most delicate, but I
+cannot say a great deal about it, as very little light reaches the spot
+where it is fixed: indeed, the whole church is far from luminous, its
+windows being narrow and near the roof, with shutters composed of blocks
+of marble, which nothing but the whirlwinds of the last day, one should
+think, would move from their hinges.
+
+By the time we had examined every nook and corner of this singular
+edifice, and tried to catch some small portion of sanctity by sitting in
+San Lorenzo’s chair, dinner was prepared in a neighbouring convent, and
+the nuns, allured by the sound of our flutes and oboes, peeped out of
+their cells and showed themselves by dozens at the grate. Some few
+agreeable faces and interesting eyes enlivened the dark sisterhood; all
+seemed to catch a gleam of pleasure from the music; two or three of
+them, probably the last immured, let fall a tear, and suffered the
+recollection of the world and its profane joys to interrupt for a moment
+their sacred tranquillity.
+
+We stayed till the sun was low, on purpose that they might listen as
+long as possible to a harmony which seemed to issue, as the old abbess
+expressed herself, from the gates of paradise ajar. A thousand
+benedictions consecrated our departure; twilight came on just as we
+entered the bark and rowed out upon the waves, agitated by a fresh gale,
+but fearing nothing under the protection of Santa Margherita, whose good
+wishes our music had secured.
+
+In two hours we were safely landed at the Fondamenti nuovi, and went
+immediately to the Mendicanti, where they were performing the oratorio
+of Sisera. The composer, a young man, had displayed great fire and
+originality in this performance; and a knowledge of character seldom
+found in the most celebrated masters. The supplication of the thirsty
+chieftain, and Jael’s insinuating arts and pious treachery, are
+admirably expressed; but the agitation and boding slumbers which precede
+his death, are imagined in the highest strain of genius. The terror and
+agony of his dreams made me start, more than once, from my seat; and all
+the horrors of his assassination seemed full before me.
+
+Too much applause cannot be given to the Marchetti, who sang the part of
+Sisera, and seconded the composer’s ideas by the most feeling and
+spirited execution. There are few things I shall regret more on leaving
+Venice, than this conservatorio. Whenever I am musically given, I fly to
+it, and hear the most striking finales in Paesiello’s and Anfossi’s
+operas, as long and often as I please.
+
+The sight of the orchestra still makes me smile. You know, I suppose, it
+is entirely of the feminine gender, and that nothing is more common than
+to see a delicate white hand journeying across an enormous double bass,
+or a pair of roseate cheeks puffing, with all their efforts, at a French
+horn. Some that are grown old and Amazonian, who have abandoned their
+fiddles and their lovers, take vigorously to the kettle-drum; and one
+poor limping lady, who had been crossed in love, now makes an admirable
+figure on the bassoon.
+
+Good night! I am quite exhausted with composing a chorus for this
+angelic choir. The poetry I send you. The music takes up too much room
+to travel at present. One day or other, perhaps, we may hear it in some
+dark grove, when the moon is eclipsed and nature in alarm.
+
+This is not the last letter you would receive from Venice, were I not
+hurrying to Lucca, where Pacchierotti sings next week, in Bertoni’s
+opera of Quinto Fabio.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+     Coast of Fusina.--The Brenta.--A Village of
+     Palaces.--Fiesso.--Exquisite singing of the Galuzzi.--Marietta
+     Cornaro.--Scenes of enchantment and fascination.
+
+
+I was sorry to leave Venice, and regretted my peaceful excursions upon
+the Adriatic. No bright rays illuminated my departure, the sun was
+concealed in clouds; but the coolness and perfume of the air made ample
+amends for his absence.
+
+About an hour’s rowing from the isle of Saint Giorgio in Alga, brought
+us to the coast of Fusina, right opposite the opening where the Brenta
+mixes with the sea. This river flows calmly between banks of verdure,
+crowned by poplars, with vines twining round every stalk, and depending
+from tree to tree in beautiful festoons. Beds of mint and iris clothe
+the brink of the stream, except where interrupted by a tall growth of
+reeds and osiers. The morning continued to lower as we advanced; scarce
+a wind ventured to breathe: all was still and placid as the surface of
+the river. No sound struck my ears except the bargemen hallooing to open
+the sluices, and deepen the water.
+
+As yet I had not perceived an habitation, nor any other objects than
+green inclosures and fields of Turkish corn, shaded with vines and
+poplars. It grew late before we glided along by the Mira, a village of
+palaces, whose courts and gardens, as magnificent as statues, terraces,
+and vases can make them, are far from composing a rural prospect.
+
+Such artificial scenery not engaging much of my attention, we stayed no
+longer than our dinner required, and reached the Dolo an hour before
+sunset. Passing the great sluices, whose gates opened with a thundering
+noise, we continued our course along the peaceful Brenta, winding its
+broad full stream through impenetrable copses. Day was about to close
+when we reached Fiesso; and it being a misty evening, I could scarcely
+distinguish the pompous façade of the Pisani palace. That of Cornaro,
+where we were engaged to sup, looks upon a broad mass of foliage which
+I contemplated with pleasure as it sank in the dusk.
+
+We walked a long while under a pavilion stretched before the entrance,
+breathing the freshness of the wood after a shower which had lately
+fallen. The Galuzzi sang some of her father Ferandini’s compositions
+with surprising energy; her cheek was flushed, her eyes glistened; the
+whole tone of her countenance was that of a person rapt and inspired. I
+forgot both time and place while she was singing. The night stole
+imperceptibly away, before I awoke from my trance.
+
+I do not recollect ever to have passed an evening, which every
+circumstance conspired to render so full of charm. In general, my
+musical pleasures suffer terrible abatements from the phlegm and
+stupidity of my neighbourhood; but here, every one seemed to catch the
+flame, and to listen with reciprocal delight. Marietta Cornaro, whose
+lively talents are the boast of the Venetians, threw quick around her
+the glancing fires of genius.
+
+What with the song of the Galuzzi, and those intellectual meteors, I
+scarcely knew to what element I was transported, and doubted for
+several moments, whether I was not fallen into a celestial dream: to
+wake was painful, and it was not without much lingering reluctance I
+left these scenes of enchantment and fascination, repeating with
+melancholy earnestness that pathetic sonnet of Petrarch’s--
+
+    O giorno, o ora, o ultimo momento,
+    O stelle congiurate a’ impoverirme!
+    O fido sguardo, or che volei tu dirme,
+    Partend’ io, per non esser mai contento?
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+     Reveries.--Walls of Padua.--Confused Pile dedicated to Saint
+     Anthony.--Devotion at his Shrine.--Penitential
+     Worshippers.--Magnificent Altar.--Sculpture of Sansovino.--Colossal
+     Chamber like Noah’s Ark.
+
+
+The splendour of the rising sun, for once in my life, drew little of my
+attention. I was too deeply plunged in my reveries, to notice the
+landscape which lay before me; and the walls of Padua presented
+themselves some time ere I was aware. At any other moment, how sensibly
+should I have been affected with their appearance! How many ideas of
+Antenor and his Trojans, would have thronged into my memory! but now I
+regarded the scene with indifference, and passed many a palace, and many
+a woody garden, with my eyes riveted to the ground. The first object
+that appeared upon lifting them up, was a confused pile of spires and
+cupolas, dedicated to blessed Saint Anthony, one of whose most eloquent
+sermons the great Addison has translated _con amore_, and in his very
+best manner.
+
+You are too well apprised of the veneration I have always entertained
+for this inspired preacher, to doubt that I immediately repaired to his
+shrine. Mine was a disturbed spirit, and required all the balm of Saint
+Anthony’s kindness to appease it. Perhaps you will say I had better have
+gone to bed, and applied myself to my sleepy friend, the pagan divinity.
+It is probable that you are in the right; but I could not retire to rest
+without first venting some portion of effervescence in sighs and
+supplications. The nave was filled with decrepit women and feeble
+children, kneeling by baskets of vegetables and other provisions; which,
+by good Anthony’s interposition, they hoped to sell advantageously in
+the course of the day. Beyond these, nearer the choir, and in a gloomier
+part of the edifice, knelt a row of rueful penitents, smiting their
+breasts, and lifting their eyes to heaven. Further on, in front of the
+dark recess, where the sacred relics are deposited, a few desperate,
+melancholy sinners lay prostrate.
+
+To these I joined myself. The sunbeams had not yet penetrated into this
+religious quarter; and the only light it received proceeded from the
+golden lamps, which hang in clusters round the sanctuary. A lofty altar,
+decked with the most lavish magnificence, supports the shrine. Those who
+are profoundly touched with its sanctity, may approach, and walking
+round, look through the crevices of the tomb, which, it is observed,
+exude a balsamic odour. But supposing a traveller ever so heretical, I
+would advise him by no means to neglect this pilgrimage; since every
+part of the recess he visits is decorated with exquisite sculptures.
+Sansovino and other renowned artists have vied with each other in
+carving the alto relievos of the arcade, which, for design and
+execution, would do honour to the sculptors of antiquity.
+
+Having observed these objects with less exactness than they merited, I
+hastened to the inn, luckily hard by, and one of the best I am
+acquainted with. Here I soon fell asleep in defiance of sunshine. It is
+true my slumbers were not a little agitated. The saint had been deaf to
+my prayer, and I still found myself a frail, infatuated mortal.
+
+At five I got up; we dined, and afterwards scarcely knowing, nor much
+caring, what became of us, we strolled to the great hall of the town;
+an enormous edifice, larger considerably than that of Westminster, but
+free from stalls, or shops, or nests of litigation. The roof, one
+spacious vault of brown timber, casts a solemn gloom, which was still
+increased by the lateness of the hour, and not diminished by the wan
+light, admitted through the windows of pale blue glass. The size and
+shape of this colossal chamber, the arching of the roof, with enormous
+rafters stretching across it, and, above all, the watery gleams that
+glanced through the dull casements, possessed my fancy with ideas of
+Noah’s ark, and almost persuaded me I beheld that extraordinary vessel.
+The representation one sees of it in many an old Dutch Bible, seems to
+be formed upon this very model, and for several moments I indulged the
+chimera of imagining myself confined within its precincts. Could I but
+choose my companions, I should have no great objection to encounter a
+deluge, and to float away a few months upon the waves!
+
+We remained till night walking to and fro in the ark; it was then full
+time to retire, as the guardian of the place was by no means formed to
+divine our diluvian ideas.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+     Church of St. Justina.--Tombs of remote antiquity.--Ridiculous
+     attitudes of rheumatic devotees.--Turini’s music.--Another
+     excursion to Fiesso.--Journey to the Euganean hills.--Newly
+     discovered ruins.--High Mass in the great Church of Saint
+     Anthony.--A thunder-storm.--Palladio’s Theatre at
+     Vicenza.--Verona.--An aërial chamber.--Striking prospect from
+     it.--The Amphitheatre.--Its interior.--Leave Verona.--Country
+     between that town and Mantua.--German soldiers.--Remains of the
+     palace of the Gonzagas.--Paintings of Julio Romano.--A ruined
+     garden.--Subterranean apartments.
+
+
+Immediately after breakfast we went to St. Justina’s. Both extremities
+of the cross aisles are terminated by altar-tombs of very remote
+antiquity, adorned with uncouth sculptures of the evangelists, supported
+by wreathed columns of alabaster, round which, to my no small
+astonishment, four or five gawky fellows were waddling on their knees,
+persuaded, it seems, that this strange devotion would cure the
+rheumatism, or any other aches with which they were afflicted. You can
+have no conception of the ridiculous attitudes into which they threw
+themselves; nor the difficulty with which they squeezed along, between
+the middle column of the tomb and those which surround it. No criminal
+in the pillory ever exhibited a more rueful appearance, no swine ever
+scrubbed itself more fervently than these infatuated lubbers.
+
+I left them hard at work, taking more exercise than had been their lot
+for many a day; and, mounting into the organ gallery, listened to
+Turini’s[7] music with infinite satisfaction. The loud harmonious tones
+of the instrument filled the whole edifice; and, being repeated by the
+echoes of its lofty domes and arches, produced a wonderful effect.
+Turini, aware of this circumstance, adapts his compositions with great
+intelligence to the place. Nothing can be more original than his style.
+Deprived of sight by an unhappy accident, in the flower of his days, he
+gave up his entire soul to music, and can scarcely be said to exist, but
+from its mediums.
+
+When we came out of St. Justina’s, the azure of the sky and the softness
+of the air inclined us to think of some excursion. Where could I wish to
+go, but to the place in which I had been so delighted? Besides, it was
+proper to make the Cornaro another visit, and proper to see the Pisani
+palace, which happily I had before neglected. All these proprieties
+considered, Madame de R. accompanied me to Fiesso.
+
+The sun was just sunk when we arrived. The whole ether in a glow, and
+the fragrance of the arched citron alleys delightful. Beneath them I
+walked in the cool, till the Galuzzi began once more her enchanting
+melody. She sang till the fineness of the weather tempted us to quit the
+palace for the banks of the Brenta. A profound calm reigned upon the
+woods and the waters, and moonlight added serenity to a scene naturally
+peaceful.
+
+We supped late: before the Galuzzi had repeated the airs which had most
+affected me, morning began to dawn.
+
+
+September 8th.
+
+The want of sound repose, after my return home, had thrown me into a
+feverish and impatient mood. I had scarcely snatched some slight
+refreshment, before I flew to the great organ at St. Justina’s; but
+tried this time to compose myself, in vain.
+
+Madame de Rosenberg, finding my endeavours unsuccessful, proposed, by
+way of diverting my attention, that we should set out immediately for
+one of the Euganean hills, about six or seven miles from Padua, at the
+foot of which some antique baths had been very lately discovered. I
+consented without hesitation, little concerned whither I went, or what
+happened to me, provided the scene was often shifted. The lanes and
+inclosures we passed, in our road to the hills, appeared in all the
+gaiety that verdure, flowers, and sunshine could give them. But my
+pleasures were overcast, and I beheld every object, however cheerful,
+through a dusky medium.
+
+Deeply engaged in conversation, distance made no impression, and I found
+myself entering the meadow, over which the ruins are scattered, whilst I
+imagined myself several miles distant. No scene could be more smiling
+than this which here presented itself, or answer, in a fuller degree,
+the ideas I had always formed of Italy.
+
+Leaving our carriage at the entrance of the meadow, we traversed its
+surface, and shortly perceived among the grass, an oblong basin,
+incrusted with pure white marble. Most of the slabs are large and
+perfect, apparently brought from Greece, and still retaining their
+polished smoothness. The pipes to convey the waters are still perfectly
+discernible; in short, the whole ground-plan may be easily traced. Near
+the principal bath, we remarked the platforms of several circular
+apartments, paved with mosaic, in a neat simple taste, far from
+inelegant. Weeds have not yet sprung up amongst the crevices; and the
+freshness of the ruin everywhere shows that it has not long been
+exposed.
+
+Theodoric is the prince to whom these structures are attributed; and
+Cassiodorus, the prime chronicler of the country, is quoted to maintain
+the supposition. My spirit was too much engaged to make any learned
+parade, or to dispute upon a subject, which I abandon, with all its
+importance, to calmer and less impatient minds.
+
+Having taken a cursory view of the ruins, we ascended the hill just
+above them, and surveyed a prospect of the same nature, though in a more
+lovely and expanded style than that which I beheld from Mosolente. Padua
+crowns the landscape, with its towers and cupolas rising from a
+continued grove; and, from the drawings I have seen, I should
+conjecture that Damascus presents somewhat of a similar appearance.
+
+Taking our eyes off this extensive prospect, we brought them home to the
+fragments beneath our feet. The walls exhibit the _opus reticulatum_, so
+common in the environs of Naples. A sort of terrace, with the remaining
+bases of columns which encircle the hill, leads me to imagine here were
+formerly arcades and porticos, constructed for enjoying the view; for on
+the summit I could trace no vestiges of any considerable edifice, and am
+therefore inclined to conclude, that nothing more than a colonnade
+surrounded the hill, leading perhaps to some slight fane, or pavilion,
+for the recreation of the bathers below.
+
+A profusion of aromatic flowers covered the slopes, and exhaled
+additional perfumes, as the sun declined, and the still hour approached,
+which was wont to spread over my mind a divine composure, and to restore
+the tranquillity I might have lost in the day. But now it diffused its
+reviving coolness in vain, and I remained, if possible, more sad and
+restless than before.
+
+
+September 9th.
+
+You may imagine how I felt when the hour of leaving Padua drew near. It
+happened to be a festival, and high mass was celebrated at the great
+church of Saint Anthony in all its splendour. The ceremony was about
+half over when such a peal of thunder reverberated through the vaults
+and cupolas, as I expected would have shaken them to their foundations.
+The principal dome appeared invested with a sheet of fire; and the
+effect of terror produced upon the majority of the congregation, by this
+sudden lighting up of the most gloomy recesses of the edifice, was so
+violent that they rushed out in the wildest confusion. Had my faith been
+less lively, I should have followed their example; but, absorbed in the
+thought of a separation from those to whom I felt fondly attached, I
+remained till the ceremony ended; then took leave of Madame de R. with
+heartfelt regret, and was driven away to Vicenza.
+
+
+September 10th.
+
+The morning being overcast, I went to Palladio’s theatre. It is
+impossible to conceive a structure more truly classical, or to point out
+a single ornament which has not the best antique authority. I am not in
+the least surprised that the citizens of Vicenza enthusiastically gave
+in to this great architect’s plan, and sacrificed large sums to erect
+so beautiful a model. When finished, they procured, at a vast expense,
+the representation of a Grecian tragedy, with its chorus and majestic
+decorations.
+
+After I had mused a long while in the most retired recess of the
+edifice, fancying I had penetrated into a real and perfect monument of
+antiquity, which till this moment had remained undiscovered, we set out
+for Verona. The situation is striking and picturesque. A long line of
+battlemented walls, flanked by venerable towers, mounts the hill in a
+grand irregular sweep, and incloses the city with many a woody garden,
+and grove of slender cypress. Beyond rises a group of mountains;
+opposite to which a plain presents itself, decked with all the variety
+of meads and thickets, olive-grounds and vineyards.
+
+Amongst these our road kept winding till we entered the city gate, and
+passed (the post knows how many streets and alleys in the way!) to the
+inn, a lofty handsome-looking building; but so full that we were obliged
+to take up with an apartment on its very summit, open to all the winds,
+like the magic chamber Apuleius mentions, and commanding the roofs of
+half Verona. Here and there a pine shot up amongst them, and the shady
+hills, terminating the perspective of walls and turrets, formed a
+romantic scene.
+
+Placing our table in a balcony, to enjoy the prospect with greater
+freedom, we feasted upon fish from the Lago di Guarda, and the delicious
+fruits of the country. Thus did I remain, solacing myself, breathing the
+cool air, and remarking the tints of the mountains. Neither paintings
+nor antiques could tempt me from my aërial situation; I refused hunting
+out the famous works of Paul Veronese scattered over the town, and sat
+like the owl in the Georgics,
+
+    Solis et occasum servans de culmine summo.
+
+Twilight drawing on, I left my haunt, and stealing down stairs, enquired
+for a guide to conduct me to the amphitheatre, perhaps the most entire
+monument of Roman days. The people of the house, instead of bringing me
+a quiet peasant, officiously delivered me up to a professed antiquary,
+one of those precise plausible young men, to whom, God help me! I have
+so capital an aversion. This sweet spark displayed all his little
+erudition, and flourished away upon cloacas and vomitoriums with
+eternal fluency. He was very profound in the doctrine of conduits, and
+knew to admiration how the filthiness of all the amphitheatre was
+disposed of.
+
+But perceiving my inattention, and having just grace enough to remark
+that I chose one side of the street when he preferred the other, and
+sometimes trotted through despair in the kennel, he made me a pretty
+bow, I threw him half-a-crown, and seeing the ruins before me, traversed
+a gloomy arcade and emerged alone into the arena. A smooth turf covers
+its surface, from which a spacious sweep of gradines rises to a majestic
+elevation. Four arches, with their simple Doric ornament, alone remain
+of the grand circular arcade which once crowned the highest seats of the
+amphitheatre; and, had it not been for Gothic violence, this part of the
+structure would have equally resisted the ravages of time. Nothing can
+be more exact than the preservation of the gradines; not a block has
+sunk from its place, and whatever trifling injuries they may have
+received have been carefully repaired. The two chief entrances are
+rebuilt with solidity and closed by portals, no passage being permitted
+through the amphitheatre except at public shows and representations,
+sometimes still given in the arena.
+
+When I paced slowly across it, silence reigned undisturbed, and nothing
+moved, except the weeds and grasses which skirt the walls and tremble
+with the faintest breeze. Throwing myself upon the grass in the middle
+of the arena, I enjoyed the freedom of my situation, its profound
+stillness and solitude. How long I remained shut in by endless gradines
+on every side, wrapped as it were in the recollections of perished ages,
+is not worth noting down; but when I passed from the amphitheatre to the
+opening before it, night was drawing on, and the grand outline of a
+terrific feudal fortress, once inhabited by the Scaligeri, alone dimly
+visible.
+
+
+September 11th.
+
+Traversing once more the grand piazza, and casting a last glance upon
+the amphitheatre, we passed under a lofty arch which terminates the
+perspective, and left Verona by a wide, irregular, picturesque street,
+commanding, whenever you look back, a striking scene of towers, cypress,
+and mountains.
+
+The country, between this beautiful town and Mantua, presents one
+continued grove of dwarfish mulberries, with here and there a knot of
+poplars, and sometimes a miserable shed. Mantua itself rises out of a
+morass formed by the Mincio, whose course, in most places, is so choked
+up with reeds as to be scarcely discernible. It requires a creative
+imagination to discover any charms in such a prospect, and a strong
+prepossession not to be disgusted with the scene where Virgil was born.
+
+The beating of drums, and sight of German whiskers, finished what
+croaking frogs and stagnant ditches had begun. Every classic idea being
+scared by such sounds and such objects, I dined in dudgeon, and refused
+stirring out till late in the evening.
+
+A few paces from the town stand the remains of the palace where the
+Gonzagas formerly resided. This I could not resist looking at, and was
+amply rewarded. Several of the apartments, adorned by the bold pencil of
+Julio Romano, merit the most exact attention; and the arabesques, with
+which the stucco ceilings are covered, equal those of the Vatican. Being
+painted in fresco upon damp neglected walls, each year diminishes their
+number, and every winter moulders some beautiful figure away.
+
+The subjects, mostly from antique fables, are treated with all the
+purity and gracefulness of Raphael; the story of Polypheme is very
+conspicuous. Acis appears, reclined with his beloved Galatea, on the
+shore of the ocean, whilst their gigantic enemy, seated above on the
+brow of Ætna, seems by the paleness and horrors of his countenance to
+meditate some terrible revenge.
+
+When it was too late to examine the paintings any longer, I walked into
+a sort of court, or rather garden, which had been decorated with
+fountains and antique statues. Their fragments still remain amongst
+weeds and beds of flowers, for every corner of the place is smothered
+with vegetation. Here nettles grow thick and rampant; there, tuberoses
+and jessamine spring from mounds of ruins, which during the elegant
+reign of the Gonzagas led to grottoes and subterranean apartments,
+concealed from vulgar eyes, and sacred to the most refined enjoyments.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER X.
+
+     Cross the Po.--A woody country.--The Vintage.--Reggio.--Ridge of
+     the Apennines.--Romantic ideas connected with those
+     mountains.--Arrive at Modena.--Road to Bologna.--Magnificent
+     Convent of Madonna del Monte.--Natural and political commotions in
+     Bologna.--Proceed towards the mountains.--Dreary prospects.--The
+     scenery improves.--Herds of goats.--A run with them.--Return to the
+     carriage.--Wretched hamlet.--Miserable repast.
+
+
+September 12th, 1780.
+
+A shower, having fallen, the air was refreshed, and the drops still
+glittered upon the vines, through which our road conducted us. Three or
+four miles from Mantua the scene changed to extensive grounds of rice,
+and meads of the tenderest verdure watered by springs, whose frequent
+meanders gave to the whole prospect the appearance of a vast green
+carpet shot with silver. Further on we crossed the Po, and passing
+Guastalla, entered a woody country full of inclosures and villages;
+herds feeding in the meadows, and poultry parading before every wicket.
+
+The peasants were busied in winnowing their corn; or, mounted upon the
+elms and poplars, gathering the rich clusters from the vines that hang
+streaming in braids from one branch to another. I was surprised to find
+myself already in the midst of the vintage, and to see every road
+crowded with carts and baskets bringing it along; you cannot imagine a
+pleasanter scene.
+
+Round Reggio it grew still more lively, and on the other side of that
+sketch-inviting little city, I remarked many a cottage that Tityrus
+might have inhabited, with its garden and willow hedge in flower,
+swarming with bees. Our road, the smoothest conceivable, enabled us to
+pass too rapidly through so cheerful a landscape. I caught glimpses of
+fields and copses as we were driven along, that could have afforded me
+amusement for hours, and orchards on gentle acclivities, beneath which I
+could have walked till evening. The trees literally bent under their
+loads of fruit, and innumerable ruddy apples lay scattered upon the
+ground.
+
+Beyond these rich masses of foliage, to which the sun lent additional
+splendour, at the utmost extremity of the pastures, rose the irregular
+ridge of the Apennines, whose deep blue presented a striking contrast
+to the glowing colours of the foreground. I fixed my eyes on the chain
+of distant mountains, and indulged a thousand romantic conjectures of
+what was passing in their recesses--hermits absorbed in
+prayer--beautiful Contadine fetching water from springs, and banditti
+conveying their victims, perhaps at this very moment, to caves and
+fastnesses.
+
+Such were the dreams that filled my fancy, and kept it incessantly
+employed till it was dusk, and the moon began to show herself; the same
+moon which but a few nights ago had seen me so happy at Fiesso. I left
+the carriage, and running into the dim haze, abandoned myself to the
+recollections it excited....
+
+At length, having wandered where chance or the wildness of my fancy led,
+till the lateness of the evening alarmed me, I regained the chaise as
+fast as I could, and arrived between twelve and one at Modena, the place
+of my destination.
+
+
+September 13th.
+
+We traversed a champagne country in our way to Bologna, whose richness
+and fertility encreased in proportion as we drew near that celebrated
+mart of lap-dogs and sausages. A chain of hills commands the city,
+variegated with green inclosures and villas innumerable. On the highest
+acclivity of this range appears the magnificent convent of Madonna del
+Monte, embosomed in wood and joined to the town by a corridor a league
+in length. This vast portico ascending the steeps and winding amongst
+the thickets, sometimes concealed and sometimes visible, produces an
+effect wonderfully grand and singular. I longed to have mounted the
+height by so extraordinary a passage; and hope on some future day to be
+better acquainted with Santa Maria del Monte.
+
+At present I have very little indeed to say about Bologna (where I
+passed only two hours) except that it is sadly out of humour, an
+earthquake and Cardinal Buoncompagni having disarranged both land and
+people. For half-a-year the ground continued trembling; and for these
+last six months, the legate and senators have grumbled and scratched
+incessantly; so that, between natural and political commotions, the
+Bolognese must have passed an agreeable summer.
+
+Such a report of the situation of things, you may suppose, was not
+likely to retard my journey. I put off delivering my letters to another
+opportunity, and proceeded immediately after dinner towards the
+mountains. We were soon in the midst of crags and stony channels, that
+stream with ten thousand rills in the winter season, but during the
+summer months reflect every sunbeam, and harbour half the scorpions in
+the country.
+
+For many a toilsome league our prospect consisted of nothing but dreary
+hillocks and intervening wastes, more barren and mournful than those to
+which Mary Magdalene retired. Sometimes a crucifix or chapel peeped out
+of the parched fern and grasses, with which these desolate fields are
+clothed; and now and then we met a goggle-eyed pilgrim trudging along,
+and staring about him as if he waited only for night and opportunity to
+have additional reasons for hurrying to Loretto.
+
+During three or four hours that we continued ascending, the scene
+increased in sterility and desolation; but, at the end of our second
+post, the landscape began to alter for the better: little green valleys
+at the base of tremendous steeps, discovered themselves, scattered over
+with oaks, and freshened with running waters, which the nakedness of the
+impending rocks set off to advantage. The sides of the cliffs in general
+consist of rude misshapen masses; but their summits are smooth and
+verdant, and continually browsed by herds of white goats, which were
+gambolling on the edge of the precipices as we passed beneath.
+
+I joined one of these frisking assemblies, whose shadows were stretched
+by the setting sun along the level herbage. There I sat a few minutes
+whilst they shook their beards at me, and tried to scare me with all
+their horns. Being tired with skipping and butting at me in vain, the
+whole herd trotted away, and I after them. They led me a dance from crag
+to crag and from thicket to thicket.
+
+It was growing dusky apace, and wreaths of smoke began to ascend from
+the mysterious depths of the valleys. I was ignorant what monster
+inhabited such retirements, so gave over my pursuit lest some Polypheme
+or other might make me repent it. I looked around, the carriage was out
+of sight; but hearing the neighing of horses at a distance, I soon came
+up with them, and mounted another rapid ascent, from whence an extensive
+tract of cliff and forest land was discernible.
+
+A chill wind blew from the highest peak of the Apennines, and made a
+dismal rustle amongst the woods of chesnut that hung on the mountain’s
+side, through which we were forced to pass. Walking out of the sound of
+the carriage, I began interpreting the language of the leaves, not
+greatly to my own advantage or that of any being in the universe. I was
+no prophet of good, and had I but commanded an oracle, as ancient
+visionaries were wont, I should have flung mischief about me.
+
+How long I continued in this strange temper I cannot pretend to say, but
+believe it was midnight before we emerged from the oracular forest, and
+saw faintly before us an assemblage of miserable huts, where we were to
+sleep. This wretched hamlet is suspended on the brow of a bleak
+mountain, and every gust that stirs, shakes the whole village to its
+foundations. At our approach two hags stalked forth with lanterns and
+invited us with a grin, which I shall always remember, to a dish of
+mustard and crows’ gizzards, a dish I was more than half afraid of
+tasting, lest it should change me to some bird of darkness, condemned to
+mope eternally on the black rafters of the cottage.
+
+After repeated supplications we procured a few eggs, and some faggots to
+make a fire. Pitching my bed in a warm corner I soon fell asleep, and
+forgot all my cares and inquietudes.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+     A sterile region.--Our descent into a milder landscape.--Distant
+     view of Florence.--Moonlight effect.--Visit the Gallery.--Relics of
+     ancient credulity.--Paintings.--A Medusa’s head by Leonardo da
+     Vinci.--Curious picture by Polemberg.--The Venus de
+     Medicis.--Exquisitely sculptured figure of Morpheus.--Vast
+     Cathedral.--Garden of Boboli.--Views from different parts of
+     it.--Its resemblance to an antique Roman garden.
+
+
+September 14th, 1780.
+
+The sun had not been long above the horizon, before we set forward upon
+a craggy pavement hewn out of rough cliffs and precipices. Scarcely a
+tree was visible, and the few that presented themselves began already to
+shed their leaves. The raw nipping air of this desert with difficulty
+spares a blade of vegetation; and in the whole range of these extensive
+eminences I could not discover a single corn-field or pasture.
+Inhabitants, you may guess, there were none. I would defy even a Scotch
+highlander to find means of subsistence in so rude a soil.
+
+Towards mid-day, we had surmounted the dreariest part of our journey,
+and began to perceive a milder landscape. The climate improved as well
+as the prospect, and after a continual descent of several hours, we saw
+groves and villages in the dips of the hills, and met a string of mules
+and horses laden with fruit. I purchased some figs and peaches from this
+little caravan, and spread my repast upon a bank, in the midst of
+lavender bushes in full bloom.
+
+Continuing our route, we bade adieu to the realms of poverty and
+barrenness, and entered a cultivated vale, shaded by woody acclivities.
+Amongst these we wound along, between groves of poplar and cypress, till
+late in the evening. Upon winding a hill we discovered Florence at a
+distance surrounded with gardens and terraces rising one above another;
+the full moon seemed to shine with a peculiar charm upon this favoured
+region. Her serene light on the pale grey of the olive, gave a visionary
+and Elysian appearance to the landscape, and I was sorry when I found
+myself excluded from it by the gates of Florence.
+
+I slept as well as my impatience would allow, till it was time next
+morning (Sept. 15,) to visit the gallery, and worship the Venus de
+Medicis. I felt, upon entering this world of refinement, as if I could
+have taken up my abode in it for ever, but, confused with the multitude
+of objects, I knew not on which first to bend my attention, and ran
+childishly by the ample ranks of sculptures, like a butterfly in a
+parterre, that skims before it fixes, over ten thousand flowers.
+
+Having taken my course down one side of the gallery, I turned the angle
+and discovered another long perspective, equally stored with
+master-pieces of bronze and marble. A minute brought me to the extremity
+of this range, vast as it was; then, flying down a third, adorned in the
+same delightful manner, I paused under the bust of Jupiter Olympius; and
+began to reflect a little more maturely upon the company in which I
+found myself. Opposite, appeared the majestic features of Minerva,
+breathing divinity: and Cybele, the mother of the gods.
+
+Having regarded these powers with due veneration, I next cast my eyes
+upon a black figure, whose attitude seemed to announce the deity of
+sleep. You know my fondness for this drowsy personage, and that it is
+not the first time I have quitted the most splendid society for him. I
+found him at present, of touchstone, with the countenance of a towardly
+brat, sleeping ill through indigestion. The artist had not conceived
+very poetical ideas of the god, or else he never would have represented
+him with so little grace and dignity.
+
+Displeased at finding my favourite subject profaned, I perceived the
+transports of enthusiasm beginning to subside, and felt myself calm
+enough to follow the herd of guides and spectators from chamber to
+chamber, cabinet to cabinet, without falling into errors of rapture and
+admiration. We were led slowly and moderately through the large rooms,
+containing the portraits of painters, good, bad, and indifferent, from
+Raphael to Liotard; then into a museum of bronzes, which would afford
+both amusement and instruction for years.
+
+When I had rather alarmed than satisfied my curiosity by rapidly running
+over a multitude of candelabrums, urns, and sacred utensils, we entered
+a small luminous apartment, surrounded with cases richly decorated, and
+filled with the most exquisite models of workmanship in bronze and
+various metals, classed in exact order. Here are crowds of diminutive
+deities and tutelary lars, to whom the superstition of former days
+attributed those midnight murmurs which were believed to presage the
+misfortunes of a family. Amongst these now neglected images are
+preserved a vast number of talismans, cabalistic amulets, and other
+grotesque relics of ancient credulity.
+
+In the centre of the room I remarked a table, beautifully formed of
+polished gems, and, near it, the statue of a genius with his familiar
+serpent, and all his attributes; the guardian of the treasured
+antiquities. From this chamber we were conducted into another, which
+opens to that part of the gallery where the busts of Adrian and Antinous
+are placed. Two pilasters, delicately carved in trophies and clusters of
+ancient armour, stand on each side of the entrance; within are several
+perfumed cabinets of miniatures, and a single column of oriental
+alabaster about ten feet in height,
+
+    Lucido e terso, e bianco, più che latte.
+
+I put my guide’s patience to the proof, by lingering to admire the
+column and cabinets. At last, the musk with which they are impregnated,
+obliged me to desist, and I moved on to a suite of saloons, with low
+arched roofs, glittering with arabesque, in azure and gold. Several
+medallions appear amongst the wreaths of foliage, tolerably well
+painted, with representations of splendid feasts and tournaments for
+which Florence was once so famous.
+
+A vast collection of small pictures, most of them Flemish, covers the
+walls of these apartments. But nothing struck me more than a Medusa’s
+head by Leonardo da Vinci. It appears just severed from the body and
+cast on the damp pavement of a cavern: a deadly paleness covers the
+countenance, and the mouth exhales a pestilential vapour; the snakes,
+which fill almost the whole picture, beginning to untwist their folds;
+one or two seemed already crept away, and crawling up the rock in
+company with toads and other venomous reptiles.
+
+Here are a great many Polembergs: one in particular, the strangest I
+ever beheld. Instead of those soft scenes of woods and waterfalls he is
+in general so fond of representing, he has chosen for his subject Virgil
+ushering Dante into the regions of eternal punishment, amidst the ruins
+of flaming edifices that glare across the infernal waters. These
+mournful towers harbour innumerable shapes, all busy in preying upon the
+damned. One capital devil, in the form of an enormous lobster, seems
+very strenuously employed in mumbling a miserable mortal, who sprawls,
+though in vain, to escape from his claws. This performance, whimsical as
+it is, retains all that softness of tint and delicacy of pencil for
+which Polemberg is so renowned.
+
+Had not the subject so palpably contradicted the painter’s choice, I
+should have passed over this picture, like a thousand more, and have
+brought you immediately to the tribune. Need I say I was spell-bound the
+moment I set my feet within it, and saw full before me the Venus de
+Medicis? The warm ivory hue of the original marble is a beauty no copy
+has ever imitated, and the softness of the limbs exceeded the liveliest
+idea I had formed to myself of their perfection.
+
+When I had taken my eyes reluctantly away from this beautiful object, I
+cast them upon a Morpheus of white marble, which lies slumbering at the
+feet of the goddess in the form of a graceful child. A dormant lion
+serves him for a pillow; two ample wings, carved with the utmost
+delicacy, are gathered under him; two others, budding from his temples,
+half-concealed by a flow of lovely ringlets. His languid hands scarcely
+hold a bunch of poppies: near him creeps a lizard, just yielding to his
+influence. Nothing can be more just than the expression of sleep in the
+countenance of the little divinity. His lion too is perfectly lulled,
+and rests his muzzle upon his fore paws as quiet as a domestic spaniel.
+My ill-humour at seeing this deity so grossly sculptured in the gallery,
+was dissipated by the gracefulness of his appearance in the tribune. I
+was now contented, for the artist had realized my ideas; and, if I may
+venture my opinion, sculpture never arrived to higher perfection, and,
+at the same time, kept more justly within its province. Sleeping figures
+with me always produce the finest illusion; but when I see an archer in
+the very act of discharging his arrow, a dancer with one foot in the
+air, or a gladiator extending his fist to all eternity, I grow tired,
+and view such wearisome attitudes with infinitely more admiration than
+pleasure.
+
+The morning was gone before I could snatch myself from the tribune. In
+my way home, I looked into the cathedral, an enormous fabric, inlaid
+with the richest marbles, and covered with stars and chequered work,
+like an old-fashioned cabinet. The architect seems to have turned his
+building inside out; nothing in art being more ornamented than the
+exterior, and few churches so simple within. The nave is vast and
+solemn, the dome amazingly spacious, with the high altar in its centre,
+inclosed by a circular arcade near two hundred feet in diameter. There
+is something imposing in this decoration, as it suggests the idea of a
+sanctuary, into which none but the holy ought to penetrate. However
+profane I might feel myself, I took the liberty of entering, and sat
+down in a niche. Not a ray of light reaches this sacred inclosure, but
+through the medium of narrow windows, high in the dome, and richly
+painted. A sort of yellow tint predominates, which gives additional
+solemnity to the altar, and paleness to the votary before it. I was
+sensible of the effect, and obtained at least the colour of sanctity.
+
+Having remained some time in this pious hue, I returned home and feasted
+upon grapes and ortolans with great edification; then walked to one of
+the bridges across the Arno, and from thence to the garden of Boboli,
+which lies behind the Grand Duke’s palace, stretched out on the side of
+a mountain. I ascended terrace after terrace, robed by a thick underwood
+of bay and myrtle, above which rise several nodding towers, and a long
+sweep of venerable wall, almost entirely concealed by ivy. You would
+have been enraptured with the broad masses of shade and dusky alleys
+that opened as I advanced, with white statues of fauns and sylvans
+glimmering amongst them; some of which pour water into sarcophagi of the
+purest marble, covered with antique relievos. The capitals of columns
+and ancient friezes are scattered about as seats.
+
+On these I reposed myself, and looked up to the cypress groves which
+spring above the thickets; then, plunging into their retirements, I
+followed a winding path, which led me by a series of steep ascents to a
+green platform overlooking the whole extent of wood, with Florence deep
+beneath, and the tops of the hills which encircle it jagged with pines;
+here and there a convent, or villa, whitening in the sun. This scene
+extends as far as the eye can reach.
+
+Still ascending I attained the brow of the eminence, and had nothing but
+the fortress of Belvedere, and two or three open porticos above me. On
+this elevated situation, I found several walks of trellis-work, clothed
+with luxuriant vines. A colossal statue of Ceres, her hands extended in
+the act of scattering fertility over the country, crowns the summit.
+
+Descending alley after alley, and bank after bank, I came to the
+orangery in front of the palace, disposed in a grand amphitheatre, with
+marble niches relieved by dark foliage, out of which spring cedars and
+tall aërial cypresses. This spot brought the scenery of an antique Roman
+garden so vividly into my mind, that, lost in the train of recollections
+this idea excited, I expected every instant to be called to the table of
+Lucullus hard by, in one of the porticos, and to stretch myself on his
+purple triclinias; but waiting in vain for a summons till the approach
+of night, I returned delighted with a ramble that had led my imagination
+so far into antiquity.
+
+Friday, Sept. 16.--My impatience to hear Pacchierotti called me up with
+the sun. I blessed a day which was to give me the greatest of musical
+pleasures, and travelled gaily towards Lucca, along a fertile plain,
+bounded by rocky hills, and scattered over with towns and villages. We
+passed Pistoia in haste, and about three in the afternoon entered the
+Lucchese territory, by a clean paved road, which runs through chestnut
+copses bordered with broom in blossom, and an immense variety of heaths;
+a red soil peeping forth from the vegetation, adds to the richness of
+the landscape, which swells all the way into gentle acclivities: and at
+about seven or eight miles from the city spreads all round into
+mountains, green to their very summits, and diversified with gardens and
+palaces. More pleasing scenery can with difficulty be imagined: I was
+quite charmed with beholding it, as I knew very well that the opera
+would keep me a long while chained down in its neighbourhood.
+
+Happy for me that the environs of Lucca were so beautiful; since I defy
+almost any city to contain more ugliness within its walls. Narrow
+streets and dismal alleys; wide gutters and cracked pavements; everybody
+in black, according with the gloom of their habitations, which however
+are large and lofty enough of conscience; but having all grated windows,
+they convey none but dark and dungeon-like ideas. My spirits fell many
+degrees upon entering this sable capital; and when I found Friday was
+meagre day, in every sense of the word, with its inhabitants, and no
+opera to be performed, I grew wofully out of humour. Instead of a
+delightful symphony, I heard nothing for some time but the clatter of
+plates and the swearing of waiters.
+
+Amongst the number of my tormentors was a whole Genoese family of
+distinction; very fat and sleek, and terribly addicted to the violin.
+Overhearing my sad complaint for want of music, they most generously
+determined I should have my fill of it, and, getting together a few
+scrapers, began such an academia as drove me to the further end of a
+very spacious apartment, whilst they possessed the other. The hopes and
+heir of the family--a chubby dolt of between eighteen and nineteen, his
+uncle, a thickset smiling personage, and a brace of innocent-looking
+younger brothers, plied their fiddles with a hearty good will, waggled
+their double chins, and played out of tune with the most happy
+unconsciousness, as amateurs are apt to do ninety-nine times in a
+hundred.
+
+Pacchierotti, whom they all worshipped in their heavy way, sat silent
+the while in a corner; the second soprano warbled, not absolutely ill,
+at the harpsichord; whilst the old lady, young lady, and attendant
+females, kept ogling him with great perseverance. Those who could not
+get in, squinted through the crevices of the door. Abbates and
+greyhounds were fidgetting continually without. In short, I was so
+persecuted with questions, criticisms, and concertos, that, pleading
+headache and indisposition, I escaped about ten o’clock, and shook
+myself when I got safe to my apartment like a worried spaniel.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XII.
+
+     Rambles among the hills.--Excursions with Pacchierotti.--He catches
+     cold in the mountains.--The whole Republic is in commotion, and
+     send a deputation to remonstrate with the Singer on his
+     imprudence.--The Conte Nobili.--Hill scenery.--Princely Castle and
+     Gardens of the Garzoni Family.--Colossal Statue of Fame.--Grove of
+     Ilex.--Endless bowers of Vines.--Delightful Wood of the Marchese
+     Mansi.--Return to Lucca.
+
+
+Lucca, Sept. 25, 1780.
+
+You ask me how I pass my time. Generally upon the hills, in wild spots
+where the arbutus flourishes; from whence I may catch a glimpse of the
+distant sea; my horse tied to a cypress, and myself cast upon the grass,
+like Palmerin of Oliva, with a tablet and pencil in my hand, a basket of
+grapes by my side, and a crooked stick to shake down the chestnuts. I
+have bidden adieu, several days ago, to the visits, dinners,
+conversazioni, and glories of the town, and only go thither in an
+evening, just time enough for the grand march which precedes
+Pacchierotti in Quinto Fabio. Sometimes he accompanies me in my
+excursions, to the utter discontent of the Lucchese, who swear I shall
+ruin their Opera, by leading him such extravagant rambles amongst the
+mountains, and exposing him to the inclemency of winds and showers. One
+day they made a vehement remonstrance, but in vain; for the next, away
+we trotted over hill and dale, and stayed so late in the evening, that a
+cold and hoarseness were the consequence.
+
+The whole republic was thrown into commotion, and some of its prime
+ministers were deputed to harangue Pacchierotti upon the rides he had
+committed. Had the safety of their mighty state depended upon this
+imprudent excursion, they could not have vociferated with greater
+violence. You know I am rather energetic, and, to say truth, I had very
+nearly got into a scrape of importance, and drawn down the execrations
+of the Gonfalonier and all his council upon my head by openly declaring
+our intention of taking, next morning, another ride over the rocks, and
+absolutely losing ourselves in the clouds which veil their acclivities.
+These terrible threats were put into execution, and yesterday we made a
+tour of about thirty miles upon the high lands, and visited a variety
+of castles and palaces.
+
+The Conte Nobili, a noble Lucchese, born in Flanders and educated at
+Paris, was our conductor. He possesses great elegance of imagination,
+and a degree of sensibility rarely met with. The way did not appear
+tedious in such company. The sun was tempered by light clouds, and a
+soft autumnal haze rested upon the hills, covered with shrubs and
+olives. The distant plains and forests appeared tinted with so deep a
+blue, that I began to think the azure so prevalent in Velvet Breughel’s
+landscapes is hardly exaggerated.
+
+After riding for six or seven miles along the cultivated levels, we
+began to ascend a rough slope, overgrown with chestnuts; a great many
+loose fragments and stumps of ancient pomegranates perplexed our route,
+which continued, turning and winding through this wilderness, till it
+opened on a sudden to the side of a lofty mountain, covered with tufted
+groves, amongst which hangs the princely castle of the Garzoni, on the
+very side of a precipice.
+
+Alcina could not have chosen a more romantic situation. The garden lies
+extended beneath, gay with flowers, and glittering with compartments of
+spar, which, though in no great purity of taste, strikes for the first
+time with the effect of enchantment. Two large marble basins, with
+jets-d’eau, seventy feet in height, divide the parterres; from the
+extremity of which rises a rude cliff, shaded with cedar and ilex, and
+cut into terraces.
+
+Leaving our horses at the great gate of this magic enclosure, we passed
+through the spray of the fountains, and mounting an endless flight of
+steps, entered an alley of oranges, and gathered ripe fruit from the
+trees. Whilst we were thus employed, the sun broke from the clouds, and
+lighted up the green of the vegetation; at the same time spangling the
+waters, which pour copiously down a succession of rocky terraces, and
+sprinkle the impending citron-trees with perpetual dew. These streams
+issue from a chasm in the cliff, surrounded by cypresses, which conceal
+by their thick branches a pavilion with baths. Above arises a colossal
+statue of Fame, boldly carved, and in the very act of starting from the
+precipices. A narrow path leads up to the feet of the goddess, on which
+I reclined; whilst a vast column of water arching over my head, fell,
+without even wetting me with its spray, into the depths below.
+
+I could hardly prevail upon myself to abandon this cool recess; which
+the fragrance of bay and orange, maintained by constant showers,
+rendered uncommonly luxurious. At last I consented to move on, through a
+dark wall of ilex, which, to the credit of Signor Garzoni be it spoken,
+is suffered to grow as wild as it pleases. This grove is suspended on
+the mountain side, whose summit is clothed with a boundless wood of
+olives, and forms, by its willowy colour, a striking contrast with the
+deep verdure of its base.
+
+After resting a few moments in the shade, we proceeded to a long avenue,
+bordered by aloes in bloom, forming majestic pyramids of flowers thirty
+feet high. This led us to the palace, which was soon run over. Then,
+mounting our horses, we wound amongst sunny vales, and inclosures with
+myrtle hedges, till we came to a rapid steep. We felt the heat most
+powerfully in ascending it, and were glad to take refuge under a
+continued bower of vines, which runs for miles along its summit. These
+arbours afforded us both shade and refreshment; I fell upon the
+clusters which formed our ceiling, like a native of the north, unused to
+such luxuriance: one of those Goths, Gray so poetically describes, who
+
+    Scent the new fragrance of the breathing rose,
+    And quaff the pendent vintage as it grows.
+
+I wish you had journeyed with us under this fruitful canopy, and
+observed the partial sunshine through its transparent leaves, and the
+glimpses of the blue sky it every now and then admitted. I say only
+every now and then, for in most places a sort of verdant gloom
+prevailed, exquisitely agreeable in so hot a day.
+
+But such luxury did not last, you may suppose, for ever. We were soon
+forced from our covert, and obliged to traverse a mountain exposed to
+the sun, which had dispersed every cloud, and shone with intolerable
+brightness. On the other side of this extensive eminence lies a pastoral
+hillock, surrounded by others, woody and irregular. Wide vineyards and
+fields of Indian corn lay between, across which the Conte Nobili
+conducted us to his house, where we found prepared a very comfortable
+dinner. We drank the growth of the spot, and defied the richest wines of
+Constantia to exceed it.
+
+Afterwards, retiring into a wood of the Marchese Mansi, with neat pebble
+walks and trickling rivulets, we took coffee and loitered till sunset.
+It was then time to return, as the mists were beginning to rise from the
+valleys. The calm and silence of evening threw us into our reveries. We
+went pacing along heedlessly, just as our horses pleased, without
+hearing any sound but their steps.
+
+Between nine and ten we entered the gates of Lucca. Pacchierotti
+coughed, and half its inhabitants wished us at the devil.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIII.
+
+     Set out for Pisa.--The Duomo.--Interior of the Cathedral.--The
+     Campo Santo.--Solitude of the streets at midday.--Proceed to
+     Leghorn.--Beauty of the road.--Tower of the Fanale.
+
+
+Leghorn, October 2nd, 1780.
+
+This morning we set out for Pisa. No sooner had we passed the highly
+cultivated garden-grounds about Lucca than we found ourselves in narrow
+roads, shut in by vines and grassy banks of canes and osiers, rising
+high above our carriage and waving their leaves in the air. Through the
+openings which sometimes intervened we discovered a variety of hillocks
+clothed with shrubs, ruined towers looking out of the bushes, not one
+without a romantic tale attending it.
+
+This sort of scenery lasted till, passing the baths, we beheld Pisa
+rising from an extensive plain, the most open we had as yet seen in
+Italy, crossed by an aqueduct. We were set down immediately before the
+Duomo, which stands insulated in a vast green area, and is perhaps the
+most curious edifice my eyes ever viewed. Do not ask of what shape or
+architecture; it is almost impossible to tell, so great is the confusion
+of ornaments. The dome gives the mass an oriental appearance, which
+helped to bewilder me; in short, I have dreamed of such buildings, but
+little thought they existed. On one side you survey the famous tower, as
+perfectly awry as I expected; on the other the baptistery, a circular
+edifice distinct from the church and right opposite its principal
+entrance, crowded with sculptures and topped by the strangest of
+cupolas.
+
+Having indulged our curiosity with this singular prospect for some
+moments, we entered the cathedral and admired the stately columns of
+porphyry and of the rarest marbles, supporting a roof which, like the
+rest of the building, shines with gold. A pavement of the brightest
+mosaic completes its magnificence: all around are sculptures by Michael
+Angelo Buonarotti, and paintings by the most distinguished artists. We
+examined them with due attention, and then walked down the nave and
+remarked the striking effect of the baptistery, seen in perspective
+through the bronze portals, which you know, I suppose, are covered with
+relievos of the finest workmanship. These noble valves were thrown wide
+open, and we passed between them to the baptistery, where stands an
+alabaster font, constructed after the primitive ritual and exquisitely
+wrought.
+
+Our next object was the Campo Santo, which forms one side of the area in
+which the cathedral is situated. The walls, and Gothic tabernacle above
+the entrance, rising from the level turf and preserving a neat straw
+colour, appear as fresh as if built within the present century. Our
+guide unlocking the gates, we entered a spacious cloister, forming an
+oblong quadrangle, which encloses the sacred earth of Jerusalem,
+conveyed hither about the period of the crusades, the days of Pisanese
+prosperity. The holy mould produces a rampant crop of weeds, but none
+are permitted to spring from the pavement, which is entirely composed of
+tombs with slabs, smoothly laid and covered with monumental
+inscriptions. Ranges of slender pillars, formed of the whitest marble
+and glistening in the sun, support the arcade of the cloister, which is
+carved with innumerable stars and roses, partly Gothic and partly
+Saracenial. Strange paintings of hell and the devil, mostly taken from
+Dante’s rhapsodies, cover the walls of these fantastic galleries,
+attributed to the venerable Giotto and Bufalmacco, whom Boccaccio
+mentions in his Decamerone.
+
+Beneath, along the base of the columns, are placed, to my no small
+surprise, rows of pagan sarcophagi; I could not have supposed the
+Pisanese sufficiently tolerant to admit profane sculptures within such
+consecrated precincts. However, there they are, as well as fifty other
+contradictory ornaments.
+
+I was quite seized by the strangeness of the place, and paced fifty
+times round and round the cloisters, discovering at every time some odd
+novelty. When tired, I seated myself on a fair slab of _giallo antico_,
+that looked a little cleaner than its neighbours (which I only mention
+to identify the precise point of view), and looking through the
+filigreed tracery of the arches observed the domes of the cathedral,
+cupola of the baptistery, and roof of the leaning tower rising above the
+leads, and forming the strangest assemblage of pinnacles perhaps in
+Europe. The place is neither sad nor solemn; the arches are airy, the
+pillars light, and there is so much caprice, such an exotic look in the
+whole scene, that without any violent effort of fancy one might imagine
+one’s self in fairy land. Every object is new, every ornament original;
+the mixture of antique sarcophagi with Gothic sepulchres, completes the
+vagaries of the prospect, to which, one day or other, I think of
+returning, to hear visionary music and commune with sprites, for I shall
+never find in the whole universe besides so whimsical a theatre.
+
+The heat was so powerful that all the inhabitants of Pisa showed their
+wisdom by keeping within doors. Not an animal appeared in the streets,
+except five camels laden with water, stalking along a range of garden
+walls and pompous mansions, with an awning before every door. We were
+obliged to follow their steps, at least a quarter of a mile, before we
+reached our inn. Ice was the first thing I sought after, and when I had
+swallowed an unreasonable portion, I began not to think quite so much of
+the deserts of Africa, as the heat and the camels had induced me to do a
+moment ago.
+
+Early in the afternoon, we proceeded to Leghorn through a wild tract of
+forest, somewhat in the style of our English parks. The trees in some
+places formed such shady arbours, that we could not resist the desire of
+walking beneath them, and were well rewarded; for after struggling
+through a rough thicket, we entered a lawn hemmed in by oaks and
+chesnuts, which extends several leagues along the coast and conceals the
+prospect of the ocean; but we heard its murmurs.
+
+Nothing could be smoother or more verdant than the herbage, which was
+sprinkled with daisies and purple crocuses as in the month of May. I
+felt all the genial sensations of Spring steal into my bosom, and was
+greatly delighted upon discovering vast bushes of myrtle in the fullest
+and most luxuriant bloom. The softness of the air, the sound of the
+distant surges, the evening gleams, and repose of the landscape, quieted
+the tumult of my spirits, and I experienced the calm of my infant hours.
+I lay down in the open turf-walks between the shrubberies, and during a
+few moments had forgotten every care; but when I began to enquire into
+my happiness, I found it vanish. I felt myself without those I love
+most, in situations they would have warmly admired, and without them
+these pleasant lawns and woodlands looked pleasant in vain.
+
+We had not left this woody region far behind, when the Fanale began to
+lift itself above the horizon--the very tower you have so often
+mentioned; the sky and ocean glowing with amber light, and the ships out
+at sea appearing in a golden haze, of which we have no conception in our
+northern climates. Such a prospect, together with the fresh gales from
+the Mediterranean, charmed me; I hurried immediately to the port and sat
+on a reef of rocks, listening to the waves that broke amongst them.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIV.
+
+     The Mole at Leghorn.--Coast scattered over with
+     Watch-towers.--Branches of rare Coral unexpectedly acquired.
+
+
+October 3rd, 1780.
+
+I went, as you would have done, to walk on the mole as soon as the sun
+began to shine upon it. Its construction you are no stranger to;
+therefore I think I may spare myself the trouble of saying anything
+about it, except that the port which it embraces is no longer crowded.
+Instead of ten ranks of vessels there are only three, and those consist
+chiefly of Corsican galleys, that look as poor and tattered as their
+masters. Not much attention did I bestow upon such objects, but, taking
+my seat at the extremity of the quay, surveyed the smooth plains of
+ocean, the coast scattered over with watchtowers, and the rocky isle of
+Gorgona, emerging from the morning mists, which still lingered upon the
+horizon.
+
+Whilst I was musing upon the scene, and calling up all that train of
+ideas before my imagination, which pleased your own upon beholding it,
+an ancient figure, with a beard that would have suited a sea-god,
+stepped out of a boat, and tottering up the steps of the quay, presented
+himself before me with a basket in his hand. He stayed dripping a few
+moments before he pronounced a syllable, and when he began his
+discourse, I was in doubt whether I should not have moved off in a
+hurry, there was something so wan and singular in his countenance.
+Except this being, no other was visible for a quarter of a mile at
+least. I knew not what strange adventure I might be upon the point of
+commencing, or what message I was to expect from the submarine
+divinities. However, after all my conjectures, the figure turned out to
+be no other than an old fisherman, who having picked up a few branches
+of the rarest species of coral, offered them to sale. I eagerly made the
+purchase, and thought myself a favourite of Neptune, since he allowed me
+to acquire, with such facility, some of his most beautiful ornaments.
+
+My bargain thus expeditiously concluded, I ran along the quay with my
+basket of coral, and, taking boat, was rowed back to the gate of the
+port. The carriage waited there; I shut myself up in the grateful shade
+of green blinds, and was driven away at a rate that favoured my
+impatience. We bowled smoothly over the lawns described in my last
+letter, amongst myrtles in flower, that would have done honour to the
+island of Juan Fernandez.
+
+Arrived at Pisa, I scarcely allowed myself a moment to revisit the Campo
+Santo, but hurried on to Lucca, and threw the whole idle town into a
+stare by my speedy return.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XV.
+
+     Florence again.--Palazzo Vecchio.--View on the Arno.--Sculptures by
+     Cellini and John of Bologna.--Contempt shown by the Austrians to
+     the memory of the House of Medici.--Evening visit to the Garden of
+     Boboli.--The Opera.--Miserable singing.--A Neapolitan Duchess.
+
+
+Florence, October 5th, 1780.
+
+It was not without regret that I forced myself from Lucca. We had all
+the same road to go over again, that brought us to this important
+republic, but we broke down by way of variety. The wind was chill, the
+atmosphere damp and clogged with unwholesome vapours, through which we
+were forced to walk for a league, whilst our chaise lagged after us.
+
+Taking shelter in a miserable cottage, we remained shivering and shaking
+till the carriage was in some sort of order, and then proceeded so
+slowly that we did not arrive at Florence till late in the evening, and
+took possession of an apartment over the Arno, which being swollen with
+rains roared like a mountain torrent. Throwing open my windows, I viewed
+its agitated course by the light of the moon, half concealed in stormy
+clouds, which hung above the fortress of the Belvedere. I sat
+contemplating the effect of the shadows on the bridge, on the heights of
+Boboli, and the mountain covered with pale olive groves, amongst which a
+convent is situated, till the moon sank into the darkest quarter of the
+sky, and a bell began to toll. Its mournful sound filled me with gloomy
+recollections. I closed the casements, and read till midnight some
+dismal memoir of conspiracies and assassinations, Guelphs and
+Ghibelines, the black story of ancient Florence.
+
+
+October 6th.
+
+Every cloud was dispersed when I arose, and the purity and transparence
+of the æther added new charms to the picturesque eminences around. I
+felt quite revived by this exhilarating prospect, and walked in the
+splendour of sunshine to the porticos beneath the famous gallery, then
+to an antient castle, raised in the days of the Republic, which fronts
+the grand piazza. Colossal statues and trophies badly carved in the
+true spirit of the antique, are placed before it. On one side a
+fountain, clung round with antick figures of bronze, by John of Bologna.
+On the other, three lofty pointed arches, and under one of them the
+Perseus of Benvenuto Cellini.
+
+Having examined some groups of sculptures by Baccio Bandinelli and other
+mighty artists, I entered the court of the castle, dark and deep, as if
+hewn out of a rock, surrounded by a vaulted arcade covered with
+arabesque ornaments and supported by pillars almost as uncouthly
+designed as those of Persepolis. In the midst appears a marble fount
+with an image of bronze, that looks quite strange and cabalistic. I
+leaned against it to look up to the summits of the walls, which rise to
+a vast height, from whence springs a slender tower. Above, in the
+apartments of the castle, are still preserved numbers of curious
+cabinets, tables of inlaid gems, and a thousand rarities, collected by
+the house of Medici, and not yet entirely frittered away and disposed of
+by public sale.
+
+It was not without indignation that I learnt this new mark of contempt
+which the Austrians bestow on the memory of those illustrious patrons of
+the Arts; whom, being unwilling to imitate, they affect to despise as a
+race of merchants whose example it would be abasing their dignity to
+follow.
+
+I could have stayed much longer to enjoy the novelty and strangeness of
+the place; but it was right to pay some compliments of form. That duty
+over, I dined in peace and solitude, and repaired, as evening drew on,
+to the thickets of Boboli.
+
+What a serene sky! what mellowness in the tints of the mountains! A
+purple haze concealed the bases, whilst their summits were invested with
+saffron light, discovering every white cot and every copse that clothed
+their declivities. The prospect widened as I ascended the terraces of
+the garden.
+
+After traversing many long dusky alleys, I reached the opening on the
+brow of the hill, and seating myself under the statue of Ceres, took a
+sketch of the huge mountainous cupola of the Duomo, the adjoining lovely
+tower and one more massive in its neighbourhood, built not improbably in
+the style of ancient Etruria. Beyond this historic group of buildings a
+plain stretches itself far and wide, most richly studded with villas
+and gardens, and groves of pine and olive, quite to the feet of the
+mountains.
+
+Having marked the sun’s going down and all the soothing effects cast by
+his declining rays on every object, I went through a plat of vines to a
+favourite haunt of mine:--a little garden of the most fragrant roses,
+with a spring under a rustic arch of grotto-work fringed with ivy.
+Thousands of fish inhabit here, of that beautiful glittering species
+which comes from China. This golden nation were leaping after insects as
+I stood gazing upon the deep clear water, listening to the drops that
+trickle from the cove. Opposite to which, at the end of a green alley,
+you discover an oval basin, and in the midst of it an antique statue
+full of that graceful languor so peculiarly Grecian.
+
+Whilst I was musing on the margin of the spring (for I returned to it
+after casting a look upon the sculpture), the moon rose above the tufted
+foliage of the terraces, which I descended by several flights of steps,
+with marble balustrades crowned by vases of aloes.
+
+It was now seven o’clock, and all the world were going to my Lord T----’s, who lives in a fine house all over blue and silver, with stuffed
+birds, alabaster cupids, and a thousand prettinesses more; but to say
+truth, neither he nor his abode are worth mentioning. I found a deal of
+slopping and sipping of tea going forward, and many dawdlers assembled.
+
+As I can say little good of the party, I had better shut the door, and
+conduct you to the Opera, which is really a striking spectacle. The
+first soprano put my patience to severe proof, during the few minutes I
+attended. You never beheld such a porpoise. If these animals were to
+sing, I should conjecture it would be in his style. You may suppose how
+often I invoked Pacchierotti, and regretted the lofty melody of Quinto
+Fabio. Everybody seemed as well contented as if there were no such thing
+as good singing in the world, except a Neapolitan duchess who delighted
+me by her vivacity. We took our fill of maledictions, and went home
+equally pleased with each other for having mutually execrated both
+singers and audience.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVI.
+
+     Detained at Florence by reports of the Malaria at Rome.--Ascend one
+     of the hills celebrated by Dante.--View from its brow.--Chapel
+     designed by Michael Angelo.--Birth of a Princess.--The
+     christening.--Another evening visit in the woods of Boboli.
+
+
+October 22nd, 1780.
+
+They say the air is worse this year at Rome than ever, and that it would
+be madness to go thither during its malign influence. This was very bad
+news indeed to one heartily tired of Florence, at least of its society.
+Merciful powers! what a set harbour within its walls! * * * You may
+imagine I do not take vehement delight in this company, though very
+ingenious, praiseworthy, &c. The woods of the Cascini shelter me every
+morning; and there grows an old crooked ilex at their entrance, twisting
+round a pine, upon whose branches I sit for hours.
+
+In the afternoon I am irresistibly attracted to the thickets of Boboli.
+The other evening, however, I varied my walks, and ascended one of those
+pleasant hills celebrated by Dante, which rise in the vicinity of the
+city, and command a variegated scene of towers, villas, cottages, and
+gardens. On the right, as you stand upon the brow, appears Fiesole with
+its turrets and white houses, covering a rocky mount to the left, the
+Val d’Arno lost in the haze of the horizon. A Franciscan convent stands
+on the summit of the eminence, wrapped up in antient cypresses, which
+hinder its holy inhabitants from seeing too much of so gay a view. The
+paved ascent leading up to their abode receives also a shade from the
+cypresses which border it. Beneath this venerable avenue, crosses with
+inscriptions are placed at certain distances, to mark the various
+moments of Christ’s passion; as when fainting under his burden he halted
+to repose himself, or when he met his afflicted mother.
+
+Above, at the end of the perspective, rises a chapel designed by M. A.
+Buonarotti; further on, an antient church, encrusted with white marble,
+porphyry, and verd antique. The interior presents a crowded assemblage
+of ornaments, elaborate mosaic pavements and inlaid work without end.
+The high altar is placed in a semicircular recess, which, like the apsis
+of the church at Torcello, glitters with barbaric paintings on a gold
+ground, and receives a fervid glow of light from five windows, filled up
+with transparent marble clouded like tortoiseshell. A smooth polished
+staircase leads to this mysterious place: another brought me to a
+subterraneous chapel, supported by confused groups of variegated
+pillars, just visible by the glimmer of lamps.
+
+Passing on not unawed, I followed some flights of steps, which terminate
+in the neat cloisters of the convent, in perfect preservation, but
+totally deserted. Ranges of citron and aloes fill up the quadrangle,
+whose walls are hung with superstitious pictures most singularly
+fancied. The Jesuits were the last tenants of this retirement, and seem
+to have had great reason for their choice. Its peace and stillness
+delighted me.
+
+Next day I was engaged by a very opposite scene, though much against my
+will. Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess having produced a princess in
+the night, everybody put on grand gala in the morning, and I was
+carried, along with the glittering tide of courtiers, ministers, and
+ladies, to see the christening. After the Grand Duke had talked
+politics for some time, the doors of a temporary chapel were thrown
+open. Trumpets flourished, processions marched, and the archbishop began
+the ceremony at an altar of massive gold, placed under a yellow silk
+pavilion, with pyramids of lights before it. Wax tapers, though it was
+noon-day, shone in every corner of the apartments. Two rows of pages,
+gorgeously accoutred, and holding enormous torches, stood on each side
+his Royal Highness, and made him the prettiest courtesies imaginable, to
+the sound of an indifferent band of music, though led by Nardini. The
+poor old archbishop, who looked very piteous and saint-like, led the Te
+Deum with a quavering voice, and the rest followed him with thoughtless
+expedition.
+
+The ceremony being despatched, (for his Royal Highness was in a mighty
+fidget to shrink back into his beloved obscurity,) the crowd dispersed,
+and I went, with a few others, to dine at my Lord T----’s.
+
+Evening drawing on, I ran to throw myself once more into the woods of
+Boboli, and remained till it was night in their recesses. Really this
+garden is enough to bewilder an enthusiastic spirit; there is something
+so solemn in its shades, its avenues, and spires of cypresses. When I
+had mused for many an interesting hour amongst them, I emerged into the
+orangery before the palace, which overlooks the largest district of the
+town, and beheld, as I slowly descended the road which leads up to it,
+certain bright lights glancing about the cupola of the Duomo and the
+points of the highest towers. At first I thought them meteors, or those
+illusive fires which often dance before the eye of my imagination; but
+soon I was convinced of their reality; for in a few minutes the lantern
+of the cathedral was lighted up by agents really invisible; whilst a
+stream of torches ran along the battlements of the old castle which I
+mentioned in a former letter.
+
+I enjoyed this prospect at a distance: when near, my pleasure was
+greatly diminished, for half the fish in the town were frying to rejoice
+the hearts of his Royal Highness’s loyal subjects, and bonfires blazing
+in every street and alley. Hubbubs and stinks of every denomination
+drove me quickly to the theatre; but that was all glitter and glare. No
+taste, no arrangement, paltry looking-glasses, and rat’s-tail candles.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVII.
+
+     Pilgrimage to Valombrosa.--Rocky Steeps.--Groves of Pine.--Vast
+     Amphitheatre of Lawns and Meadows.--Reception at the Convent.--Wild
+     Glens where the Hermit Gualbertus had his Cell.--Conversation with
+     the holy Fathers.--Legendary Tales.--The consecrated Cleft.--The
+     Romitorio.--Extensive View of the Val d’Arno.--Return to Florence.
+
+
+October 23rd, 1780.
+
+Do you recollect our evening rambles last year, in the valley at F----,
+under the hill of pines? I remember we often fancied the scene like
+Valombrosa; and vowed, if ever an occasion offered, to visit its deep
+retirements. I had put off the execution of this pilgrimage from day to
+day till the warm weather was gone; and the Florentines declared I
+should be frozen if I attempted it. Everybody stared last night at the
+Opera when I told them I was going to bury myself in fallen leaves, and
+hear no music but their rustlings.
+
+Mr. ---- was just as eager as myself to escape the chit-chat and
+nothingness of Florence; so we finally determined upon our expedition,
+and mounting our horses, set out this morning, happily without any
+company but the spirit which led us along. We had need of inspiration,
+since nothing else, I think, would have tempted us over such dreary,
+uninteresting hillocks as rise from the banks of the Arno. The hoary
+olive is their principal vegetation; so that Nature, in this part of the
+country, seems in a withering decrepit state, and may not unaptly be
+compared to “an old woman clothed in grey.” However, we did not suffer
+the prospect to damp our enthusiasm, which was the better preserved for
+Valombrosa.
+
+About half way, our palfreys thought proper to look out for some oats,
+and I to creep into a sort of granary in the midst of a barren waste,
+scattered over with white rocks, that reflected more heat than I cared
+for, although I had been told snow and ice were to be my portion.
+Seating myself on the floor between heaps of corn, I reached down a few
+purple clusters of Muscadine grapes, which hung to dry in the ceiling,
+and amused myself very pleasantly with them till the horses had
+finished their meal and it was lawful to set forwards. We met with
+nothing but rocky steeps shattered into fragments, and such roads as
+half inclined us to repent our undertaking; but cold was not yet amongst
+the number of our evils.
+
+At last, after ascending a tedious while, we began to feel the wind blow
+sharply from the peaks of the mountains, and to hear the murmur of
+groves of pine. A paved path leads across them, quite darkened by
+boughs, which meeting over our heads cast a gloom and a chilness below
+that would have stopped the proceedings of reasonable mortals, and sent
+them to bask in the plain; but, being not so easily discomfited, we
+threw ourselves boldly into the forest. It presented that boundless
+confusion of tall straight stems I am so fond of, and exhaled a fresh
+aromatic odour that revived my spirits.
+
+The cold to be sure was piercing; but setting that at defiance, we
+galloped on, and entered a vast amphitheatre of lawns and meadows
+surrounded by thick woods beautifully green. The steep cliffs and
+mountains which guard this retired valley are clothed with beech to
+their very summits; and on their slopes, whose smoothness and verdure
+equal our English pastures, were dispersed large flocks of sheep. The
+herbage, moistened by streams which fall from the eminences, has never
+been known to fade; thus, whilst the chief part of Tuscany is parched by
+the heats of summer, these upland meadows retain the freshness of
+spring. I regretted not having visited them sooner, as autumn had
+already made great havock amongst the foliage. Showers of leaves blew
+full in our faces as we rode towards the convent, placed at an extremity
+of the vale and sheltered by firs and chesnuts towering one above
+another.
+
+Whilst we were alighting before the entrance, two fathers came out and
+received us into the peace of their retirement. We found a blazing fire,
+and tables spread very comfortably before it, round which five or six
+overgrown friars were lounging, who seemed by the sleekness and rosy hue
+of their countenances not totally to have despised this mortal
+existence.
+
+My letters of recommendation soon brought the heads of the order about
+me, fair round figures, such as a Chinese would have placed in his
+pagoda. I could willingly have dispensed with their attention; yet to
+avoid this was scarcely within the circle of possibility. All dinner,
+therefore, we endured an infinity of nonsensical questions; but as soon
+as that was over, I lost no time in repairing to the lawns and forests.
+The fathers made a shift to waddle after, as fast and as complaisantly
+as they were able, but were soon distanced.
+
+Now I found myself at liberty, and pursued a narrow path overhung by
+rock, with bushy chesnuts starting from the crevices. This led me into
+wild glens of beech trees, mostly decayed and covered with moss: several
+were fallen. It was amongst these the holy hermit Gualbertus had his
+cell. I rested a moment upon one of their huge branches, listening to
+the roar of a waterfall which the wood concealed. The dry leaves chased
+each other down the steeps on the edge of the torrents with hollow
+rustlings, whilst the solemn wave of the forests above most perfectly
+answered the idea I had formed of Valombrosa,
+
+  ----where the Etrurian shades
+    High overarch’d embower.
+
+The scene was beginning to take effect, and the genius of Milton to move
+across his favourite valley, when the fathers arrived puffing and
+blowing, by an easier ascent than I knew of.
+
+“You have missed the way,” cried the youngest; “the hermitage, with the
+fine picture by Andrèa del Sarto, which all the English admire, is on
+the opposite side of the wood: there! don’t you see it on the point of
+the cliff?”
+
+“Yes, yes,” said I a little peevishly; “I wonder the devil has not
+pushed it down long ago; it seems to invite his kick.”
+
+“Satan,” answered the old Pagod very dryly, “is full of malice; but
+whoever drinks of a spring which the Lord causeth to flow near the
+hermitage is freed from his illusions.”
+
+“Are they so?” replied I with a sanctified accent, “then I pray thee
+conduct me thither, for I have great need of such salutary waters.”
+
+The youngest father shook his head, as much as to say, “This is nothing
+more than a heretic’s whim.”
+
+The senior set forwards with greater piety, and began some legendary
+tales of the kind which my soul loveth. He pointed to a chasm in the
+cliff, round which we were winding by a spiral path, where Gualbertus
+used to sleep, and, turning himself towards the west, see a long
+succession of saints and martyrs sweeping athwart the sky, and gilding
+the clouds with far brighter splendours than the setting sun. Here he
+rested till his last hour, when the bells of the convent beneath (which
+till that moment would have made dogs howl had there been any within its
+precincts) struck out such harmonious jingling that all the country
+around was ravished, and began lifting up their eyes with singular
+devotion, when, behold! light dawned, cherubim appeared, and birds
+chirped although it was midnight. “Alas! alas! what would I not give to
+witness such a spectacle, and read my prayer-book by the effulgence of
+opening heaven!”
+
+However, willing to see something at least, I crept into the consecrated
+cleft and extended myself on its rugged surface. A very penitential
+couch! but commanding glorious prospects of the world below, which lay
+this evening in deep blue shade; the sun looking red and angry through
+misty vapours, which prevented our discovering the Tuscan sea.
+
+Finding the rock as damp as might be expected, I soon shifted my
+quarters, and followed the youngest father up to the Romitorio, a snug
+little hermitage, with a neat chapel, and altar-piece by Andrèa del
+Sarto, which I should have examined more minutely had not the wild and
+mountainous forest scenery possessed my whole attention. I just stayed
+to taste the holy fountain; and then, escaping from my conductors, ran
+eagerly down the path, leaping over the springs that crossed it, and
+entered a lawn of the smoothest turf grazed by sheep. Beyond this
+opening rises a second, hemmed in with thickets; and still higher, a
+third, whence a forest of young pines spires up into a lofty theatre
+terminated by peaks, half concealed by a thick mantle of beech tinged
+with ruddy brown. Pausing in the midst of the lawns, and looking upward
+to the sweeps of wood which surrounded me, I addressed my orisons to the
+genius of the place, and prayed that I might once more return into its
+bosom, and be permitted to bring you along with me, for surely such
+meads, such groves, were formed for our enjoyment!
+
+This little rite performed, I walked on quite to the extremity of the
+pastures, traversed a thicket, and found myself on the edge of
+precipices, beneath whose base the whole Val d’Arno lies expanded. I
+listened to distant murmurings in the plain, saw wreaths of smoke rising
+from the cottages, and viewed a vast tract of grey barren country, which
+evening rendered still more desolate, bounded by the black mountain of
+Radicofani. Then, turning round, I beheld the whole extent of rock and
+forest, the groves of beech, and wilds above the convent, glowing with
+fiery red, for the sun, making a last effort to pierce the vapours,
+produced this effect; which was the more striking, as the sky was
+gloomy, and the rest of the prospect of a melancholy blue.
+
+Returning slowly homeward, I marked the warm glow deserting the
+eminences, and heard the sullen toll of a bell. The young boys of the
+seminary were moving in a body to their dark enclosure, all dressed in
+black. Many of them looked pale and wan. I wished to ask them whether
+the solitude of Valombrosa suited their age and vivacity; but a tall
+spectre of a priest drove them along like a herd, and presently, the
+gates opening, I saw them no more.
+
+The night was growing chill, the winds boisterous, and in the intervals
+of the gusts I had the addition of a lamentable screech owl to depress
+my spirits. Upon the whole, I was not at all concerned to meet the
+fathers, who came out to show me to my room, and entertain me with
+various gossipings, both sacred and profane, till supper appeared.
+
+Next morning, the Padre Decano gave us chocolate in his apartment; and
+afterwards led us round the convent, insisting most unmercifully upon
+our viewing every cell and every dormitory. However, I was determined to
+make a full stop at the organ, one of the most harmonious I ever played
+upon; but placed in a deep recess, feebly lighted by lamps, not
+calculated to inspire triumphant voluntaries. The monks, who had all
+crowded into the loft in expectation of brisk jigs and lively overtures,
+soon retired upon hearing a strain ten times more sorrowful than that to
+which they were accustomed. I did not lament their departure, but played
+on till our horses came to the gate. We mounted, wound back through the
+grove of pines which protect Valombrosa from intrusion, descended the
+steeps, and, gaining the plains, galloped in a few hours to Florence.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVIII.
+
+     Cathedral at Sienna.--A vaulted Chamber.--Leave Sienna.--Mountains
+     round Radicofani.--Hunting Palace of the Grand Dukes.--A grim
+     fraternity of Cats.--Dreary Apartment.
+
+
+Sienna, October 27th, 1780.
+
+Here my duty of course was to see the cathedral, and I got up much
+earlier than I wished, in order to perform it. I wonder that our holy
+ancestors did not choose a mountain at once, scrape it into tabernacles,
+and chisel it into scripture stories. It would have cost them almost as
+little trouble as the building in question, which, by many of the
+Italian devotees to a purer style of architecture, is esteemed a
+masterpiece of ridiculous taste and elaborate absurdity. The front,
+encrusted with alabaster, is worked into a million of fretted arches and
+puzzling ornaments. There are statues without number, and relievos
+without end or meaning.
+
+The church within is all of black and white marble alternately; the roof
+blue and gold, with a profusion of silken banners hanging from it; and
+a cornice running above the principal arcade, composed entirely of
+bustos representing the whole series of sovereign pontiffs, from the
+first Bishop of Rome to Adrian the Fourth. Pope Joan they say figured
+amongst them, between Leo the Fourth and Benedict the Third, till the
+year 1600, when some authors have asserted she was turned out, at the
+instance of Clement the Eighth, to make room for Zacharias the First.
+
+I hardly knew which was the nave, or which the cross aisle, of this
+singular edifice, so perfect is the confusion of its parts. The pavement
+demands attention, being inlaid so curiously as to represent variety of
+histories taken from Holy Writ, and designed somewhat in the style of
+that hobgoblin tapestry which used to bestare the walls of our
+ancestors. Near the high altar stands the strangest of pulpits,
+supported by polished pillars of granite, rising from lions’ backs,
+which serve as pedestals. In every corner of the place some glittering
+chapel or other offends or astonishes you. That, however, of the Chigi
+family, it must be allowed, has infinite merit with respect to design
+and execution; but it wants effect, as seeming out of place in this
+chaos of caprice and finery.
+
+From the church I entered a vaulted chamber, erected by the
+Piccoliminis, filled with missals most exquisitely illuminated. The
+paintings in fresco on the walls are rather barbarous, though executed
+after the designs of the mighty Raphael; but then we must remember, he
+had but just escaped from Pietro Perugino.
+
+Not staying long in the Duomo, we left Sienna in good time; and, after
+being shaken and tumbled in the worst roads that ever pretended to be
+made use of, found ourselves beneath the rough mountains round
+Radicofani, about seven o’clock on a cold and dismal evening. Up we
+toiled a steep craggy ascent, and reached at length the inn upon its
+summit. My heart sank when I entered a vast range of apartments, with
+high black raftered roofs, once intended for a hunting palace of the
+Grand Dukes, but now desolate and forlorn. The wind having risen, every
+door began to shake, and every board substituted for a window to
+clatter, as if the severe power who dwells on the topmost peak of
+Radicofani, according to its village mythologists, was about to visit
+his abode.
+
+My only spell to keep him at a distance was kindling an enormous fire,
+whose charitable gleams cheered my spirits, and gave them a quicker
+flow. Yet, for some minutes, I never ceased looking, now to the right,
+now to the left, up at the dark beams, and down the long passages, where
+the pavement, broken up in several places, and earth newly strewn about,
+seemed to indicate that something horrid was concealed below.
+
+A grim fraternity of cats kept whisking backwards and forwards in these
+dreary avenues, which I am apt to imagine is the very identical scene of
+a sabbath of witches at certain periods. Not venturing to explore them,
+I fastened my door, pitched my bed opposite the hearth which glowed with
+embers, and crept under the coverlids, hardly venturing to go to sleep
+lest I should be suddenly roused from it by I know not what terrible
+initiation into the mysteries of the place.
+
+Scarce was I settled, before two or three of the brotherhood just
+mentioned stalked in at a little opening under the door. I insisted upon
+their moving off faster than they had entered, and was surprised, when
+midnight came, to hear nothing more than their doleful mewings echoed by
+the hollow walls and arches.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIX.
+
+     Leave the gloomy precincts of Radicofani and enter the Papal
+     territory.--Country near Aquapendente.--Shores of the Lake of
+     Bolsena.--Forest of Oaks.--Ascend Monte Fiascone.--Inhabited
+     Caverns.--Viterbo.--Anticipations of Rome.
+
+
+Radicofani, October 28th, 1780.
+
+I begin to despair of magical adventures, since none happened at
+Radicofani, which Nature seems wholly to have abandoned. Not a tree, not
+an acre of soil, has she bestowed upon its inhabitants, who would have
+more excuse for practising the gloomy art than the rest of mankind. I
+was very glad to leave their black hills and stony wilderness behind,
+and, entering the Papal territory, to see some shrubs and cornfields at
+a distance.
+
+Near Aquapendente, which is situated on a ledge of cliffs mantled with
+chesnut copses and tufted ilex, the country grew varied and picturesque.
+St. Lorenzo, the next post, built upon a hill, overlooks the lake of
+Bolsena, whose woody shores conceal many ruined buildings. We passed
+some of them in a retired vale, with arches from rock to rock, and
+grottos beneath half lost in thickets, from which rise craggy pinnacles
+crowned by mouldering towers; just such scenery as Polemberg and
+Bamboche introduce in their paintings.
+
+Beyond these truly Italian prospects, which a mellow evening tint
+rendered still more interesting, a forest of oaks presents itself upon
+the brows of hills, which extends almost the whole way to Monte
+Fiascone. It was late before we ascended it. The whole country seems
+full of inhabited caverns, that began as night drew on to shine with
+fires. We saw many dark shapes glancing before them, and perhaps a
+subterraneous people like the Cimmerians lurk in their recesses. As we
+drew near Viterbo, the lights in the fields grew less and less frequent;
+and when we entered the town, all was total darkness.
+
+To-morrow I hope to pay my vows before the high altar of St. Peter, and
+tread the Vatican. Why are you not here to usher me into the imperial
+city: to watch my first glance of the Coliseo: and lead me up the stairs
+of the Capitol? I shall rise before the sun, that I may see him set from
+Monte Cavallo.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XX.
+
+     Set out in the dark.--The Lago di Vico.--View of the spacious
+     plains where the Romans reared their seat of empire.--Ancient
+     splendour.--Present silence and desolation.--Shepherds’
+     huts.--Wretched policy of the Papal Government.--Distant view of
+     Rome.--Sensations on entering the City.--The Pope returning from
+     Vespers.--St Peter’s Colonnade.--Interior of the
+     Church.--Reveries.--A visionary scheme.--The Pantheon.
+
+
+Rome, October 29th, 1780.
+
+We set out in the dark. Morning dawned over the Lago di Vico; its waters
+of a deep ultramarine blue, and its surrounding forests catching the
+rays of the rising sun. It was in vain I looked for the cupola of St.
+Peter’s upon descending the mountains beyond Viterbo. Nothing but a sea
+of vapours was visible.
+
+At length they rolled away, and the spacious plains began to show
+themselves, in which the most warlike of nations reared their seat of
+empire. On the left, afar off, rises the rugged chain of Apennines, and
+on the other side, a shining expanse of ocean terminates the view. It
+was upon this vast surface so many illustrious actions were performed,
+and I know not where a mighty people could have chosen a grander
+theatre. Here was space for the march of armies, and verge enough for
+encampments: levels for martial games, and room for that variety of
+roads and causeways that led from the capital to Ostia. How many
+triumphant legions have trodden these pavements! how many captive kings!
+What throngs of cars and chariots once glittered on their surface!
+savage animals dragged from the interior of Africa; and the ambassadors
+of Indian princes, followed by their exotic train, hastening to implore
+the favour of the senate!
+
+During many ages, this eminence commanded almost every day such
+illustrious scenes; but all are vanished: the splendid tumult is passed
+away: silence and desolation remain. Dreary flats thinly scattered over
+with ilex, and barren hillocks crowned by solitary towers, were the only
+objects we perceived for several miles. Now and then we passed a few
+black ill-favoured sheep straggling by the way’s side, near a ruined
+sepulchre, just such animals as an ancient would have sacrificed to the
+Manes. Sometimes we crossed a brook, whose ripplings were the only
+sounds which broke the general stillness, and observed the shepherds’
+huts on its banks, propped up with broken pedestals and marble friezes.
+I entered one of them, whose owner was abroad tending his herds, and
+began writing upon the sand and murmuring a melancholy song. Perhaps the
+dead listened to me from their narrow cells. The living I can answer
+for: they were far enough removed.
+
+You will not be surprised at the dark tone of my musings in so sad a
+scene, especially as the weather lowered; and you are well acquainted
+how greatly I depend upon skies and sunshine. To-day I had no blue
+firmament to revive my spirits; no genial gales, no aromatic plants to
+irritate my nerves and lend at least a momentary animation. Heath and a
+greyish kind of moss are the sole vegetation which covers this endless
+wilderness. Every slope is strewed with the relics of a happier period;
+trunks of trees, shattered columns, cedar beams, helmets of bronze,
+skulls and coins, are frequently dug up together.
+
+I cannot boast of having made any discoveries, nor of sending you any
+novel intelligence. You knew before how perfectly the environs of Rome
+were desolate, and how completely the Papal government contrives to make
+its subjects miserable. But who knows that they were not just as
+wretched in those boasted times we are so fond of celebrating? All is
+doubt and conjecture in this frail existence; and I might as well
+attempt proving to whom belonged the mouldering bones which lay
+dispersed around me, as venture to affirm that one age is more fortunate
+than another. Very likely the poor cottager, under whose roof I reposed,
+is happier than the luxurious Roman upon the remains of whose palace,
+perhaps, his shed is raised: and yet that Roman flourished in the purple
+days of the empire, when all was wealth and splendour, triumph and
+exultation.
+
+I could have spent the whole day by the rivulet, lost in dreams and
+meditations; but recollecting my vow, I ran back to the carriage and
+drove on. The road not having been mended, I believe, since the days of
+the Cæsars, would not allow our motions to be very precipitate. “When
+you gain the summit of yonder hill, you will discover Rome,” said one of
+the postilions: up we dragged; no city appeared. “From the next,” cried
+out a second; and so on from height to height did they amuse my
+expectations. I thought Rome fled before us, such was my impatience,
+till at last we perceived a cluster of hills with green pastures on
+their summits, inclosed by thickets and shaded by flourishing ilex. Here
+and there a white house, built in the antique style, with open porticos,
+that received a faint gleam of the evening sun, just emerged from the
+clouds and tinting the meads below. Now domes and towers began to
+discover themselves in the valley, and St. Peter’s to rise above the
+magnificent roofs of the Vatican. Every step we advanced the scene
+extended, till, winding suddenly round the hill, all Rome opened to our
+view.
+
+Shall I ever forget the sensations I experienced upon slowly descending
+the hills, and crossing the bridge over the Tiber; when I entered an
+avenue between terraces and ornamented gates of villas, which leads to
+the Porto del Popolo, and beheld the square, the domes, the obelisk, the
+long perspective of streets and palaces opening beyond, all glowing with
+the vivid red of sunset? You can imagine how I enjoyed my beloved tint,
+my favourite hour, surrounded by such objects. You can fancy me
+ascending Monte Cavallo, leaning against the pedestal which supports
+Bucephalus; then, spite of time and distance, hurrying to St. Peter’s in
+performance of my vow.
+
+I met the Holy Father in all his pomp returning from vespers. Trumpets
+flourishing, and a troop of guards drawn out upon Ponte St. Angelo.
+Casting a respectful glance upon the Moles Adriani, I moved on till the
+full sweep of St. Peter’s colonnade opened upon me. The edifice appears
+to have been raised within the year, such is its freshness and
+preservation. I could hardly take my eyes from off the beautiful
+symmetry of its front, contrasted with the magnificent, though irregular
+courts of the Vatican towering over the colonnade, till, the sun sinking
+behind the dome, I ran up the steps and entered the grand portal, which
+was on the very point of being closed.
+
+I knew not where I was, or to what scene transported. A sacred twilight
+concealing the extremities of the structure, I could not distinguish any
+particular ornament, but enjoyed the effect of the whole. No damp air or
+fœtid exhalation offended me. The perfume of incense was not yet
+entirely dissipated. No human being stirred. I heard a door close with
+the sound of thunder, and thought I distinguished some faint
+whisperings, but am ignorant whence they came. Several hundred lamps
+twinkled round the high altar, quite lost in the immensity of the pile.
+No other light disturbed my reveries but the dying glow still visible
+through the western windows. Imagine how I felt upon finding myself
+alone in this vast temple at so late an hour. Do you think I quitted it
+without some revelation?
+
+It was almost eight o’clock before I issued forth, and, pausing a few
+minutes under the porticos, listened to the rush of the fountains: then
+traversing half the town, I believe, in my way to the Villa Medici,
+under which I am lodged, fell into a profound repose, which my zeal and
+exercise may be allowed, I think, to have merited.
+
+October 30th.
+
+Immediately after breakfast I repaired again to St. Peter’s, which even
+exceeded the height of my expectations. I could hardly quit it. I wish
+his Holiness would allow me to erect a little tabernacle within this
+glorious temple. I should desire no other prospect during the winter; no
+other sky than the vast arches glowing with golden ornaments, so lofty
+as to lose all glitter or gaudiness. But I cannot say I should be
+perfectly contented, unless I could obtain another tabernacle for you.
+Thus established, we would take our evening walks on the field of
+marble; for is not the pavement vast enough for the extravagance of the
+appellation? Sometimes, instead of climbing a mountain, we should ascend
+the cupola, and look down on our little encampment below. At night I
+should wish for a constellation of lamps dispersed about in clusters,
+and so contrived as to diffuse a mild and equal light. Music should not
+be wanting: at one time to breathe in the subterraneous chapels, at
+another to echo through the dome.
+
+The doors should be closed, and not a mortal admitted. No priests, no
+cardinals: God forbid! We would have all the space to ourselves, and to
+beings of our own visionary persuasion.
+
+I was so absorbed in my imaginary palace, and exhausted with contriving
+plans for its embellishment, as scarcely to have spirits left for the
+Pantheon, which I visited late in the evening, and entered with a
+reverence approaching to superstition. The whiteness of the dome
+offended me, for, alas! this venerable temple has been whitewashed. I
+slunk into one of the recesses, closed my eyes, transported myself into
+antiquity; then opened them again, tried to persuade myself the Pagan
+gods were in their niches, and the saints out of the question; was vexed
+at coming to my senses, and finding them all there, St. Andrew with his
+cross, and St. Agnes with her lamb, &c. Then I paced disconsolately into
+the portico, which shows the name of Agrippa on its pediment. Fixed for
+a few minutes against a Corinthian column, I lamented that no pontiff
+arrived with victims and aruspices, of whom I might enquire, what, in
+the name of birds and garbage, put me so terribly out of humour! for you
+must know I was very near being disappointed, and began to think
+Piranesi and Paolo Panini had been a great deal too colossal in their
+representations of this venerable structure. I left the column, walked
+to the centre of the temple, and there remained motionless as a statue.
+Some architects have celebrated the effect of light from the opening
+above, and pretended it to be distributed in such a manner as to give
+those, who walk beneath, the appearance of mystic beings streaming with
+radiance. If that were the case! I appeared, to be sure, a luminous
+figure, and never stood I more in need of something to enliven me.
+
+My spirits were not mended upon returning home. I had expected a heap of
+Venetian letters, but could not discover one. I had received no
+intelligence from England for many a tedious day; and for aught I can
+tell to the contrary, you may have been dead these three weeks. I think
+I shall wander soon in the Catacombs, which I try lustily to persuade
+myself communicate with the lower world; and perhaps I may find some
+letter there from you lying upon a broken sarcophagus, dated from the
+realms of Night, and giving an account of your descent into her bosom.
+Yet, I pray continually, notwithstanding my curiosity to learn what
+passes in the dark regions beyond the tomb, that you will remain a few
+years longer on our planet; for what would become of me should I lose
+sight of you for ever? Stay, therefore, as long as you can, and let us
+have the delight of dozing a little more of this poor existence away
+together, and steeping ourselves in pleasant dreams.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXI.
+
+     Leave Rome for Naples.--Scenery in the vicinity of
+     Rome.--Albano.--Malaria.--Veletri.--Classical associations.--The
+     Circean Promontory.--Terracina.--Ruined Palace.--Mountain
+     Groves.--Rock of Circe.--The Appian Way.--Arrive at Mola di
+     Gaieta.--Beautiful prospect.--A Deluge.--Enter Naples by night,
+     during a fearful Storm.--Clear Morning.--View from my
+     window.--Courtly Mob at the Palace.--The Presence Chamber.--The
+     King and his Courtiers.--Party at the House of Sir W. H.--Grand
+     Illumination at the Theatre of St. Carlo.--Marchesi.
+
+
+November 1st, 1780.
+
+Though you find I am not yet snatched away from the earth, according to
+my last night’s bodings, I was far too restless and dispirited to
+deliver my recommendatory letters. St. Carlos, a mighty day of gala at
+Naples, was an excellent excuse for leaving Rome, and indulging my
+roving disposition. After spending my morning at St. Peter’s, we set off
+about four o’clock, and drove by the Coliseo and a Capuchin convent,
+whose monks were all busied in preparing the skeletons of their order,
+to figure by torch-light in the evening. St. John’s of Lateran
+astonished me. I could not help walking several times round the obelisk,
+and admiring the noble space in which the palace is erected, and the
+extensive scene of towers and aqueducts discovered from the platform in
+front.
+
+We went out at the Porta Appia, and began to perceive the plains which
+surround the city opening on every side. Long reaches of walls and
+arches, seldom interrupted, stretch across them. Sometimes, indeed, a
+withered pine, lifting itself up to the mercy of every blast that sweeps
+the champagne, breaks their uniformity. Between the aqueducts to the
+left, nothing but wastes of fern, or tracts of ploughed lands, dark and
+desolate, are visible, the corn not being yet sprung up. On the right,
+several groups of ruined fanes and sepulchres diversify the levels, with
+here and there a garden or woody enclosure. Such objects are scattered
+over the landscape, which towards the horizon bulges into gentle
+ascents, and, rising by degrees, swells at length into a chain of
+mountains, which received the pale gleams of the sun setting in watery
+clouds.
+
+By this uncertain light we discovered the white buildings of Albano,
+sprinkled about the steeps. We had not many moments to contemplate them,
+for it was night when we passed the Torre di mezza via, and began
+breathing a close pestilential vapour. Half suffocated, and recollecting
+a variety of terrifying tales about the malaria, we advanced, not
+without fear, to Veletri, and hardly ventured to fall asleep when
+arrived there.
+
+November 2nd.
+
+I arose at day-break, and, forgetting fevers and mortalities, ran into a
+level meadow without the town, whilst the horses were putting to the
+carriage. Why should I calumniate the pearly transparent air? it seemed
+at least purer than any I had before inhaled. Being perfectly alone, and
+not discovering any trace of the neighbouring city, I fancied myself
+existing in the ancient days of Hesperia, and hoped to meet Picus in his
+woods before the evening. But, instead of those shrill clamours which
+used to echo through the thickets when Pan joined with mortals in the
+chase, I heard the rumbling of our carriage, and the cursing of
+postilions. Mounting a horse I flew before them, and seemed to catch
+inspiration from the breezes. Now I turned my eyes to the ridge of
+precipices, in whose grots and caverns Saturn and his people passed
+their life; then to the distant ocean. Afar off rose the cliff, so
+famous for Circe’s incantations, and the whole line of coasts, which was
+once covered with her forests.
+
+Whilst I was advancing with full speed, the sun-beams began to shoot
+athwart the mountains, the plains to light up by degrees, and their
+shrubberies of myrtle to glisten with dew-drops. The sea brightened, and
+the Circean promontory soon glowed with purple. All day we kept winding
+through this enchanted country. Towards evening Terracina appeared
+before us, in a bold romantic scite; house above house, and turret
+looking over turret, on the steeps of a mountain, enclosed with
+mouldering walls, and crowned by the ruined terraces of a palace; one of
+those, perhaps, which the luxurious Romans inhabited during the summer,
+when so free and lofty an exposition (the sea below, with its gales and
+murmurs) must have been delightful. Groves of orange and citron hang on
+the declivity, rough with the Indian fig, whose bright red flowers,
+illuminated by the sun, had a magic splendour. A palm-tree, growing on
+the highest crag, adds not a little to its singular appearance. Being
+the largest I had yet seen, and clustered with fruit, I climbed up the
+rocks to take a sketch of it; and looking down upon the beach and glassy
+plains of ocean, exclaimed with Martial:
+
+    O nemus! O fontes! solidumque madentis arenæ
+      Littus, et æquoreis splendidus Anxur aquis!
+
+Glancing my eyes athwart the sea, I fixed them on the rock of Circe,
+which lies right opposite to Terracina, joined to the continent by a
+very narrow strip of land, and appearing like an island. The roar of the
+waves lashing the base of the precipices, might still be thought the
+howl of savage monsters; but where are those woods which shaded the dome
+of the goddess? Scarce a tree appears. A few thickets, and but a few,
+are the sole remains of this once impenetrable vegetation; yet even
+these I longed to visit, such was my predilection for the spot.
+
+Descending the cliff, and pursuing our route to Mola along the shore, by
+a grand road formed on the ruins of the Appian Way, we drove under an
+enormous perpendicular rock, standing detached, like a watch tower, and
+cut into arsenals and magazines. Day closed just as we got beyond it,
+and a new moon gleamed faintly on the waters. We saw fires afar off in
+the bay; some twinkling on the coast, others upon the waves, and heard
+the murmur of voices; for the night was still and solemn, like that of
+Cajetas’s funeral. I looked anxiously on a sea, where the heroes of the
+Odyssey and Æneid had sailed to fulfil their mystic destinies.
+
+Nine struck when we arrived at Mola di Gaeta. The boats were just coming
+in (whose lights we had seen out upon the main), and brought such fish
+as Neptune, I dare say, would have grudged Æneas and Ulysses.
+
+
+November 3rd.
+
+The morning was soft, but hazy. I walked in a grove of orange trees,
+white with blossoms, and at the same time glowing with fruit. The spot
+sloped pleasantly toward the sea, and here I loitered till the horses
+were ready, then set off on the Appian, between hedges of myrtle and
+aloes. We observed a variety of towns, with battlemented walls and
+ancient turrets, crowning the pinnacles of rocky steeps, surrounded by
+wilds, and rude uncultivated mountains. The Liris, now Garigliano, winds
+its peaceful course through wide extensive meadows, scattered over with
+the remains of aqueducts, and waters the base of the rocks I have just
+mentioned. Such a prospect could not fail of bringing Virgil’s panegyric
+of Italy into my mind:
+
+    Tot congesta manu præruptis oppida saxis
+    Fluminaque antiquos subterlabentia muros.
+
+As soon as we arrived in sight of Capua, the sky darkened, clouds
+covered the horizon, and presently poured down such deluges of rain as
+floated the whole country. The gloom was general; Vesuvius disappeared
+just after we had discovered it. At four o’clock darkness universally
+prevailed, except when a livid glare of lightning presented momentary
+glimpses of the bay and mountains. We lighted torches, and forded
+several torrents almost at the hazard of our lives. The plains of Aversa
+were filled with herds, lowing most piteously, and yet not half so much
+scared as their masters, who ran about raving and ranting like Indians
+during the eclipse of the moon. I knew Vesuvius had often put their
+courage to proof, but little thought of an inundation occasioning such
+commotions.
+
+For three hours the storm increased in violence, and instead of
+entering Naples on a calm evening, and viewing its delightful shores by
+moonlight--instead of finding the squares and terraces thronged with
+people and animated by music, we advanced with fear and terror through
+dark streets totally deserted, every creature being shut up in their
+houses, and we heard nothing but driving rain, rushing torrents, and the
+fall of fragments beaten down by their violence. Our inn, like every
+other habitation, was in great disorder, and we waited a long while
+before we could settle in our apartments with any comfort. All night the
+waves roared round the rocky foundations of a fortress beneath my
+windows, and the lightning played clear in my eyes.
+
+
+November 4th.
+
+Peace was restored to nature in the morning, but every mouth was full of
+the dreadful accidents which had happened in the night. The sky was
+cloudless when I awoke, and such was the transparence of the atmosphere
+that I could clearly discern the rocks, and even some white buildings on
+the island of Caprea, though at the distance of thirty miles. A large
+window fronts my bed, and its casements being thrown open, gives me a
+vast prospect of ocean uninterrupted, except by the peaks of Caprea and
+the Cape of Sorento. I lay half an hour gazing on the smooth level
+waters, and listening to the confused voices of the fishermen, passing
+and repassing in light skiffs, which came and disappeared in an instant.
+
+Running to the balcony the moment my eyes were fairly open (for till
+then I saw objects, I know not how, as one does in dreams,) I leaned
+over its rails and viewed Vesuvius rising distinct into the blue æther,
+with all that world of gardens and casinos which are scattered about its
+base; then looked down into the street, deep below, thronged with people
+in holiday garments, and carriages, and soldiers in full parade. The
+shrubby, variegated shore of Posilipo drew my attention to the opposite
+side of the bay. It was on those very rocks, under those tall pines,
+Sannazaro was wont to sit by moonlight, or at peep of dawn, composing
+his marine eclogues. It is there he still sleeps; and I wished to have
+gone immediately and strewed coral over his tomb, but I was obliged to
+check my impatience and hurry to the palace in form and gala.
+
+A courtly mob had got thither upon the same errand, daubed over with
+lace and most notably be-periwigged. Nothing but bows and salutations
+were going forward on the staircase, one of the largest I ever beheld,
+and which a multitude of prelates and friars were ascending with awkward
+pomposity. I jostled along to the presence chamber, where his Majesty
+was dining alone in a circular enclosure of fine clothes and smirking
+faces. The moment he had finished, twenty long necks were poked forth,
+and it was a glorious struggle amongst some of the most decorated who
+first should kiss his hand, the great business of the day. Everybody
+pressed forward to the best of their abilities. His Majesty seemed to
+eye nothing but the end of his nose, which is doubtless a capital
+object.
+
+Though people have imagined him a weak monarch, I beg leave to differ in
+opinion, since he has the boldness to prolong his childhood and be
+happy, in spite of years and conviction. Give him a boar to stab, and a
+pigeon to shoot at, a battledore or an angling rod, and he is better
+contented than Solomon in all his glory, and will never discover, like
+that sapient sovereign, that all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
+
+His courtiers in general have rather a barbaric appearance, and differ
+little in the character of their physiognomies from the most savage
+nations. I should have taken them for Calmucks or Samoieds, had it not
+been for their dresses and European finery.
+
+You may suppose I was not sorry, after my presentation was over, to
+return to Sir W. H.’s, where an interesting group of lovely women,
+literati, and artists, were assembled--Gagliani and Cyrillo, Aprile,
+Milico, and Deamicis--the determined Santo Marco, and the more
+nymph-like modest-looking, though not less dangerous, Belmonte. Gagliani
+happened to be in full story, and vied with his countryman Polichinello,
+not only in gesticulation and loquacity, but in the excessive
+licentiousness of his narrations. He was proceeding beyond all bounds of
+decency and decorum, at least according to English notions, when Lady
+H.[8] sat down to the pianoforte. Her plaintive modulations breathed a
+far different language. No performer that ever I heard produced such
+soothing effects; they seemed the emanations of a pure, uncontaminated
+mind, at peace with itself and benevolently desirous of diffusing that
+happy tranquillity around it; these were modes a Grecian legislature
+would have encouraged to further the triumph over vice of the most
+amiable virtue.
+
+The evening was passing swiftly away, and I had almost forgotten there
+was a grand illumination at the theatre of St. Carlo. After traversing a
+number of dark streets, we suddenly entered this enormous edifice, whose
+seven rows of boxes one above the other blazed with tapers. I never
+beheld such lofty walls of light, nor so pompous a decoration as covered
+the stage. Marchesi was singing in the midst of all these splendours
+some of the poorest music imaginable, with the clearest and most
+triumphant voice, perhaps, in the universe.
+
+It was some time before I could look to any purpose around me, or
+discover what animals inhabited this glittering world: such was its size
+and glare. At last I perceived vast numbers of swarthy ill-favoured
+beings, in gold and silver raiment, peeping out of their boxes. The
+court being present, a tolerable silence was maintained, but the moment
+his Majesty withdrew (which great event took place at the beginning of
+the second act) every tongue broke loose, and nothing but buzz and
+hubbub filled up the rest of the entertainment.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXII.
+
+     View of the coast of Posilipo.--Virgil’s tomb.--Superstition of the
+     Neapolitans with respect to Virgil.--Aërial situation.--A grand
+     scene.
+
+
+November 6th, 1780.
+
+Till to-day we have had nothing but rains; the sea covered with mists,
+and Caprea invisible. Would you believe it? I have not yet been able to
+mount to St. Elmo and the Capo di Monte, in order to take a general view
+of the town.
+
+At length a bright gleam of sunshine summoned me to the broad terrace of
+Chiaja, which commands the whole coast of Posilipo. Insensibly I drew
+towards it, and (you know the pace I run when out upon discoveries) soon
+reached the entrance of the grotto, which lay in dark shades, whilst the
+crags that lower over it were brightly illumined. Shrubs and vines grow
+luxuriantly in the crevices of the rock; and its fresh yellow colours,
+variegated with ivy, have a beautiful effect. To the right, a grove of
+pines spring from the highest pinnacles: on the left, bay and chesnut
+conceal the tomb of Virgil placed on the summit of a cliff which impends
+over the opening of the grotto, and is fringed with vegetation. Beneath
+are several wide apertures hollowed in the solid stone, which lead to
+caverns sixty or seventy feet in depth, where a number of peasants, who
+were employed in quarrying, made a strange but not absolutely
+unharmonious din with their tools and their voices.
+
+Walking out of the sunshine, I seated myself on a loose stone
+immediately beneath the first gloomy arch of the grotto, and looking
+down the long and solemn perspective terminated by a speck of gray
+uncertain light, venerated a work which some old chroniclers have
+imagined as ancient as the Trojan war. It was here the mysterious race
+of the Cimmerians performed their infernal rites, and it was this
+excavation perhaps which led to their abode.
+
+The Neapolitans attribute a more modern, though full as problematical an
+origin to their famous cavern, and most piously believe it to have been
+formed by the enchantments of Virgil, who, as Addison very justly
+observes, is better known at Naples in his magical character than as
+the author of the Æneid. This strange infatuation most probably arose
+from the vicinity of the tomb in which his ashes are supposed to have
+been deposited; and which, according to popular tradition, was guarded
+by those very spirits who assisted in constructing the cave. But
+whatever may have given rise to these ideas, certain it is they were not
+confined to the lower ranks alone. King Robert,[9] a wise though far
+from poetical monarch, conducted his friend Petrarch with great
+solemnity to the spot; and, pointing to the entrance of the grotto, very
+gravely asked him, whether he did not adopt the general belief, and
+conclude this stupendous passage derived its origin from Virgil’s
+powerful incantations? The answer, I think, may easily be conjectured.
+
+When I had sat for some time, contemplating this dusky avenue, and
+trying to persuade myself that it was hewn by the Cimmerians, I
+retreated without proceeding any farther, and followed a narrow path
+which led me, after some windings and turnings, along the brink of the
+precipice, across a vineyard, to that retired nook of the rocks which
+shelters Virgil’s tomb, most venerably mossed over and more than half
+concealed by bushes and vegetation. The clown who conducted me remained
+aloof at awful distance, whilst I sat commercing with the manes of my
+beloved poet, or straggled about the shrubbery which hangs directly
+above the mouth of the grot.
+
+Advancing to the edge of the rock, I saw crowds of people and carriages,
+diminished by distance, issuing from the bosom of the mountain and
+disappearing almost as soon as discovered in the windings of its road.
+Clambering high above the cavern, I hazarded my neck on the top of one
+of the pines, and looked contemptuously down on the race of pigmies that
+were so busily moving to and fro. The sun was fiercer than I could have
+wished, but the sea-breezes fanned me in my aërial situation, which
+commanded the grand sweep of the bay, varied by convents, palaces, and
+gardens mixed with huge masses of rock and crowned by the stately
+buildings of the Carthusians and fortress of St. Elmo. Add a glittering
+blue sea to this perspective, with Caprea rising from its bosom and
+Vesuvius breathing forth a white column of smoke into the æther, and you
+will then have a scene upon which I gazed with delight, for more than
+an hour, almost forgetting that I was perched upon the head of a pine
+with nothing but a frail branch to uphold me. However, I descended
+alive, as Virgil’s genii, I am resolved to believe, were my protectors.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXIII.
+
+     A ramble on the shore of Baii.--Local traditions.--Cross the
+     bay.--Fragments of a temple dedicated to Hercules.--Wondrous
+     reservoir constructed for the fleet of Nero.--The Dead Lake.--Wild
+     scene.--Beautiful meadow. Uncouth rocks.--An unfathomable
+     gulph.--Sadness induced by the wild appearance of the
+     place.--Conversation with a recluse.--Her fearful
+     narration.--Melancholy evening.
+
+
+November 8th, 1780.
+
+This morning I awoke in the glow of sunshine--the air blew fresh and
+fragrant--never did I feel more elastic and enlivened. A brisker flow of
+spirits than I had for many a day experienced, animated me with a desire
+of rambling about the shore of Baii, and creeping into caverns and
+subterraneous chambers. Off I set along the Chiaja, and up strange paths
+which impend over the grotto of Posilipo, amongst the thickets mentioned
+a letter or two ago; for in my present buoyant humour I disdained
+ordinary roads, and would take paths and ways of my own. A society of
+kids did not understand what I meant by intruding upon their precipices;
+and scrambling away, scattered sand and fragments upon the good people
+that were trudging along the pavement below.
+
+I went on from pine to pine and thicket to thicket, upon the brink of
+rapid declivities. My conductor, a shrewd savage, whom Sir William had
+recommended to me, cheered our route with stories that had passed in the
+neighbourhood, and traditions about the grot over which we were
+travelling. I wish you had been of the party, and sat down by us on
+little smooth spots of sward, where I reclined, scarcely knowing which
+way caprice had led me. My mind was full of the tales of the place, and
+glowed with a vehement desire of exploring the world beyond the grot. I
+longed to ascend the promontory of Misenus, and follow the same dusky
+route down which the Sibyl conducted Æneas.
+
+With these dispositions I proceeded; and soon the cliffs and copses
+opened to views of the Baian sea with the little isles of Niscita and
+Lazaretto, lifting themselves out of the waters. Procita and Ischia
+appeared at a distance invested with that purple bloom so inexpressibly
+beautiful, and peculiar to this fortunate climate. I hailed the
+prospect, and blessed the transparent air that gave me life and vigour
+to run down the rocks, and hie as fast as my savage across the plain to
+Pozzuoli. There we took bark and rowed out into the blue ocean, by the
+remains of a sturdy mole: many such, I imagine, adorned the bay in Roman
+ages, crowned by vast lengths of slender pillars; pavilions at their
+extremities and taper cypresses spiring above their balustrades: this
+character of villa occurs very frequently in the paintings of
+Herculaneum.
+
+We had soon crossed the bay, and landing on a bushy coast near some
+fragments of a temple which they say was raised to Hercules, advanced
+into the country by narrow tracks covered with moss and strewed with
+shining pebbles; to the right and left, broad masses of luxuriant
+foliage, chesnut, bay and ilex, that shelter the ruins of sepulchral
+chambers. No parties of smart Englishmen and connoisseurs were about. I
+had all the land to myself, and mounted its steeps and penetrated into
+its recesses, with the importance of a discoverer. What a variety of
+narrow paths, between banks and shades, did I wildly follow! my savage
+laughing loud at my odd gestures and useless activity. He wondered I did
+not scrape the ground for medals, and pocket little bits of plaster,
+like other inquisitive young travellers that had gone before me.
+
+After ascending some time, I followed him into the wondrous[10]
+reservoir which Nero constructed to supply his fleet, when anchored in
+the neighbouring bay. A noise of trickling waters prevailed throughout
+this grand labyrinth of solid vaults and arches, that had almost lulled
+me to sleep as I rested myself on the celandine which carpets the floor;
+but curiosity urging me forward, I gained the upper air; walked amongst
+woods a few minutes, and then into grots and dismal excavations (prisons
+they call them) which began to weary me.
+
+After having gone up and down in this manner for some time, we at last
+reached an eminence that commanded the Mare Morto, and Elysian fields
+trembling with reeds and poplars. The Dead Lake, a faithful emblem of
+eternal tranquillity, looked deep and solemn. A few peasants seemed
+fixed on its margin, their shadows reflected on the water. Turning from
+the lake I espied a rock at about a league distant, whose summit was
+clad with verdure, and finding this to be the promontory of Misenus, I
+immediately set my face to that quarter.
+
+We passed several dirty villages, inhabited by an ill-favoured
+generation, infamous for depredations and murders. Their gardens,
+however, discover some marks of industry; the fields are separated by
+neat hedges of cane, and a variety of herbs and pulses and Indian corn
+seemed to flourish in the inclosures. Insensibly we began to leave the
+cultivated lands behind us, and to lose ourselves in shady wilds, which,
+to all appearance, no mortal had ever trodden. Here were no paths, no
+inclosures; a primeval rudeness characterized the whole scene.
+
+After forcing our way about a mile, through glades of shrubs and briars,
+we entered a lawn-like opening at the base of the cliff which takes its
+name from Misenus. The poets of the Augustan age would have celebrated
+such a meadow with the warmest raptures, and peopled its green expanse
+with all the sylvan demi-gods of their beautiful mythology. Here were
+springs issuing from rocks of pumice, and grassy hillocks partially
+concealed by thickets of bay.
+
+    Et circum irriguo surgebant lilia prato
+    Candida purpureis mista papaveribus.
+
+But as it is not the lot of human animals to be contented, instead of
+reposing in the vale, I scaled the rock, and was three parts dissolved
+in attaining its summit. The sun darted upon my head, I wished to avoid
+its immediate influence; no tree was near; the pleasant valley lay below
+at a considerable depth, and it was a long way to descend to it. Looking
+round and round, I spied something like a hut, under a crag on the edge
+of a dark fissure. Might I avail myself of its covert? My conductor
+answered in the affirmative, and added that it was inhabited by a good
+old woman, who never refused a cup of milk, or slice of bread, to
+refresh a weary traveller.
+
+Thirst and fatigue urged me speedily down an intervening slope of
+stunted myrtle. Though oppressed with heat, I could not help deviating a
+few steps from the direct path to notice the uncouth rocks which rose
+frowning on every quarter. Above the hut, their appearance was truly
+formidable, bristled over with sharp-spired dwarf aloes, such as
+Lucifer himself might be supposed to have sown. Indeed I knew not
+whether I was not approaching some gate that leads to his abode, as I
+drew near a gulph (the fissure lately mentioned) and heard the deep
+hollow murmurs of the gusts which were imprisoned below. The savage, my
+guide, shuddered as he passed by to apprise the old woman of my coming.
+I felt strangely, and stared around me, and but half liked my situation.
+
+In the midst of my doubts, forth tottered the old woman. “You are
+welcome,” said she, in a feeble voice, but a better dialect than I had
+heard in the neighbourhood. Her look was more humane, and she seemed of
+a superior race to the inhabitants of the surrounding valleys. My savage
+treated her with peculiar deference. She had just given him some bread,
+with which he retired to a respectful distance bowing to the earth. I
+caught the mode, and was very obsequious, thinking myself on the point
+of experiencing a witch’s influence, and gaining, perhaps, some insight
+into the volume of futurity. She smiled at my agitation and kept
+beckoning me into the cottage.
+
+“Now,” thought I to myself, “I am upon the verge of an adventure.” I saw
+nothing, however, but clay walls, a straw bed, some glazed earthen
+bowls, and a wooden crucifix. My shoes were loaded with sand: this my
+hostess perceived, and immediately kindling a fire in an inner part of
+the hovel, brought out some warm water to refresh my feet, and set some
+milk and chesnuts before me. This patriarchal attention was by no means
+indifferent after my tiresome ramble. I sat down opposite to the door
+which fronted the unfathomable gulph; beyond appeared the sea, of a deep
+cerulean, foaming with waves. The sky also was darkening apace with
+storms. Sadness came over me like a cloud, and I looked up to the old
+woman for consolation.
+
+“And you too are sorrowful, young stranger,” said she, “that come from
+the gay world! how must I feel, who pass year after year in these lonely
+mountains?” I answered that the weather affected me, and my spirits were
+exhausted by the walk.
+
+All the while I spoke she looked at me with such a melancholy
+earnestness that I asked the cause, and began again to imagine myself
+in some fatal habitation,
+
+    Where more is meant than meets the ear.
+
+“Your features,” said she, “are wonderfully like those of an unfortunate
+young person, who, in this retirement....” The tears began to fall as
+she pronounced these words; my curiosity was fired. “Tell me,” continued
+I, “what you mean; who was this youth for whom you are so interested?
+and why did he seclude himself in this wild region? Your kindness to him
+might no doubt have alleviated, in some measure, the horrors of the
+place; but may God defend me from passing the night near such a gulph! I
+would not trust myself in a despairing moment.”
+
+“It is,” said she, “a place of horrors. I tremble to relate what has
+happened on this very spot; but your manner interests me, and though I
+am little given to narrations, for once I will unlock my lips concerning
+the secrets of yonder fatal chasm.
+
+“I was born in a distant part of Italy, and have known better days. In
+my youth fortune smiled upon my family, but in a few years they withered
+away; no matter by what accident. I am not going to talk much of
+myself. Have patience a few moments! A series of unfortunate events
+reduced me to indigence, and drove me to this desert, where, from
+rearing goats and making their milk into cheese, by a different method
+than is common in the Neapolitan state, I have, for about thirty years,
+prolonged a sorrowful existence. My silent grief and constant retirement
+had made me appear to some a saint, and to others a sorceress. The
+slight knowledge I have of plants has been exaggerated, and, some years
+back, the hours I gave up to prayer, and the recollection of former
+friends, lost to me for ever! were cruelly intruded upon by the idle and
+the ignorant. But soon I sank into obscurity: my little recipes were
+disregarded, and you are the first stranger who, for these twelve months
+past, has visited my abode. Ah, would to God its solitude had ever
+remained inviolate!
+
+“It is now three-and-twenty years,” and she looked upon some characters
+cut on the planks of the cottage, “since I was sitting by moonlight,
+under that cliff you view to the right, my eyes fixed on the ocean, my
+mind lost in the memory of my misfortunes, when I heard a step, and
+starting up, a figure stood before me. It was a young man, in a rich
+habit, with streaming hair, and looks that bespoke the utmost terror. I
+knew not what to think of this sudden apparition. ‘Mother,’ said he with
+faltering accents, ‘let me rest under your roof; and deliver me not up
+to those who thirst after my blood. Take this gold; take all, all!’
+
+“Surprise held me speechless; the purse fell to the ground; the youth
+stared wildly on every side: I heard many voices beyond the rocks; the
+wind bore them distinctly, but presently they died away. I took courage,
+and assured the youth my cot should shelter him. ‘Oh! thank you, thank
+you!’ answered he, and pressed my hand. He shared my scanty provision.
+
+“Overcome with toil (for I had worked hard in the day) sleep closed my
+eyes for a short interval. When I awoke the moon was set, but I heard my
+unhappy guest sobbing in darkness. I disturbed him not. Morning dawned,
+and he was fallen into a slumber. The tears bubbled out of his closed
+eyelids, and coursed one another down his wan cheeks. I had been too
+wretched myself not to respect the sorrows of another: neglecting
+therefore my accustomed occupations, I drove away the flies that buzzed
+around his temples. His breast heaved high with sighs, and he cried
+loudly in his sleep for mercy.
+
+“The beams of the sun dispelling his dream, he started up like one that
+had heard the voice of an avenging angel, and hid his face with his
+hands. I poured some milk down his parched throat. ‘Oh, mother!’ he
+exclaimed, ‘I am a wretch unworthy of compassion; the cause of
+innumerable sufferings; a murderer! a parricide!’ My blood curdled to
+hear a stripling utter such dreadful words, and behold such agonising
+sighs swell in so young a bosom; for I marked the sting of conscience
+urging him to disclose what I am going to relate.
+
+“It seems he was of high extraction, nursed in the pomps and luxuries of
+Naples, the pride and darling of his parents, adorned with a thousand
+lively talents, which the keenest sensibility conspired to improve.
+Unable to fix any bounds to whatever became the object of his desires,
+he passed his first years in roving from one extravagance to another,
+but as yet there was no crime in his caprices.
+
+“At length it pleased Heaven to visit his family, and make their idol
+the slave of an unbridled passion. He had a friend, who from his birth
+had been devoted to his interest, and placed all his confidence in him.
+This friend loved to distraction a young creature, the most graceful of
+her sex (as I can witness), and she returned his affection. In the
+exultation of his heart he showed her to the wretch whose tale I am
+about to tell. He sickened at her sight. She too caught fire at his
+glances. They languished--they consumed away--they conversed, and his
+persuasive language finished what his guilty glances had begun.
+
+“Their flame was soon discovered, for he disdained to conceal a thought,
+however dishonourable. The parents warned the youth in the tenderest
+manner; but advice and prudent counsels were to him so loathsome, that
+unable to contain his rage, and infatuated with love, he menaced the
+life of his friend as the obstacle of his enjoyment. Coolness and
+moderation were opposed to violence and frenzy, and he found himself
+treated with a contemptuous gentleness. Stricken to the heart, he
+wandered about for some time like one entranced. Meanwhile the nuptials
+were preparing, and the lovely girl he had perverted found ways to let
+him know she was about to be torn from his embraces.
+
+“He raved like a demoniac, and rousing his dire spirit, applied to a
+malignant wretch who sold the most inveterate poisons. These he infused
+into a cup of pure iced water and presented to his friend, and to his
+own too fond confiding father, who soon after they had drunk the fatal
+potion began evidently to pine away. He marked the progress of their
+dissolution with a horrid firmness, he let the moment pass beyond which
+all antidotes were vain. His friend expired; and the young criminal,
+though he beheld the dews of death hang on his parent’s forehead, yet
+stretched not forth his hand. In a short space the miserable father
+breathed his last, whilst his son was sitting aloof in the same chamber.
+
+“The sight overcame him. He felt, for the first time, the pangs of
+remorse. His agitations passed not unnoticed. He was watched: suspicions
+beginning to unfold he took alarm, and one evening escaped; but not
+without previously informing the partner of his crimes which way he
+intended to flee. Several pursued; but the inscrutable will of
+Providence blinded their search, and I was doomed to behold the effects
+of celestial vengeance.
+
+“Such are the chief circumstances of the tale I gathered from the youth.
+I swooned whilst he related it, and could take no sustenance. One whole
+day afterwards did I pray the Lord, that I might die rather than be near
+an incarnate demon. With what indignation did I now survey that slender
+form and those flowing tresses, which had interested me before so much
+in his behalf!
+
+“No sooner did he perceive the change in my countenance, than sullenly
+retiring to yonder rock he sat careless of the sun and scorching winds;
+for it was now the summer solstice. He was equally heedless of the
+unwholesome dews. When midnight came my horrors were augmented; and I
+meditated several times to abandon my hovel and fly to the next village;
+but a power more than human chained me to the spot and fortified my
+mind.
+
+“I slept, and it was late next morning when some one called at the
+wicket of the little fold, where my goats are penned. I arose, and saw a
+peasant of my acquaintance leading a female strangely muffled up, and
+casting her eyes on the ground. My heart misgave me. I thought this was
+the very maid who had been the cause of such atrocious wickedness. Nor
+were my conjectures ill-founded. Regardless of the clown who stood by in
+stupid astonishment, she fell to the earth and bathed my hand with
+tears. Her trembling lips with difficulty enquired after the youth; and,
+as she spoke, a glow of conscious guilt lightened up her pale
+countenance.
+
+“The full recollection of her lover’s crimes shot through my memory. I
+was incensed, and would have spurned her away; but, she clung to my
+garments and seemed to implore my pity with a look so full of misery,
+that, relenting, I led her in silence to the extremity of the cliff
+where the youth was seated, his feet dangling above the sea. His eye was
+rolling wildly around, but it soon fixed upon the object for whose sake
+he had doomed himself to perdition.
+
+“Far be it from me to describe their ecstasies, or the eagerness with
+which they sought each other’s embraces. I indignantly turned my head
+away; and, driving my goats to a recess amongst the rocks, sat revolving
+in my mind these strange events. I neglected procuring any provision for
+my unwelcome guests; and about midnight returned homewards by the light
+of the moon which shone serenely in the heavens. Almost the first object
+her beams discovered was the guilty maid sustaining the head of her
+lover, who had fainted through weakness and want of nourishment. I
+fetched some dry bread, and dipping it in milk laid it before them.
+Having performed this duty I set open the door of my hut, and retiring
+to a neighbouring cavity, there stretched myself on a heap of leaves and
+offered my prayers to Heaven.
+
+“A thousand fears, till this moment unknown, thronged into my fancy. The
+shadow of leaves that chequered the entrance to the grot, seemed to
+assume in my distempered imagination the form of ugly reptiles, and I
+repeatedly shook my garments. The flow of the distant surges was
+deepened by my apprehensions into distant groans: in a word, I could not
+rest; but issuing from the cavern as hastily as my trembling knees would
+allow, paced along the edge of the precipice. An unaccountable impulse
+would have hurried my steps, yet such was my terror and shivering, that
+unable to advance to my hut or retreat to the cavern, I was about to
+shield myself from the night in a sandy crevice, when a loud shriek
+pierced my ear. My fears had confused me; I was in fact near my hovel
+and scarcely three paces from the brink of the cavern: it was thence the
+cries proceeded.
+
+“Advancing in a cold shudder to its edge, part of which was newly
+crumbled in, I discovered the form of the young man suspended by one
+foot to a branch of juniper that grew several feet down: thus dreadfully
+did he hang over the gulph from the branch bending with his weight. His
+features were distorted, his eye-balls glared with agony, and his
+screams became so shrill and terrible that I lost all power of affording
+assistance. Fixed, I stood with my eyes riveted upon the criminal, who
+incessantly cried out, ‘O God! O Father! save me if there be yet mercy!
+save me, or I sink into the abyss!’
+
+“I am convinced he did not see me; for not once did he implore my help.
+His voice grew faint, and as I gazed intent upon him, the loose thong of
+leather, which had entangled itself in the branches by which he hung
+suspended, gave way, and he fell into utter darkness. I sank to the
+earth in a trance; during which a sound like the rush of pennons
+assaulted my ear: methought the evil spirit was bearing off his soul;
+but when I lifted up my eyes nothing stirred; the stillness that
+prevailed was awful.
+
+“The moon hanging low over the waves afforded a sickly light, by which I
+perceived some one coming down that white cliff you see before you; and
+I soon heard the voice of the young woman calling aloud on her guilty
+lover. She stopped. She repeated again and again her exclamation; but
+there was no reply. Alarmed and frantic she hurried along the path, and
+now I saw her on the promontory, and now by yonder pine, devouring with
+her glances every crevice in the rock. At length perceiving me, she flew
+to where I stood, by the fatal precipice, and having noticed the
+fragments fresh crumbled in, pored importunately on my countenance. I
+continued pointing to the chasm; she trembled not; her tears could not
+flow; but she divined the meaning. ‘He is lost!’ said she; ‘the earth
+has swallowed him! but, as I have shared with him the highest joy, so
+will I partake his torments. I will follow: dare not to hinder me.’
+
+“Like the phantoms I have seen in dreams, she glanced beside me; and,
+clasping her hands above her head, lifted a steadfast look on the
+hemisphere, and viewed the moon with an anxiousness that told me she
+was bidding it farewell for ever. Observing a silken handkerchief on the
+ground, with which she had but an hour ago bound her lover’s temples,
+she snatched it up, and imprinting it with burning kisses, thrust it
+into her bosom. Once more, expanding her arms in the last act of despair
+and miserable passion, she threw herself, with a furious leap, into the
+gulph.
+
+“To its margin I crawled on my knees, and there did I remain in the most
+dreadful darkness; for now the moon was sunk, the sky obscured with
+storms, and a tempestuous blast ranging the ocean. Showers poured thick
+upon me, and the lightning, in clear and frequent flashes, gave me
+terrifying glimpses of yonder accursed chasm.
+
+“Stranger, dost thou believe in our Redeemer? in his most holy mother?
+in the tenets of our faith?” I answered with reverence, but said her
+faith and mine were different. “Then,” continued the aged woman, “I will
+not declare before a heretic what were the visions of that night of
+vengeance!” She paused; I was silent.
+
+After a short interval, with deep and frequent sighs, she resumed her
+narrative. “Daylight began to dawn as if with difficulty, and it was
+late before its radiance had tinged the watery and tempestuous clouds. I
+was still kneeling by the gulph in prayer when the cliffs began to
+brighten, and the beams of the morning sun to strike against me. Then
+did I rejoice. Then no longer did I think myself of all human beings the
+most abject and miserable. How different did I feel myself from those,
+fresh plunged into the abodes of torment, and driven for ever from the
+morning!
+
+“Three days elapsed in total solitude: on the fourth, some grave and
+ancient persons arrived from Naples, who questioned me, repeatedly,
+about the wretched lovers, and to whom I related their fate with every
+dreadful particular. Soon after I learned that all discourse concerning
+them was expressly stopped, and that no prayers were offered up for
+their souls.”
+
+With these words, as well as I recollect, the old woman ended her
+singular narration. My blood thrilled as I walked by the gulph to call
+my guide, who stood aloof under the cliffs. He seemed to think, from the
+paleness of my countenance, that I had heard some gloomy prediction,
+and shook his head, when I turned round to bid my old hostess adieu! It
+was a melancholy evening, and I could not refrain from tears, whilst,
+winding through the defiles of the rocks, the sad scenes which had
+passed amongst them recurred to my memory.
+
+Traversing a wild thicket, we soon regained the shore, where I rambled a
+few minutes whilst the peasant went for the boatmen. The last streaks of
+light were quivering on the waters when I stepped into the bark, and
+wrapping myself up in an awning, slept till we reached Puzzoli, some of
+whose inhabitants came forth with torches to light us home.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXIV.
+
+     The Tyrol Mountains.--Intense cold.--Delight on beholding human
+     habitations.
+
+
+Augsburg, 20th January, 1781.
+
+For these ten days past have I been traversing Lapland: winds whistling
+in my ears, and cones showering down upon my head from the wilds of pine
+through which our route conducted us. We were often obliged to travel by
+moonlight, and I leave you to imagine the awful aspect of the Tyrol
+mountains buried in snow.
+
+I scarcely ventured to utter an exclamation of surprise, though prompted
+by some of the most striking scenes in nature, lest I should interrupt
+the sacred silence that prevails, during winter, in these boundless
+solitudes. The streams are frozen, and mankind petrified, for aught I
+know to the contrary, since whole days have we journeyed on without
+perceiving the slightest hint of their existence.
+
+I never before felt so much pleasure by discovering a smoke rising from
+a cottage, or hearing a heifer lowing in its stall; and could not have
+supposed there was so much satisfaction in perceiving two or three fur
+caps, with faces under them, peeping out of their concealments. I wish
+you had been with me, exploring this savage region: wrapped up in our
+bear-skins, we should have followed its secret avenues, and penetrated,
+perhaps, into some enchanted cave lined with sables, where, like the
+heroes of northern romances, we should have been waited upon by dwarfs,
+and sung drowsily to repose. I think it no bad scheme to sleep away five
+or six years to come, since every hour affairs are growing more and more
+turbulent. Well, let them! provided we may enjoy, in security, the
+shades of our thickets.
+
+
+
+
+SECOND VISIT TO ITALY.
+
+
+
+
+The following letters, written during a second excursion, are added, on
+account of their affinity to some of the preceding.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+     First day of Summer.--A dismal Plain.--Gloomy entrance to
+     Cologne.--Labyrinth of hideous edifices.--Hotel of Der Heilige
+     Geist.
+
+
+Cologne, 28th May, 1782.
+
+This is the first day of summer; the oak leaves expand, the roses blow,
+butterflies are on the wing, and I have spirits enough to write to you.
+We have had clouded skies this fortnight past, and roads like the slough
+of Despond. Last Wednesday we were benighted on a dismal plain,
+apparently boundless. The moon cast a sickly gleam, and now and then a
+blue meteor glided along the morass which lay before us.
+
+After much difficulty we gained an avenue, and in an hour’s time
+discovered something like a gateway, shaded by crooked elms and crowned
+by a cluster of turrets. Here we paused and knocked; no one answered.
+We repeated our knocks; the gate returned a hollow sound; the horses
+coughed, their riders blew their horns. At length the bars fell, and we
+entered--by what means I am ignorant, for no human being appeared.
+
+A labyrinth of narrow winding streets, dark as the vaults of a
+cathedral, opened to our view. We kept wandering along, at least twenty
+minutes, between lofty mansions with grated windows and strange
+galleries projecting one over another, from which depended innumerable
+uncouth figures and crosses, in iron-work, swinging to and fro with the
+wind. At the end of this gloomy maze we found a long street, not fifteen
+feet wide, I am certain; the houses still loftier than those just
+mentioned, the windows thicker barred, and the gibbets (for I know not
+what else to call them) more frequent. Here and there we saw lights
+glimmering in the highest stories, and arches on the right and left,
+which seemed to lead into retired courts and deeper darkness.
+
+Along one of these recesses we were jumbled, over such pavement as I
+hope you may never tread upon; and, after parading round it, went out
+at the same arch through which we had entered. This procession seemed at
+first very mystical, but it was too soon accounted for by our
+postilions, who confessed they had lost their way. A council was held
+amongst them in form, and then we struck into another labyrinth of
+hideous edifices, habitations I will not venture to call them, as not a
+creature stirred; though the rumbling of our carriages was echoed by all
+the vaults and arches.
+
+Towards midnight we rested a few minutes, and a head poking out of a
+casement directed us to the hotel of Der Heilige Geist, where an
+apartment, thirty feet square, was prepared for our reception.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+     Enter the Tyrol.--Picturesque scenery.--Village of
+     Nasseriet.--World of boughs.--Forest huts.--Floral abundance.
+
+
+Inspruck, June 4, 1782.
+
+No sooner had we passed Fuessen than we entered the Tyrol, a country of
+picturesque wonders. Those lofty peaks, those steeps of wood I delight
+in, lay before us. Innumerable clear springs gushed out on every side,
+overhung by luxuriant shrubs in blossom. The day was mild, though
+overcast, and a soft blue vapour rested upon the hills, above which rise
+mountains that bear plains of snow into the clouds.
+
+At night we lay at Nasseriet, a village buried amongst savage
+promontories. The next morning we advanced, in bright sunshine, into
+smooth lawns on the slopes of mountains, scattered over with larches,
+whose delicate foliage formed a light green veil to the azure sky.
+Flights of birds were merrily travelling from spray to spray. I ran
+delighted into this world of boughs, whilst Cozens sat down to draw the
+huts which are scattered about for the shelter of herds, and discover
+themselves amongst the groves in the most picturesque manner.
+
+These little edifices are uncommonly neat, and excite those ideas of
+pastoral life to which I am so fondly attached. The turf from whence
+they rise is enamelled, in the strict sense of the word, with flowers.
+Gentians predominated, brighter than ultramarine; here and there
+auriculas looked out of the moss, and I often reposed upon tufts of
+ranunculus. Bushes of phillyrea were very frequent, the sun shining full
+on their glossy leaves. An hour passed away swiftly in these pleasant
+groves, where I lay supine under a lofty fir, a tower of leaves and
+branches.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+     Rapidity of our drive along the causeways of the Brenta.--Shore of
+     Fusina.--A stormy sky.--Draw near to Venice.--Its deserted
+     appearance.--Visit to Madame de R.--Cesarotti.
+
+
+Padua, June 14th, 1782.
+
+Once more, said I to myself, I shall have the delight of beholding
+Venice; so got into an open chaise, the strangest curricle that ever man
+was jolted in, and drove furiously along the causeways by the Brenta,
+into whose deep waters it is a mercy, methinks, I was not precipitated.
+Fiesso, the Dolo, the Mira, with all their gardens, statues, and
+palaces, seemed flying after each other, so rapid was our motion.
+
+After a few hours’ confinement between close steeps, the scene opened to
+the wide shore of Fusina. I looked up (for I had scarcely time to look
+before) and beheld a troubled sky, shot with vivid red, the Lagunes
+tinted like the opal, and the islands of a glowing flame-colour. The
+mountains of the distant continent appeared of a deep melancholy grey,
+and innumerable gondolas were passing to and fro in all their blackness.
+The sun, after a long struggle, was swallowed up in the tempestuous
+clouds.
+
+In an hour we drew near to Venice, and saw its world of domes rising out
+of the waters. A fresh breeze bore the toll of innumerable bells to my
+ear. Sadness came over me as I entered the great canal, and recognised
+those solemn palaces, with their lofty arcades and gloomy arches,
+beneath which I had so often sat, the scene of many a strange adventure.
+
+The Venetians being mostly at their villas on the Brenta, the town
+appeared deserted. I visited, however, all my old haunts in the Place of
+St. Mark, ran up the Campanile, and rowed backwards and forwards,
+opposite the Ducal Palace, by moon-light. They are building a spacious
+quay, near the street of the Sclavonians, fronting the island of San
+Giorgio Maggiore, where I remained alone at least an hour, following the
+wanderings of the moon amongst mountainous clouds, and listening to the
+waters dashing against marble steps.
+
+I closed my evening at my friend Madame de Rosenberg’s, where I met
+Cesarotti, who read to us some of the most affecting passages in his
+Fingal, with all the intensity of a poet, thoroughly persuaded that into
+his own bosom the very soul of Ossian had been transfused.
+
+Next morning the wind was uncommonly violent for the mild season of
+June, and the canals much ruffled; but I was determined to visit the
+Lido once more, and bathe on my accustomed beach. The pines in the
+garden of the Carthusians were nodding as I passed by in my gondola,
+which was very poetically buffeted by the waves.
+
+Traversing the desert of locusts,[11] I hailed the Adriatic, and plunged
+into its agitated waters. The sea, delightfully cool, refreshed me to
+such a degree, that, upon my return to Venice, I found myself able to
+thread its labyrinths of streets, canals, and alleys, in search of amber
+and oriental curiosities. The variety of exotic merchandise, the perfume
+of coffee, the shade of awnings, and the sight of Greeks and Asiatics
+sitting cross-legged under them, made me think myself in the bazaars of
+Constantinople.
+
+It is certain my beloved town of Venice ever recalls a series of eastern
+ideas and adventures. I cannot help thinking St. Mark’s a mosque, and
+the neighbouring palace some vast seraglio, full of arabesque saloons,
+embroidered sofas, and voluptuous Circassians.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+     Excursion to Mirabello.--Beauty of the road thither.--Madame de
+     R.’s wild-looking niece.--A comfortable Monk’s nest.
+
+
+Padua, June 19th, 1782.
+
+The morning was delightful, and St. Anthony’s bells in full chime. A
+shower which had fallen in the night rendered the air so cool and
+grateful, that Madame de R. and myself determined to seize the
+opportunity and go to Mirabello, a country house, which Algarotti had
+inhabited, situate amongst the Euganean hills, eight or nine miles from
+Padua.
+
+Our road lay between poplar alleys and fields of yellow corn, overhung
+by garlands of vine, most beautifully green. I soon found myself in the
+midst of my favourite hills, upon slopes covered with clover, and shaded
+by cherry-trees. Bending down their boughs I gathered the fruit, and
+grew cooler and happier every instant.
+
+We dined very comfortably in a strange hall, where my friend’s little
+wild-looking niece pitched her pianoforte, and sang the voluptuous airs
+of Bertoni’s Armida. That enchantress might have raised her palace in
+this situation; and, had I been Rinaldo, I certainly should not very
+soon have abandoned it.
+
+After dinner we drank coffee under some branching lemons, which sprang
+from a terrace, commanding a boundless scene of towers and villas; tall
+cypresses and shrubby hillocks rising, like islands, out of a sea of
+corn and vine.
+
+Evening drawing on, and the breeze blowing fresh from the distant
+Adriatic, I reclined on a slope, and turned my eyes anxiously towards
+Venice; then upon some little fields hemmed in by chesnuts, where the
+peasants were making their hay, and, from thence, to a mountain, crowned
+by a circular grove of fir and cypress.
+
+In the centre of these shades some monks have a comfortable nest;
+perennial springs, a garden of delicious vegetables, and, I dare say, a
+thousand luxuries besides, which the poor mortals below never dream of.
+
+Had it not been late, I should certainly have climbed up to the grove,
+and asked admittance into its recesses; but having no mind to pass the
+night in this eyrie, I contented myself with the distant prospect.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+     Rome.--Stroll to the Coliseo and the Palatine Mount.--A grand
+     Rinfresco.--The Egyptian Lionesses.--Illuminations.
+
+
+Rome, 29th June 1782.
+
+It is needless for me to say I wish you with me: you know I do; you know
+how delightfully we should ramble about Rome together. This evening,
+instead of parading the Corso with the puppets in blue and silver coats,
+and green and gold coaches, instead of bowing to Cardinal this, and
+dotting my head to Abbè t’other, I strolled to the Coliseo and scrambled
+amongst its arches. Then bending my course to the Palatine Mount, I
+passed under the Arch of Titus, and gained the Capitol, which was quite
+deserted, the world, thank Heaven, being all slip-slopping in
+coffee-houses, or staring at a few painted boards, patched up before the
+Colonna palace, where, by the by, to-night is a grand _rinfresco_ for
+all the dolls and doll-fanciers of Rome. I heard their buzz at a
+distance; that was enough for me!
+
+Soothed by the rippling of waters, I descended the Capitoline stairs,
+and leaned several minutes against one of the Egyptian lionesses. This
+animal has no knack at oracles, or else it would have murmured out to me
+the situation of that secret cave, where the wolf suckled Romulus and
+his brother.
+
+About nine, I returned home, and am now writing to you like a prophet on
+the housetop. Behind me rustle the thickets of the Villa Medici; before,
+lies roof beyond roof, and dome beyond dome: these are dimly discovered;
+but do not you see the great cupola of cupolas, twinkling with
+illuminations? The town is real, I am certain; but, surely, that
+structure of fire must be visionary.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+     The Negroni Garden.--Its solitary and antique appearance.--Stately
+     Porticos of the Lateran.--Dreary Scene.
+
+
+Rome, 30th June 1782.
+
+As soon as the sun declined I strolled into the Villa Medici; but
+finding it haunted by pompous people, nay, even by the Spanish
+Ambassador, and several red-legged Cardinals, I moved off to the Negroni
+garden. There I found what my soul desired, thickets of jasmine, and
+wild spots overgrown with bay; long alleys of cypress totally neglected,
+and almost impassable through the luxuriance of the vegetation; on every
+side antique fragments, vases, sarcophagi, and altars sacred to the
+Manes, in deep, shady recesses, which I am certain the Manes must love.
+The air was filled with the murmurs of water, trickling down basins of
+porphyry, and losing itself amongst overgrown weeds and grasses.
+
+Above the wood and between its boughs appeared several domes, and a
+strange lofty tower. I will not say they belong to St. Maria Maggiore;
+no, they are fanes and porticos dedicated to Cybele, who delights in
+sylvan situations. The forlorn air of this garden, with its high and
+reverend shades, make me imagine it as old as the baths of Dioclesian,
+which peep over one of its walls.
+
+At the close of day, I repaired to the platform before the stately
+porticos of the Lateran. There I sat, folded up in myself. Some priests
+jarred the iron gates behind me. I looked over my shoulder through the
+portals, into the portico. Night began to fill it with darkness. Upon
+turning round, the melancholy waste of the Campagna met my eyes, and I
+wished to go home, but had scarcely the power. A pressure, like that I
+have felt in horrid dreams, seemed to fix me to the pavement.
+
+I was thus in a manner forced to dwell upon the dreary scene, the long
+line of aqueducts and lonesome towers. Perhaps the unwholesome vapours,
+rising like blue mists from the plains, had affected me. I know not how
+it was; but I never experienced such strange, such chilling terrors.
+About ten o’clock, thank God, the spell dissolved, I found my limbs at
+liberty, and returned home.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+     Naples.--Portici.--The King’s Pagliaro and Garden.--Description of
+     that pleasant spot.
+
+
+Naples, July 8th, 1782.
+
+The sea-breezes restore me to life. I set the heat of mid-day at
+defiance, and do not believe in the horrors of the sirocco. I passed
+yesterday at Portici, with Lady H. The morning, refreshing and pleasant,
+invited us at an early hour into the open air. We drove, in an uncovered
+chaise, to the royal Bosquetto: no other unroyal carriage except Sir
+W.’s being allowed to enter its alleys, we breathed a fresh air,
+untainted by dust or garlick. Every now and then, amidst wild bushes of
+ilex and myrtle, one finds a graceful antique statue, sometimes a
+fountain, and often a rude knoll, where the rabbits sit undisturbed,
+contemplating the blue glittering bay.
+
+The walls of this shady inclosure are lined with Peruvian aloes, whose
+white blossoms, scented like those of the magnolia, form the most
+magnificent clusters. They are plants to salute respectfully as one
+passes by; such is their size and dignity. In the midst of the thickets
+stands the King’s Pagliaro, in a small garden, with hedges of luxuriant
+jasmine, whose branches are suffered to flaunt as much as nature
+pleases.
+
+The morning sun darted his first rays on their flowers just as I entered
+this pleasant spot. The hut looks as if erected in the days of fairy
+pastoral life; its neatness is quite delightful. Bright tiles compose
+the floor; straw, nicely platted, covers the walls. In the middle of the
+room you see a table spread with a beautiful Persian carpet; at one end,
+four niches with mattresses of silk, where the King and his favourites
+repose after dinner; at the other, a white marble basin. Mount a little
+staircase, and you find yourself in another apartment, formed by the
+roof, which being entirely composed of glistening straw, casts that
+comfortable yellow glow I admire. From the windows you look into the
+garden, not flourished over with parterres, but divided into plats of
+fragrant herbs and flowers, with here and there a little marble table,
+or basin of the purest water.
+
+These sequestered inclosures are cultivated with the greatest care, and
+so frequently watered, that I observed lettuces, and a variety of other
+vegetables, as fresh as in our green England.
+
+
+
+
+GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+     Determination to visit the Grande Chartreuse.--Reach the Village of
+     Les Echelles.--Gloomy region.--The Torrent.--Entrance of the
+     Desert.--Portal of the consecrated Enclosure.--Dark Woods and
+     Caverns.--Crosses.--Inscriptions.
+
+
+Gray’s sublime Ode on the Grande Chartreuse had sunk so deeply into my
+spirit that I could not rest in peace on the banks of the Leman Lake
+till I had visited the scene from whence he caught inspiration. I longed
+to penetrate these sacred precincts, to hear the language of their
+falling waters, and throw myself into the gloom of their forests: no
+object of a worldly nature did I allow to divert my thoughts, neither
+the baths of Aix, nor the habitation of the too indulgent Madame de
+Warens (held so holy by Rousseau’s worshippers), nor the magnificent
+road cut by Charles Emanuel of Savoy through the heart of a rocky
+mountain. All these points of attraction, so interesting to general
+travellers, were lost upon me, so totally was I absorbed in the
+anticipation of the pilgrimage I had undertaken.
+
+Mr. Lettice, who shared all my sentiments of admiration for Gray, and
+eagerness to explore the region he had described in his short and
+masterly letters with such energy, felt the same indifference as myself
+to commonplace scenery.
+
+The twilight was beginning to prevail when we reached Les Echelles, a
+miserable village, with but few of its chimneys smoking, situated at the
+base of a mountain, round which had gathered a concourse of red and
+greyish clouds. I was heartily glad to leave these forlorn and wretched
+quarters at the first dawn of the next day. We were now obliged to
+abandon our coach; and taking horse, proceeded towards the mountains,
+which, with the valleys between them, form what is called the Desert of
+the Carthusians.
+
+In an hour’s time we were drawing near, and could discern the opening of
+a narrow valley overhung by shaggy precipices, above which rose lofty
+peaks, covered to their very summits with wood. We could now distinguish
+the roar of torrents, and a confusion of strange sounds, issuing from
+dark forests of pine. I confess at this moment I was somewhat startled.
+I experienced some disagreeable sensations, and it was not without a
+degree of unwillingness that I left the gay pastures and enlivening
+sunshine, to throw myself into this gloomy and disturbed region. How
+dreadful, thought I, must be the despair of those, who enter it, never
+to return!
+
+But after the first impression was worn away all my curiosity redoubled;
+and desiring our guide to put forward with greater speed, we made such
+good haste, that the meadows and cottages of the plain were soon left
+far behind, and we found ourselves on the banks of the torrent, whose
+agitation answered the ideas which its sounds had inspired. Into the
+midst of these troubled waters we were obliged to plunge with our
+horses, and, when landed on the opposite shore, were by no means
+displeased to have passed them.
+
+We had now closed with the forests, over which the impending rocks
+diffused an additional gloom. The day grew obscured by clouds, and the
+sun no longer enlightened the distant plains, when we began to ascend
+towards the entrance of the desert, marked by two pinnacles of rock far
+above us, beyond which a melancholy twilight prevailed. Every moment we
+approached nearer and nearer to the sounds which had alarmed us; and,
+suddenly emerging from the woods, we discovered several mills and
+forges, with many complicated machines of iron, hanging over the
+torrent, that threw itself headlong from a cleft in the precipices; on
+one side of which I perceived our road winding along, till it was
+stopped by a venerable gateway. A rock above one of the forges was
+hollowed into the shape of a round tower, of no great size, but
+resembling very much an altar in figure; and, what added greatly to the
+grandeur of the object, was a livid flame continually palpitating upon
+it, which the gloom of the valley rendered perfectly discernible.
+
+The road, at a small distance from this remarkable scene, was become so
+narrow, that, had my horse started, I should have been but too well
+acquainted with the torrent that raged beneath; dismounting, therefore,
+I walked towards the edge of the great fell, and there, leaning on a
+fragment of cliff, looked down into the foaming gulph, where the waters
+were hurled along over broken pines, pointed rocks, and stakes of iron.
+Then, lifting up my eyes, I took in the vast extent of the forests,
+frowning on the brows of the mountains.
+
+It was here first I felt myself seized by the genius of the place, and
+penetrated with veneration of its religious gloom; and, I believe,
+uttered many extravagant exclamations; but, such was the dashing of the
+wheels, and the rushing of the waters at the bottom of the forges, that
+what I said was luckily undistinguishable.
+
+I was not yet, however, within the consecrated enclosure, and therefore
+not perfectly contented; so, leaving my fragment, I paced in silence up
+the path, which led to the great portal. When we arrived before it, I
+rested a moment, and looking against the stout oaken gate, which closed
+up the entrance to this unknown region, felt at my heart a certain awe,
+that brought to my mind the sacred terror of those, in ancient days
+going to be admitted into the Eleusinian mysteries.
+
+My guide gave two knocks; after a solemn pause, the gate was slowly
+opened, and all our horses having passed through it, was again carefully
+closed.
+
+I now found myself in a narrow dell, surrounded on every side by peaks
+of the mountains, rising almost beyond my sight, and shelving downwards
+till their bases were hidden by the foam and spray of the water, over
+which hung a thousand withered and distorted trees. The rocks seemed
+crowding upon me, and, by their particular situation, threatened to
+obstruct every ray of light; but, notwithstanding the menacing
+appearance of the prospect, I still kept following my guide, up a craggy
+ascent, partly hewn through a rock, and bordered by the trunks of
+ancient fir-trees, which formed a fantastic barrier, till we came to a
+dreary and exposed promontory, impending directly over the dell.
+
+The woods are here clouded with darkness, and the torrents rushing with
+additional violence are lost in the gloom of the caverns below; every
+object, as I looked downwards from my path, that hung midway between the
+base and the summit of the cliff, was horrid and woeful. The channel of
+the torrent sunk deep amidst frightful crags, and the pale willows and
+wreathed roots spreading over it, answered my ideas of those dismal
+abodes, where, according to the druidical mythology, the ghosts of
+conquered warriors were bound. I shivered whilst I was regarding these
+regions of desolation, and, quickly lifting up my eyes to vary the
+scene, I perceived a range of whitish cliffs glistening with the light
+of the sun, to emerge from these melancholy forests.
+
+On a fragment that projected over the chasm, and concealed for a moment
+its terrors, I saw a cross, on which was written VIA COELI. The cliffs
+being the heaven to which I now aspired, we deserted the edge of the
+precipice, and ascending, came to a retired nook of the rocks, in which
+several copious rills had worn irregular grottoes. Here we reposed an
+instant, and were enlivened with a few sunbeams, piercing the thickets
+and gilding the waters that bubbled from the rock, over which hung
+another cross, inscribed with this short sentence, which the situation
+rendered wonderfully pathetic, O SPES UNICA! the fervent exclamation of
+some wretch disgusted with the world whose only consolation was found in
+this retirement.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+     Thick forest of beech trees.--Fearful glimpses of the
+     torrent.--Throne of Moses.--Lofty bridge.--Distant view of the
+     Convent.--Profound calm.--Enter the convent gate.--Arched
+     aisle.--Welcomed by the father Coadjutor.--The Secretary and
+     Procurator.--Conversation with them.--A walk amongst the cloisters
+     and galleries.--Pictures of different Convents of the order.--Grand
+     Hall adorned with historical paintings of St. Bruno’s life.
+
+
+We quitted this solitary cross to enter a thick forest of beech trees,
+that screened in some measure the precipices on which they grew,
+catching however every instant terrifying glimpses of the torrent below.
+Streams gushed from every crevice in the cliffs, and falling over the
+mossy roots and branches of the beech, hastened to join the great
+torrent, athwart which I every now and then remarked certain tottering
+bridges, and sometimes could distinguish a Carthusian crossing over to
+his hermitage, that just peeped above the woody labyrinths on the
+opposite shore.
+
+Whilst I was proceeding amongst the innumerable trunks of the beech
+trees, my guide pointed out to me a peak, rising above the others, which
+he called the Throne of Moses. If that prophet had received his
+revelations in this desert, no voice need have declared it holy ground,
+for every part of it is stamped with such a sublimity of character as
+would alone be sufficient to impress the idea.
+
+Having left these woods behind, and crossing a bridge of many lofty
+arches, I shuddered once more at the impetuosity of the torrent; and,
+mounting still higher, came at length to a kind of platform before two
+cliffs, joined by an arch of rock, under which we were to pursue our
+road. Below we beheld again innumerable streams, turbulently
+precipitating themselves from the woods and lashing the base of the
+mountains, mossed over with a dark sea green.
+
+In this deep hollow such mists and vapours prevailed as hindered my
+prying into its recesses; besides, such was the dampness of the air,
+that I hastened gladly from its neighbourhood, and passing under the
+second portal beheld with pleasure the sunbeams gilding the throne of
+Moses.
+
+It was now about ten o’clock, and my guide assured me I should soon
+discover the convent. Upon this information I took new courage, and
+continued my route on the edge of the rocks, till we struck into another
+gloomy grove. After turning about it for some time, we entered again
+into the glare of daylight, and saw a green valley skirted by ridges of
+cliffs and sweeps of wood before us. Towards the farther end of this
+inclosure, on a gentle acclivity, rose the revered turrets of the
+Carthusians, which extend in a long line on the brow of the hill; beyond
+them a woody amphitheatre majestically presents itself, terminated by
+spires of rock and promontories lost amongst the clouds.
+
+The roar of the torrent was now but faintly distinguishable, and all the
+scenes of horror and confusion I had passed were succeeded by a sacred
+and profound calm. I traversed the valley with a thousand sensations I
+despair of describing, and stood before the gate of the convent with as
+much awe as some novice or candidate newly arrived to solicit the holy
+retirement of the order.
+
+As admittance is more readily granted to the English than to almost any
+other nation, it was not long before the gates opened, and whilst the
+porter ordered our horses to the stable, we entered a court watered by
+two fountains and built round with lofty edifices, characterized by a
+noble simplicity.
+
+The interior portal opening discovered an arched aisle, extending till
+the perspective nearly met, along which windows, but scantily
+distributed between the pilasters, admitted a pale solemn light, just
+sufficient to distinguish the objects with a picturesque uncertainty. We
+had scarcely set our feet on the pavement when the monks began to issue
+from an arch, about half way down, and passing in a long succession from
+their chapel, bowed reverently with much humility and meekness, and
+dispersed in silence, leaving one of their body alone in the aisle.
+
+The father Coadjutor (for he only remained) advanced towards us with
+great courtesy, and welcomed us in a manner which gave me far more
+pleasure than all the frivolous salutations and affected greetings so
+common in the world beneath. After asking us a few indifferent
+questions, he called one of the lay brothers, who live in the convent
+under less severe restrictions than the fathers, whom they serve, and
+ordering him to prepare our apartment, conducted us to a large square
+hall with casement windows, and, what was more comfortable, an enormous
+chimney, whose hospitable hearth blazed with a fire of dry aromatic fir,
+on each side of which were two doors that communicated with the neat
+little cells destined for our bed-chambers.
+
+Whilst he was placing us round the fire, a ceremony by no means
+unimportant in the cold climate of these upper regions, a bell rang
+which summoned him to prayers. After charging the lay brother to set
+before us the best fare their desert afforded, he retired, and left us
+at full liberty to examine our chambers.
+
+The weather lowered, and the casements permitted very little light to
+enter the apartment: but on the other side it was amply enlivened by the
+gleams of the fire, that spread all over a certain comfortable air,
+which even sunshine but rarely diffuses. Whilst the showers descended
+with great violence, the lay brother and another of his companions were
+placing an oval table, very neatly carved and covered with the finest
+linen, in the middle of the hall; and, before we had examined a number
+of portraits which were hung in all the panels of the wainscot, they
+called us to a dinner widely different from what might have been
+expected in so dreary a situation. Our attendant friar was helping us to
+some Burgundy, of the happiest growth and vintage, when the coadjutor
+returned, accompanied by two other fathers, the secretary and
+procurator, whom he presented to us. You would have been both charmed
+and surprised with the cheerful resignation that appeared in their
+countenances, and with the easy turn of their conversation.
+
+The coadjutor, though equally kind, was as yet more reserved: his
+countenance, however, spoke for him without the aid of words, and there
+was in his manner a mixture of dignity and humility, which could not
+fail to interest. There were moments when the recollection of some past
+event seemed to shade his countenance with a melancholy that rendered it
+still more affecting. I should suspect he formerly possessed a great
+share of natural vivacity (something of it being still, indeed, apparent
+in his more unguarded moments); but this spirit is almost entirely
+subdued by the penitence and mortification of the order.
+
+The secretary displayed a very considerable share of knowledge in the
+political state of Europe, furnished probably by the extensive
+correspondence these fathers preserve with the three hundred and sixty
+subordinate convents, dispersed throughout all those countries where the
+court of Rome still maintains its influence.
+
+In the course of our conversation they asked me innumerable questions
+about England, where formerly, they said, many monasteries had belonged
+to their order; and principally that of Witham, which they had learnt to
+be now in my possession.
+
+The secretary, almost with tears in his eyes, beseeched me to revere
+these consecrated edifices, and to preserve their remains, for the sake
+of St. Hugo, their canonized prior. I replied greatly to his
+satisfaction, and then declaimed so much in favour of St. Bruno, and the
+holy prior of Witham, that the good fathers grew exceedingly delighted
+with the conversation, and made me promise to remain some days with
+them. I readily complied with their request, and, continuing in the same
+strain, that had so agreeably affected their ears, was soon presented
+with the works of St. Bruno, whom I so zealously admired.
+
+After we had sat extolling them, and talking upon much the same sort of
+subjects for about an hour, the coadjutor proposed a walk amongst the
+cloisters and galleries, as the weather would not admit of any longer
+excursion. He leading the way, we ascended a flight of steps, which
+brought us to a gallery, on each side of which a vast number of
+pictures, representing the dependent convents, were ranged; for I was
+now in the capital of the order, where the general resides, and from
+whence he issues forth his commands to his numerous subjects; who depute
+the superiors of their respective convents, whether situated in the
+wilds of Calabria, the forests of Poland, or in the remotest districts
+of Portugal and Spain, to assist at the grand chapter, held annually
+under him, a week or two after Easter.
+
+This reverend father died about ten days before our arrival: a week ago
+they elected the prior of the Carthusian convent at Paris in his room,
+and two fathers were now on their route to apprise him of their choice,
+and to salute him General of the Carthusians. During this interregnum
+the coadjutor holds the first rank in the temporal, and the grand
+vicaire in the spiritual affairs of the order; both of which are very
+extensive.
+
+If I may judge from the representation of the different convents, which
+adorn this gallery, there are many highly worthy of notice, for the
+singularity of their situations, and the wild beauties of the landscapes
+which surround them. The Venetian Chartreuse, placed in a woody island;
+and that of Rome, rising from amongst groups of majestic ruins, struck
+me as peculiarly pleasing. Views of the English monasteries hung
+formerly in such a gallery, but had been destroyed by fire, together
+with the old convent. The list only remains, with but a very few written
+particulars concerning them.
+
+Having amused myself for some time with the pictures, and the
+descriptions the coadjutor gave me of them, we quitted the gallery and
+entered a kind of chapel, in which were two altars with lamps burning
+before them, on each side of a lofty portal. This opened into a grand
+coved hall, adorned with historical paintings of St. Bruno’s life, and
+the portraits of the generals of the order, since the year of the great
+founder’s death (1085) to the present time. Under these portraits are
+the stalls for the superiors, who assist at the grand convocation. In
+front, appears the general’s throne; above, hangs a representation of
+the canonized Bruno, crowned with stars.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+     Cloisters of extraordinary dimensions.--Cells of the
+     Monks.--Severity of the order.--Death-like calm.--The great
+     Chapel.--Its interior.--Marvellous events relating to St.
+     Bruno.--Retire to my cell.--Strange writings of St. Bruno.--Sketch
+     of his Life.--Appalling occurrence.--Vision of the Bishop of
+     Grenoble.--First institution of the Carthusian order.--Death of St.
+     Bruno.--His translation.
+
+
+The coadjutor seemed charmed with the respect with which I looked round
+on these holy objects; and if the hour of vespers had not been drawing
+near, we should have spent more time in the contemplation of Bruno’s
+miracles, pourtrayed on the lower panels of the hall. We left that room
+to enter a winding passage (lighted by windows in the roof) that brought
+us to a cloister six hundred feet in length, from which branched off two
+others, joining a fourth of the same most extraordinary dimensions. Vast
+ranges of slender pillars extend round the different courts of the
+edifice, many of which are thrown into gardens belonging to particular
+cells.
+
+We entered one of them: its inhabitant received us with much civility,
+walked before us through a little corridor that looked on his garden,
+showed us his narrow dwelling, and, having obtained leave of the
+coadjutor to speak, gave us his benediction, and beheld us depart with
+concern. Nature has given this poor monk very considerable talents for
+painting. He has drawn the portrait of the late General, in a manner
+that discovers great facility of execution; but he is not allowed to
+exercise his pencil on any other subject, lest he should be amused; and
+amusement in this severe order is a crime. He had so subdued, so
+mortified an appearance, that I was not sorry to hear the bell, which
+summoned the coadjutor to prayers, and prevented my entering any more of
+the cells. We continued straying from cloister to cloister, and
+wandering along the winding passages and intricate galleries of this
+immense edifice, whilst the coadjutor was assisting at vespers.
+
+In every part of the structure reigned the most death-like calm: no
+sound reached my ears but the “minute drops from off the eaves.” I sat
+down in a niche of the cloister, and fell into a profound reverie, from
+which I was recalled by the return of our conductor; who, I believe, was
+almost tempted to imagine, from the cast of my countenance, that I was
+deliberating whether I should not remain with them for ever.
+
+But I soon roused myself, and testified some impatience to see the great
+chapel, at which we at length arrived after traversing another labyrinth
+of cloisters. The gallery immediately before its entrance appeared quite
+gay, in comparison with the others I had passed, and owes its
+cheerfulness to a large window (ornamented with slabs of polished
+marble) that admits the view of a lovely wood, and allows a full blaze
+of light to dart on the chapel door; which is also adorned with marble,
+in a plain but noble style of architecture.
+
+The father sacristan stood ready on the steps of the portal to grant us
+admittance; and, throwing open the valves, we entered the chapel and
+were struck by the justness of its proportions, the simple majesty of
+the arched roof, and the mild solemn light equally diffused over every
+part of the edifice. No tawdry ornaments, no glaring pictures disgraced
+the sanctity of the place. The high altar, standing distinct from the
+walls, which were hung with a rich velvet, was the only object on which
+many ornaments were lavished; and, it being a high festival, was
+clustered with statues of gold, shrines, and candelabra of the
+stateliest shape and most delicate execution. Four of the latter, of a
+gigantic size, were placed on the steps; which, together with part of
+the inlaid floor within the choir, were spread with beautiful carpets.
+
+The illumination of so many tapers striking on the shrines, censers, and
+pillars of polished jasper, sustaining the canopy of the altar, produced
+a wonderful effect; and, as the rest of the chapel was visible only by
+the feint external light admitted from above, the splendour and dignity
+of the altar was enhanced by contrast. I retired a moment from it, and
+seating myself in one of the furthermost stalls of the choir, looked
+towards it, and fancied the whole structure had risen by “subtle magic,”
+like an exhalation.
+
+Here I remained several minutes breathing nothing but incense, and
+should not have quitted my station soon, had I not been apprehensive of
+disturbing the devotions of two aged fathers who had just entered, and
+were prostrating themselves before the steps of the altar. These
+venerable figures added greatly to the solemnity of the scene; which as
+the day declined increased every moment in splendour; for the sparkling
+of several lamps of chased silver that hung from the roofs, and the
+gleaming of nine huge tapers which I had not before noticed, began to be
+visible just as I left the chapel.
+
+Passing through the sacristy, where lay several piles of rich
+embroidered vestments, purposely displayed for our inspection, we
+regained the cloister which led to our apartment, where the supper was
+ready prepared. We had scarcely finished it, when the coadjutor, and the
+fathers who had accompanied us before, returned, and ranging themselves
+round the fire, resumed the conversation about St. Bruno.
+
+Finding me disposed by the wonders I had seen in the day to listen to
+things of a miraculous nature, they began to relate the inspirations
+they had received from him, and his mysterious apparitions. I was all
+attention, respect, and credulity. The old secretary worked himself up
+to such a pitch of enthusiasm, that I am very much inclined to imagine
+he believed in these moments all the marvellous events he related. The
+coadjutor being less violent in his pretensions to St. Bruno’s modern
+miracles, contented himself with enumerating the noble works he had done
+in the days of his fathers, and in the old time before them.
+
+It grew rather late before my kind hosts had finished their narrations,
+and I was not sorry, after all the exercise I had taken, to return to my
+cell, where everything invited to repose. I was charmed with the
+neatness and oddity of my little apartment; its cabin-like bed, oratory,
+and ebony crucifix; in short, every thing it contained; not forgetting
+the aromatic odour of the pine, with which it was roofed, floored, and
+wainscoted. The night was luckily dark. Had the moon appeared, I could
+not have prevailed upon myself to have quitted her till very late; but,
+as it happened, I crept into my cabin, and was by “whispering winds soon
+lulled asleep.”
+
+Eight o’clock struck next morning before I awoke; when, to my great
+sorrow, I found the peaks, which rose above the convent, veiled in
+vapours, and the rain descending with violence.
+
+After we had breakfasted by the light of our fire (for the casements
+admitted but a very feeble gleam), I sat down to the works of St.
+Bruno; of all medleys one of the strangest. Allegories without end; a
+theologico-natural history of birds, beasts, and fishes; several
+chapters on paradise; the delights of solitude; the glory of Solomon’s
+temple; the new Jerusalem; and numberless other wonderful subjects, full
+of the loftiest enthusiasm. The revered author of this strangely
+abstruse and mystic volume was certainly a being of no common order, nor
+do we find in the wide circle of legendary traditions an event recorded,
+better calculated to inspire the utmost degree of religious terror than
+that which determined him to the monastic state.
+
+St. Bruno was of noble descent, and possessed considerable wealth. Not
+less remarkable for the qualities of his mind, their assiduous
+cultivation obtained for him the chair of master of the great sciences
+in the University of Rheims, where he contracted an intimate friendship
+with Odo, afterwards Pope Urban II. Though it appears that a very
+cheering degree of public approbation, and all the blandishments of a
+society highly polished for the period, contributed, not unprofitably
+one should think, to fill up his time, always singular, always
+visionary, he began early in life to loathe the world, and sigh after
+retirement.
+
+But a most appalling occurrence converted these sighs into the deepest
+groans. A man, who had borne the highest character for the exercise of
+every virtue, died, and was being carried to the grave. The procession,
+of which Bruno formed a part, was moving slowly on, when a low, mournful
+sound issued from the bier. The corpse was distinctly seen to lift up
+its ghastly countenance, and as distinctly heard to articulate these
+words--“_I am summoned to trial._” After an agonizing pause, the same
+terrific voice declared--“_I stand before the tribunal._” Some further
+moments of amazement and horror having elapsed, the dead body lifted
+itself up a third time, and moving its livid lips uttered forth this
+dreadful sentence--“_I am condemned by the just judgment of God._”
+“Alas! alas!” exclaimed Bruno--“of how little avail are apparent good
+works, or the favourable opinion of mankind!
+
+    Ubi fugiam nisi ad te?--
+
+Thy mercies alone can save, and it is not in the frivolous and seductive
+intercourse of a worldly life those mercies can be obtained.”
+
+Stricken to the heart by these reflections, he hurried in a fever of
+terror and alarm (the sepulchral voice still ringing in his ears) to
+Grenoble, of which see one of his dearest friends, the venerable Hugo,
+had lately been appointed bishop.
+
+This saintly prelate soothed the dreadful agitation of his spirits by
+relating to him a revelation he had just received in a dream.
+
+“As I slept,” said Hugo, “methought the desert mountains beyond Grenoble
+became suddenly visible in the dead of night by the streaming of seven
+lucid stars which hung directly over them. Whilst I remained absorbed in
+the contemplation of this wonder, an awful voice seemed to break the
+nocturnal silence, declaring their dreary solitudes thy future abode, O
+Bruno!--by thee to be consecrated as a retirement for holy men desirous
+of holding converse with their God. No shepherd’s pipe shall be heard
+within these precincts; no huntsman’s profane feet ever invade their
+fastnesses; nor shall woman ascend this mountain, or violate by her
+allurements the sacred repose of its inhabitants.”
+
+Such were the first institutions of the order as the inspired Bishop of
+Grenoble delivered them to Bruno, who selecting a few persons that,
+like himself, contemned the splendours of the world and the charms of
+society, repaired with them to this spot; and, in the darkest parts of
+the forests which shade the most gloomy recesses of the mountains,
+founded the first convent of Carthusians, long since destroyed.
+
+Several years passed away, whilst Bruno was employed in actions of the
+most exalted piety; and, the fame of his exemplary conduct reaching
+Rome, (where his friend had been lately invested with the papal tiara,)
+the whole conclave was desirous of seeing him, and entreated Urban to
+invite him to Rome. The request of Christ’s vicegerent was not to be
+refused; and Bruno quitted his beloved solitude, leaving some of his
+disciples behind, who propagated his doctrines, and tended zealously the
+infant order.
+
+The pomp of the Roman court soon disgusted the rigid Bruno, who had
+weaned himself entirely from worldly affections.
+
+Being wholly intent on futurity, the bustle and tumults of a busy
+metropolis became so irksome that he supplicated Urban for leave to
+retire; and, having obtained it, left Rome, and immediately seeking the
+wilds of Calabria, there sequestered himself in a lonely hermitage,
+calmly expecting his last moments.
+
+In his death there was no bitterness. A celestial radiance shone around
+him even before he closed his eyes upon this frail existence, and many a
+venerable witness has testified that the voices of angelic beings were
+heard calling him to come and receive his reward; but as the different
+accounts of his translation are not essentially varied, it would be
+tedious to recite them.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+     Mystic discourse.--A mountain ramble.--A benevolent Hermit.--Red
+     light in the northern sky.--Lose my way in the solitary
+     hills.--Approach of night.
+
+
+I had scarcely finished taking extracts from the writings of this holy
+and highly-gifted personage when the dinner appeared, consisting of
+everything most delicate which a strict adherence to the rules of meagre
+could allow. The good fathers returned as usual before our repast was
+half over, and resumed as usual their mystic discourse, looking all the
+time rather earnestly into my countenance to observe the sort of effect
+their most marvellous narrations produced upon it.
+
+Our conversation, which was beginning to take a gloomy and serious turn,
+was interrupted, I thought very agreeably, by the sudden intrusion of
+the sun, which, escaping from the clouds, shone in full splendour above
+the highest peak of the mountains, and the vapours fleeting by degrees
+discovered the woods in all the freshness of their verdure. The pleasure
+I received from seeing this new creation rising to view was very lively,
+and, as the fathers assured me the humidity of their walks did not often
+continue longer than the showers, I left my hall.
+
+Crossing the court, I hastened out of the gates, and running swiftly
+along a winding path on the side of the meadow, bordered by the forests,
+enjoyed the charms of the prospect inhaled the perfume of the woodlands,
+and now turning towards the summits of the precipices that encircled
+this sacred inclosure, admired the glowing colours they borrowed from
+the sun, contrasted by the dark hues of the forest. Now, casting my eyes
+below, I suffered them to roam from valley to valley, and from one
+stream (beset with tall pines and tufted beech trees) to another. The
+purity of the air in these exalted regions, and the lightness of my own
+spirits, almost seized me with the idea of treading in that element.
+
+Not content with the distant beauties of the hanging rocks and falling
+waters, I still kept running wildly along, with an eagerness and
+rapidity that, to a sober spectator, would have given me the appearance
+of one possessed, and with reason, for I was affected with the scene to
+a degree I despair of expressing.
+
+Whilst I was continuing my course, pursued by a thousand strange ideas,
+a father, who was returning from some distant hermitage, stopped my
+career, and made signs for me to repose myself on a bench erected under
+a neighbouring shed; and, perceiving my agitation and disordered looks,
+fancied, I believe, that one of the bears that lurk near the snows of
+the mountains had alarmed me by his sudden appearance.
+
+The good old man, expressing by his gestures that he wished me to
+recover myself in quiet on the bench, hastened, with as much alacrity as
+his age permitted, to a cottage adjoining the shed, and returning in a
+few moments, presented me some water in a wooden bowl, into which he let
+fall several drops of an elixir composed of innumerable herbs, and
+having performed this deed of charity, signified to me by a look, in
+which benevolence, compassion, and perhaps some little remains of
+curiosity were strongly painted, how sorry he was to be restrained by
+his vow of silence from enquiring into the cause of my agitation, and
+giving me farther assistance. I answered also by signs, on purpose to
+carry on the adventure, and suffered him to depart with all his
+conjectures unsatisfied.
+
+No sooner had I lost sight of the benevolent hermit than I started up,
+and pursued my path with my former agility, till I came to the edge of a
+woody dell, that divided the meadow on which I was running from the
+opposite promontory. Here I paused, and looking up at the cliffs, now
+but faintly illumined by the sun, which had been some time sinking on
+our narrow horizon, reflected that it would be madness to bewilder
+myself, at so late an hour, in the mazes of the forest. Being thus
+determined, I abandoned with regret the idea of penetrating into the
+lovely region before me, and contented myself for some moments with
+marking the pale tints of the evening gradually overspreading the
+cliffs, so lately flushed with the gleams of the setting sun.
+
+But my eyes were soon diverted from contemplating these objects by a red
+light streaming over the northern sky, which attracted my notice as I
+sat on the brow of a sloping hill, looking down what appeared to be a
+fathomless ravine blackened by the shade of impervious forests, above
+which rose majestically the varied peaks and promontories of the
+mountains.
+
+The upland lawns, which hang at immense heights above the vale, next
+caught my attention. I was gazing alternately at them and the valley,
+when a long succession of light misty clouds, of strange fantastic
+shapes, issuing from a narrow gully between the rocks, passed on, like a
+solemn procession, over the hollow dale, midway between the stream that
+watered it below, and the summits of the cliffs on high.
+
+The tranquillity of the region, the verdure of the lawn, environed by
+girdles of flourishing wood, and the lowing of the distant herds, filled
+me with the most pleasing sensations. But when I lifted up my eyes to
+the towering cliffs, and beheld the northern sky streaming with ruddy
+light, and the long succession of misty forms hovering over the space
+beneath, they became sublime and awful. The dews which began to descend,
+and the vapours which were rising from every dell, reminded me of the
+lateness of the hour; and it was with great reluctance that I turned
+from the scene which had so long engaged my contemplation, and traversed
+slowly and silently the solitary meadows, over which I had hurried with
+such eagerness an hour ago.
+
+Hill appeared after hill, and hillock succeeded hillock, which I had
+passed unnoticed before. Sometimes I imagined myself following a
+different path from that which had brought me to the edge of the deep
+valley. Another moment, descending into the hollows between the hillocks
+that concealed the distant prospects from my sight, I fancied I had
+entirely mistaken my route, and expected every moment to be lost amongst
+the rude brakes and tangled thickets that skirted the eminences around.
+
+As the darkness increased, my situation became still more and more
+forlorn. I had almost abandoned the idea of reaching the convent; and
+whenever I gained any swelling ground, looked above, below, and on every
+side of me, in hopes of discovering some glimmering lamp which might
+indicate a hermitage, whose charitable possessor, I flattered myself,
+would direct me to the monastery.
+
+At length, after a tedious wandering along the hills, I found myself,
+unexpectedly, under the convent walls; and, as I was looking for the
+gate, the attendant lay-brothers came out with lights, in order to
+search for me; scarcely had I joined them, when the Coadjutor and the
+Secretary came forward, with the kindest anxiety expressed their
+uneasiness at my long absence, and conducted me to my apartment, where
+Mr. Lettice was waiting, with no small degree of impatience; but I found
+not a word had been mentioned of my adventure with the hermit; so that,
+I believe, he strictly kept his vow till the day when the Carthusians
+are allowed to speak, and which happened after my departure.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+     Pastoral Scenery of Valombré.--Ascent of the highest Peak in the
+     Desert.--Grand amphitheatre of Mountains.--Farewell benediction of
+     the Fathers.
+
+
+We had hardly supped before the gates of the convent were shut, a
+circumstance which disconcerted me not a little, as the full moon
+gleamed through the casements, and the stars sparkling above the forests
+of pines, invited me to leave my apartment again, and to give myself up
+entirely to the spectacle they offered.
+
+The coadjutor, perceiving that I was often looking earnestly through the
+windows, guessed my wishes, and calling a lay-brother, ordered him to
+open the gates, and wait at them till my return. It was not long before
+I took advantage of this permission, and escaping from the courts and
+cloisters of the monastery, all hushed in death-like stillness, ascended
+a green knoll, which several ancient pines strongly marked with their
+shadows: there, leaning against one of their trunks, I lifted up my eyes
+to the awful barrier of surrounding mountains, discovered by the
+trembling silver light of the moon shooting directly on the woods which
+fringed their acclivities.
+
+The lawns, the vast woods, the steep descents, the precipices, the
+torrents, lay all extended beneath, softened by a pale blueish haze,
+that alleviated, in some measure, the stern prospect of the rocky
+promontories above, wrapped in dark shadows. The sky was of the deepest
+azure, innumerable stars were distinguished with unusual clearness from
+this elevation, many of which twinkled behind the fir-trees edging the
+promontories. White, grey, and darkish clouds came marching towards the
+moon, that shone full against a range of cliffs, which lift themselves
+far above the others. The hoarse murmur of the torrent, throwing itself
+from the distant wildernesses into the gloomy vales, was mingled with
+the blast that blew from the mountains.
+
+It increased. The forests began to wave, black clouds rose from the
+north, and, as they fleeted along, approached the moon, whose light
+they shortly extinguished. A moment of darkness succeeded; the gust was
+chill and melancholy; it swept along the desert, and then subsiding, the
+vapours began to pass away, and the moon returned; the grandeur of the
+scene was renewed, and its imposing solemnity was increased by her
+presence. Inspiration was in every wind.
+
+I followed some impulse which drove me to the summit of the mountains
+before me; and there, casting a look on the whole extent of wild woods
+and romantic precipices, thought of the days of St. Bruno. I eagerly
+contemplated every rock that formerly might have met his eyes; drank of
+the spring which tradition says he was wont to drink of; and ran to
+every pine, whose withered appearance bespoke the most remote antiquity,
+and beneath which, perhaps, the saint had reposed himself, when worn
+with vigils, or possessed with the sacred spirit of his institutions. It
+was midnight before I returned to the convent and retired to my quiet
+chamber, but my imagination was too much disturbed, and my spirits far
+too active, to allow me any rest for some time.
+
+I had scarcely fallen asleep, when I was suddenly awakened by a furious
+blast, which drove open my casement, for it was a troubled and
+tempestuous night, and let in the roar of the tempest. In the intervals
+of the storm, in those moments when the winds seemed to pause, the faint
+sounds of the choir stole upon my ear; but were swallowed up the next
+instant by the redoubled fury of the gust, which was still increased by
+the roar of the waters.
+
+I started from my bed, closed the casement, and composed myself as well
+as I was able; but no sooner had the sunbeams entered my window, than I
+arose, and gladly leaving my cell, hastened to the same knoll, where I
+had stood the night before. The storm was dissipated, and the pure
+morning air delightfully refreshing: every tree, every shrub, glistened
+with dew. A gentle wind breathed upon the woods, and waved the fir-trees
+on the cliffs, which, free from clouds, rose distinctly into the clear
+blue sky. I strayed from the knoll into the valley between the steeps of
+wood and the turrets of the convent, and passed the different buildings,
+destined for the manufacture of the articles necessary to the fathers;
+for nothing is worn or used within this inclosure, which comes from the
+profane world.
+
+Traversing the meadows and a succession of little dells, where I was so
+lately bewildered, I came to a bridge thrown over the torrent, which I
+crossed; and here followed a slight path that brought me to an eminence,
+covered with a hanging wood of beech-trees feathered to the ground, from
+whence I looked down the narrow pass towards Grenoble. Perceiving a
+smoke to arise from the groves which nodded over the eminence, I climbed
+up a rocky steep, and, after struggling through a thicket of shrubs,
+entered a smooth, sloping lawn, framed in by woody precipices; at one
+extremity of which I discovered the cottage, whose smoke had directed me
+to this sequestered spot; and, at the other, a numerous group of cattle,
+lying under the shade of some beech-trees, whilst several friars, with
+long beards and russet garments, were employed in milking them.
+
+The luxuriant foliage of the woods, clinging round the steeps that
+skirted the lawn; its gay, sunny exposition; the groups of sleek,
+dappled cows, and the odd employment of the friars, so little consonant
+with their venerable beards, formed a picturesque and certainly very
+singular spectacle. I, who had been accustomed to behold “milk-maids
+singing blithe,” and tripping lightly along with their pails, was not a
+little surprised at the silent gravity with which these figures shifted
+their trivets from cow to cow; and it was curious to see with what
+adroitness they performed their functions, managing their long beards
+with a facility and cleanliness equally admirable.
+
+I watched all their movements for some time, concealed by the trees,
+before I made myself visible; but no sooner did I appear on the lawn,
+than one of the friars quitted his trivet, very methodically set down
+his pail, and coming towards me with an open, smiling countenance,
+desired me to refresh myself with some bread and milk. A second,
+observing what was going forward, was resolved not to be exceeded in an
+hospitable act, and, quitting his pail too, hastened into the woods,
+from whence he returned in a few minutes with some strawberries, very
+neatly enveloped in fresh leaves. These hospitable, milking fathers,
+next invited me to the cottage, whither I declined going, as I preferred
+the shade of the beeches; so, throwing myself on the dry aromatic
+herbage, I enjoyed the pastoral character of the scene with all possible
+glee.
+
+Not a cloud darkened the heavens; every object smiled; innumerable gaudy
+flies glanced in the sunbeams that played in a clear spring by the
+cottage; I saw with pleasure the sultry glow of the distant cliffs and
+forests, whilst indolently reclined in the shade, listening to the
+summer hum; one hour passed after another neglected away, during my
+repose in this most delightful of valleys.
+
+When I returned unwillingly to the convent, the only topic on which I
+could converse was the charms of Valombré, for so is this beautifully
+wooded region most appropriately called. Notwithstanding the
+indifference with which I now regarded the prospects that surrounded the
+monastery, I could not disdain an offer made by one of the friars, of
+conducting me to the summit of the highest peak in the desert.
+
+Pretty late in the afternoon I set out with my guide, and, following his
+steps through many forests of pine, and wild apertures among them,
+strewed with fragments, arrived at a chapel, built on a mossy rock, and
+dedicated to St. Bruno.
+
+Having once more drunk of the spring that issues from the rock on which
+this edifice is raised, I moved forward, keeping my eyes fixed on a
+lofty green mountain, from whence rises a vast cliff, spiring up to a
+surprising elevation; and which (owing to the sun’s reflection on a
+transparent mist hovering around it) was tinged with a pale visionary
+light. This object was the goal to which I aspired; and redoubling my
+activity, I made the best of my way over rude ledges of rocks, and
+crumbled fragments of the mountain interspersed with firs, till I came
+to the green steeps I had surveyed at a distance.
+
+These I ascended with some difficulty, and, leaving a few scattered
+beech-trees behind, in full leaf, shortly bade adieu to summer, and
+entered the regions of spring; for, as I approached that part of the
+mountain next the summit, the trees, which I found there rooted in the
+crevices, were but just beginning to unfold their leaves, and every spot
+of the greensward was covered with cowslips and violets.
+
+After taking a few moments’ repose, my guide prepared to clamber amongst
+the rocks, and I followed him with as much alertness as I was able, till
+laying hold of the trunk of a withered pine, we sprang upon a small
+level space, where I seated myself, and beheld far beneath me the vast
+desert and dreary solitudes, amongst which appeared, thinly scattered,
+the green meadows and hanging lawns. The eye next overlooking the
+barrier of mountains, ranged through immense tracts of distant
+countries; the plains where Lyons is situated; the woodlands and lakes
+of Savoy; amongst which that of Bourget was near enough to discover its
+beauties, all glowing with the warm haze of the setting sun.
+
+My situation was too dizzy to allow a long survey, so turning my eyes
+from the terrific precipice, I gladly beheld an opening in the rocks,
+through which we passed into a little irregular glen of the smoothest
+greensward, closed in on one side by the great peak, and on the others
+by a ridge of sharp pinnacles, which crown the range of white cliffs I
+had so much admired the night before, when brightened by the moon.
+
+The singular situation of this romantic spot invited me to remain in it
+till the sun was about to sink on the horizon: during which time I
+visited every little cave delved in the ridges of rock, and gathered
+large sprigs of the mezereon and rhododendron in full bloom, which with
+a surprising variety of other plants carpeted this lovely glen. A
+luxuriant vegetation,
+
+    That on the green turf suck’d the honey’d showers,
+    And purpled all the ground with vernal flowers.
+
+My guide, perceiving I was ready to mount still higher, told me it would
+be in vain, as the beds of snow that lie eternally in some fissures of
+the mountain, must necessarily impede my progress; but, finding I was
+very unwilling to abandon the enterprise, he showed me a few notches in
+the peak, by which we might ascend, though not without danger. This
+prospect rather abated my courage, and the wind rising, drove several
+thick clouds round the bottom of the peak, which increasing every
+minute, shortly skreened the green mountain and all the forest from our
+sight. A sea of vapours soon undulated beneath my feet, and lightning
+began to flash from a dark angry cloud that hung over the valleys and
+deluged them with storms, whilst I was securely standing under the clear
+expanse of æther.
+
+But the hour did not admit of my remaining long in this proud station;
+so descending, I was soon obliged to pass through the vapours, and,
+carefully following my guide (for a false step might have caused my
+destruction) wound amongst the declivities, till we left the peak
+behind, and just as we reached the green mountain which was moistened
+with the late storm, the clouds fleeted and the evening recovered its
+serenity.
+
+Leaving the chapel of St. Bruno on the right, we entered the woods, and
+soon emerged from them into a large pasture, under the grand
+amphitheatre of mountains, having a gentle ascent before us, beyond
+which appeared the neat blue roofs and glittering spires of the convent,
+where we arrived as the moon was beginning to assume her empire.
+
+I need not say I rested well after the interesting fatigues of the day.
+The next morning early, I quitted my kind hosts with great reluctance.
+The coadjutor and two other fathers accompanied me to the outward gate,
+and there within the solemn circle of the desert bestowed on me their
+benediction.
+
+It seemed indeed to come from their hearts, nor would they leave me till
+I was an hundred paces from the convent; and then, laying their hands on
+their breasts, declared that if ever I was disgusted with the world,
+here was an asylum.
+
+I was in a melancholy mood when I traced back all the windings of my
+road, and when I found myself beyond the last gate in the midst of the
+wide world again, it increased.
+
+We returned to Les Echelles; from thence to Chambery, and, instead of
+going through Aix, passed by Annecy; but nothing in all the route
+engaged my attention, nor had I any pleasing sensations till I beheld
+the glassy lake of Geneva, and its lovely environs.
+
+I rejoiced then because I knew of a retirement on its banks where I
+could sit and think of Valombré.
+
+
+
+
+SALEVE.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+     Revisit the trees on the summit of Saleve.--Pas
+     d’Echelle.--Moneti.--Bird’s-eye prospects.--Alpine
+     flowers.--Extensive view from the summit of Saleve.--Youthful
+     enthusiasm.--Sad realities.
+
+
+I had long wished to revisit the holt of trees so conspicuous on the
+summit of Saleve, and set forth this morning to accomplish that purpose.
+Brandoin an artist, once the delight of our travelling lords and ladies,
+accompanied me. We rode pleasantly and sketchingly along through Carouge
+to the base of the mountain, taking views every now and then of
+picturesque stumps and cottages.
+
+At length, after a good deal of lackadaisical loitering on the banks of
+the Arve, we reached a sort of goats’ path, leading to some steps cut
+in the rock, and justly called the Pas d’Echelle. I need not say we were
+obliged to dismount and toil up this ladder, beyond which rise steeps of
+verdure shaded by walnuts.
+
+These brought us to Moneti, a rude straggling village, with its church
+tower embosomed in gigantic limes. We availed ourselves of their deep
+cool shade to dine as comfortably as a whole posse of withered hags, who
+seemed to have been just alighted from their broomsticks, would allow
+us.
+
+About half past three, a sledge drawn by four oxen was got ready to drag
+us up to the holt of trees, the goal to which we were tending:
+stretching ourselves on the straw spread over our vehicle, we set off
+along a rugged path, conducted aslant the steep slope of the mountain,
+vast prospects opening as we ascended; to our right the crags of the
+little Saleve--the variegated plains of Gex and Chablais, separated by
+the lake; below, Moneti, almost concealed in wood; behind, the mole,
+lifting up its pyramidical summit amidst the wild amphitheatre of
+glaciers, which lay this evening in dismal shadow, the sun being
+overcast, the Jura half lost in rainy mists, and a heavy storm
+darkening the Fort de l’Ecluse. Except a sickly gleam cast on the snows
+of the Buet, not a ray of sunshine enlivened our landscape.
+
+This sorrowful colouring agreed but too well with the dejection of my
+spirits. I suffered melancholy recollections to take full possession of
+me, and glancing my eyes over the vast map below, sought out those spots
+where I had lived so happy with my lovely Margaret. On them did I
+eagerly gaze--absorbed in the consciousness of a fatal, irreparable
+loss, I little noticed the transports expressed by my companion at the
+grand effects of light and shade, which obeyed the movements of the
+clouds; nor was I more attentive to the route of our oxen, which,
+perfectly familiarized with precipices, preferred their edge to the bank
+on the other side, and by this choice gave us an opportunity of looking
+down more than a thousand feet perpendicularly on the wild shrubberies
+and shattered rocks deep below, at the base of the mountain. In general
+I shrink back from such bird’s-eye prospects with my head in a whirl,
+and yet, by a most unaccountable fascination, feel a feverish impulse
+to throw myself into the very gulph I abhor; but to-day I lay in passive
+indifference, listlessly extended on our moving bed.
+
+Its progress being extremely deliberate, we had leisure to observe, as
+we crept along, a profusion of Alpine flowers; but none of those
+gorgeous insects mentioned by Saussure as abounding on Saleve were
+fluttering about them. This was no favourable day for butterfly
+excursions; the flowers laden with heavy drops, the forerunners of still
+heavier rain, hung down their heads. We passed several chalets, formed
+of mud and stone, instead of the neat timber, with which those on the
+Swiss mountains are constructed. Meagre peasants, whose sallow
+countenances looked quite of a piece with the sandy hue of their
+habitations, kept staring at us from crevices and hollow places: the
+fresh roses of a garden are not more different from the rank weeds of an
+unhealthy swamp, than these wretched objects from the ruddy inhabitants
+of Switzerland.
+
+My heart sank as we were driven alongside of one of these squalid
+groups, huddled together under a blasted beech in expectation of a
+storm. The wind drove the smoke and sparks of a fire just kindled at the
+root of the tree, full in the face of an infant, whose mother had
+abandoned it to implore our charity with outstretched withered hands.
+The poor helpless being filled the air with waitings, and being tightly
+swaddled lip in yellow rags, according to Savoyarde custom, exhibited an
+appearance in form and colour not unlike that of an overgrown pumpkin
+thrown on the ground out of the way. How should I have enjoyed setting
+its limbs at liberty, and transporting it to the swelling bosom of a
+Bernese peasant! such as I have seen in untaxed garments, red, blue and
+green, with hair falling in braids mixed with flowers and silver
+trinkets, hurrying along to some wake or wedding, with that firm step
+and smiling hilarity which the consciousness of freedom inspires.
+
+A few minutes dragging beyond the tree just mentioned, we reached the
+bold verdant slopes of delicate short herbage which crown the crags of
+the mountain. We now moved smoothly along the turf, brushing it with our
+hands to extract its aromatic fragrance, and having no longer rough
+stones to encounter, our conveyance became so agreeable that we
+regretted our arrival before a chalet, under a clump of weather-beaten
+beach. These are the identical trees, so far and widely discovered, on
+the summit of Saleve, and the point to which we had been tending.
+
+Seating ourselves on the very edge of a rocky cornice, we surveyed the
+busy crowded territory of Geneva, the vast reach of the lake, its coast,
+thickset with castles, towns, and villages, and the long line of the
+Jura protecting these richly cultivated possessions. Turning round, we
+traced the course of the Arve up to its awful sanctuary, the Alps of
+Savoy, above which rose the Mont-Blanc in deadly paleness, backed by a
+gloomy sky; nothing could form a stronger contrast to the populous and
+fertile plains in front of the mountain than this chaos of snowy peaks
+and melancholy deserts, the loftiest in the old world, held up in the
+air, and beaten, in spite of summer, with wintry storms.
+
+I know not how long we should have remained examining the prospect had
+the weather been favourable, and had we enjoyed one of those serene
+evenings to be expected in the month of July. Many such have I passed in
+my careless childish days, stretched out on the brow of this very
+mountain, contemplating the heavenly azure of the lake, the innumerable
+windows of the villas below blazing in the setting sun, and the glaciers
+suffused by its last ray with a blushing pink. How often, giving way to
+youthful enthusiasm, have I peopled these singularly varied peaks with
+gnomes and fairies, the distributors of gold and crystal to those who
+adventurously scaled their lofty abode.
+
+This evening my fancy was led to no such gay aërial excursions; sad
+realities chained it to the earth, and to the scene before my eyes,
+which, in lowering, sombre hue, corresponded with my interior gloom. A
+rude blast driving us off the margin of the precipices, we returned to
+the shelter of the beech. There we found some disappointed butterfly
+catchers, probably of the watch-making tribe, and a silly boy gaping
+after them with a lank net and empty boxes. This being Monday, I thought
+the Saleve had been delivered from such intruders; but it seems that
+the rage for natural history has so victoriously pervaded all ranks of
+people in the republic, that almost every day in the week sends forth
+some of its journeymen to ransack the neighbouring cliffs, and transfix
+unhappy butterflies.
+
+Silversmiths and toymen, possessed by the spirit of De Luc and De
+Saussure’s lucubrations, throw away the light implements of their trade,
+and sally forth with hammer and pickaxe to pound pebbles and knock at
+the door of every mountain for information. Instead of furbishing up
+teaspoons and sorting watch-chains, they talk of nothing but quartz and
+feldspath. One flourishes away on the durability of granite, whilst
+another treats calcareous rocks with contempt; but as human pleasures
+are seldom perfect and permanent, acrimonious disputes too frequently
+interrupt the calm of the philosophic excursion. Squabbles arise about
+the genus of a coralite, or concerning that element which has borne the
+greatest part in the convulsion of nature. The advocate of water too
+often sneaks home to his wife with a tattered collar, whilst the
+partisan of fire and volcanoes lies vanquished in a puddle, or winding
+up the clue of his argument in a solitary ditch. I cannot help thinking
+so diffused a taste for fossils and petrifactions of no very particular
+benefit to the artisans of Geneva, and that watches would go as well,
+though their makers were less enlightened.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+     Chalet under the Beech-trees.--A mountain Bridge.--Solemnity of the
+     Night.--The Comedie.--Relaxation of Genevese Morality.
+
+
+It began to rain just as we entered the chalet under the beech-trees,
+and one of the dirtiest I ever crept into--it would have been
+uncharitable not to have regretted the absence of swine, for here was
+mud and filth enough to have insured their felicity. A woman, whose
+teeth of a shining whiteness were the only clean objects I could
+discover, brought us foaming bowls of cream and milk, with which we
+regaled ourselves, and then got into our vehicle. We but too soon left
+the smooth herbage behind, and passed about an hour in rambling down the
+mountain pelted by the showers, from which we took shelter under the
+limes at Moneti.
+
+Here we should have drunk our tea in peace and quietness, had it not
+been for the incursion of a gang of bandylegged watchmakers, smoking
+their pipes, and scraping their fiddles, and snapping their fingers,
+with all that insolent vulgarity so characteristic of the Rue-basse
+portion of the Genevese community. We got out of their way, you may
+easily imagine, as fast as we were able, and descending a rough road,
+most abominably strewn with rolling pebbles, arrived at the bridge
+d’Etrombieres just as it fell dark. The mouldering planks with which the
+bridge is awkwardly put together, sounded suspiciously hollow under the
+feet of our horses, and had it not been for the friendly light of a pine
+torch which a peasant brought forth, we might have been tumbled into the
+Arve.
+
+It was a mild summer night, the rainy clouds were dissolving away with a
+murmur of distant thunder so faint as to be scarcely heard. From time to
+time a flash of summer lightning discovered the lonely tower of Moneti
+on the edge of the lesser Saleve. The ghostly tales, which the old curè
+of the mountains had told me at a period when I hungered and thirsted
+after supernatural narrations, recurred to my memory, in all their
+variety of horrors, and kept it fully employed till I found myself under
+the walls of Geneva. The gates were shut, but I knew they were to be
+opened again at ten o’clock for the convenience of those returning from
+the _Comedie_.
+
+The _Comedie_ is become of wonderful importance; but a few years ago the
+very name of a play was held in such abhorrence by the spiritual
+consistory of Geneva and its obsequious servants, which then included
+the best part of the republic, that the partakers and abettors of such
+diversions were esteemed on the high road to eternal perdition. Though,
+God knows, I am unconscious of any extreme partiality for Calvin, I
+cannot help thinking his severe discipline wisely adapted to the moral
+constitution of this starch bit of a republic which he took to his grim
+embraces. But these days of rigidity and plainness are completely gone
+by; the soft spirit of toleration, so eloquently insinuated by Voltaire,
+has removed all thorny fences, familiarized his numerous admirers with
+every innovation, and laughed scruples of every nature to scorn.
+Voltaire, indeed, may justly be styled the architect of that gay
+well-ornamented bridge, by which freethinking and immorality have been
+smuggled into the republic under the mask of philosophy and liberality
+and sentiment. These monsters, like the Sin and Death of Milton, have
+made speedy and irreparable havoc. To facilitate their operations, rose
+the genius of “Rentes Viagères” at his bidding, tawdry villas with their
+little pert groves of poplar and horse-chesnut start up--his power
+enables Madame C. D. the bookseller’s lady to amuse the D. of G. with
+assemblies, sets Parisian cabriolets and English phaetons rolling from
+one faro table to another, and launches innumerable pleasure parties
+with banners and popguns on the lake, drumming and trumpeting away their
+time from morn till evening. I recollect, not many years past, how
+seldom the echoes of the mountains were profaned by such noises, and how
+rarely the drones of Geneva, if any there were in that once industrious
+city, had opportunities of displaying their idleness; but now
+Dissipation reigns triumphant, and to pay the tribute she exacts, every
+fool runs headlong to throw his scrapings into the voracious whirlpool
+of annuities; little caring, provided he feeds high and lolls in his
+carriage, what becomes of his posterity. I had ample time to make these
+reflections, as the _Comedie_ lasted longer than usual.
+
+Luckily the night improved, the storms had rolled away, and the moon
+rising from behind the crags of the lesser Saleve cast a pleasant gleam
+on the smooth turf of plain-palais, where we walked to and fro above
+half an hour. We had this extensive level almost entirely to ourselves,
+no light glimmered in any window, no sound broke the general stillness,
+except a low murmur proceeding from a group of chesnut trees. There,
+snug under a garden wall on a sequestered bench, sat two or three
+Genevois of the old stamp, chewing the cud of sober sermons--men who
+receive not more than seven or eight per cent. for their money; there
+sat they waiting for their young ones, who had been seduced to the
+theatre.
+
+A loud hubbub and glare of flambeaus proclaiming the end of the play, we
+left these good folks to their rumination, and regaining our carriage
+rattled furiously through the streets of Geneva, once so quiet, so
+silent at these hours, to the no small terror and annoyance of those
+whom Rentes Viagères had not yet provided with a speedier conveyance
+than their own legs, or a brighter satellite than an old cook-maid with
+a candle and lantern.
+
+It was eleven o’clock before we reached home, and near two before I
+retired to rest, having sat down immediately to write this letter whilst
+the impressions of the day were fresh in my memory.
+
+END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
+
+LONDON:
+
+PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,
+
+Dorset Street, Fleet Street.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ITALY;
+
+WITH SKETCHES OF
+
+SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
+
+BY THE AUTHOR OF “VATHEK.”
+
+THIRD EDITION.
+
+IN TWO VOLUMES.
+
+VOL. II.
+
+LONDON:
+
+RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
+
+Publisher in Ordinary to His Majesty.
+
+1835.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+OF
+
+THE SECOND VOLUME.
+
+PORTUGAL.
+
+LETTER I.
+
+Detained at Falmouth.--Navigation at a stop.--An evening
+ramble.                                      Page 5
+
+LETTER II.
+
+Mines in the parish of Gwynnap.--Piety and gin.--Rapid
+progress of Methodism.--Freaks of fortune.--Pernicious
+extravagance.--Minerals.--Mr. Beauchamp’s mansion.--Beautiful
+lake.--The wind still contrary.                                        8
+
+LETTER III.
+
+A lovely morning.--Antiquated mansion.--Its lady.--Ancestral
+effigies.--Collection of animals.--Serene evening.--Owls.--Expected
+dreams.                                                               12
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+A blustering night.--Tedium of the language of the
+compass.--Another excursion to Trefusis.                              16
+
+LETTER V.
+
+Regrets produced by contrasts.                                        19
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+Still no prospect of embarkation.--Pen-dennis Castle.--Luxuriant
+vegetation.--A serene day.--Anticipations of
+the voyage.                                                           21
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+Portugal.--Excursion to Pagliavam.--The villa.--Dismal
+labyrinths in the Dutch style.--Roses.--Anglo-Portuguese
+Master of the Horse.--Interior of the Palace.--Furniture
+in petticoats.--Force of education.--Royalty without power.--Return
+from the Palace.                                                      23
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+Glare of the climate in Portugal.--Apish luxury.--Botanic
+Gardens.--Açafatas.--Description of the Gardens and
+Terraces.                                                             29
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+Consecration of the Bishop of Algarve.--Pathetic Music.--Valley
+of Alcantara.--Enormous Aqueduct.--Visit to the
+Marialva Palace.--Its much revered Masters.--Collection of
+rarities.--The Viceroy of Algarve.--Polyglottery.--A
+night-scene.--Modinhas.--Extraordinary Procession.--Blessings
+of Patriarchal Government.                                            34
+
+LETTER X.
+
+Festival of the Corpo de Deos.--Striking decoration of the
+streets.--The Patriarchal Cathedral.--Coming forth of the
+Sacrament in awful state.--Gorgeous procession.--Bewildering
+confusion of sounds.                                                  47
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+Dinner at the country-house of Mr. S----.--His Brazilian
+wife.--Magnificent Repast.--A tragic damsel.                          51
+
+LETTER XII.
+
+Pass the day at Belem.--Visit the neighbouring Monastery.--Habitation
+of King Emanuel.--A gold Custodium of
+exquisite workmanship.--The Church.--Bonfires on the
+edge of the Tagus.--Fire-works.--Images of the Holy
+One of Lisbon.                                                        55
+
+LETTER XIII.
+
+The New Church of St. Anthony.--Sprightly Music.--Enthusiastic
+Sermon.--The good Prior of Avia.--Visit to
+the Carthusian Convent of Cachiez.--Spectres of the Order.--Striking
+effigy of the Saviour.--A young and melancholy
+Carthusian.--The Cemetery.                                            59
+
+LETTER XIV.
+
+Curious succession of visiters.--A Seraphic Doctor.--Monsenhor
+Aguilar.--Mob of old hags, children, and ragamuffins.--Visit
+to the Theatre in the Rua d’os Condes.--The
+Archbishop Confessor.--Brazilian Modinhas.--Bewitching
+nature of that music.--Nocturnal processions.--Enthusiasm
+of the young Conde de Villanova.--No accounting for
+fancies.                                                              68
+
+LETTER XV.
+
+Excessive sultriness of Lisbon.--Night-sounds of the city.--Public
+gala in the garden of the Conde de Villa Nova.--Visit
+to the Anjeja Palace.--The heir of the family.--Marvellous
+narrations of a young priest.--Convent of
+Savoyard nuns.--Father Theodore’s chickens.--Sequestered
+group of beauties.--Singing of the Scarlati.                          77
+
+LETTER XVI.
+
+Ups-and-downs of Lisbon.--Negro Beldames.--Quinta of
+Marvilla.--Moonlight view of Lisbon.--Illuminated windows
+of the Palace.--The old Marquis of Penalva.--Padre
+Duarte, a famous Jesuit.--Conversation between him and a
+conceited Physician.--Their ludicrous blunders.--Toad-eaters.--Sonatas.--Portuguese
+minuets.                                                              88
+
+LETTER XVII.
+
+Dog-howlings.--Visit to the Convent of San Josè di Ribamar.--Breakfast
+at the Marquis of Penalvas.--Magnificent
+and hospitable reception.--Whispering in the shade of
+mysterious chambers.--The Bishop of Algarve.--Evening
+scene in the garden of Marvilla.                                      96
+
+LETTER XVIII.
+
+Excursion to Cintra.--Villa of Ramalhaô.--The Garden.--Collares.--Pavilion
+designed by Pillement.--A convulsive
+gallop.--Cold weather in July.                                       104
+
+LETTER XIX.
+
+Sympathy between Toads and Old Women.--Palace of
+Cintra.--Reservoir of Gold and Silver Fish.--Parterre on
+the summit of a lofty terrace.--Place of confinement of
+Alphonso the Sixth.--The Chapel.--Barbaric profusion
+of Gold.--Altar at which Don Sebastian knelt when he
+received a supernatural warning.--Rooms in preparation
+for the Queen and the Infantas.--Return to Ramalhaô.                 110
+
+LETTER XX.
+
+Grand gala at Court.--Festival in honour of the birthday
+of Guildermeester.--Mad freaks of a Frenchman.--Unwelcome
+lights of Truth.--Invective against the English.                     117
+
+LETTER XXI.
+
+The Queen of Portugal’s Chapel.--The Orchestra.--Rehearsal
+of a Council.--Proposal to visit Mafra.                              123
+
+LETTER XXII.
+
+Road to Mafra.--Distant view of the Convent.--Its vast
+fronts.--General magnificence of the Edifice.--The
+Church.--The High Altar.--Eve of the Festival of St.
+Augustine.--The collateral Chapels.--The Sacristy.--The
+Abbot of the Convent.--The Library.--View from
+the Convent-roof.--Chime of Bells.--House of the Capitan
+Mor.--Dinner.--Vespers.--Awful sound of the Organs.--The
+Palace.--Return to the Convent.--Inquisitive crowd.--The
+Garden.--Matins.--A Procession.--The Hall de
+Profundis.--Solemn Repast.--Supper at the Capitan
+Mor’s.                                                               127
+
+LETTER XXIII.
+
+High mass.--Garden of the Viscount Ponte de Lima.--Leave
+Mafra.--An accident.--Return to Cintra.--My saloon.--Beautiful
+view from it.                                                        143
+
+LETTER XXIV.
+
+A saloon in the highest style of oriental decoration.--Amusing
+stories of King John the Fifth and his recluses.--Cheerful
+funeral.--Refreshing ramble to the heights of
+Penha Verde.                                                         147
+
+LETTER XXV.
+
+Anecdotes of the Conde de San Lorenzo.--Visit to Mrs.
+Guildermeester.--Toads active, and toads passive.--The
+old Consul and his tray of jewels.                                   157
+
+LETTER XXVI.
+
+Expected arrival at Cintra of the Queen and suite.--Duke
+d’Alafoens.--Excursion to a rustic Fair.--Revels of
+the Peasantry.--Night-scene at the Marialva Villa.                   163
+
+LETTER XXVII.
+
+Curious scene in the interior of the palace of Cintra.--Singular
+invitation.--Dinner with the Archbishop Confessor.--Hilarity
+and shrewd remarks of that extraordinary
+personage.                                                           169
+
+LETTER XXVIII.
+
+Explore the Cintra Mountains.--Convent of Nossa Senhora
+da Penha.--Moorish Ruins.--The Cork Convent.--The
+Rock of Lisbon.--Marine Scenery.--Susceptible imagination
+of the Ancients exemplified.                                         179
+
+LETTER XXIX.
+
+Excursion to Penha Verde.--Resemblance of that Villa
+to the edifices in Caspar Poussin’s landscapes.--The ancient
+pine-trees, said to have been planted by Don John de
+Castro.--The old forests displaced by gaudy terraces.--Influx
+of visitors.--A celebrated Prior’s erudition and
+strange anachronisms.--The Beast in the Apocalypse.--Œcolampadius.--Bevy
+of Palace damsels.--Fête at the
+Marialva Villa.--The Queen and the Royal Family.--A
+favourite dwarf Negress.--Dignified manner of the
+Queen.--Profound respect inspired by her presence.--Rigorous
+etiquette.--Grand display of Fireworks.--The
+young Countess of Lumieres.--Affecting resemblance.                  189
+
+LETTER XXX.
+
+Cathedral of Lisbon.--Trace of St. Anthony’s fingers.--The
+Holy Crows.--Party formed to visit them.--A Portuguese
+poet.--Comfortable establishment of the Holy
+Crows.--Singular tradition connected with them.--Illuminations
+in honour of the Infanta’s accouchement.--Public
+harangues.--Policarpio’s singing, and anecdotes
+of the _haute noblesse_.                                             201
+
+LETTER XXXI.
+
+Rambles in the Valley of Collates.--Elysian scenery.--Song
+of a young female peasant.--Rustic hospitality.--Interview
+with the Prince of Brazil in the plains of Cascais.--Conversation
+with His Royal Highness.--Return to
+Ramalhaô.                                                            212
+
+LETTER XXXII.
+
+Convent of Boa Morte.--Emaciated priests.--Austerity of
+the Order.--Contrite personages.--A _nouveau riche_.--His
+house.--Walk on the veranda of the palace at Belem.--Train
+of attendants at dinner.--Portuguese gluttony.--Black
+dose of legendary superstition.--Terrible denunciations.--A
+dreary evening.                                                      229
+
+LETTER XXXIII.
+
+Rehearsal of Seguidillas.--Evening scene.--Crowds of
+beggars.--Royal charity misplaced.--Mendicant flattery.--Frightful
+countenances.--Performance at the Salitri theatre.--Countess
+of Pombeiro and her dwarf negresses.--A
+strange ballet.--Return to the Palace.--Supper at the Camareira
+Mor’s.--Filial affection.--Last interview with the
+Archbishop.--Fatal tide of events.--Heart-felt regret on
+leaving Portugal.                                                    235
+
+LETTER XXXIV.
+
+Dead mass at the church of Martyrs.--Awful music by
+Perez and Jomelli.--Marialva’s affecting address.--My
+sorrow and anxiety.                                                  253
+
+
+
+
+SPAIN.
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+Embark on the Tagus.--Aldea Gallega.--A poetical postmaster.--The
+church.--Leave Aldea Gallega.--Scenery on
+the road.--Palace built by John the Fifth.--Ruins at Montemor.--Reach
+Arroyolos.                                                           259
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+A wild tract of forest-land.--Arrival at Estremoz.--A fair.--An
+outrageous sermon.--Boundless wastes of gum-cistus.--Elvas.--Our
+reception there.--My visiters.                                       268
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+Pass the rivulet which separates Spain and Portugal.--A
+muleteer’s enthusiasm.--Badajoz.--The cathedral.--Journey
+resumed.--A vast plain.--Village of Lubaon.--Withered
+hags.--Names and characters of our mules.--Posada at
+Merida.                                                              275
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+Arrival at Miaxada.--Monotonous singing.--Dismal
+country.--Truxillo.--A rainy morning.--Resume our journey.--Immense
+wood of cork-trees.--Almaraz.--Reception by the
+escrivano.--A terrific volume.--Village of Laval de Moral.--Range
+of lofty mountains.--Calzada.                                        282
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+Sierra de los Gregos.--Mass.--Oropeza.--Talavera.--Drawling
+tirannas.--Talavera de la Reyna.--Reception at
+Santa Olaya.--The lady of the house and her dogs and
+dancers.                                                             289
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+Dismal plains.--Santa Cruz.--Val de Carneiro.--A most
+determined musical amateur.--The Alcayde Mayor.--Approach
+to Madrid.--Aspect of the city.--The Calle d’Alcala.--The
+Prado.--The Ave-Maria bell.                                          296
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+The Duchess of Berwick in all her nonchalance.--Her
+apartment described.--Her passion for music.--Her señoros
+de honor.                                                            301
+
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+The Chevalier de Roxas.--Excursion to the palace and
+gardens of the Buen Retiro.--The Turkish Ambassador and
+his numerous train.--Farinelli’s apartments.                         305
+
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+The Museum and Academy of Arts.--Scene on the Prado.--The
+Portuguese Ambassador and his comforters.--The
+Theatre.--A highly popular dancer.--Seguidillas in all their
+glory.                                                               310
+
+
+LETTER X.
+
+Visit to the Escurial.--Imposing site of that regal convent.--Reception
+by the Mystagogue of the place.--Magnificence
+of the choir.--Charles the Fifth’s organ.--Crucifix
+by Cellini.--Gorgeous ceiling painted by Lucca Giordano.--Extent
+and intricacy of the stupendous edifice.                             314
+
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+Mysterious cabinets.--Relics of Martyrs.--A feather from
+the Archangel Gabriel’s wing.--Labyrinth of gloomy cloisters.--Sepulchral
+cave.--River of death.--The regal sarcophagi.                        323
+
+
+LETTER XII.
+
+A concert and ball at Senhor Pacheco’s.--Curious assemblage
+in his long pompous gallery.--Deplorable ditty by an
+eastern dilettante.--A bolero in the most rapturous style.--Boccharini
+in despair.--Solecisms in dancing.                                   329
+
+
+LETTER XIII.
+
+Palace of Madrid.--Masterly productions of the great
+Italian, Spanish, and Flemish painters.--The King’s sleeping
+apartment.--Musical clocks.--Feathered favourites.--Picture
+of the Madonna del Spasimo.--Interview with Don
+Gabriel and the Infanta.--Her Royal Highness’s affecting
+recollections of home.--Head-quarters of Masserano.--Exhibition
+of national manners there.                                           339
+
+
+LETTER XIV.
+
+A German Visionary.--Remarkable conversation with
+him.--History of a Ghost-seer.                                       349
+
+
+LETTER XV.
+
+Madame Bendicho.--Unsuccessful search on the Prado.--Kauffman,
+an infidel in the German style.--Mass in the
+chapel of the Virgin.--The Duchess of Alba’s villa.--Destruction
+by a young French artist of the paintings of Rubens.--French
+ambassador’s ball.--Heir-apparent of the
+house of Medina Celi.                                                354
+
+
+LETTER XVI.
+
+Visit from the Turkish Ambassador.--Stroll to the gardens
+of the Buen Retiro.--Troop of ostriches.--Madame
+d’Aranda.--State of Cortejo-ism.--Powers of drapery.--Madame
+d’Aranda’s toilet.--Assembly at the house of Madame
+Badaan.--Cortejos off duty.--Blaze of beauty.--A
+curious group.--A dance.                                             358
+
+
+LETTER XVII.
+
+Valley of Aranjuez.--The island garden.--The palace.--Strange
+medley of pictures.--Oratories of the King and the
+Queen.--Destruction of a grand apartment painted in fresco
+by Mengs.--Boundless freedom of conduct in the present
+reign.--Decoration of the Duchess of Ossuna’s house.--Apathy
+pervading the whole Iberian peninsula.                               365
+
+
+LETTER XVIII.
+
+Explore the extremities of the Calle de la Reyna.--Destructive
+rage for improvement.--Loveliness of the valley
+of Aranjuez.--Undisturbed happiness of the animals there.--Degeneration
+of the race of grandees.--A royal cook.                              376
+
+
+
+
+PORTUGAL.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+TO
+
+PORTUGUESE LETTERS.
+
+
+Portugal attracting much attention in her present convulsed and
+declining state, it might not perhaps be uninteresting to the public to
+cast back a glance by way of contrast to the happier times when she
+enjoyed, under the mild and beneficent reign of Donna Maria the First, a
+great share of courtly and commercial prosperity.
+
+March 1, 1834.
+
+
+
+
+PORTUGAL.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+     Detained at Falmouth.--Navigation at a stop.--An evening ramble.
+
+
+Falmouth, March 6, 1787.
+
+The glass is sinking; the west wind gently breathing upon the water, the
+smoke softly descending into the room, and sailors yawning dismally at
+the door of every ale-house.
+
+Navigation seems at a full stop. The captains lounging about with their
+hands in their pockets, and passengers idling at billiards. Dr. V----
+has scraped acquaintance with a quaker, and went last night to one of
+their assemblies, where he kept jingling his fine Genevan watch-chains
+to their sober and silent dismay.
+
+In the intervals of the mild showers with which we are blessed, I ramble
+about some fields already springing with fresh herbage, which slope
+down to the harbour: the immediate environs of Falmouth are not
+unpleasant upon better acquaintance. Just out of the town, in a
+sheltered recess of the bay, lies a grove of tall elms, forming several
+avenues carpeted with turf. In the central point rises a stone pyramid
+about thirty feet high, well designed and constructed, but quite plain
+without any inscription; between the stems of the trees one discovers a
+low white house, built in and out in a very capricious manner, with
+oriel windows and porches, shaded by bushes of prosperous bay. Several
+rose-coloured cabbages, with leaves as crisped and curled as those of
+the acanthus, decorate a little grass-plat, neatly swept, before the
+door. Over the roof of this snug habitation I spied the skeleton of a
+gothic mansion, so completely robed with thick ivy, as to appear like
+one of those castles of clipped box I have often seen in a Dutch garden.
+
+Yesterday evening, the winds being still, and the sun gleaming warm for
+a moment or two, I visited this spot to examine the ruin, hear birds
+chirp, and scent wall-flowers.
+
+Two young girls, beautifully shaped, and dressed with a sort of romantic
+provincial elegance, were walking up and down the grove by the pyramid.
+There was something so love-lorn in their gestures, that I have no doubt
+they were sighing out their souls to each other. As a decided amateur of
+this sort of _confidential promenade_, I would have given my ears to
+have heard their _confessions_.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+     Mines in the parish of Gwynnap.--Piety and gin.--Rapid progress of
+     Methodism.--Freaks of fortune.--Pernicious
+     extravagance.--Minerals.--Mr. Beauchamp’s mansion.--Beautiful
+     lake.--The wind still contrary.
+
+
+Falmouth, March 7, 1787.
+
+Scott came this morning and took me to see the consolidated mines in the
+parish of Gwynnap; they are situated in a bleak desert, rendered still
+more doleful by the unhealthy appearance of its inhabitants. At every
+step one stumbles upon ladders that lead into utter darkness, or funnels
+that exhale warm copperous vapours. All around these openings the ore is
+piled up in heaps waiting for purchasers. I saw it drawn reeking out of
+the mine by the help of a machine called a whim, put in motion by mules,
+which in their turn are stimulated by impish children hanging over the
+poor brutes, and flogging them round without respite. This dismal scene
+of _whims_, suffering mules, and hillocks of cinders, extends for
+miles. Huge iron engines creaking and groaning, invented by Watt, and
+tall chimneys smoking and flaming, that seem to belong to old Nicholas’s
+abode, diversify the prospect.
+
+Two strange-looking Cornish beings, dressed in ghostly white, conducted
+me about, and very kindly proposed a descent into the bowels of the
+earth, but I declined initiation. These mystagogues occupy a tolerable
+house, with fair sash windows, where the inspectors of the mine hold
+their meetings, and regale upon beef, pudding, and brandy.
+
+While I was standing at the door of this habitation, several woful
+figures in tattered garments, with pickaxes on their shoulders, crawled
+out of a dark fissure and repaired to a hovel, which I learnt was a
+gin-shop. There they pass the few hours allotted them above ground, and
+drink, it is to be hoped, an oblivion of their subterraneous existence.
+Piety as well as gin helps to fill up their leisure moments, and I was
+told that Wesley, who came apostolising into Cornwall a few years ago,
+preached on this very spot to above seven thousand followers.
+
+Since this period Methodism has made a very rapid progress, and has been
+of no trifling service in diverting the attention of these sons of
+darkness from then present condition to the glories of the life to come.
+However, some people inform me their actual state is not so much to be
+lamented, and that, notwithstanding their pale looks and tattered
+raiment, they are far from being poor or unhealthy. Fortune often throws
+a considerable sum into their laps when they least expect it, and many a
+common miner has been known to gain a hundred pounds in the space of a
+month or two. Like sailors in the first effusion of prize-money, they
+have no notion of turning their good-luck to advantage; but squander the
+fruits of their toil in the silliest species of extravagance. Their
+wives are dressed out in tawdry silks, and flaunt away in ale-houses
+between rows of obedient fiddlers. The money spent, down they sink again
+into damps and darkness.
+
+Having passed about an hour in collecting minerals, stopping engines
+with my finger, and performing all the functions of a diligent young man
+desirous of information, I turned my back on smokes, flames, and
+coal-holes, with great pleasure.
+
+Not above a mile-and-a-half from this black bustling scene, in a
+sheltered valley, lies the mansion of Mr. Beauchamp, wrapped up in
+shrubberies of laurel and laurustine. Copses of hazel and holly
+terminate the prospect on almost every side, and in the midst of the
+glen a broad clear stream reflects the impending vegetation. This
+transparent water, after performing the part of a mirror before the
+house, forms a succession of waterfalls which glitter between slopes of
+the smoothest turf, sprinkled with daffodils: numerous flights of
+widgeon and Muscovy ducks, were sprucing themselves on the edge of the
+stream, and two grave swans seemed highly to approve of its woody
+retired banks for the education of their progeny.
+
+Very glad was I to disport on its “margent green,” after crushing
+cinders at every step all the morning; had not the sun hid himself, and
+the air grown chill, I might have fooled away three or four hours with
+the swans and the widgeons, and lost my dinner. Upon my return home, I
+found the wind as contrary as ever, and all thoughts of sailing
+abandoned.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+     A lovely morning.--Antiquated mansion.--Its lady.--Ancestral
+     effigies.--Collection of animals.--Serene evening.--Owls.--Expected
+     dreams.
+
+
+Falmouth, March 8, 1787.
+
+What a lovely morning! how glassy the sea, how busy the fishing-boats,
+and how fast asleep the wind in its old quarter! Towards evening,
+however, it freshened, and I took a toss in a boat with Mr. Trefusis,
+whose territories extend half round the bay. His green hanging downs
+spotted with sheep, and intersected by rocky gullies, shaded by tall
+straight oaks and ashes, form a romantic prospect, very much in the
+style of Mount Edgcumbe.
+
+We drank tea at the capital of these dominions, an antiquated mansion,
+which is placed in a hollow on the summit of a lofty hill, and contains
+many ruinous halls and never-ending passages: they cannot, however, be
+said to lead to nothing, like those celebrated by Gray in his Long
+Story, for Mrs. Trefusis terminated the perspective. She is a native of
+Lausanne, and was quite happy to see her countryman Verdeil.
+
+We should have very much enjoyed her conversation, but the moment tea
+was over, the squire could not resist leading us round his improvements
+in kennel, stable, and oxstall: though it was pitch-dark, and we were
+obliged to be escorted by grooms and groomlings with candles and
+lanterns; a very necessary precaution, as the winds blew not more
+violently without the house than within.
+
+In the course of our peregrination through halls, pantries, and
+antechambers, we passed a staircase with heavy walnut-railing, lined
+from top to bottom with effigies of ancestors that looked quite
+formidable by the horny glow of our lanterns; which illumination, dull
+as it was, occasioned much alarm amongst a collection of animals, both
+furred and feathered, the delight of Mr. Trefusis’s existence.
+
+Every corner of his house contains some strange and stinking inhabitant;
+one can hardly move without stumbling over a basket of puppies, or
+rolling along a mealy tub, with ferrets in the bottom of it; rap went my
+head against a wire cage, and behold a squirrel twirled out of its sleep
+in sad confusion: a little further on, I was very near being the
+destruction of some new-born dormice--their feeble squeak haunts my ears
+at this moment!
+
+Beyond this nursery, a door opened and admitted us into a large saloon,
+in the days of Mr. Trefusis’s father very splendidly decorated, but at
+present exhibiting nothing, save damp plastered walls, mouldering
+floors, and cracked windows. A well-known perfume issuing from this
+apartment, proclaimed the neighbourhood of those fragrant animals, which
+you perfectly recollect were the joy of my infancy, and presently three
+or four couple of spanking yellow rabbits made their appearance. A
+racoon poked his head out of a coop, whilst an owl lifted up the gloom
+of his countenance, and gave us his malediction.
+
+My nose having lost all relish for _rabbitish_ odours, took refuge in my
+handkerchief; there did I keep it snug till it pleased our conductors to
+light us through two or three closets, all of a flutter with Virginia
+nightingales, goldfinches, and canary-birds, into the stable. Several
+game-cocks fell a crowing with most triumphant shrillness upon our
+approach; and a monkey--the image of poor Brandoin--expanded his jaws in
+so woful a manner, that I grew melancholy, and paid the hunters not half
+the attention they merited.
+
+At length we got into the open air again, made our bows and departed.
+The evening was become serene and pleasant, the moon beamed brilliantly
+on the sea; but the owls, who are never to be pleased, hooted most
+ruefully.
+
+Good night: I expect to dream of _closed-up doors_,[12] and haunted
+passages; rats, puppies, racoons, game-cocks, rabbits, and dormice.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+     A blustering night.--Tedium of the language of the
+     compass.--Another excursion to Trefusis.
+
+
+Falmouth, March 10, 1787.
+
+I thought last night our thin pasteboard habitation would have been
+blown into the sea, for never in my life did I hear such dreadful
+blusterings. Perhaps the winds are celebrating the approach of the
+equinox, or some high festival in Æolus’s calendar, with which we poor
+mortals are unacquainted. How tired I am of the language of the compass,
+of wind shifting to this point and veering to the other; of gales
+springing up, and breezes freshening; of rough seas, clear berths, ships
+driving, and anchors lifting. Oh! that I was rooted like a tree, in some
+sheltered corner of an inland valley, where I might never hear more of
+saltwater or sailing.
+
+You cannot wonder at my becoming impatient, after eleven days’
+captivity, nor at my wishing myself anywhere but where I am: I should
+almost prefer a quarantine party at the new elegant Lazaretto off
+Marseilles, to this smoky residence; at least, I might there learn some
+curious particulars of the Levant, enjoy bright sunshine, and perfect
+myself in Arabic. But what can a being of my turn do at Falmouth? I have
+little taste for the explanation of fire-engines, Mr. Scott; the pursuit
+of hares under the auspices of young Trefusis; or the gliding of
+billiard-balls in the society of Barbadoes Creoles and packet-boat
+captains. The Lord have mercy upon me! now, indeed, do I perform
+penance.
+
+Our dinner yesterday went off tolerably well. We had _on_ the table a
+savoury pig, right worthy of Otaheite, and some of the finest poultry I
+ever tasted; and _round_ the table two or three brace of odd Cornish
+gentlefolks, not deficient in humour and originality.
+
+About eight in the evening, six game-cocks were ushered into the
+eating-room by two limber lads in scarlet jackets; and, after a flourish
+of crowing, the noble birds set-to with surprising keenness. Tufts of
+brilliant feathers soon flew about the apartment; but the carpet was
+not stained with the blood of the combatants: for, to do Trefusis
+justice, he has a generous heart, and takes no pleasure in cruelty. The
+cocks were unarmed, had their spurs cut short, and may live to fight
+fifty such harmless battles.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+     Regrets produced by Contrasts.
+
+
+Falmouth, March 11, 1787.
+
+What a fool was I to leave my beloved retirement at Evian! Instead of
+viewing innumerable transparent rills falling over the amber-coloured
+rocks of Melierie, I am chained down to contemplate an oozy beach,
+deserted by the sea, and becrawled with worms tracking their way in the
+slime that harbours them. Instead of the cheerful crackling of a
+wood-fire in the old baron’s great hall, I hear the bellowing of winds
+in narrow chimneys. You must allow the aromatic fragrance of fir-cones,
+such heaps of which I used to burn in Savoy, is greatly preferable to
+the exhalations of Welsh coal, and that to a person wrapped up in
+musical devotion, high mass must be a good deal superior to the hummings
+and hawings of a Quaker assembly. Colett swears he had rather be
+boarded at the Inquisition than remain at the mercy of the confounded
+keeper of this hotel, the worst and the dearest in Christendom. We are
+all tired to death, and know not what to do with ourselves.
+
+As I look upon ennui to be very catching, I shall break off before I
+give you a share of it.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+     Still no prospect of embarkation.--Pen-dennis Castle.--Luxuriant
+     vegetation.--A serene day.--Anticipations of the voyage.
+
+
+Falmouth, March 13, 1787.
+
+No prospect of launching this day upon the ocean. Every breeze is
+subsided, and a profound calm established. I walk up and down the path
+which leads to Pen-dennis Castle with folded arms, in a most listless
+desponding mood. Vast brakes of furze, much stouter and loftier than any
+with which I am acquainted, scent the air with the perfume of apricots.
+Primroses, violets, and fresh herbs innumerable expand on every bank.
+Larks, poised in the soft blue sky, warble delightfully. The sea, far
+and wide, is covered with fishing-boats; and such a stillness prevails,
+that I hear the voices of the fishermen.
+
+You will be rambling in sheltered alleys, whilst winds and currents
+drive me furiously along craggy shores, under the scowl of a
+tempestuous sky. You will be angling for perch, whilst sharks are
+whetting their teeth at me. Methinks I hear the voracious gluttons
+disputing the first snap, and pointing upwards their cold slimy noses.
+Out upon them! I have no desire to invade their element, or (using
+poetical language) to plough those plains of waves which brings them
+rich harvests of carcasses, and had much rather cling fast to the green
+banks of Pen-dennis. I even prefer mining to sailing; and of the two,
+had rather be swallowed up by the earth than the ocean.
+
+I wish some “swart fairy of the mine” would snatch me to her
+concealments. Rather than pass a month in the qualms of sea-sickness, I
+would consent to live three by candlelight, in the deepest den you could
+discover, stuck close to a foul midnight hag as mouldy as a rotten
+apple.
+
+This, you will tell me, is being very energetic in my aversions, that I
+allow; but such, you know, is my trim, and I cannot help it.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+     Portugal.--Excursion to Pagliavam.--The villa.--Dismal labyrinths
+     in the Dutch style.--Roses.--Anglo-Portuguese Master of the
+     Horse.--Interior of the Palace.--Furniture in petticoats.--Force of
+     education.--Royalty without power.--Return from the Palace.
+
+
+30th May, 1787.
+
+Horne persuaded me much against my will to accompany him in his
+Portuguese chaise to Pagliavam, the residence of John the Fifth’s
+bastards, instead of following my usual track along the sea-shore. The
+roads to this stately garden are abominable, and more infested by
+beggars, dogs, flies, and musquitoes, than any I am acquainted with. The
+villa itself, which belongs to the Marquis of Lourical, is placed in a
+hollow, and the tufted groves which surround it admit not a breath of
+air; so I was half suffocated the moment I entered their shade.
+
+A great flat space before the garden-front of the villa is laid out in
+dismal labyrinths of clipped myrtle, with lofty pyramids rising from
+them, in the style of that vile Dutch maze planted by King William at
+Kensington, and rooted up some years ago by King George the Third.
+Beyond this puzzling ground are several long alleys of stiff dark
+verdure, called _ruas_, _i. e._ literally streets, with great propriety,
+being more close, more formal, and not less dusty than High-Holborn. I
+deviated from them into plats of well-watered vegetables and aromatic
+herbs, enclosed by neat fences of cane, covered with an embroidery of
+the freshest and most perfect roses, quite free from insects and
+cankers, worthy to have strewn the couches and graced the bosom of Lais,
+Aspasia, or Lady----. You know how warmly every mortal of taste delights
+in these lovely flowers; how frequently, and in what harmonious numbers,
+Ariosto has celebrated them. Has not Lady ---- a whole apartment painted
+over with roses? Does she not fill her bath with their leaves, and deck
+her idols with garlands of no other flowers? and is she not quite in the
+right of it?
+
+Whilst I was poetically engaged with the roses, Horne entered into
+conversation with a sort of Anglo-Portuguese Master of the Horse to
+their bastard highnesses. He had a snug well-powdered wig, a bright
+silver-hilted sword, a crimson full-dress suit, and a gently bulging
+paunch. With one hand in his bosom and the other in the act of taking
+snuff, he harangued emphatically upon the holiness, temperance, and
+chastity of his august masters, who live sequestered from the world in
+dingy silent state, abhor profane company, and never cast a look upon
+females.
+
+Being curious to see the abode of these semi-royal sober personages, I
+entered the palace. Not an insect stirred, not a whisper was audible.
+The principal apartments consist in a suite of lofty-coved saloons,
+nobly proportioned, and uniformly hung with damask of the deepest
+crimson. The upper end of each room is doubly shaded by a ponderous
+canopy of cut velvet. To the right and left appear rows of huge
+elbow-chairs of the same materials. No glasses, no pictures, no gilding,
+no decoration, but heavy drapery; even the tables are concealed by cut
+velvet flounces, in the style of those with which our dowagers used
+formerly to array their toilets. The very sight of such close tables is
+enough to make one perspire; and I cannot imagine what demon prompted
+the Portuguese to invent such a fusty fashion.
+
+This taste for putting commodes and tables into petticoats is pretty
+general here, at least in royal apartments. At Queluz, not a card or
+dining-table has escaped; and many an old court-dress, I should suspect,
+has been cut up to furnish these accoutrements, which are of all
+colours, plain and flowered, pastorally sprigged or gorgeously
+embroidered. Not so at Pagliavam. Crimson alone prevails, and casts its
+royal gloom unrivalled on every object. Stuck fast to the wall, between
+two of the aforementioned tables, are two fauteuils for their
+highnesses; and opposite, a rank of chairs for those reverend fathers in
+God who from time to time are honoured with admittance.
+
+How mighty is the force of Education!--What pains it must require on the
+part of nurses, equerries, and chamberlains, to stifle every lively and
+generous sensation in the princelings they educate,--to break a human
+being into the habits of impotent royalty! Dignity without command is
+one of the heaviest of burthens. A sovereign may employ himself; he has
+the choice of good or evil; but princes, like those of Pagliavam,
+without power or influence, who have nothing to feed on but imaginary
+greatness, must yawn their souls out, and become in process of time as
+formal and inanimate as the pyramids of stunted myrtle in their gardens.
+Happier were those babies King John did not think proper to recognize,
+and they are not few in number, for that pious monarch,
+
+                “Wide as his command,
+    “Scattered his Maker’s image through the land.”
+
+They, perhaps, whilst their brothers are gaping under rusty canopies,
+tinkle their guitars in careless moonlight rambles, wriggle in gay
+fandangos, or enjoy sound sleep, rural fare, and merriment, in the
+character of jolly village curates.
+
+I was glad to get out of the palace; its stillness and gloom depressed
+my spirits, and a confined atmosphere, impregnated with the smell of
+burnt lavender, almost overcame me. I am just returned gasping for air.
+No wonder; one might as well be in bed with a warming-pan as in a
+Portuguese cariole with the portly Horne, who carries a noble
+protuberance, set off in this season with a satin waistcoat richly
+spangled.
+
+I must go to Cintra, or I shall expire!
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+     Glare of the climate in Portugal.--Apish luxury.--Botanic
+     Gardens.--Açafatas.--Description of the Gardens and Terraces.
+
+
+May 31, 1787.
+
+It is in vain I call upon clouds to cover me and fogs to wrap me up. You
+can form no adequate idea of the continual glare of this renowned
+climate. Lisbon is the place in the world best calculated to make one
+cry out
+
+    “Hide me from day’s garish eye;”
+
+but where to hide is not so easy. Here are no thickets of pine as in the
+classic Italian villas, none of those quivering poplars and leafy
+chestnuts which cover the plains of Lombardy. The groves in the
+immediate environs of this capital are composed of--with, alas! but few
+exceptions--dwarfish orange-trees and cinder-coloured olives. Under
+their branches repose neither shepherds nor shepherdesses, but
+whitening bones, scraps of leather, broken pantiles, and passengers not
+unfrequently attended by monkeys, who, I have been told, are let out for
+the purpose of picking up a livelihood. Those who cannot afford this
+apish luxury, have their bushy poles untenanted by affectionate
+relations, for yesterday just under my window I saw two blessed babies
+rendering this good office to their aged parent.
+
+I had determined not to have stirred beyond the shade of my awning;
+however, towards eve, the extreme fervour of the sun being a little
+abated, old Horne (who has yet a colt’s-tooth) prevailed upon me to walk
+in the Botanic Gardens, where not unfrequently are to be found certain
+youthful animals of the female gender called Açafatas, in Portuguese; a
+species between a bedchamber woman and a maid of honour. The Queen has
+kindly taken the ugliest with her to the Caldas: those who remain have
+large black eyes sparkling with the true spirit of adventure, an
+exuberant flow of dark hair, and pouting lips of the colour and size of
+full-blown roses.
+
+All this, you will tell me, does not compose a perfect beauty. I never
+meant to convey such a notion: I only wish you to understand that the
+nymphs we have just quitted are the flowers of the Queen’s flock, and
+that she has, at least, four or five dozen more in attendance upon her
+sacred person, with larger mouths, smaller eyes, and swarthier
+complexions.
+
+Not being in sufficient spirits to flourish away in Portuguese, my
+conversation was chiefly addressed to a lovely blue-eyed Irish girl of
+fifteen or sixteen, lately married to an officer of her Majesty’s
+customs. Spouse goes a pilgrimaging to Nossa Senhora do Cabo--little
+madam whisks about the Botanic Garden with the ladies of the palace and
+a troop of sopranos, who teach her to warble and speak Italian. She is
+well worth teaching everything in their power. Her hair of the loveliest
+auburn, her straight Grecian eyebrows and fair complexion, form a
+striking contrast to the gipsy-coloured skins and jetty tresses of her
+companions. She looked like a visionary being skimming along the alleys,
+and leaving the pot-bellied sopranos and dowdy Açafatas far behind,
+wondering at her agility.
+
+The garden is pleasant enough, situated upon an eminence, planted with
+light flowering trees clustered with blossoms. Above their topmost
+branches rises a broad majestic terrace, with marble balustrades of
+shining whiteness and strange Oriental pattern. They design
+indifferently in this country, but execute with great neatness and
+precision. I never saw balustrades better hewn or chiseled than those
+bordering the steps which lead up to the grand terrace. Its ample
+surface is laid out in oblong compartments of marble, containing no very
+great variety of heliotropes, aloes, geraniums, china-roses, and the
+commonest plants of our green-houses. Such ponderous divisions have a
+dismal effect; they reminded one of a place of interment, and it struck
+me as if the deceased inhabitants of the adjoining palace were sprouting
+up in the shape of prickly-pears, Indian-figs, gaudy holly-oaks, and
+peppery capsicums.
+
+The terrace is about fifteen hundred paces in length. Three copious
+fountains give it an air of coolness, much increased by the waving of
+tall acacias, exposed by their lofty situation to every breeze which
+blows from the entrance of the Tagus, whose lovely azure appears to
+great advantage between the quivering foliage.
+
+The Irish girl and your faithful correspondent coursed each other like
+children along the terrace, and when tired reposed under a group of
+gigantic Brazilian aloes by one of the fountains. The swarthy party
+detached its principal guardian, a gawky young priest, to observe all
+the wanderings and riposos of us white people.
+
+It was late, and the sun had set several minutes before I took my
+departure. Black eyes and blue eyes seem horridly jealous of each other.
+I fear my youthful and lively companion will suffer for having more
+alertness than the Açafatas: she will be pinched, if I am not mistaken,
+as the party return through the dark and intricate passages which join
+the palace of the Ajuda to the gardens. Sad thought, the leaving such a
+fair little being in the hands of fiery, despotic females, so greatly
+her inferiors in complexion and delicacy.
+
+They will take especial care, I warrant them, to fill the husband’s head
+with suspicions less charitable than those inspired by Nossa Senhora do
+Cabo.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+     Consecration of the Bishop of Algarve.--Pathetic Music.--Valley of
+     Alcantara.--Enormous Aqueduct.--Visit to the Marialva Palace.--Its
+     much revered Masters.--Collection of Rarities.--The Viceroy of
+     Algarve.--Polyglottery.--A Night-scene.--Modinhas.--Extraordinary
+     Procession.--Blessings of Patriarchal Government.
+
+
+3 June, 1787.
+
+We went by special invitation to the royal Convent of the Necessidades,
+belonging to the Oratorians, to see the ceremony of consecrating a
+father of that order Bishop of Algarve, and were placed fronting the
+altar in a gallery crowded with important personages in shining raiment,
+the relations of the new prelate. The floor being spread with rich
+Persian carpets and velvet cushions, it was pretty good kneeling; but,
+notwithstanding this comfortable accommodation, I thought the ceremony
+would never finish. There was a mighty glitter of crosses, censers,
+mitres, and crosiers, continually in motion, as several bishops
+assisted in all their pomp.
+
+The music, which was extremely simple and pathetic, appeared to affect
+the grandees in my neighbourhood very profoundly, for they put on woful
+contrite countenances, thumped their breasts, and seemed to think
+themselves, as most of them are, miserable sinners. Feeling oppressed by
+the heat and the sermon, I made my retreat slyly and silently from the
+splendid gallery, and passed through some narrow corridors, as warm as
+flues, into the garden.
+
+But this was only exchanging one scene of formality and closeness for
+another. I panted after air, and to obtain that blessing escaped through
+a little narrow door into the wild free valley of Alcantara. Here all
+was solitude and humming of bees, and fresh gales blowing from the
+entrance of the Tagus over the tufted tops of orange gardens. The
+refreshing sound of water-wheels seemed to give me new life.
+
+I set the sun at defiance, and advanced towards that part of the valley
+across which stretches the enormous aqueduct you have heard so often
+mentioned as the most colossal edifice of its kind in Europe. It has
+only one row of pointed openings, and the principal arch, which crosses
+a rapid brook, measures above two hundred and fifty feet in height. The
+Pont de Garde and Caserta have several rows of arches one above the
+other, which, by dividing the attention, take off from the size of the
+whole. There is a vastness in this single range that strikes with
+astonishment. I sat down on a fragment of rock, under the great arch,
+and looked up to the vaulted stone-work so high above me with a
+sensation of awe not unallied to fear; as if the building I gazed upon
+was the performance of some immeasurable being endued with gigantic
+strength, who might perhaps take a fancy to saunter about his works this
+morning, and, in mere awkwardness, crush me to atoms.
+
+Hard by the spot where I sat are several inclosures filled with canes,
+eleven or twelve feet high: their fresh green leaves, agitated by the
+feeblest wind, form a perpetual murmur. I am fond of this rustling, and
+suffered myself to be lulled by it into a state of very necessary repose
+after the fatigues of scrambling over crags and precipices.
+
+As soon as I returned from my walk, Horne took me to dine with him, and
+afterwards to the Marialva Palace to pay the Grand Prior a visit. The
+court-yard, filled with shabby two-wheeled chaises, put me in mind of
+the entrance of a French post-house; a recollection not weakened by the
+sight of several ample heaps of manure, between which we made the best
+of our way up the great staircase, and had near tumbled over a swingeing
+sow and her numerous progeny, which escaped from under our legs with
+bitter squeakings.
+
+This hubbub announced our arrival, so out came the Grand Prior, his
+nephew, the old Abade, and a troop of domestics. All great Portuguese
+families are infested with herds of these, in general, ill-favoured
+dependants; and none more than the Marialvas, who dole out every day
+three hundred portions, at least, of rice and other eatables to as many
+greedy devourers.
+
+The Grand Prior had shed his pontifical garments and did the honours of
+the house, and conducted us with much agility all over the apartments,
+and through the _manège_, where the old Marquis, his brother, though at
+a very advanced age, displays feats of the most consummate
+horsemanship. He seems to have a decided taste for clocks, compasses,
+and time-keepers. I counted no less than ten in his bedchamber; four or
+five in full swing, making a loud hissing: they were chiming and
+striking away (for it was exactly six) when I followed my conductor up
+and down half-a-dozen staircases into a saloon hung with rusty damask.
+
+A table in the centre of this antiquated apartment was covered with
+rarities brought forth for our inspection; curious shell-work, ivory
+crucifixes, models of ships, housings embroidered with feathers, and the
+Lord knows what besides, stinking of camphor enough to knock one down.
+
+Whilst we were staring with all our eyes and holding our handkerchiefs
+to our noses, the Count of V----, Viceroy of Algarve, made his
+appearance, in grand pea-green and pink and silver gala, straddling and
+making wry faces as if some disagreeable accident had befallen him. He
+was, however, in a most gracious mood, and received our eulogiums upon
+his relation, the new bishop, with much complacency. Our conversation
+was limpingly carried on in a great variety of broken languages.
+Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, and English, had each their turn
+in rapid succession. The subject of all this polyglottery was the
+glories and piety of John the Fifth, regret for the extinction of the
+Jesuits, and the reverse for the death of Pombal, whose memory he holds
+in something not distantly removed from execration. This flow of
+eloquence was accompanied by the strangest, most buffoonical grimaces
+and slobberings I ever beheld, for the Viceroy having a perennial
+moistness of mouth, drivels at every syllable.
+
+One must not, however, decide too hastily upon outward appearances. This
+slobbering, canting personage, is a distinguished statesman and good
+officer, pre-eminent amongst the few who have seen service and given
+proofs of prowess and capacity.
+
+To escape the long-winded narrations which were pouring warm into my
+ear, I took refuge near a harpsichord, where Policarpio, one of the
+first tenors in the Queen’s chapel, was singing and accompanying
+himself. The curtains of the door of an adjoining dark apartment being
+half drawn, gave me a transient glimpse of Donna Henriquetta de L----,
+Don Pedro’s sister, advancing one moment and retiring the next, eager to
+approach and examine us exotic beings, but not venturing to enter the
+saloon during her mother’s absence. She appeared to me a most
+interesting girl, with eyes full of bewitching languor;--but of what do
+I talk? I only saw her pale and evanescent, as one fancies one sees
+objects in a dream. A group of lovely children (her sisters, I believe)
+sat at her feet upon the ground, resembling genii partially concealed by
+folds of drapery in some grand allegorical picture by Rubens or Paul
+Veronese.
+
+Night approaching, lights glimmered on the turrets, terraces, and every
+part of the strange huddle of buildings of which this morisco-looking
+palace is composed; half the family were engaged in reciting the
+litanies of saints, the other in freaks and frolics, perhaps of no very
+edifying nature: the monotonous staccato of the guitar, accompanied by
+the low soothing murmur of female voices singing modinhas, formed
+altogether a strange though not unpleasant combination of sounds.
+
+I was listening to them with avidity, when a glare of flambeaus, and
+the noise of a splashing and dashing of water, called us out upon the
+verandas, in time to witness a procession scarcely equalled since the
+days of Noah. I doubt whether his ark contained a more heterogeneous
+collection of animals than issued from a scalera with fifty oars, which
+had just landed the old Marquis of M. and his son Don Josè, attended by
+a swarm of musicians, poets, bullfighters, grooms, monks, dwarfs, and
+children of both sexes, fantastically dressed.
+
+The whole party, it seems, were returned from a pilgrimage to some
+saint’s nest or other on the opposite shore of the Tagus. First jumped
+out a hump-backed dwarf, blowing a little squeaking trumpet three or
+four inches long; then a pair of led captains, apparently commanded by a
+strange, old, swaggering fellow in a showy uniform, who, I was told, had
+acted the part of a sort of brigadier-general in some sort of an island.
+Had it been Barataria, Sancho would soon have sent him about his
+business, for, if we believe the scandalous chronicle of Lisbon, a more
+impudent buffoon, parasite, and pilferer seldom existed.
+
+Close at his heels stalked a savage-looking monk, as tall as Samson,
+and two Capuchin friars, heavily laden, but with what sort of provision
+I am ignorant; next came a very slim and sallow-faced apothecary, in
+deep sables, completely answering in gait and costume the figure one
+fancies to one’s self of Senhor Apuntador, in Gil Blas, followed by a
+half-crazed improvisatore, spouting verses at us as he passed under the
+balustrades against which we were leaning.
+
+He was hardly out of hearing before a confused rabble of watermen and
+servants with bird-cages, lanterns, baskets of fruit, and chaplets of
+flowers, came gamboling along to the great delight of a bevy of
+children; who, to look more like the inhabitants of Heaven than even
+Nature designed, had light fluttering wings attached to their
+rose-coloured shoulders. Some of these little theatrical angels were
+extremely beautiful, and had their hair most coquettishly arranged in
+ringlets.
+
+The old Marquis is doatingly fond of them; night and day they remain
+with him, imparting all the advantages that can possibly be derived from
+fresh and innocent breath to a declining constitution. The patriarch of
+the Marialvas has followed this regimen many years, and also some
+others which are scarcely credible. Having a more than Roman facility of
+swallowing an immense profusion of dainties, and making room continually
+for a fresh supply, he dines alone every day between two silver canteens
+of extraordinary magnitude. Nobody in England would believe me if I
+detailed the enormous repast I saw spread out for him; but let your
+imagination loose upon all that was ever conceived in the way of
+gormandizing, and it will not in this case exceed the reality.
+
+As soon as the contents, animal and vegetable, of the principal scalera,
+and three or four other barges in its train, had been deposited in their
+respective holes, corners, and roosting-places, I received an invitation
+from the old Marquis to partake of a collation in his apartment. Not
+less, I am certain, than fifty servants were in waiting, and exclusive
+of half-a-dozen wax-torches, which were borne in state before us, above
+a hundred tapers of different sizes were lighted up in the range of
+rooms, intermingled with silver braziers and cassolettes diffusing a
+very pleasant perfume. I found the master of all this magnificence most
+courteous, affable, and engaging. There is an urbanity and good-humour
+in his looks, gestures, and tone of voice, that prepossesses
+instantaneously in his favour, and justifies the universal popularity he
+enjoys, and the affectionate name of Father, by which the Queen and
+Royal Family often address him. All the favours of the crown have been
+heaped upon him by the present and preceding sovereigns, a tide of
+prosperity uninterrupted even during the grand vizariat of Pombal. “Act
+as you judge wisest with the rest of my nobility,” used to say the King
+Don Joseph to this redoubted minister; “but beware how you interfere
+with the Marquis of Marialva.”
+
+In consequence of this decided predilection, the Marialva Palace became
+in many cases a sort of rallying point, an asylum for the oppressed; and
+its master, in more than one instance, a shield against the thunderbolts
+of a too powerful minister. The recollections of these times seem still
+to be kept alive; for the heart-felt respect, the filial adoration, I
+saw paid the old Marquis, was indeed most remarkable; his slightest
+glances were obeyed, and the person on whom they fell seemed gratified
+and animated; his sons, the Marquis of Tancos and Don Josè de Meneses,
+never approached to offer him anything without bending the knee; and the
+Conde de Villaverde, the heir of the great house of Anjeja, as well as
+the Viceroy of Algarve, stood in the circle which was formed around him,
+receiving a kind or gracious word with the same thankful earnestness as
+courtiers who hang upon the smiles and favour of their sovereign. I
+shall long remember the grateful sensations with which this scene of
+reciprocal kindness filled me; it appeared an interchange of amiable
+sentiments; beneficence diffused without guile or affectation, and
+protection received without sullen or abject servility.
+
+How preferable is patriarchal government of this nature to the cold
+theories pedantic sophists would establish, and which, should success
+attend their selfish atheistical ravings, bid fair to undermine the best
+and surest props of society! When parents cease to be honoured by their
+children, and the feelings of grateful subordination in those of
+helpless age or condition are unknown, kings will soon cease to reign,
+and republics to be governed by the councils of experience; anarchy,
+rapine, and massacre will walk the earth, and the abode of dæmons be
+transferred from hell to our unfortunate planet.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER X.
+
+     Festival of the Corpo de Deos.--Striking decoration of the
+     streets.--The Patriarchal Cathedral.--Coming forth of the Sacrament
+     in awful state.--Gorgeous Procession.--Bewildering confusion of
+     sounds.
+
+
+7th June.
+
+A most sonorous peal of bells, an alarming rattle of drums, and a
+piercing flourish of trumpets, roused me at daybreak. You are too
+piously disposed to be ignorant that this day is the festival of the
+Corpo de Deos. I had half a mind to have stayed at home, turning over a
+curious collection of Portuguese chronicles the Prior of Avis has just
+sent to me; but I was told such wonders of the expected procession that
+I could not refuse giving myself a little trouble in order to witness
+them.
+
+Everybody was gone before I set out, and the streets of the suburb I
+inhabit, as well as those in the city through which I passed in my way
+to the patriarchal cathedral, were entirely deserted. A pestilence
+seemed to have swept the Great Square and the busy environs of the
+Exchange and India House; for even vagrants, scavengers, and beggars, in
+the last state of decrepitude, had all hobbled away to the scene of
+action. A few miserable curs sniffing at offals alone remained in the
+deserted streets, and I saw no human being at any of the windows, except
+half-a-dozen scabby children blubbering at being kept at home.
+
+The murmur of the crowds, assembled round the _patriarchale_, reached us
+a long while before we got into the midst of them, for we advanced with
+difficulty between rows of soldiers drawn up in battle array. Upon
+turning a dark angle, overshadowed by the high buildings of the seminary
+adjoining the patriarchale, we discovered houses, shops, and palaces,
+all metamorphosed into tents, and hung from top to bottom with red
+damask, tapestry, satin coverlids, and fringed counterpanes glittering
+with gold. I thought myself in the midst of the Mogul’s encampment, so
+pompously described by Bernier.
+
+The front of the Great Church in particular was most magnificently
+curtained; it rises from a vast flight of steps, which were covered
+to-day with the yeomen of the Queen’s guard in their rich
+party-coloured velvet dresses, and a multitude of priests bearing a
+gorgeous variety of painted and silken banners; flocks of sallow monks,
+white, brown, and black, kept pouring in continually, like turkeys
+driving to market.
+
+This part of the holy display lasting a tiresome while, I grew weary,
+and left the balcony, where we were placed most advantageously, and got
+into the church. High mass was performing with awful pomp, incense
+ascending in clouds, and the light of innumerable tapers blazing on the
+diamonds of the ostensory, just elevated by the patriarch with trembling
+devout hands to receive the mysterious wafer.
+
+Before the close of the ceremony, I regained my window, to have a full
+view of the coming forth of the Sacrament. All was expectation and
+silence in the people. The guards had ranged them on each side of the
+steps before the entrance of the church. At length a shower of aromatic
+herbs and flowers announced the approach of the patriarch, bearing the
+host under a regal canopy, surrounded by grandees, and preceded by a
+long train of mitred figures, their hands joined in prayer, their
+scarlet and purple vestments sweeping the ground, their attendants
+bearing croziers, crosses, and other insignia of pontifical grandeur.
+
+The procession slowly descending the flights of stairs to the sound of
+choirs and the distant thunder of artillery, lost itself in a winding
+street decorated with embroidered hangings, and left me with my senses
+in a whirl, and my eyes dazzled, as if awakened from a vision of
+celestial splendour.... My head swims at this moment, and my ears tingle
+with a confusion of sounds, bells, voices, and the echoes of cannon,
+prolonged by mountains and wafted over waters.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+     Dinner at the country-house of Mr. S----.--His Brazilian
+     wife.--Magnificent repast.--A tragic damsel.
+
+
+11th June, 1787.
+
+To-day we were engaged to dine in the country at a villa belonging to a
+gentleman, whose volley of names, when pronounced with the true
+Portuguese twang, sounds like an expectoration--Josè Street-Arriaga-Brum
+da Silveira. Our hospitable host is of Irish extraction, boasts a
+stature of six feet, proportionable breadth, a ruddy countenance,
+herculean legs, and all the exterior attributes, at least, of that
+enterprising race, who often have the luck of marrying great fortunes.
+About a year or two ago he bore off a wealthy Brazilian heiress, and is
+now master of a large estate and a fubsical, squat wife, with a head not
+unlike that of Holofernes in old tapestry, and shoulders that act the
+part of a platter with rather too much exactitude. Poor soul! to be
+sure, she is neither a Venus nor a Hebe, has a rough lip, and a manly
+voice, and I fear is somewhat inclined to be dropsical; but her smiles
+are frequent and fondling, and she cleaves to her husband with great
+perseverance.
+
+He is an odd character, will accept of no employment, civil or military,
+and affects a bullying frankness, that I should think must displease
+very much in this country, where independence either in fortune or
+sentiment is a crime seldom if ever tolerated.
+
+Mr. S---- likes a display, and the repast he gave us was magnificent;
+sixty dishes at least, eight smoking roasts, and every ragout, French,
+English, and Portuguese, that could be thought of. The dessert appeared
+like the model of a fortification. The principal cake-tower measured, I
+dare say, three feet perpendicular in height. The company was not equal
+either in number or consequence to the splendour of the entertainment.
+
+Had not Miss Sill and Bezerra been luckily in my neighbourhood, I should
+have perished with _ennui_. One stately damsel, with portentous
+eyebrows, and looks that reproached the male part of the assembly with
+inattention, was the only lady of the palace Mr. S---- had invited.
+
+I expected to have met the whole troop of my Botanic Garden
+acquaintance, and to have escorted them about the vineyards and
+citron-orchards which surround this villa; but, alas! I was not destined
+to any such amusing excursion. The tragic damsel, who I am told has been
+unhappy in her tender attachments, took my arm, and never quitted it
+during a long walk through Mr. S----’s ample possessions. We conversed
+in Italian, and paid the birds that were singing, and the rills that
+were murmuring, many fine compliments in a sort of prose run mad,
+borrowed from operas and serenatas, the Aminto of Tasso, and the Adone
+of Marini.
+
+The sun was just diffusing his last rays over the distant rocks of
+Cintra, the air balsamic, and the paths amongst the vines springing with
+fresh herbage and a thousand flowers revived by last night’s rain.
+Giving up the narrow tract which leads through these rural regions to
+the signora, I stalked by her side in a furrow well garnished with
+nettles, acanthus, and dwarf aloes, stinging and scratching myself at
+every step. This penance, and the disappointment I was feeling most
+acutely, put me not a little out of humour; I regretted so delicious an
+evening should pass away in such forlorn company, and lacerating my legs
+to so little purpose. How should I have enjoyed rambling with the young
+Irish girl about these pleasant clover paths, between festoons of
+luxuriant leaves and tendrils, not fastened to stiff poles and stumpy
+stakes as in France and Switzerland, but climbing up light canes eight
+or ten feet in height!
+
+Pinioned as I was, you may imagine I felt no inclination to prolong a
+walk which already had been prolonged unconscionably. I escaped tea and
+playing at voltarete, made a solemn bow to the solemn damsel, and got
+home before it was quite dark.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XII.
+
+     Pass the day at Belem.--Visit the neighbouring
+     Monastery.--Habitation of King Emanuel.--A gold Custodium of
+     exquisite workmanship.--The Church.--Bonfires on the edge of the
+     Tagus.--Fire-works.--Images of the Holy One of Lisbon.
+
+
+June 12th, 1787.
+
+We passed the day quite _en famille_ at Belem with a whole legion of
+Marialvas. Some reverend fathers, of I know not what community, had sent
+them immense messes of soup, very thick, slab, and oily; a portion
+which, it seems, the faithful are accustomed to swallow on the eve of
+St. Anthony’s festival.
+
+As soon as I decently could, after a collation which was served under an
+awning stretched over one of the terraces, I stole out of the circle of
+lords, ladies, dwarfs, monks, buffoons, bullies, and almoners, to visit
+the neighbouring monastery. I ascended the great stairs, constructed at
+the expense of the Infanta Catherine, King Charles the Second’s
+dowager, and after walking in the cloisters of Emanuel, looked into the
+library, which is far from being in the cleanest or best ordered
+condition. The spacious and lofty cloisters present a striking spread of
+arches, which, though not in the purest style, attract the eye by their
+delicately-carved arabesque ornament, and the warm reddish hue of the
+marble. The corridor, into which open an almost endless range of cells,
+is full five hundred feet in length. Each window has a commodious
+resting-place, where the monks loll at their ease and enjoy the view of
+the river.
+
+In a little dark treasury communicating by winding-stairs with that part
+of the edifice tradition points out as the habitation of King Emanuel,
+when at certain holy seasons he retired within these precincts, I was
+shown by candlelight some extremely curious plate, particularly a
+custodium, made in the year 1506, of the pure gold of Quiloa. Nothing
+can be more beautiful as a specimen of elaborate gothic sculpture, than
+this complicated enamelled mass of flying buttresses and fretted
+pinnacles, with the twelve Apostles in their niches, under canopies
+formed of ten thousand wreaths and ramifications.
+
+From this gloomy recess, I was conducted to the church, one of the
+largest in Portugal, vast, solemn, and fantastic, like the interior of
+the Temple of Jerusalem, as I have seen it figured in some old German
+Bibles. There was little, however, in the altars or monuments worth any
+very minute investigation.
+
+It fell dark before I went out at the great porch, and found the wide
+space before it beginning to catch a vivid gleam from a line of bonfires
+on the edge of the Tagus. I could hardly reach my carriage without being
+singed by squibs and crackers, and wished myself out the moment I got
+into it, a rocket having shot up just under the noses of my mules and
+scared them terribly.
+
+Unless St. Anthony lulls me asleep by a miracle, I must expect no rest
+to-night, there is such a whizzing of fireworks, blazing of bonfires and
+flourishing of French horns in honour of to-morrow, the five hundred and
+fifty-fifth anniversary of that memorable day, when the Holy One of
+Lisbon passed by a soft transition to the joys of Paradise. I saw his
+image at the door of almost every house and even hovel of this populous
+capital, placed on an altar, and decked with a profusion of wax-lights
+and flowers.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIII.
+
+     The New Church of St. Anthony.--Sprightly Music.--Enthusiastic
+     Sermon.--The good Prior of Avis.--Visit to the Carthusian Convent
+     of Cachiez.--Spectres of the Order.--Striking effigy of the
+     Saviour.--A young and melancholy Carthusian.--The Cemetery.
+
+
+June 13th, 1787.
+
+I slept better than I expected: the Saint was propitious, and during the
+night cooled the ardour of his votaries and the flames of their bonfires
+by a vernal shower, which pattered agreeably this morning amongst the
+vineleaves of my garden. The clouds dispersed about eight o’clock, and
+at nine, just as I ascended the steps of the new church built over the
+identical house where St. Anthony was born, the sun shone out in all its
+splendour.
+
+I cannot say this edifice recalled to my mind the magnificent sanctuary
+of Padua, which five years ago on this very day impressed my imagination
+so forcibly. Here are no constellations of golden lamps depending by
+glittering chains from a mysterious vaulted ceiling, no arcades of
+alabaster, no sculptured marbles. The church is supported by two rows of
+pillars neatly carved in stone, but wretchedly proportioned. Over the
+high altar, where stands the revered image in the midst of a bright
+illumination, was stretched a canopy of flowered velvet. This drapery,
+richly fringed and tasseled, marks out the spot formerly occupied by the
+chamber of the saint, and receives an amber-light from a row of tall
+casement windows, the woodwork gleaming with burnished gold.
+
+A great many broad English faces burst forth from amongst the crowd of
+profane vulgar at the portal of the church, and all their eyes were
+directed to their enthusiastic countryman, but he was not to be stared
+out of a decent countenance.
+
+The ceremony was extremely pompous. A prelate of the first rank, with a
+considerable detachment of priests from the royal chapel, officiated to
+the sounds of lively jigs and ranting minuets, better calculated to set
+a parcel of water-drinkers a dancing in a pump-room, than to direct the
+movements of a pontiff and his assistants.
+
+After much indifferent music, vocal and instrumental, performed full
+gallop in the most rapid allegro, Frè Joaô Jacinto, a famous preacher,
+mounted the pulpit, lifted up hands and eyes, and poured forth a torrent
+of sounding phrases in honour of St. Anthony. What would I not give for
+such a voice?--it would almost have reached from Dan unto Beersheba!
+
+The Father has undoubtedly great powers of elocution, and none of that
+canting, nasal whine so common in the delivery of monkish sermons. He
+treated kings, tetrarchs, and conquerors, the heroes and sages of
+antiquity, with ineffable contempt; reduced their palaces and
+fortifications to dust, their armies to pismires, their imperial
+vestments to cobwebs, and impressed all his audience, except the
+heretical squinters at the door, with the most thorough conviction of
+St. Anthony’s superiority over these objects of an erring and impious
+admiration.
+
+“Happy,” exclaimed the preacher, “were those gothic ages, falsely called
+ages of barbarism and ignorance, when the hearts of men, uncorrupted by
+the delusive beverage of philosophy, were open to the words of truth
+falling like honey from the mouths of saints and confessors, such words
+as distilled from the lips of Anthony, yet a suckling hanging at the
+breast in this very spot. It was here the spirit of the Most High
+descended upon him, here that he conceived the sublime intention of
+penetrating into the most turbulent parts of Europe, setting the
+inclemency of seasons and the malice of men at defiance, and sprinkling
+amongst lawless nations the seeds of grace and repentance. There, my
+brethren, is the door out of which he issued. Do you not see him in the
+habit of a Menino de Coro, smiling with all the graces of innocence, and
+dispensing with his infant hands to a group of squalid children the
+portion of nourishment he has just received from his mother?
+
+“But Anthony, from the first dawn of his existence, lived for others,
+and not for himself: he forewent even the luxury of meditation, and
+instead of retiring into a peaceful cell, rushed into the world,
+helpless and unprotected, lifting high the banner of the Cross amidst
+perils and uproar, appeasing wars, settling differences both public and
+domestic, exhorting at the risk of his life ruffians and plunderers to
+make restitution, and armed misers, guarding their coffers with bloody
+swords, to open their hearts and their hands to the distresses of the
+widow and the fatherless.
+
+“Anthony ever sighed after the crown of martyrdom, and had long
+entertained an ardent desire of passing over into Morocco, and exposing
+himself to the fury of its bigoted and cruel sovereign; but the commands
+of his superior retain him on the point of embarkation; he makes a
+sacrifice of even this most laudable and glorious ambition; he traverses
+Spain, repairs to Assisi, embraces the rigid order of the great St.
+Francis, and continues to his last hour administering consolation to the
+dejected, fortifying their hopes of heaven, and confirming the faith of
+such as were wavering or deluded by a succession of prodigies. The dead
+are raised, the sick are healed, the sea is calmed by a glance of St
+Anthony; even the lowest ranks of the creation are attracted by
+eloquence more than human, and give marks of sensibility. Fish swim in
+shoals to hear the word of the Lord; and to convince the obdurate and
+those accursed whose hearts the false reasoning of the world had
+hardened, mules and animals the most perversely obstinate humble
+themselves to the earth when Anthony holds forth the Sacrament, and
+acknowledge the presence of the Divinity.”
+
+The sermon ended, fiddling began anew with redoubled vigour, and I,
+disgusted with such unseasonable levity, retired home in dudgeon. This
+little cloud of peevishness was soon dissipated by the cheering presence
+of the good Prior of Avis, than whom there exists not, perhaps, in this
+world a more benign, evangelical character; one who gives glory to God
+with less ostentation, or bears a more unaffected goodwill towards men.
+This excellent prelate had been passing his morning, not in attending
+pompous ceremonies, but in consoling the sick and relieving the
+indigent; climbing up to their miserable chambers to afford assistance
+in the name of the saint whose festival was celebrating, and whose fame,
+for every charitable beneficent act, had been handed down by the
+inhabitants of Lisbon from father to child, through a long series of
+generations.
+
+Our discourse was not of a nature to incline me to relish pomps and
+vanities. I waved seeing the procession which was expected to pass
+through the principal streets of the city, and, accompanied by my
+reverend friend, enjoyed the serenity of the evening on the shore of
+Belem. We stopped as we passed by the Marialva palace, and took up Don
+Pedro and his nursing father, the old Abade, who proposed a visit to the
+Carthusian convent of Cachiez.
+
+In about half an hour we were set down before the church, which fronts
+the royal gardens, and were ushered into a solemn, silent quadrangle.
+Several spectres of the order were gliding about the cloisters, which
+branch off from this court. In the middle is a marble fountain, shaded
+by pyramids of clipped box; around are seven or eight small chapels; one
+of which contains a coloured image of the Saviour in the last dreadful
+agonies of his passion, covered with livid bruises and corrupted gore.
+
+Whilst we were examining this too faithful effigy, some of the monks, by
+leave of their superior, gathered around us; one of them, a tall
+interesting figure, attracted my attention by the deep melancholy which
+sat upon his features. Upon inquiry, I learned he was only
+two-and-twenty years of age, of illustrious parentage, and lively
+talents; but the immediate cause of his having sought these mansions of
+stillness and mortification, the Grand Prior seemed loth to communicate.
+
+I could not help observing, as this young victim stood before me, and I
+contemplated the evening light thrown on the arcades of the quadrangle,
+how many setting suns he was likely to behold wasting their gleams upon
+these walls, and what a wearisome succession of years he had in all
+probability devoted himself to consume within their precincts. The eyes
+of the good prior filled with tears, Verdeil shuddered, and the Abade,
+forgetting the superstitious part he generally acts in religious places,
+exclaimed loudly against the toleration of human sacrifices, and the
+folly of permitting those to renounce the world, whose youth
+incapacitates them from making a due estimate of its sorrows or
+advantages. As for Don Pedro, his serious disposition received
+additional gloom from the objects with which we were environed.
+
+The chill gust that blew from an arched hall where the fathers are
+interred, and whose pavement returned a hollow sound as we walked over
+it, struck him with horror. It was the first time of his entering a
+Carthusian convent, and, to my surprise, he appeared ignorant of the
+severities of the order.
+
+The sun set before we regained our carriage, and our conversation the
+whole way home partook of the impression which the scenery we had been
+contemplating inspired.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIV.
+
+     Curious succession of visiters.--A Seraphic Doctor.--Monsenhor
+     Aguilar.--Mob of old hags, children, and ragamuffins.--Visit to the
+     Theatre in the Rua d’os Condes.--The Archbishop
+     Confessor.--Brazilian Modinhas.--Bewitching nature of that
+     music.--Nocturnal processions.--Enthusiasm of the young Conde de
+     Villanova.--No accounting for fancies.
+
+
+14th June, 1787.
+
+It was my lot this afternoon to receive a curious succession of
+visitors. First came Pombal, who looked worn down with gay living and
+late hours; but there is an ease and fashion in his address not common
+in this country. Though he possesses one of the largest landed estates
+in the kingdom, (about one hundred and twenty thousand crowns a-year,)
+he wished me to understand that his dread father, the scourge and terror
+of the noblest houses in Portugal, the sole dispenser during so many
+years of the royal treasure, died, notwithstanding, in distressed
+circumstances, loaded with debts contracted in supporting the dignity
+of his post.
+
+The next who did me the honour of a visit was the Judge Conservator of
+the English factory, Joaô Telles, a relation, legitimate or illegitimate
+(I know not exactly which), of the Penalvas. This man, who has risen to
+one of the highest posts of the law by the sole strength of his
+abilities, has a nervous, original style of expression, which put me in
+mind of Lord Thurlow; but to all this vigour of character and diction,
+he joins the pliability and subtleness of a serpent; and those he cannot
+take by storm, he is sure of overcoming by every soothing art of
+flattery and insinuation.
+
+As soon as he was departed, entered a pair of monks with a basket of
+sweetmeats in cut paper, from a good lady abbess, beseeching me to
+portion out two sweet virgins as God’s spouses in some neighbouring
+monastery.
+
+They were scarcely dismissed, before Father Theodore d’Almeida and
+another of his brethren were ushered in. The whites of their eyes alone
+were visible, nor could Whitfield himself, the original Doctor Squintum
+of Foote, have squinted more scientifically.
+
+I was all attention to Father Theodore’s seraphic discourse; so
+excellent an opportunity of hearing a first-rate specimen of
+hypocritical cant was not to be neglected. No sooner had the fathers
+been conducted to the stairshead with due ceremony, than Monsenhor
+Aguilar, one of the prelates of the Patriarchal Cathedral, was
+announced. He confirmed me in the opinion I entertained of Father
+Theodore. No person can accuse Aguilar of being a hypocrite. He lays
+himself but too much open, and treats the church from which he derives a
+handsome maintenance, not as a patroness, but as an humble companion;
+the constant butt and object of his sarcasms. In Portugal, even in the
+year 1787, such conduct is madness, and I fear will expose him one day
+or other to severe persecution.
+
+We were roused from a peaceful dish of tea by a loud hubbub in the
+street, and running to the balcony, found a beastly mob of old hags,
+children, and ragamuffins assembled, headed by half-a-dozen drummers,
+and as many negroes in scarlet jackets, blowing French-horns with
+unusual vehemence, and pointing them directly at the house. I was
+wondering at this Jericho fashion of besieging one’s door, and drawing
+back to avoid being singed by a rocket which whizzed along within an
+inch of my nose, when one of the servants entered with a crucifix on a
+silver salver, and a mighty kind message from the nuns of the Convent of
+the Sacrament, who had sent their musicians with trimbrels and
+fireworks, to invite us to some grand doings at their convent, in honour
+of the Festival of the Heart of Jesus. Really, these church parties
+begin to lose in my eyes great part of the charm which novelty gave
+them. I have had pretty nearly my fill of motets, and Kyrie eleisons,
+and incense, and sweetmeats, and sermons.
+
+That heretic Verdeil, who would almost as soon be in hell at once as in
+such a cloying heaven, would not let me rest till I went with him to the
+theatre in the Rua d’os Condes, in order to dissipate by a little
+profane air the fumes of so much holiness. The play afforded me more
+disgust than amusement; the theatre is low and narrow, and the actors,
+for there are no actresses, below criticism. Her Majesty’s absolute
+commands having swept females off the stage, their parts are acted by
+calvish young fellows. Judge what a pleasing effect this metamorphosis
+must produce, especially in the dancers, where one sees a stout
+shepherdess in virgin white, with a soft blue beard, and a prominent
+collar-bone, clenching a nosegay in a fist that would almost have
+knocked down Goliah, and a train of milk-maids attending her enormous
+foot-steps, tossing their petticoats over their heads at every step.
+Such sprawling, jerking, and ogling I never saw before, and hope never
+to see again.
+
+We were heartily sick of the performance before it was half finished,
+and the night being serene and pleasant, were tempted to take a ramble
+in the Great Square, which received a faint gleam from the lights in the
+apartments of the palace, every window being thrown open to catch the
+breeze. The Archbishop Confessor displayed his goodly person at one of
+the balconies; from a clown, this now most important personage became a
+common soldier, from a common soldier a corporal, from a corporal a
+monk, in which station he gave so many proofs of toleration and
+good-humour, that Pombal, who happened to stumble upon him by one of
+those chances which set all calculation at defiance, judged him
+sufficiently shrewd, jovial, and ignorant, to make a very harmless and
+comfortable confessor to her Majesty, then Princess of Brazil: since her
+accession to the throne, he is become Archbishop, _in partibus_, Grand
+Inquisitor, and the first spring in the present Government of Portugal.
+I never saw a sturdier fellow. He seems to anoint himself with the oil
+of gladness, to laugh and grow fat in spite of the critical situation of
+affairs in this kingdom, and the just fears all its true patriots
+entertain of seeing it once more relapse into a Spanish province.
+
+At a window immediately over his right reverence’s shining forehead, we
+spied out the Lacerdas, two handsome sisters, maids of honour to the
+Queen, waving their hands to us very invitingly. This was encouragement
+enough for us to run up a vast many flights of stairs to their
+apartment, which was crowded with nephews and nieces and cousins
+clustering round two very elegant young women, who, accompanied by their
+singing-master, a little square friar, with greenish eyes, were warbling
+Brazilian modinhas.
+
+Those who have never heard this original sort of music, must and will
+remain ignorant of the most bewitching melodies that ever existed since
+the days of the Sybarites. They consist of languid interrupted measures,
+as if the breath was gone with excess of rapture, and the soul panting
+to meet the kindred soul of some beloved object. With a childish
+carelessness they steal into the heart, before it has time to arm itself
+against their enervating influence; you fancy you are swallowing milk,
+and are admitting the poison of voluptuousness into the closest recesses
+of your existence. At least, such beings as feel the power of harmonious
+sounds are doing so; I won’t answer for hard-eared, phlegmatic northern
+animals.
+
+An hour or two passed away almost imperceptibly in the pleasing delirium
+these syren notes inspired, and it was not without regret I saw the
+company disperse and the spell dissolve. The ladies of the apartment
+having received a summons to attend her Majesty’s supper, curtsied us
+off very gracefully, and vanished.
+
+In our way home we met the Sacrament, enveloped in a glare of light,
+marching in state to pay some sick person a farewell visit; and that
+hopeful young nobleman, the Conde de Villa Nova,[13] preceding the
+canopy in a scarlet mantle, and tinkling a silver bell. He is always in
+close attendance upon the Host, and passes the flower of his days in
+this singular species of danglement. No lover was ever more jealous of
+his mistress than this ingenuous youth of his bell. He cannot endure any
+other person should give it vibration. The parish officers of the
+extensive and populous district in which his palace is situated, from
+respect to his birth and opulence, indulge him in this caprice, and
+indeed a more perseverant bell-bearer they could not have chosen. At all
+hours and in all weathers he is ready to perform this holy office. In
+the dead of the night, or in the most intense heat of the day, out he
+issues and down he dives, or up he climbs, to any dungeon or garret
+where spiritual assistance of this nature is demanded.
+
+It has been again and again observed, that there is no accounting for
+fancies. Every person has his own, which he follows to the best of his
+means and abilities. The old Marialva’s delights are centered between
+his two silver recipiendaries; the Marquis his son in dancing attendance
+with the Queen; and Villa Nova, in announcing with his bell to all true
+believers the approach of celestial majesty. The present rage of the
+scribbler of all these extravagances is modinhas, and under its
+prevalence he feels half-tempted to set sail for the Brazils, the native
+land of these enchanting compositions, to live in tents, such as the
+Chevalier de Parny describes in his agreeable little voyage, and swing
+in hammocks, or glide over smooth mats surrounded by bands of youthful
+minstrels, diffusing at every step the perfume of jasmine and roses.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XV.
+
+     Excessive sultriness of Lisbon.--Night sounds of the city.--Public
+     gala in the garden of the Conde de Villa Nova.--Visit to the Anjeja
+     Palace.--The heir of the family.--Marvellous narrations of a young
+     priest.--Convent of Savoyard nuns.--Father Theodore’s
+     chickens.--Sequestered group of beauties.--Singing of the Scarlati.
+
+
+29th June, 1787.
+
+The bright sunshine which has lately been our portion, glorious as it
+is, begins to tire me. Twenty times a day I cannot help wishing myself
+extended at full-length upon the fresh herbage of some shady English
+valley, where fairies gambol in the twilights of Midsummer, whispering
+in the ears of their sleeping favourites the good or evil fortunes which
+await them. It is too hot for these oracular little elvish beings in
+Portugal, one must not here expect their inspirations; but would to
+Heaven some revelation of this or any other nature had warned me off in
+time, from the blinding dust and excessive sultriness of Lisbon and its
+neighbourhood. How silly, when one is well and cool, to gad abroad, in
+the vain hope of making what is really best, better. Depend upon it,
+there is more vernal delight and joy in our green hills and copses, than
+in all these stunted olive fields and sun-burnt promontories.
+
+We have a homely saying, that what is poison to one man is meat to
+another, and true enough; for these days and nights of glowing
+temperature, which oppress me beyond endurance, are the delight and
+boast of the inhabitants of this capital. The heat seems not only to
+have new venomed the stings of the fleas and the musquitoes, but to have
+drawn out, the whole night long, all the human ephemera of Lisbon. They
+frisk, and dance, and tinkle their guitars from sunset to sunrise. The
+dogs, too, keep yelping and howling without intermission; and what with
+the bellowing of litanies by parochial processions, the whizzing of
+fireworks, which devotees are perpetually letting off in honour of some
+member or other of the celestial hierarchy, and the squabbles of
+bullying rake-hells, who scour the streets in search of adventures,
+there is no getting a wink of sleep, even if the heat would allow it.
+
+As to those quiet nocturnal parties, where ingenuous youths rest their
+heads, not on the lap of earth, but on that of their mistresses, who are
+soothingly employed in delivering the jetty locks of their lovers from
+too abundant a population, I have nothing to say against them, nor am I
+much disturbed by the dashing sound of a few downfalls[14] from the
+windows; but these dog-howlings exceed every annoyance of the kind I
+ever endured, and give no slight foretaste of the infernal regions.
+
+Nothing but amusement and racket being thought of here at this season
+(when to celebrate St. Peter’s festival with all the noise and
+extravagance in your power, is not more a profane inclination than a
+pious duty,) that simpleton, the Conde de Villa Nova, opened his garden
+last night to the nob and mob-ility of Lisbon. There was a dull
+illumination of paper lanterns, and a sort of pavilion awkwardly
+constructed for dancing, beneath which the prettiest French and English
+mantua-makers, milliners, and abigails of the metropolis, figured away
+in cotillons with the Duke of Cadaval and some other young men of the
+first distinction, who, like many as hopeful in our own capital, are
+never at their ease but in low company. Two or three of my servants
+accompanied my tailor to the fête, and returned enraptured with the
+affable pleasing manners of the foreign milliners and native nobility.
+
+I should have been most happy to remain at home, in the shade of my
+green blinds, giving ear, through mere laziness, to any nonsense that
+anybody chose to say to me; but we had been long engaged to dine with
+Don Diego de Noronha, at the Anjeja Palace.
+
+When we arrived at our destination, we found the heir of the family
+surrounded by priests and tutors, learning to look out at the window,
+the chief employment of Portuguese fidalgo life. Oh what a precious
+collection of stories did I hear at this attic banquet! There happened
+to be amongst the company a young oaf of a priest, from I forget what
+university (I hope not Coimbra), who kept on during the whole dinner
+favouring us with marvellous narrations, such as the late Queen’s
+pounding a pearl of inestimable value, to swallow in medical potions;
+and that one of the nuns of the Convent of the Sacrament, having
+intrigued with old Beelzebub _in propria persona_, had been sent to the
+Inquisition, and the window through which his infernal majesty had
+entered upon this gallant exploit, walled up and painted over with red
+crosses. The same precautionary decoration, continued he, has been
+bestowed upon every opening in the façade, so that no demon, however
+sharp-set, can get in again. He would fain also have made us believe,
+that a woman very fair and plump to the eye, with an overflowing breast
+of milk, who took in sucklings to nurse cheaper than anybody else,
+regularly made away with them, and was now in the dungeons of the holy
+office, accused of having minced up above a score of innocents!
+
+Heaven forbid I should detail any further particulars of our
+table-talk; if I did, you would be finely surfeited.
+
+After dinner the company dispersed, some to their couches, some to hear
+a sonata on the dulcimer, accompanied on the jew’s harp by a couple of
+dwarfs; the heir-apparent to his beloved window; and Verdeil and I to a
+convent of Savoyard nuns, at Belem, the coolest, cleanest retirement in
+the whole neighbourhood, and blessed into the bargain by the especial
+patronage and inspection of Father Theodore d’Almeida. His reverence, it
+seems, had been the principal instrument, under Providence, of
+transplanting these blessed sprouts of holiness from the Convent of the
+Visitation at Annecy to the glowing climate of Portugal.
+
+As I had just received a sugary epistle from this paragon of piety,
+recommending his favourite establishment in several pages of ardent
+panegyric, he could do no less than come forth from his interior nest,
+and bid us welcome with a countenance arrayed in the sweetest smiles,
+though I dare say he wished us at old scratch for our intrusion.
+
+“Poor things,” said he, speaking of the chickens under education in this
+coop, “we do all we can to improve their tender minds and their
+guileless tongues in foreign languages. Sister Theresa has an admirable
+knack for teaching arithmetic; our venerable mother is remarkably
+well-bottomed in grammar, and Sister Francisca Salesia, whom I had the
+happiness to bring over from Lyons, is not only a most pure and
+persuasive moralist, but is acknowledged to be one of the first needles
+in Christendom, so we do tolerably well in embroidery. In music we are
+no great proficients. We allow of no modinhas, no opera airs; a plain
+hymn is all you must expect here; in short, we are ill-fitted to receive
+such distinguished visiters, and have nothing the world would call
+interesting to recommend us; but then, I, their unworthy confessor, must
+allow that such sweet, clean consciences as I meet with in this asylum
+are treasures beyond all that the Indies can furnish.”
+
+Both Verdeil and myself, conscious of our own extreme unworthiness, were
+quite abashed by this sublime declamation, poured forth with hands
+crossed on the bosom, and eyes turned up to the ceiling, like some
+images one has seen of St. Ignatius or St. Francis Xavier.
+
+It was a minute at least before his reverence relaxed from this
+attitude, and, drawing a curtain, condescended to admit us into a
+spacious parlour, delightfully cool, perfumed with jasmine, and filled
+with little Brazilian doves, parroquets, and canary birds. Such a cooing
+and chirping was never heard in greater perfection, except in Mahomet’s
+Paradise; nor were the houries wanting, for in a deep recess, behind a
+tolerably wide lattice, sat a row of the loveliest young creatures I
+ever beheld. A daughter of my friend Don Josè de Brito was amongst the
+number, and her eyes, of the most bewitching softness, seemed to acquire
+new fascination in this mysterious sort of twilight, beaming from behind
+a double grating of iron.
+
+Every now and then the birds, not in the least intimidated by the
+predatory glances of Father Theodore, violated the sanctuary, and
+pitched upon ivory necks, and were received with ten thousand
+endearments by the angels of this little sequestered heaven, which
+looked so refreshing, and formed by its sacred calm so inviting a
+contrast to the turbulent world without, and its glaring atmosphere,
+that I could not resist exclaiming, “O that I had wings like a dove,
+that I might fly through those bars and be at rest!”
+
+I need not tell you we passed half-an-hour most delightfully in talking
+of music, gardens, roses, and devotion, with the meninas, and had almost
+forgotten we were engaged to hear the Scarlati sing. Her father, an old
+captain of horse, of Italian extraction, lives not far from the Convent
+of the Visitation, so we had not much time during our transit to
+experience the woful difference between the cool parlour of the nuns and
+the suffocating exterior air.
+
+A numerous group of the young ladies’ kindred stood ready at the
+street-door, with all that hospitable courtesy for which the Portuguese
+are so remarkably distinguished, to usher the strangers up-stairs into a
+gallery hung with arras and sconces, not unlike the great room of an
+Italian inn, once the palace of a nobleman. To keep up these post-house
+ideas, we scented a strong effluvia of the stable, and heard certain
+stampings and neighings, as if a party of hounnyms had arrived to
+partake of the concert.
+
+Many strange, aboriginal figures of both sexes were assembled, an
+uncouth collection enough, I am apt to conjecture; however, I soon
+ceased giving them any notice. The young lady of the house charmed me at
+first sight by her graceful, modest manner; but when she sang some airs,
+composed by the famous Perez, I was not less delighted than surprised.
+Her voice modulates with unaffected carelessness into the most pathetic
+tones.[15] Though she has adopted the masterly and scientific style of
+Ferracuti, one of the first singers in the Queen’s service, she gives a
+simplicity of expression to the most difficult passages, that makes them
+appear the effusions of a young romantic girl warbling to herself in the
+secret recesses of a forest.
+
+I sat in a dark corner, unconscious of every thing that passed in the
+apartment, of the singular figures that entered, or those that went
+away; the starings, whisperings, and fan-flirtings of the assembly were
+lost upon me: I could not utter a syllable, and was vexed when an
+arbitrary old aunt insisted upon no more singing, and proposed a
+faro-table and a dance.
+
+Most eagerly did I wish all the kindred and their friends petrified for
+the time being by some obliging necromancer, and would have done any
+thing, short of engaging my own dear self to the devil, to have obtained
+an uninterrupted audience of the syren till morning.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVI.
+
+     Ups-and-downs of Lisbon.--Negro Beldames.--Quinta of
+     Marvilla.--Moonlight view of Lisbon.--Illuminated windows of the
+     Palace.--The old Marquis of Penalva.--Padre Duarte, a famous
+     Jesuit.--Conversation between him and a conceited Physician.--Their
+     ludicrous blunders.--Toad-eaters.--Sonatas.--Portuguese minuets.
+
+
+30th June, 1787.
+
+...We sallied out after dinner to pay visits. Never did I behold such
+cursed ups-and-downs, such shelving descents and sudden rises, as occur
+at every step one takes in going about Lisbon. I thought myself fifty
+times on the point of being overturned into the Tagus, or tumbled into
+sandy ditches, among rotten shoes, dead cats, and negro beldames, who
+retire into such dens and burrows for the purpose of telling fortunes
+and selling charms for the ague.
+
+The Inquisition too often lays hold of these wretched sibyls, and works
+them confoundedly. I saw one dragging into light as I passed by the
+ruins of a palace thrown down by the earthquake. Whether a familiar of
+the Inquisition was griping her in his clutches, or whether she was
+being taken to account by some disappointed votary, I will not pretend
+to answer. Be that as it may, I was happy to be driven out of sight of
+this hideous object, whose contortions and howlings were truly horrible.
+
+The more one is acquainted with Lisbon, the less it answers the
+expectations raised by its magnificent appearance from the river. Could
+a traveller be suddenly transported without preparation or prejudice to
+many parts of this city, he would reasonably conclude himself traversing
+a succession of villages awkwardly tacked together, and overpowered by
+massive convents. The churches in general are in a woful taste of
+architecture, the taste of Borromini, with crinkled pediments,
+furbelowed cornices and turrets, somewhat in the style of old-fashioned
+French clock-cases, such as Boucher designed with many a scrawl and
+flourish to adorn the apartments of Madame de Pompadour.
+
+We traversed the city this evening in all its extent in our way to the
+Duke d’Alafoens’s villa, and gave vast numbers of her most faithful
+Majesty’s subjects an opportunity of staring at the height of the
+coach-box, the short jacket of the postilion, and other Anglicisms of
+the equipage. The Duke had been summoned to a council of state; but we
+found the Marquis of Marialva, who went with us round the apartments of
+the villa, which have nothing remarkable except one or two large saloons
+of excellent and striking proportions.
+
+He afterwards proposed accompanying us about half-a-mile farther to the
+quinta of Marvilla, which belongs to his father. This spot has great
+picturesque beauties. The trees are old and fantastic, bending over
+ruined fountains and mutilated statues of heroes in armour, variegated
+by the lapse of years with innumerable tints of purple, green, and
+yellow. In the centre of almost impenetrable thickets of bay and myrtle,
+rise strange pyramids of rock-work surrounded by marble lions, that have
+a magic, symbolical appearance. M---- has feeling enough to respect
+these uncouth monuments of an age when his ancestors performed so many
+heroic achievements, and readily promised me never to sacrifice them and
+the venerable shades in which they are embowered, to the pert, gaudy
+taste of modern Portuguese gardening.
+
+We walked part of the way home by the serene light of the full moon
+rising from behind the mountains on the opposite shore of the Tagus, at
+this extremity of the metropolis above nine miles broad. Lisbon, which
+appeared to me so uninteresting a few hours ago, assumed a very
+different aspect by these soft gleams. The flights of steps, terraces,
+chapels, and porticos of several convents and palaces on the brink of
+the river, shone forth like edifices of white marble, whilst the rough
+cliffs and miserable sheds rising above them were lost in dark shadows.
+The great square through which we passed was filled with idlers of all
+sorts and sexes, staring up at the illuminated windows of the palace in
+hopes of catching a glimpse of her Majesty, the Prince, the Infantas,
+the Confessor, or Maids of Honour, whisking about from one apartment to
+the other, and giving ample scope to amusing conjectures. I am told the
+Confessor, though somewhat advanced in his career, is far from being
+insensible to the allurements of beauty, and pursues the young nymphs of
+the palace from window to window with juvenile alacrity.
+
+It was nine before we got home, and I had not been long reposing myself
+after my walk, and arranging some plants I had gathered in the thickets
+of Marvilla, before three distinct ringings of the bell at my door
+announced the arrival of some distinguished personage; nor was I
+disappointed, for in came the old Marquis of Penalva and his son, who
+till a year ago, when the Queen granted him the same title as his
+father, was called Conde de Tarouca.
+
+You must have heard frequently of that name. A grandfather of the old
+Marquis rendered it very illustrious by several important and successful
+embassies: the splendid entertainments he gave at the Congress of
+Utrecht, are amply described in Madame du Noyers and several other books
+of memoirs.
+
+The Penalvas brought this evening in their suite a famous Jesuit, Padre
+Duarte, whom Pombal thought of sufficient consequence to be imprisoned
+for eighteen years, and a tall, knock-kneed, rhubarb-faced physician,
+in a gorgeous suit of glistening satin, one of the most ungain,
+conceited professors of the art of murdering I ever met with. Between
+the Jesuit and the doctor I had enough to do to keep my temper or
+countenance. They prated incessantly, pretended to have the most
+implicit admiration for everything that came from England, either in the
+way of furniture or poetry, and confounding dates, names, and subjects
+in one strange jumble, asked whether Sir Peter Lely was not the actual
+President of our Royal Academy, and launched forth into a warm encomium
+of my countryman Hans Holbein. I begged leave to assure these
+complaisant sages, that the last-mentioned artist was born at Basle, and
+that Sir Peter Lely had been dead a century. They stared a little at
+this information, but continued, nevertheless, in full song, playing off
+a sounding peal of compliments upon our national proficiency in
+painting, watch-making, the stocking-manufactory, &c. when General
+Forbes came in and made a diversion in my favour. We had some
+conversation upon the present state of Portugal, and the risks it runs
+of being swallowed up by the negotiations, not by the arms of Spain,
+ere many years are elapsed....
+
+Our discourse was interrupted by the arrival of a fiddler, a priest, and
+an Italian musician, humble servants and toad-eaters to my illustrious
+guests. They fell a thumping my poor piano-forte, and playing sonatas
+whether I would or not. You are aware I am no great friend to sonatas,
+and that certain chromatic, squeaking tones of a fiddle, when the
+performer turns up the whites of his eyes, waggles a greasy chin, and
+affects ecstasies, set my teeth on edge. The griping countenance of the
+doctor was enough to produce that effect already, without the assistance
+of his fellow parasites, the priest and musician. Padre Duarte seemed to
+like them no better than myself; General Forbes had wisely withdrawn;
+and the old Marquis, inspired by a pathetic adagio, glided suddenly
+across the room in a step which I took for the beginning of a ballet
+heroique, but which turned out a minuet in the Portuguese style, with
+all its kicks and flourishes, in which Miss S----, who had come in to
+tea, was persuaded to join much against her inclination. It was no
+sooner ended, than the doctor displayed his rueful length of person in
+such a twitching angular minuet, as I want words to describe; so,
+between the sister-arts of music and dancing, I passed a delectable
+evening. This set shan’t catch me at home again in a hurry.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVII.
+
+     Dog-howlings.--Visit to the Convent of San Josè di
+     Ribamar.--Breakfast at the Marquis of Penalvas.--Magnificent and
+     hospitable reception.--Whispering in the shade of mysterious
+     chambers.--The Bishop of Algarve.--Evening scene in the garden of
+     Marvilla.
+
+
+July 2nd, 1787.
+
+I was awakened in the night by a horrid cry of dogs; not that infernal
+pack which Dryden tells us in his divine tale of Theodore and Honoria
+went regularly a ghost-hunting every Friday, howled half so dreadfully:
+Lisbon is more infested than any other capital I ever inhabited by herds
+of these half-famished animals, making themselves of use and importance
+by ridding the streets of some part, at least, of their unsavoury
+incumbrances.
+
+Verdeil, who could not sleep any more than myself, on account of a
+furious and long protracted battle between two parties of these
+hell-hounds, persuaded me to rise with the sun, and proceed on
+horseback along the shore of Belem, which appeared in all its morning
+glory; the sky diversified by streaming clouds of purple edged with
+gold, and the sea by innumerable vessels of different sizes shooting
+along in various directions, whilst the waves at the entrance of the
+harbour were in violent agitation, all froth and foam.
+
+To vary our excursion a little, we struck out of the common track, and
+visited the convent of San Josè di Ribamar. The building is irregular
+and picturesque, rising from a craggy eminence, and backed by a thicket
+of elm, bay, and arbor judæ. We were shown by simple, smiling friars,
+into a small court with cloisters, supported by low Tuscan columns. A
+fountain playing in the middle and sprinkling a profusion of flowers,
+gave an oriental air to this little court that pleased me exceedingly.
+The monks seem sensible of its merits, for they keep it tolerably clean,
+which is more than I will say for their garden. Bindweed and dwarf-aloes
+almost prevented our crossing it in our way to the thicket; a delicious
+retreat, the refuge and comfort of half the birds in the country. Thanks
+to monkish laziness, the underwood remains unclipped, and intrudes
+wherever it pleases upon the alleys, which hang over the sea, in a bold
+romantic manner.
+
+The fathers would show me their flower-garden, and a very pleasant
+terrace it is; neatly paved with chequered tiles, and interspersed with
+knots of carnations, in a style as ancient, I should conjecture, as the
+dominion of the Moors in Portugal. Espaliers of citron and orange cover
+the walls, and have almost gotten the better of some glaring shell-work,
+with which a reverend father encrusted them ten or twelve years ago.
+Shining beads, china plates and saucers turned inside out, compose the
+chief ornaments of this decoration; I observed the same propensity to
+shell-work and broken china in a Mr. de Visme, whose quinta at Bemfica
+eclipses our Clapham and Islington villas in all the attractions of
+leaden statues, Chinese temples, serpentine rivers, and dusty
+hermitages.
+
+We returned home before the heat grew quite intolerable, and just in
+time to go to a breakfast at the Marquis of Penalva’s, to which we had
+been invited the day before yesterday. When once a Portuguese of the
+first class determines to admit a stranger into the penetralia of his
+family, he spares no pains to set off all he possesses to the most
+striking advantage, and offer it to his guest with the most liberal
+hospitality; you appear to command him, and he everything. Our
+reception, therefore, was most sumptuous and most cordial.
+
+If we had wished for a concert, the best musicians of the royal chapel
+were in waiting to perform it; if to examine early editions of the
+classics or scarce Portuguese authors, the library was open, and the
+librarian ready to hand and explain to us any article that happened to
+attract our attention; if to see pictures, the walls of several
+apartments displayed an interesting collection, both of the Italian and
+Flemish schools; if conversation, almost every person of literary note
+in this capital, academicians and artists, were assembled. Supposing the
+rarest botanical specimens and flowers had been our peculiar taste, some
+of the most perfect I ever beheld were presented to us; and that nothing
+in any line might be wanting, the rich grated folding-doors of a chapel
+were expanded, and an altar splendidly lighted up, seemed to invite
+those who felt spiritual calls, to indulge themselves.
+
+For my part, the sea breezes having sharpened my temporal appetite, I
+sat down with great alacrity to breakfast. It was magnificent and well
+served. I could not help noticing the extreme fineness of the linen,
+curiously embroidered with arms and flowers, red on a white ground.
+Superb embossed gilt salvers supported plates of iced fruit,
+particularly scarlet strawberries, which are uncommon in Portugal, and
+filled the apartment with fragrance; the more grateful, as it excited,
+by the strong power of associated ideas, recollections of home and of
+England.
+
+Much whispering and giggling was going forward in the cool shade of
+several mysterious chambers, which opened into the saloon where we were
+at table. These sounds proceeded from the ladies of the family, who, had
+they been natives of Bagdad or Constantinople, could hardly have
+remained in a more Asiatic state of seclusion. I was allowed, however,
+to make my bow to them in their harem itself, which, I was given to
+understand, I ought to look upon as a most flattering mark of
+distinction. Who should I find in the midst of the group of senhoras,
+and seated like them upon the ground _à la façon de Barbarie_, but the
+newly-consecrated, and very young-looking Bishop of Algarve, whose
+small, black, sleek, schoolboyish head and sallow countenance, was
+overshadowed by an enormous pair of green spectacles. Truth obliges me
+to confess that the expression which beamed from the eyes under these
+formidable glasses, did not absolutely partake of the most decent, mild,
+or apostolic character. In process of time, perhaps, he may acquire that
+varnish, without which the least holy intentions often miss their aim,
+the varnish of hypocrisy. I wonder he has not already attained a more
+conspicuous degree of perfection in this style, having studied under a
+complete _tartuffe_ and Jansenistical bigot as ever existed, one of the
+cock-birds of a nest of imaginary philosophers, who are working hard to
+undo what little good has been done in this country, and laying a mine
+of ten thousand intrigues to blow up, if they can but contrive it, all
+genuine sentiments of religion and morality.
+
+The old Marquis of Penalva pressed us to stay dinner, which was set out
+in high order, in a pleasant, shady apartment. Verdeil could not resist
+the temptation; but I was fatigued with the howlings of the night, and
+the sultriness and bustle of the day, and went home to a quieter party
+with the Grand Prior and Don Pedro.
+
+In the evening we drove to Marvilla, the neglected garden I have before
+mentioned, and which commands the broadest expanse of the Tagus, a
+prospect which recalled to my mind the lake of Geneva, and all that
+befel me on its banks. You may imagine, then, it tended much more to
+depress than exhilarate my spirits. I consented, however, to accompany
+the Grand Prior about the alleys and terraces of this romantic
+enclosure, the scene of his childhood, and of which he is peculiarly
+fond. The palace, courts, and fountains are almost in ruins, the
+parterres of myrtle have shot up into wild bushes covered with blossoms,
+and the statues are half concealed by jasmine.
+
+Here is a small theatre for operas, and a chapel, not unlike a mosque in
+shape, and arabesque ornaments, darkly shadowed by Spanish banners, the
+trophies of the battle of Elvas, gained by an ancestor of the Marialvas.
+
+A long bower of vines, supported by marble pillars, leads from the
+palace to the chapel. There is something majestic in this verdant
+gallery, and the glow of sun-set piercing its foliage, lighted up the
+wan features of several superannuated servants of the family, who
+crawled out of their decayed chambers and threw themselves on their
+knees before the Grand Prior and Don Pedro.
+
+We wandered about this forlorn, abandoned garden, whose stillness
+equalled that of a Carthusian convent, till dusk, when a refreshing wind
+having risen, waved the cypresses and scattered the white jasmine
+flowers over the parterres of myrtle in clouds like snow. Don Pedro
+filled the carriage with flowery sprays pulled from mutilated statues,
+and we were all half intoxicated before we reached my habitation with
+the delicious but overcoming perfume.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVIII.
+
+     Excursion to Cintra.--Villa of Ramalhaô.--The
+     Garden.--Collares.--Pavilion designed by Pillement.--A convulsive
+     gallop.--Cold weather in July.
+
+
+July 9th, 1787.
+
+I was at the Marialva Palace by nine, and set off from thence with the
+Marquis for Cintra. Having the command of the Queen’s stables, in which
+are four thousand mules and two thousand horses, he orders as many
+relays as he pleases, and we changed mules four times in the space of an
+hour.
+
+A few minutes after ten we were landed at Ramalhaô, a villa, under the
+pyramidical rocks of Cintra, Signor S. Arriaga was so kind as to lend me
+a month or two ago, and which I have not had time to visit till to-day.
+The suite of apartments are spacious and airy, and the views they
+command of sea and arid country boundless; but unless the heat becomes
+more violent, I shall be cooler than I wish in them, as they contain
+not a chimney except in the kitchen.
+
+I found the garden in excellent order, and flourishing crops of
+vegetables springing up between rows of orange and citron. Such is the
+power of the climate, that the gardenias and Cape plants I brought with
+me from England, mere stumps, are covered with beautiful blossoms. The
+curled mallows, and some varieties of Indian-corn, sown by my English
+gardener, have shot up to a strange elevation, and begin already to form
+shady avenues and fairy forests, where children might play in perfection
+at landscape-gardening.
+
+After I had passed half-an-hour in looking about me, the Marquis and I
+got into our chair and drove to his own villa; a new creation, which has
+cost him a great many thousand pounds sterling. Five years ago it was a
+wild hill bestrewn with flints and rocky fragments. At present you find
+a gay pavilion designed by Pillement, and elegantly decorated; a
+parterre with statues and fountains, thick alleys of laurel, bay, and
+laurustine, cascades, arbours, clipped box-trees, and every ornament the
+Portuguese taste in gardening renders desirable.
+
+We dined at a clean snug inn, situated towards the middle of the village
+of Cintra. The Queen has lately bestowed this house and a large tract of
+ground adjoining it, upon the Marquis. From its windows and loggias you
+look down deep ravines and bold slopes of woods and copses, variegated
+with mossy stones and ancient decayed chesnuts.
+
+As soon as the sun grew low we went to Collares, and walked on a terrace
+belonging to M. la Roche, a French merchant, who has shown some
+glimmering of taste in the laying out of his villa. The groves of pine
+and chesnut starting from the crevices of rock, and rising one above
+another to a considerable elevation, give Collares the air of an Alpine
+village. Innumerable rills, overhung by cork-trees and branching lemons,
+burst out of ruined walls by the wayside, and dash into marble basins. A
+favourite attendant of the late king’s, who has a very large property in
+these environs, invited us with much civility and obsequiousness into
+his garden. I thought myself entering the orchards of Alcinous. The
+boughs literally bent under loads of fruit; the slightest shake strewed
+the ground with plums, oranges, and apricots.
+
+This villa boasts a grand artificial cascade, with tritons and dolphins
+vomiting torrents of water; but I paid it not half the attention its
+proprietor expected, and retiring under the shade of the fruit-trees,
+feasted on the golden apples and purple plums that were rolling about me
+in such profusion. The Marquis, who shares with most of the Portuguese a
+remarkable predilection for flowers, filled his carriage with carnations
+and jasmine. I never saw plants more conspicuous for size and vigour
+than those which have the luck of being sown in this fortunate soil. The
+exposition likewise is singularly happy; skreened by sloping hills, and
+defended from the sea-airs by several miles of thickets and orchards. I
+felt unwilling to quit a spot so favoured by nature, and M---- flatters
+himself I shall be tempted to purchase it.
+
+The wind became troublesome as we ascended the hill, crowned by the
+Marialva villa. The sky was clear and the sun set fiery. The distant
+convent of Mafra, glowing with ruddy light, looked like the enchanted
+palace of a giant, and the surrounding country bleak and barren as if
+the monster had eaten it desolate. To repose ourselves a little after
+our rapid excursion we entered the pavilion I told you just now
+Pillement had designed. It represents a bower of fantastic Indian trees
+mingling their branches, and discovering between them peeps of a summer
+sky. From the mouth of a flying dragon depends a magnificent lustre for
+fifty lights, hung with festoons of brilliant glass, that twinkle like
+strings of diamonds.
+
+We loitered in this saloon till it was pitch-dark. The pages riding full
+speed before us with flaming torches, and the wind driving back sparks
+and smoke full in our faces, I was stunned and bewildered, and
+experienced, perhaps, the sensations of a novice in sorcery, mounted for
+the first time behind a witch on a broomstick. In less than an hour we
+had rattled over twelve miles of rough, disjoined pavement, going up and
+down the steepest hills in a convulsive gallop, so that I expected every
+instant to be thrown flat on my nose; but, happily, the mules were
+picked from perhaps a hundred, and never stumbled. I found the air on
+the heights above the Ajueda very keen and piercing.
+
+It sounds strange to be complaining of cold at Lisbon on the ninth of
+July.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIX.
+
+     Sympathy between Toads and Old Women.--Palace of Cintra.--Reservoir
+     of Gold and Silver Fish.--Parterre on the summit of a lofty
+     terrace.--Place of confinement of Alphonso the Sixth.--The
+     Chapel.--Barbaric profusion of Gold.--Altar at which Don Sebastian
+     knelt when he received a supernatural warning.--Rooms in
+     preparation for the Queen and the Infantas.--Return to Ramalhaô.
+
+
+July 24th, 1787.
+
+There exists, I am convinced, a decided sympathy between toads and
+witch-like old women. Mother Morgan[16] descended this morning, not into
+the infernal regions, but into the cellar, and immediately five or six
+spanking reptiles of this mysterious species waddled around her. She
+rewarded the confidence the poor things placed in her rather scurvily,
+and laid three of the fattest sprawling. I saw them lying breathless in
+the court as I got on horseback; the largest measured seven inches in
+diameter. Portuguese toads may be more distinguished for size, but are
+not half so amiably speckled as those we have the happiness to harbour
+in England.
+
+I was some time hesitating which way I should turn my horse’s steps,
+whether to the Pedra d’os Ovos, or on the other side of the rock to the
+Peninha, a cell belonging to the Hieronimites, and dependent upon their
+principal eyry, Nossa Senhora da Penha. Marialva, whom I met with all
+his train of equerries and picadors coming forth from his villa, decided
+me not to take a clambering ride, but to accompany him to the palace,
+the interior of which I had not yet visited.
+
+The Alhambra itself is scarcely more morisco in point of architecture
+than this confused pile, which seems to grow out of the summit of a
+rocky eminence, and is broken into a variety of picturesque recesses and
+projections. It is a thousand pities that they have whitened its
+venerable walls, stopped up a range of bold arcades, and sliced out one
+end of the great hall into two or three mean apartments like the
+dressing-rooms of a theatre. From the windows, which are all in a
+fantastic oriental style, crinkled and crankled, and supported by
+twisted pillars of smooth marble, striking, romantic views of the cliffs
+and village of Cintra are commanded. Several irregular courts and
+loggias, formed by the angles of square towers, are enlivened by
+fountains of marble and gilt bronze, continually pouring forth abundant
+streams of the purest water.
+
+A sort of reservoir, almost long enough to be styled a canal, is
+continued the whole length of the great hall, and serves as a paradise
+for shoals of the largest and most brilliant gold and silver fish I ever
+set eyes upon. The murmur of the jets-d’eau which rise from this canal,
+the ripple of the water undulating against steps and slabs of polished
+marble, the glancing and gleaming of the fish, and the striking contrast
+of light and shade produced by the intricate labyrinth of arches and
+columns, combine altogether to form a scene of enchantment such as we
+sometimes dream of, but hardly suppose is ever realized. There is a
+sobriety in the hues of the marble, a mysteriousness in the dark
+recesses seen in perspective, and a solemnity in the deep colour,
+approaching to blackness, of the water in that part of the reservoir
+which is overshadowed by lofty buildings, I cannot help thinking
+superior to all the flutter and glitter of the most famous Moorish
+edifices at Granada or Seville.
+
+The flat summit of one of the loftiest terraces, not less than one
+hundred and fifty feet from the ground, is laid out as a neat parterre,
+which is spread like an embroidered carpet before the entrance of a huge
+square tower, almost entirely occupied by a hall encrusted with
+glistening tiles, and crowned by a most singularly-shaped dome. Amidst
+the scrolls of arabesque foliage which adorn it, appear the arms of the
+principal Portuguese nobility. The achievement of the unfortunate house
+of Tavora is blotted out, and the panel it occupied left bare.
+
+We had climbed up to this terrace and tower by one of those steep,
+cork-screw staircases, of which there are numbers in the palace, and
+which connect with vaulted passages in a secret and suspicious manner.
+The Marquis pointed out to me the mosaic pavement of a small chamber,
+fretted and worn away in several places by the steps of Alphonso the
+Sixth, who was confined to this narrow space a long series of years.
+
+Descending from it, we looked into the chapel, not less singular in form
+and construction than the rest of the edifice. The low flat cupola, as
+well as the intersections of the arches, are much in the style of a
+mosque; but the barbaric profusion of gold, and still more barbaric
+paintings with which every soffite and panel are covered, might almost
+be supposed the work of Cingalese or Hindostanee artists, and reminded
+me of those subterraneous pagodas where his Satanic Majesty receives
+homage under the form of Gumputy or of Boodh.
+
+The original glare of all this strange scenery is greatly subdued by the
+smoke of lamps, which have been burning for ages before the altar: a
+mysterious pile of carved work and imagery, in perfect consonance, as to
+gloom and uncouthness, with every other object in the place. It was
+whilst kneeling before this very altar that the young, the ardent, the
+chivalrous Don Sebastian is said to have received a supernatural warning
+to renounce that fatal African expedition which cost him his crown and
+his life, and what an heroic mind holds in far higher estimation, that
+immortal fame which follows successful achievements.
+
+A something I can hardly describe, an oppressive gloom, seemed to hang
+over this chapel, which remains very nearly, I should imagine, in the
+same style it was left by the ill-fated Sebastian. The want of a free
+circulation of air, and a heavy cloud of incense, affected the nerves of
+my head so disagreeably that I was glad to move on, and follow the
+Marquis into the rooms preparing for the Queen and the Infantas. These
+are airy and well ventilated; but instead of hanging them with rich
+arras, representing the adventures of knights and worthies, her
+Majesty’s upholsterers are hard at work covering the stout walls with
+bright silks and satins of the palest and most delicate colours. I saw
+no furniture worth notice, not a picture or a cabinet: our stay,
+therefore, as we had nothing to see, was not protracted.
+
+As soon as the Marquis had given some orders, with which his royal
+mistress had charged him, we returned to Ramalhaô, where Horne and
+Guildermeester, the Dutch Consul, were waiting our arrival, and
+squabbling about insurances, percentages, commissions, and other
+commercial speculations.
+
+I have been persuading the Marquis to accompany me to-morrow to
+Guildermeester’s: it is the old man’s birthday, and he opens his new
+house with dancing and suppering. We shall have a pretty sample of the
+factory misses, clerks, and apprentices, some underlings of the _corps
+diplomatique_, and God knows how many thousand pound weight of Dutch and
+Hambro merchants.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XX.
+
+     Grand gala at Court.--Festival in honour of the birthday of
+     Guildermeester.--Mad freaks of a Frenchman.--Unwelcome lights of
+     Truth.--Invective against the English.
+
+
+July 25th, 1787.
+
+Grand gala at Court, and the Marquis gone to attend it; for this blessed
+day not only gave birth to Guildermeester, but to the Princess of
+Brazil. We went to dine with the Marchioness. A band of regimental
+music, on their march to Guildermeester, began playing in the court, and
+drew forth one of those curious swarms of all sexes, ages, and colours,
+which this beneficent family are so fond of harbouring. Donna
+Henriquetta was seated on the steps, which lead up to the great
+pavilion, whispering to some of her favourite attendants, who, like the
+chorus in an ancient Greek tragedy, were continually giving their
+opinion of whatever was going forward.
+
+Just as Don Pedro and I were preparing to set off together for the ball
+at the old consul’s, we were agreeably surprised by the arrival of the
+Marquis, who had escaped from the palace much earlier than he expected.
+I carried him in my chaise to Horne’s, where we drank tea on his
+terrace, which commands the most romantic view in Cintra; vast sweeps of
+varied foliage, banks with twisted roots, and trunks of enormous
+chesnuts, mingled with weeping-willows of the freshest verdure, and
+citrons clustered with fruit. Above this sylvan scene tower three
+shattered pinnacles of rock, the middle one diversified by the turrets
+and walls of Nossa Senhora da Penha, a convent of Jeronimites,
+frequently concealed in clouds. I leaned against a cork-tree, which
+spreads its branches almost entirely over the veranda, enjoying the
+view, and staring idly at the grotesque figures, Dutch, English, and
+Portuguese, passing along to Guildermeester’s; a series sufficiently
+diversified to have amused me for some time, had not M---- grown
+impatient and uneasy. His brother-in-law, S---- V----, to whom he has a
+mortal aversion, having made his appearance, the powers of light and
+darkness, if personified, could not exhibit a stronger contrast than
+these two personages; M---- looking all benignity, and S---- V---- all
+malevolence. Indeed, if one half of the atrocities[17] public report
+attributes to this notorious nobleman be true, I should not wonder at
+the blackness of revenge and tyranny being so deeply marked in every
+line of his countenance.
+
+Moving off the first opportunity, we passed through dark and gloomy
+lanes, admirably calculated for such exploits as I have just alluded to,
+and were near being jerked into a ditch as we drove to the old consul’s
+door. The space before this new building is in sad disorder. The house
+has little more than bare walls, and was not very splendidly lighted up.
+
+As for the company, they turned out just what I expected. Madame G----,
+who is a woman of spirit and discernment, did the honours with the
+greatest ease, and paid her principal guests the most marked attentions.
+There is a something pointedly original in all her observations, which
+pleased me very much. She is not, however, of the merciful tribe, and
+joined forces with Verdeil (no foe to a little slashing conversation) in
+cutting up the factory. M---- handed her in to supper. This part of the
+entertainment was magnificent. There was a bright illumination, an
+immense profusion of plate, a striking breadth of table, every delicacy
+that could be procured, and a dessert-frame, fifty or sixty feet in
+length, gleaming with burnished figures and vases of silver flowers. I
+felt no inclination to dance after supper; the music was not inspiring,
+and the company thrown into the utmost confusion by the mad freaks of a
+Frenchman, upon whom one of the principal ladies present is supposed for
+two or three years past to have placed her affections. A _coup de
+soleil_ and a quarrel with his ambassador, Monsieur de Bombelles, it
+seems had turned the poor fellow’s brain: there was no preventing his
+rushing from room to room with the sputter and eccentricity of a
+fire-work, now abusing one person, now another, confessing publicly the
+universal kindness he had received from the lady above hinted at, and
+the many marks of tender affection a certain Miss W---- had bestowed on
+him. “Why,” said he to the two heroines, who I am told are not upon the
+best terms imaginable, “should you squabble and scratch? You are both
+equally indulgent, and have both rendered me in your turns the happiest
+mortal in the universe.”
+
+Whilst the light of truth was shining upon the bystanders in this very
+singular manner, I leave you to imagine the awkward surprise of the
+worthy old husband, and the angry blushes of his spouse and her fair
+associate. I never beheld a more capital scene. In some of our
+pantomimes, if I recollect rightly, harlequin applies a touchstone to
+his adversaries, and by its magic influence draws truth from their
+mouths in spite of propriety or interest. The lawyer confesses having
+fingered a bribe, the soldier his flight in the day of battle, and the
+whining methodistical dowager her frequent recourse to the bottle of
+inspiration. This wondrous effect seems to have been here realized, and
+some malicious demon to have possessed the talkative Frenchman, and to
+have compelled him to disclose the mysteries to which he owes his
+subsistence. Amongst the harsh truths poured out by this flow of
+sincerity was a vehement apostrophe to the English canaille, as he
+styled them, upon their rank intolerance of all customs except their
+own, and their ten thousand starch uncharitable prejudices. Mrs.----,
+become dauntless through despair, took up the cudgels in this cause most
+vigorously, compared the chief part of the company to a swarm of
+venomous insects, unworthy to crawl upon the hem of her really pure,
+though calumniated garments, and fit to be shaken off with a vengeance
+the first opportunity.
+
+The Marquis, Don Pedro, and I enjoyed the scene so much, that we stayed
+later than we intended.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXI.
+
+     The Queen of Portugal’s Chapel.--The Orchestra.--Rehearsal of a
+     Council.--Proposal to visit Mafra.
+
+
+Ramalhaô, near Cintra, 26th August, 1787.
+
+The Queen of Portugal’s chapel is still the first in Europe; in point of
+vocal and instrumental excellence, no other establishment of the kind,
+the papal not excepted, can boast such an assemblage of admirable
+musicians. Wherever her Majesty moves they follow; when she goes a
+hawking to Salvaterra, or a health-hunting to the baths of the Caldas.
+Even in the midst of these wild rocks and mountains, she is surrounded
+by a bevy of delicate warblers, as plump as quails, and as gurgling and
+melodious as nightingales. The violins and violoncellos at her Majesty’s
+beck are all of the first order, and in oboe and flute-players her
+musical menagerie is unrivalled.
+
+The Marquis of M----, as first Lord of the Bedchamber, Master of the
+Horse, and, as it were, hereditary prime favourite, enjoys a decided
+influence over this empire of sweet sounds; and having been so friendly
+as to impart a share of these musical blessings to me, I have been
+permitted to avail myself, whenever I please, of a selection from this
+wonderful band of performers. This very morning, to my shame be it
+recorded, I remained hour after hour in my newly-arranged pavilion,
+without reading a word, writing a line, or entering into any
+conversation. All my faculties were absorbed by the harmony of the wind
+instruments, stationed at a distance in a thicket of orange and bay
+trees. It was to no purpose that I tried several times to retire out of
+the sound--I was as often drawn back as I attempted to snatch myself
+away. Did I consult the health of my mind, I should dismiss these
+musicians; their plaintive affecting tones are sure to awaken in my
+bosom a long train of mournful recollections, and by the force of
+associated ideas to plunge me into a state of languor and gloom.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+My excellent friend, the Prior of Aviz, performed a real act of
+friendship, by breaking in almost by force upon my seclusion, and
+rousing me from my reveries. He insisted upon my accompanying him to the
+Archbishop’s, where the rehearsal of a council to be held in the Queen’s
+presence was going forward, and all the ministers with their assistant
+under-secretaries assembled. Such congregations are new to the good old
+Confessor, who has been just pressed into the supreme direction, I might
+say control, of the Cabinet, much against his will. He knows too well
+the value of ease and tranquillity not to regret so violent an inroad
+upon his usual habits of life. We found him, therefore, as might be
+expected, in a state of turmoil and irritation, flushed up to the very
+forehead with a ruddy tint, which was highly contrasted by his flowing
+white flannel garments. These garments he frequently shook and crumpled,
+and more than once did he strike with vehemence against his portly
+paunch, which, though he declared it had waited an hour longer than
+customary for its wonted replenishment, sounded by no means so hollow as
+an empty tub. The old saying, that “_fat paunches make lean pates_,”
+could not, however, be applied to him; he was so gracious and
+confidential as to give me a summary of what had been represented to him
+from the different departments of state, with great perspicuity and
+acuteness.
+
+Notwithstanding the interest this singular communication ought to have
+excited, I paid it not half the attention it deserved. The impression I
+had received in the morning, from the music of Haydn and Jomelli, still
+lingered about me. The Grand Prior, finding politics could not shake
+them off, consulted with his nephew, who happened to be just by in the
+Queen’s apartment, and returned with a proposal, that as I had long
+expressed a wish to see Mafra, we should put this scheme in execution
+to-morrow. It was settled, therefore, that to-morrow we should set off.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXII.
+
+     Road to Mafra.--Distant view of the Convent.--Its vast
+     fronts.--General magnificence of the Edifice.--The Church.--The
+     High Altar.--Eve of the Festival of St. Augustine.--The collateral
+     Chapels.--The Sacristy.--The Abbot of the Convent.--The
+     Library.--View from the Convent-roof.--Chime of Bells.--House of
+     the Capitan Mor.--Dinner.--Vespers.--Awful sound of the
+     Organs.--The Palace.--Return to the Convent.--Inquisitive
+     crowd.--The Garden.--Matins.--A Procession.--The Hall de
+     Profundis.--Solemn Repast.--Supper at the Capitan Mor’s.
+
+
+August 27th, 1787.
+
+We got into the carriage at nine, in spite of the wind, which blew full
+in our faces. The distance from the villa I inhabit to this stupendous
+convent is about fourteen English miles, and the road, which by
+good-luck has been lately mended, conducted across a parched, open
+country, thinly scattered with windmills and villages. The retrospect on
+the woody slopes and pointed rocks of Cintra is pleasant enough; but
+when you look forward, nothing can be more bleak or barren than the
+prospect. Thanks to relays of mules, we advanced, full speed, and in
+less than an hour and a quarter found ourselves under a strong wall
+which winds boldly across the hills, and incloses the park of Mafra.
+
+We now caught a glimpse of the marble towers and dome of the convent,
+relieved by an azure expanse of ocean, rising above the brow of heathy
+eminences, diversified here and there by the bushy heads of Italian
+pines and the tall spires of cypress. The roofs of the edifice were not
+yet visible, and we continued some time winding about the undulating
+acclivities in the park before they were discovered. A detachment of
+lay-brothers were waiting to open the gates of the royal inclosure,
+sadly blackened by a fire, which about a month ago consumed a great part
+of its wood and verdure. Our approach spread a terrible alarm among the
+herds of deer, which were peacefully browsing on a slope rather greener
+than those in its neighbourhood. Off they scudded and took refuge in a
+thicket of half-burnt pines.
+
+After coasting the wall of the great garden, we turned suddenly the
+corner, and discovered one of the vast fronts of the convent, appearing
+like a street of palaces. I cannot pretend that the style of the
+building is such as a lover of pure Grecian architecture would approve;
+the windows and doors are many of them fantastically shaped, but at
+least well proportioned.
+
+I was admiring their ample range as we drove rapidly along, when, upon
+wheeling round the lofty square pavilion which flanks the edifice, the
+grand façade, extending above eight hundred feet, opened to my view. The
+centre is formed by the porticos of the church richly adorned with
+columns, niches, and bass-reliefs of marble. On each side two towers,
+somewhat resembling those of St. Paul’s in London, rise to the height of
+near two hundred feet, and, joining on to the enormous _corps de logis_,
+the palace terminates to the right and left by its stately pavilions.
+These towers are light, airy, and clustered with pillars, remarkably
+beautiful; but their form in general borders too much on a sort of
+pagoda-ish style, and wants solemnity. They contain many bells of the
+largest dimensions, and a famous chime which cost several hundred
+thousand crusadoes, and which was set playing the moment our arrival was
+notified. The platform and flight of steps before the columned entrance
+of the church is strikingly grand; and the dome, which lifts itself up
+so proudly above the pediment of the portico, merits praise for its
+lightness and elegance.
+
+My eyes ranged along the vast extent of palace on each side till they
+were tired, and I was glad to turn them from the glare of marble and
+confusion of sculptured ornaments to the blue expanse of the distant
+ocean. Before the front of this colossal structure a wide level of space
+extends itself, at the extremity of which several white houses lie
+dispersed. Though these buildings are by no means inconsiderable, they
+appear, when contrasted with the immense pile in the neighbourhood, like
+the booths of workmen, for such I took them upon my first survey, and
+upon a nearer approach was quite surprised at their real dimensions.
+
+Few objects render the prospect from the platform of Mafra, interesting.
+You look over the roofs of an indifferent village and the summits of
+sandy acclivities, backed by a boundless stretch of sea. On the left,
+your view is terminated by the craggy mountains of Cintra; to the right,
+a forest of pines in the Viscount of Ponte de Lima’s extensive garden,
+affords the eye some small refreshment.
+
+To skreen ourselves from the sun, which darted powerfully on our heads,
+we entered the church, passing through its magnificent portico, which
+reminded me not a little of the entrance of St. Peter’s; and is crowded
+with the statues of saints and martyrs, carved with infinite delicacy.
+
+The first _coup-d’œil_ of the church is very imposing. The high
+altar, adorned with two majestic columns of reddish variegated marble,
+each, a single block, above thirty feet in height, immediately fixes the
+eye. Trevisani has painted the altar-piece in a masterly manner. It
+represents St. Anthony in the ecstasy of beholding the infant Jesus
+descending into his cell amidst an effulgence of glory.
+
+To-morrow being the festival of St. Augustine, whose followers are the
+actual possessors of this monastery, all the golden candelabra were
+displayed, and tapers lighted. After pausing a few minutes in the midst
+of this bright illumination, we visited the collateral chapels, each
+enriched with highly finished bassi-relievi and stately portals of black
+and yellow marble, richly veined, and so highly polished as to reflect
+objects like a mirror. Never did I behold such an assemblage of
+beautiful marble as gleamed above, below, and around us. The pavement,
+the vaulted ceiling, the dome, and even the topmost lantern, is
+encrusted with the same costly and durable materials. Roses of white
+marble and wreaths of palm-branches, most exquisitely sculptured, enrich
+every part of the edifice. I never saw Corinthian capitals better
+modelled, or executed with more precision and sharpness, than those of
+the columns which support the nave.
+
+Having satisfied our curiosity by examining the various ornaments of the
+altars, we followed our conductor through a long coved gallery into the
+sacristy, a magnificent vaulted hall, panelled with some beautiful
+varieties of alabaster and porphyry, and carpeted, as well as a chapel
+adjoining it, in a style of the utmost magnificence. We traversed
+several more halls and chapels, adorned with equal splendour, till we
+were fatigued and bewildered like errant knights in the mazes of an
+enchanted palace.
+
+I began to think there was no end to these spacious apartments. The monk
+who preceded us, a good-natured, slobbering greybeard, taking for
+granted that I could not understand a syllable of his language,
+attempted to explain the objects which presented themselves by signs,
+and would hardly believe his ears, when I asked him in good Portuguese
+when we should have done with chapels and sacristies. The old fellow
+seemed vastly delighted with the Meninos, as he called Don Pedro and me;
+and to give our young legs an opportunity of stretching themselves,
+trotted along with such expedition that the Marquis and Verdeil wished
+him in purgatory. To be sure, we advanced at a most rapid rate, striding
+from one end to the other of a dormitory, six hundred feet in length, in
+a minute or two. These vast corridors, and the cells with which they
+communicate, three hundred in number, are all arched in the most
+sumptuous and solid manner. Every cell, or rather chamber, for they are
+sufficiently spacious, lofty, and well lighted, to merit that
+appellation, is furnished with tables and cabinets of Brazil-wood.
+
+Just as we entered the library, the Abbot of the convent, dressed in his
+ceremonial habit, advanced to bid us welcome, and invite us to dine with
+him to-morrow, St. Augustine’s day, in the refectory; which it seems is
+a mighty compliment. We thought proper, however, to decline the honour,
+being aware that, to enjoy it, we must sacrifice at least two hours of
+our time, and be half parboiled by the steam of huge roasted calves,
+turkeys, and gruntlings, which had long been fattening, no doubt, for
+this solemn occasion.
+
+The library is of a prodigious length, not less than three hundred feet;
+the arched roof of a pleasing form, beautifully stuccoed, and the
+pavement of red and white marble. Much cannot be said in praise of the
+cases in which the books are to be arranged. They are clumsily designed,
+coarsely executed, and darkened by a gallery which projects into the
+room in a very awkward manner. The collection, which consists of above
+sixty thousand volumes, is locked up at present in a suite of apartments
+which opens into the library. Several well preserved and richly
+illuminated first editions of the Greek and Roman classics were handed
+to me by the father librarian; but my nimble conductor would not allow
+me much time to examine them. He set off full speed, and, ascending a
+winding staircase, led us out upon the roof of the convent and palace,
+which form a broad, smooth terrace, bounded by a magnificent balustrade,
+unincumbered by chimneys, and commanding a bird’s-eye view of the courts
+and garden.
+
+From this elevation the whole plan of the edifice may be comprehended at
+a glance. In the centre rises the dome, like a beautiful temple from the
+spacious walks of a royal garden. It is infinitely superior, in point of
+design, to the rest of the edifice, and may certainly be reckoned among
+the lightest and best proportioned in Europe. Don Pedro and Monsieur
+Verdeil proposed scaling a ladder which leads up to the lantern, but I
+begged to be excused accompanying them, and amused myself during their
+absence with ranging about the extensive loggias, now and then venturing
+a look down on the courts and parterres so far below; but oftener
+enjoying the prospect of the towers shining bright in the sunbeams, and
+the azure bloom of the distant sea. A fresh balsamic air wafted from the
+orchards of citron and orange, fanned me as I rested on the steps of the
+dome, and tempered the warmth of the glowing æther.
+
+But I was soon driven from this cloudless, peaceful situation, by a
+confounded jingle of all the bells; then followed a most complicated
+sonata, banged off on the chimes by a great proficient. The Marquis, who
+had climbed up on purpose to enjoy this cataract of what some persons
+call melodious sounds at its fountainhead, would have me approach to
+examine the mechanism, and I was half stunned. I know very little indeed
+about chimes and clocks, and am quite at a loss for amusement in a
+belfry. My friend, who inherits a mechanical turn from his father, the
+renowned patron of clocks and time-pieces, investigated every wheel with
+minute attention.
+
+His survey finished, we descended innumerable stairs, and retired to the
+Capitan Mor’s, whose jurisdiction extends over the park and district of
+Mafra. He has seven or eight thousand crusadoes a year, and his
+habitation wears every appearance of comfort and opulence. The floors
+are covered with mats of the finest texture, the doors hung with red
+damask curtains, and our beds, quite new for the occasion, spread with
+satin coverlids richly embroidered and fringed. We had a most luxurious
+repast, and a better dessert than even the monks could have given
+us--the Capitan Mor taking the dishes from his long train of servants,
+and placing them himself on the table, quite in the feudal style.
+
+After coffee we hurried to vespers in the great church of the convent,
+and advancing between the range of illuminated chapels, took our places
+in the royal tribune. We were no sooner seated than the monks entered in
+procession, preceding their abbot, who ascended his throne, having a row
+of sacristans at his feet and canons on his right hand, in their cloth
+of gold embroidered vestments. The service was chaunted with the most
+imposing solemnity to the awful sound of organs, for there are no fewer
+than six in the church, all of an enormous size.
+
+When it was ended, being once more laid hold of by the nimble
+lay-brother, we were conducted up a magnificent staircase into the
+palace. The suite extends seven or eight hundred feet, and the almost
+endless succession of lofty doors seen in perspective, strikes with
+astonishment; but we were soon weary of being merely astonished, and
+agreed to pronounce the apartments the dullest and most comfortless we
+had ever beheld; there is no variety in their shape, and little in their
+dimensions. The furniture being all locked up at Lisbon, a naked
+sameness universally prevails; not a niche, not a cornice, not a curved
+moulding breaks the tedious uniformity of dead white walls.
+
+I was glad to return to the convent and refresh my eyes with the sight
+of marble pillars, and my feet by treading on Persian carpets. We were
+followed wherever we moved, into every cell, chapel, hall, passage, or
+sacristy, by a strange medley of inquisitive monks, sacristans,
+lay-brothers, corregidors, village-curates, and country beaux with long
+rapiers and pigtails. If I happened to ask a question, half-a-dozen all
+at once poked their necks out to answer it, like turkey-polts when
+addressed in their native hobble-gobble dialect. The Marquis was quite
+sick of being trotted after in this tumultuous manner, and tried several
+times to leave the crowd behind him, by taking sudden turns; but
+sticking close to our heels, it baffled all his endeavours, and
+increased to such a degree, that we seemed to have swept the whole
+convent and village of their inhabitants, and to draw them after us by
+one of those supernatural attractions we read of in tales and romances.
+
+At length, perceiving a large door open into the garden, we bolted out,
+and striking into a labyrinth of myrtles and laurels, got rid of our
+pursuers. The garden, which is about a mile and a half in circumference,
+contains, besides wild thickets of pine and bay-trees, several orchards
+of lemon and orange, and two or three parterres more filled with weeds
+than flowers. I was much disgusted at finding this beautiful inclosure
+so wretchedly neglected, and its luxuriant plants withering away for
+want of being properly watered.
+
+You may suppose, that after adding a walk in the principal alleys of the
+garden to our other peregrinations, we began to find ourselves somewhat
+fatigued, and were not sorry to repose ourselves in the Abbot’s
+apartment till we were summoned once more to our tribune to hear matins
+performed. It was growing dark, and the innumerable tapers burning
+before the altars and in every part of the church, began to diffuse a
+mysterious light. The organs joined again in full accord, the long
+series of monks and novices entered with slow and solemn steps, and the
+Abbot resumed his throne with the same pomp as at vespers. The Marquis
+began muttering his orisons, the Grand Prior to recite his breviary, and
+I to fall into a profound reverie, which lasted as long as the service,
+that is to say above two hours. Verdeil, ready to expire with ennui,
+could not help leaving the tribune and the cloud of incense which filled
+the choir, to breathe a freer air in the body of the church and its
+adjoining chapels.
+
+It was almost nine when the monks, after chaunting a most solemn and
+sonorous hymn in praise of their venerable father, Saint Augustine,
+quitted the choir. We followed their procession through lofty chapels
+and arched cloisters, which by a glimmering light appeared to have
+neither roof nor termination, till it entered an octagon forty feet in
+diameter, with fountains in the four principal angles. The monks, after
+dispersing to wash their hands at the several fountains, again resumed
+their order, and passed two-and-two under a portal thirty feet high into
+a vast hall, communicating with their refectory by another portal of the
+same lofty dimensions. Here the procession made a pause, for this
+chamber is consecrated to the remembrance of the departed, and styled
+the Hall de Profundis. Before every repast, the monks standing round it
+in solemn ranks, silently revolve in their minds the precariousness of
+our frail existence, and offer up prayers for the salvation of their
+predecessors. I could not help being struck with awe when I beheld by
+the glow of flaming lamps, so many venerable figures in their black and
+white habits bending their eyes on the pavement, and absorbed in the
+most interesting and gloomy of meditations.
+
+The moment allotted to this solemn supplication being passed, every one
+took his place at the long tables in the refectory, which are made of
+Brazil-wood, and covered with the whitest linen. Each monk had his
+glass caraffe of water and wine, his plate of apples and salad set
+before him; neither fish nor flesh were served up, the vigil of St.
+Augustine’s day being observed as a fast with the utmost strictness.
+
+To enjoy at a glance this singular and majestic spectacle, we retreated
+to a vestibule preceding the octagon, and from thence looked through all
+the portals down the long row of lamps into the refectory, which, owing
+to its vast length of full two hundred feet, seemed ending in a point.
+After remaining a few minutes to enjoy this perspective, four monks
+advanced with torches to light us out of the convent, and bid us
+good-night with many bows and genuflections.
+
+Our supper at the Capitan Mor’s was very cheerful. We sat up late,
+notwithstanding our fatigue, talking over the variety of objects that
+had passed before our eyes in so short a space of time, the crowd of
+grotesque figures which had stuck to our heels so long and so closely,
+and the awkward vivacity of the lay-brother.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXIII.
+
+     High mass.--Garden of the Viscount Ponte de Lima.--Leave Mafra.--An
+     accident.--Return to Cintra.--My saloon.--Beautiful view from it.
+
+
+August 28th, 1787.
+
+I was half asleep, half awake, when the sonorous bells of the convent
+struck my ears. The Marquis and Don Pedro’s voices in earnest
+conversation with the Capitan Mor in the adjoining chamber, completely
+roused me. We swallowed our coffee in haste; the Grand Prior reluctantly
+left his pillow, and accompanied us to high mass. The monks once more
+exerted their efforts to prevail on us to dine with them; but we
+remained inflexible, and to avoid their importunities hastened away, as
+soon as mass was ended, to the Viscount Ponte de Lima’s gardens, where
+the deep shade of the bay and ilex skreened us from the excessive heat
+of the sun.
+
+The Marquis, seating himself by me near one of those clear and copious
+fountains with which this magnificent Italian-looking garden is
+refreshed and enlivened, entered into a most serious and semi-official
+discourse about my stay in Portugal, and the means which were projecting
+in a very high quarter to render it not only pleasant to myself, but of
+some importance to many others.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I felt relieved when the appearance of Don Pedro and his uncle, who had
+been walking to the end of an immensely long avenue of pines, warded off
+a conversation that began to press hard upon me. We returned altogether
+to the Capitan Mor’s, and found dinner ready.
+
+Both Don Pedro and myself were sorry to leave Mafra, and should have had
+no objection to another race along the cloisters and dormitories with
+the lay-brother. The evening was bright and clear, and the azure tints
+of the distant sea inexpressibly lovely. We drove with a tumultuous
+rapidity over the rough-paved roads, that the Marquis and I could hardly
+hear a word we said to each other. Don Pedro had mounted his horse.
+Verdeil, who preceded us in the carinho, seemed to outstrip the winds.
+His mule, one of the most fiery and gigantic of her species, excited by
+repeated floggings and the shout of a hulking Portuguese postilion,
+perched up behind the carriage, galloped at an ungovernable rate; and at
+about a league from the rocks of Cintra, thought proper to jerk out its
+drivers into the midst of some bushes at the foot of a lofty bank,
+nearly perpendicular, where they still remained sprawling when we passed
+by.
+
+Verdeil hobbled up to us, and pointed to the carinho in the ditch below.
+Except a slight contusion in the knee, he had received no hurt. I
+exclaimed immediately, that his escape was miraculous, and that,
+doubtless, St. Anthony had some hand in it. My friend, who has always
+the horrors of heresy before his eyes, whispered me that the devil had
+saved him this time, but might not be so favourably disposed another.
+
+It was not half-past five, when we reached Cintra. The Marchioness, the
+Abade, and the children, were waiting our arrival.
+
+Feeling my head in a whirl, and my ideas as much jolted and jumbled as
+my body, I returned home just before it fell dark, to enjoy a few hours
+of uninterrupted calm. The scenery of my ample saloon, its air of
+seclusion, its silence, seemed to breathe a momentary tranquillity over
+my spirits. The mat smoothly laid down, and formed of the finest and
+most glossy straw, assumed by candlelight a delightful, soft, and
+harmonious colour. It looked so cool and glistening that I stretched
+myself upon it. There did I lie supine, contemplating the serene
+summer-sky, and the moon rising slowly from behind the brow of a shrubby
+hill. A faint breeze blowing aside the curtains, discovered the summit
+of the woods in the garden, and beyond, a wide expanse of country,
+terminated by plains of sea and hazy promontories.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXIV.
+
+     A saloon in the highest style of oriental decoration.--Amusing
+     stories of King John the Fifth and his recluses.--Cheerful
+     funeral.--Refreshing ramble to the heights of Penha Verde.
+
+
+August 29th, 1787.
+
+It was furiously hot, and I trifled away the whole morning in my
+pavilion, surrounded by fidalgos in flowered bed-gowns, and musicians in
+violet-coloured accoutrements, with broad straw-hats, like bonzes or
+talapoins, looking as sunburnt, vacant, and listless, as the inhabitants
+of Ormus or Bengal; so that my company as well as my apartment wore the
+most decided oriental appearance: the divan raised a few inches above
+the floor, the gilt trellis-work of the windows, and the pellucid
+streams of water rising from a tank immediately beneath them, supplied
+in endless succession by springs from the native rock.
+
+An agreeable variety prevails in my Asiatic saloon; half its curtains
+admit no light, and display the richest folds; the other half are
+transparent, and cast a mild glow on the mat and sofas. Large clear
+mirrors multiply this profusion of drapery, and several of my guests
+seemed never tired of running from corner to corner, to view the
+different groups of objects reflected on all sides in the most
+unexpected directions, as if they fancied themselves admitted by
+enchantment to peep into a labyrinth of magic chambers.
+
+One of the party, a very shrewd old Italian priest, who had left his
+native land before the too-famous earthquake shook more than the half of
+Lisbon to its foundations, told me he remembered an apartment a good
+deal in this style, that is to say, bedecked with mirrors and curtains,
+in a sort of fairy palace communicating with the Nunnery of Odivellas,
+so famous for the pious retirement of that paragon of splendour and
+holiness, King John the Fifth. These were delightful days for the
+monarch and the fair companions of his devotions.
+
+“Oh!” said the old priest very judiciously, “of what avail is the finest
+cage without birds to enliven it? Had you but heard the celestial
+harmony of King John’s recluses, you would never have sat down contented
+in your fine tent with the squalling of sopranos and the grumbling of
+bass-viols. The silver, virgin tones I allude to, proceeding from the
+holy recess into which no other male mortal except the monarch was ever
+allowed to penetrate, had an effect I still remember with ecstasy,
+though at the distance of so many years. Four of our finest singers, two
+from Venice and two from Naples, attracted by a truly regal munificence,
+added all that the most consummate taste and science could give to the
+best voices in Portugal; the result was perfection.”
+
+Aguilar, who came to dine with us, and whose mother, when in the bloom
+of youth and beauty, had been not unfrequently invited to act the part
+of perhaps more than audience at these edifying parties, confirmed all
+the wonders the old Italian narrated, and added not a few of the same
+gold and ruby colour in a strain so extravagantly enthusiastic, that
+were I to repeat even half the glittering anecdotes he favoured me with,
+upon the subject of Don John the Fifth’s unbounded fervour and
+magnificence, your imagination would be completely dazzled.
+
+Just as we had removed from the dinner to the dessert-table, which was
+spread out upon a terrace fronting the principal alley of the gardens,
+entered the abade Xavier, in full cry, with a rapturous story of the
+conversion of an old consumptive Englishwoman, who, it seems, finding
+herself upon the eve of departure, had called for a priest, to whom she
+might confess, and abjure her errors of every description. Happening to
+lodge at the Cintra inn, kept by a most flaming Irish Catholic, her
+commendable desires were speedily complied with, and Mascarenhas and
+Acciaoli, and two or three other priests and monsignors, summoned to
+further the good work.
+
+“Great,” said the abade, “are our rejoicings upon the occasion. This
+very evening the aged innocent is to be buried in triumph: Marialva, San
+Lorenzo, Asseca, and several more of the principal nobility are already
+assembled to grace the festival; suppose you were to come with me and
+join the procession?”
+
+“With all my heart,” did I reply; “although I have no great taste for
+funerals, so gay a one as this you talk of may form an exception.”
+
+Off we set, driving as fast as most excellent mules could carry us, lest
+we should come too late for the entertainment. A great mob was assembled
+before the door. At one of the windows stood the grand prior, looking as
+if he wished himself a thousand leagues away, and reciting his breviary.
+I went up-stairs, and was immediately surrounded by the old Conde de San
+Lorenzo and other believers, overflowing with congratulations.
+Mascarenhas, one of the soundest limbs of the patriarchal establishment,
+a capital devotee and seraphic doctor, was introduced to me. Acciaoli,
+whom I was before acquainted with, skipped about the room, rubbing his
+hands for joy, with a cunning leer on his jovial countenance, and
+snapping his fingers at Satan, as much as to say, “I don’t care a d----
+n for you. We have got one at least safe out of your clutches, and clear
+at this very moment of the smoke of your cauldron.”
+
+There was such a bustle in the interior apartment where the wretched
+corpse was deposited, such a chaunting and praying, for not a tongue
+was idle, that my head swam round, and I took refuge by the grand prior.
+He by no means relished the party, and kept shrugging up his shoulders,
+and saying that it was very edifying--very edifying indeed, and that
+Acciaoli had been extremely alert, extremely active, and deserved great
+commendation, but that so much fuss might as well have been spared.
+
+By some hints that dropped, I won’t say from whom, I discovered the
+innocent now on the high road to eternal felicity by no means to have
+suffered the cup of joy to pass by untasted in this existence, and to
+have lived many years on a very easy footing, not only with a stout
+English bachelor, but with several others, married and unmarried, of his
+particular acquaintance. However, she had taken a sudden tack upon
+finding herself driven apace down the tide of a rapid consumption, and
+had been fairly towed into port by the joint efforts of the Irish
+hostess and the monsignori Mascarenhas and Acciaoli.
+
+“Thrice happy Englishwoman,” exclaimed M--a, “what luck is thine! In
+the next world immediate admission to paradise, and in this thy body
+will have the proud distinction of being borne to the grave by men of
+the highest rank.--Was there ever such felicity?”
+
+The arrival of a band of priests and sacristans, with tapers lighted and
+cross erected, called us to the scene of action. The procession being
+marshalled, the corpse, dressed in virgin-white, lying snug in a sort of
+rose-coloured bandbox with six silvered handles, was brought forth.
+M----, who abhors the sight of a dead body, reddened up to his ears, and
+would have given a good sum to make an honourable retreat; but no
+retreat could now have been made consistent with piety: he was obliged
+to conquer his disgust and take a handle of the bier. Another was placed
+in the murderous gripe of the notorious San Vicente; another fell to the
+poor old snuffling Conde de San Lorenzo; a fourth to the Viscount
+d’Asseca, a mighty simple-looking young gentleman; the fifth and sixth
+were allotted to the Capitaô Mor of Cintra, and to the judge, a gaunt
+fellow with a hang-dog countenance.
+
+No sooner did the grand prior catch sight of the ghastly visage of the
+dead body as it was being conveyed down-stairs in the manner I have
+recited, than he made an attempt to move on, and precede instead of
+following the procession; but Acciaoli, who acted as master of the
+ceremonies, would not let him off so easily: he allotted him the post of
+honour immediately at the head of the corpse, and placed himself at his
+left hand, giving the right to Mascarenhas. All the bells of Cintra
+struck up a cheerful peal, and to their merry jinglings we hurried along
+through a dense cloud of dust, a rabble of children frolicking on either
+side, and their grandmothers hobbling after, telling their beads, and
+grinning from ear to ear at this triumph over the prince of darkness.
+
+Happily the way to the church was not long, or the dust would have
+choked us. The grand prior kept his mouth close not to admit a particle
+of it, but Acciaoli and his colleague were too full of their fortunate
+exploit not to chatter incessantly. Poor old San Lorenzo, who is fat,
+squat, and pursy, gasping for breath, stopped several times to rest on
+his journey. Marialva, whom disgust rendered heartily fatigued with his
+burthen, was very glad likewise to make a pause or two.
+
+We found all the altars in the church blazing with lights, the grave
+gaping for its immaculate inhabitant, and a numerous detachment of
+priests and choristers waiting to receive the procession. The moment it
+entered, the same hymn which is sung at the interment of babes and
+sucklings burst forth from a hundred youthful voices, incense arose in
+clouds, and joy and gladness shone in the eyes of the whole
+congregation.
+
+A murmur of applause and congratulation went round anew, those whom it
+most concerned receiving with great affability and meekness the
+compliments of the occasion. Old San Lorenzo, waddling up to the grand
+prior, hugged him in his arms, and strewing him all over with snuff, set
+him violently a-sneezing. San Vicente, as soon as the innocent was
+safely deposited, retired in a sort of dudgeon, being never rightly at
+ease in the presence of his brother-in-law Marialva. As for the latter
+warm-hearted nobleman, exultation and triumph carried him beyond all
+bounds of decorum. He scoffed bitterly at heretics, represented in their
+true colours the actual happiness of the convert, and just as we left
+the church, cried out loud enough for all those who were near to have
+heard him, “_Elle se f----iche de nous tous à présent._”
+
+Their pious toil being ended, Mascarenhas and Acciaoli accompanied us to
+the heights of Penha Verde, to breathe a fresh air under the odoriferous
+pines: then, returning in our company to Ramalhaô, partook of a nice
+collation of iced fruit and sweetmeats, and concluded the evening with
+much gratifying discourse about the lively scene we had just witnessed.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXV.
+
+     Anecdotes of the Conde de San Lorenzo.--Visit to Mrs.
+     Guildermeester.--Toads active, and toads passive.--The old Consul
+     and his tray of jewels.
+
+
+The principal personages who had so piously distinguished themselves
+yesterday dined with me this blessed afternoon. Old San Lorenzo has a
+prodigious memory and a warm imagination, rendered still more glowing by
+a slight touch of madness. He appears perfectly well acquainted with the
+general politics of Europe, and though never beyond the limits of
+Portugal, gave so circumstantial and plausible a detail of what
+occurred, and of the part he himself acted at the congress of
+Aix-la-Chapelle, that I was completely his dupe, and believed, until I
+was let into the secret, that he had actually witnessed what he only
+dreamt of. Notwithstanding the high favour he enjoyed with the infante
+Don Pedro, Pombal cast him into a dungeon with the other victims of the
+Aveiro conspiracy, and for eighteen most melancholy years was his active
+mind reduced to prey upon itself for sustenance.
+
+Upon the present queen’s accession he was released, and found his
+intimate friend the Infante sharing the throne; but thinking himself
+somewhat coolly received and shabbily neglected, he threw the key of
+chamberlain which was sent him into a place of less dignity than
+convenience, and retired to the convent of the Necessidades. No means, I
+have been assured, were left untried by the king to soothe and flatter
+him; but they all proved fruitless. Since this period, though he quitted
+the convent, he has never appeared at court, and has refused all
+employment. Devotion now absorbs his entire soul. Except when the chord
+of imprisonment and Pombal is touched upon, he is calm and reasonable. I
+found him extremely so to-day, and full of the most instructive and
+amusing anecdote.
+
+Coffee over, my company having stretched themselves out at full-length
+most comfortably, some on the mat, and some on the sofas, to recruit
+their spirits I suppose, after the pious toils and enthusiastic
+procession of the day before, I prevailed upon Marialva to escort me to
+Mrs. Guildermeester’s, whom we found in a vast but dingy saloon, her
+toads squatting around her. She gave us some excellent tea, and a plain
+sensible loaf of brown bread, accompanied by delicious butter, just
+fresh from a genuine Dutch dairy, conducted upon the most immaculate
+Dutch principles. Donna Genuefa, the toad-passive in waiting, is a
+little jossish old woman, with a head as round as a humming-top, and a
+large placid lip, very smiling and good-natured. Miss Coster, the
+toad-active, has been rather pretty a few years ago, makes tea with
+decorum, shuts doors and opens windows with judgment, and has a good
+deal to say for herself when allowed to sit still on her chair.
+
+We had scarcely begun complimenting the mistress of the house upon the
+complete success of her cow-establishment, when the old consul her
+spouse entered, with many bows and salutations, bearing a huge japan
+tray, upon which was spread out in glittering profusion an ample
+treasure, both of rough and well-lapidated brilliants, the fruits of his
+famous and most lucrative contract in the days of Pombal. Some of the
+largest diamonds, in superb though heavy Dutch or German settings, he
+eagerly desired Marialva would recommend to the attention of the queen,
+and whispered in my ear that he hoped I also would speak a good word for
+him. I remained as deaf as an adder, and the Marquis as blind as a
+beetle, to the splendour of the display; so he returned once more to his
+interior cabinet, with all his hopes out of blossom, and we moved off.
+
+Evening was drawing on, and a drizzling mist overspreading the crags of
+Cintra. It did not, however, prevent us from going to Mr. Horne’s. We
+passed under arching elms and chesnuts, whose moistened foliage exhaled
+a fresh woody odour. High above the vapours, which were rolling away
+just as we emerged from the shady avenue, appeared the turret of the
+convent of the Penha, faintly tinted by the last rays of the sun, and
+looking down, like the ark on Mount Ararat, on a sea of undulating
+clouds.
+
+At Horne’s, Aguilar, Bezerra, and the usual set were assembled. The
+Marquis, as soon as he had made his condescending bows to the right and
+left, retired to his villa, and I took Horne in my chaise to Mrs.
+Staits, a little slender-waisted, wild-eyed woman, by no means
+unpleasing or flinty-hearted. It was her birthday, and she had
+congregated most of the English at Cintra, in a damp garden about
+seventy feet long by thirty-two, illuminated by thirty or forty
+lanterns. Mrs. Guildermeester was there, covered with diamonds, and
+sparkling like a star in the midst of this murky atmosphere. We had a
+cold funereal supper, under a low tent in imitation of a grotto.
+
+Mrs. Staits’ well-disposed, easy-tempered husband placed me next Mrs.
+Guildermeester, who amused herself tolerably well at the expense of the
+entertainment. The dingy, subterraneous appearance of the booth, the wan
+light of the lanterns sparingly scattered along it, and the fragrance of
+a dish of rather mature prawns placed under my nose, seized me with the
+idea of being dead and buried. “Alas!” said I to my fair neighbour, “it
+is all over with us now, and this our first banquet in the infernal
+regions; we are all equal and jumbled together. There sits the pious
+presbyterian Mrs. Fussock, with that bridling miss her daughter, and
+close to them those adulterous doves, Mr. ---- and his sultana. Here am
+I, miserable sinner, right opposite your righteous and much enduring
+spouse; a little lower our kind host, that pattern of conjugal meekness
+and resignation. Hark! don’t you hear a lumbering noise? They are
+letting down a cargo of heavy bodies into a neighbouring tomb.”
+
+In this strain did we continue till the subject was exhausted, and it
+was time to take our departure.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXVI.
+
+     Expected arrival at Cintra of the Queen and suite.--Duke
+     d’Alafoins.--Excursion to a rustic Fair.--Revels of the
+     Peasantry.--Night-scene at the Marialva Villa.
+
+
+Sept. 10th, 1787.
+
+Adieu to the tranquillity of Cintra, we shall soon have nothing but
+hubbub and confusion. The queen is on the point of arriving with all her
+maids of honour, secretaries of state, dwarfs, negresses and horses,
+white, black, and pie-bald. Half the quintas around will be dried up,
+military possession having been taken of the aqueducts, and their waters
+diverted into new channels for the use of an encampment.
+
+I was walking in a long arched bower of citron-trees, when M----
+appeared at the end of the avenue, accompanied by the duke d’Alafoins.
+This is the identical personage well-known in every part of Europe by
+the appellation of Duke of Braganza. He has no right however, to wear
+that illustrious title, which is merged in the crown. Were he called
+Duchess Dowager, of anything you please, I think nobody would dispute
+the propriety of his style, he being so like an old lady of the
+bed-chamber, so fiddle-faddle and so coquettish. He had put on rouge and
+patches, and though he has seen seventy winters, contrived to turn on
+his heel and glide about with juvenile agility.
+
+I was much surprised at the ease of his motions, having been told that
+he was a martyr to the gout. After lisping French with a most refined
+accent, complaining of the sun, and the roads, and the state of
+architecture, he departed, (thank heaven!) to mark out a spot for the
+encampment of the cavalry, which are to guard the queen’s sacred person
+during her residence in these mountains. M---- was in duty bound to
+accompany him; but left his son and his nephews, the heirs of the House
+of Tancos, to dine with me.
+
+In the evening, Verdeil, tired with sauntering about the verandas,
+proposed a ride to a neighbouring village, where there was a fair. He
+and Don Pedro mounted their horses, and preceded the young Tancos and me
+in a garden-chair, drawn by a most resolute mule. The roads are
+abominable, and lay partly along the sloping base of the Cintra
+mountains, which in the spring, no doubt, are clothed with a tolerable
+verdure, but at this season every blade of grass is parched and
+withered. Our carriage-wheels, as we drove sideling along these slippery
+declivities, pressed forth the odour of innumerable aromatic herbs, half
+pulverized. Thicknesse perhaps would have said, in his original quaint
+style, that nature was treating us with a pinch of her best cephalic. No
+snuff, indeed, ever threw me into a more violent fit of sneezing.
+
+I could hardly keep up my head when we arrived at the fair, which is
+held on a pleasant lawn, bounded on one side by the picturesque
+buildings of a convent of Hieronimites, and on the other by rocky hills,
+shattered into a variety of uncouth romantic forms; one cliff in
+particular, called the Pedra d’os Ovos, terminated by a cross, crowns
+the assemblage, and exhibits a very grotesque appearance. Behind the
+convent a thick shrubbery of olives, ilex, and citron, fills up a small
+valley refreshed by fountains, whose clear waters are conducted through
+several cloisters and gardens, surrounded by low marble columns,
+supporting fretted arches in the morisco style.
+
+The peasants assembled at the fair were scattered over the lawn; some
+conversing with the monks, others half intoxicated, sliding off their
+donkeys and sprawling upon the ground; others bargaining for silk-nets
+and spangled rings, to bestow on their mistresses. The monks, who were
+busily employed in administering all sorts of consolations, spiritual
+and temporal, according to their respective ages and vocations, happily
+paid us no kind of attention, so we escaped being stuffed with
+sweetmeats, and worried with compliments.
+
+At sunset we returned to Ramalhaô, and drank tea in its lantern-like
+saloon, in which are no less than eleven glazed doors and windows of
+large dimensions. The winds were still; the air balsamic; and the sky of
+so soft an azure that we could not remain with patience under any other
+canopy, but stept once more into our curricles and drove as far as the
+Dutch consul’s new building, by the mingled light of innumerable stars.
+
+It was after ten when we got back to the Marialva villa, and long before
+we reached it, we heard the plaintive tones of voices and wind
+instruments issuing from the thickets. On the margin of the principal
+basin sat the marchioness and Donna Henriquetta, and a numerous group of
+their female attendants, many of them most graceful figures, and
+listening with all their hearts and souls to the rehearsal of some very
+delightful music with which her majesty is to be serenaded a few
+evenings hence.
+
+It was one of those serene and genial nights when music acquires a
+double charm, and opens the heart to tender, though melancholy
+impressions. Not a leaf rustled, not a breath of wind disturbed the
+clear flame of the lights which had been placed near the fountains, and
+which just served to make them visible. The waters, flowing in rills
+round the roots of the lemon-trees, formed a rippling murmur; and in the
+pauses of the concert, no other sound except some very faint whisperings
+was to be distinguished, so that the enchantment of climate, music, and
+mystery, all contributed to throw my mind into a sort of trance from
+which I was not roused again without a degree of painful reluctance.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXVII.
+
+     Curious scene in the interior of the palace of Cintra.--Singular
+     invitation.--Dinner with the Archbishop Confessor.--Hilarity and
+     shrewd remarks of that extraordinary personage.
+
+
+September 12th, 1787.
+
+I was hardly up before the grand prior and Mr. Street were announced:
+the latter abusing kings, queens, and princes, with all his might, and
+roaring after liberty and independence; the former complaining of fogs
+and damps.
+
+As soon as the advocate for republicanism had taken his departure, we
+went by appointment to the archbishop confessor’s, and were immediately
+admitted into his _sanctum sanctorum_, a snug apartment communicating by
+a winding staircase with that of the queen, and hung with bright, lively
+tapestry. A lay-brother, fat, round, buffoonical, and to the full as
+coarse and vulgar as any carter or muleteer in christendom, entertained
+us with some very amusing, though not the most decent, palace stories,
+till his patron came forth.
+
+Those who expect to see the Grand Inquisitor of Portugal, a doleful,
+meagre figure, with eyes of reproof and malediction, would be
+disappointed. A pleasanter or more honest countenance than that kind
+heaven has blessed him with, one has seldom the comfort of looking upon.
+He received me in the most open, cordial manner, and I have reason to
+think I am in mighty favour.
+
+We talked about archbishops in England being married. “Pray,” said the
+prelate, “are not your archbishops strange fellows? consecrated in
+ale-houses, and good bottle companions? I have been told that mad-cap
+Lord Tyrawley was an archbishop at home.” You may imagine how much I
+laughed at this inconceivable nonsense; and though I cannot say,
+speaking of his right reverence, that “truths divine came mended from
+his tongue,” it may be allowed, that nonsense itself became more
+conspicuously nonsensical, flowing from so revered a source.
+
+Whilst we sat in the windows of the saloon, listening to a band of
+regimental music, we saw Joaô Antonio de Castro, the ingenious
+mechanician, who invented the present method of lighting Lisbon, two or
+three solemn dominicans, and a famous court fool[18] in a tawdry
+gala-suit, bedizened with mock orders, coming up the steps which lead to
+the great audience-chamber, all together. “Ay, ay,” said the
+lay-brother, who is a shrewd, comical fellow, “behold a true picture of
+our customers. Three sorts of persons find their way most readily into
+this palace; men of superior abilities, buffoons, and saints; the first
+soon lose what cleverness they possessed, the saints become martyrs, and
+the buffoons alone prosper.”
+
+To all this the Archbishop gave his hearty assent by a very significant
+nod of the head; and being, as I have already told you, in a most
+gracious, communicative disposition, would not permit me to go away,
+when I rose up to take leave of him.
+
+“No, no,” said he, “don’t think of quitting me yet awhile. Let us repair
+to the hall of Swans, where all the court are waiting for me, and pray
+tell me then what you think of our great fidalgos.”
+
+Taking me by the tip of the fingers he led me along through a number of
+shady rooms and dark passages to a private door, which opened from the
+queen’s presence-chamber, into a vast saloon, crowded, I really believe,
+by half the dignitaries of the kingdom; here were bishops, heads of
+orders, secretaries of state, generals, lords of the bedchamber, and
+courtiers of all denominations, as fine and as conspicuous as
+embroidered uniforms, stars, crosses, and gold keys could make them.
+
+The astonishment of this group at our sudden apparition was truly
+laughable, and indeed, no wonder; we must have appeared on the point of
+beginning a minuet--the portly archbishop in his monastic, flowing white
+drapery, spreading himself out like a turkey in full pride, and myself
+bowing and advancing in a sort of _pas-grave_, blinking all the while
+like an owl in sunshine, thanks to my rapid transition from darkness to
+the most glaring daylight.
+
+Down went half the party upon their knees, some with petitions and some
+with memorials; those begging for places and promotions, and these for
+benedictions, of which my revered conductor was by no means prodigal. He
+seemed to treat all these eager demonstrations of fawning servility with
+the most contemptuous composure, and pushing through the crowd which
+divided respectfully to give us passage, beckoned the Viscount Ponte de
+Lima, the Marquis of Lavradio, the Count d’Obidos, and two or three of
+the lords in waiting, into a mean little room, not above twenty by
+fourteen.
+
+After a deal of adulatory complimentation in a most subdued tone from
+the circle of courtiers, for which they had got nothing in return but
+rebuffs and gruntling, the Archbishop drew his chair close to mine, and
+said with a very distinct and audible pronunciation, “My dear
+Englishman, these are all a parcel of flattering scoundrels, do not
+believe one word they say to you. Though they glitter like gold, mud is
+not meaner--I know them well. Here,” continued he, holding up the flap
+of my coat, “is a proof of English prudence, this little button to
+secure the pocket is a precious contrivance, especially in grand
+company, do not leave it off, do not adopt any of our fashions, or you
+will repent it.”
+
+This sally of wit was received with the most resigned complacency by
+those who had inspired it, and, staring with all my eyes, and listening
+with all my ears, I could hardly credit either upon seeing the most
+complaisant gesticulations, and hearing the most abject protestations of
+devoted attachment to his right reverence’s sacred person from all the
+company.
+
+There is no saying how long this tide of adulation would have continued
+pouring on, if it had not been interrupted by a message from the queen,
+commanding the confessor’s immediate attendance. Giving his garments a
+hearty shake, he trudged off bawling out to me over his shoulder, “I
+shall be back in half-an-hour, and you must dine with me.“--“Dine with
+him!” exclaimed the company in chorus: “such an honour never befel any
+one of us; how fortunate! how distinguished you are!”
+
+Now, I must confess, I was by no means enchanted with this most peculiar
+invitation; I had a much pleasanter engagement at Penha-Verde, one of
+the coolest and most romantic spots in all this poetic district, and
+felt no vocation to be cooped up in a close bandboxical apartment,
+smelling of paint and varnish enough to give the head-ache; however,
+there was no getting off. I was told that I must obey, for everybody in
+these regions, high or low, the royal family themselves not excepted,
+obeyed the archbishop, and that I ought to esteem myself too happy in so
+agreeable an opportunity.
+
+It would be only repeating what is known to every one, who knows any
+thing of courts and courtiers, were I to add the flowery speeches, the
+warm encomiums, I received from the finest feathered birds of this covey
+upon my own transcendant perfections, and those of my host that was to
+be. The half-hour, which, by-the-by, was more than three-quarters,
+scarcely sufficed for half those very people had to say in my
+commendation, who, a few days ago, were all reserve and indifference, if
+I happened to approach them. My summons to this envied repast was
+conveyed to me by no less a personage than the Marquis of M----, who,
+with gladsome surprise in all his gestures, whispered me, “I am to be of
+the party too, the first time in my life I can assure you; not a
+creature besides is to be admitted; for my uncle is gone home tired of
+waiting for you.”
+
+We knocked at the private door, which was immediately opened, and
+following the same passages through which I had been before conducted,
+emerged into an ante-chamber looking into a very neat little kitchen,
+where the lay-brother, with his sleeves tucked up to his shoulders, was
+making hospitable preparation. A table with three covers was prepared in
+the tapestry-room, and upon a sofa, in the corner of it, sat the
+omnipotent prelate wrapped up in an old snuff-coloured great coat, sadly
+patched and tattered.
+
+“Come,” said he, clapping his hands after the oriental fashion, “serve
+up and let us be merry--oh, these women, these women, above stairs, what
+a plague it is to settle their differences! Who knows better than you,
+Marquis, what enigmas they are to unriddle? I dare say the Englishman’s
+archbishops have not half such puzzles to get over as I have: well, let
+us see what we have got for you.”
+
+Entered the lay-brother with three roasting-pigs, on a huge tray of
+massive silver, and an enormous pillau, as admirable in quality as in
+size; and so it had need to have been, for in these two dishes consisted
+our whole dinner. I am told the fare at the Archbishop’s table never
+varies, and roasting-pigs succeed roasting-pigs, and pillaus pillaus,
+throughout all the vicissitudes of the seasons, except on certain
+peculiar fast-days of supreme meagre.
+
+The simplicity of this part of our entertainment was made up by the
+profusion and splendour of our dessert, which exceeded in variety of
+fruits and sweetmeats any one of which I had ever partaken. As to the
+wines, they were admirable, the tribute of every part of the Portuguese
+dominions offered up at this holy shrine. The Port Company, who are just
+soliciting the renewal of their charter, had contributed the choicest
+produce of their happiest vintages, and as I happened to commend its
+peculiar excellence, my hospitable entertainer, whose good-humour seemed
+to acquire every instant a livelier glow, insisted upon my accepting
+several pipes of it, which were punctually sent me the next morning. The
+Archbishop became quite jovial, and supposing I was not more insensible
+to the joys of convivial potations than many of my countrymen, plied me
+as often and as waggishly as if I had been one of his imaginary
+archbishops, or Lord Tyrawley himself, returned from those cold
+precincts where no dinners are given or bottle circulated.
+
+The lay-brother was such a fountain of anecdote, the Archbishop in such
+glee, and Marialva in such jubilation at being admitted to this
+confidential party, that it is impossible to say how long it would have
+lasted, had not the hour of her Majesty’s evening excursion approached,
+and the Archbishop been called to accompany her. As Master of the Horse,
+the Marquis could not dispense with his attendance, so I was left under
+the guidance of the lay-brother, who, leading me through another
+labyrinth of passages, opened a kind of wicket door, and let me out with
+as little ceremony as he would have turned a goose adrift on a common.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXVIII.
+
+     Explore the Cintra Mountains.--Convent of Nossa Senhora da
+     Penha.--Moorish Ruins.--The Cork Convent.--The Rock of
+     Lisbon.--Marine Scenery.--Susceptible imagination of the Ancients
+     exemplified.
+
+
+Sept. 19th, 1787.
+
+Never did I behold so fine a day, or a sky of such lovely azure. The
+M---- were with me by half-past six, and we rode over wild hills, which
+command a great extent of apparently desert country; for the villages,
+if there are any, are concealed in ravines and hollows.
+
+Intending to explore the Cintra mountains from one extremity to the
+other of the range, we placed relays at different stations. Our first
+object was the Convent of Nossa Senhora da Penha, the little romantic
+pile of white buildings I had seen glittering from afar when I first
+sailed by the coast of Lisbon. From this pyramidical elevation the view
+is boundless: you look immediately down upon an immense expanse of sea,
+the vast, unlimited Atlantic. A long series of detached clouds of a
+dazzling whiteness, suspended low over the waves, had a magic effect,
+and in pagan times might have appeared, without any great stretch of
+fancy, the cars of marine divinities just risen from the bosom of their
+element.
+
+There was nothing very interesting in the objects immediately around us.
+The Moorish remains in the neighbourhood of the convent are scarcely
+worth notice, and indeed seem never to have made part of any
+considerable edifice. They were probably built up with the dilapidations
+of a Roman temple, whose constructors had perhaps in their turn availed
+themselves of the fragments of a Punic or Tyrian fane raised on this
+high place, and blackened with the smoke of some horrible sacrifice.
+
+Amidst the crevices of the mouldering walls, and particularly in the
+vault of a cistern, which seems to have served both as a reservoir and a
+bath, I noticed some capillaries and polypodiums of infinite delicacy;
+and on a little flat space before the convent a numerous tribe of
+pinks, gentians, and other alpine plants, fanned and invigorated by the
+pure mountain air. These refreshing breezes, impregnated with the
+perfume of innumerable aromatic herbs and flowers, seemed to infuse new
+life into my veins, and, with it, an almost irresistible impulse to fall
+down and worship in this vast temple of Nature the source and cause of
+existence.
+
+As we had a very extensive ride in contemplation, I could not remain
+half so long as I wished on this aërial and secluded summit. Descending
+by a tolerably easy road, which wound amongst the rocks in many an
+irregular curve, we followed for several miles a narrow tract over the
+brow of savage and desolate eminences, to the Cork convent, which
+answered exactly, at the first glance we caught of it, the picture one
+represents to one’s self of the settlement of Robinson Crusoe. Before
+the entrance, formed of two ledges of ponderous rock, extends a smooth
+level of greensward, browsed by cattle, whose tinkling bells filled me
+with recollections of early days passed amongst wild and alpine scenery.
+The Hermitage, its cells, chapel, and refectory, are all scooped out of
+the native marble, and lined with the bark of the cork-tree. Several of
+the passages about it are not only roofed, but floored with the same
+material, extremely soft and pleasant to the feet. The shrubberies and
+garden plats, dispersed amongst the mossy rocks which lie about in the
+wildest confusion, are delightful, and I took great pleasure in
+exploring their nooks and corners, following the course of a
+transparent, gurgling rill, which is conducted through a rustic
+water-shoot, between bushes of lavender and rosemary of the tenderest
+green.
+
+The Prior of this romantic retirement is appointed by the Marialvas, and
+this very day his installation takes place, so we were pressed to dine
+with him upon the occasion, and could not refuse; but as it was still
+very early, we galloped on, intending to visit a famous cliff, the Pedra
+d’Alvidrar, which composes one of the most striking features of that
+renowned promontory the Rock of Lisbon.
+
+Our road led us through the skirts of the woods which surround the
+delightful village of Collares, to another range of barren eminences
+extending along the sea-shore. I advanced to the very margin of the
+cliff, which is of great height, and nearly perpendicular. A rabble of
+boys followed at the heels of our horses, and five stout lads, detached
+from this posse, descended with the most perfect unconcern the dreadful
+precipice. One in particular walked down with his arms expanded, like a
+being of a superior order. The coast is truly picturesque, and consists
+of bold projections, intermixed with pyramidical rocks succeeding each
+other in theatrical perspective, the most distant crowned by a lofty
+tower, which serves as a lighthouse.
+
+No words can convey an adequate idea of the bloom of the atmosphere, and
+the silvery light reflected from the sea. From the edge of the abyss,
+where I had remained several minutes like one spell-bound, we descended
+a winding path, about half a mile, to the beach. Here we found ourselves
+nearly shut in by shattered cliffs and grottos, a fantastic
+amphitheatre, the best calculated that can possibly be imagined to
+invite the sports of sea nymphs. Such coves, such deep and broken
+recesses, such a play of outline I never beheld, nor did I ever hear so
+powerful a roar of rushing waters upon any other coast. No wonder the
+warm and susceptible imagination of the ancients, inflamed by the
+scenery of the place, led them to believe they distinguished the conchs
+of tritons sounding in these retired caverns; nay, some grave
+Lusitanians positively declared they had not only heard, but seen them,
+and despatched a messenger to the Emperor Tiberius to announce the
+event, and congratulate him upon so evident and auspicious a
+manifestation of divinity.
+
+The tide was beginning to ebb, and allowed us, not without some risk
+however, to pass into a cavern of surprising loftiness, the sides of
+which were incrusted with beautiful limpets, and a variety of small
+shells grouped together. Against some rude and porous fragments, not far
+from the aperture through which we had crept, the waves swell with
+violence, rush into the air, form instantaneous canopies of foam, then
+fall down in a thousand trickling rills of silver. The flickering gleams
+of light thrown upon irregular arches admitting into darker and more
+retired grottos, the mysterious, watery gloom, the echoing murmurs and
+almost musical sounds, occasioned by the conflict of winds and waters,
+the strong odour of an atmosphere composed of saline particles, produced
+altogether such a bewildering effect upon the senses, that I can easily
+conceive a mind, poetically given, might be thrown into that kind of
+tone which inclines to the belief of supernatural appearances. I am not
+surprised, therefore, at the credulity of the ancients, and only wonder
+my own imagination did not deceive me in a similar manner.
+
+If solitude could have induced the Nereids to have vouchsafed me an
+apparition, it was not wanting, for all my company had separated upon
+different pursuits, and had left me entirely to myself. During the full
+half-hour I remained shut out from the breathing world, one solitary
+corvo marino was the only living creature I caught sight of, perched
+upon an insulated rock, about fifty paces from the opening of the
+cavern.
+
+I was so stunned with the complicated sounds and murmurs which filled my
+ears, that it was some moments before I could distinguish the voices of
+Verdeil and Don Pedro, who were just returned from a hunt after
+seaweeds and madrapores, calling me loudly to mount on horseback, and
+make the best of our way to rejoin the Marquis and his attendants, all
+gone to mass at the Cork convent. Happily, the little detached clouds we
+had seen from the high point of Nossa Senhora da Penha, instead of
+melting into the blue sky, had been gathering together, and skreened us
+from the sun. We had therefore a delightful ride, and upon alighting
+from our palfreys found the old abade just arrived with Luis de Miranda,
+the colonel of the Cascais regiment, surrounded by a whole synod of
+monks, as picturesque as bald pates and venerable beards could make
+them.
+
+As soon as the Marquis came forth from his devotions, dinner was served
+up exactly in the style one might have expected at Mequinez or
+Morocco--pillaus of different kinds, delicious quails, and pyramids of
+rice tinged with saffron. Our dessert, in point of fruits and
+sweetmeats, was most luxurious, nor would Pomona herself have been
+ashamed of carrying in her lap such peaches and nectarines as rolled in
+profusion about the table.
+
+The abade seemed animated after dinner by the spirit of contradiction,
+and would not allow the Marquis or Luis de Miranda to know more about
+the court of John the Fifth, than of that of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
+
+To avoid being stunned by the clamours of the dispute, in which two or
+three monks with stentorian voices began to take part most vehemently,
+Don Pedro, Verdeil, and I climbed up amongst the hanging shrubberies of
+arbutus, bay, and myrtle, to a little platform carpeted with delicate
+herbage, exhaling a fresh, aromatic perfume upon the slightest pressure.
+There we sat, lulled by the murmur of distant waves, breaking over the
+craggy shore we had visited in the morning. The clouds came slowly
+sailing over the hills. My companions pounded the cones of the pines,
+and gave me the kernels, which have an agreeable almond taste.
+
+The evening was far advanced before we abandoned our peaceful,
+sequestered situation, and joined the Marquis, who had not been yet able
+to appease the abade. The vociferous old man made so many appeals to the
+father-guardian of the convent in defence of his opinions, that I
+thought we never should have got away. At length we departed, and after
+wandering about in clouds and darkness for two hours, reached Cintra
+exactly at ten. The Marchioness and the children had been much alarmed
+at our long absence, and rated the abade severely for having occasioned
+it.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXIX.
+
+     Excursion to Penha Verde.--Resemblance of that Villa to the
+     edifices in Gaspar Poussin’s landscapes.--The ancient pine-trees,
+     said to have been planted by Don John de Castro.--The old forests
+     displaced by gaudy terraces.--Influx of Visiters.--A celebrated
+     Prior’s erudition and strange anachronisms.--The Beast in the
+     Apocalypse.--Œcolampadius.--Bevy of Palace damsels.--Fête at the
+     Marialva Villa.--The Queen and the Royal Family.--A favourite dwarf
+     Negress.--Dignified manner of the Queen.--Profound respect inspired
+     by her presence.--Rigorous etiquette.--Grand display of
+     Fireworks.--The young Countess of Lumiares.--Affecting resemblance.
+
+
+September 22nd, 1787.
+
+When I got up, the mists were stealing off the hills, and the distant
+sea discovering itself in all its azure bloom. Though I had been led to
+expect many visiters of importance from Lisbon, the morning was so
+inviting that I could not resist riding out after breakfast, even at the
+risk of not being present at their arrival.
+
+I took the road to Collares, and found the air delightfully soft and
+fragrant. Some rain which had lately fallen, had refreshed the whole
+face of the country, and tinged the steeps beyond Penha Verde with
+purple and green; for the numerous tribe of heaths had started into
+blossom, and the little irregular lawns, overhung by crooked cork-trees,
+which occur so frequently by the way-side, are now covered with large
+white lilies streaked with pink.
+
+Penha Verde itself is a lovely spot. The villa, with its low, flat
+roofs, and a loggia projecting at one end, exactly resembles the
+edifices in Gaspar Poussin’s landscapes. Before one of the fronts is a
+square parterre with a fountain in the middle, and niches in the walls
+with antique busts. Above these walls a variety of trees and shrubs rise
+to a great elevation, and compose a mass of the richest foliage. The
+pines, which, by their bright-green colour, have given the epithet of
+verdant to this rocky point (Penha Verde), are as picturesque as those I
+used to admire so warmly in the Negroni garden at Rome, and full as
+ancient, perhaps more so: tradition assures us they were planted by the
+far-famed Don John de Castro, whose heart reposes in a small marble
+chapel beneath their shade.
+
+How often must that heroic heart, whilst it still beat in one of the
+best and most magnanimous of human bosoms, have yearned after this calm
+retirement! Here, at least, did it promise itself that rest so cruelly
+denied him by the blind perversities of his ungrateful countrymen: for
+his had been an arduous contest, a long and agonizing struggle, not only
+in the field under a burning sun, and in the face of peril and death,
+but in sustaining the glory and good fame of Portugal against court
+intrigues, and the vile cabals of envious, domestic enemies.
+
+These scenes, though still enchanting, have most probably undergone
+great changes since his days. The deep forests we read of have
+disappeared, and with them many a spring they fostered. Architectural
+fountains, gaudy terraces, and regular stripes of orange-gardens, have
+usurped the place of those wild orchards and gushing rivulets he may be
+supposed to have often visited in his dreams, when removed some thousand
+leagues from his native country. All these are changed; but mankind are
+the same as in his time, equally insensible to the warning voice of
+genuine patriotism, equally disposed to crouch under the rod of corrupt
+tyranny. And thus, by the neglect of wise and virtuous men, and a mean
+subserviency to knavish fools, eras which might become of gold, are
+transmuted by an accursed alchymy into iron rusted with blood.
+
+Impressed with all the recollections this most interesting spot could
+not fail to inspire, I could hardly tear myself away from it. Again and
+again did I follow the mossy steps, which wind up amongst shady rocks to
+the little platform, terminated by the sepulchral chapel--
+
+        “----densis quam pinus opacat
+    Frondibus et nulla lucos agitante procella
+    Stridula coniferis modulatur carmina ramis.”
+
+You must not wonder then, that I was haunted the whole way home by these
+mysterious whisperings, nor that, in such a tone of mind, I saw with no
+great pleasure a procession of two-wheeled chaises, the lord knows how
+many out-riders, and a caravan of bouras, marching up to the gate of my
+villa. I had, indeed, been prepared to expect a very considerable influx
+of visiters; but this was a deluge.
+
+Do not let me send you a catalogue of the company, lest you should be as
+much annoyed with the detail, as I was with such a formidable arrival
+_en masse_. Let it suffice to name two of the principal characters, the
+old pious Conde de San Lorenzo, and the prior of San Juliaô, one of the
+archbishop’s prime favourites, and a person of great worship. Mortier’s
+Dutch bible happening to lie upon the table, they began tumbling over
+the leaves in an egregiously awkward manner. I, who abhor seeing books
+thumbed, and prints demonstrated by the close application of a greasy
+fore-finger, snapped at the old Conde, and cast an evil look at the
+prior, who was leaning his whole priestly weight on the volume, and
+creasing its corners.
+
+My musicians were in full song, and Pedro Grua, a capital violoncello,
+exerted his abilities in his best style; but San Lorenzo was too
+pathetically engaged in deploring the massacre of the Innocents to pay
+him any attention, and his reverend companion had entered into a
+long-winded dissertation upon parables, miracles, and martyrdom, from
+which I prayed in vain the Lord to deliver me. Verdeil, scenting from
+afar the saintly flavour of the discourse, stole off.
+
+I cannot say much in praise of the prior’s erudition, even in holy
+matters, for he positively affirmed that it was Henry the Eighth
+himself, who knocked St. Thomas à Becket’s brains out, and that by the
+beast in the Apocalypse, Luther was positively indicated. I hate
+wrangles, and had it not been for the soiling of my prints, should never
+have contradicted his reverence; but as I was a little out of humour, I
+lowered him somewhat in the Conde’s opinion, by stating the real period
+of St. Thomas’s murder, and by tolerably specious arguments, shoving the
+beast’s horns off Luther, and clapping them tight upon--whom do you
+think?--Œcolampadius! So grand a name, which very probably they had
+never heard pronounced in their lives, carried all before it, (adding
+another instance of the triumph of sound over sense,) and settled our
+bickerings.
+
+We sat down, I believe, full thirty to dinner, and had hardly got
+through the dessert, when Berti came in to tell me that Madame Ariaga,
+and a bevy of the palace damsels, were prancing about the quinta on
+palfreys and bouras. I hastened to join them. There was Donna Maria do
+Carmo, and Donna Maria da Penha, with her hair flowing about her
+shoulders, and her large beautiful eyes looking as wild and roving as
+those of an antelope. I called for my horse, and galloped through alleys
+and citron bushes, brushing off leaves, fruit, and blossoms. Every
+breeze wafted to us the sound of French horns and oboes. The ladies
+seemed to enjoy the freedom and novelty of this scamper prodigiously,
+and to regret the short time it was doomed to last; for at seven they
+are obliged to return to strict attendance on the Queen, and had some
+strange fairy-tale metamorphosis into a pumpkin or a cucumber been the
+penalty of disobedience, they could not have shown more alarm or anxiety
+when the fatal hour of seven drew near. Luckily, they had not far to go,
+for her Majesty and the Royal Family were all assembled at the Marialva
+villa, to partake of a splendid merenda and see fireworks.
+
+As soon as it fell dark Verdeil and I set forth to catch a glimpse of
+the royal party. The Grand Prior and Don Pedro conducted us mysteriously
+into a snug boudoir which looks into the great pavilion, whose gay,
+fantastic scenery appeared to infinite advantage by the light of
+innumerable tapers reflected on all sides from lustres of glittering
+crystal. The little Infanta Donna Carlotta was perched on a sofa in
+conversation with the Marchioness and Donna Henriquetta, who, in the
+true oriental fashion, had placed themselves cross-legged on the floor.
+A troop of maids of honour, commanded by the Countess of Lumieres, sat
+in the same posture at a little distance. Donna Rosa, the favourite
+dwarf negress, dressed out in a flaming scarlet riding-habit, not so
+frolicsome as the last time I had the pleasure of seeing her in this
+fairy bower, was more sentimental, and leaned against the door, ogling
+and flirting with a handsome Moor belonging to the Marquis.
+
+Presently the Queen, followed by her sister and daughter-in-law, the
+Princess of Brazil, came forth from her merenda, and seated herself in
+front of the latticed-window, behind which I was placed. Her manner
+struck me as being peculiarly dignified and conciliating. She looks born
+to command; but at the same time to make that high authority as much
+beloved as respected. Justice and clemency, the motto so glaringly
+misapplied on the banner of the abhorred Inquisition, might be
+transferred with the strictest truth to this good princess. During the
+fatal contest betwixt England and its colonies, the wise neutrality she
+persevered in maintaining was of the most vital benefit to her
+dominions, and hitherto, the native commerce of Portugal has attained
+under her mild auspices an unprecedented degree of prosperity.
+
+Nothing could exceed the profound respect, the courtly decorum her
+presence appeared to inspire. The Conde de Sampayo and the Viscount
+Ponte de Lima knelt by the august personages with not much less
+veneration, I should be tempted to imagine, than Moslems before the tomb
+of their prophet, or Tartars in the presence of the Dalai Lama. Marialva
+alone, who took his station opposite her Majesty, seemed to preserve his
+ease and cheerfulness. The Prince of Brazil and Don Joaô looked not a
+little ennuied; for they kept stalking about with their hands in their
+pockets, their mouths in a perpetual yawn, and their eyes wandering
+from object to object, with a stare of royal vacancy.
+
+A most rigorous etiquette confining the Infants of Portugal within their
+palaces, they are seldom known to mix even incognito with the crowd; so
+that their flattering smiles or confidential yawns are not lavished upon
+common observers. This sort of embalming princes alive, after all, is no
+bad policy; it keeps them sacred; it concentrates their royal essence,
+too apt, alas! to evaporate by exposure. What is so liberally paid for
+by the willing tribute of the people as a rarity of exquisite relish,
+should not be suffered to turn mundungus. However the individual may
+dislike this severe regimen, state pageants might have the goodness to
+recollect for what purpose they are bedecked and beworshipped.
+
+The Conde de Sampayo, lord in waiting, handed the tea to the Queen, and
+fell down on both knees to present it. This ceremony over, for every
+thing is ceremony at this stately court, the fireworks were announced,
+and the royal sufferers, followed by their sufferees, adjourned to a
+neighbouring apartment. The Marchioness, her daughters, and the
+Countess of Lumieres, mounted up to the boudoir where I was sitting,
+and took possession of the windows. Seven or eight wheels, and as many
+tourbillons began whirling and whizzing, whilst a profusion of admirable
+line-rockets darted along in various directions, to the infinite delight
+of the Countess of Lumieres, who, though hardly sixteen, has been
+married four years. Her youthful cheerfulness, light hair, and fair
+complexion, put me so much in mind of my Margaret, that I could not help
+looking at her with a melancholy tenderness: her being with child
+increased the resemblance, and as she sat in the recess of the window,
+discovered at intervals by the blue light of rockets bursting high in
+the air, I felt my blood thrill as if I beheld a phantom, and my eyes
+were filled with tears.
+
+The last firework being played off, the Queen and the Infantas departed.
+The Marchioness and the other ladies descended into the pavilion, where
+we partook of a magnificent and truly royal collation. Donna Maria and
+her little sister, animated by the dazzling illumination, tripped about
+in their light muslin dresses, with all the sportiveness of fairy
+beings, such as might be supposed to have dropped down from the floating
+clouds, which Pillement has so well represented on the ceiling.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXX.
+
+     Cathedral of Lisbon.--Trace of St. Anthony’s fingers.--The Holy
+     Crows.--Party formed to visit them.--A Portuguese
+     poet.--Comfortable establishment of the Holy Crows.--Singular
+     tradition connected with them.--Illuminations in honour of the
+     Infanta’s accouchement.--Public harangues.--Policarpio’s singing,
+     and anecdotes of the _haute noblesse_.
+
+
+November 8th, 1787.
+
+Verdeil and I rattled over cracked pavements this morning in my rough
+travelling-coach, for the sake of exercise. The pretext for our
+excursion was to see a remarkable chapel, inlaid with jasper and
+lapis-lazuli, in the church of St. Roch; but when we arrived, three or
+four masses were celebrating, and not a creature sufficiently disengaged
+to draw the curtain which veils the altar, so we went out as wise as we
+came in.
+
+Not having yet seen the cathedral, or See-church, as it is called at
+Lisbon, we directed our course to that quarter. It is a building of no
+striking dimensions, narrow and gloomy, without being awful. The
+earthquake crumbled its glories to dust, if ever it had any, and so
+dreadfully shattered the chapels, with which it is clustered, that very
+slight traces of their having made part of a mosque are discernible.
+
+Though I had not been led to expect great things, even from descriptions
+in travels and topographical works, which, like peerage-books and
+pedigrees, are tenderly inclined to make something of what is next to
+nothing at all: I hunted away, as became a diligent traveller, after
+altar-pieces and tombs, but can boast of no discoveries. To be sure, we
+had not much time to look about us: the priests and sacristans, who
+fastened upon us, insisted upon our revisiting the corner of a bye
+staircase, where are to be kissed and worshipped the traces of St.
+Anthony’s fingers. The saint, it seems, being closely pursued by the
+father of lies and parent of evil, alias Old Scratch, (I really could
+not clearly learn upon what occasion,) indented the sign of the cross
+into a wall of the hardest marble, and stopped his proceedings. A very
+pleasing little picture hangs up near the miraculous cross, and records
+the tradition.
+
+All this was admirable; but nothing in comparison with some stories
+about certain holy crows. “The very birds are in being,” said a
+sacristan. “What!” answered I, “the individual[19] crows who attended
+St. Vincent?”--“Not exactly,” was the reply, (in a whisper, intended for
+my private ear); “but their immediate descendants.”--“Mighty well; this
+very evening, please God, I will pay my respects to them, and in good
+company, so adieu for the present.”
+
+Our next point was the Theatine convent. We looked into the library,
+which lies in the same confusion in which it was left by the earthquake;
+half the books out of their shelves, tumbled one over the other in dusty
+heaps. A shrewd, active monk, who, I am told, has written a history of
+the House of Braganza, not yet printed, guided our steps through this
+chaos of literature; and after searching half-an-hour for some curious
+voyages he wished to display to us, led us into his cell, and pressed
+our attention to a cabinet of medals he had been at some pains and
+expense in collecting.
+
+Not feeling any particular vocation for numismatic researches, I left
+Verdeil with the monk, puzzling out some very questionable inscriptions,
+and went to beat up for recruits to accompany me in the evening to the
+holy crows. First, I found the Abade Xavier, and secondly, the famous
+missionary preacher from Boa Morte, and then the Grand Prior, and
+lastly, the Marquis of Marialva; Don Pedro begged not to be left out, so
+we formed a coach full, and I drove my whole cargo home to dinner.
+Verdeil was already returned with his reverend medallist, and had also
+collected the governor of Goa, Don Frederic de Sousa Cagliariz, his
+constant attendant a bullying Savoyard, or Piedmontese Count, by name
+Lucatelli; and a pale, limber, odd-looking young man, Senhor Manuel
+Maria, the queerest, but, perhaps, the most original of God’s poetical
+creatures. He happened to be in one of those eccentric, lively moods,
+which, like sunshine in the depth of winter, come on when least
+expected. A thousand quaint conceits, a thousand flashes of wild
+merriment, a thousand satirical darts shot from him, and we were all
+convulsed with laughter; but when he began reciting some of his
+compositions, in which great depth of thought is blended with the most
+pathetic touches, I felt myself thrilled and agitated. Indeed, this
+strange and versatile character may be said to possess the true wand of
+enchantment, which, at the will of its master, either animates or
+petrifies.
+
+Perceiving how much I was attracted towards him, he said to me, “I did
+not expect an Englishman would have condescended to pay a young,
+obscure, modern versifier, any attention. You think we have no bard but
+Camoens, and that Camoens has written nothing worth notice, but the
+Lusiad. Here is a sonnet worth half the Lusiad.
+
+              CXCII.
+
+    ‘A fermosura desta fresca serra,
+     E a sombra dos verdes castanheiros,
+     O manso caminhar destes ribeiros,
+     Donde toda a tristeza se desterra;
+     O rouco som do mar, a estranha terra,
+     O esconder do Sol pellos outeiros,
+     O recolher dos gados derradeiros,
+     Das nuvens pello ar a branda guerra:
+     Em fim tudo o que a rara natureza
+     Com tanta variedade nos ofrece,
+     Me està (se não te vejo) magoando:
+     Sem ti tudo me enoja, e me aborrece,
+     Sem ti perpetuamente estou passando
+     Nas mòres alegrias, mòr tristeza!’
+
+Not an image of rural beauty has escaped our divine poet; and how
+feelingly are they applied from the landscape to the heart! What a
+fascinating languor, like the last beams of an evening sun, is thrown
+over the whole composition! If I am any thing, this sonnet has made me
+what I am; but what am I, compared to Monteiro? Judge,” continued he,
+putting into my hand some manuscript verses of this author, to whom the
+Portuguese are vehemently partial. Though they were striking and
+sonorous, I must confess the sonnet of Camoens, and many of Senhor
+Manuel Maria’s own verses, pleased me infinitely more; but in fact, I
+was not sufficiently initiated into the force and idiom of the
+Portuguese language to be a competent judge; and it was only in fancying
+me one, that this powerful genius discovered any want of penetration.
+
+Our dinner was lively and convivial. At the dessert the Abadè produced
+an immense tray of dried fruits and sweetmeats, which one of his hundred
+and fifty _protégés_ had sent him from, I forget what exotic region.
+These good things he kept handing to us, and almost cramming down our
+throats, as if we had been turkeys and he a poulterer, whose livelihood
+depended upon our fattening. “There,” said he, “did you ever behold such
+admirable productions? Our Queen has thousands and thousands of miles
+with fruit-groves over your head, and rocks of gold and diamonds beneath
+your feet. The riches and fertility of her possessions have no bounds,
+but the sea, and the sea itself might belong to us if we pleased; for we
+have such means of ship-building, masts two hundred feet high,
+incorruptible timbers, courageous seamen. Don Frederic can tell you what
+some of our heroes achieved not long ago against the gentiles at Goa.
+Your Joaô Bulles are not half so smart, half so valorous.”
+
+Thus he went on, bouncing and roaring us deaf. For patriotic
+rodomontades and flourishes, no nation excels the Portuguese, and no
+Portuguese the Abadè!
+
+At length, however, all this tasting and praising having been gone
+through with, we set forth on the wings of holiness, to pay our devoirs
+to the holy crows. A certain sum having been allotted time immemorial
+for the maintenance of two birds of this species, we found them very
+comfortably established in a recess of a cloister adjoining the
+cathedral, well fed and certainly most devoutly venerated.
+
+The origin of this singular custom dates as high as the days of St.
+Vincent, who was martyrized near the Cape, which bears his name, and
+whose mangled body was conveyed to Lisbon in a boat, attended by crows.
+These disinterested birds, after seeing it decently interred, pursued
+his murderers with dreadful screams and tore their eyes out. The boat
+and the crows are painted or sculptured in every corner of the
+cathedral, and upon several tablets appear emblazoned an endless record
+of their penetration in the discovery of criminals.
+
+It was growing late when we arrived, and their feathered sanctities were
+gone quietly to roost; but the sacristans in waiting, the moment they
+saw us approach, officiously roused them. O, how plump and sleek, and
+glossy they are! My admiration of their size, their plumage, and their
+deep-toned croakings carried me, I fear, beyond the bounds of saintly
+decorum. I was just stretching out my hand to stroke their feathers,
+when the missionary checked me with a solemn forbidding look. The rest
+of the company, aware of the proper ceremonial, kept a respectful
+distance, whilst the sacristan and a toothless priest, almost bent
+double with age, communicated a long string of miraculous anecdotes
+concerning the present holy crows, their immediate predecessors, and
+other holy crows in the old time before them.
+
+To all these super-marvellous narrations, the missionary appeared to
+listen with implicit faith, and never opened his lips during the time we
+remained in the cloister, except to enforce our veneration, and exclaim
+with pious composure, “_honrado corvo_.” I really believe we should have
+stayed till midnight, had not a page arrived from her Majesty to summon
+the Marquis of M---- and his almoner away.
+
+My curiosity being fully satisfied upon the subject of the holy crows, I
+was easily persuaded by the Grand Prior to move off, and drive through
+the principal streets to see the illuminations in honour of the Infanta,
+consort to Don Gabriel of Spain, who had produced a prince. A great
+many idlers being abroad upon the same errand, we proceeded with
+difficulty, and were very near having the wheels of our carriage
+dislocated in attempting to pass an old-fashioned, preposterous coach,
+belonging to one of the dignitaries of the patriarchal cathedral. I
+cannot launch forth in praise of the illuminations; but some rockets
+which were let off in the Terreiro do Paco, surprised me by the vast
+height to which they rose, and the unusual number of clear blue stars
+into which they burst. The Portuguese excel in fireworks; the late poor,
+drivelling, saintly king having expended large sums in bringing this art
+to perfection.
+
+From the Terreiro do Paco we drove to the great square, in which the
+palace of the Inquisition is situated. There we found a vast mob, to
+whom three or four Capuchin preachers were holding forth upon the
+glories and illuminations of a better world. I should have listened not
+uninterested to their harangues, which appeared, from the specimen I
+caught of them, to be full of fire and frenzy, had not the Grand Prior,
+in perpetual awe of the rheumatism, complained of the night, so we
+drove home. Every apartment of the house was filled with the thick
+vapour of wax-torches, which had been set most loyally a blazing. I
+fumed and fretted and threw open the windows. Away went the Grand Prior,
+and in came Policarpio, the famous tenor singer, who entertained us with
+several bravura airs of glib and surprising volubility, before supper
+and during it, in a style equally professional, with many private
+anecdotes of the _haute noblesse_, his principal employers, not
+infinitely to their advantage.
+
+I longed, in return, to have enlarged a little upon the adventures of
+the holy crows, but prudently repressed my inclination. It would
+ill-become a person so well treated as I had been by the crow-fanciers,
+to handle such subjects with any degree of levity.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXXI.
+
+     Rambles in the Valley of Collares.--Elysian scenery. Song of a
+     young female peasant.--Rustic hospitality.--Interview with the
+     Prince of Brazil[20] in the plains of Cascais.--Conversation with
+     His Royal Highness.--Return to Ramalhaô.
+
+
+Oct. 19th, 1787.
+
+My health improves every day. The clear exhilarating weather we now
+enjoy calls forth the liveliest sense of existence. I ride, walk, and
+climb, as long as I please, without fatiguing myself. The valley of
+Collares affords me a source of perpetual amusement. I have discovered a
+variety of paths which lead through chesnut copses and orchards to
+irregular green spots, where self-sown bays and citron-bushes hang wild
+over the rocky margin of a little river, and drop their fruit and
+blossoms into the stream. You may ride for miles along the bank of this
+delightful water, catching endless perspectives of flowery thickets,
+between the stems of poplar and walnut. The scenery is truly elysian,
+and exactly such as poets assign for the resort of happy spirits.
+
+The mossy fragments of rock, grotesque pollards, and rustic bridges you
+meet with at every step, recall Savoy and Switzerland to the
+imagination; but the exotic cast of the vegetation, the vivid green of
+the citron, the golden fruitage of the orange, the blossoming myrtle,
+and the rich fragrance of a turf, embroidered with the
+brightest-coloured and most aromatic flowers, allow me without a violent
+stretch of fancy to believe myself in the garden of the Hesperides, and
+to expect the dragon under every tree. I by no means like the thoughts
+of abandoning these smiling regions, and have been twenty times on the
+point this very day of revoking the orders I have given for my journey.
+Whatever objections I may have had to Portugal seem to vanish, since I
+have determined to leave it; for such is the perversity of human nature,
+that objects appear the most estimable precisely at the moment when we
+are going to lose them.
+
+There was this morning a mild radiance in the sunbeams, and a balsamic
+serenity in the air, which infused that voluptuous listlessness, that
+desire of remaining imparadised in one delightful spot, which, in
+classical fictions, was supposed to render those who had tasted the
+lotos forgetful of country, of friends, and of every tie. My feelings
+were not dissimilar, I loathed the idea of moving away.
+
+Though I had entered these beautiful orchards soon after sunrise, the
+clocks of some distant conventual churches had chimed hour after hour
+before I could prevail upon myself to quit the spreading odoriferous
+bay-trees under which I had been lying. If shades so cool and fragrant
+invited to repose, I must observe that never were paths better
+calculated to tempt the laziest of beings to a walk, than those which
+opened on all sides, and are formed of a smooth dry sand, bound firmly
+together, composing a surface as hard as gravel.
+
+These level paths wind about amongst a labyrinth of light and elegant
+fruit-trees; almond, plum, and cherry, something like the groves of
+Tonga-taboo, as represented in Cook’s voyages; and to increase the
+resemblance, neat cane fences and low open sheds, thatched with reeds,
+appear at intervals, breaking the horizontal lines of the perspective.
+
+I had now lingered and loitered away pretty nearly the whole morning,
+and though, as far as scenery could authorize and climate inspire, I
+might fancy myself an inhabitant of elysium, I could not pretend to be
+sufficiently ethereal to exist without nourishment. In plain English, I
+was extremely hungry. The pears, quinces, and oranges which dangled
+above my head, although fair to the eye, were neither so juicy nor
+gratifying to the palate, as might have been expected from their
+promising appearance.
+
+Being considerably
+
+    More than a mile immersed within the wood,[21]
+
+and not recollecting by which clue of a path I could get out of it, I
+remained at least half-an-hour deliberating which way to turn myself.
+The sheds and enclosures I have mentioned were put together with care
+and even nicety, it is true, but seemed to have no other inhabitants
+than flocks of bantams, strutting about and destroying the eggs and
+hopes of many an insect family. These glistening fowls, like their
+brethren described in Anson’s voyages, as animating the profound
+solitudes of the island of Tinian, appeared to have no master.
+
+At length, just as I was beginning to wish myself very heartily in a
+less romantic region, I heard the loud, though not unmusical, tones of a
+powerful female voice, echoing through the arched green avenues;
+presently, a stout ruddy young peasant, very picturesquely attired in
+brown and scarlet, came hoydening along, driving a mule before her,
+laden with two enormous panniers of grapes. To ask for a share of this
+luxuriant load, and to compliment the fair driver, was instantaneous on
+my part, but to no purpose. I was answered by a sly wink, “We all belong
+to Senhor Josè Dias, whose corral, or farm-yard, is half a league
+distant. There, Senhor, if you follow that road, and don’t puzzle
+yourself by straying to the right or left, you will soon reach it, and
+the bailiff, I dare say, will be proud to give you as many grapes as you
+please. Good morning, happy days to you! I must mind my business.”
+
+Seating herself between the tantalizing panniers, she was gone in an
+instant, and I had the good luck to arrive straight at the wicket of a
+rude, dry wall, winding up and down several bushy slopes in a wild
+irregular manner. If the outside of this enclosure was rough and
+unpromising, the interior presented a most cheering scene of rural
+opulence. Droves of cows and goats milking; ovens, out of which huge
+cakes of savoury bread had just been taken; ranges of beehives, and long
+pillared sheds, entirely tapestried with purple and yellow muscadine
+grapes, half candied, which were hung up to dry. A very good-natured,
+classical-look-magister pecorum, followed by two well-disciplined,
+though savage-eyed dogs, whom the least glance of their master prevented
+from barking, gave me a hearty welcome, and with genuine hospitality not
+only allowed me the free range of his domain, but set whatever it
+produced in the greatest perfection before me. A contest took place
+between two or three curly-haired, chubby-faced children, who should be
+first to bring me walnuts fresh from the shell, bowls of milk, and
+cream-cheeses, made after the best of fashions, that of the province of
+Alemtejo.
+
+I found myself so abstracted from the world in this retirement, so
+perfectly transported back some centuries into primitive patriarchal
+times, that I don’t recollect having ever enjoyed a few hours of more
+delightful calm. “Here,” did I say to myself, “am I out of the way of
+courts and ceremonies, and commonplace visitations, or salutations, or
+gossip.” But, alas! how vain is all one thinks or says to one’s self
+nineteen times out of twenty.
+
+Whilst I was blessing my stars for this truce to the irksome bustle of
+the life I had led ever since her Majesty’s arrival at Cintra, a loud
+hallooing, the cracking of whips, and the tramping of horses, made me
+start up from the snug corner in which I had established myself, and
+dispelled all my soothing visions. Luis de Miranda, the colonel of the
+Cascais regiment, an intimate confidant and favourite of the Prince of
+Brazil, broke in upon me with a thousand (as he thought) obliging
+reproaches, for having deserted Ramalhaô the very morning he had come on
+purpose to dine with me, and to propose a ride after dinner to a
+particular point of the Cintra mountains, which commands, he assured me,
+such a prospect as I had not yet been blessed with in Portugal. “It is
+not even now,” said he, “too late. I have brought your horses along
+with me, whom I found fretting and stamping under a great tree at the
+entrance of these foolish lanes. Come, get into your stirrups for God’s
+sake, and I will answer for your thinking yourself well repaid by the
+scene I shall disclose to you.”
+
+As I was doomed to be disturbed and talked out of the elysium in which I
+had been lapped for these last seven or eight hours, it was no matter in
+what position, whether on foot or on horseback; I therefore complied,
+and away we galloped. The horses were remarkably sure-footed, or else, I
+think, we must have rolled down the precipices; for our road,
+
+    “If road it could be call’d where road was none,”
+
+led us by zigzags and short cuts over steeps and acclivities about three
+or four leagues, till reaching a heathy desert, where a solitary cross
+staring out of a few weather-beaten bushes, marked the highest point of
+this wild eminence, one of the most expansive prospects of sea, and
+plain, and distant mountains, I ever beheld, burst suddenly upon me,
+rendered still more vast, aërial, and indefinite, by the visionary,
+magic vapour of the evening sun.
+
+After enjoying a moment or two the general effect, I began tracing out
+the principal objects in the view, as far, that is to say, as they could
+be traced, through the medium of the intense glowing haze. I followed
+the course of the Tagus, from its entrance till it was lost in the low
+estuaries beyond Lisbon. Cascais appeared with its long reaches of wall
+and bomb-proof casemates like a Moorish town, and by the help of a glass
+I distinguished a tall palm lifting itself above a cluster of white
+buildings.
+
+“Well,” said I, to my conductor, “this prospect has certainly charms
+worth seeing; but not sufficient to make me forget that it is high time
+to get home and refresh ourselves.” “Not so fast,” was the answer, “we
+have still a great deal more to see.”
+
+Having acquired, I can hardly tell why or wherefore, a sheep-like habit
+of following wherever he led, I spurred after him down a rough
+declivity, thick strewn with rolling stones and pebbles. At the bottom
+of this descent, a dreary sun-burnt plain extended itself far and wide.
+Whilst we dismounted and halted a few minutes to give our horses breath,
+I could not help observing, that the view we were now contemplating but
+ill-rewarded the risk of breaking our necks in riding down such rapid
+declivities. He smiled, and asked me whether I saw nothing at all
+interesting in the prospect. “Yes,” said I, “a sort of caravan I
+perceive, about a quarter of a mile off, is by no means uninteresting;
+that confused group of people in scarlet, with gleaming arms and
+sumpter-mules, and those striped awnings stretched from ruined walls,
+present exactly that kind of scenery I should expect to meet with in the
+neighbourhood of Grand Cairo.” “Come then,” said he, “it is time to
+clear up this mystery, and tell you for what purpose we have taken such
+a long and fatiguing ride. The caravan which strikes you as being so
+very picturesque, is composed of the attendants of the Prince of Brazil,
+who has been passing the whole day upon a shooting-party, and is just at
+this moment taking a little repose beneath yonder awnings. It was by his
+desire I brought you here, for I have his commands to express his wishes
+of having half-an-hour’s conversation with you, unobserved, and in
+perfect incognito. Walk on as if you were collecting plants or taking
+sketches, I will apprize his royal highness, and you will meet as it
+were by chance, and without any form. No one shall be near enough to
+hear a word you say to each other, for I will take my station at the
+distance of at least one hundred paces, and keep off all spies and
+intruders.”
+
+I did as I was directed. A little door in the ruined wall, against which
+an awning was fixed, opened, and there appeared a young man of rather a
+prepossessing figure, fairer and ruddier than most of his countrymen,
+who advanced towards me with a very pleasant engaging countenance, moved
+his hat in a dignified graceful manner, and after insisting upon my
+being covered, began addressing himself to me with great precipitation,
+in a most fluent lingua-franca, half Italian and half Portuguese. This
+jargon is very prevalent at the Ajuda[22] palace, where Italian singers
+are in much higher request and fashion than persons of deeper tone and
+intellect.
+
+The first question his royal highness honoured me with was, whether I
+had visited his cabinet of instruments. Upon my answering in the
+affirmative, and that the apparatus appeared to me extremely perfect,
+and in admirable order, he observed, “The arrangement is certainly good,
+for one of my particular friends, a very learned man, has made it; but
+notwithstanding the high price I have paid, your Ramsdens and Dollonds
+have treated themselves more generously than me. I believe,” continued
+his royal highness, “according to what the Duke d’Alafoens has
+repeatedly assured me, I am conversing with a person who has no weak,
+blind prejudices, in favour of his country, and who sees things as they
+are, not as they have been, or as they ought to be. That commercial
+greediness the English display in every transaction has cost us dear in
+more than one particular.”
+
+He then ran over the ground Pombal had so often trodden bare, both in
+his state papers and in various publications which had been promulgated
+during his administration, and I soon perceived of what school his royal
+highness was a disciple.
+
+“We deserve all this,” continued he, “and worse, for our tame
+acquiescence in every measure your cabinet dictates; but no wonder,
+oppressed and debased as we are, by ponderous, useless institutions.
+When there are so many drones in a hive, it is in vain to look for
+honey. Were you not surprised, were you not shocked, at finding us so
+many centuries behind the rest of Europe?”
+
+I bowed, and smiled. This spark of approbation induced, I believe, his
+royal highness to blaze forth into a flaming encomium upon certain
+reforms and purifications which were carrying on in Brabant, under the
+auspices of his most sacred apostolic Majesty Joseph the Second. “I have
+the happiness,” continued the Prince, “to correspond not unfrequently
+with this enlightened sovereign. The Duke d’Alafoens, who has likewise
+the advantage of communicating with him, never fails to give me the
+detail of these salutary proceedings. When shall we have sufficient
+manliness to imitate them!”
+
+Though I bowed and smiled again, I could not resist taking the liberty
+of observing that such very rapid and vigorous measures as those his
+imperial Majesty had resorted to, were more to be admired than imitated;
+that people who had been so long in darkness, if too suddenly broken in
+upon by a stream of effulgence, were more likely to be blinded than
+enlightened; and that blows given at random by persons whose eyes were
+closed were dangerous, and might fall heaviest perhaps in directions
+very opposite to those for which they were intended. This was rather
+bold, and did not seem to please the novice in boldness.
+
+After a short pause, which allowed him, at least, an opportunity of
+taking breath, he looked steadily at me, and perceiving my countenance
+arrayed in the best expression of admiration I could throw into it,
+resumed the thread of his philosophical discourse, and even condescended
+to detail some very singular and, as they struck me, most perilous
+projects. Continuing to talk on with an increased impetus (like those
+whose steps are accelerated by running down hill) he dropped some vague
+hints of measures that filled me not only with surprise, but with a
+sensation approaching to horror. I bowed, but I could not smile. My
+imagination, which had caught the alarm at the extraordinary nature of
+the topics he was discoursing upon, conjured up a train of appalling
+images, and I asked myself more than once whether I was not under the
+influence of a distempered dream.
+
+Being too much engaged in listening to himself to notice my confusion,
+he worked as hard as a pioneer in clearing away the rubbish of ages,
+entered minutely and not unlearnedly into the ancient jurisprudence and
+maxims of his country, its relations with foreign powers, and the rank
+from whence it had fallen in modern times, to be attributed in a great
+measure, he observed, to a blind and mistaken reliance upon the selfish
+politics of our predominant island. Although he did not spare my
+country, he certainly appeared not over partial to his own. He painted
+its military defects and priest-ridden policy in vivid colours. In
+short, this part of our discourse was a “_deploratio Lusitanicæ
+Gentis_,” full as vehement as that which the celebrated Damien a Goes,
+to show his fine Latin and fine humanity, poured forth some centuries
+ago over the poor wretched Laplanders.
+
+Not approving in any degree the tendency of all this display, I most
+heartily prayed it might end. Above an hour had passed since it began,
+and flattered as I was by the protraction of so condescending a
+conference, I could not help thinking that these fountains of honour are
+fountains of talk and not of mercy; they flow over, if once set a going,
+without pity or moderation. Persons in supreme stations, whom no one
+ventures to contradict, run on at a furious rate. You frequently flatter
+yourself they are exhausted; but you flatter yourself in vain. Sometimes
+indeed, by way of variety, they contradict themselves, and then the
+debate is carried on between self and self, to the desperation of their
+subject auditors, who, without being guilty of a word in reply, are
+involved in the same penalty us the most captious disputant. This was my
+case. I scarcely uttered a syllable after my first unsuccessful essay;
+but thousands of words were nevertheless lavished upon me, and
+innumerable questions proposed and answered by the questioner with equal
+rapidity.
+
+In return for the honour of being admitted to this monological dialogue,
+I kept bowing and nodding; and towards the close of the conference,
+contrived to smile again pretty decently. His royal highness, I learned
+afterwards, was satisfied with my looks and gestures, and even bestowed
+a brevet upon me of a great deal more erudition than I possessed or
+pretended to.
+
+The sun set, the dews fell, the Prince retired, Louis de Miranda
+followed him, and I remounted my horse with an indigestion of sounding
+phrases, and the most confirmed belief that “_the church was in
+danger_.”
+
+Tired and exhausted, I threw myself on my sofa the moment I reached
+Ramalhaô; but the agitation of my spirits would not allow me any repose.
+I swallowed some tea with avidity, and driving to the palace, evocated
+the archbishop confessor, who had been locked up above half-an-hour in
+his interior cabinet. To him I related all that had passed at this
+unsought, unexpected interview. The consequences in time developed
+themselves.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXXII.
+
+     Convent of Boa Morte.--Emaciated priests.--Austerity of the
+     Order.--Contrite personages.--A _nouveau riche_.--His house.--Walk
+     on the veranda of the palace at Belem.--Train of attendants at
+     dinner.--Portuguese gluttony.--Black dose of legendary
+     superstition.--Terrible denunciations.--A dreary evening.
+
+
+Nov. 9th, 1787.
+
+M---- and his principal almoner, a renowned missionary, and one of the
+most eloquent preachers in her Majesty’s dominions, were at my door by
+ten, waiting to take me with them to the convent of Boa Morte. This is a
+true Golgotha, a place of many skulls, for its inhabitants, though they
+live, move, and have a sort of being, are little better than skeletons.
+The priest who officiated appeared so emaciated and cadaverous, that I
+could hardly have supposed he would have had strength sufficient to
+elevate the chalice. It did not, however, fall from his hands, and
+having finished his mass, a second phantom tottered forth and began
+another. From the pictures and images of more than ordinary ghastliness
+which cover the chapels and cloisters, and from the deep contrition
+apparent in the tears, gestures, and ejaculations of the faithful who
+resort to them, I fancy no convent in Lisbon can be compared with this
+for austerity and devotion.
+
+M---- shook all over with piety, and so did his companion, whose knees
+are become horny with frequent kneelings, and who, if one is to believe
+Verdeil, will end his days in a hermitage, or go mad, or perhaps both.
+He pretends, too, that it is this grey-beard that has added new fuel to
+the flame of M----’s devotion, and that by mutually encouraging each
+other, they will soon produce fruits worthy of Bedlam, if not of
+Paradise. To be sure, this father may boast a conspicuously devout turn,
+and a most resolute manner of thumping himself; but he must not be too
+vain. In Lisbon there are at least fifty or sixty thousand good souls,
+who, without having travelled so far, thump full as sonorously as he.
+This morning, at Boa Morte, one shrivelled sinner remained the whole
+time the masses lasted with outstretched arms, in the shape and with all
+the inflexible stiffness of an old-fashioned branched candlestick.
+Another contrite personage was so affected at the moment of
+consecration, that he flattened his nose on the pavement, and licked the
+dirt and dust with which it was thickly encrusted.
+
+I must confess that, notwithstanding this very superior display of
+sanctity, I was not sorry to escape from the dingy cloisters of the
+convent, and breathe the pure air, and look up at the blue exhilarating
+sky. The weather being delightful, we drove to several distant parts of
+the town, to which I was yet a stranger. Returning back by the Bairro
+Alto, we looked into a new house, just finished building at an enormous
+expense, by Joaô Ferreira, who, from an humble retailer of leather, has
+risen, by the archbishop’s favour, to the possession of some of the most
+lucrative contracts in Portugal. Uglier-shaped apartments than those the
+poor shoe-man had contrived for himself I never beheld. The hangings are
+of satin of the deepest blue, and the fiercest and most sulphureous
+yellow. Every ceiling is daubed over with allegorical paintings, most
+indifferently executed, and loaded with gilt ornaments, in the style of
+those splendid sign-posts which some years past were the glory of
+High-Holborn and St. Giles’s.
+
+We were soon tired of all this finery, and as it was growing late, made
+the best of our way to Belem. Whilst M---- was writing letters, I walked
+out with Don Pedro on the verandas of the palace, which are washed by
+the Tagus, and flanked with turrets. The views are enchanting, and the
+day being warm and serene, I enjoyed them in all their beauty. Several
+large vessels passed by as we were leaning over the balustrades, and
+almost touched us with their streamers. Even frigates and ships of the
+first rate approach within a quarter of a mile of the palace.
+
+There was a greater crowd of attendants than usual round our table at
+dinner to-day, and the huge massy dishes were brought up by a long train
+of gentlemen and chaplains, several of them decorated with the orders of
+Avis and Christ. This attendance had quite a feudal air, and transported
+the imagination to the days of chivalry, when great chieftains were
+waited upon like kings, by noble vassals.
+
+The Portuguese had need have the stomachs of ostriches to digest the
+loads of savoury viands with which they cram themselves. Their
+vegetables, their rice, their poultry, are all stewed in the essence of
+ham, and so strongly seasoned with pepper and spices, that a spoonful of
+peas, or a quarter of an onion, is sufficient to set one’s mouth in a
+flame. With such a diet, and the continual swallowing of sweetmeats, I
+am not surprised at their complaining so often of head-aches and
+vapours.
+
+Several of the old Marquis of M----’s confidants and buffoons crept
+forth to have a peep at the stranger, and hear the famous missionary
+descant upon martyrdom and miracles. The scenery of Boa Morte being
+fresh in his thoughts, his descriptions were gloomy and appalling: Don
+Pedro, his sisters, and his cousin, the young Conde d’Atalaya,[23]
+gathered round him with all the trembling eagerness of children who
+hunger and thirst after hobgoblin stories. You may be sure he sent them
+not empty away. A blacker dose of legendary superstition was never
+administered. The Marchioness seemed to swallow these terrific
+narrations with nearly as much avidity as her children, and the old
+Abade, dropping his chin in a woful manner, produced an enormous rosary,
+and kept thumbing his beads and mumbling orisons.
+
+M---- had luckily been summoned to the palace by a special mandate from
+his royal mistress. Had he been of the party, I fear Verdeil’s prophecy
+would have been accomplished, for never did mortal hold forth with so
+much scaring energy as this enthusiastic preacher. The most terrible
+denunciations of divine wrath which ever were thundered forth by ancient
+or modern writers of sermons and homilies recurred to his memory, and he
+dealt them about him with a vengeance. The last half hour of the
+discourse we were all in total darkness,--nobody had thought of calling
+for lights: the children were huddled together, scarce venturing to move
+or breathe. It was a most singular scene.
+
+Full of the ghastly images the good father had conjured up in my
+imagination, I returned home alone in my carriage, shivering and
+shuddering. My friends were out, and nothing could be more dreary than
+the appearance of my fireless apartments.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXXIII.
+
+     Rehearsal of Seguidillas.--Evening scene.--Crowds of
+     beggars.--Royal charity misplaced.--Mendicant flattery.--Frightful
+     countenances.--Performance at the Salitri theatre.--Countess of
+     Pombeiro and her dwarf negresses.--A strange ballet.--Return to the
+     Palace.--Supper at the Camareira Mor’s.--Filial affection.--Last
+     interview with the Archbishop.--Fatal tide of events.--Heart-felt
+     regret on leaving Portugal.
+
+
+Sunday, November 25th, 1787.
+
+What a morning for the 25th of November! The sun shining most
+brilliantly, insects fluttering about, and flowers expanding--the late
+rains having called forth a second spring, and tinted the hills round
+Almada, on the opposite shore of the Tagus, with a lively green.
+
+I breakfasted alone, Verdeil being gone to St. Roch’s, to see the
+ceremony of publishing the bull of the Crusade, which allows good
+Christians to eat eggs and butter during Lent, upon paying his holiness
+a few shillings. I stayed at home, hearing a rehearsal of Seguidillas,
+in preparation for a new intermez at the Salitri theatre, till the hour
+of mass was over, then getting into the Portuguese chaise, drove
+headlong to the palace in the Placa do Commercio, and hastened to the
+Marquis of M----’s apartments. All his family were assembled to dine
+with him.
+
+Had it not been for the thoughts of my approaching departure, I should
+have felt more comfort and happiness than has fallen to my lot for a
+long interval. M----, whose attendance on the Queen may be too justly
+termed a state of downright slavery, had hardly taken his place at
+table, before he was called away. The Marchioness, Donna Henriquetta,
+and her little sister, soon retreated to the Camareira-Mor’s apartments,
+and I was left alone with Pedro and Duarte. They seized fast hold, each
+of a hand, and running like greyhounds through long corridors, took me
+to a balcony which commands one of the greatest thoroughfares in Lisbon.
+
+The evening was delightful, and vast crowds of people moving about, of
+all degrees and nations, old and young, active and crippled, monks and
+officers. Shoals of beggars kept pouring in from every quarter to take
+their stands at the gates of the palace and watch the Queen’s going out;
+for her Majesty is a most indulgent mother to these sturdy sons of
+idleness, and scarcely ever steps into her carriage without distributing
+considerable alms amongst them. By this misplaced charity, hundreds of
+stout fellows are taught the management of a crutch instead of a musket,
+and the art of manufacturing sores, ulcers, and scabby pates, in the
+most loathsome perfection. Duarte, who is all life and gaiety, vaulted
+upon the railing of the balcony, and hung for a moment or two suspended
+in a manner that would have frightened mothers and nurses into
+convulsions. The beggars, who had nothing to do till her Majesty should
+be forthcoming, seemed to be vastly entertained with these feats of
+agility.
+
+They soon spied me out, and two brawny lubbers, whom an unfortunate
+combination of smallpox and king’s-evil had deprived of eye-sight,
+informed, no doubt, by their comrades of what was going forward, began a
+curious dialogue with voices still deeper and harsher than those of the
+holy crows:--“Heaven prosper their noble excellencies, Don Duarte Manoel
+and Don Pedro, and all the Marialvas--sweet dear youths, long may they
+be blessed with the use of their eyes and of all their limbs! Is that
+the charitable Englishman in their sweet company?”--“Yes, my comrade,”
+answered the second blind.--“What!” said the first, “that generous
+favourite of the most glorious Lord St. Anthony? (O gloriosissimo Senhor
+Sant-Antonio!)”--“Yes, my comrade.”--“O that I had but my precious eyes,
+that I might enjoy the sight of his countenance!” exclaimed both
+together.
+
+By the time the duet was thus far advanced, the halt, the maimed, and
+the scabby, having tied some greasy nightcaps to the end of long poles,
+poked them up through the very railing, bawling and roaring out charity,
+“charity for the sake of the holy one of Lisbon.” Never was I looked up
+to by a more distorted or frightful collection of countenances. I made
+haste to throw down a plentiful shower of small copper money, or else
+Duarte would have twitched away both poles and nightcaps, a frolic by no
+means to be encouraged, as it might have marred our fame for the
+readiest and most polite attention to every demand in the name of St.
+Anthony.
+
+Just as the orators were receiving their portion of pence and farthings,
+a cry of “There’s the Queen, there’s the Princess!” carried the whole
+hideous crowd away to another scene of action, and left me at full
+liberty to be amused in my turn with the squirrel-like gambols of my
+lively companion; he is really a fine enterprising boy, bold, alert, and
+sprightly; quite different from most of his illustrious young relations.
+
+Don Pedro by no means approved my English partiality to such active
+feats, and after scolding his cousin for skipping about in so hazardous
+a style, entreated me to take them to the Salitri theatre, where a box
+had been prepared for us by his father’s orders. Upon the whole, I was
+better entertained than I expected, though the performance lasted above
+four hours and a half, from seven to near twelve. It consisted of a
+ranting prose tragedy, in three acts, called Sesostris, two ballets, a
+pastoral, and a farce. The decorations were not amiss, and the dresses
+showy. A shambling, blear-eyed boy, bundled out in weeds of the deepest
+sable, squeaked and bellowed alternately the part of a widowed
+princess. Another hob-e-di-hoy, tottering on high-heeled shoes,
+represented her Egyptian majesty, and warbled two airs with all the
+nauseous sweetness of a fluted falsetto. Though I could have boxed his
+ears for surfeiting mine so filthily, the audience were of a very
+different opinion, and were quite enthusiastic in their applause.
+
+In the stage-box I observed the mincing Countess of Pombeiro, whose
+light hair and waxen complexion was finely contrasted by the ebon hue of
+two little negro attendants perched on each side of her. It is the high
+tone at present in this court to be surrounded by African implings, the
+more hideous, the more prized, and to bedizen them in the most expensive
+manner. The Queen has set the example, and the royal family vie with
+each other in spoiling and caressing Donna Rosa, her Majesty’s
+black-skinned, blubber-lipped, flat-nosed favourite.
+
+One of the ballets was admirably got up; upon the rising of the curtain,
+a strange cabalistic apartment is discovered, where an astrologer
+appears very busy at a table covered with spheres and astrolabes,
+arranging certain mysterious images, and pinking their eyes with a
+gigantic pair of black compasses. A sort of Pierrot announces some
+inquisitive travellers, who enter with many bows and scrapings. One of
+them, the chief of the party, an old dapper beau in pink and silver,
+reminded me very much of the Duke d’Alafoens, and sidled along and
+tossed his cane about, and seemed to ask questions without waiting for
+answers, with as good a grace as that janty general. The astrologer,
+after explaining the wonders of his apartment with many pantomimical
+contortions, invites his company to follow him, and the scene changes to
+a long gallery, illuminated with a profusion of lights in gilt branches.
+The perspective ends in a flight of steps, upon each of which stands a
+row of figures, pantaloons, harlequins, sultans, sultanas, Indian
+chiefs, devils, and savages, to all appearance motionless. Pierrot
+brings in a machine like a hand-organ, and his master begins to grind,
+the music accompanying. At the first chord, down drop the arms of all
+the figures; at the second, each rank descends a step, and so on, till
+gaining the level of the stage, and the astrologer grinding faster and
+faster, the supposed clock-work-assembly begin a general dance.
+
+Their ballet ended, the same accords are repeated, and all hop up in the
+same stiff manner they hopped down. The travellers, highly pleased with
+the show, depart; Pierrot, who longs to be grinding, persuades his
+master to take a walk, and leave him in possession of the gallery. He
+consents; but enjoins the gaping oaf upon no account to meddle with the
+machine, or set the figures in motion. Vain are his directions! no
+sooner has he turned his back than Pierrot goes to work with all his
+strength; the figures fall a shaking as if on the point of disjoining
+themselves; creak, crack, grinds the machine with horrid harshness;
+legs, arms, and noddles are thrown into convulsions, three steps are
+jumped at once. Pierrot, frightened out of his senses at the goggle-eyed
+crowd advancing upon him, clings close to the machine and gives the
+handle no respite. The music, too, degenerates into the most jarring,
+screaking sounds, and the figures knocking against each other, and
+whirling round and round in utter confusion, fall flat upon the stage.
+Pierrot runs from group to group in rueful despair, tries in vain to
+reanimate them, and at length losing all patience, throws one over the
+other, and heaps sultanas upon savages, and shepherds upon devilkins.
+Most of these personages being represented by boys of twelve or thirteen
+were easily wielded. After Pierrot has finished tossing and tumbling, he
+drops down exhausted and lies as dead as his neighbours, hoping to
+escape unnoticed amongst them. But this subterfuge avails him not; in
+comes the astrologer armed with his compasses; back he starts at sight
+of the confounded jumble. Pierrot pays for it all, is soon drawn forth
+from his lurking-place, and the astrologer grinding in a moderate and
+scientific manner, the figures lift themselves up, and returning all in
+_status quo_, the ballet finishes.
+
+Shall I confess that this nonsense amused me pretty nearly as much as it
+did my companions, whose raptures were only exceeded by those of madame
+de Pombeiro’s implings. They, sweet, sooty innocents, kept gibbering and
+pointing at the man with the black compasses in a manner so completely
+African and ludicrous, that I thought their contortions the best part
+of the entertainment.
+
+The play ended, we hastened back to the palace, and traversing a number
+of dark vestibules and guard-chambers, (all of a snore with jaded
+equerries,) were almost blinded with a blaze of light from the room in
+which supper was served up. There we found in addition to all the
+Marialvas, the old marquis only excepted, the Camareira-mor, and five or
+six other hags of supreme quality, feeding like cormorants upon a
+variety of high-coloured and high-seasoned dishes. I suppose the keen
+air from the Tagus, which blows right into the palace-windows, operates
+as a powerful whet, for I never beheld eaters or eateresses, no not even
+our old acquaintance madame la Présidente at Paris, lay about them with
+greater intrepidity. To be sure, it was a splendid repast, quite a
+banquet. We had manjar branco and manjar real, and among other good
+things a certain preparation of rice and chicken, which suited me
+exactly, and no wonder, for this excellent mess had been just tossed up
+by Donna Isabel de Castro with her own illustrious hands, in a nice
+little kitchen adjoining the queen’s apartment, in which all the
+utensils are of solid silver.
+
+The number of lights upon the table, and of attendants and pages in rich
+uniforms around it, was prodigious; but what interested me far more than
+all this parade, was the sportive good-humour and frankness of the
+company. How it happened that the presence of a stranger failed to
+inspire any reserve, is one of those odd circumstances I can hardly
+account for; especially as the higher orders of the Portuguese are the
+farthest removed of all persons from admitting any but their nearest
+relations to these family parties; but so it was, and I felt both
+flattered and gratified at being permitted to witness the ease and
+hilarity which prevailed.
+
+The dutiful, affectionate attention of the younger part of the company
+to their parents was truly amiable; nor do I believe that, at this day
+in any other realm in Europe, the sacred precept of honouring your
+father and your mother is so cordially observed as in Portugal. Happy
+if, in our intercourse with that nation, we had profited in that respect
+by their example; the peace of so many of our noblest families would
+not have been disturbed by the lowest connexions, nor their best blood
+contaminated by matches of the most immoral, degrading tendency. We
+should not have seen one year a performer acting the part of lady this
+or lady t’other upon the stage, and the next in the drawing-room; nor,
+upon entering some of our principal houses, have been tempted to cry
+out--“Bless me! that lovely countenance is the same I recollect adoring
+by moonlight on the fine broad flagstones of Bond Street or Portland
+Place!”[24]
+
+It was now after two in the morning, and I must own, notwithstanding the
+good cheer of which I had participated, and the kind entertainment I had
+received, I began to feel a little tired. The children were in such
+spirits, so full of frolic, and her sublimity, the Camareira-mor, so
+unusually tolerant and condescending, that there was no knowing when
+the party would break up. Taking, therefore, my leave in due form, I
+made my retreat escorted by half-a-dozen torch-bearers.
+
+Just as I had gotten about half-way on my journey through what appeared
+to me interminable passages, I was arrested in my progress by a pair of
+dominicans, father Rocha, and his scarecrow satellite frè Josè do
+Rosario. A person less accustomed than I had lately been to such
+apparitions would have been startled; especially, too, if he had found
+himself like me between the most formidable living pillars of the holy
+inquisition.
+
+“What are you doing here so very late,” I could not help exclaiming, “my
+reverend fathers? What’s the matter?”
+
+“The matter is,” answered Rocha, with a voice of terrific hoarseness,
+“that we have caught cold waiting for you in these confounded corridors.
+The archbishop, above half-an-hour ago, commanded us to bring you to him
+dead or alive; but a rascally jackanapes in waiting upon her excellency
+the Camareira-mor would not let us in to deliver our message, so we
+have been airing ourselves hitherto to no purpose.”
+
+“Do you know,” said Rocha, taking me into a little room where a lamp was
+still burning, “that affairs do not go on so smoothly as they ought? The
+archbishop seems to have lost both time and temper since he has been
+pressed into the cabinet; and, as for the Prince of Brazil and his
+consort, God forgive me for wishing their advisers and all their
+intrigues in the lowest abyss of perdition. How can you be scheming a
+journey to Madrid at this season? The floods are out, and the robbers
+also, and I tell you what, as the archbishop says twenty times a day, if
+you do go you deserve to be drowned and murdered.”
+
+“The die is cast,” I replied, “and I must take my chance; but really I
+wish you would have the goodness to bid the archbishop a very good night
+in my name, and let me put off asking his benediction till to-morrow,
+for I am quite jaded.”
+
+“Jaded or not,” answered the monk, “you must come with me; the wind is
+up in the archbishop’s brain just at this moment, and by the least
+contradiction more would become a hurricane.”
+
+Finding resistance vain, I suffered myself to be conducted through two
+or three open courts, very refreshing at this hour you may suppose, and
+up a little staircase into the archbishop’s interior cabinet. All was
+still as death--no lay-brother bustling about--no sound audible but a
+low breathing, which now and then swelled into a half suppressed groan,
+from the agitated prelate, whom we found knee-deep in papers, immersed
+in thought.
+
+“So,” said he, “there you are at last. What have you been doing all this
+while? Who but a brute of an Englishman would have kept me waiting. Ay,
+ay, you told me how it would be, and you are right. They plague my soul
+out. We have twenty rascals pulling as many ways. Your people too are
+not what they used to be, though Mello would make us believe to the
+contrary. One thing I know for certain, some infernal mischief is
+afloat, and unless God’s grace is speedily manifested, I see no end to
+confusion, and wish myself anywhere but where I am. These
+smooth-tongued, Frenchified, Italian, Voltaireists and encyclopedians
+have poisoned all sound doctrine. Ay,” continued he, rising up, with an
+expression of indignation and anger I never saw before on his
+countenance, “somebody’s ears[25] are poisoned whom I could name.... But
+where is the use of talking to you? You are determined to leave us, be
+it so. God’s providence is above all. He knows what is best for you, and
+for me, and for these kingdoms. There is your passport, countersigned by
+your friend Mello; and here is a letter for Lorenzana, and another for
+his catholic majesty’s confessor, in which I tell him what an amazing
+fool you are, and unless you continue one without any remission, we
+shall soon have you back again. Tell Marialva,” he added, addressing
+himself to Rocha (for the other father had not been admitted), “tell
+Marialva and all his friends that I have dried up my tongue almost more
+times than one, in attempting to argue a thousand silly whimsies and
+crotchets out of his harum-scarum English brain; but come,” said he,
+extending his arms, “I bear no malice, I pity, I do not condemn. Let me
+give you an embrace, and pray God it may not be the last you will
+receive from me.”
+
+It was, alas! the last I ever received from him, poor, honest-hearted,
+kind old man! A sort of melancholy foreboding which seemed to pervade
+all he said in this interview was too soon realized. The fatal tide of
+events flowing on as it were with redoubled, tremendous velocity, swept
+away in the course of a few short months from this period the Prince of
+Brazil, the lovely and amiable infanta his sister, her husband Don
+Gabriel of Spain, and the good old King Charles the Third. Not long
+after, the archbishop-confessor himself was called from the plenitude of
+power and the enjoyment of unrivalled influence to the presence of that
+Being in whose sight “no man living shall be justified;” but as in many
+trying and peculiar instances he had shown the tenderest mercy, it may
+tremblingly be hoped that mercy has been shown to him. Notwithstanding
+the bluntness of his manner, the kindness of his heart, so apparent in
+his good-humoured, benevolent eye, found its way, almost imperceptibly
+to himself, to the hearts of others, and tempered the despotic roughness
+he sometimes assumed both in voice and gesture.
+
+I still seem to behold the last, earnest, solemn look he gave me when,
+the door closing, he retired to the cares of state, and I with my escort
+of torch-bearers and dominicans hastened forth to breathe the open air,
+of which I stood greatly in need. Many things I had heard, and many
+others I conjectured, above all, the reluctance I felt at the bottom of
+my heart to leave a country in which I had received such uncommon marks
+of friendship, bore heavily upon me. When I got home, scarcely two hours
+before daybreak, and tried to compose myself to sleep, I was neither
+refreshed nor recruited, but experienced the agitation of feverish and
+broken slumbers.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXXIV.
+
+     Dead mass at the church of Martyrs.--Awful music by Perez and
+     Jomelli.--Marialva’s affecting address.--My sorrow and anxiety.
+
+
+26th Nov. 1787.
+
+I went to the church of the Martyrs to hear the matins of Perez and the
+dead mass of Jomelli performed by all the principal musicians of the
+royal chapel for the repose of the souls of their deceased predecessors.
+Such august, such affecting music I never heard, and perhaps may never
+hear again; for the flame of devout enthusiasm burns dim in almost every
+part of Europe, and threatens total extinction in a very few years. As
+yet it glows at Lisbon, and produced this day the most striking musical
+effect.
+
+Every individual present seemed penetrated with the spirit of those
+awful words which Perez and Jomelli have set with tremendous sublimity.
+Not only the music, but the serious demeanour of the performers, of the
+officiating priests, and indeed of the whole congregation, was
+calculated to impress a solemn, pious terror of the world beyond the
+grave. The splendid decoration of the church was changed into mourning,
+the tribunes hung with black, and a veil of gold and purple thrown over
+the high altar. In the midst of the choir stood a catafalque surrounded
+with tapers in lofty candelabra, a row of priests motionless on each
+side. There was an awful silence for several minutes, and then began the
+solemn service of the dead. The singers turned pale as they sang, “Timor
+mortis me conturbat.”
+
+After the requiem, the high mass of Jomelli, in commemoration of the
+deceased, was performed; that famous composition which begins with a
+movement imitative of the tolling of bells,
+
+    “Swinging slow with sullen roar.”
+
+These deep, majestic sounds, mingled with others like the cries for
+mercy of unhappy beings, around whom the shadows of death and the pains
+of hell were gathering, shook every nerve in my frame, and called up in
+my recollection so many affecting images, that I could not refrain from
+tears.
+
+I scarcely knew how I was conveyed to the palace, where Marialva
+expected my coming with the utmost impatience. Our conversation took a
+most serious turn. He entreated me not to forget Portugal, to meditate
+upon the awful service I had been hearing, and to remember he should not
+die in peace unless I was present to close his eyes.
+
+In the actual tone of my mind I was doubly touched by this melancholy,
+affectionate address. It seemed to cut through my soul, and I execrated
+Verdeil and all those who had been instrumental in persuading me to
+abandon such a friend. The grand prior wept bitterly at seeing my
+agitation. Marialva went to the queen, and the grand prior home with me.
+We dined alone; my heart was full of heaviness, and I could not eat. At
+night we returned to the palace, and there all my sorrow and anxiety was
+renewed.
+
+
+
+
+SPAIN.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+     Embark on the Tagus.--Aldea Gallega.--A poetical postmaster.--The
+     church.--Leave Aldea Gallega.--Scenery on the road.--Palace built
+     by John the Fifth.--Ruins at Montemor.--Reach Arroyolos.
+
+
+Wednesday, Nov. 28th, 1787.
+
+The winds are reposing themselves, and the surface of the Tagus has all
+the smoothness of a mirror. The clouds are dispersing, for it rained
+heavily in the night, and the sun tinging the distant mountains of
+Palmella. Charming weather for crossing to Aldea Gallega, that self-same
+village in whose praises Baretti launches out with so much luxuriance.
+Horne and his nephew accompanied me to the stairs of Pampulha, where the
+old marquis’s scalera was waiting for me, with eight-and-twenty rowers
+in their bright scarlet accoutrements.
+
+Beggars innumerable, blind, dumb, and scabby, followed me almost into
+the water. No beggars equal those of Portugal for strength of lungs,
+luxuriance of sores, profusion of vermin, variety and arrangement of
+tatters, and dauntless perseverance. Several clocks were striking one
+when we pushed off from the shore, and in a few minutes less than two
+hours we found ourselves at Aldea Gallega, four leagues from Lisbon.
+Vast numbers of boats and skiffs passed us in the course of our
+navigation, which I should have thought highly agreeable in other
+circumstances; but I felt oppressed and melancholy; the thoughts of my
+separation from the Marialvas bearing heavily on my mind. Nor could the
+grand prospects of the river, and its shores, crowded with convents,
+towers, and palaces, remove this dead cold weight a single instant.
+
+The sun having sunk into watery clouds, the expanse of the Tagus wore a
+dismal, leaden-coloured aspect. Lisbon was cast into shade, and the huge
+mass of the convent of San Vicente, crowning an eminence, looked dark
+and solemn. The low shores of Aldea Gallega are pleasant and woody;
+many varieties of the tulip, the iris, and other bulbous roots, already
+springing up under the protection of spreading pines.
+
+Instead of going to a swinish, stinking estellagem, my courier, Martinho
+de mello’s prime favourite, and the one he employs upon the most
+confidential negociations, conducted me to the postmaster’s; a neat,
+snug habitation, where I found very tolerable accommodations, and dined
+in the midst of a vapour of burnt lavender, that was near depriving us
+of all appetite.
+
+Before I sat down to table, I wrote to M----, and sent my letter by the
+return of the scalera. It was not without difficulty I wrote then, or
+write at present, for my kind host, the postmaster, has not only the
+same age, but equal glibness of tongue as the abade. They were
+cotemporary at Coimbra, and their tongues have kept pace with each other
+these eighty years. The postmaster is blessed with a most tenacious
+memory, and having been a mighty reader of operas, serenatas, sonnets,
+and romances, seemed to sweat verses at every pore. For three hours he
+gave neither himself nor us any respite, but spouted whole volleys of
+Metastasio, till he was black in the face. Having washed down the heroic
+sentiments of Megacle, Artaserse, and Demetrio with a dish of tea, he
+fell to quoting Spanish and Latin authors, Ovid, Seneca, Lopez de Vega,
+Calderon, with the same volubility.
+
+As millers sleep sound to the click of their mill, so I, at the end of
+the two hours’ gabbling, was perfectly well-seasoned, and let him run on
+with the most resigned composure, writing and reading as unconcernedly
+as if in a convent of Carthusians.
+
+
+Thursday, November 29th.
+
+There was a continual racket in the house and about the street-door all
+night. At four o’clock the baggage-carts set forth, with a tremendous
+jingling of bells. The morning was so soft and vernal, that we drank our
+chocolate on the veranda, which commands a wild rural view of shrubby
+fields and scattered pines, terminated by a long range of blue hills,
+most picturesquely varied in form, if not in colour.
+
+After breakfast I went to the church, which Colmenar pretends is
+magnificently gilt and ornamented; but which, in fact, can boast no
+other decoration than a few shabby altars, displaying the images of
+Nossa Senhora, and the patron saint, in tinselled garments of faded
+taffeta. I knelt on a mouldy pavement, and felt a chill wind issuing
+from between the crevices of loose grave-stones, that returned a hollow
+sound when I rose up and walked over them. A priest, who was saying
+mass, officiated with uncommon slowness and solemnity. It was hardly
+light in the recesses of the chapels.
+
+Soon after eight o’clock we left Aldea Gallega, and ploughed through
+deep furrows of sand at the sober rate of two miles and a half in an
+hour. On both sides of the heavy road the eye ranges uninterrupted,
+except by the stems of starveling pines, through a boundless extent of
+barren country, overgrown with stunted ilex and gum-cistus. The same
+scenery lasted without any variation full five leagues, to the venta de
+Pegoens, where I am now writing, in a long dismal room, with plastered
+walls, a damp brick-floor, and cracked window-shutters. A pack of
+half-famished dogs are leaping around me, their eyes ready to start out
+of their sockets and their ribs out of their skin.
+
+After dining upon the provisions we brought with us, of which the
+yelping generation enjoyed no inconsiderable share, we proceeded through
+sandy wilds diversified alone by pines. Not a single habitation
+occurred, till by a glimmering dubious starlight, for it was now
+half-past seven, we discovered the extensive front of a palace, built in
+the year 1729, by John the fifth, for the accommodation of the infanta
+of Spain, who married his son, the late king D. Josè. Here we were to
+lodge, and I was rather surprised, upon entering a long suite of
+well-proportioned apartments, to find doors and windows still capable of
+being shut and opened, large chimneys guiltless of smoking out of their
+right channel, and painted ceilings without cracks or crevices.
+
+A young priest, neither deficient in manners nor erudition, the keeper
+of this solitary palace, did his utmost to make our stay in it
+agreeable. By his attention, we had some chairs and tables placed by a
+blazing fire, which I worshipped with all the fervour of an ancient
+Persian. I had need of this consolation, being much disordered by the
+tiresome dragging of our heavy coach through heaps of sand, and
+depressed with feverish shiverings.
+
+
+Friday, November 30th.
+
+It was a long while last night before I composed myself to sleep, and
+being called at the first dawn, I rose, if possible, more indisposed
+than when I lay down; I could scarcely swallow any refreshment, and kept
+walking disconsolately through the vast range of naked apartments, till
+the rays of the rising sun entered the windows. The horizon glowed with
+ruddy clouds. The vast desert levels, discovered from the balconies of
+the palace, gleamed with dewy verdure. I hastened out to breathe the
+fresh morning air, impregnated with the perfume of a thousand aromatic
+shrubs and opening flowers. I could not believe it was the last day of
+November, but fancied I had slept away the winter, and was just awakened
+in the month of May.
+
+To enjoy these fragrant breezes in full liberty, I left our carriage to
+drag along as slowly as the mules pleased, and the muleteers to smoke
+their cigarros as deliberately as they thought proper; and mounting my
+horse, rode the best part of the way to Montemor; which is built on the
+acclivity of a mountain, and surrounded on every side by groves of
+olives. The whole face of the country is covered by the same
+vegetation, and, of course, presents no very cheerful appearance.
+
+About a mile from Montemor we crossed a clear river, whose banks are
+thick-set with poplars, and a light, airy species of broom, intermixed
+with indian-fig, and laurustine in full blossom. The bees were swarming
+amongst the flowers, and filling the air with their hum.
+
+Whilst our dinner was preparing we climbed up the green slopes of a
+lofty hill, to some ruins on its summit; and passing under a narrow arch
+discovered a broad flight of steps, which lead to a very ancient church
+of gothic uncouth architecture: the pavement almost entirely composed of
+sepulchral slabs and brasses. As we walked on a platform before the
+entrance, the sun shone so fiercely that we were glad to descend the
+eminence on its shadiest side, and take refuge in a cavern-like
+apartment of the estallagem, very damp and dingy; but in which, however,
+an excellent dinner awaited our arrival.
+
+We set out at two in a blaze of sunshine, so cheerful and reviving, that
+I got once more on horseback, and never dismounted till I reached
+Arroyolos. Just as we came in sight of this ugly old town, which, like
+Montemor, crowns the summit of a rocky eminence, it fell totally dark;
+but the postmaster coming forth with torches, lighted us through several
+winding alleys to his house. I found some pleasant apartments amply
+furnished, and richly carpeted, and had the comfort of settling myself
+by a crackling fire, writing to the whole circle of the Marialvas, and
+drinking tea without being attacked by quotations of Virgil and
+Metastasio.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+     A wild tract of forest-land.--Arrival at Estremoz.--A fair.--An
+     outrageous sermon.--Boundless wastes of gum-cistus.--Elvas.--Our
+     reception there.--My visiters.
+
+
+Saturday, December 1st, 1787.
+
+Hitherto I have had no reason to complain of my accommodations in
+travelling through Portugal. A mandate from the governor procured me
+milk this morning for my breakfast, much against the will of the
+proprietor, who had a great inclination to keep all to himself. The idea
+of its being squeezed out by force, persuaded me that it had a very sour
+taste, and I hardly touched it.
+
+I laid in a stock of carpets for my journey, of strange grotesque
+patterns and glaring colours, the produce of a manufactory in this town,
+which employs about three hundred persons. Methinks I begin to write as
+dully as Major W. Dalrymple, whose dry journal of travels through a
+part of Spain I had the misfortune of reading in the coach this morning,
+as we jogged and jolted along the dreary road between Arroyolos and
+Venta do Duque.
+
+We passed a wild tract of forest-land, and saw numerous herds of swine
+luxuriously scratching themselves against the rugged bark of cork-trees,
+and routing up the moss at their roots in search of acorns. Venta do
+Duque is a sty right worthy of being the capital of hoggish dominions.
+It can boast, however, of a chimney, which, giving us the opportunity of
+making a fire, rendered our stay in it less intolerable.
+
+The evening turned out cloudy and cold. Before we arrived at Estremoz,
+another city on a hill, better and farther seen than it merits, it began
+to rain with a vengeance. I hear it splashing and driving this moment in
+the puddles which lie in the vast, forlorn market-place, at one end of
+which our posada is situated. For Portugal, this posada is by no means
+indifferent; the walls and ceilings have been neatly whitewashed, and
+here are chairs and tables. My carpets are of essential service in
+protecting my feet from the damp brick-floors. I have spread them all
+round my bed, and they make a flaming exotic appearance.
+
+
+Sunday, December 2nd.
+
+When I opened my eyes about seven in the morning, the sky was still
+dismal and lowering; and a crowd of human figures, enveloped in dark
+capotes, were just issuing from several dens and lurking-places on each
+side the entrance of the posada. A fair, which was held to-day, had
+drawn them together, and they were lamenting in chorus the rainy
+weather, which prevented the display of their rural finery. Most of
+these good people had passed the night in the stables of the posada. As
+I came down stairs, I saw several of their companions of both sexes
+lying about like the killed and wounded on a field of battle; or, to use
+a less fatal comparison, like the dead-drunk during a contested election
+in England.
+
+From the windows of the posada I looked down on a vast opening a
+thousand feet in breadth, surrounded by irregular buildings; amongst
+which I could not discover any of those handsome edifices adorned with
+marble columns, some travelling scribblers mention in terms of the
+highest commendation. The marble tower, too, they describe, built by Don
+Deniz, has totally lost its polish, if true it is it ever had any.
+
+Hard by the posada is a little chapel, to which I repaired as soon as I
+had breakfasted, and heard an outrageous sermon preached by a
+grey-headed, fiery-eyed capuchin, to a troop of blubbering females.
+
+As it did not positively rain, but only drizzled, after the fashion of
+my own dear native country, I rode part of the way to Elvas, and
+traversed boundless wastes of gum-cistus, whose dark-green casts a
+melancholy shade over the face of the country. A mile or two from Elvas,
+the scene changes to a forest of olives, with fountains by the wayside,
+and avenues of poplars, which were not yet deprived of their foliage.
+Above their summits tower the arches of an aqueduct, supported by strong
+buttresses, and presenting, when seen in perspective, an appearance, in
+some points of view, not unlike that of a ruined gothic cathedral. The
+ramparts of Elvas are laid out and planted much in the style of our
+English gardens, and form very delightful walks.
+
+Upon entering the town, which seems populous and thriving, we were
+conducted to a very clean neat house, prepared for our reception by
+order of the governor, Monsieur de Vallarè. A dignified sort of a page,
+or groom of the chambers, in a blue coat richly laced, and the order of
+St. Jago dangling at his buttonhole, stood ready at the door to show us
+up stairs, and, according to the Portuguese system of politeness, never
+quitted our elbows a single moment.
+
+I had hardly reconnoitred my new apartments, before Monsieur de Vallarè
+was announced. He brought with him the Abade Correa, one of the
+luminaries of modern Portuguese literature, whose conversation afforded
+me great amusement. We sallied out together to visit the fortifications,
+the stables for the cavalry, and barracks for the soldiers, which are
+all in admirable order; thanks to the governor, who is indefatigable in
+his exertions, and retains at a very experienced age the agility of
+five-and-twenty. I was delighted with his cheerful, military frankness,
+and unaffected attentions. He told me, he had stood the fire of our
+formidable column at Fontenoy, and never enjoyed himself so much in his
+life, as in the smoke and havoc of that furious engagement.
+
+From one of the bastions to which he conducted us, we had a distinct
+view of the fort de la Lippe, erected at an enormous expense on the
+summit of a woody mountain. Had the weather been fine, it might have
+tempted me to climb up to it; but showers beginning to descend, I
+preferred taking shelter in a snug apartment of the maréchal, enlivened
+by a blazing pile of aromatic woods, raised up on a grate in a
+christian-like manner. The abade and I drawing close to this hospitable
+hearth, talked over Lisbon and its inhabitants; whilst Verdeil amused
+himself with scrutinizing some minerals the maréchal had collected, and
+which lay scattered about his room.
+
+In these occupations the time passed till supper. We had pork delicately
+flavoured, exquisite quails, and salads, prepared in different manners,
+the most delicious I ever tasted. Our conversation was lively and
+unrestrained; Correa has an originality of genius and freedom of
+sentiment, which the terrors of the inquisition have not yet
+extinguished.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+     Pass the rivulet which separates Spain and Portugal.--A muleteer’s
+     enthusiasm.--Badajoz.--The cathedral.--Journey resumed.--A vast
+     plain.--Village of Lubaon.--Withered hags.--Names and characters of
+     our mules.--Posada at Merida.
+
+
+Monday, Dec. 3rd, 1787.
+
+The maréchal and the abade breakfasted with me, but the rain prevented
+my taking another walk about the fortifications, and seeing the troops
+go through their exercise. At ten we set off, well escorted, traversed a
+dismal plain, and passed a rivulet which separates the two kingdoms. No
+sooner had one of our muleteers passed this boundary, than cutting a
+cross in the turf with his knife, he fell prostrate and kissed the
+ground with a transport of devotion.
+
+Upon ascending the bank of the rivulet we came in sight of Badajoz and
+its long narrow bridge over the Guadiana. The custom-house was all
+mildness and moderation. Its harpies have neither flown away with my
+books, as Bezerra predicted, nor set their talons in my coffers. At
+sight of my passport, such a one, I believe, as is not very frequently
+granted, all difficulties gave way, and I was permitted to enter the
+lonely, melancholy streets of Badajoz, without being stopped an instant,
+or having my baggage ransacked.
+
+This circumstance, no wonder, gave me greater satisfaction than the
+aspect of the town and its inhabitants, which is decidedly gloomy. Every
+house almost has grated-windows, and the few human creatures that stared
+at us from them, were muffled up to their noses in heavy mantles of the
+darkest colours.
+
+We continued winding half an hour in slow and solemn procession through
+narrow streets and alleys, whose gutters were full to the brim, before
+we reached the large dingy mansion their excellencies, the governor and
+intendant, had been so gracious as to allot for my reception. Both these
+personages were, providentially, laid up with agues, or else, it seems,
+I should have been honoured with their company the whole evening.
+
+A mob of eyes and mantles, for neither mouths, arms, nor scarcely legs
+were discernible, assembled round the carriages the moment they halted,
+and had the patience to remain in the street, silently smoking their
+cigarros, the whole time I was at dinner.
+
+It was night before I rose from table, crept down stairs, and, though it
+continued raining at frequent intervals, waded to the cathedral, through
+much mire, and between several societies of hogs, which lay sweetly
+sleeping to the murmur of dropping eaves, in the midst of gutters and
+kennels.
+
+The cathedral is formed by three aisles of equal breadth, supported by
+pillars and arches, in a tolerably good pointed style. Several lofty
+chapels open into them, with solemn gates of iron. In the centre of the
+middle aisle some bungling architect has awkwardly stuck the choir, not
+many paces from the principal entrance, and by so doing has shut out the
+view of the high altar: no great loss, however, the high altar looking
+little better than a huge mass of rock-work, gilt and burnished. Under
+the choir is a staircase leading down to the grated entrance of a vault.
+Lamps were burning before many of the altars, and they distributed a
+faint light throughout the whole edifice.
+
+I paced silently to and fro in the aisles, whilst the canons were
+chaunting vespers. The choristers still retain the same dress in which
+St. Anthony is represented, in the picture which hung by the miraculous
+cross he indented when flying the persecutions of Satan. There was a
+solemnity in the glimmer of the lamps, the gloomy, indefinite depth of
+the chapels, and the darkness of the vault beneath the choir, that
+affected me. I passed a very uncomfortable evening, and a worse night.
+
+
+Tuesday, Dec. 4.
+
+Not a wink of sleep did the musquitos allow me. I was glad to call for
+lights at four, and was still happier to step into the coach at five;
+from that hour to half-past-eight I contrived to slumber in a feverish,
+agitated manner, that did me little good.
+
+When I opened my eyes, I found myself traversing a vast plain as level
+as the ocean. In summer, this waste must convey none but ideas of
+sterility and desolation; at present, a fresh verdure, browsed by
+numerous flocks, rendered its appearance tolerable. The sheep, which
+are large and thriving, have fleeces as long and as silky as the hair of
+a barbet, combed every day by the hands of its mistress. I observed
+numbers of lambs of the most shining whiteness, with black ears and
+noses; just such neat little animals as those I remember to have seen in
+the era of Dresden china, at the feet of smirking shepherdesses.
+
+We dined at a village of mud cottages, called Lubaon, situated on some
+rising ground, about eighteen miles from Badajoz, whose inhabitants seem
+to have attained the last stage of poverty and wretchedness. Two or
+three withered hags, that even in the prophet Habakkuk’s resurrection of
+dry bones, would have attracted attention, laid hold of me the moment I
+got out of the carriage. I thought the cold hand of the weird sisters
+was giving me a gripe; and trembled lest, whether I would or not, I
+might hear some fatal prediction. To get out of their way I flew to the
+church, an old gothic building, placed on the edge of a steep, which
+shelves almost perpendicularly down to the banks of the Guadiana, and
+took sanctuary in its porch. There I remained till summoned to dinner,
+listening to the murmur of the distant river flowing round sandy
+islands.
+
+I won the hearts of my muleteers by caressing their mules, and inquiring
+with a respectful earnestness their names and characters. Capitana may
+be depended upon in cases of labour and difficulty; Valerosa is skittish
+and enterprising; Pelerina rather sluggish and cowardly; but la
+Commissaria unites every mulish perfection; is tractable, steady, and
+sure-footed, and at the same time (to use the identical expression of my
+calasero) the greatest driver of dirt before her in the universe. She is
+certainly an animal of uncommon resolution; and when tired to death by
+the slow paces of her companions, how often have I wished myself
+abandoned to her guidance in a light two-wheeled chaise.
+
+We left Lubaon at half-past two, and, as I had the happiness of sleeping
+almost the whole way to Merida, can give little account of the country.
+
+I was hardly awake, when we entered the posada at Merida, and started
+back, dazzled with an illumination of wax-lights, solemnly stuck in
+sconces all round a lofty room, with glaring white walls, as if I had
+been expected to lie in state. In the middle of the apartment stood a
+large brasier, full of glowing embers, exhaling so strong a perfume of
+rosemary and lavender, that my head swam, and I reeled like a drunkard.
+But as soon as this vile machine was removed, I sat down to write in
+peace and comfort.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+     Arrival at Miaxadas.--Monotonous singing.--Dismal
+     country.--Truxillo.--A rainy morning.--Resume our journey.--Immense
+     wood of cork-trees.--Almaraz.--Reception by the escrivano.--A
+     terrific volume.--Village of Laval de Moral.--Range of lofty
+     mountains.--Calzada.
+
+
+Wednesday, Dec. 5th, 1787.
+
+About five leagues from Merida we stopped at a hovel too wretched to
+afford shelter even to our mules. The situation, amidst green hills
+scattered over with picturesque ilex, is not unpleasant; and such was
+the mildness of the day, that we spread our table on a knoll, and dined
+in the open air, surrounded by geese and asses, to whom I distributed
+ample slices of water-melons. From this spot three short leagues brought
+us to Miaxadas, where we arrived at night. Its inhabitants were gathered
+in clusters at their doors, each holding a lamp, and crying, “Biva!
+Biva!”
+
+Instead of entering a dirty posada, my courier ushered me into a sort
+of gallery, with a handsome arched roof, matted all over, and set round
+with gilt chairs. The donna de la casa made very low obeisances, not
+without great primness, and her maids sang tirannas with a wailful
+monotony that wore my very soul out.
+
+
+Thursday, Dec. 6th.
+
+Soaking rain and dismal country, thick strewn with fragments of rock.
+Mountains wrapped in mists,--here and there a few green spots studded
+with mushrooms. We went seven leagues without stopping, and reached
+Truxillo by four. It was this gloomy city, situated on a black eminence,
+that gave birth to the ruthless Pizarro, the scourge of the Peruvians,
+and the murderer of Atabaliba. We were lodged in a very tolerable
+posada, unmolested by speech-makers, and heard no noise but the
+trickling of showers.
+
+
+Friday, Dec. 7th.
+
+I was awakened at five: the gutters were pouring, and all the
+water-spouts of Truxillo streaming with rain. An hour and a half did I
+pass in a ghostly twilight, my candles being packed up, and all the oil
+of the house expended. It required great exertion on the part of my
+vigilant courier to prevail on our hulky muleteers to expose themselves
+to the bad weather.
+
+At length, with much ado, we rumbled out of Truxillo, and after
+traversing for the space of two leagues the nakedest and most dreary
+region I ever beheld, a faint gleam of sunshine melted the deadly white
+of the thick clouds which hung over us, and the horizon brightening up,
+we discovered a wood of cork-trees interspersed with lawns extending as
+far as the eye could stretch itself. These green spots continued to
+occur our whole way to Saraseços. There we halted, dined in haste at not
+half so wretched a posada as I had been taught to expect, and continuing
+our route, the sky clearing, ascended a mountain, from whose brow we
+looked down on a valley variegated with patches of ploughed land, wild
+shrubberies, and wandering rivulets.
+
+We had not much time to feast our eyes with this pastoral prospect; the
+clouds soon rolled over it, and we found ourselves in a damp fog. The
+rest of our journey to Almaraz was a total blank; we saw nothing and
+heard nothing, and arrived at the place of our destination in perfect
+health and stupidity.
+
+The escrivano, who is the judge and jury of the village, was so kind as
+to accommodate us with his house, and so polite as not to incommode us
+with his presence. He is a holy man, and a strenuous advocate for the
+immaculate conception, no less than three large folios upon that
+mysterious subject lying about in his apartment.
+
+
+Saturday, Dec. 8th.
+
+Whilst the muleteers were harnessing their beasts together with rotten
+cords, I took up a little old book of my pious host’s, full of the most
+dismal superstitions, entitled _Espeio de Cristal fino, y Antorcha que
+aviva el alma_, and read in it till I was benumbed with horror. Many
+pages are engrossed with a description of the state into which the
+author imagines we are plunged immediately after death. The body he
+supposes conscious of all that befalls it in the grave, of exchanging
+its warm, comfortable habitation for the cold, pestilential soil of a
+churchyard, conscious that its friends have abandoned it for ever, and
+of its inability to call them back; to be sensible of the approaches and
+progress of the most loathsome corruption, and to hear the voice of an
+accusing angel, recapitulating its offences, and summoning it to the
+judgment of God. The book ends with a vehement exhortation to repent
+while there is yet time, and to procure by fervent prayer, and ample
+donations to religious communities, the intercession of the host of
+martyrs and of Nuestra Señora. I can easily conceive these scarecrow
+publications of infinite use in frightening three parts of mankind out
+of their senses, prolonging the reign, and swelling the coffers of the
+clergy.
+
+The horrid images I had seen in this (Espeio) mirror haunted my fancy
+for several hours. To dissipate them I mounted my horse, and eagerly
+inhaled the fresh breezes that blew over springing herbage, and wastes
+of lavender. The birds were singing, the clouds dividing, and
+discovering long tracts of soft blue sky. I galloped gaily along a level
+country, interspersed with woods of ilex, to the village of Laval de
+Moral, where the inhabitants were most devoutly employed in their
+churches conciliating the favour of the madonna by keeping holy the
+festival of the immaculate conception. There the coach coming up with
+me, I got in; and the mules dragging it along at a rate which in the
+days of my fire and fury would have made me thump out its bottom with
+impatience, I fell into a resigned slumber, and am ignorant of every
+object between Laval de Moral and Calzada, in sight of which town I
+awoke near five in the evening.
+
+The sun was setting in a sea of molten gold, and tinging the snows of a
+range of lofty mountains, which I discovered for the first time bounding
+our horizon. I might have seen them before most probably, had they not
+remained till this evening wrapped up in rainy vapours.
+
+It is at their base the Escurial is situated. I had the consolation of
+stepping out of the coach at Calzada into a house with cheerful, neat
+apartments, with an open gallery, where I walked contemplating the red
+streams of light, and brilliant skirted clouds of the western sky, till
+dinner came upon table. Though the doors and windows were all wide open,
+I suffered no inconvenience worth mentioning from cold. The master of
+the house, a portly, pompous barber-surgeon, most firm in his belief of
+the supremacy of Spain over every country in the universe, confessed,
+however, the weather was uncommonly warm, and that so mild a month of
+December was rather extraordinary.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+     Sierra de los Gregos.--Mass.--Oropeza.--Talavera--Drawling
+     tirannas.--Talavera de la Reyna.--Reception at Santa Olaya.--The
+     lady of the house, and her dogs and dancers.
+
+
+Sunday, December 9th, 1787.
+
+The mountains I saw yesterday are called the Sierra de los Gregos, and
+the winds that blow over their summits begin to chill the atmosphere;
+but the sun is shining gloriously, and not a cloud obscures his
+effulgence. The stars were still twinkling in the firmament, when I was
+attracted to mass in the large gloomy church of a nunnery, by the voices
+of the Lord’s spouses issuing from a sepulchral grate bristled with
+spikes of iron. These tremulous, plaintive sounds filled me with such
+sadness, and so many recollections of interesting hours departed never
+to return, that I felt relieved when I found myself out of sight of the
+convent, on a cheerful road thronged with passengers.
+
+We passed Oropeza, a picturesque, Italian-looking town, on the brow of a
+mountain; dined at a venda, in the midst of a savage tract of
+forest-land, infamous till within this year or two for robberies and
+assassinations; and reached Talavera de la Reyna by sunset.
+
+More, I believe, has been said in praise of this town than it deserves.
+Its appearance is far from cheerful or elegant; and the heavy
+brick-fronts of the convents and churches as ill designed as executed.
+The streets, however, are crowded with people, who seem to be moving
+about with rather more activity than falls to the lot of Spaniards in
+general. I am told the silk-manufactories at Talavera are in a
+flourishing state, and have taken a good many hands out of the folds of
+their mantles.
+
+Colmenar is perpetually leading me into errors, and causing me
+disappointments. He pretends that the inhabitants of this place are
+nearly as skilful as those of Pekin and Macao in the manufacturing of
+lacquered wares, and that their pottery is unrivalled; but, upon
+inquiry, I found the Talaverans no particular proficients in varnish,
+and that they had neither a cup nor basin to produce in the least
+preferable to those of other villages.
+
+In one art they are indefatigable, I can answer to my sorrow; that is,
+singing drawling tirannas to the monotonous accompaniment of a sort of
+hum-strum or hurdy-gurdy, or the devil knows best what sort of
+instruments, for such as I hear at this moment under my windows are only
+fit to be played in his dominions. I am quite at the mercy of these
+untoward minstrels; if they cease not, I must defer sleeping to another
+opportunity. Am I then come into Spain to hear hum-strums and
+hurdy-gurdies? Where are the rapturous seguidillas, of which I have been
+told such wonders? Do they exist, or, like the japanned wares of the
+Talaverans, are they only to be found in books of travels and
+geographical dictionaries?
+
+
+Monday, December 10th.
+
+I beg Talavera de la Reyna a thousand pardons; it is not quite so
+frightful as it appeared in the twilight of yesterday evening. Many of
+the houses have a palace-like appearance, and the interior of the old
+gothic cathedral, though not remarkably spacious, has an air of
+magnificence; the stalls of the choir are elaborately carved, and on
+each side the high altar, curtains of the richest crimson damask fall
+from the roof in ample folds, and cast a ruddy glow on the pavement.
+
+If Talavera has nothing within its walls to be much boasted of, there
+are many objects in its environs that merit praise. No sooner had we
+left its dark crooked streets behind us, than we discovered a thick wood
+of elms skirting an extensive lawn, beautifully green and level, from
+which rises the convent of Nuestra Señora del Prayo, crowned by an
+octangular cupola. This edifice is built of brick encrusted with stone
+ornaments, and choked up by ranges of arcades and heavy galleries. I
+have seen several structures which resembled it in the neighbourhood of
+Antwerp and Brussels; but whether the Spaniards carried this clumsy
+style of architecture into the Low Countries, or borrowed from thence,
+is scarcely worth while to determine.
+
+Not far from Nuestra Señora del Prayo we crossed the Tagus, and
+continued dragging through heavy sands for five tedious hours, without
+perceiving a habitation, or meeting any animal, biped or quadruped,
+except herds of swine, in which, I believe, consist the principal riches
+of this part of the Spanish dominions. I doubt whether the royal sty of
+Ithaca was half so well garnished, as many private ones in New Castile
+and Estremadura.
+
+Having nothing to look at except a dreary plain bounded by barren,
+uninteresting mountains, I was reduced to tumble over the trashy
+collection of books, with which I happen in this journey to be provided;
+poor fiddle-faddle Derrick’s Letters from Cork, Chester, and Tunbridge;
+John Buncle, Esquire’s, life, holy rhapsodies, and peregrinations;
+Shenstone’s, Mr. Whistler’s, and the good Duchess of Somerset’s
+Correspondence; Bray’s tour, right worthy of an ass; Heley’s fulsome
+description of the Leasowes and Hagley; Clarke’s ponderous account of
+Spain; and Major Dalrymple’s dry, tiresome, and splenetic excursion.
+There’s a set, equal it if you can. I hope to get a better at Madrid,
+and throw my old stock into the Mançanares.
+
+We dined at a village called Brabo, not in the least worth mentioning,
+and arrived in due tiresome course, about six in the evening, at Santa
+Olaya, where my courier had procured us an admirable lodging in the
+house of a veteran colonel. The principal apartment, in which I pitched
+my bed, was a lofty gallery, with large folding glazed doors, gilt and
+varnished, its white walls almost covered with saintly pictures and
+small mirrors, stuck near the ceiling, beyond the reach of mortal sight,
+as if their proprietor was afraid they would wear out by being looked
+into. On low tables, to the right and left of the door, stood
+glass-cases, filled with relics and artificial flowers. Stools covered
+with velvet, and raised not above a foot from the floor, were stationed
+all round the room. On one of these I squatted like an oriental, warming
+my hands over a brasier of coals.
+
+The old lady of the house, followed by a train of curtseying handmaids
+and snifling lapdogs, favoured me with her company the best part of the
+evening. Her spouse, the colonel, being indisposed, did not make his
+appearance. Whilst she was entertaining me with a most flourishing
+detail of the excellent qualities and wonderful acquisitions of the
+infant Don Louis, who died about two years ago at his villa in this
+neighbourhood, some very grotesque figures entered the antechamber, and
+tinkling their guitars, struck up a seguidilla, that in a minute or two
+set all the feet in the house in motion. Amongst the dancers, two young
+girls, whose jetty locks were braided with some degree of elegance,
+shone forth in a fandango, beating the ground and snapping their fingers
+with rapturous agility.
+
+This sport lasted a full hour, before they showed the least sign of
+being tired; then succeeded some languorous tirannas, by no means so
+delightful as I expected. I was not sorry when the ball ceased, and my
+kind hostess, moving off with all her dogs and dancers, left me to sup
+and sleep in tranquillity.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+     Dismal plains.--Santa Cruz.--Val de Carneiro.--A most determined
+     musical amateur.--The Alcayde Mayor.--Approach to Madrid.--Aspect
+     of the city.--The Calle d’Alcala.--The Prado.--The Ave-Maria bell.
+
+
+Tuesday, Dec. 11th, 1787.
+
+Dismal plains and still more dismal mountains; no indication as yet of
+the approach to a capital; dined at Santa Cruz; thought we should have
+been flayed alive by its greedy inhabitants; arrived in the dark at Val
+de Carneiro; lodged in the house of a certain Don Bernardo, passionately
+fond of music. The apartment allotted to me contained no less than two
+harpsichords: one of them, in a fine gilt case, very pompous and sullen,
+I could scarcely prevail upon the keys to move; next it stood a very
+sweet-toned modest little spinet, that responded to my touch right
+willingly, and as I happened to play some Brazilian ditties Don
+Bernardo never heard before, he was so good as to be in raptures.
+
+These were becoming every minute more enthusiastic, when the arrival of
+the alcayde mayor, followed by a priest or two with enormous spectacles
+on their thin snipish noses, interrupted our harmonious proceedings.
+This personage came expressly to pay me a visit, and to ask questions
+about England and her unnatural offspring, the revolted provinces of
+North America; a country which he had heard was colder and darker than
+the grave, and spread all over with animals, whether biped or quadruped
+he could not tell, called _koakeres_, living like beavers, in strange
+huts or tabernacles of their own construction.
+
+
+Wednesday, Dec. 12th.
+
+Don Bernardo showed me his cellars, in which are several casks capable
+of holding thirty or forty hogsheads, and ranges of jars in the shape of
+the antique amphoræ, ten feet high, and not less than six in diameter.
+For the first time in my life I tasted the genuine Spanish chocolate,
+spiced and cinnamoned beyond all endurance. It has put my mouth in a
+flame, and I do nothing but spit and sputter.
+
+The weather was so damp and foggy that we could hardly see ten yards
+before us: I cannot, therefore, in conscience abuse the approach to
+Madrid so much, I believe, as it deserves. About one o’clock, the
+vapours beginning to dissipate, a huge mass of building, and a confused
+jumble of steeples, domes, and towers, started on a sudden from the
+mist. The large building I soon recognized to be the new palace. It is a
+good deal in the style of Caserta, but being raised on a considerable
+eminence, produces a more striking effect. At its base flows the pitiful
+river Mançanares, whose banks were all of a flutter with linen hanging
+out to dry.
+
+We passed through this rag-fair, between crowds of mahogany-coloured
+hags, who left off thumping their linen to stare at us, and, crossing a
+broad bridge over a narrow streamlet, entered Madrid by a gateway of
+very indifferent architecture. The neat pavement of the streets, the
+loftiness of the houses, and the cheerful showy appearance of many of
+the shops, far surpassed my expectation.
+
+Upon entering the Calle d’Alcala, a noble street, much wider than any in
+London, I was still more surprised. Several magnificent palaces and
+convents adorn it on both sides. At one extremity, you perceive the
+trees and fountains of the Prado, and, at the other, the lofty domes of
+a series of churches. We have got apartments at the Cruz de Malta,
+which, though very indifferently furnished, have at least the advantage
+of commanding this prospect. I passed half-an-hour after dinner in one
+of the balconies, gazing upon the variety of equipages which were
+rattling along. The street sloping gradually down, and being paved with
+remarkable smoothness, they drove at a furious rate, the high fashion at
+Madrid; where to hurry along at the risk of laming your mules, and
+cracking their skulls, is to follow the example of his Majesty, than
+whom no monarch drives with greater vehemence.
+
+I strolled to the Prado, and was much struck by the spaciousness of the
+principal walk, the length of the avenues, and the stateliness of the
+fountains. Though the evening was damp and gloomy, a great many people
+were rambling about, and a long line of carriages parading. The dress of
+the ladies, the cut of their servants’ liveries, the bags of the
+coachmen, and the painting of the coaches, were so perfectly Parisian,
+that I fancied myself on the Boulevards, and looked in vain for those
+ponderous equipages, surrounded by pages and escudeiros, one reads of in
+Spanish romances. A total change has taken place, and the original
+national customs are almost obliterated.
+
+Devotion, however, is not yet banished from the Prado; at the ringing of
+the Ave-Maria bell, the coaches stopped, the servants took off their
+hats, the ladies crossed themselves, and the foot passengers stood
+motionless, muttering their orisons. There is both opera and play
+to-night, I believe, but I am in no mood to go to either.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+     The Duchess of Berwick in all her nonchalance.--Her apartment
+     described.--Her passion for music.--Her señoras de honor.
+
+
+Thursday, Dec. 13th, 1787.
+
+It was a heavy damp morning, and I could hardly prevail upon myself to
+quit my fireside and deliver the archbishop’s most confidential
+despatches to the Portuguese ambassador Don Diogo de Noronha.
+
+The ambassador being gone to the palace, I drove to the Duchess of
+Berwick’s, my old acquaintance, with whom I passed so much of my time at
+Paris eight years ago. Her dear spouse, so well known at Spa, Brussels,
+Aix-la-Chapelle, and all the gaming-places of Europe, by the name,
+style, and title of marquis of Jamaica, has been departed these five or
+six months; and she is now mistress of the most splendid palace in
+Madrid, of one of the first fortunes, and of the affairs of her only
+son, the present Duke of Berwick, to whom she is guardian.
+
+The façade of the palace, and the spacious court before it, pleased me
+extremely. It is in the best style of modern Parisian architecture,
+simple and graceful. I was conducted up a majestic staircase, adorned
+with corinthian columns, and through a long suite of apartments, at the
+extremity of which, in a saloon hung with embroidered India satin, sat
+reclined madame la duchesse, in all her accustomed nonchalance. She
+seemed never to have moved from her sofa since I last had the pleasure
+of seeing her, and is exactly the same good-natured, indolent being,
+free from malice or uncharitableness; I wish the world was fuller of
+this harmless, quiet species.
+
+The morning passed most rapidly away in talking over rose-coloured
+times; I returned home to dine, and as soon as it was dark went back
+again to madame de Berwick’s, who was waiting tea for me. I like her
+apartment very much, the angles are taken off by low semicircular sofas,
+and the space between them and the hangings filled up with slabs of
+Granadian marble, on which are placed most beautiful porcelain vases
+with mignonette and rose-trees in full bloom. The fire burnt cheerfully,
+the table was drawn close to it; the duchess’s little girl, Donna
+Ferdinanda, sat playing and smiling upon a dog, which she held in her
+lap, and had swaddled up like an infant.
+
+Soon after tea, the young duke of Berwick and a French abbé, his
+preceptor, came in and stayed with us the remainder of the evening. The
+duke is only fourteen and some months, but he is taller than I am, and
+as plump as the plumpest of partridges. His manners are French, and his
+address as prematurely formed as his figure. Few, if any, fortunes in
+Europe equal that which he enjoys, and of which he has expectations;
+being heir to the house of Alba, seventy thousand a-year at least, and
+in possession of the Veragua and Liria estates. These immense properties
+are of course underlet, and wretchedly cultivated. If able exertions
+were made in their management, his income might be doubled.
+
+Madame de Berwick has not lost her passion for music; operas and sonatas
+lie scattered all over her apartment; not only singing-books were lying
+on the carpet, but singers themselves; three of her musical attendants,
+a page, and two pretty little señoras de honor, having cast themselves
+carelessly at her feet in the true Spanish, or rather morisco, fashion,
+ready to warble forth the moment she gave the signal, which was not long
+delayed, and never did I hear more soothing voices. The inspiration they
+gave rise to drove me to the piano-forte, where I played and sang those
+airs Madame de Berwick was so fond of in the dawn of our acquaintance;
+when, thanks to her cherished indolence, she had the resignation to
+listen day after day, and hour after hour, to my romantic rhapsodies.
+How fervid and ecstatic was I in those days; the toy of every impulse,
+the willing dupe of every gay illusion. The duchess tells me, she thinks
+from the tone of our conversation in the morning, that I am now a little
+sobered, and may possibly get through this thorny world without losing
+my wits on its briars.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+     The Chevalier de Roxas.--Excursion to the palace and gardens of the
+     Buen Retiro.--The Turkish Ambassador and his numerous
+     train.--Farinelli’s apartments.
+
+
+Dec. 14th, 1785.
+
+One of the best informed and pleasantest of Spaniards, the Chevalier de
+Roxas, who had been very intimate both with Verdeil and me at Lausanne,
+came in a violent hurry this morning to give us a cordial embrace. He
+seems to have set his heart upon showing us about Madrid, and rendering
+our stay here as lively as he could make it. Fifty schemes did he
+propose in half a minute, of visiting museums, churches, and public
+buildings; of goings to balls, theatres, and tertullias.
+
+I took alarm at this busy prospect, drew back into my shell, and began
+wishing myself in the most perfect incognito; but, alas! to no purpose,
+it was all in vain.
+
+Roxas, most eager to enter upon his office of cicerone, fidgeted to the
+window, observed we had still an hour or two of daylight, and proposed
+an excursion to the palace and gardens of the Buen Retiro. Upon entering
+the court of the palace, which is surrounded by low buildings, with
+plastered fronts, sadly battered by wind and weather, I espied some
+venerable figures in caftans and turbans, leaning against a doorway.
+
+My sparks of orientalism instantly burst into a flame at such a sight:
+“Who are those picturesque animals?” said I to our conductor. “Is it
+lawful to approach them?” “As often as you please,” answered Roxas.
+“They belong to the Turkish ambassador, who is lodged, with all his
+train, at the Buen Retiro, in the identical apartments once occupied by
+Farinelli; where he held his state levees and opera rehearsals; drilling
+ministers one day, and tenors and soprani the other: if you have a mind,
+we will go up-stairs and examine the whole menagerie.”
+
+No sooner said, no sooner done. I cleared four steps at a leap, to the
+great delight of his sublime excellency’s pages and attendants, and
+entered a saloon spread with the most sumptuous carpets, and perfumed
+with the fragrance of the wood of aloes. In a corner of this magnificent
+chamber sat the ambassador, Achmet Vassif Effendi, wrapped up in a
+pelisse of the most precious sables, playing with a light cane he had in
+his hand, and every now and then passing it under the noses of some
+tall, handsome slaves, who were standing in a row before him. These
+figures, fixed as statues, and to all appearance equally insensible,
+neither moved hand nor eye. As I advanced to make my salam to the grand
+seignor’s representative, who received me with a most gracious nod of
+the head; his interpreter announced to what nation I belonged, and my
+own individual warm partiality for the Sublime Porte.
+
+As soon as I had taken my seat in a ponderous fauteuil of figured
+velvet, coffee was carried round in cups of most delicate china, with
+gold enamelled saucers. Notwithstanding my predilection for the east and
+its customs, I could hardly get this beverage down, it was so thick and
+bitter; whilst I was making a few wry faces in consequence, a low
+murmuring sound, like that of flutes and dulcimers, accompanied by a
+sort of tabor, issued from behind a curtain which separated us from
+another apartment. There was a melancholy wildness in the melody, and a
+continual repetition of the same plaintive cadences, that soothed and
+affected me.
+
+The ambassador kept poring upon my countenance, and appeared much
+delighted with the effect his music seemed to produce upon it. He is a
+man of considerable talent, deeply skilled in Turkish literature; a
+native of Bagdad; rich, munificent, and nobly born, being descended from
+the house of Barmek; gracious in his address, smooth and plausible in
+his elocution; but not without something like a spark of despotism in a
+corner of his eye. Now and then I fancied that the recollection of
+having recommended the bow-string, and certain doubts whether he might
+not one day or other be complimented with it in his turn, passed across
+his venerable and interesting physiognomy.
+
+My eager questions about Bagdad, the tomb of Zobeida, the vestiges of
+the Dhar al Khalifat, or palace of the Abbassides, seemed to excite a
+thousand remembrances which gave him pleasure; and when I added a few
+quotations from some of his favourite authors, particularly Mesihi, he
+became so flowingly communicative, that a shrewd dapper Greek, called
+Timoni, who acted as his most confidential interpreter, could hardly
+keep pace with him.
+
+Had not the hour of prayer arrived, our conversation might have lasted
+till midnight. Rising up with much stateliness, he extended his arms to
+bid me a good evening, and was assisted along by two good-looking
+Georgian pages, to an adjoining chamber, where his secretaries,
+dragoman, and attendants, were all assembled to perform their devotions,
+each on his little carpet, as if in a mosque; and it was not unedifying
+to witness the solemnity and abstractedness with which these devotions
+were performed.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+     The Museum and Academy of Arts.--Scene on the Prado.--The
+     Portuguese Ambassador and his comforters.--The Theatre.--A highly
+     popular dancer.--Seguidillas in all their glory.
+
+
+Sunday, Dec. 16th, 1787.
+
+The kind, indefatigable Roxas came to conduct us to the Museum and
+Academy of Arts. It consists of seven or eight apartments, with cases
+all around them, in a plain, good style; the objects clearly arranged,
+and exposed to view in a very intelligible manner. There is a vast
+collection of minerals, corals, madrepores, and stalactites, from all
+the grottoes in the universe; and curious specimens of virgin-gold and
+silver. Amongst the latter, a lump weighing seventy pounds, which was
+shivered off an enormous mass by a master miner, who, after dining on
+it, with twelve or thirteen persons, hacked it to pieces, and
+distributed the fragments amongst his guests.
+
+What pleased me most was a collection of Peruvian vases; a polished
+stone, which served the Incas for a mirror; and a linen mantle, which
+formerly adorned their copper-coloured shoulders, as finely woven as a
+shawl, and flowered in very nearly a similar manner, the colours as
+fresh and vivid as if new.
+
+In the apartments of the academy is a most valuable collection of casts
+after the serene and graceful antique, and several fierce, obtrusive
+daubings by modern Spanish artists.
+
+I found our acute, intelligent chargé-d’affaires’[26] card lying on my
+table when I got home, and a great many more, of equal whiteness; such a
+sight chills me like a fall of snow, for I think of the cold idleness of
+going about day after day dropping little bits of pasteboard in return.
+Verdeil and I dined tête-à-tête, planning schemes how to escape formal
+fussifications. No easy matter, I suspect, if I may judge from
+appearances.
+
+Our repast and our council over, we hurried to the Prado, where a
+brilliant string of equipages was moving along in two files. In the
+middle paraded the state coaches of the royal family, containing their
+own precious selves, and their wonted accompaniment of bedchamber lords
+and ladies, duly bedizened. It was a gay spectacle; the music of the
+Swiss guards playing, and the evening sun shining bright on their showy
+uniforms. The botanic garden is separated from the walk by magnificent
+railings and pilasters, placed at regular distances, crowned with vases
+of aloes and yuccas. The verdure and fountains of this vast enclosure,
+terminated by a range of columned conservatories, with an entrance of
+very majestic architecture, has a delightful and striking effect.
+
+From the Prado I drove to the Portuguese ambassador’s, who is laid up
+with a sore toe. Three diplomatic animals, two males and one female,
+were nursing and comforting him. He is most supremely dull, and so are
+his comforters. One of them in particular, who shall be nameless, quite
+asinine.
+
+The little sympathy I feel for creatures of this genus, made me shorten
+my visit as much as I decently could, and return home to take up Roxas,
+who was waiting to accompany us to the Spanish theatre. They were acting
+the Barber of Seville, with Paesiello’s music, and singing better than
+at the opera. The entertainment ended with a sort of intermez, very
+characteristic of Spanish manners in low life; in which were introduced
+seguidillas. One of the dancers, a young fellow, smartly dressed as a
+maxo, so enraptured the audience, that they made him repeat his dance
+four times over; a French dancing-master would have absolutely shuddered
+at the manner in which he turned in his knees. The women sit by
+themselves in a gallery as dingy as limbo, wrapped up in their white
+mantillas, and looking like spectres. I never heard anything like the
+vociferation with which the pit called out for the seguidillas, nor the
+frantic, deafening applause they bestowed on their favourite dancer.
+
+The play ended at eight, and we came back to tea by our fireside.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER X.
+
+     Visit to the Escurial.--Imposing site of that regal
+     convent.--Reception by the Mystagogue of the place.--Magnificence
+     of the choir.--Charles the Fifth’s organ.--Crucifix by
+     Cellini.--Gorgeous ceiling painted by Luca Giordano.--Extent and
+     intricacy of the stupendous edifice.
+
+
+Thursday, Dec. 19th, 1787.
+
+I hate being roused out of bed by candlelight on a sharp wintry morning;
+but as I had fixed to-day for visiting the Escurial, and had stationed
+three relays on the road, in order to perform the journey expeditiously,
+I thought myself obliged to carry my plan into execution.
+
+The weather was cold and threatening, the sky red and deeply coloured.
+Roxas was to be of our party, so we drove to his brother, the Marquis of
+Villanueva’s, to take him up. He is one of the best-natured and most
+friendly of human beings, and I would not have gone without him upon
+any account; though in general I abhor turning and twisting about a town
+in search of any body, let its soul be never so transcendent.
+
+It was past eight before we issued out of the gates of Madrid, and
+rattled along an avenue on the banks of the Mançanares full gallop,
+which brought us to the Casa del Campo, one of the king’s palaces,
+wrapped up in groves and thickets. We continued a mile or two by the
+wall of this enclosure, and leaving La Sarsuela, another royal villa,
+surrounded by shrubby hillocks, on the right, traversed three or four
+leagues of a wild, naked country, and, after ascending several
+considerable eminences, the sun broke out, the clouds partially rolled
+away, and we discovered the white buildings of this far-famed monastery,
+with its dome and towers detaching themselves from the bold back-ground
+of a lofty, irregular mountain.
+
+We were now about a league off: the country wore a better aspect than
+near Madrid. To the right and left of the road, which is of a noble
+width, and perfectly well made, lie extensive parks of greensward,
+scattered over with fragments of rock and stumps of oak and ash-trees.
+Numerous herds of deer were standing stock-still, quietly lifting up
+their innocent noses, and looking us full in the face with their
+beautiful eyes, secure of remaining unmolested, for the King never
+permits a gun to be discharged in these enclosures.
+
+The Escurial, though overhung by melancholy mountains, is placed itself
+on a very considerable eminence, up which we were full half an hour
+toiling, the late rains having washed this part of the road into utter
+confusion. There is something most severely impressive in the façade of
+this regal convent, which, like the palace of Persepolis, is
+overshadowed by the adjoining mountain; nor did I pass through a vaulted
+cloister into the court before the church, solid as if hewn out of a
+rock, without experiencing a sort of shudder, to which no doubt the
+vivid recollection of the black and blood-stained days of our gloomy
+queen Mary’s husband not slightly contributed. The sun being again
+overcast, the porches of the church, surmounted by grim statues,
+appeared so dark and cavern-like, that I thought myself about to enter a
+subterraneous temple set apart for the service of some mysterious and
+terrible religion. And when I saw the high altar, in all its pomp of
+jasper-steps, ranks of columns one above the other, and paintings
+filling up every interstice, full before me, I felt completely awed.
+
+The sides of the recess, in which this imposing pile is placed, are
+formed by lofty chapels, almost entirely occupied by catafalques of gilt
+enamelled bronze. Here, with their crowns and sceptres humbly prostrate
+at their feet, bare-headed and unhelmed, kneel the figures, large as
+life, of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, and his imperious son, the
+second Philip, accompanied by those of their unhappy consorts and
+ill-fated children. My sensations of dread and dreariness were not
+diminished upon finding myself alone in such company; for Roxas had left
+me to deliver some letters to his right reverence the prior, which were
+to open to us all the arcana of this terrific edifice, at once a temple,
+a palace, a convent, and a tomb.
+
+Presently my amiable friend returned, and with him a tall old monk, with
+an ash-coloured forbidding countenance, and staring eyes, the expression
+of which was the farthest removed possible from anything like
+cordiality. This was the mystagogue of the place--the prior _in propria
+persona_, the representative of St. Jerome, as far as this monastery and
+its domain was concerned, and a disciplinarian of celebrated rigidness.
+He began examining me from head to foot, and, after what I thought
+rather a strange scrutiny, asked me in broad Spanish what I wished
+particularly to see. Then turning to Roxas, said loud enough for me to
+hear him, “He is very young; does he understand what I say to him? But,
+as I am peremptorily commanded to show him about, I suppose I must
+comply, though I am quite unused to the office of explaining our
+curiosities. However, if it must be, it must; so let us begin, and not
+dally. I have no time to spare, you well know, and have quite enough to
+do in the choir and the convent.”
+
+After this not very gracious exordium, we set forth on our tour. First
+we visited some apartments with vaulted roofs, painted in arabesque, in
+the finest style of the sixteenth century; and then a vast hall, which
+had been used for the celebration of mass, whilst the great church was
+building, where I saw the Perla in all its purity, the most
+delicately-finished work of Raphael, the Pesce, with its divine angel,
+graceful infant; and devout young Tobit, breathing the very soul of
+pious, unaffected simplicity. My attention was next attracted by that
+most profoundly pathetic of pictures, Jacob weeping over the bloody
+garment of his son; the loftiest proof in existence of the extraordinary
+powers of Velasquez in the noblest work of art.
+
+These three pictures so absorbed my admiration, that I had little left
+for a host of glorious performances by Titian and the highest masters,
+which cover the plain, massive walls of these conventual rooms with a
+paradise of glowing colours; so I passed along almost as rapidly as my
+grumbling cicerone could desire, and followed him up several flights of
+stairs, and through many and many an arched passage and vestibule, all
+of the sternest doric, into the choir, which is placed over the grand
+western entrance, right opposite, at the distance of more than two
+hundred feet, to the high altar and its solemn accompaniments. No regal
+chamber I ever beheld can be compared, in point of sober harmonious
+majesty, to this apartment, which looks more as if it belonged to a
+palace than to a church. The series of stalls, designed in a severer
+taste than was common in the sixteenth century, are carved out of the
+most precious woods the Indies could furnish. At the extremity of this
+striking perspective of onyx-coloured seats, columns, and canopies,
+appears suspended upon a black velvet pall that revered image of the
+crucified Saviour, formed of the purest ivory, which Cellini seems to
+have sculptured in moments of devout rapture and inspiration. It is by
+far his finest work; his Perseus, at Florence, is tame and laboured in
+comparison.
+
+In a long narrow corridor which runs behind the stalls, panelled all
+over like an inlaid cabinet, I was shown a beautiful little organ, in a
+richly chased silver case, which accompanied Charles the Fifth in his
+African expedition, and must often have gently beguiled the cares of
+empire, for he played on it, tradition says, almost every evening. That
+it is worth playing upon even now I can safely vouch, for I never
+touched any instrument with a tone of more delicious sweetness; and
+touch it I did, though my austere conductor, the sour-visaged prior,
+looked doubly forbidding on the occasion.
+
+The stalls I have just mentioned are much less ornamented than those I
+have seen in Pavia, and many other monasteries; the ceiling of this
+noblest of choirs, displays the utmost exuberance of decoration--the
+richest and most gorgeous of spectacles, the heavens and all the powers
+therein. Imagination can scarcely conceive the pomp and prodigality of
+pencil with which Luca Giordano has treated this subject, and filled
+every corner of the vast space it covers with well-rounded forms, that
+seem actually starting from the glowing clouds with which they are
+environed.
+
+“Is not this fine?” said the monk; “you can have nothing like it in your
+country. And now be pleased to move forward, for the day is wasting, and
+you will have little time left to examine our inestimable relics, and
+the jewelled shrines in which they are deposited.”
+
+We went down from the choir, I can scarcely tell whither, such is the
+extent and intricacy of this stupendous edifice. We passed, I believe,
+through some of the lateral chapels at the great church, into several
+quadrangles, one in particular, with a fountain under a cupola in the
+centre, surrounded by doric arcades, equal in justness of proportion and
+architectural terseness to Palladio’s court in the convent of S. Giorgio
+Maggiore.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+     Mysterious cabinets.--Relics of Martyrs.--A feather from the
+     Archangel Gabriel’s wing.--Labyrinth of gloomy
+     cloisters.--Sepulchral cave.--River of death.--The regal
+     sarcophagi.
+
+
+My lord the prior, not favouring a prolonged survey, I reluctantly left
+this beautiful court, and was led into a low gallery, roofed and
+wainscoted with cedar, lined on both sides by ranges of small doors of
+different-coloured Brazil-wood, looking in appearance, at least, as
+solid as marble. Four sacristans, and as many lay-brothers, with large
+lighted flambeaux of yellow wax in their hands, and who, by the by,
+never quitted us more the remainder of our peregrinations, stood silent
+as death, ready to unlock those mysterious entrances.
+
+The first they opened exhibited a buffet, or _credence_, three stories
+high, set out with many a row of grinning skulls, looking as pretty as
+gold and diamonds could make them; the second, every possible and
+impossible variety of odds and ends, culled from the carcasses of
+martyrs; the third, enormous ebony presses, the secrets of which I
+begged for pity’s sake might not be intruded upon for my recreation, as
+I began to be heartily wearied of sightseeing; but when my conductors
+opened the fourth mysterious door, I absolutely shrank back, almost
+sickened by a perfume of musk and ambergris.
+
+A spacious vault was now disclosed to me--one noble arch, richly
+panelled: had the pavement of this strange-looking chamber been strewn
+with saffron, I should have thought myself transported to the enchanted
+courser’s forbidden stable we read of in the tale of the Three
+Calenders.
+
+The prior, who is not easily pleased, seemed to have suspicions that the
+seriousness of my demeanour was not entirely orthodox; I overheard him
+saying to Roxas, “Shall I show him the Angel’s feather? you know we do
+not display this our most-valued, incomparable relic to everybody, nor
+unless upon special occasions.”--“The occasion is sufficiently
+special,” answered my partial friend; “the letters I brought to you are
+your warrant, and I beseech your reverence to let us look at this gift
+of heaven, which I am extremely anxious myself to adore and venerate.”
+
+Forth stalked the prior, and drawing out from a remarkably large cabinet
+an equally capacious sliding shelf--(the source, I conjecture, of the
+potent odour I complained of)--displayed lying stretched out upon a
+quilted silken mattress, the most glorious specimen of plumage ever
+beheld in terrestrial regions--a feather from the wing of the Archangel
+Gabriel, full three feet long, and of a blushing hue more soft and
+delicate than that of the loveliest rose. I longed to ask at what
+precise moment this treasure beyond price had been dropped--whether from
+the air--on the open ground, or within the walls of the humble tenement
+at Nazareth; but I repressed all questions of an indiscreet
+tendency--the why and wherefore, the when and how, for what and to whom
+such a palpable manifestation of archangelic beauty and wingedness had
+been vouchsafed.
+
+We all knelt in silence, and when we rose up after the holy feather had
+been again deposited in its perfumed lurking-place, I fancied the prior
+looked doubly suspicious, and uttered a sort of _humph_ very doggedly;
+nor did his ill-humour evaporate upon my desiring to be conducted to the
+library. “It is too late for you to see the precious books and
+miniatures by daylight,” replied the crusty old monk, “and you would not
+surely have me run the risk of dropping wax upon them. No, no, another
+time, another time, when you come earlier. For the present, let us visit
+the tomb of the catholic kings; there, our flambeaux will be of service
+without doing injury.”
+
+He led the way through a labyrinth of cloisters, gloomy as the grave;
+till ordering a grated door to be thrown open, the light of our
+flambeaux fell upon a flight of most beautiful marble steps, polished as
+a mirror, leading down between walls of the rarest jaspers to a portal
+of no great size, but enriched with balusters of rich bronze, sculptured
+architraves, and tablets of inscriptions, in a style of the greatest
+magnificence.
+
+As I descended the steps, a gurgling sound, like that of a rivulet,
+caught my ear. “What means this?” said I. “It means,” answered the monk,
+“that the sepulchral cave on the left of the stairs, where repose the
+bodies of many of our queens and infantas, is properly ventilated,
+running water being excellent for that purpose.” I went on, not lulled
+by these rippling murmurs, but chilled when I reflected through what
+precincts flows this river of death.
+
+Arrived at the bottom of the stairs, we passed through the portal just
+mentioned, and entered a circular saloon, not more than five-and-thirty
+feet in diameter, characterized by extreme elegance, not stern
+solemnity. The regal sarcophagi, rich in golden ornaments, ranged one
+above the other, forming panels of the most decorative kind; the lustre
+of exquisitely sculptured bronze, the pavement of mottled alabaster; in
+short, this graceful dome, covered with scrolls of the most delicate
+foliage, appeared to the eye of my imagination more like a subterranean
+boudoir, prepared by some gallant young magician for the reception of an
+enchanted and enchanting princess, than a temple consecrated to the
+king of terrors.
+
+My conductor’s visage growing longer and longer every minute, and
+looking pretty nearly as grim as that of the last-mentioned sovereign, I
+whispered Roxas it was full time to take our leave; which we did
+immediately after my intimating that express desire, to the no small
+satisfaction, I am perfectly convinced, of my lord the prior.
+
+Cold and hungry, for we had not been offered a morsel of refreshment, we
+repaired to a warm opulent-looking habitation belonging to one of my
+kind companion’s most particular friends, a much favoured attendant of
+his catholic Majesty’s; here we were received with open arms and
+generous hospitality; and it grew pitch dark before we quitted this
+comfortable shelter from the piercing winds, which blow almost
+perpetually over the Escurial, and returned to Madrid.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XII.
+
+     A concert and ball at Senhor Pacheco’s.--Curious assemblage in his
+     long pompous gallery.--Deplorable ditty by an eastern
+     dilettante.--A bolero in the most rapturous style.--Boccharini in
+     despair.--Solecisms in dancing.
+
+
+The mules galloped back at so rapid a rate, and their conductors bawled
+and screamed so lustily to encourage their exertions, that half my
+recollections of the Escurial were whirled out of my head before I
+reached my old quarters at the Cruz de Malta. I had quite forgotten,
+amongst other things, that I had actually accepted a most pressing
+invitation to a concert and ball at Pacheco’s this very evening.
+
+Pacheco is an old Portuguese, immensely rich, and who had been immensely
+favoured in the days of his youth by his august countrywoman, Queen
+Barbara, the consort of Ferdinand the sixth, and the patroness of
+Farinelli. He is uncle to madame Arriaga, her most Faithful Majesty’s
+most faithful and favourite attendant, and a person of such worship,
+that courtiers, ministers, and prelates, are too happy to congregate at
+his house, whenever he takes it into his head to allow them an
+opportunity.
+
+Though I had been half petrified by my cold ramble through the Escurial,
+under the prior’s still more chilling auspices, I had quite life enough
+left to obey Pacheco’s summons with alacrity; and as I expected to dance
+a great deal, I put on my dancing-dress, that of a maxo, with ties and
+tags, and trimmings and buttons, redecilla and all.
+
+I must confess, however, that I felt rather abashed and disappointed,
+upon entering Pacheco’s long pompous gallery, to find myself in the
+midst of diplomatic and ministerial personages, assembled in stiff gala
+to do honour to Achmet Vassif, whose musicians were seated on the carpet
+howling forth a deplorable ditty, composed, as the Armenian interpreter
+informed me, by one of the most impassioned and lovesick dilettantes of
+the east; no strain I ever heard was half so lugubrious, not even that
+of a dog baying the moon, or owls making their complaints to it.
+
+I could not help telling the ambassador, without the smallest
+circumlocution, that his tabor and pipe people I heard the other day
+accompanying a dulcimer, were far more worthy of praise than his vocal
+attendants; but this truth, like most others, did not exactly please;
+and I fear my reputation for musical connoisseurship was completely
+forfeited in his excellency’s estimation, for he looked a little glum
+upon the occasion. What surprised me most, after all, was the patience
+with which the whole assembly listened for full three-quarters of an
+hour to these languorous wailings.
+
+Amongst the audience, none bore the severe infliction with a greater
+degree of evangelical resignation than the grand inquisitor and the
+archbishop of Toledo; both these prelates have not only the look, but
+the character of beneficence, which promises a truce to the faggot and
+pitch-barrel; the expression of the archbishop’s countenance in
+particular is most engagingly mild and pleasing. He came up to me
+without the least reserve or formality, and taking me by the hand, said
+with a cheerful smile, “I see you are equipped for a dance, and have
+adopted our fashion; we all long to judge whether an Englishman can
+enter (as I hear you can) into the extravagant spirit of our national
+dances. I will speak to Pacheco, and desire him to form a diversion in
+your favour, by calling off these doleful minstrels to the rinfresco
+prepared for them.” And so he did, and there was an end of the concert,
+to my infinite joy, and the no less delight of the villa mayors and
+sabbatinis, with whom, without a moment’s farther delay, I sprang forth
+in a bolero.
+
+Down came all the Spanish musicians from their formal orchestra, too
+happy to escape its trammels; away went the foreign regulars, taking
+vehement pinches of snuff, with the most unequivocal expressions of
+anger and indignation. A circle was soon formed, a host of guitars put
+in immediate requisition, and never did I hear such wild, extravagant,
+passionate modulations.
+
+Boccharini, who led and presided over the Duchess of Ossuna’s concerts,
+and who had been lent to Pacheco as a special favour, witnessed these
+most original deviations from all established musical rule with the
+utmost contempt and dismay. He said to me in a loud whisper, “If _you_
+dance and _they_ play in this ridiculous manner, I shall never be able
+to introduce a decent style into our musical world here, which I
+flattered myself I was on the very point of doing. What possesses you?
+Is it the devil? Who could suppose that a reasonable being, an
+Englishman of all others, would have encouraged these inveterate
+barbarians in such absurdities. There’s a chromatic scream! there’s a
+passage! We have heard of robbing time; this is murdering it. What!
+again! Why, this is worse than a convulsive hiccup, or the last rattle
+in the throat of a dying malefactor. Give me the Turkish howlings in
+preference; they are not so obtrusive and impudent.”
+
+So saying, he moved off with a semi-seria stride, and we danced on with
+redoubled delight and joy. The quicker we moved, the more intrepidly we
+stamped with our feet, the more sonorously we snapped our fingers, the
+better reconciled the sublime Effendi appeared to be with me. He forgot
+my critiques upon his vocal performers: he rose up from his snug
+cushion, and nodded his turbaned head, and expressed his delight, not
+only by word and gesture, but in a most comfortable orientalish sort of
+chuckling. As to the rest of the company, the Spanish part at least,
+they were so much animated, that not less than twenty voices accompanied
+the bolero with its appropriate words in full chorus, and with a glow of
+enthusiasm that inspired my lovely partners and myself with such energy,
+that we outdid all our former outdancings.
+
+“Is it possible,” exclaimed an old fandango-fancier of great
+notoriety--“is it possible, that a son of the cold north can have learnt
+all our rapturous flings and stampings?”--“The French never _could_, or
+rather never _would_,” observed a Monsieur Gaudin, one of the Duke de la
+V----’s secretaries, who was standing by perfectly astounded.
+
+Who persecute like renegades? who are so virulent against their former
+sect as fresh converts to another? This was partly my case; though my
+dancing and musical education had been strictly orthodox, according to
+the precepts of Mozart and Sacchini, of Vestris and Gardel, I declared
+loudly there was no music but Spanish, no dancing but Spanish, no
+salvation in either art out of the Spanish pale, and that, compared with
+such rapturous melodies, such inspired movements, the rest of Europe
+afforded only examples of dullness and insipidity. I would not allow my
+former instructors a spark of merit; and at the very moment I was
+committing solecisms in good dancing at every step, and stamping and
+piaffing like a courser but half-broken in at a manège, I felt and
+looked as firmly persuaded of the truth of my impudent assertions as the
+greatest bigot of his nonsense in some untried new-fangled superstition.
+Success, founded or unfounded, is everything in this world. We too well
+know the sad fate of merit. I am more than apt to conjecture we were but
+very slightly entitled to any applause; yet the transports we called
+forth were as fervid as those the famous Le Pique excited at Naples in
+the zenith of his popularity.
+
+The British and American ministers, who were standing by the whole time,
+enjoyed this amusing proof of Spanish fanaticism, in its profane mood,
+with all the zest of intelligent and shrewd observers. Pisani, the
+Venetian ambassador, inclined decidedly to the southern side of the
+question. He was bound, heart and soul, by a variety of silken ties to
+the Spanish interest, and had almost forgotten the fascinations of
+Venice in those of Andalusia. Consequently I had his vote in my favour.
+Not so that of the Duchess of Ossuna, Boccharini’s patroness. She said
+to me in the plainest language, “You are making the greatest fool of
+yourself I ever beheld; and as to those riotous self-taught hoydens,
+your partners, I tell you what, they are scarcely worthy to figure in
+the third rank at a second-rate theatre. Come along with me, and I will
+present you to my mother, the Countess of Benevente, who gives a very
+different sort of education to the charming young women she admits to
+her court.”
+
+I had heard of this court and its delectabilities, and at the same time
+been informed that its throne was a faro-table, to which the initiated
+were imperatively expected to become tributaries. The sovereign, old
+Benevente, is the most determined hag of her rout-giving, card-playing
+species in Europe, of the highest birth, the highest consequence, and
+the principal disposer, by long habit and old cortejo-ship, of Florida
+Blanca’s good graces.
+
+Notwithstanding the severe regulations against gambling societies, most
+severely enforced at Madrid; notwithstanding the prime minister’s
+morality, and the still higher morality of his royal master, this great
+lady’s aberrations of every kind are most complaisantly winked at; she
+is allowed not only to set up under her own princely roof a refuge for
+the desolate, in the most delicate style of Spanish refinement, for the
+kind purpose of enchanting all persons sufficiently favoured by fortune
+to merit admission to her parties, by every blandishment and
+languishment the most seductive eyes of Seville and Cadiz she had
+collected together could throw around them; but so sure as the hour of
+midnight arrived, and Florida Blanca (who never fails paying his devoirs
+to the countess every evening) had made his retiring bow, so sure a
+confidential party of illuminati, of unsleeping partners in the
+gambling-line, made their appearance, heavily laden with well-stored
+caskets.
+
+Now came the tug of play, and hope, and fear in all their thrilling and
+throbbing alternations; but, to say truth, I was so completely jaded and
+worn-out that I partook of neither, and was too happy, after losing
+almost unconsciously a few dobras, to be allowed to retire; old
+Benevente calling out to me, with the croak of a vulture scenting its
+prey from afar, _Cavallero Inglez, a mañana a la misma hora_.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIII.
+
+     Palace of Madrid.--Masterly productions of the great Italian,
+     Spanish, and Flemish painters.--The King’s sleeping
+     apartment.--Musical clocks.--Feathered favourites.--Picture of the
+     Madonna del Spasimo.--Interview with Don Gabriel and the
+     Infanta.--Her Royal Highness’s affecting recollections of
+     home.--Head-quarters of Masserano.--Exhibition of national manners
+     there.
+
+
+Monday, 24th Dec. 1787.
+
+I shall have the megrims for want of exercise, like my friend Achmet
+Vassif, if I don’t alter my way of life. This morning I only took a
+listless saunter in the Prado, and returned early to dinner, with a very
+slight provision of fresh air in my lungs. Roxas was with me, hurrying
+me out of all appetite that I might see the palace by daylight; and so
+to the palace we went, and it was luckily a bright ruddy afternoon, the
+sun gilding a grand confusion of mountainous clouds, and chequering the
+wild extent of country between Madrid and the Escurial with powerful
+effects of light and shade.
+
+I cannot praise the front of the palace very warmly. In the centre of
+the edifice starts up a whimsical sort of turret, with gilt bells, the
+vilest ornament that could possibly have been imagined. The interior
+court is of pure and classic architecture, and the great staircase so
+spacious and well-contrived that you arrive almost imperceptibly at the
+portal of the guard-chamber. Every door-case and window recess of this
+magnificent edifice gleams with the richest polished marbles: the
+immense and fortress-like thickness of the walls, and double panes of
+the strongest glass, exclude the keen blasts which range almost
+uninterrupted over the wide plains of Castile, and preserve an admirable
+temperature throughout the whole extent of these royal rooms, the
+grandeur, and at the same time comfort, of which cannot possibly be
+exceeded.
+
+The king, the prince of Asturias, and the chief part of their
+attendants, were all absent hunting in the park of the Escurial; but the
+reposteros, or curtain-drawers of the palace, having received particular
+orders for my admittance, I enjoyed the entire liberty of wandering
+about unrestrained and unmolested. Roxas having left me to join a gay
+party of the royal body-guard in Masserano’s apartments, I remained in
+total solitude, surrounded by the pure unsullied works of the great
+Italian, Spanish, and Flemish painters, fresh as the flowers of a
+parterre in early morning, and many of them as beautiful in point of
+hues.
+
+Not a door being closed, I penetrated through the chamber of the throne
+even into the old king’s sleeping-apartment, which, unlike the dormitory
+of most of his subjects, is remarkable for extreme neatness. A book of
+pious orisons, with engravings by Spanish artists, and containing,
+amongst other prayers in different languages, one adapted to the
+exclusive use of majesty, _Regi solo proprius_, was lying on his
+praying-desk; and at the head of the richly-canopied, but uncurtained
+bed, I noticed with much delight an enamelled tablet by Mengs,
+representing the infant Saviour appearing to Saint Anthony of Padua.
+
+In this room, as in all the others I passed through, without any
+exception, stood cages of gilded wire, of different forms and sizes,
+and in every cage a curious exotic bird, in full song, each trying to
+out-sing his neighbour. Mingled with these warblings was heard at
+certain intervals the low chime of musical clocks, stealing upon the ear
+like the tones of harmonic glasses. No other sound broke in any degree
+the general stillness, except, indeed, the almost inaudible footsteps of
+several aged domestics, in court-dresses of the cut and fashion
+prevalent in the days of the king’s mother, Elizabeth Farnese, gliding
+along quietly and cautiously to open the cages, and offer their inmates
+such dainties as highly-educated birds are taught to relish. Much
+fluttering and cowering down ensued in consequence of these attentions,
+and much rubbing of bills and scratching of poles on my part, as well as
+on that of the smiling old gentlemen.
+
+As soon as the ceremony of pampering these feathered favourites had been
+most affectionately performed, I availed myself of the light reflected
+from a clear sun-set to examine the pictures, chiefly of a religious
+cast, with which these stately apartments are tapestried; particularly
+the Madonna del Spasimo, that vivid representation of the blessed
+Virgin’s maternal agony, when her divine son, fainting under the
+burthen of the cross, approached to ascend the mount of torture, and
+complete the awful mystery of redemption. Raphael never attained in any
+other of his works such solemn depth of colour, such majesty of
+character, as in this triumph of his art. “Never was sorrow like unto
+the sorrow” he has depicted in the Virgin’s countenance and attitude;
+never was the expression of a sublime and God-like calm in the midst of
+acute suffering conveyed more closely home to the human heart than in
+the face of Christ.
+
+I stood fixed in the contemplation of this holy vision--for such I
+almost fancied it to be--till the approaching shadows of night had
+overspread every recess of these vast apartments: still I kept intensely
+gazing upon the picture. I knew it was time to retire,--still I gazed
+on. I was aware that Roxas had been long expecting me in Masserano’s
+apartments,--still I could not snatch myself away; the Virgin mother
+with her outstretched arms still haunted me. The song of the birds had
+ceased, as well as the soft diapason of the self-playing organs;--all
+was hushed, all tranquil. I departed at length with the languid
+unwillingness of an enthusiast exhausted by the intensity of his
+feelings and loth to arouse himself from the bosom of grateful
+illusions.
+
+Just as I reached the portal of the great stairs, whom should I meet but
+Noronha advancing towards me with a hurried step. “Where are you going
+so fast?” said he to me, “and where have you been staying so long? I
+have been sending repeatedly after you to no purpose; you must come with
+me immediately to the Infanta and Don Gabriel, they want to ask you a
+thousand questions about the Ajuda: the letters you brought them from
+Marialva, and the archbishop in particular, have, I suppose, inspired
+that wish; and as royal wishes, you know, cannot be too speedily
+gratified, you must kiss their hands this very evening. I am to be your
+introductor.”--“What!” said I, “in this unceremonious dress?”--“Yes,”
+said the ambassador, “I have heard that you are not a pattern of
+correctness in these matters.” I wished to have been one in this
+instance. At this particular moment I was in no trim exteriorly or
+interiorly for courtly introductions. I thought of nothing but birds and
+pictures, and had much rather have been presented to a cockatoo than to
+the greatest monarch in Christendom.
+
+However, I put on the best face I was able, and we proceeded together
+very placidly to that part of the palace assigned to Don Gabriel and his
+blooming bride. The doors of a coved ante-chamber flew open, and after
+passing through an enfilade of saloons peopled with ladies-in-waiting
+and pages, (some mere children,) we entered a lofty chamber hung with
+white satin, formed into compartments by a rich embroidery of gold and
+colours, and illuminated by a lustre of rock crystal.
+
+At the farther extremity of the apartment, stood the Infant Don Gabriel,
+leaning against a table covered with velvet, on which I observed a case
+of large golden antique medals he was in the very act of contemplating:
+the Infanta was seated near. She rose up most graciously to hold out a
+beautiful hand, which I kissed with unfeigned fervour: her countenance
+is most prepossessing; the same florid complexion, handsome features,
+and open exhilarating smile which distinguishes her brother the Prince
+of Brazil.
+
+“Ah,” said her royal highness with great earnestness, “you have then
+lately seen my dear mother, and walked perhaps in the little garden I
+was so fond of; did you notice the fine flowers that grow there?
+particularly the blue carnation; we have not such flowers at Madrid;
+this climate is not like that of Portugal, nor are our views so
+pleasant; I miss the azure Tagus, and your ships continually sailing up
+it; but when you write to your friend Marialva and the archbishop, tell
+them, I possess what no other prospect upon earth can equal, the smiles
+of an adored husband.”
+
+The Infant now approached towards me with a look of courteous benignity
+that reminded me strongly of the Bourbons, nor could I trace in his
+frank kindly manner the least leaven of Austrian hauteur or Spanish
+starchness. After inquiring somewhat facetiously how the Duke d’Alafoens
+and the Portuguese academicians proceeded on their road to the temple of
+fame, he asked me whether our universities continued to be the favoured
+abode of classical attainments, and if the books they printed were as
+correct and as handsome now as in the days of the Stuarts; adding that
+his private collection contained some copies which had formerly
+belonged to the celebrated Count of Oxford. This was far too good an
+opportunity of putting in a word to the praise and glory of his own
+famous translation of Sallust, to be neglected; so I expressed
+everything he could have wished to hear upon the subject.
+
+“You are very good,” observed his royal highness; “but to tell you the
+truth, it was hard work for me. I began it, and so I went on, and lost
+many a day’s wholesome exercise in our parks and forests: however, such
+as it is, I performed my task without any assistance, though you may
+perhaps have heard the contrary.”
+
+It was now Noronha’s turn to begin complimenting, which he did with all
+the high court mellifluence of an accredited family ambassador: whether,
+indeed, the Infant received as gospel all the fine things that were said
+to him I won’t answer, but he looked even kinder and more gracious than
+at our first entrance. The Infanta recurred again and again to the
+subject of the Ajuda, and appeared so visibly affected that she awakened
+all my sympathies; for I, too, had left those behind me on the banks of
+the Tagus for whom I felt a fond and indelible regard. As we were
+making our retiring bows, I saw tears gathering in her eyes, whilst she
+kept gracefully waving her hand to bid us a happy night.
+
+The impressions I received from this interview were not of a nature to
+allow my enjoying with much vivaciousness the next scene to which I was
+transported--the head-quarters of Masserano, whom I found in unusually
+high spirits surrounded by a train of gay young officers, rapping out
+the rankest Castilian oaths, quaffing their flowing cups of champagne
+and val de peñas, and playing off upon each other, not exactly the most
+decorous specimens of practical wit.
+
+Roxas looked rather abashed at so unrefined an exhibition of national
+manners: Noronha had taken good care to keep aloof, and I regretted not
+having followed his example.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIV.
+
+     A German Visionary.--Remarkable conversation with him.--History of
+     a Ghost-seer.
+
+
+It is not at every corner of life that we stumble upon an intrinsically
+singular character: to-day however, at Noronha’s, I fell in with a Saxon
+count,[27] who justly answers to that description. This man is not only
+thoroughly imbued with the theoretical mysticism of the German school,
+but has most firmly persuaded himself, and hundreds besides, that he
+holds converse with the souls of the departed. Though most impressive
+and even extravagant upon this subject, when started, he proves himself
+a man of singular judgment upon most others, is a good geometrician, an
+able chymist, a mineralogist of no ordinary proficiency, and has made
+discoveries in the art of smelting metals, which have been turned
+already to useful purpose. Yet nothing can beat out of this cool
+reflective head, that magical operations may be performed to evident
+effect, and the devil most positively evocated.
+
+I thought, at first sight, there was a something uncouth and ghostly in
+his appearance, that promised strange communications; he has a careworn
+look, a countenance often convulsed with apparently painful twitches,
+and a lofty skull, set off with bristling hair, powdered as white as
+Caucasus.
+
+Notwithstanding I by no means courted his acquaintance, he was resolved
+to make up to me, and dissipate by the smoothest address he could
+assume, any prejudices his uncommon cast of features might have
+inspired. Drawing his chair close to mine, whilst Noronha and his party
+were busily engaged at voltarete, he tried to allure my attention by
+throwing out hints of the wonders within reach of a person born under
+the smile of certain constellations: that I was the person he meant to
+insinuate, I have little doubt. Having heard that fortune had conferred
+upon me some few of her golden gifts, he thought, perhaps, that I might
+be _fused_ to advantage, like any other lump of the precious metals. Be
+his motives what they may, he certainly took as many pains to wind
+himself into my good opinion as if I had actually been the prime
+favourite of a planet, or a distant cousin by some diabolical
+intermarriage, in the style of one of the Plantagenet matches, of old
+Beelzebub himself.
+
+After a good deal of conversation upon different subjects, chiefly of a
+sombrous nature, happening to ask him if he had known Schröffer, the
+most renowned ghost-seer in all Germany,--“Intimately well,” was his
+reply; “a bold young man, not so free, alas! from sensual taint as the
+awful career he had engaged in demanded,--he rushed upon danger
+unprepared, at an unhallowed moment--his fate was terrible. I passed a
+week with him not six months before he disappeared in the frightful
+manner you have heard of; it was a week of mental toil and suffering, of
+fasts and privations of various natures, and of sights sufficiently
+appalling to drive back the whole current of the blood from the heart.
+It was at this period that, returning one dark and stormy night from
+trying experiments upon living animals, more excruciating than any the
+keenest anatomist ever perpetrated, I found lying upon my chair, coiled
+up in a circle like the symbol of eternity, an enormous snake of a
+deadly lead colour; it neither hissed nor moved for several minutes:
+during this pause, whilst I remained aghast looking full upon it, a
+voice more like the whisper of trees than any sound of human utterance,
+articulated certain words, which I have retained, and used to powerful
+effect in moments of peril and extreme urgency.”
+
+I shall not easily forget the strange inquisitive look he gave me whilst
+making this still stranger communication; he saw my curiosity was
+excited, and flattered himself he had made upon me the impression he
+meditated; but when I asked, with the tone of careless levity, what
+became of the snake on the cushion, after the voice had ceased, he shook
+his white locks somewhat angrily, and croaked forth with a formidable
+German accent, “Ask no more--ask no more--you are not in a disposition
+at present sufficiently pure and serious to comprehend what I _might_
+disclose. Ask no more.”--For this time at least I most implicitly obeyed
+him.
+
+Promising to call upon me and continue our conversation any day or hour
+I might choose to appoint, he glided off so imperceptibly, that had I
+been a little more persuaded of the possibility of supernatural
+occurrences, I might have believed he had actually vanished. “A good
+riddance,” said Noronha; “I don’t half like that man, nor can I make out
+why Florida Blanca is so gracious to him.”--“I rather suspect he is a
+spy upon us all,” observed the Sardinian ambassadress, who made one of
+the voltarete party; “and though he guessed right about the winning card
+last night at the Countess of Benevente’s, I am determined not to invite
+him to dinner again in a hurry.”
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XV.
+
+     Madame Bendicho.--Unsuccessful search on the Prado.--Kauffman, an
+     infidel in the German style.--Mass in the chapel of the
+     Virgin.--The Duchess of Alba’s villa.--Destruction by a young
+     French artist of the paintings of Rubens.--French ambassador’s
+     ball.--Heir-apparent of the house of Medina Celi.
+
+
+Sunday, Jan. 13th.
+
+Kauffman[28] accompanied me to the Prado this morning, where we met
+Madame Bendicho and her faithful Expilly, (a famous tactician in war or
+peace,) who told me that somebody I thought particularly interesting was
+not far off. This intelligence imparted to me such animation, that
+Kauffman was obliged to take long strides to equal my pace. I traversed
+the whole Prado without meeting the object of my pursuit, and found
+myself almost unconsciously in the court before the ugly front of the
+church of Atocha. A tide of devotees carried us into the chapel of the
+Virgin, which is hung round with trophies, and ex-voto’s, legs, arms,
+and fingers, in wax and plaster.
+
+Kauffman is three parts an infidel in the German style, but I advised
+him to kneel with something like Castilian solemnity, and hear out a
+mass which was none of the shortest, the priest being old, and much
+given to the wiping and adjusting of spectacles, a pair of which,
+uncommonly large and lustrous, I thought he would never have succeeded
+in fitting to his nose.
+
+We happened to kneel under the shade of some banners which the British
+lion was simple enough to let slip out of his paws during the last war.
+The colours of fort St. Philip dangled immediately above my head.
+Amongst the crowd of Our Lady’s worshippers I espied one of the gayest
+of my ball-room acquaintances, the young Duke of Arion, looking like a
+strayed sheep, and smiting his breast most piteously.
+
+A tiresome salve regina being ended, I measured back my steps to the
+Prado, and at length discovered the person of all others I wished most
+to see, strictly guarded by mamma. I accompanied them to their door,
+and returned loiteringly and lingeringly home, where I found Infantado,
+who had been waiting for me above half an hour. With him I rode out on
+the Toledo road to see a pompous bridge, or rather viaduct; for the
+river it spans, even in this season, is scarcely copious enough to turn
+the model of a mill-wheel, much less the reality.
+
+From this spot we went to a villa lately purchased by the Duchess of
+Alba, and which, I was told, Rubens had once inhabited. True enough, we
+found a conceited young French artist in the arabesque and cupid line,
+busily employed in pouncing out the last memorials in this spot of that
+great painter; reminiscences of favourite pictures he had thrown off in
+fresco, upon what appeared a rich crimson damask ground. Yes, I
+witnessed this vandalish operation, and saw large flakes of stucco
+imprinted with the touches of Rubens fall upon the floor, and heard the
+wretch who was perpetrating the irreparable act sing, “Veillons mes
+sœurs, veillons encorrre,” with a strong Parisian accent, all the
+while he was slashing away.
+
+My sweet temper was so much ruffled by this spectacle, that I begged to
+be excused any further excursion, and returned home to dress and
+compose myself, while Infantado went back to his palace. I soon joined
+him, having been invited to dine with his right virtuous and estimable
+papa. Thank heaven the rage for Frenchified decoration has not yet
+reached this plain but princely abode, which remains in noble Castilian
+simplicity, with all its famed pictures untouched and uncontaminated.
+
+As soon as the old duke had retired to his evening’s devotions, we
+hurried to the French ambassador’s ball, where I met fewer saints than
+sinners, and saw nothing particularly edifying, except the semi-royal
+race of the Medina Celis dancing “high and disposedly.” Cogolhudo, the
+heir-apparent of this great house, is a good-natured, busy personage,
+but his illustrious consort, who has been recently appointed to the
+important office of Camerara mayor, or mistress of the robes to the
+image of Our Lady of La Soledad, is a great deal less kindly and
+affable.[29]
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVI.
+
+     Visit from the Turkish Ambassador.--Stroll to the gardens of the
+     Buen Retiro.--Troop of ostriches.--Madame d’Aranda.--State of
+     Cortejo-ism.--Powers of drapery.--Madame d’Aranda’s
+     toilet.--Assembly at the house of Madame Badaan.--Cortejos off
+     duty.--Blaze of beauty.--A curious group.--A dance.
+
+
+Sunday, 23rd.
+
+Every morning I have the pleasure of supplying the Grand Signior’s
+representative with rolls and brioche, baked at home for my breakfast;
+and this very day he came himself in one of the king’s lumbering state
+coaches, with some of his special favourites, to thank me for these
+piping hot attentions. We had a great deal of conversation about the
+marvels of London, though he seemed stoutly convinced that in every
+respect Islembul exceeded it ten times over.
+
+As soon as he moved off, I strolled to the gardens of the Buen Retiro,
+which contains neither statues nor fountains worth describing. They
+cover a vast extent of sandy ground, in which there is no prevailing
+upon anything vegetable or animal to thrive, except ostriches, a troop
+of which were striding about in high spirits, apparently as much at home
+as in their own native parched-up deserts.
+
+Roxas dined with us, and we went together in the evening to the French
+ambassador’s, the Duke de la V****. His daughter, a fine young woman of
+eighteen or nineteen, is married to the Prince de L****, a smart
+stripling, who has scarcely entered his fifteenth year; the ambassador
+is no trifling proficient in political intrigue, no common-place twister
+and turner in the paths of diplomacy, looks about him with calm and
+polished indifference, though full of hazardous schemes and projects;
+ever in secret ferment, and a Jesuit to the heart’s core. I could not
+help noticing his quiet, observing eye--the still eye of a serpent lying
+perdue in a cave. In his address and manners he is quite a model of
+high-bred ease, without the slightest tincture of pedantry or
+affectation.
+
+Madame la Duchesse is a great deal fonder of fine phrases, which she
+does not always reserve for grand occasions. Their son, the Prince de
+C***, amused me beyond bounds with his lightning-like flashes of wit and
+merriment, at the expense of Madrid and its tertullias. Upon the whole,
+I like this family very much, and ardently wish they may like me.
+
+I could not stay with them so long as I desired, Roxas having promised
+to present me to Madame d’Aranda, whose devoted friend and _cortejo_ he
+has the consummate pleasure to be. Happy the man who has the good
+fortune of being attached by such delicious, though not quite strictly
+sacred ties, to so charming a little creature; but in general the state
+of cortejo-ism is far from enviable. You are the sworn victim of all the
+lady’s caprices, and can never move out of the rustle of her black silk
+petticoats, or beyond the wave of her fan, without especial permission,
+less frequently granted with complacence than refused with asperity. I
+imagine she has very good-naturedly given him leave of absence to show
+me about this royal village, or else I should think he would hardly
+venture to spare me so much of his company.
+
+We found her sitting _en famille_ with her sister, and two young boys
+her brothers, over a silver brazier in a snug interior apartment hung
+with a bright valencia satin. She showed me the most pleasing marks of
+civility and attention, and ordered her own apartments to be lighted up,
+that I might see its magnificent furniture to advantage. The bed, of the
+richest blue velvet trimmed with point lace, is beautifully shaped, and
+placed in a spacious and deep recess hung round with an immense
+profusion of ample curtains.
+
+I wonder architects and fitters up of apartments do not avail themselves
+more frequently of the powers of drapery. Nothing produces so grand and
+at the same time so comfortable an effect. The moment I have an
+opportunity I will set about constructing a tabernacle, larger than the
+one I arranged at Ramalhaô, and indulge myself in every variety of plait
+and fold that can possibly be invented.
+
+Madame d’Aranda’s toilet, designed by Moite the sculptor and executed by
+Auguste, is by far the most exquisite _chef-d’œuvre_ of the kind I
+ever saw. Poor thing! she has every exterior delight the pomps and
+vanities of the world can give; but she is married to a man old enough
+to be her grandfather, and looks as pale and drooping as a narcissus or
+lily of the valley would appear if stuck in Abraham’s bosom, and
+continually breathed upon by that venerable patriarch.
+
+After passing a delightful hour in what appeared to me an ethereal sort
+of fairy-land, we went to a far more earthly abode, that of a Madame
+Badaan, who is so obliging as to give immense assemblies once or twice a
+week, in rather confined apartments. This small, but convenient
+habitation, is no idle or unimportant resort for cortejos off duty, or
+in search of novel adventures. Several of these disbanded worthies were
+lounging about in the mean time, quite lackadaisically. There was a
+blaze of beauty in every corner of the room, sufficient to enchant those
+the least given to being enchanted; and there frisked the two little
+Sabatinis, half Spanish, half Italian, sporting their neatly turned
+ankles; and there sat Madame de Villamayor in all her pride, and her
+daughters so full of promise; and the Marchioness of Santa Cruz, with
+her dark hair and blue eyes, in all her loveliness. How delighted my
+friend, the Effendi, must have been upon entering such a paradise, which
+he soon did after we arrived there, followed by his Armenian
+interpreter, whom I like better than the Greek, Timoni, with his prying,
+squirrelish look, and malicious propensities.
+
+The ambassador found me out almost immediately, and taking me to an
+angle of the apartment, where a well-cushioned divan had been prepared
+for his lollification, made me sit down by him whether I would or not.
+We were just settled, when a bevy of young tits dressed out in a
+fantastic, blowzy style, with sparkling eyes and streaming ribbons, drew
+their chairs round us, and began talking a strange lingua-franca,
+composed of three or four different languages. We must have formed a
+curious group; I was declaiming and gesticulating with all my might,
+reciting scraps of Hafiz and Mesihi, whilst the ladies, none of the
+tallest, who were seated on low chairs, kept perking up their pretty
+little inquisitive faces in the very beard of the stately Moslem, whose
+solemn demeanour formed an amusing contrast to their giddy vivacity.
+
+Madame Badaan and her spouse, the very best people in the world, and the
+readiest to afford their company all possible varieties of
+accommodation, sent for the most famous band of musicians Madrid could
+boast of, and proposed a dance for the entertainment of his bearded
+excellency. Accordingly, thirteen or fourteen couples started, and
+boleroed and fandangoed away upon a thick carpet for an hour or two,
+without intermission. There are scarcely any boarded floors in Madrid,
+so the custom of dancing upon rugs is universally established.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVII.
+
+     Valley of Aranjuez.--The island garden.--The palace.--Strange
+     medley of pictures.--Oratories of the King and the
+     Queen.--Destruction of a grand apartment painted in fresco by
+     Mengs.--Boundless freedom of conduct in the present
+     reign.--Decoration of the Duchess of Ossuna’s house.--Apathy
+     pervading the whole Iberian peninsula.
+
+
+Tuesday, December 1st, 1795.
+
+It was on a clear bright morning (scarce any frost) that we left a
+wretched place called Villatoba, falling into ruins like almost all the
+towns and villages I have seen in Spain. The sky was so transparent, so
+pearly, and the sunbeams so fresh and reviving, that the country
+appeared pleasant in spite of its flatness and aridity. Every tree has
+been cut down, and all chance of their being replaced precluded by the
+wandering flocks of sheep, goats and swine, which rout, and grout, and
+nibble uncontrolled and unmolested.
+
+At length, after a tedious drive through vast tracts of desolate
+country, scarce a house, scarce a shrub, scarce a human being to meet
+with, we descended a rapid declivity, and I once more found myself in
+the valley of Aranjuez. The avenues of poplar and plane have shot up to
+a striking elevation since I saw them last. The planes on the banks of
+the Tagus incline most respectfully towards its waters; they are
+vigorously luxuriant, although planted only seven years ago, as the
+gardener informed me.
+
+Charles the Fifth’s elms in the island-garden close to the palace are
+decaying apace. I visited the nine venerable stumps close to a hideous
+brick-ruin; the largest measures forty or fifty feet in girth; the roots
+are picturesquely fantastic. The fountains, like the shades in which
+they are embowered, are rapidly going to decay: the bronze Venus, at the
+fountain which takes its name from Don John of Austria, has lost her
+arm.
+
+Notwithstanding the dreariness of the season with all its accompaniment
+of dry leaves and faded herbage, this historic garden had still charms;
+the air was mild, and the sunbeams played on the Tagus, and many a bird
+flitted from spray to spray. Several long alleys of the loftiest elms,
+their huge rough trunks mantled with ivy, and their grotesque roots
+advancing and receding like grotto-work into the walk, struck me as
+singularly pleasing.
+
+The palace has not been long completed; the additions made by Charles
+the Third agree not ill with the original edifice. It is a comfortable,
+though not a magnificent abode; walls thick, windows cheerfully glazed
+in two panels, neat low chimney-pieces in many of the apartments; few
+traces of the days of the Philips; scarce any furniture that bespeak an
+ancient family. A flimsy modern style, half Italian, half French,
+prevails. Even the pictures are, in point of subjects, preservation,
+originality, and masters, as strangely jumbled together as in the
+dominions of an auctioneer. This may be accounted for by their being
+collected indiscriminately by the present King, whilst prince of
+Asturias. Amongst innumerable trash, I noticed a Crucifixion by Mengs;
+not overburthened with expression, but finely coloured; the back-ground
+and sky most gloomily portentous, and producing a grand effect of light
+and shade. The interior of a gothic church, by Peter Neef, so fine, so
+clear, so silvery in point of tint, as to reconcile me, (for the moment,
+at least,) to this harsh, stiff master; the figures exquisite, the
+preservation perfect; no varnish, no retouches.
+
+A set of twelve small cabinet pictures, touched with admirable spirit by
+Teniers, the subjects taken from the Gierusalemme Liberata, treated as
+familiarly as if the boozy painter had been still copying his
+pot-companions. Armida’s palace is a little round summer-house; she
+herself, habited like a burgher’s frouw in her holiday garments, holds a
+Nuremberg-shaped looking-glass up to the broad vulgar face of a boorish
+Rinaldo. The fair Naiads, comfortably fat, and most invitingly smirkish,
+are naked to be sure, but a pile of furbelowed garments and farthingales
+is ostentatiously displayed on the bank of the water; close by a small
+table covered with a neat white tablecloth, and garnished with silver
+tankards, cold pie, and salvers of custard and jellies. All these vulgar
+accessories are finished with scrupulous delicacy.
+
+Several oratories open into the royal apartments. One set apart for the
+Queen is adorned with a very costly, and at the same time beautiful
+altar, rich, simple, and majestic; not an ornament is lavished in vain.
+Two Corinthian columns of a most beautiful purple and white marble,
+sustain a pediment, as highly polished and as richly mottled as any
+agate I ever beheld; the capitals are bronze splendidly gilt, so is the
+foliage of the consoles supporting the slab which forms the altar. The
+design, the materials, the workmanship, are all Spanish, and do the
+nation credit.
+
+The king’s oratory is much larger, and not ill-designed; the proportion
+is good, about twenty-six by twenty-two, and twenty-four high, besides a
+solemn recess for the altar. The walls entirely covered with
+fresco-painting; saints, prophets, clouds, and angels, in grand
+confusion. The sides of the arch, and all the frame of the altar-piece,
+are profusely and solidly gilt. A plinth of jasper, and a skirting about
+three feet high, of a light-grey marble, streaked with black, not unlike
+the capricious ramifications on mocho-stones, and polished as a mirror,
+is continued round the room, so that nothing meets the eye but the rich
+gleam of gold, painting, and marble, all blended together in one
+glowing tint. The pavement, too, of different Spanish marbles, is a
+_chef-d’œuvre_ of workmanship. I particularly admired the soft
+ivory-hue of the white marble, but my conductor allowed it little merit
+when compared with that of Italy: I think him mistaken in this remark,
+and heartily wish him so in many others.
+
+This conductor, an old snuffling domestic of the late king, was rather
+forward in making his remarks upon times present. A sort of Piedmontese
+in my train, I believe the master of the fonda where I lodge, pointing
+to a _manege_ now building, asked for whom it was designed, the King or
+the Duke d’Alcudia? “For both, no doubt,” was the answer; “what serves
+one serves the other.” In the royal tribune, I was informed, with a
+woful shrug, that the King, thank God! continued to be exact and fervent
+in his devotions; never missing mass a single day, and frequently
+spending considerable time in mental prayer; but that the Queen was
+scandalously remiss, and seldom appeared in the chapels, except when
+some slender remains of etiquette render her presence indispensable.
+
+The chapel, repaired after designs of Sabbatini, an old Italian
+architect, much in favour with Charles the Third, has merit, and is
+remarkable for the just distribution of light, which produces a solemn
+religious effect. The three altars are noble, and their paintings good.
+One in particular, on the right, dedicated to St. Anthony, immediately
+attracted my attention by the effulgence of glory amidst which the
+infant Jesus is descending to caress the kneeling saint, whose attitude,
+and youthful, enthusiastic countenance, have great expression. The
+colouring is warm and harmonious; Maella is the painter.
+
+I inquired after a remarkable room in this palace, called in the plan
+_Salon de los Funciones_, and vulgarly _el Coliseo_. The ceiling was
+painted by Mengs, and esteemed one of his capital works: here Ferdinand
+and Barbara, the most musical of sovereigns, used to melt in ecstasies
+at the soft warblings of Farinelli and Egiziello--but, alas! the scene
+of their amusements, like themselves and their warblers, is no more.
+Not later than last summer, this grand theatrical apartment was divided
+into a suite of shabby, bandboxical rooms for the accommodation of the
+Infant of Parma. No mercy was shown to the beautiful roof. In some
+places, legs and folds of drapery are still visible; but the workmen are
+hammering and plastering at a great rate, and in a few days whitewash
+will cover all.
+
+Coming out of the palace, and observing how deserted and melancholy the
+walks, garden, and avenues appeared, I was told, that in a few weeks a
+total change would take place, for the court was expected on the 6th of
+January, to remain six months, and that every pleasure followed in its
+train. Shoals of gamblers, and ladies of easy virtue of all ranks, ages,
+and descriptions. Every barrier which Charles the Third, of chaste and
+pious memory, attempted to oppose to the wanton inclinations of his
+subjects, has been broken down in the present reign; boundless freedom
+of conduct prevails, and the most disgusting debauchery riots in these
+lovely groves, which deserve to be set apart for elegant and rural
+pleasures.
+
+In my walks I passed a huge edifice lately built for the favourite
+Alcudia. Common report accuses it of being more magnificently furnished
+than the royal residence; but as I did not enter it, I shall content
+myself with noting down, that it boasts nineteen windows in front, and a
+plain Tuscan portal with handsome granite pillars. Adjoining is a house
+belonging to the Duchess of Ossuna, full of workmen, painters, and
+stuccadors: a goggle-eyed Milanese, most fiercely conceited, is daubing
+the walls with all his might and main. He is an architect too, at least
+I have his word for it, and claims the merit, a great one as he
+believes, of having designed a sort of ball-room, with many a festoon
+and Bohemian glass-chandelier and coarse arabesque. The floor is
+bricked, upon which thick mats or carpets are spread when dancing is
+going forward.
+
+I was in hopes this tiresome custom of thumping mats and rugs with the
+feet, to the brisk airs of boleros and fandangos, was exploded. No music
+is more inspiring than the Spanish; what a pity they refuse themselves
+the joy of rising a foot or two into the air at every step, by the help
+of elastic boards.
+
+Next to this sort of a ball-room is a sort of an oval boudoir, and then
+a sort of an octagon; all bad sorts of their kind. This confounded
+painter is covering the oval with landscapes, not half so harmonious or
+spirited as those which figure on Birmingham snuff-boxes or tea-boards.
+He has a terrible partiality to blues and greens of the crudest tints.
+Such colours affect my eyes as disagreeably as certain sounds my teeth,
+when set on edge. I pity the Duchess of Ossuna, whose liberal desire of
+encouraging the arts deserves better artists. In music she has been more
+fortunate: Boccharini directed her band when I was last at Madrid; and I
+remember with what transport she heard and applauded the Galli, to whom
+she sent one morning a present of the most expensive trinkets,
+carelessly heaped up upon a magnificent salver of massive silver, two or
+three feet in diameter.
+
+The day closed as I was wandering about the Duchess’s mansion, surprised
+at the slovenly neglect of the furniture, not an article of which has
+been moved out of the reach of dust, scaffoldings, the exhalations of
+paint, and the still more pestilential exhalation of garlick-eating
+workmen. Universal apathy and indifference to everything seems to
+pervade the whole Iberian peninsula. If not caring what you eat or what
+you drink is a virtue, so far the evangelical precept is obeyed. So it
+is in Portugal, and so it is in Spain, and so it looks likely to be
+world without end: to which, let the rest of Europe say amen; for were
+these countries to open their long-closed eyes, cast off their trammels,
+and rouse themselves to industry, they would soon surpass their
+neighbours in wealth and population.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVIII.
+
+     Explore the extremities of the Calle de la Reyna.--Destructive rage
+     for improvement.--Loveliness of the valley of
+     Aranjuez.--Undisturbed happiness of the animals
+     there.--Degeneration of the race of grandees.--A royal cook.
+
+
+Wednesday, Dec. 2nd, 1795.
+
+It was near eleven before a thick fog, which had arisen from the groves
+and waters of Aranjuez, dispersed. I took advantage of a bright sunshine
+to issue forth on horseback, and explore the extremities of the Calle de
+la Reyna. Most of the ancient elms which compose this noble avenue, are
+dead-topped, many have lost their flourishing heads since I was last
+here, but on every side innumerable plantations of oak, elm, poplar, and
+plane, are springing up in all the vigour and luxuriance of youth. I was
+sorry to see many, very many acres of unmeaning shrubbery, serpentine
+walks, and clumps of paltry flowers, encroaching upon the wild thickets
+upon the banks of the Tagus.
+
+The King, the Queen, the favourite, are bitten by the rage of what they
+fancy to be improvement, and are levelling ground, and smoothing banks,
+and building rock-work, with pagodas and Chinese-railing. The laburnums,
+weeping-willows, and flowering shrubs, which I admired so much seven
+years ago in all their native luxuriance, are beginning to be trimmed
+and tortured into what the gardener calls genteel shapes. Even the
+course of the Tagus has been thwarted, and part of its waters diverted
+into a broad ditch in order to form an island; flat, swampy, and dotted
+over with exotic shrubs, to make room for which many a venerable arbele
+and poplar has been laid low.
+
+Hard by stands a large brick mansion, just erected, in the dullest and
+commonest Spanish taste, very improperly called Casa del Labrador. It
+has nothing rural about it, not even a hen-roost or a hog-sty; but the
+kitchen is snug and commodious, and to this his Catholic Majesty often
+resorts, and cooks with his own royal hands, and for his own royal
+self, creadillas, (alias lamb’s fry,) garlick-omelets, and other savoury
+messes, in the national style.
+
+Nothing delights the good-natured monarch so much as a pretence for
+descending into low life, and creeping out of the sight of his court,
+his council, and his people; therefore Madrid is almost totally
+abandoned by him, and many capricious buildings are starting up in every
+secluded corner of the royal parks and gardens. This last is the ugliest
+and most unmeaning of all. I recollect being pleased with the casinos he
+built whilst Prince of Asturias, at the Escurial and the Pardo. His
+present advisers, in matters of taste, are inferior even to those who
+direct his political movements; and the workmen, who obey the first,
+still more unskilful and bungling than the generals, admirals, and
+engineers, who carry the plans of the latter into execution.
+
+If they would but let Aranjuez alone, I should not care. Nature has
+lavished her charms most bountifully on this valley; the wild hills
+which close it in, though barren, are picturesquely-shaped; the Tagus
+here winds along in the boldest manner, overhung by crooked willows and
+lofty arbeles; now losing itself in almost impervious thickets, now
+under-mining steep banks, laying rocks bare, and forming irregular coves
+and recesses; now flowing smoothly through vast tracts of low shrubs,
+aspens, and tamarisks; in one spot edged by the most delicate
+greensward, in another by beds of mint and a thousand other fragrant
+herbs. I saw numerous herds of deer bounding along in full enjoyment of
+pasture and liberty; droves of horses, many of a soft cream-colour, were
+frisking about under some gigantic alders; and I counted one hundred and
+eighty cows, of a most remarkable size, in a green meadow, ruminating in
+peace and plenty.
+
+The animal creation at Aranjuez seem, undoubtedly, to enjoy all the
+blessings of an excellent government. The breed is peculiarly attended
+to, and no pains or expense spared, to procure the finest bulls from
+every quarter. Cows more beautifully dappled, more comfortably sleek, I
+never beheld.
+
+If the race of grandees could, by judicious crossing, be sustained as
+successfully, Spain would not have to lament her present scurvy,
+ill-favoured generation of nobility. Should they be suffered to dwindle
+much longer, and accumulate estates and diseases by eternal
+intermarriages in the same family, I expect to see them on all-fours
+before the next century is much advanced in its course. These little
+men, however, are not without some sparks of a lofty, resolute spirit;
+very few, indeed, have bowed the knee to the Baal of the present hour,
+to the image which the King has set up. A train of eager, hungry
+dependants, picked out of inferior and foreign classes, form the company
+of the Duke of Alcudia. Notwithstanding his lofty titles, unbounded
+wealth, solid power, and dazzling magnificence, he is treated by the
+first class with silent contempt and passive indifference. They read the
+tale of his illustrious descent with the same sneering incredulity, as
+the patents and decrees which enumerate the services he has done the
+state. Few instances, perhaps, are upon record, of a more steady,
+persevering contempt of an object in actual power, stamped with every
+ornament royal favour can devise to give it credit, value, and currency.
+
+A thousand interesting reflections arising from this subject crowded my
+mind as I rode home through the stately and now deserted alleys of
+Aranjuez. The weather was growing chill, and the withered leaves began
+to rustle. I was glad to take refuge by a blazing fire. Money, which
+procures almost everything, had not failed to seduce the best salads and
+apples from the royal gardens, admirable butter and good game; so I
+feasted royally, though I dare say I should have done more so, in the
+most extensive sense of the word, could some supernatural power or
+Frenchified revolution have procured me the royal cook. His Majesty, I
+am assured, by those I am far from suspecting of flattery, has real
+talents for this most useful profession.
+
+The comfortable listlessness which had crept over me was too pleasant to
+be shaken off, and I remained snug by my fireside the whole evening.
+
+THE END.
+
+LONDON: PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY, Dorset Street, Fleet Street.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
+
+headach and indisposition=> headache and indisposition {pg v1 185}
+
+so wan and singugular=> so wan and singular {pg v1 201}
+
+into some inchanted cave=> into some enchanted cave {pg v1 231}
+
+suprising variety of other plants=> surprising variety of other plants
+{pg v1 351}
+
+The shubberies and garden=> The shrubberies and garden {pg v2 182}
+
+ton at present in this court=> tone at present in this court {pg v2 240}
+
+statu quo=> status quo {pg v2 243}
+
+Nuestra Senora=> Nuestra Señora {pg v2 286}
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] This crucifix was made of the bronze which had formed the statue of
+the terrible Duke of Alva, swept in its first form from the citadel
+where it was proudly stationed, in a moment of popular fury.
+
+[2] The History of John Bull explains this ridiculous appellation.
+
+[3] Hills in the neighbourhood of Canton.
+
+[4] Apuleius Met: Lib. 5.
+
+    Vehementer iterum ac sæpius beatos illos qui
+    Super gemmas et monilia calcant!
+
+
+[5] Schönberg, beautiful mountain.
+
+[6] Ariosto Orlando Furioso.--_Canto 7, stanza 32._
+
+[7] A nephew of Bertoni, the celebrated composer.
+
+[8] This excellent and highly cultivated woman died at Naples in August
+1782. Had she lived to a later period her example and influence might
+probably have gone great lengths towards arresting that tide of
+corruption and profligacy which swept off this ill-fated court to
+Sicily, and threatened its total destruction.
+
+[9] Mem. pour la Vie de Petrarque, vol. i. p. 439.
+
+[10] The Piscina mirabilis.
+
+[11] See Letter VII.
+
+[12] See Miss Williams’s poems.
+
+[13] Since Marquis of Abrantes.
+
+[14] Writers of travels are sadly given to exaggeration. The author of
+the Tableau du Lisbonne writes, “Il est dix heures, une foule de P. de
+Ch. s’avance,” &c. From such an account one would suppose the whole line
+of houses in motion. No such thing. At intervals, to be sure, some
+accidents of this sort, more or less, slily occur; but by no means in so
+general and evident a manner.
+
+[15] These affecting tones seem to have made a lasting impression indeed
+upon the heart of a young man, one of the principal clerks in the
+Secretary of State’s office; he was all admiration, all ardour, his
+divinity all indifference. After a long period of unavailing courtship,
+the poor lover, driven to absolute despair, made a donation of all he
+was worth in the world to the object of his adoration, and threw himself
+into the Tagus. Providentially he was fished out and brought home, pale
+and almost inanimate. Such a spectacle, accompanied by so vivid a proof
+of unlimited passion, had its effect. The lady relented, they were
+united, and are as happy at this day, I believe, as the recollection of
+so narrow an escape, and its cause, can make them.
+
+[16] An old English housekeeper.
+
+[17] For no light specimen of these atrocities, see Southey’s Letters
+from Spain and Portugal.
+
+[18] Don Joaô da Valperra.
+
+[19] At the time I wrote this, half Lisbon believed in the individuality
+of the holy crows, and the other half prudently concealed their
+scepticism.
+
+[20] Don Josè, elder brother of the late king, John VI.
+
+[21] Dryden.
+
+[22] The royal chapel of the Ajuda, though somewhat fallen from the
+unequalled splendour it boasted during the sing-song days of the late
+king, Don Joseph, still displayed some of the finest specimens of vocal
+manufacture which Italy could furnish. It possessed, at the same time,
+Carlo Reina, Ferracuti, Totti, Fedelino, Ripa, Gelati, Venanzio,
+Biagino, and Marini--all these _virtuosi_, with names ending in vowels,
+were either _contraltos_ of the softest note, or _sopranos_ of the
+highest squeakery.
+
+[23] Now Marquis of Tancos.
+
+[24] About the period of the present king’s accession, several ladies of
+this description had bounced into the peerage; but as they did not walk
+at the coronation, somebody observed, it was odd enough that the
+peeresses best accustomed to a free use of their limbs, declined
+stirring a step upon this occasion. Horace Walpole mentions this bon mot
+in some of his letters; I forget to whom he attributes it.
+
+[25] The personage in question paid dearly for having listened to evil
+counsellors and exciting the suspicions of the church. In about a
+twelvemonth after this conversation, the small pox, not attended to so
+skilfully as it might have been, was suffered to carry him off, and
+reduced his imperious widow to a mere cipher in the politics of a court
+she had begun very successfully to agitate. To this period the cruel
+distress of the queen’s mind may be traced. The conflict between
+maternal tenderness and what she thought political duty, may be supposed
+with much greater probability to have produced her fatal derangement,
+than all the scruples respecting the Aveiro and Tavoura confiscations
+which the fanatical, interested priest, who succeeded my excellent
+friend, excited.
+
+[26] A well-known wily diplomatist, afterwards ambassador at
+Constantinople.
+
+[27] He resided afterwards at Paris in a diplomatic character, and is
+supposed to have been implicated in some of the least amiable events of
+the revolution. A mysterious passage in the first volume of Soulavie’s
+Memoirs is said to refer to him. He was particularly intimate with
+citizen Egalité.
+
+[28] A nephew of the famous Angelica, and no indifferent painter
+himself.
+
+[29] I have seen a beautiful portrait, engraved by Selma, of this image,
+and dedicated in due form to its first lady of the dressing-room,
+Marchioness of Cogolhudo, Duchess of San Estévan, &c.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Italy; with sketches of Spain and
+Portugal, by William Beckford
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diff --git a/41150-0.zip b/41150-0.zip
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Italy; with sketches of Spain and Portugal, by 
+William Beckford
+
+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/license
+
+
+Title: Italy; with sketches of Spain and Portugal
+
+Author: William Beckford
+
+Release Date: October 23, 2012 [EBook #41150]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ITALY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was
+produced from scanned images of public domain material
+from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note: This etext, which includes the two volumes, attempts
+to replicate the printed book as closely as possible. Obvious errors in
+spelling and punctuation have been corrected. A list follows the etext.
+The archaic spelling of words used by the author (chesnuts, befel,
+visiters, cotemporary, woful, etc.) has not been corrected or modernized
+by the etext transcriber. Footnotes have been moved to the end of the
+text body.
+
+
+
+
+ITALY;
+
+WITH SKETCHES OF
+
+SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
+
+BY THE AUTHOR OF "VATHEK."
+
+THIRD EDITION.
+
+IN TWO VOLUMES.
+
+VOL. I.
+
+LONDON:
+RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
+Publisher in Ordinary to His Majesty.
+1835.
+
+
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENT.
+
+
+Some justly admired Authors having condescended to glean a few stray
+thoughts from these Letters, which have remained dormant a great many
+years; I have been at length emboldened to lay them before the public.
+Perhaps, as they happen to contain passages which persons of
+acknowledged taste have honoured with their notice, they may possibly be
+less unworthy of emerging from the shade into daylight than I imagined.
+
+Most of these Letters were written in the bloom and heyday of youthful
+spirits and youthful confidence, at a period when the old order of
+things existed with all its picturesque pomps and absurdities; when
+Venice enjoyed her piombi and submarine dungeons; France her bastile;
+the Peninsula her holy Inquisition. To look back upon what is beginning
+to appear almost a fabulous era in the eyes of the modern children of
+light, is not unamusing or uninstructive; for, still better to
+appreciate the present, we should be led not unfrequently to recall the
+intellectual muzziness of the past.
+
+But happily these pages are not crowded with such records: they are
+chiefly filled with delineations of landscape and those effects of
+natural phenomena which it is not in the power of revolutions or
+constitutions to alter or destroy.
+
+A few moments snatched from the contemplation of political crimes,
+bloodshed, and treachery, are a few moments gained to all lovers of
+innocent illusion. Nor need the statesman or the scholar despise the
+occasional relaxation of light reading. When Jupiter and the great
+deities are represented by Homer as retiring from scenes of havoc and
+carnage to visit the blameless and quiet Ethiopians, who were the
+farthest removed of all nations, the Lord knows whither, at the very
+extremities of the ocean,--would they have given ear to manifestos or
+protocols? No, they would much rather have listened to the Tales of
+Mother Goose.
+
+London, June 12th, 1834.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+OF
+
+THE FIRST VOLUME.
+
+
+THE LOW COUNTRIES AND GERMANY.
+
+LETTER I.
+
+Passage to Ostend.--The Capuchin church.--Ghent.--Quiet
+and Content, the presiding deities of Flanders.--Antwerp.--The
+Place de Meir.--Silence and solitude of the town,
+contrasted with the tumult and uproar of London.      Page 3
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+Visit to the cabinets of pictures in Antwerp.--Monsieur
+Van Lencren's collection.--The Canon Knyff's house and
+gallery of paintings.--The Canon himself.--His domestic
+felicity.--Revisit the cathedral.--Grand service in honour of
+Saint John the Baptist.--Mynheer Van den Bosch, the organist's
+astonishing flashes of execution.--Evening service in the
+cathedral.--Magical effect of the music of Jomelli.--Blighted
+avenues.--Slow travelling.--Enter the United Provinces.--Level
+scenery.--Chinese prospects.--Reach Meerdyke.--Arrival at the Hague.  14
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+The Prince of Orange's cabinet of paintings.--Temptation
+of St. Anthony, by Breughel.--Exquisite pictures by
+Berghem and Wouvermans.--Mean garrets stored with inestimable
+productions of the Indies.--Enamelled flasks of oriental
+essences.--Vision of the wardrobe of Hecuba.--Disenchantment.--Cabinet
+of natural history.--A day dream.--A delicious morsel.--Dinner
+at Sir Joseph Yorke's.--Two honourable boobies.--The Great
+Wood.--Parterres of the Greffier Fagel.--Air poisoned by the
+sluggish canals.--Fishy locality of Dutch banquetting
+rooms.--Derivation of the inhabitants of Holland.--Origin
+and use of enormous galligaskins.--Escape from damp alleys
+and lazy waters.                                                      24
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+Leave the Hague.--Leyden.--Wood near Haerlem.--Waddling
+fishermen.--Enter the town.--The great fair.--Riot
+and uproar.--Confusion of tongues.--Mine hostess.                     32
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+Amsterdam.--The road to Utrecht--Country-houses and
+gardens.--Neat enclosures.--Comfortable parties.--Ladies
+and Lapdogs.--Arrival at Utrecht.--Moravian establishment--The
+woods.--Shops.--Celestial love.--Musical
+Sempstresses.--Return to Utrecht.                                     35
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+Arrival at Aix-la-Chapelle.--Glimpse of a dingy grove.--Melancholy
+saunterers.--Dusseldorf Gallery.--Nocturnal
+depredators.--Arrival at Cologne.--Shrine of the Three
+Wise Sovereigns.--Peregrinations of their beatified bones.--Road
+to Bonn.--Delights of Catholicism.--Azure mountains.--Visionary
+palaces.                                                              39
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+Borders of the Rhine.--Richly picturesque road from Bonn
+to Andernach.--Scheme for a floating village.--Coblentz.--A
+winding valley.--The river Lahn.--Ems.--The planet.--A
+supposed Apparition.--A little sequestered Paradise.                  47
+
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+Inveterate Idlers.--The planet Orloff and his satellites.--A
+Storm.--Scared women.--A dreary Forest.--Village
+of Wiesbaden.--Manheim.--Ulm.--The Danube--unlimited
+plains on its margin.--Augsburg.--Sketch of the
+Town.--Pomposities of the Town House.                                 53
+
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+Extensive woods of fir in Bavaria.--Grand Fair at
+Munich.--The Elector's country palace.--Court Ladies.--Fountains.--Costume.--Garden
+and tea-room.--Hoydening
+festivities there.--The Palace and Chapel.--Gorgeous riches
+of the latter.--St. Peter's thumb.--The Elector's collection
+of pictures.--The Churches.--Hubbub and confusion
+of the Fair.--Wild tract of country.--Village of Wolfrathshausen.--Perpetual
+forests.--A Tempest.--A night
+at a cottage.                                                         63
+
+
+LETTER X.
+
+Mittenwald.--Mountain chapels.--Saint Anna's young
+and fair worshippers.--Road to Inspruck.--Maximilian's
+tomb.--Vast range of prospects.--A mountain torrent.--Sch�nberg.      73
+
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+Steinach.--Its torrent and gloomy strait.--Achievements
+of Industry.--A sleepy Region.--Beautiful country round
+Brixen.                                                               84
+
+
+ITALY.
+
+LETTER I.
+
+Bolsano.--Indications of approaching Italy.--Fire-flies.--Appearance
+of the Peasantry.--A forest Lake.--Arrive
+at Borgo di Volsugano.--Prospect of Hills in the Venetian
+State.--Gorgeous Flies.--Fortress of Covalo.--Leave the
+country of crags and precipices and enter the territory
+of the Bassanese.--Groves of olives and vines.--Classic appearance
+of Bassano.--Happy groups.--Pachierotti, the
+celebrated singer.--Anecdote of him.                                  89
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+Villa of Mosolente.--The route to Venice.--First view
+of that city.--Striking prospect from the Leon Bianco.--Morning
+scene on the grand canal.--Church of Santa
+Maria della Salute.--Interesting group of stately buildings.--Convent
+of St. Giorgio Maggiore.--The Redentore--Island
+of the Carthusians.                                                   97
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+Church of St. Mark.--The Piazza.--Magnificent festivals
+formerly celebrated there.--Stately architecture of Sansovino.--The
+Campanile.--The Loggetta.--The Ducal Palace.--Colossal
+Statues.--Giants' Stairs.--Fit of enthusiasm.--Evening-scene
+in the great Square.--Venetian
+intrigue.--Confusion of languages.--Madame de Rosenberg.--Character
+of the Venetians.                                                    111
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+Excessive heat.--The Devil and Senegal.--A dreary
+shore.--Scene of the Doge's nuptials with the sea.--Return
+to the Place of St. Mark.--Swarm of Lawyers.--Receptacles
+for anonymous accusations.--The Council of Ten.--Terrible
+punishments of its victims.--Statue of Neptune.--Fatal
+Waters.--Bridge of Sighs.--The Fondamenti Nuovi.--Conservatory
+of the Mendicanti.--An Oratorio.--Profound
+attention of the Audience.                                           123
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+M. de Villoison and his attendant Laplander.--Drawings
+of ancient Venetian costume in one of the Gradanigo palaces.--Titian's
+master-piece in the church of San Giovanni
+e Paolo.--The distant Euganean hills.                                132
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+Isles of Burano, Torcello, and Mazorbo.--The once populous
+city of Altina.--An excursion.--Effects of our music
+on the inhabitants of the Islands.--Solitary fields infested
+by serpents.--Remains of ancient sculpture.--Antique and
+fantastic ornaments of the Cathedral of Torcello.--San Lorenzo's
+chair.--Dine in a Convent.--The Nuns.--Oratorio
+of Sisera.--Remarks on the music.--Singing of the Marchetti.--A
+female orchestra.                                                    137
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+Coast of Fusina.--The Brenta.--A Village of Palaces.--Fiesso.--Exquisite
+singing of the Galuzzi.--Marietta
+Cornaro.--Scenes of enchantment and fascination.                     145
+
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+Reveries.--Walls of Padua.--Confused Pile dedicated to
+Saint Anthony.--Devotion at his Shrine.--Penitential
+Worshippers.--Magnificent Altar.--Sculpture of Sansovino.--Colossal
+Chamber like Noah's Ark.                                             149
+
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+Church of St. Justina.--Tombs of remote antiquity.--Ridiculous
+attitudes of rheumatic devotees.--Turini's music.--Another
+excursion to Fiesso.--Journey to the Euganean
+hills.--Newly discovered ruins.--High Mass in the great
+Church of Saint Anthony.--A thunder-storm.--Palladio's
+Theatre at Vicenza.--Verona.--An a�rial chamber.--Striking
+prospect from it.--The amphitheatre.--Its interior.--Leave
+Verona.--Country between that town and
+Mantua.--German soldiers.--Remains of the palace of the
+Gonzagas.--Paintings of Julio Romano.--A ruined garden.--Subterranean
+apartments.                                                          153
+
+
+LETTER X.
+
+Cross the Po.--A woody country.--The Vintage.--Reggio.--Ridge
+of the Apennines.--Romantic ideas connected
+with those mountains.--Arrive at Modena.--Road to
+Bologna.--Magnificent Convent of Madonna del Monte.--Natural
+and political commotions in Bologna.--Proceed towards
+the mountains.--Dreary prospects.--The scenery
+improves.--Herds of goats.--A run with them.--Return
+to the carriage.--Wretched hamlet.--Miserable repast.                166
+
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+A sterile region.--Our descent into a milder landscape.--Distant
+view of Florence.--Moonlight effect.--Visit the
+Gallery.--Relics of ancient credulity.--Paintings.--A
+Medusa's head by Leonardo da Vinci.--Curious picture
+by Polemberg.--The Venus de Medicis.--Exquisitely
+sculptured figure of Morpheus.--Vast Cathedral.--Garden
+of Boboli.--Views from different parts of it.--Its resemblance
+to an antique Roman garden.                                          173
+
+
+LETTER XII.
+
+Rambles among the hills.--Excursions with Pacchierotti.--He
+catches cold in the mountains.--The whole Republic is
+in commotion, and send a deputation to remonstrate with
+the Singer on his imprudence.--The Conte Nobili.--Hill
+scenery.--Princely Castle and Gardens of the Garzoni
+Family.--Colossal Statue of Fame.--Grove of Ilex.--Endless
+bowers of Vines.--Delightful Wood of the Marchese
+Mansi.--Return to Lucca.                                             186
+
+
+LETTER XIII.
+
+Set out for Pisa.--The Duomo.--Interior of the Cathedral.--The
+Campo Santo.--Solitude of the streets at midday.--Proceed
+to Leghorn.--Beauty of the road.--Tower of
+the Fanale.                                                          198
+
+
+LETTER XIV.
+
+The Mole at Leghorn.--Coast scattered over with Watch-towers.--Branches
+of rare coral unexpectedly acquired.                                 200
+
+
+LETTER XV.
+
+Florence again.--Palazzo Vecchio.--View on the Arno.--Sculptures
+by Cellini and John of Bologna.--Contempt
+shown by the Austrians to the memory of the House of
+Medici.--Evening visit to the Garden of Boboli.--The
+Opera.--Miserable Singing.--A Neapolitan Duchess.                    203
+
+
+LETTER XVI.
+
+Detained at Florence by reports of the Malaria at Rome.--Ascend
+one of the hills celebrated by Dante.--View from
+its brow.--Chapel designed by Michael Angelo.--Birth of
+a Princess.--The christening.--Another evening visit to
+the woods of Boboli.                                                 209
+
+
+LETTER XVII.
+
+Pilgrimage to Valombrosa.--Rocky Steeps.--Groves of
+Pine.--Vast Amphitheatre of Lawns and Meadows.--Reception
+at the Convent.--Wild Glens where the Hermit
+Gualbertus had his Cell.--Conversation with the holy
+Fathers.--Legendary Tales.--The consecrated Cleft.--The
+Romitorio.--Extensive View of the Val d'Arno.--Return
+to Florence.                                                         214
+
+
+LETTER XVIII.
+
+Cathedral at Sienna.--A vaulted Chamber.--Leave Sienna.--Mountains
+round Radicofani.--Hunting Palace of the
+Grand Dukes.--A grim fraternity of Cats.--Dreary Apartment.          224
+
+
+LETTER XIX.
+
+Leave the gloomy precincts of Radicofani and enter the
+Papal territory.--Country near Aquapendente.--Shores of
+the Lake of Bolsena.--Forest of Oaks.--Ascend Monte
+Fiascone.--Inhabited Caverns.--Viterbo.--Anticipations
+of Rome.                                                             228
+
+
+LETTER XX.
+
+Set out in the dark.--The Lago di Vico.--View of the
+spacious plains where the Romans reared their seat of empire.--Ancient
+splendour.--Present silence and desolation.--Shepherd
+huts.--Wretched policy of the Papal Government.--Distant
+view of Rome.--Sensations on entering the City.--The
+Pope returning from Vespers.--St. Peter's Colonnade.--Interior
+of the Church.--Reveries.--A visionary
+scheme.--The Pantheon.                                               230
+
+
+LETTER XXI.
+
+Leave Rome for Naples.--Scenery in the vicinity of Rome.--Albano.--Malaria.--Veletri.--Classical
+associations.--The
+Circean Promontory.--Terracina.--Ruined Palace.--Mountain
+Groves.--Rock of Circe.--The Appian Way.--Arrive
+at Mola di Gaeta.--Beautiful prospect.--A Deluge.--Enter
+Naples by night, during a fearful Storm.--Clear
+Morning.--View from my window.--Courtly Mob at the
+Palace.--The Presence Chamber.--The King and his Courtiers.--Party
+at the House of Sir W. H.--Grand Illumination
+at the Theatre of St. Carlo.--Marchesi.                              240
+
+
+LETTER XXII.
+
+View of the coast of Posilipo.--Virgil's tomb.--Superstition
+of the Neapolitans with respect to Virgil.--A�rial
+situation.--A grand scene.                                           253
+
+
+LETTER XXIII.
+
+A ramble on the shore of Baii.--Local traditions.--Cross
+the bay.--Fragments of a temple dedicated to Hercules.--Wondrous
+reservoir constructed for the fleet of Nero.--The
+Dead Lake.--Wild scene.--Beautiful meadow.--Uncouth
+rocks.--An unfathomable gulph.--Sadness induced
+by the wild appearance of the place.--Conversation
+with a recluse.--Her fearful narration.--Melancholy
+evening.                                                             258
+
+
+LETTER XXIV.
+
+The Tyrol Mountains.--Intense cold.--Delight on beholding
+human habitations.                                                   280
+
+
+SECOND VISIT TO ITALY.
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+First day of summer.--A dismal plain.--Gloomy entrance
+to Cologne.--Labyrinth of hideous edifices.--Hotel of Der
+Heilige Geist.                                                       285
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+Enter the Tyrol.--Picturesque scenery.--Village of Nasseriet.--World
+of boughs.--Forest huts.--Floral abundance.                          288
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+Rapidity of our drive along the causeways of the Brenta.--Shore
+of Fusina.--A stormy sky.--Draw near to Venice.--Its
+deserted appearance.--Visit to Madame de R.--Cesarotti.              290
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+Excursion to Mirabello.--Beauty of the road thither.--Madame
+de R.'s wild-looking niece.--A comfortable
+Monk's nest.                                                         294
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+Rome.--Strole to the Coliseo and the Palatine Mount.--A
+grand Rinfresco.--The Egyptian Lionesses.--Illuminations.            297
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+The Negroni Garden.--Its solitary and antique appearance.--Stately
+Porticos of the Lateran.--Dreary Scene.                              299
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+Naples.--Portici.--The King's Pagliaro and Garden.--Description
+of that pleasant spot.                                               302
+
+
+GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
+
+LETTER I.
+
+Determination to visit the Grande Chartreuse.--Reach the
+Village of Les Echelles.--Gloomy region.--The Torrent.--Entrance
+of the Desert.--Portal of the consecrated Enclosure.--Dark
+Woods and Caverns.--Crosses.--Inscriptions.                          307
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+Thick forest of beech-trees.--Fearful glimpses of the torrent.--Throne
+of Moses.--Lofty bridge.--Distant view of
+the Convent.--Profound calm.--Enter the convent gate.--Arched
+aisle.--Welcomed by the father Coadjutor.--The
+Secretary and Procurator.--Conversation with them.--A
+walk amongst the cloisters and galleries.--Pictures of different
+Convents of the order.--Grand Hall adorned with
+historical paintings of St. Bruno's life.                            314
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+Cloisters of extraordinary dimensions.--Cells of the
+Monks.--Severity of the order.--Death-like calm.--The
+great Chapel.--Its interior.--Marvellous events relating to
+St. Bruno.--Retire to my cell.--Strange writings of St.
+Bruno.--Sketch of his Life.--Appalling occurrence.--Vision
+of the Bishop of Grenoble.--First institution of the Carthusian
+order.--Death of St. Bruno.--His translation.                        324
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+Mystic discourse.--A mountain ramble.--A benevolent
+Hermit.--Red light in the northern sky.--Lose my way in
+the solitary hills.--Approach of night.                              335
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+Pastoral scenery of Valombr�.--Ascent of the highest
+Peak in the Desert.--Grand amphitheatre of Mountains.--Farewell
+benediction of the Fathers.                                          342
+
+
+SALEVE.
+
+LETTER I.
+
+Revisit the trees on the summit of Saleve.--Pas d'Echelle.--Moneti.--Bird's-eye
+prospects.--Alpine flowers.--Extensive
+view from the summit of Saleve.--Youthful enthusiasm.--Sad
+realities.                                                           357
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+Chalet under the Beech-trees.--A mountain Bridge.--Solemnity
+of the night.--The Comedie.--Relaxation of
+Genevese Morality.                                                   366
+
+
+
+
+THE LOW COUNTRIES
+
+AND
+
+GERMANY.
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+     Passage to Ostend.--The Capuchin church.--Ghent.--Quiet and
+     Content, the presiding deities of Flanders.--Antwerp.--The Place de
+     Meir.--Silence and solitude of the town, contrasted with the tumult
+     and uproar of London.
+
+
+Ostend, 21st June, 1780.
+
+We had a rough passage, and arrived at this imperial haven in a piteous
+condition. Notwithstanding its renown and importance, it is but a scurvy
+place--preposterous Flemish roofs disgust your eyes when cast
+upwards--swaggering Dutch skippers and mongrel smugglers are the
+principal objects they meet with below; and then the whole atmosphere is
+impregnated with the fumes of tobacco, burnt peat, and garlick. I
+should esteem myself in luck, were the nuisances of this seaport
+confined only to two senses; but, alas! the apartment above my head
+proves a squalling brattery, and the sounds which proceed from it are so
+loud and frequent, that a person might think himself in limbo, without
+any extravagance.
+
+In hope of some relief, I went to the Capuchin church, a large solemn
+building, in search of silence and solitude; but here again was I
+disappointed. There happened to be an exposition of the holy wafer with
+ten thousand candles; and whilst half-a-dozen squeaking fiddles fugued
+and flourished away in the galleries, and as many paralytic monks
+gabbled before the altars, a whole posse of devotees, in long white
+hoods and flannels, were sweltering on either side.
+
+This papal piety, in warm weather, was no very fragrant circumstance; so
+I sought the open air again as fast as I was able. The serenity of the
+evening--for the black huddle of clouds, which the late storms had
+accumulated, were all melted away--tempted me to the ramparts. There, at
+least, thought I to myself, I may range undisturbed, and talk with my
+old friends the breezes, and address my discourse to the waves, and be
+as romantic and fanciful as I please; but I had scarcely begun a poetic
+apostrophe, before out flaunted a whole rank of officers, with ladies
+and abb�s and puppy dogs, singing, and flirting, and making such a
+hubbub, that I had not one peaceful moment to observe the bright tints
+of the western horizon, or enjoy those ideas of classic antiquity which
+a calm sunset never fails to bring before my imagination.
+
+Finding, therefore, no quiet abroad, I returned to my inn, and should
+have gone immediately to bed, in hopes of relapsing into the bosom of
+dreams and delusions; but the limbo I mentioned before grew so very
+outrageous, that I was obliged to postpone my rest till sugarplums and
+nursery eloquence had hushed it to repose. At length peace was restored,
+and about eleven o'clock I fell into a slumber. My dreams anticipated
+the classic scenes of Italy, the proposed term of my excursion.
+
+Next morning I arose refreshed with these agreeable impressions. No
+ideas, but such as Nemi and Albano suggested, haunted me whilst
+travelling to Ghent. I neither heard the coarse dialect which was
+talking around me, nor noticed the formal avenues and marshy country
+which we passed. When we stopped to change horses, I closed my eyes upon
+the dull prospect, and was transported immediately to those Grecian
+solitudes which Theocritus so enchantingly describes.
+
+To one so far gone in the poetic lore of ancient days, Ghent is not the
+most likely place to recall his attention; and I know nothing more about
+it, than that it is a large, ill-paved, plethoric, pompous-looking city,
+with a decent proportion of convents and chapels, monuments, brazen
+gates, and gilded marbles. In the great church were several pictures by
+Rubens, so striking, so masterly, as to hold me broad awake; though, I
+must own, there are moments when I could contentedly fall asleep in a
+Flemish cathedral, for the mere chance of beholding in vision the temple
+of Olympian Jupiter.
+
+But I think I hear, at this moment, some grave and respectable personage
+chiding my enthusiasm--"Really, sir, you had better stay at home, and
+dream in your great chair, than give yourself the trouble of going post
+through Europe, in search of places where to fall asleep. If Flanders
+and Holland are to be dreamed over at this rate, you had better take
+ship at once, and doze all the way to Italy." Upon my word, I should not
+have much objection to that scheme; and, if some enchanter would but
+transport me in an instant to the summit of �tna, anybody might slop
+through the Low Countries that pleased.
+
+Being, however, so far advanced, there is no retracting; and I am
+resolved to journey along with Quiet and Content for my companions.
+These two comfortable deities have, I believe, taken Flanders under
+their especial protection; every step one advances discovering some new
+proof of their influence. The neatness of the houses, and the universal
+cleanliness of the villages, show plainly that their inhabitants live in
+ease and good humour. All is still and peaceful in these fertile
+lowlands: the eye meets nothing but round unmeaning faces at every door,
+and harmless stupidity smiling at every window. The beasts, as placid as
+their masters, graze on without any disturbance; and I scarcely
+recollect to have heard one grunting swine or snarling mastiff during
+my whole progress. Before every village is a wealthy dunghill, not at
+all offensive, because but seldom disturbed; and there sows and porkers
+bask in the sun, and wallow at their ease, till the hour of death and
+bacon arrives.
+
+But it is high time to lead you towards Antwerp. More rich pastures,
+more ample fields of grain, more flourishing willows! A boundless plain
+lies before this city, dotted with cows, and speckled with flowers; a
+level whence its spires and quaint roofs are seen to advantage! The pale
+colours of the sky, and a few gleams of watery sunshine, gave a true
+Flemish cast to the scenery, and everything appeared so consistent, that
+I had not a shadow of pretence to think myself asleep.
+
+After crossing a broad expanse of river, edged on one side by beds of
+osiers beautifully green, and on the other by gates and turrets
+preposterously ugly, we came through several streets of lofty houses to
+our inn. Its situation in the "Place de Meir," a vast open space
+surrounded by buildings above buildings, and roof above roof, has
+something striking and singular. A tall gilt crucifix of bronze,
+sculptured by Cortels of Malines,[1] adds to its splendour; and the
+tops of some tufted trees, seen above a line of magnificent hotels, add
+greatly to the effect of the perspective.
+
+It was almost dusk when we arrived; and as I am very partial to new
+objects discovered by this dubious, visionary light, I went immediately
+a rambling. Not a sound disturbed my meditations: there were no groups
+of squabbling children or talkative old women. The whole town seemed
+retired into their inmost chambers; and I kept winding and turning
+about, from street to street, and from alley to alley, without meeting a
+single inhabitant. Now and then, indeed, one or two women in long cloaks
+and mantles glided by at a distance; but their dress was so shroud-like,
+and their whole appearance so ghostly, that I should have been afraid to
+accost them. As night approached, the ranges of buildings grew more and
+more dim, and the silence which reigned amongst them more awful. The
+canals, which in some places intersect the streets, were likewise in
+perfect solitude, and there was just light sufficient for me to observe
+on the still waters the reflection of the structures above them. Except
+two or three tapers glimmering through the casements, no one
+circumstance indicated human existence. I might, without being thought
+very romantic, have imagined myself in the city of petrified people
+which Arabian fabulists are so fond of describing. Were any one to ask
+my advice upon the subject of retirement, I should tell him--By all
+means repair to Antwerp. No village amongst the Alps, or hermitage upon
+Mount Lebanon, is less disturbed: you may pass your days in this great
+city without being the least conscious of its sixty thousand
+inhabitants, unless you visit the churches. There, indeed, are to be
+heard a few devout whispers, and sometimes, to be sure, the bells make a
+little chiming; but, walk about, as I do, in the twilights of midsummer,
+and be assured your ears will be free from all molestation.
+
+You can have no idea how many strange, amusing fancies played around me
+whilst I wandered along; nor how delighted I was with the novelty of my
+situation. But a few days ago, thought I within myself, I was in the
+midst of all the tumult and uproar of London: now, as if by some magic
+influence, I am transported to a city equally remarkable indeed for
+streets and edifices, but whose inhabitants seem cast into a profound
+repose. What a pity that we cannot borrow some small share of this
+soporific disposition! It would temper that restless spirit which throws
+us sometimes into such dreadful convulsions. However, let us not be too
+precipitate in desiring so dead a calm; the time may arrive when, like
+Antwerp, we may sink into the arms of forgetfulness; when a fine verdure
+may carpet our Exchange, and passengers traverse the Strand without any
+danger of being smothered in crowds or crushed by carriages.
+
+Reflecting, in this manner, upon the silence of the place, contrasted
+with the important bustle which formerly rendered it so famous, I
+insensibly drew near to the cathedral, and found myself, before I was
+aware, under its stupendous tower. It is difficult to conceive an object
+more solemn or more imposing than this edifice at the hour I first
+beheld it. Dark shades hindered my examining the lower galleries; their
+elaborate carved work was invisible; nothing but huge masses of building
+met my sight, and the tower, shooting up four hundred and sixty-six feet
+in the air, received an additional importance from the gloom which
+prevailed below. The sky being perfectly clear, several stars twinkled
+through the mosaic of the pinnacles, and increased the charm of their
+effect.
+
+Whilst I was indulging my reveries, a ponderous bell struck ten, and
+such a peal of chimes succeeded, as shook the whole edifice,
+notwithstanding its bulk, and drove me away in a hurry. I need not say,
+no mob obstructed my passage. I ran through a succession of streets,
+free and unmolested, as if I had been skimming along over the downs of
+Wiltshire. The voices of my servants conversing before the hotel were
+the only sounds which the great "Place de Meir" echoed.
+
+This characteristic stillness was the more pleasing, when I looked back
+upon those scenes of outcry and horror which filled London but a week or
+two ago, when danger was not confined to night only, and to the environs
+of the capital, but haunted our streets at mid-day. Here, I could
+wander over an entire city; stray by the port, and venture through the
+most obscure alleys, without a single apprehension; without beholding a
+sky red and portentous with the light of houses on fire, or hearing the
+confusion of shouts and groans mingled with the reports of artillery. I
+can assure you, I think myself very fortunate to have escaped the
+possibility of another such week of desolation, and to be peaceably
+lulled at Antwerp.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+     Visit to the cabinets of pictures in Antwerp.--Monsieur Van
+     Lencren's collection.--The Canon Knyff's house and gallery of
+     paintings.--The Canon himself.--His domestic felicity.--Revisit the
+     cathedral.--Grand service in honour of St. John the
+     Baptist.--Mynheer Van den Bosch, the organist's astonishing flashes
+     of execution.--Evening service in the cathedral.--Magical effect of
+     the music of Jomelli.--Blighted avenues.--Slow travelling.--Enter
+     the United Provinces.--Level scenery.--Chinese prospects.--Reach
+     Meerdyke.--Arrival at the Hague.
+
+
+Antwerp, 23rd June, 1780.
+
+After breakfast this morning I began my pilgrimage to all the cabinets
+of pictures in Antwerp. First, I went to Monsieur Van Lencren's, who
+possesses a suite of apartments, lined, from the base to the cornice,
+with the rarest productions of the Flemish school. Heaven forbid I
+should enter into a detail of their niceties! I might as well count the
+dew-drops upon the most spangled of Van Huysum's flower-pieces, or the
+pimples on their possessor's countenance; a very good sort of man,
+indeed; but from whom I was not at all sorry to be delivered.
+
+My joy was, however, of short duration, as a few minutes brought me into
+the court-yard of the Canon Knyff's habitation; a snug abode, well
+furnished with ample fauteuils and orthodox couches. After viewing the
+rooms on the first floor, we mounted an easy staircase, and entered an
+ante-chamber, which they who delight in the imitations of art rather
+than of nature, in the likenesses of joint stools and the portraits of
+tankards, would esteem most capitally adorned: but it must be confessed,
+that amongst these uninteresting performances are dispersed a few
+striking Berghems and agreeable Polembergs. In the gallery adjoining,
+two or three Rosa de Tivolis merit observation; and a large Teniers,
+representing the Hermit St. Anthony surrounded by a malicious set of
+imps and leering devilesses, is well calculated to display the whimsical
+buffoonery of a Dutch imagination.
+
+I was enjoying this strange medley, when the canon made his appearance;
+and a most prepossessing figure he has, according to Flemish ideas. In
+my humble opinion, his reverence looked a little muddled or so; and, to
+be sure, the description I afterwards heard of his style of living
+favours not a little my surmises. This worthy dignitary, what with his
+private fortune and the good things of the church, enjoys a spanking
+revenue, which he contrives to get rid of in the joys of the table and
+the encouragement of the pencil.
+
+His servants, perhaps, assist not a little in the expenditure of so
+comfortable an income; the canon being upon a very social footing with
+them all. At four o'clock in the afternoon, a select party attend him in
+his coach to an ale-house about a league from the city; where a table,
+well spread with jugs of beer and handsome cheeses, waits their arrival.
+After enjoying this rural fare, the same equipage conducts them back
+again, by all accounts, much faster than they came; which may well be
+conceived, as the coachman is one of the brightest wits of the
+entertainment.
+
+My compliments, alas! were not much appreciated, you may suppose, by
+this jovial personage. I said a few favourable words of Polemberg, and
+offered up a small tribute of praise to the memory of Berghem; but, as I
+could not prevail upon Mynheer Knyff to expand, I made one of my best
+bows, and left him to the enjoyment of his domestic felicity.
+
+In my way home, I looked into another cabinet, the greatest ornament of
+which was a most sublime thistle by Snyders, of the heroic size, and so
+faithfully imitated that I dare say no Ass could see it unmoved. At
+length, it was lawful to return home; and as I positively refused
+visiting any more cabinets in the afternoon, I sent for a harpsichord of
+Rucker, and played myself quite out of the Netherlands.
+
+It was late before I finished my musical excursion, and I took advantage
+of this dusky moment to revisit the cathedral. A flight of starlings had
+just pitched on one of the pinnacles of the tower, whose faint chirpings
+were the only sounds that broke the evening stillness. Not a human form
+appeared at any of the windows around; no footsteps were audible in the
+opening before the grand entrance; and during the half hour I spent in
+walking to and fro, one solitary Franciscan was the only creature that
+accosted me. From him I learned that a grand service was to be performed
+next day in honour of St. John the Baptist, and the best music in
+Flanders would be called forth on the occasion, so I determined to stay
+one day longer at Antwerp.
+
+Having taken this resolution, I availed myself of a special invitation
+from Mynheer Van den Bosch, the first organist of the place, and sat
+next to him in his lofty perch during the celebration of high mass. The
+service ended, I strayed about the aisles, and examined the innumerable
+chapels which decorate them, whilst Mynheer Van den Bosch thundered and
+lightened away upon his huge organ with fifty stops.
+
+When the first flashes of execution had a little subsided, I took an
+opportunity of surveying the celebrated Descent from the Cross. This has
+ever been esteemed the master-piece of Rubens, which, large as it is,
+they pretend here that Old Lewis Baboon[2] offered to cover with gold. A
+swingeing St. Christopher, fording a brook with a child on his
+shoulders, cannot fail of attracting attention. This colossal personage
+is painted on the folding-doors which defend the grand effort of art
+just mentioned from vulgar eyes; and here Rubens has selected a very
+proper subject to display the gigantic boldness of his pencil.
+
+After I had most dutifully surveyed all his productions in this church,
+I walked half over Antwerp in quest of St. John's relics, which were
+moving about in procession. If my eyes were not much regaled by the
+saint's magnificence, my ears were greatly affected in the evening by
+the music which sang forth his praises. The cathedral was crowded with
+devotees, and perfumed with incense. A motet, in the lofty style of
+Jomelli, performed with taste and feeling, transported me to Italian
+climates; and I grieved, when a cessation dissolved the charm, to think
+that I had still so many tramontane regions to pass before I could in
+effect reach that classic country. Finding it was in vain to expect
+preternatural interposition, and perceiving no conscious angel or
+Loretto-vehicle waiting in some dark consecrated corner to bear me away,
+I humbly returned to my hotel.
+
+Monday, June 26th.--We were again upon the pav�, rattling and jumbling
+along between clipped hedges and blighted avenues. The plagues of Egypt
+have been renewed, one might almost imagine, in this country, by the
+appearance of the oak trees: not a leaf have the insects spared. After
+having had the displeasure of seeing no other objects for several hours
+but these blasted rows, the scene changed to vast tracts of level
+country, buried in sand and smothered with heath; the particular
+character of which I had but too good an opportunity of intimately
+knowing, as a tortoise might have kept pace with us without being once
+out of breath.
+
+Towards evening, we entered the dominions of the United Provinces, and
+had all their glory of canals, treck-schuyts, and windmills, before us.
+The minute neatness of the villages, their red roofs, and the lively
+green of the willows which shade them, corresponded with the ideas I had
+formed of Chinese prospects; a resemblance which was not diminished upon
+viewing on every side the level scenery of enamelled meadows, with
+stripes of clear water across them, and innumerable barges gliding
+busily along. Nothing could be finer than the weather; it improved each
+moment, as if propitious to my exotic fancies; and, at sun-set, not one
+single cloud obscured the horizon. Several storks were parading by the
+water-side, amongst flags and osiers; and, as far as the eye could
+reach, large herds of beautifully spotted cattle were enjoying the
+plenty of their pastures. I was perfectly in the environs of Canton, or
+Ning Po, till we reached Meerdyke. You know fumigations are always the
+current recipe in romance to break an enchantment; as soon, therefore,
+as I left my carriage and entered my inn, the clouds of tobacco which
+filled every one of its apartments dispersed my Chinese imaginations,
+and reduced me in an instant to Holland.
+
+Why should I enlarge upon my adventures at Meerdyke? To tell you that
+its inhabitants are the most uncouth bipeds in the universe would be
+nothing very new or entertaining; so let me at once pass over the
+village, leave Rotterdam, and even Delft, that great parent of pottery,
+and transport you with a wave of my pen to the Hague.
+
+As the evening was rather warm, I immediately walked out to enjoy the
+shade of the long avenue which leads to Scheveling, and proceeded to the
+village on the sea coast, which terminates the perspective. Almost every
+cottage door being open to catch the air, I had an opportunity of
+looking into their neat apartments. Tables, shelves, earthenware, all
+glisten with cleanliness; the country people were drinking tea, after
+the fatigues of the day, and talking over its bargains and contrivances.
+
+I left them to walk on the beach, and was so charmed with the vast azure
+expanse of ocean, which opened suddenly upon me, that I remained there a
+full half hour. More than two hundred vessels of different sizes were in
+sight, the last sunbeam purpling their sails, and casting a path of
+innumerable brilliants athwart the waves. What would I not have given to
+follow this shining track! It might have conducted me straight to those
+fortunate western climates, those happy isles which you are so fond of
+painting, and I of dreaming about. But, unluckily, this passage was the
+only one my neighbours the Dutch were ignorant of. It is true they have
+islands rich in spices, and blessed with the sun's particular attention,
+but which their government, I am apt to imagine, renders by no means
+fortunate.
+
+Abandoning therefore all hopes of this adventurous voyage, I returned
+towards the Hague, and looked into a country-house of the late Count
+Bentinck, with parterres and bosquets by no means resembling, one should
+conjecture, the gardens of the Hesperides. But, considering that the
+whole group of trees, terraces, and verdure were in a manner created out
+of hills of sand, the place may claim some portion of merit. The walks
+and alleys have all the stiffness and formality which our ancestors
+admired; but the intermediate spaces, being dotted with clumps and
+sprinkled with flowers, are imagined in Holland to be in the English
+style. An Englishman ought certainly to behold it with partial eyes,
+since every possible attempt has been made to twist it into the taste of
+his country.
+
+I need not say how liberally I bestowed my encomiums on Count Bentinck's
+tasteful intentions; nor how happy I was, when I had duly serpentized
+over his garden, to find myself once more in the grand avenue. All the
+way home, I reflected upon the unyielding perseverance of the Dutch, who
+raise gardens from heaps of sand, and cities out of the bosom of the
+waters. I had, almost at the same moment, a whimsical proof of the
+thrifty turn of this people; for just entering the town I met an
+unwieldy fellow--not ill clad--airing his carcase in a one-dog chair.
+The poor animal puffed and panted, Mynheer smoked, and gaped around him
+with the most blessed indifference.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+     The Prince of Orange's cabinet of paintings.--Temptation of St.
+     Anthony, by Breughel.--Exquisite pictures by Berghem and
+     Wouvermans.--Mean garrets stored with inestimable productions of
+     the Indies.--Enamelled flasks of oriental essences.--Vision of the
+     wardrobe of Hecuba.--Disenchantment.--Cabinet of natural
+     history.--A day dream.--A delicious morsel.--Dinner at Sir Joseph
+     Yorke's.--Two honourable boobies.--The Great Wood.--Parterres of
+     the Greffier Fagel.--Air poisoned by the sluggish canals.--Fishy
+     locality of Dutch banquetting rooms.--Derivation of the inhabitants
+     of Holland.--Origin and use of enormous galligaskins.--Escape from
+     damp alleys and lazy waters.
+
+
+30th June, 1780.
+
+I dedicated the morning to the Prince of Orange's cabinet of paintings
+and curiosities both natural and artificial. Amongst the pictures which
+amused me the most is a temptation of the holy hermit St. Anthony, by
+Hell-fire Breughel, who has shown himself right worthy of the title; for
+a more diabolical variety of imps never entered the human imagination.
+Breughel has made his saint take refuge in a ditch filled with harpies
+and creeping things innumerable, whose malice, one should think, would
+have lost Job himself the reputation of patience. Castles of steel and
+fiery turrets glare on every side, whence issue a band of junior devils.
+These seem highly entertained with pinking poor Anthony, and whispering,
+I warrant ye, filthy tales in his ear. Nothing can be more rueful than
+the patient's countenance; more forlorn than his beard; more piteous
+than his eye, forming a strong contrast to the pert winks and insidious
+glances of his persecutors; some of whom, I need not mention, are
+evidently of the female kind.
+
+But really I am quite ashamed of having detained you in such bad company
+so long; and had I a moment to spare, you should be introduced to a
+better set in this gallery, where some of the most exquisite Berghems
+and Wouvermans I ever beheld would delight you for hours. I do not think
+you would look much at the Polembergs; there are but two, and one of
+them is very far from capital; in short, I am in a great hurry; so
+pardon me, Carlo Cignani! if I do not do justice to your merit; and
+forgive me, Potter! if I pass by your herds without leaving a tribute of
+admiration.
+
+Mynheer Van Something was as eager to precipitate my step as I was to
+get out of the damps and perplexities of Sorgvliet yesterday evening;
+so, mounting a creaking staircase, he led me to a suite of garretlike
+apartments; which, considering the meanness of their exterior, I was
+rather surprised to find stored with some of the most valuable
+productions of the Indies. Gold cups enriched with gems, models of
+Chinese palaces in ivory, glittering armour of Hindostan, and Japan
+caskets, filled every corner of this awkward treasury. The most pleasing
+of all its baubles in my estimation was a large coffer of most elaborate
+workmanship, containing enamelled flasks of oriental essences, enough to
+perfume a zennana. If disagreeable fumes, as I mentioned before,
+dissolve enchantments, such aromatic oils have doubtless the power of
+raising them; for, whilst I scented their fragrancy, I could have
+persuaded myself, I was in the wardrobe of Hecuba,--
+
+    "Where treasured odours breathed a costly scent."
+
+I saw, or seemed to see, the arched apartments, the procession of
+matrons, the consecrated vestments: the very temple began to rise upon
+my sight, when a sweltering Dutch porpoise approaching to make me a low
+bow, his complaisance proved full as notorious as Satan's, when,
+according to Catholic legends, he took leave of Luther, that
+disputatious heresiarch. No spell can resist a fumigation of this
+nature; away fled palace, Hecuba, matrons, temple, &c. I looked up, and
+lo! I was in a garret. As poetry is but too often connected with this
+lofty situation, you will not wonder much at my flight. Being a little
+recovered from it, I tottered down the staircase, entered the cabinets
+of natural history, and was soon restored to my sober senses. A grave
+hippopotamus contributed a good deal to their re-establishment.
+
+The butterflies, I must needs confess, were very near leading me another
+dance: I thought of their native hills and beloved flowers, on the
+summits of Haynang and Nan-Hoa;[3] but the jargon which was gabbling all
+around me prevented the excursion, and I summoned a decent share of
+attention for that ample chamber which has been appropriated to bottled
+snakes and pickled foetuses.
+
+After having enjoyed the same spectacle in the British Museum, no very
+new or singular objects can be selected in this. One of the rarest
+articles it contains is the representation in wax of a human head, most
+dexterously flayed indeed! Rapturous encomiums have been bestowed by
+amateurs on this performance. A German professor could hardly believe it
+artificial; and, prompted by the love of truth, set his teeth in this
+delicious morsel to be convinced of its reality. My faith was less
+hazardously established; and I moved off, under the conviction that art
+had never produced anything more horridly natural.
+
+It was one o'clock before I got through the mineral kingdom; and another
+hour passed before I could quit with decorum the regions of stuffed
+birds and marine productions. At length my departure was allowable; and
+I went to dine at Sir Joseph Yorke's, with all nations and languages.
+Amongst the company were two honourable boobies and their governor, all
+from Ireland. The youngest, after plying me with a succession of
+innocent questions, wished to be informed where I proposed spending the
+carnival. "At Tunis," was my answer. The questioner, not in the least
+surprised, then asked who was to sing there? To which I replied,
+"Farinelli."
+
+This settled the business to our mutual satisfaction; so after coffee I
+strayed to the Great Wood, which, considering that it almost touches the
+town with its boughs, is wonderfully forest-like. Not a branch being
+ever permitted to be lopped, the oaks and beeches retain their natural
+luxuriance. In some places their straight boles rise sixty feet without
+a bough; in others, they are bent fantastically over the alleys, which
+turn and wind about just as a painter would desire. I followed them with
+eagerness and curiosity; sometimes deviating from my path amongst tufts
+of fern and herbage.
+
+In these cool retreats I could not believe myself near canals and
+windmills; the Dutch formalities were all forgotten whilst contemplating
+the broad masses of foliage above, and the wild flowers and grasses
+below. Hares and rabbits scudded by me while I sat; and the birds were
+chirping their evening song. Their preservation does credit to the
+police of the country, which is so exact and well regulated as to suffer
+no outrage within the precincts of this extensive wood, the depth and
+thickness of which might otherwise seem calculated to favour half the
+sins of a capital.
+
+Relying upon this comfortable security, I lingered unmolested amongst
+the beeches till late in the evening; then taking the nearest path, I
+suffered myself, though not without regret, to be conducted out of this
+fresh sylvan scene to the dusty, pompous parterres of the Greffier
+Fagel. Every flower that wealth can purchase diffuses its perfume on one
+side; whilst every stench a canal can exhale poisons the air on the
+other. These sluggish puddles defy all the power of the United
+Provinces, and retain the freedom of stinking in spite of any endeavour
+to conquer their filthiness.
+
+But perhaps I am too bold in my assertion; for I have no authority to
+mention any attempts to purify these noxious pools. Who knows but their
+odour is congenial to a Dutch constitution? One should be inclined to
+this supposition by the numerous banquetting-rooms and pleasure-houses
+which hang directly above their surface, and seem calculated on purpose
+to enjoy them. If frogs were not excluded from the magistrature of their
+country (and I cannot but think it a little hard that they are), one
+should not wonder at this choice. Such burgomasters might erect their
+pavilions in such situations; but, after all, I am not greatly
+surprised at the fishiness of their site, since very slight authority
+would persuade me there was a period when Holland was all water, and the
+ancestors of the present inhabitants fish. A certain oysterishness of
+eye and flabbiness of complexion, are almost proofs sufficient of this
+aquatic descent: and pray tell me for what purpose are such galligaskins
+as the Dutch burthen themselves with contrived, but to tuck up a
+flouncing tail, and thus cloak the deformity of a dolphinlike
+termination?
+
+Having done penance for some time in the damp alleys which line the
+borders of these lazy waters, I was led through corkscrew sand-walks to
+a vast flat, sparingly scattered over with vegetation. There was no
+temptation to puzzle myself in such a labyrinth; so taking advantage of
+the lateness of the hour, and muttering a few complimentary promises of
+returning at the first opportunity, I escaped the ennui of this endless
+scrubbery, and got home, with the determination of being wiser and less
+curious if ever my stars should bring me again to the Hague.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+     Leave the Hague.--Leyden.--Wood near Haerlem.--Waddling
+     fishermen.--Enter the town.--The great fair.--Riot and
+     uproar.--Confusion of tongues.--Mine hostess.
+
+
+Haerlem, July 1st, 1780.
+
+The sky was clear and blue when we left the Hague, and we travelled
+along a shady road for about an hour, when down sunk the carriage into a
+sand-bed, and we were dragged along so slowly that I fell into a
+profound repose. How long it lasted is not material; but when I awoke,
+we were rumbling through Leyden. There is no need to write a syllable in
+honour of this illustrious city: its praises have already been sung and
+said by fifty professors, who have declaimed in its university, and
+smoked in its gardens. Let us get out of it as fast as we can, and
+breathe the cool air of the wood near Haerlem.
+
+Here we arrived just as day declined: hay was making in the fields, and
+perfumed the country far and wide with its reviving fragrance. I
+promised myself a sentimental saunter in the groves, took up Gesner, and
+began to have pretty pastoral ideas as I walked forward; but instead of
+nymphs dispersed over the meadows, I met a gang of waddling fishermen.
+Letting fall the garlands I had wreathed for the shepherdesses, I jumped
+into the carriage, and was driven off to the town. Every avenue to it
+swarmed with people, whose bustle and agitation seemed to announce that
+something extraordinary was going forward. Upon inquiry I found it was
+the great fair at Haerlem; and before we had advanced much farther, our
+carriage was surrounded by idlers and gingerbread-eaters of all
+denominations. Passing the gate, we came to a cluster of little
+illuminated booths beneath a grove, glittering with toys and
+looking-glasses. It was not without difficulty that we reached our inn,
+and then the plague was to procure chambers; at last we were
+accommodated, and the first moment I could call my own has been
+dedicated to you.
+
+You will not be surprised at the nonsense I have written, since I tell
+you the scene of the riot and uproar from whence it bears date. At this
+very moment the confused murmur of voices and music stops all regular
+proceedings: old women and children tattling; apes, bears, and
+show-boxes under the windows; French rattling, English swearing,
+outrageous Italians, frisking minstrels; _tambours de basque_ at every
+corner; myself distracted; a confounded squabble of cooks and haranguing
+German couriers just arrived, their masters following open-mouthed,
+nothing to eat, the steam of ham and flesh-pots all the while provoking
+their appetite; squeaking chamber-maids in the galleries above, and mine
+hostess below, half inclined to receive the golden solicitations of
+certain beauties for admittance, but positively refusing them the moment
+some creditable personage appears; eleven o'clock strikes; half the
+lights in the fair are extinguished; scruples grow faint; and mammon
+gains the victory.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+     Amsterdam.--The road to Utrecht.--Country-houses and gardens.--Neat
+     enclosures.--Comfortable parties.--Ladies and Lapdogs.--Arrival at
+     Utrecht.--Moravian establishment--The woods.--Shops.--Celestial
+     love.--Musical Sempstresses.--Return to Utrecht.
+
+
+Utrecht, 2d July, 1780.
+
+Well, thank Heaven! Amsterdam is behind us; how I got thither signifies
+not one farthing; it was all along a canal, as usual. The weather was
+hot enough to broil an inhabitant of Bengal; and the odours, exhaling
+from every quarter, sufficiently powerful to regale the nose of a
+Hottentot.
+
+Under these pungent circumstances we entered the great city. The
+Stadt-huys being the only cool place it contained, I repaired thither as
+fast as the heat permitted, and walked in a lofty marble hall,
+magnificently coved, till the dinner was ready at the inn. That
+despatched, we set off for Utrecht. Both sides of the way are lined
+with the country-houses and gardens of opulent citizens, as fine as gilt
+statues and clipped hedges can make them. Their number is quite
+astonishing: from Amsterdam to Utrecht, full thirty miles, we beheld no
+other objects than endless avenues and stiff parterres scrawled and
+flourished in patterns like the embroidery of an old maid's work-bag.
+Notwithstanding this formal taste, I could not help admiring the
+neatness and arrangement of every inclosure, enlivened by a profusion of
+flowers, and decked with arbours, beneath which a vast number of
+consequential personages were solacing themselves after the heat of the
+day. Each lusthuys we passed contained some comfortable party dozing
+over their pipes, or angling in the muddy fish-ponds below. Scarce an
+avenue but swarmed with female josses; little squat pug-dogs waddling at
+their sides, the attributes, I suppose, of these fair divinities.
+
+But let us leave them to loiter thus amiably in their Elysian groves,
+and arrive at Utrecht; which, as nothing very remarkable claimed my
+attention, I hastily quitted to visit a Moravian establishment at Ziest,
+in its neighbourhood. The chapel, a large house, late the habitation of
+Count Zinzendorf, and a range of apartments filled with the holy
+fraternity, are totally wrapped in dark groves, overgrown with weeds,
+amongst which some damsels were straggling, under the immediate
+protection of their pious brethren.
+
+Traversing the woods, we found ourselves in a large court, built round
+with brick edifices, the grass-plats in a deplorable way, and one ragged
+goat, their only inhabitant, on a little expiatory scheme, perhaps, for
+the failings of the fraternity. I left this poor animal to ruminate in
+solitude, and followed my guide into a series of shops furnished with
+gew-gaws and trinkets said to be manufactured by the female part of the
+society. Much cannot be boasted of their handy-works: I expressed a wish
+to see some of these industrious fair ones; but, upon receiving no
+answer, found this was a subject of which there was no discourse.
+
+Consoling myself as well as I was able, I put myself under the guidance
+of another slovenly disciple, who showed me the chapel, and harangued
+very pathetically upon celestial love. In my way thither, I caught a
+glimpse of some pretty sempstresses, warbling melodious hymns as they
+sat needling and thimbling at their windows above. I had a great
+inclination to approach this busy group, but the roll of a brother's eye
+corrected me.
+
+Reflecting upon my unworthiness, I retired from the consecrated
+buildings, and was driven back to Utrecht, not a little amused with my
+expedition. If you are as well disposed to be pleased as I was, I shall
+esteem myself very lucky, and not repent sending you so hasty a
+narrative.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+     Arrival at Aix-la-Chapelle.--Glimpse of a dingy grove.--Melancholy
+     saunterers.--Dusseldorf Gallery.--Nocturnal depredators.--Arrival
+     at Cologne.--Shrine of the Three Wise Sovereigns.--Peregrinations
+     of their beatified bones.--Road to Bonn.--Delights of
+     Catholicism.--Azure mountains.--Visionary palaces.
+
+
+We arrived at Aix-la-Chapelle about ten at night, and saw the mouldering
+turrets of that once illustrious capital by the help of a candle and
+lantern. An old woman at the gate asked our names (for not a single
+soldier appeared); and after traversing a number of superannuated
+streets without perceiving the least trace of Charlemagne or his
+Paladins, we procured comfortable though not magnificent apartments, and
+slept most unheroically sound, till it was time to set forward for
+Dusseldorf.
+
+July 8th.--As we were driven out of the town, I caught a glimpse of a
+grove, hemmed in by dingy buildings, where a few water-drinkers were
+sauntering along to the sound of some rueful French horns; the wan
+greenish light admitted through the foliage made them look like unhappy
+souls condemned to an eternal lounge for having trifled away their
+existence. It was not with much regret that I left such a party behind;
+and, after experiencing the vicissitudes of good roads and rumbling
+pavements, crossed the Rhine and travelled on to Dusseldorf.
+
+Nothing but the famous gallery of paintings could invite strangers to
+stay a moment within its walls; more crooked streets, more indifferent
+houses, one seldom meets with; except soldiers, not a living creature
+moving about them; and at night a complete regiment of bugs "marked me
+for their own." Thus I lay, at once the seat of war and the conquest of
+these detestable animals, till early in the morning (Sunday, July 9th),
+when Morpheus, compassionating my sufferings, opened the ivory gates of
+his empire, and freed his votary from the most unconscionable vermin
+ever engendered. In humble prose, I fell fast asleep; and remained
+quiet, in defiance of my adversaries, till it was time to survey the
+cabinet.
+
+This collection is displayed in five large galleries, and contains some
+valuable productions of the Italian school; but the room most boasted of
+is that which Rubens has filled with no less than three enormous
+representations of the last day, where an innumerable host of sinners
+are exhibited as striving in vain to avoid the tangles of the devil's
+tail. The woes of several fat luxurious souls are rendered in the
+highest gusto. Satan's dispute with some brawny concubines, whom he is
+lugging off in spite of all their resistance, cannot be too much admired
+by those who approve this class of subjects, and think such strange
+embroglios in the least calculated to raise a sublime or a religious
+idea.
+
+For my own part, I turned from them with disgust, and hastened to
+contemplate a holy family by Camillo Procaccini, in another apartment.
+The brightest imagination can never conceive any figure more graceful
+than that of the young Jesus; and if ever I beheld an inspired
+countenance or celestial features, it was here: but to attempt conveying
+in words what the pencil alone can express, would be only reversing the
+absurdity of many a master in the gallery who aims to represent those
+ideas by the pencil which language alone is able to describe. Should
+you admit this opinion, you will not be surprised at my passing such a
+multitude of renowned pictures unnoticed; nor at my bringing you out of
+the cabinet without deluging ten pages with criticisms in the style of
+the ingenious Lady Miller.
+
+As I had spent so much time in the gallery, the day was too far advanced
+to think of travelling to Cologne; I was therefore obliged to put myself
+once more under the dominion of the most inveterate bugs in the
+universe. This government, like many others, made but an indifferent use
+of its power, and the subject suffering accordingly was extremely
+rejoiced at flying from his persecutors to Cologne.
+
+July 10th.--Clouds of dust hindered my making any remarks on the
+exterior of this celebrated city; but if its appearance be not more
+beautiful from without than within, I defy the most courteous compiler
+of geographical dictionaries to launch forth very warmly in its praise.
+But of what avail are stately palaces, broad streets, or airy markets,
+to a town which can boast of such a treasure as the bodies of those
+three wise sovereigns who were star-led to Bethlehem? Is not this
+circumstance enough to procure it every kind of respect? I really
+believe so, from the pious and dignified contentment of its inhabitants.
+They care not a hair of an ass's ear whether their houses be gloomy and
+ill-contrived, their pavements overgrown with weeds, and their shops
+half choked up with filthiness, provided the carcasses of Gaspar,
+Melchior, and Balthazar might be preserved with proper decorum. Nothing,
+to be sure, can be richer than the shrine which contains these precious
+relics. I paid my devotions before it the moment I arrived; this step
+was inevitable: had I omitted it, not a soul in Cologne but would have
+cursed me for a Pagan.
+
+Do you not wonder at hearing of these venerable bodies so far from their
+native country? I thought them snug under some Arabian cupola ten feet
+deep in spice; but who can tell what is to become of one a few ages
+hence? Who knows but the Emperor of Morocco may be canonized some future
+day in Lapland? I asked, of course, how in the name of miracles they
+came hither? but found no story of a supernatural conveyance. It seems
+that great collectress of relics, the holy Empress Helena, first routed
+them out: then they were packed off to Rome. King Alaric, having no
+grace, bundled them down to Milan; where they remained till it pleased
+Heaven to inspire an ancient archbishop with the fervent wish of
+depositing them at Cologne; there these skeletons were taken into the
+most especial consideration, crowned with jewels and filigreed with
+gold. Never were skulls more elegantly mounted; and I doubt whether
+Odin's buffet could exhibit so fine an assortment. The chapel containing
+these beatified bones is placed in a dark extremity of the cathedral.
+Several golden lamps gleam along the polished marbles with which it is
+adorned, and afford just light enough to read the following monkish
+inscription:--
+
+    "CORPORA SANCTORUM RECUBANT HIC TERNA MAGORUM:
+      EX HIS SUBLATUM NIHIL EST ALIBIVE LOCATUM."
+
+After I had satisfied my curiosity with respect to the peregrinations of
+the consecrated skeletons, I examined their shrine; and was rather
+surprised to find it not only enriched with barbaric gold and pearl, but
+covered with cameos and intaglios of the best antique sculpture. Many an
+impious emperor and gross Silenus, many a wanton nymph and frantic
+bacchanal, figure in the same range with the statues of saints and
+evangelists. How St. Helena could tolerate such a mixed assembly (for
+the shrine, they say, was formed under her auspices) surpasses my
+comprehension. Perhaps you will say, it is no great matter; and give me
+a hint to move out of the chapel, lest the three kings and their star
+should lead me quite out of my way. Very well; I think I had better stop
+in time, to tell you, without further excursion, that we set off after
+dinner for Bonn.
+
+Our road-side was lined with beggarly children, high convent walls, and
+scarecrow crucifixes, lubberly monks, dejected peasants, and all the
+delights of Catholicism. Such scenery not engaging a share of my
+attention, I kept gazing at the azure irregular mountains which bounded
+our view, and in thought was already transported to their summits. Vast
+and wild were the prospects I surveyed from my imaginary exaltation, and
+innumerable the chimeras which trotted in my brain. Under their
+capricious influence my fancy built castles and capitols in the clouds
+with all the extravaganza of Piranesi. The magnificence and variety of
+my a�rial structures hindered my thinking the way long. I was walking
+with a crowd of phantoms upon their terraces, when the carriage made a
+halt. Immediately descending the innumerable flights of steps which
+divide such lofty edifices from the lower world, I entered the inn at
+Bonn, and was shown into an apartment which commands the chief front of
+the Elector's residence. You may guess how contemptible it appeared to
+one just returned from palaces bedecked with all the pomp of visionary
+splendour. In other respects I saw it at a very favourable moment, for
+the twilight, shading the whole fa�ade, concealed its plastered walls
+and painted columns.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+     Borders of the Rhine.--Richly picturesque road from Bonn to
+     Andernach.--Scheme for a floating village.--Coblentz.--A winding
+     valley.--The river Lahn.--Ems.--The planet.--A supposed
+     Apparition.--A little sequestered Paradise.
+
+
+July 11, 1780.
+
+Let those who delight in picturesque country repair to the borders of
+the Rhine, and follow the road from Bonn to Coblentz. In some places it
+is suspended like a cornice above the waters; in others, it winds behind
+lofty steeps and broken acclivities, shaded by woods and clothed with an
+endless variety of plants and flowers. Several green paths lead amongst
+this vegetation to the summits of the rocks, which often serve as the
+foundation of abbeys and castles, whose lofty roofs and spires, rising
+above the cliffs, impress passengers with ideas of their grandeur, that
+might probably vanish upon a nearer approach. Not choosing to lose any
+prejudice in their favour, I kept a respectful distance whenever I left
+my carriage, and walked on the banks of the river.
+
+Just before we came to Andernach, an antiquated town with strange
+morisco-looking towers, I spied a raft, at least three hundred feet in
+length, on which ten or twelve cottages were erected, and a great many
+people employed in sawing wood. The women sat spinning at their doors,
+whilst their children played among the water-lilies that bloomed in
+abundance on the edge of the stream. A smoke, rising from one of these
+aquatic habitations, partially obscured the mountains beyond, and added
+not a little to their effect.
+
+Altogether, the scene was so novel and amusing, that I sat half an hour
+contemplating it from an eminence under the shade of some leafy walnuts;
+and should like extremely to build a moveable village, people it with my
+friends, and so go floating about from island to island, and from one
+woody coast of the Rhine to another. Would you dislike such a party? I
+am much deceived, or you would be the first to explore the shady
+promontories beneath which we should be wafted along.
+
+But I do not think you would find Coblentz, where we were obliged to
+take up our night's lodging, much to your taste. It is a mean, dirty
+assemblage of plastered houses, striped with paint, and set off with
+wooden galleries, in the delectable taste of old St. Giles's. Above, on
+a rock, stands the palace of the Elector, which seems to be remarkable
+for nothing except situation. I did not bestow many looks on this
+structure whilst ascending the mountain across which our road to Mayence
+conducted us.
+
+July 12.--Having attained the summit, we discovered a vast, irregular
+range of country, and advancing, found ourselves amongst downs purpled
+with thyme and bounded by forests. This sort of prospect extending for
+several leagues, I walked on the turf, and inhaled with avidity the
+fresh gales that blew over its herbage, till I came to a steep slope
+overgrown with privet and a variety of luxuriant shrubs in blossom. A
+cloudless sky and bright sunshine made me rather loth to move on; but
+the charms of the landscape, increasing every instant, drew me forward.
+
+I had not gone far, before a winding valley discovered itself, inclosed
+by rocks and mountains clothed to their very summits with the thickest
+woods. A broad river, flowing at the base of the cliffs, reflected the
+impending vegetation, and looked so calm and glassy that I was
+determined to be better acquainted with it. For this purpose we
+descended by a zigzag path into the vale, and making the best of our way
+on the banks of the Lahn (for so is the river called) came suddenly upon
+the town of Ems, famous in mineral story; where, finding very good
+lodgings, we took up our abode, and led an Indian life amongst the wilds
+and mountains.
+
+After supper I walked on a smooth lawn by the river, to observe the moon
+journeying through a world of silver clouds that lay dispersed over the
+face of the heavens. It was a mild genial evening; every mountain cast
+its broad shadow on the surface of the stream; lights twinkled afar off
+on the hills; they burnt in silence. All were asleep, except a female
+figure in white, with glow-worms shining in her hair. She kept moving
+disconsolately about; sometimes I heard her sigh; and if apparitions
+sigh, this must have been an apparition.
+
+July 13.--The pure air of the morning invited me abroad at an early
+hour. Hiring a skiff, I rowed about a mile down the stream, and landed
+on a sloping meadow, level with the waters, and newly mown. Heaps of hay
+still lay dispersed under the copses which hemmed in on every side this
+little sequestered paradise. What a spot for a tent! I could encamp here
+for months, and never be tired. Not a day would pass by without
+discovering some untrodden pasture, some unsuspected vale, where I might
+remain among woods and precipices lost and forgotten. I would give you,
+and two or three more, the clue of my labyrinth: nobody else should be
+conscious even of its entrance. Full of such agreeable dreams, I rambled
+about the meads, scarcely aware which way I was going; sometimes a
+spangled fly led me astray, and, oftener, my own strange fancies.
+Between both, I was perfectly bewildered, and should never have found
+my boat again, had not an old German naturalist, who was collecting
+fossils on the cliffs, directed me to it.
+
+When I got home it was growing late, and I now began to perceive that I
+had taken no refreshment, except the perfume of the hay and a few wood
+strawberries; airy diet, you will observe, for one not yet received into
+the realms of Ginnistan.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+     Inveterate Idlers.--The planet Orloff and his satellites.--A
+     Storm--Scared women.--A dreary Forest.--Village of
+     Wiesbaden.--Manheim.--Ulm.--The Danube--unlimited plains on its
+     margin.--Augsburg.--Sketch of the Town.--Pomposities of the Town
+     House.
+
+
+Ems, July 14.
+
+I have just made a discovery, that this place is as full of idlers and
+water-drinkers as their Highnesses of Orange and Hesse Darmstadt can
+desire; for to them accrue all the profits of its salubrious fountains.
+I protest, I knew nothing of all this yesterday, so entirely was I taken
+up with the rocks and meadows; and conceived no chance of meeting either
+card or billiard players in their solitudes. Both however abound at Ems,
+unconscious of the bold scenery in their neighbourhood, and totally
+insensible to its charms. They had no notion, not they, of admiring
+barren crags and precipices, where even the Lord would lose his way, as
+a clumsy lubber decorated with stars and orders very ingeniously
+observed to me; nor could they form the least conception of any pleasure
+there was in climbing like a goat amongst the cliffs, and then diving
+into woods and recesses where the sun had never penetrated; where there
+were neither card-tables prepared nor sideboards garnished; no _jambon
+de Mayence_ in waiting; no supply of pipes, nor any of the commonest
+delights, to be met with in the commonest taverns.
+
+To all this I acquiesced with most perfect submission, but immediately
+left the orator to entertain a circle of antiquated dames and
+weather-beaten officers who were gathering around him. Scarcely had I
+turned my back upon this polite assembly, when _Monsieur
+l'Administrateur des bains_, a fine pompous fellow, who had been _maitre
+d'h�tel_ in a great German family, came forward purposely to acquaint
+me, I suppose, that their baths had the honour of possessing Prince
+Orloff, "_avec sa crande maidresse, son shamperlan, et guelgues tames
+donneur_:" moreover, that his Highness came hither to refresh himself
+after his laborious employments at the Court of St. Petersburgh, and
+expected (_grace aux eaux_!) to return to the domains his august
+sovereign had lately bestowed upon him, perfectly regenerated.
+
+Wishing Monsieur d'Orloff all possible success, I should have left the
+company at a greater distance, had not a violent shower stopped my
+career, and obliged me to return to my apartment. The rain growing
+heavier, intercepted the prospect of the mountains, and spread such a
+gloom over the vale as sank my spirits fifty degrees; to which a close
+foggy atmosphere not a little contributed. Towards night the clouds
+assumed a more formidable aspect; thunder rolled along the distant
+cliffs, and torrents began to run down the steeps. At intervals a blue
+flash of lightning discovered the agitated surface of the stream, and
+two or three scared women rushing through the storm, and calling all the
+saints in Paradise to their assistance.
+
+Things were in this state, when the orator who had harangued so
+brilliantly on the folly of ascending mountains, bounced into the room,
+and regaled my ears with a woeful narration of murders which had
+happened the other day on the precise road I was to follow the next
+morning.
+
+"Sir," said he, "your route is, to be sure, very perilous: on the left
+you have a chasm, down which, should your horses take the smallest
+alarm, you are infallibly precipitated; to the right hangs an impervious
+wood, and there, sir, I can assure you, are wolves enough to devour a
+regiment; a little farther on, you cross a desolate tract of forest
+land, the roads so deep and broken, that if you go ten paces in as many
+minutes you may think yourself fortunate. There lurk the most savage
+banditti in Europe, lately irritated by the Prince of Orange's
+proscription; and so desperate, that if they make an attack, you can
+expect no mercy. Should you venture through this hazardous district
+to-morrow, you will, in all probability, meet a company of people who
+have just left the town to search for the mangled bodies of their
+relations; but, for Heaven's sake, sir, if you value your life, do not
+suffer an idle curiosity to lead you over such dangerous regions,
+however picturesque their appearance."
+
+It was almost nine o'clock before my kind adviser ceased inspiring me
+with terrors; then, finding myself at liberty, I retired to bed, not
+under the most agreeable impressions.
+
+Early in the morning we set forward; and proceeding along the edge of
+the precipices I had been forewarned of, journeyed through the forest
+which had so recently been the scene of murders and depredations. At
+length, after winding several hours amongst its dreary avenues, we
+emerged into open daylight. A few minutes more brought us safe to the
+village of Wiesbaden, where we slept in peace and tranquillity.
+
+July 16.--Our apprehensions being entirely dispersed, we rose much
+refreshed; and passing through Mayence, Oppenheim, and Worms, travelled
+gaily over the plain in which Manheim is situated. The sun set before we
+arrived there.
+
+Numbers of well-dressed people were amusing themselves with music and
+fireworks in the squares and open spaces; other groups appeared
+conversing in circles before their doors, and enjoying the serenity of
+the evening. Almost every window bloomed with carnations; and we could
+hardly cross a street without hearing the sound of music. A scene of
+such happiness and refinement formed a most agreeable contrast to the
+dismalities we had left behind. All around was security and contentment
+in their most engaging attire.
+
+July 20.--After travelling a post or two, we came in sight of a green
+moor, of vast extent, with insulated woods and villages; here and there
+the Danube sweeping majestically along, and the city of Ulm rising upon
+its banks. The fields in the neighbourhood of the town were overspread
+with cloths bleaching in the sun, and waiting for barks, which convey
+them down the great river in twelve days to Vienna, and thence, through
+Hungary, into the midst of the Turkish empire.
+
+You never saw a brighter sky nor more glowing clouds than those which
+gilded our horizon. For ten miles we beheld no other objects than smooth
+unlimited levels interspersed with thickets of oak, beyond which
+appeared a long series of mountains. Such were the very spots for
+youthful games and exercises, open spaces for the race, and spreading
+shades to skreen the spectators.
+
+Father Lafiteau tells us, there are many such vast and flowery Savannahs
+in the interior of America, to which the roving tribes of Indians
+repair once or twice in a century to settle the rights of the chase, and
+lead their solemn dances; and so deep an impression do these assemblies
+leave on the minds of the savages, that the highest ideas they entertain
+of future felicity consist in the perpetual enjoyment of songs and
+dances upon the green boundless lawns of their elysium. In the midst of
+these visionary plains rises the abode of Ateantsic, encircled by choirs
+of departed chieftains leaping in cadence to the sound of spears as they
+ring on the shell of the tortoise. Their favourite attendants, long
+separated from them while on earth, are restored again in this ethereal
+region, and skim freely over the vast level space; now, hailing one
+group of beloved friends; and now, another. Mortals newly ushered by
+death into this world of pure blue sky and boundless meads, see the
+long-lost objects of their affection advancing to meet them, whilst
+flights of familiar birds, the purveyors of many an earthly chase, once
+more attend their progress, and the shades of their faithful dogs seem
+coursing each other below. The whole region is filled with low murmurs
+and tinkling sounds, which increase in melody as its new denizens
+proceed, who, at length, unable to resist the thrilling music, spring
+forward in ecstasies to join the eternal round.
+
+A share of this celestial transport seemed communicated to me whilst my
+eyes wandered over the plains, which imagination widened and extended in
+proportion as the twilight prevailed, and so fully abandoned was I to
+the illusion of the moment, that I did not for several minutes perceive
+our arrival at G�nzburg; whence we proceeded the next morning (July 21)
+to Augsburg, and rambled about this renowned city till evening. The
+colossal paintings on the walls of almost every considerable building
+gave it a strange air, which pleases upon the score of novelty.
+
+Having passed a number of streets decorated in this exotic manner, we
+found ourselves suddenly before the public hall, by a noble statue of
+Augustus; which way soever we turned, our eyes met some remarkable
+edifice, or marble basin into which several groups of sculptured
+river-gods pour a profusion of waters. These stately fountains and
+bronze statues, the extraordinary size and loftiness of the buildings,
+the towers rising in perspective, and the Doric portal of the
+town-house, answered in some measure the idea Montfaucon gives us of
+the scene of an ancient tragedy. Whenever a pompous Flemish painter
+attempts a representation of Troy or Babylon, and displays in his
+back-ground those streets of palaces described in the Iliad, Augsburg,
+or some such city, may easily be traced. Frequently a corner of Antwerp
+discovers itself; and sometimes, above a Corinthian portico, rises a
+Gothic spire: just such a jumble may be viewed from the statue of
+Augustus, under which I remained till the concierge came, who was to
+open the gates of the town-house and show me its magnificent hall.
+
+I wished for you exceedingly when ascending a flight of a hundred steps;
+I entered it through a portal, supported by tall pillars and crowned
+with a majestic pediment. Upon advancing, I discovered five more
+entrances equally grand, with golden figures of guardian genii leaning
+over the entablature; and saw, through a range of windows, each above
+thirty feet high, and nearly level with the marble pavement, the whole
+city, with all its roofs and spires, beneath my feet. The pillars,
+cornices, and panels of this striking apartment are uniformly tinged
+with brown and gold; and the ceiling, enriched with emblematical
+paintings and innumerable canopies and pendents of carved work, casts a
+very magisterial shade. Upon the whole, I should not be surprised at a
+burgomaster assuming a formidable dignity in such a room.
+
+I must confess it had a somewhat similar effect upon me; and I descended
+the flight of steps with as much pomposity as if on the point of giving
+audience to the Queen of Sheba. It happened to be a high festival, and
+half the inhabitants of Augsburg were gathered together in the opening
+before their hall; the greatest numbers, especially the women, still
+exhibiting the very dresses which Hollar engraved. My lofty gait imposed
+upon this primitive assembly, which receded to give me passage with as
+much silent respect as if I had really been the wise sovereign of
+Israel. When I got home, an execrable sourcroutish supper was served up
+to my majesty; I scolded in an unroyal style, and soon convinced myself
+I was no longer Solomon.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+     Extensive woods of fir in Bavaria.--Grand fair at Munich.--The
+     Elector's country palace.--Court
+     Ladies.--Fountains.--Costume.--Garden and tea-room.--Hoydening
+     festivities there.--The Palace and Chapel.--Gorgeous riches of the
+     latter.--St. Peter's thumb.--The Elector's collection of
+     pictures.--The Churches.--Hubbub and confusion of the Fair.--Wild
+     tract of country.--Village of Wolfrathshausen.--Perpetual
+     forests.--A Tempest.--A night at a cottage.
+
+
+July 22.
+
+Joy to the Electors of Bavaria! for preserving such extensive woods of
+fir in their dominions as shade over the chief part of the road from
+Augsburg to Munich. Near the last-mentioned city, I cannot boast of the
+scenery changing to advantage. Instead of flourishing woods and verdure,
+we beheld a parched dreary flat, diversified by fields of withering
+barley, and stunted avenues drawn formally across them; now and then a
+stagnant pool, and sometimes a dunghill, by way of regale. However, the
+wild rocks of the Tyrol terminate the view, and to them imagination may
+fly, and ramble amidst springs and lilies of her own creation. I speak
+from authority, having had the delight of anticipating an evening in
+this romantic style.
+
+Tuesday next is the grand fair at Munich, with horse-races and
+junketings: a piece of news I was but too soon acquainted with; for the
+moment we entered the town, good-natured creatures from all quarters
+advised us to get out of it; since traders and harlequins had filled
+every corner of the place, and there was not a lodging to be procured.
+The inns, to be sure, were hives of industrious animals sorting their
+merchandise, and preparing their goods for sale. Yet, in spite of
+difficulties, we got possession of a quiet apartment.
+
+July 23.--We were driven in the evening to Nymphenburg, the Elector's
+country palace, the bosquets, jets-d'eaux, and parterres of which are
+the pride of the Bavarians. The principal platform is all of a glitter
+with gilded Cupids and shining serpents spouting at every pore. Beds of
+poppies, hollyhocks, scarlet lychnis, and other flame-coloured flowers,
+border the edge of the walks, which extend till the perspective appears
+to meet and swarm with ladies and gentlemen in party-coloured raiment.
+The queen of Golconda's gardens in a French opera are scarcely more
+gaudy and artificial. Unluckily too, the evening was fine, and the sun
+so powerful that we were half roasted before we could cross the great
+avenue and enter the thickets, which barely conceal a very splendid
+hermitage, where we joined Mr. and Mrs. Trevor, and a party of
+fashionable Bavarians.
+
+Amongst the ladies was Madame la Comtesse, I forget who, a production of
+the venerable Haslang, with her daughter, Madame de Baumgarten, who has
+the honour of leading the Elector in her chains. These goddesses
+stepping into a car, vulgarly called a cariole, the mortals followed and
+explored alley after alley and pavilion after pavilion. Then, having
+viewed Pagodenburg, which is, as they told me, all Chinese; and
+Marienburg, which is most assuredly all tinsel; we paraded by a variety
+of fountains in full squirt, and though they certainly did their best
+(for many were set agoing on purpose) I cannot say I greatly admired
+them.
+
+The ladies were very gaily attired, and the gentlemen, as smart as
+swords, bags, and pretty clothes could make them, looked exactly like
+the fine people one sees represented on Dresden porcelain. Thus we kept
+walking genteelly about the orangery, till the carriage drew up and
+conveyed us to Mr. Trevor's.
+
+Immediately after supper, we drove once more out of town, to a garden
+and tea-room, where all degrees and ages dance jovially together till
+morning. Whilst one party wheel briskly away in the waltz, another amuse
+themselves in a corner with cold meat and rhenish. That despatched, out
+they whisk amongst the dancers, with an impetuosity and liveliness I
+little expected to have found in Bavaria. After turning round and round,
+with a rapidity that is quite astounding to an English dancer, the music
+changes to a slower movement, and then follows a succession of zig-zag
+minuets, performed by old and young, straight and crooked, noble and
+plebeian, all at once, from one end of the room to the other. Tallow
+candles snuffing and stinking, dishes changing at the risk of showering
+down upon you their savoury contents, heads scratching, and all sorts of
+performances going forward at the same moment; the flutes, oboes, and
+bassoons, snorting, grunting, and whining with peculiar emphasis; now
+fast, now slow, just as Variety commands, who seems to rule the
+ceremonial of this motley assembly, where every distinction of rank and
+privilege is totally forgotten. Once a week, on Sundays that is to say,
+the rooms are open, and Monday is generally far advanced before they are
+deserted. If good humour and coarse merriment are all that people
+desire, here they are to be found in perfection.
+
+July 24.--Custom condemned us to visit the palace, which glares with
+looking-glass, gilding, and furbelowed flounces of cut velvet, most
+sumptuously fringed and spangled. The chapel, though small, is richer
+than anything Croesus ever possessed, let them say what they will. Not
+a corner but shines with gold, diamonds, and scraps of martyrdom studded
+with jewels. I had the delight of treading amethysts and the richest
+gems under foot, which, if you recollect, Apuleius[4] thinks such
+supreme felicity. Alas! I was quite unworthy of the honour, and had much
+rather have trodden the turf of the mountains. Mammon would never have
+taken his eyes off the pavement; mine soon left the contemplation of it
+and fixed on St. Peter's thumb, enshrined with a degree of elegance, and
+adorned by some malapert enthusiast with several of the most delicate
+antique cameos I ever beheld; the subjects, Ledas and sleeping Venuses,
+are a little too pagan, one should think, for an apostle's finger.
+
+From this precious repository we were conducted through the public
+garden to a large hall, where part of the Elector's collection is piled
+up, till a gallery can be finished for its reception. It was matter of
+great favour to view, in this state, the pieces that compose it, a very
+imperfect one too, since some of the best were under operation. But I
+would not upon any account have missed the sight of Rubens's Massacre of
+the Innocents. Such expressive horrors were never yet transferred to
+canvass. Moloch himself might have gazed at them with pleasure.
+
+After dinner we were led round the churches; and if you are as much
+tired with reading my voluminous descriptions, as I was with the
+continual repetition of altars and reliquaries, the Lord have mercy upon
+you! However, your delivery draws near. The post is going out, and
+to-morrow we shall begin to mount the cliffs of the Tyrol; but, do not
+be afraid of any long-winded epistles from their summits: I shall be too
+well employed in ascending them.
+
+July 25.--The noise of the people thronging to the fair did not allow me
+to slumber very long in the morning. When I got up, every street was
+crowded with Jews and mountebanks, holding forth and driving their
+bargains in all the guttural hoarseness of the Bavarian dialect. Vast
+quantities of rich merchandise glittered in the shops as we passed to
+the gates. Heaps of fruit and sweetmeats set half the grandams and
+infants in the place cackling with felicity.
+
+Mighty glad was I to make my escape; and in about an hour or two, we
+entered a wild tract of country, not unlike the skirts of a princely
+park. A little farther on stands a cluster of cottages, where we stopped
+to give our horses some refreshment, and were pestered with swarms of
+flies, most probably journeying to Munich fair, there to feast upon
+sugared tarts and honied gingerbread.
+
+The next post brought us over hill and dale, grove and meadow, to a
+narrow plain, watered by rivulets and surrounded by cliffs, under which
+lies scattered the village of Wolfrathshausen, consisting of several
+remarkably large cottages, built entirely of fir, with strange galleries
+projecting from them. Nothing can be neater than the carpentry of these
+complicated edifices, nor more solid than their construction; many of
+them looked as if they had braved the torrents which fell from the
+mountains a century ago; and, if one may judge from the hoary appearance
+of the inhabitants, here are patriarchs coeval with their mansions.
+Orchards of cherry-trees cover the steeps above the village, which to
+our certain knowledge produce most admirable fruit.
+
+Having refreshed ourselves with their cooling juice, we struck into a
+grove of pines, the tallest and most flourishing we had yet beheld.
+There seemed no end to these forests, except where little irregular
+spots of herbage, fed by cattle, intervened. Whenever we gained an
+eminence it was only to discover more ranges of dark wood, variegated
+with meadows and glittering streams. White clover and a profusion of
+sweet-scented flowers clothe their banks; above, waves the mountain-ash,
+glowing with scarlet berries: and beyond, rise hills, rocks and
+mountains, piled upon one another, and fringed with fir to their topmost
+acclivities. Perhaps the Norwegian forests alone, equal these in
+grandeur and extent. Those which cover the Swiss highlands rarely convey
+such vast ideas. There, the woods climb only half way up their ascents,
+which then are circumscribed by snows: here no boundaries are set to
+their progress, and the mountains, from base to summit, display rich
+unbroken masses of vegetation.
+
+As we were surveying this prospect, a thick cloud, fraught with thunder,
+obscured the horizon, whilst flashes of lightning startled our horses,
+whose snorts and stampings resounded through the woods. The impending
+tempests gave additional gloom to the firs, and we travelled several
+miles almost in total darkness. One moment the clouds began to fleet,
+and a faint gleam promised serener intervals, but the next was all
+blackness and terror; presently a deluge of rain poured down upon the
+valley, and in a short time the torrents beginning to swell, raged with
+such violence as to be forded with difficulty. Twilight drew on, just as
+we had passed the most terrible; then ascending a mountain, whose pines
+and birches rustled with the storm, we saw a little lake below. A deep
+azure haze veiled its eastern shore, and lowering vapours concealed the
+cliffs to the south; but over its western extremities hung a few
+transparent clouds; the rays of a struggling sunset streamed on the
+surface of the waters, tingeing the brow of a green promontory with
+tender pink.
+
+I could not help fixing myself on the banks of the lake for several
+minutes, till this apparition faded away. Looking round, I shuddered at
+a craggy mountain, clothed with forests and almost perpendicular, that
+was absolutely to be surmounted before we could arrive at Walchen-see.
+No house, not even a shed appearing, we were forced to ascend the peak,
+and penetrate these awful groves. At length, after some perils but no
+adventure, we saw lights gleam upon the shore of the Walchen lake, which
+served to direct us to a cottage, where we passed the night, and were
+soon lulled to sleep by the fall of distant waters.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER X.
+
+     Mittenwald.--Mountain chapels.--Saint Anna's young and fair
+     worshippers.--Road to Inspruck.--Maximilian's tomb.--Vast range of
+     prospects.--A mountain torrent.--Sch�nberg.
+
+
+July 26.
+
+The sun rose many hours before me, and when I got up was spangling the
+surface of the lake, which spreads itself between steeps of wood,
+crowned by lofty crags and pinnacles. We had an opportunity of
+contemplating this bold assemblage as we travelled on the banks of the
+lake, where it forms a bay sheltered by impending forests; the water,
+tinged by their reflection with a deep cerulean, calm and tranquil.
+Mountains of pine and beech rising above, close every outlet; and, no
+village or spire peeping out of the foliage, impress an idea of more
+than European solitude.
+
+From the shore of Walchen-see, our road led us straight through arching
+groves, which the axe seems never to have violated, to the summit of a
+rock covered with daphnes of various species, and worn by the course of
+torrents into innumerable craggy forms. Beneath, lay extended a chaos of
+shattered cliffs, with tall pines springing from their crevices, and
+rapid streams hurrying between their intermingled trunks and branches.
+As yet, no hut appeared, no mill, no bridge, no trace of human
+existence.
+
+After a few hours' journey through the wilderness, we began to discover
+a wreath of smoke; and presently the cottage from whence it arose,
+composed of planks, and reared on the very brink of a precipice. Piles
+of cloven fir were dispersed before the entrance, on a little spot of
+verdure browsed by goats; near them sat an aged man with hoary whiskers,
+his white locks tucked under a fur cap. Two or three beautiful children
+with hair neatly braided, played around him; and a young woman dressed
+in a short robe and Polish-looking bonnet, peeped out of a wicket
+window.
+
+I was so much struck with the appearance of this sequestered family,
+that, crossing a rivulet, I clambered up to their cottage and sought
+some refreshment. Immediately there was a contention amongst the
+children, who should be the first to oblige me. A little black-eyed girl
+succeeded, and brought me an earthen jug full of milk, with crumbled
+bread, and a platter of strawberries fresh picked from the bank. I
+reclined in the midst of my smiling hosts, and spread my repast on the
+turf: never could I be waited upon with more hospitable grace. The only
+thing I wanted was language to express my gratitude; and it was this
+deficiency which made me quit them so soon. The old man seemed visibly
+concerned at my departure; and his children followed me a long way down
+the rocks, talking in a dialect which passes all understanding, and
+waving their hands to bid me adieu.
+
+I had hardly lost sight of them and regained my carriage before we
+entered a forest of pines, to all appearance without bounds, of every
+age and figure; some, feathered to the ground with flourishing branches;
+others, decayed into shapes like Lapland idols. Even at noonday, I
+thought we should never have found our way out.
+
+At last, having descended a long avenue, endless perspectives opening
+on either side, we emerged into a valley bounded by hills, divided into
+irregular inclosures, where many herds were grazing. A rivulet flows
+along the pastures beneath; and after winding through the village of
+Walgau, loses itself in a narrow pass amongst the cliffs and precipices
+which rise above the cultivated slopes and frame in this happy pastoral
+region. All the plain was in sunshine, the sky blue, the heights
+illuminated, except one rugged peak with spires of rock, shaped not
+unlike the views I have seen of Sinai, and wrapped, like that sacred
+mount, in clouds and darkness. At the base of this tremendous mass lies
+the hamlet of Mittenwald, surrounded by thickets and banks of verdure,
+and watered by frequent springs, whose sight and murmurs were so
+reviving in the midst of a sultry day, that we could not think of
+leaving their vicinity, but remained at Mittenwald the whole evening.
+
+Our inn had long airy galleries, with pleasant balconies fronting the
+mountain; in one of these we dined upon trout fresh from the rills, and
+cherries just culled from the orchards that cover the slopes above. The
+clouds were dispersing, and the topmost peak half visible, before we
+ended our repast, every moment discovering some inaccessible cliff or
+summit, shining through the mists, and tinted by the sun, with pale
+golden colours. These appearances filled me with such delight and with
+such a train of romantic associations, that I left the table and ran to
+an open field beyond the huts and gardens to gaze in solitude and catch
+the vision before it dissolved away. You, if any human being is able,
+may conceive true ideas of the glowing vapours sailing over the pointed
+rocks, and brightening them in their passage with amber light.
+
+When all was faded and lost in the blue ether, I had time to look around
+me and notice the mead in which I was standing. Here, clover covered its
+surface; there, crops of grain; further on, beds of herbs and the
+sweetest flowers. An amphitheatre of hills and rocks, broken into a
+variety of glens and precipices, open a course for several clear
+rivulets, which, after gurgling amidst loose stones and fragments, fall
+down the steeps, and are concealed and quieted in the herbage of the
+vale.
+
+A cottage or two peep out of the woods that hang over the waterfalls;
+and on the brow of the hills above, appears a series of eleven little
+chapels, uniformly built. I followed the narrow path that leads to them,
+on the edge of the eminences, and met a troop of beautiful peasants, all
+of the name of Anna (for it was St. Anna's day) going to pay their
+devotion, severally, at these neat white fanes. There were faces that
+Guercino would not have disdained copying, with braids of hair the
+softest and most luxuriant I ever beheld. Some had wreathed it simply
+with flowers, others with rolls of a thin linen (manufactured in the
+neighbourhood), and disposed it with a degree of elegance one should not
+have expected on the cliffs of the Tyrol.
+
+Being arrived, they knelt all together at the first chapel, on the
+steps, a minute or two, whispered a short prayer, and then dispersed
+each to her fane. Every little building had now its fair worshipper, and
+you may well conceive how much such figures, scattered about the
+landscape, increased its charms. Notwithstanding the fervour of their
+adorations (for at intervals they sighed and beat their white bosoms
+with energy), several bewitching profane glances were cast at me as I
+passed by. Do not be surprised, then, if I became a convert to idolatry
+in so amiable a form, and worshipped Saint Anna on the score of her
+namesakes.
+
+When got beyond the last chapel, I began to hear the roar of a cascade
+in a thick wood of beech and chestnut that clothes the steeps of a wide
+fissure in the rock. My ear soon guided me to its entrance, which was
+marked by a shed encompassed with mossy fragments and almost concealed
+by bushes of rhododendron in full red bloom--amongst these I struggled,
+till reaching a goat-track, it conducted me, on the brink of the foaming
+waters, to the very depths of the cliff, whence issues a stream which,
+dashing impetuously down, strikes against a ledge of rocks, and
+sprinkles the impending thicket with dew. Big drops hung on every spray,
+and glittered on the leaves partially gilt by the rays of the declining
+sun, whose mellow hues softened the rugged summits, and diffused a
+repose, a divine calm, over this deep retirement, which inclined me to
+imagine it the extremity of the earth--the portal of some other region
+of existence,--some happy world beyond the dark groves of pine, the
+caves and awful mountains, where the river takes its source! Impressed
+with this romantic idea, I hung eagerly over the gulph, and fancied I
+could distinguish a voice bubbling up with the waters; then looked into
+the abyss and strained my eyes to penetrate its gloom--but all was dark
+and unfathomable as futurity! Awakening from my reverie, I felt the
+damps of the water chill my forehead; and ran shivering out of the vale
+to avoid them. A warmer atmosphere, that reigned in the meads I had
+wandered across before, tempted me to remain a good while longer
+collecting dianthi freaked with beautifully varied colours, and a
+species of white thyme scented like myrrh. Whilst I was thus employed, a
+confused murmur struck my ear, and, on turning towards a cliff, backed
+by the woods from whence the sound seemed to proceed, forth issued a
+herd of goats, hundreds after hundreds, skipping down the steeps: then
+followed two shepherd boys, gamboling together as they drove their
+creatures along: soon after, the dog made his appearance, hunting a
+stray heifer which brought up the rear. I followed them with my eyes
+till lost in the windings of the valley, and heard the tinkling of their
+bells die gradually away. Now the last blush of crimson left the summit
+of _Sinai_, inferior mountains being long since cast in deep blue shade.
+The village was already hushed when I regained it, and in a few moments
+I followed its example.
+
+July 27.--We pursued our journey to Inspruck, through the wildest scenes
+of wood and mountain, where the rocks were now beginning to assume a
+loftier and more majestic appearance, and to glisten with snows. I had
+proposed passing a day or two at Inspruck, visiting the castle of
+Embras, and examining Count Eysenberg's cabinet, enriched with the
+rarest productions of the mineral kingdom, and a complete collection of
+the moths and flies peculiar to the Tyrol; but, upon my arrival, the
+azure of the skies and the brightness of the sunshine inspired me with
+an irresistible wish of hastening to Italy. I was now too near the
+object of my journey, to delay possession any longer than absolutely
+necessary, so, casting a transient look on Maximilian's tomb, and the
+bronze statues of Tyrolese Counts, and worthies, solemnly ranged in the
+church of the Franciscans, set off immediately.
+
+We crossed a broad noble street, terminated by a triumphal arch, and
+were driven along the road to the foot of a mountain waving with fields
+of corn, and variegated with wood and vineyards, encircling lawns of
+the finest verdure, scattered over with white houses. Upon ascending the
+mount, and beholding a vast range of prospects of a similar character, I
+almost repented my impatience, and looked down with regret upon the
+cupolas and steeples we were leaving behind. But the rapid succession of
+lovely and romantic scenes soon effaced the former from my memory.
+
+Our road, the smoothest in the world (though hewn in the bosom of rocks)
+by its sudden turns and windings, gave us, every instant, opportunities
+of discovering new villages, and forests rising beyond forests; green
+spots in the midst of wood, high above on the mountains, and cottages
+perched on the edge of promontories. Down, far below, in the chasm,
+amidst a confusion of pines and fragments of stone, rages the torrent
+Inn, which fills the country far and wide with a perpetual murmur.
+Sometimes we descended to its brink, and crossed over high bridges;
+sometimes mounted halfway up the cliffs, till its roar and agitation
+became, through distance, inconsiderable.
+
+After a long ascent we reached Sch�nberg,[5] a village well worthy of
+its appellation: and then, twilight drawing over us, began to descend.
+We could now but faintly discover the opposite mountains, veined with
+silver rills, when we came once more to the banks of the Inn. This
+turbulent stream accompanied us all the way to Steinach, and broke by
+its continual roar the stillness of the night, half spent, before we
+retired to rest.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+     Steinach.--Its torrent and gloomy strait.--Achievements of
+     Industry.--A sleepy Region.--Beautiful country round Brixen.
+
+
+July 28.
+
+I rose early to enjoy the fragrance of the vegetation, bathed in a
+shower which had lately fallen, and looking around me, saw nothing but
+crags hanging over crags, and the rocky shores of the stream, still dark
+with the shade of the mountains. The small opening in which Steinach is
+situated, terminates in a gloomy strait, scarce leaving room for the
+road and the torrent, which does not understand being thwarted, and will
+force its way, let the pines grow ever so thick, or the rocks be ever so
+formidable.
+
+Notwithstanding the forbidding air of this narrow dell, Industry has
+contrived to enliven its steeps with habitations, to raise water by
+means of a wheel, and to cover the surface of the rocks with soil. By
+this means large crops of oats and flax are produced, and most of the
+huts have gardens filled with poppies, which seem to thrive in this
+parched situation.
+
+    "Urit enim lini campum seges, urit aven�,
+     Urunt Leth�o perfusa papavera somno."
+
+The farther we advanced in the dell, the larger were the plantations
+which discovered themselves. For what specific purpose these gaudy
+flowers meet with such encouragement, I had neither time nor language to
+enquire; the mountaineers stuttering a gibberish unintelligible even to
+Germans. Probably opium is extracted from them; or, perhaps, if you love
+a conjecture, Morpheus has transferred his abode from the Cimmerians to
+a cavern somewhere or other in the recesses of these endless mountains.
+Poppies, you know, in poetic travels, always denote the skirts of his
+soporific reign, and I do not remember a region better calculated for
+undisturbed repose than the narrow clefts and gullies which run up
+amongst these rocks, lost in vapours impervious to the sun, and
+moistened by rills and showers, whose continual trickling inspire a
+drowsiness not easily to be resisted. Add to these circumstances the
+waving of the pines, and the hum of bees seeking their food in the
+crevices, and you will have as sleepy a region as that in which Spenser
+and Ariosto have placed the nodding deity.
+
+But we may as well keep our eyes open for the present, and look at the
+beautiful country round Brixen, where I arrived in the cool of the
+evening, and breathed the freshness of a garden immediately beneath my
+window. The thrushes, which nest amongst its shades, saluted me the
+moment I awoke next morning.
+
+
+
+
+ITALY.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+     Bolsano.--Indications of approaching
+     Italy.--Fire-flies.--Appearance of the Peasantry.--A forest
+     Lake.--Arrive at Borgo di Volsugano.--Prospect of Hills in the
+     Venetian State.--Gorgeous Flies.--Fortress of Covalo.--Leave the
+     country of crags and precipices and enter the territory of the
+     Bassanese.--Groves of olives and vines.--Classic appearance of
+     Bassano.--Happy groups.--Pachierotti, the celebrated
+     singer.--Anecdote of him.
+
+
+July 29, 1780.
+
+We proceeded over fertile mountains to Bolsano. It was here first that I
+noticed the rocks cut into terraces, thick set with melons and Indian
+corn; fig-trees and pomegranates hanging over garden walls, clustered
+with fruit. In the evening we perceived several further indications of
+approaching Italy; and after sun-set the Adige, rolling its full tide
+between precipices, which looked terrific in the dusk. Myriads of
+fire-flies sparkled amongst the shrubs on the bank. I traced the course
+of these exotic insects by their blue light, now rising to the summits
+of the trees, now sinking to the ground, and associating with vulgar
+glow-worms. We had opportunities enough to remark their progress, since
+we travelled all night; such being my impatience to reach the promised
+land!
+
+Morning dawned just as we saw Trent dimly before us. I slept a few
+hours, then set out again (July 30th), after the heats were in some
+measure abated, and leaving Bergine, where the peasants were feasting
+before their doors, in their holiday dresses, with red pinks stuck in
+their ears instead of rings, and their necks surrounded with coral of
+the same colour, we came through a woody valley to the banks of a lake,
+filled with the purest and most transparent water, which loses itself in
+shady creeks, amongst hills entirely covered with shrubs and verdure.
+
+The shores present one continual thicket, interspersed with knots of
+larches and slender almonds, starting from the underwood. A cornice of
+rock runs round the whole, except where the trees descend to the very
+brink, and dip their boughs in the water.
+
+It was six o'clock when I caught the sight of this unsuspected lake,
+and the evening shadows stretched nearly across it. Gaining a very rapid
+ascent, we looked down upon its placid bosom, and saw several airy peaks
+rising above tufted foliage. I quitted the contemplation of them with
+regret, and, in a few hours, arrived at Borgo di Volsugano; the scene of
+the lake still present before the eye of my fancy.
+
+July 31st.--My heart beat quick when I saw some hills, not very distant,
+which I was told lay in the Venetian State, and I thought an age, at
+least, had elapsed before we were passing their base. The road was never
+formed to delight an impatient traveller; loose pebbles and rolling
+stones render it, in the highest degree, tedious and jolting. I should
+not have spared my execrations, had it not traversed a picturesque
+valley, overgrown with juniper, and strewed with fragments of rock,
+precipitated, long since, from the surrounding eminences, blooming with
+cyclamens.
+
+I clambered up several of these crags,
+
+    Fra gli odoriferi ginepri,[6]
+
+to gather the flowers I have just mentioned, and found them deliciously
+scented. Fratillarias, and the most gorgeous flies, many of which I
+here noticed for the first time, were fluttering about and expanding
+their wings to the sun. There is no describing the numbers I beheld, nor
+their gaily varied colouring. I could not find in my heart to destroy
+their felicity; to scatter their bright plumage and snatch them for ever
+from the realms of light and flowers. Had I been less compassionate, I
+should have gained credit with that respectable corps, the torturers of
+butterflies; and might, perhaps, have enriched their cabinets with some
+unknown captives. However, I left them imbibing the dews of heaven, in
+free possession of their native rights; and having changed horses at
+Tremolano, entered at length my long-desired Italy.
+
+The pass is rocky and tremendous, guarded by the fortress of Covalo, in
+possession of the empress queen, and only fit, one should think, to be
+inhabited by her eagles. There is no attaining this exalted hold but by
+the means of a cord let down many fathoms by the soldiers, who live in
+dens and caverns, which serve also as arsenals, and magazines for
+powder; whose mysteries I declined prying into, their approach being a
+little too a�rial for my earthly frame. A black vapour, tinging their
+entrance, completed the romance of the prospect, which I never shall
+forget.
+
+For two or three leagues there was little variation in the scenery;
+cliffs, nearly perpendicular on both sides, and the Brenta foaming and
+thundering below. Beyond, the rocks began to be mantled with vines and
+gardens. Here and there a cottage shaded with mulberries, made its
+appearance, and we often discovered, on the banks of the river, ranges
+of white buildings, with courts and awnings, beneath which numbers of
+women and children were employed in manufacturing silk. As we advanced,
+the stream gradually widened, and the rocks receded; woods were more
+frequent and cottages thicker strown.
+
+About five in the evening we left the country of crags and precipices,
+of mists and cataracts, and were entering the fertile territory of the
+Bassanese. It was now I beheld groves of olives, and vines clustering
+the summits of the tallest elms; pomegranates in every garden, and vases
+of citron and orange before almost every door. The softness and
+transparency of the air soon told me I was arrived in happier climates;
+and I felt sensations of joy and novelty run through my veins, upon
+beholding this smiling land of groves and verdure stretched out before
+me. A few hazy vapours, I can hardly call them clouds, rested upon the
+extremities of the landscape; and, through their medium, the sun cast an
+oblique and dewy ray. Peasants were returning home, singing as they
+went, and calling to each other over the hills; whilst the women were
+milking goats before the wickets of the cottage, and preparing their
+country fare.
+
+I left them enjoying it, and soon beheld the ancient ramparts and
+cypresses of Bassano; whose classic appearance recalled the memory of
+former times, and answered exactly the ideas I had pictured to myself of
+Italian edifices. Though encompassed by walls and turrets, neither
+soldiers nor custom-house officers start out from their concealment, to
+question and molest a weary traveller, for such is the happiness of the
+Venetian state, at least of the terra firma provinces, that it does not
+contain, I believe, above four regiments. Istria, Dalmatia, and the
+maritime frontiers, are more formidably guarded, as they touch, you
+know, the whiskers of the Turkish empire.
+
+Passing under a Doric gateway, we crossed the chief part of the town in
+the way to our locanda, pleasantly situated, and commanding a level
+green, where people walk and take ices by moonlight. On the right, the
+Franciscan church, and convent, half hid in the religious gloom of pine
+and cypress; to the left, a perspective of walls and towers rising from
+the turf, and marking it, when I arrived, with long shadows, in front;
+where the lawn terminates, meadow, wood, and garden run quite to the
+base of the mountains.
+
+Twilight coming on, this beautiful spot swarmed with company, sitting in
+circles upon the grass, refreshing themselves with fruit and sherbets,
+or lounging upon the bank beneath the towers. They looked so free and
+happy that I longed to be acquainted with them; and, thanks to a
+warm-hearted old Venetian, (the Senator Querini,) was introduced to a
+group of the principal inhabitants. Our conversation ended in a promise
+to meet the next evening at the villa of La Contessa Roberti, about a
+league from Bassano, and then to return together and sing to the praise
+of Pachierotti, their idol, as well as mine.
+
+You can have no idea what pleasure we mutually found in being of the
+same faith, and believing in one singer; nor can you imagine what
+effects that musical divinity produced at Padua, where he performed a
+few years ago, and threw his audience into such raptures, that it was
+some time before they recovered. One in particular, a lady of
+distinction, fainted away the instant she caught the pathetic accents of
+his voice, and was near dying a martyr to its melody. La Contessa, who
+sings in the truest taste, gave me a detail of the whole affair. "Egli
+ha fatto veramente un fanatismo a Padua," was her expression. I assured
+her we were not without idolatry in England, upon his account; but that
+in this, as well as in other articles of belief, there were many
+abominable heretics.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+     Villa of Mosolente--The route to Venice.--First view of that
+     city.--Striking prospect from the Leon Bianco.--Morning scene on
+     the grand canal.--Church of Santa Maria della Salute.--Interesting
+     group of stately buildings.--Convent of St. Giorgio Maggiore.--The
+     Redentore.--Island of the Carthusians.
+
+
+August 1st, 1780.
+
+The whole morning not a soul stirred who could avoid it. Those who were
+so active and lively the night before, were now stretched languidly upon
+their couches. Being to the full as idly disposed, I sat down and wrote
+some of this dreaming epistle; then feasted upon figs and melons; then
+got under the shade of the cypress, and slumbered till evening, only
+waking to dine, and take some ice.
+
+The sun declining apace, I hastened to my engagement at Mosolente (for
+so is the villa called) placed on a verdant hill encircled by others as
+lovely, and consisting of three light pavilions connected by porticos;
+just such as we admire in the fairy scenes of an opera. A vast flight of
+steps leads to the summit, where Signora Roberti and her friends
+received me with a grace and politeness that can never want a place in
+my memory. We rambled over all the apartments of this agreeable edifice,
+characterised by airiness and simplicity. The pavement encrusted with a
+composition as cool and polished as marble; the windows, doors, and
+balconies adorned with silver iron work, commanding scenes of meads and
+woodlands that extend to the shores of the Adriatic; slender towers and
+cypresses rising above the levels; and the hazy mountains beyond Padua,
+diversifying the expanse, form altogether a landscape which the elegant
+imagination of Horizonti never exceeded.
+
+I gazed on this delightful view till it faded in the dusk; then
+returning to Bassano, repaired to an illuminated hall, and heard Signora
+Roberti sing the very air which had excited such transport at Padua. As
+soon as she had ended, a band of various instruments stationed in the
+open street began a lively symphony, which would have delighted me at
+any other time; but now, I wished them a thousand leagues away, so
+pleasingly melancholy an impression did the air I had been listening to
+leave on my mind.
+
+At midnight I took leave of my obliging hosts, who were just setting out
+for Padua. They gave me a thousand kind invitations, and I hope some
+future day to accept them.
+
+
+August 2.
+
+Our route to Venice lay winding about the variegated plains I had
+surveyed from Mosolente; and after dining at Treviso we came in two
+hours and a half to Mestre, between grand villas and gardens peopled
+with statues. Embarking our baggage at the last-mentioned place, we
+stepped into a gondola, whose even motion was very agreeable after the
+jolts of a chaise. We were soon out of the canal of Mestre, terminated
+by an isle which contains a cell dedicated to the Holy Virgin, peeping
+out of a thicket, whence spire up two tall cypresses. Its bells tingled
+as we passed along and dropped some paolis into a net tied at the end of
+a pole stretched out to us for that purpose.
+
+As soon as we had doubled the cape of this diminutive island, an expanse
+of sea opened to our view, the domes and towers of Venice rising from
+its bosom. Now we began to distinguish Murano, St. Michele, St. Giorgio
+in Alga, and several other islands, detached from the grand cluster,
+which I hailed as old acquaintances; innumerable prints and drawings
+having long since made their shapes familiar. Still gliding forward, we
+every moment distinguished some new church or palace in the city,
+suffused with the rays of the setting sun, and reflected with all their
+glow of colouring from the surface of the waters.
+
+The air was calm; the sky cloudless; a faint wind just breathing upon
+the deep, lightly bore its surface against the steps of a chapel in the
+island of San Secondo, and waved the veil before its portal, as we rowed
+by and coasted the walls of its garden overhung with fig-trees and
+surmounted by spreading pines. The convent discovers itself through
+their branches, built in a style somewhat morisco, and level with the
+sea, except where the garden intervenes.
+
+We were now drawing very near the city, and a confused hum began to
+interrupt the evening stillness; gondolas were continually passing and
+repassing, and the entrance of the Canal Reggio, with all its stir and
+bustle, lay before us. Our gondoliers turned with much address through
+a crowd of boats and barges that blocked up the way, and rowed smoothly
+by the side of a broad pavement, covered with people in all dresses and
+of all nations.
+
+Leaving the Palazzo Pesaro, a noble structure with two rows of arcades
+and a superb rustic, behind, we were soon landed before the Leon Bianco,
+which being situated in one of the broadest parts of the grand canal,
+commands a most striking assemblage of buildings. I have no terms to
+describe the variety of pillars, of pediments, of mouldings, and
+cornices, some Grecian, others Saracenic, that adorn these edifices, of
+which the pencil of Canaletti conveys so perfect an idea as to render
+all verbal description superfluous. At one end of this grand scene of
+perspective appears the Rialto; the sweep of the canal conceals the
+other.
+
+The rooms of our hotel are spacious and cheerful; a lofty hall, or
+rather gallery, painted with grotesque in a very good style, perfectly
+clean, floored with a marbled stucco, divides the house, and admits a
+refreshing current of air. Several windows near the ceiling look into
+this vast apartment, which serves in lieu of a court, and is rendered
+perfectly luminous by a glazed arcade, thrown open to catch the
+breezes. Through it I passed to a balcony which impends over the canal,
+and is twined round with plants forming a green festoon springing from
+two large vases of orange trees placed at each end. Here I established
+myself to enjoy the cool, and observe, as well as the dusk would permit,
+the variety of figures shooting by in their gondolas.
+
+As night approached, innumerable tapers glimmered through the awnings
+before the windows. Every boat had its lantern, and the gondolas moving
+rapidly along were followed by tracks of light, which gleamed and played
+upon the waters. I was gazing at these dancing fires when the sounds of
+music were wafted along the canals, and as they grew louder and louder,
+an illuminated barge, filled with musicians, issued from the Rialto, and
+stopping under one of the palaces, began a serenade, which stilled every
+clamour and suspended all conversation in the galleries and porticos;
+till, rowing slowly away, it was heard no more. The gondoliers catching
+the air, imitated its cadences, and were answered by others at a
+distance, whose voices, echoed by the arch of the bridge, acquired a
+plaintive and interesting tone. I retired to rest, full of the sound;
+and long after I was asleep, the melody seemed to vibrate in my ear.
+
+
+August 3.
+
+It was not five o'clock before I was aroused by a loud din of voices and
+splashing of water under my balcony. Looking out, I beheld the grand
+canal so entirely covered with fruits and vegetables, on rafts and in
+barges, that I could scarcely distinguish a wave. Loads of grapes,
+peaches and melons arrived, and disappeared in an instant, for every
+vessel was in motion; and the crowds of purchasers hurrying from boat to
+boat, formed a very lively picture. Amongst the multitudes, I remarked a
+good many whose dress and carriage announced something above the common
+rank; and upon enquiry I found they were noble Venetians, just come from
+their casinos, and met to refresh themselves with fruit, before they
+retired to sleep for the day.
+
+Whilst I was observing them, the sun began to colour the balustrades of
+the palaces, and the pure exhilarating air of the morning drawing me
+abroad, I procured a gondola, laid in my provision of bread and grapes,
+and was rowed under the Rialto, down the grand canal to the marble steps
+of S. Maria della Salute, erected by the Senate in performance of a vow
+to the Holy Virgin, who begged off a terrible pestilence in 1630. The
+great bronze portal opened whilst I was standing on the steps which lead
+to it, and discovered the interior of the dome, where I expatiated in
+solitude; no mortal appearing except an old priest who trimmed the lamps
+and muttered a prayer before the high altar, still wrapt in shadows. The
+sun-beams began to strike against the windows of the cupola, just as I
+left the church and was wafted across the waves to the spacious platform
+in front of St. Giorgio Maggiore, one of the most celebrated works of
+Palladio.
+
+When my first transport was a little subsided, and I had examined the
+graceful design of each particular ornament, and united the just
+proportion and grand effect of the whole in my mind, I planted my
+umbrella on the margin of the sea, and viewed at my leisure the vast
+range of palaces, of porticos, of towers, opening on every side and
+extending out of sight. The Doge's palace and the tall columns at the
+entrance of the place of St. Mark, form, together with the arcades of
+the public library, the lofty Campanile and the cupolas of the ducal
+church, one of the most striking groups of buildings that art can boast
+of. To behold at one glance these stately fabrics, so illustrious in the
+records of former ages, before which, in the flourishing times of the
+republic, so many valiant chiefs and princes have landed, loaded with
+oriental spoils, was a spectacle I had long and ardently desired. I
+thought of the days of Frederic Barbarossa, when looking up the piazza
+of St. Mark, along which he marched in solemn procession, to cast
+himself at the feet of Alexander the Third, and pay a tardy homage to
+St. Peter's successor. Here were no longer those splendid fleets that
+attended his progress; one solitary galeass was all I beheld, anchored
+opposite the palace of the Doge and surrounded by crowds of gondolas,
+whose sable hues contrasted strongly with its vermilion oars and shining
+ornaments. A party-coloured multitude was continually shifting from one
+side of the piazza to the other; whilst senators and magistrates in long
+black robes were already arriving to fill their respective offices.
+
+I contemplated the busy scene from my peaceful platform, where nothing
+stirred but aged devotees creeping to their devotions, and, whilst I
+remained thus calm and tranquil, heard the distant buzz of the town.
+Fortunately some length of waves rolled between me and its tumults; so
+that I ate my grapes, and read Metastasio, undisturbed by officiousness
+or curiosity. When the sun became too powerful, I entered the nave.
+
+After I had admired the masterly structure of the roof and the lightness
+of its arches, my eyes naturally directed themselves to the pavement of
+white and ruddy marble, polished, and reflecting like a mirror the
+columns which rise from it. Over this I walked to a door that admitted
+me into the principal quadrangle of the convent, surrounded by a
+cloister supported on Ionic pillars, beautifully proportioned. A flight
+of stairs opens into the court, adorned with balustrades and pedestals,
+sculptured with elegance truly Grecian. This brought me to the
+refectory, where the chef-d'oeuvre of Paul Veronese, representing the
+marriage of Cana in Galilee, was the first object that presented itself.
+I never beheld so gorgeous a group of wedding-garments before; there is
+every variety of fold and plait that can possibly be imagined. The
+attitudes and countenances are more uniform, and the guests appear a
+very genteel, decent sort of people, well used to the mode of their
+times and accustomed to miracles.
+
+Having examined this fictitious repast, I cast a look on a long range of
+tables covered with very excellent realities, which the monks were
+coming to devour with energy, if one might judge from their appearance.
+These sons of penitence and mortification possess one of the most
+spacious islands of the whole cluster, a princely habitation, with
+gardens and open porticos, that engross every breath of air; and, what
+adds not a little to the charms of their abode, is the facility of
+making excursions from it, whenever they have a mind.
+
+The republic, jealous of ecclesiastical influence, connives at these
+amusing rambles, and, by encouraging the liberty of monks and churchmen,
+prevents their appearing too sacred and important in the eyes of the
+people, who have frequent proofs of their being mere flesh and blood,
+and that of the frailest composition. Had the rest of Italy been of the
+same opinion, and profited as much by Fra Paolo's maxims, some of its
+fairest fields would not, at this moment, lie uncultivated, and its
+ancient spirit might have revived. However, I can scarcely think the
+moment far distant, when it will assert its natural prerogatives, and
+look back upon the tiara, with all its host of scaring phantoms, as the
+offspring of a feverish dream.
+
+Full of prophecies and bodings, I moved slowly out of the cloisters;
+and, gaining my gondola, arrived, I know not how, at the flights of
+steps which lead to the Redentore, a structure so simple and elegant,
+that I thought myself entering an antique temple, and looked about for
+the statue of the God of Delphi, or some other graceful divinity. A huge
+crucifix of bronze soon brought me to times present.
+
+The charm being thus dissolved, I began to perceive the shapes of rueful
+martyrs peeping out of the niches around, and the bushy beards of
+capuchin friars wagging before the altars. These good fathers had
+decorated the nave with orange and citron trees, placed between the
+pilasters of the arcades; and on grand festivals, it seems, they turn
+the whole church into a bower, strew the pavement with leaves, and
+festoon the dome with flowers.
+
+I left them occupied with their plants and their devotions. It was
+mid-day, and I begged to be rowed to some woody island, where I might
+dine in shade and tranquillity. My gondoliers shot off in an instant;
+but, though they went at a very rapid rate, I wished to advance still
+faster, and getting into a bark with six oars, swept along the waters,
+soon left the Zecca and San Marco behind; and, launching into the plains
+of shining sea, saw turret after turret, and isle after isle, fleeting
+before me. A pale greenish light ran along the shores of the distant
+continent, whose mountains seemed to catch the motion of my boat, and to
+fly with equal celerity.
+
+I had not much time to contemplate the beautiful effects on the
+waters--the emerald and purple hues which gleamed along their surface.
+Our prow struck, foaming, against the walls of the Carthusian garden,
+before I recollected where I was, or could look attentively around me.
+Permission being obtained, I entered this cool retirement, and putting
+aside with my hands the boughs of figs and pomegranates, got under an
+ancient bay-tree on the summit of a little knoll, near which several
+tall pines lift themselves up to the breezes. I listened to the
+conversation they held, with a wind just flown from Greece, and charged,
+as well as I could understand this airy language, with many
+affectionate remembrances from their relations on Mount Ida.
+
+I reposed amidst fragrant leaves, fanned by a constant air, till it
+pleased the fathers to send me some provisions, with a basket of fruit
+and wine. Two of them would wait upon me, and ask ten thousand questions
+about Lord George Gordon, and the American war. I, who was deeply
+engaged with the winds, and a thousand agreeable associations excited by
+my Grecian fancies, wished my interrogators in purgatory, and pleaded
+ignorance of the Italian language. This circumstance extricated me from
+my embarrassment, and procured me a long interval of repose.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+     Church of St. Mark.--The Piazza.--Magnificent festivals formerly
+     celebrated there.--Stately architecture of Sansovino.--The
+     Campanile.--The Loggetta.--The Ducal Palace.--Colossal
+     Statues.--Giants' Stairs.--Fit of enthusiasm.--Evening-scene in the
+     great Square.--Venetian intrigue.--Confusion of languages.--Madame
+     de Rosenberg.--Character of the Venetians.
+
+
+The rustling of the pines had the same effect as the murmurs of other
+old story-tellers, and I dozed undisturbed till the people without, in
+the boat, (who wondered not a little, I dare say, what was become of me
+within,) began a sort of chorus in parts, full of such plaintive
+modulation, that I still thought myself under the influence of a dream,
+and, half in this world and half in the other, believed, like the heroes
+of Fingal, that I had caught the music of the spirits of the hill.
+
+When I was thoroughly convinced of the reality of these sounds, I moved
+towards the shore whence they proceeded: a glassy sea lay before me; no
+gale ruffled the expanse; every breath had subsided, and I beheld the
+sun go down in all its sacred calm. You have experienced the sensations
+this moment inspires; imagine what they must have been in such a scene,
+and accompanied with a melody so simple and pathetic. I stepped into my
+boat, and now instead of encouraging the speed of the gondoliers, begged
+them to abate their ardour, and row me lazily home. They complied, and
+we were near an hour reaching the platform in front of the ducal palace,
+thronged as usual with a variety of nations. I mixed a moment with the
+crowd; then directed my steps to the great mosque, I ought to say the
+church of St. Mark; but really its cupolas, slender pinnacles, and
+semicircular arches, have so oriental an appearance, as to excuse this
+appellation. I looked a moment at the four stately coursers of bronze
+and gold that adorn the chief portal, and then took in, at one glance,
+the whole extent of the piazza, with its towers and standards. A more
+noble assemblage was never exhibited by architecture. I envied the good
+fortune of Petrarch, who describes, in one of his letters, a tournament
+held in this princely opening.
+
+Many are the festivals which have been here celebrated. When Henry the
+Third left Poland to mount the throne of France, he passed through
+Venice, and found the Senate waiting to receive him in their famous
+square, which by means of an awning stretched from the balustrades of
+opposite palaces, was metamorphosed into a vast saloon, sparkling with
+artificial stars, and spread with the richest carpets of the East. What
+a magnificent idea! The ancient Romans, in the zenith of power and
+luxury, never conceived a greater. It is to them, however, the Venetians
+are indebted for the hint, since we read of the Coliseo and Pompey's
+theatre being sometimes covered with transparent canvas, to defend the
+spectators from the heat or sudden rain, and to tint the scene with soft
+agreeable colours.
+
+Having enjoyed the general perspective of the piazza, I began to enter
+into particulars, and examine the bronze pedestals of the three
+standards before the great church, designed by Sansovino in the true
+spirit of the antique, and covered with relievos, at once bold and
+elegant. It is also to this celebrated architect we are indebted for the
+stately fa�ade of the _Procuratie nuove_, which forms one side of the
+square, and presents an uninterrupted series of arcades and marble
+columns exquisitely wrought. Opposite this magnificent range appears
+another line of palaces, whose architecture, though far removed from the
+Grecian elegance of Sansovino, impresses veneration, and completes the
+pomp of the view.
+
+There is something strange and singular in the Tower or Campanile, which
+rises distinct from the smooth pavement of the square, a little to the
+left as you stand before the chief entrance of St. Mark's. The design is
+barbarous, and terminates in uncouth and heavy pyramids; yet in spite of
+these defects it struck me with awe. A beautiful building called the
+Loggetta, and which serves as a guard-house during the convocation of
+the Grand Council, decorates its base. Nothing can be more enriched,
+more finished than this structure; which, though far from diminutive, is
+in a manner lost at the foot of the Campanile. This enormous fabric
+seems to promise a long duration, and will probably exhibit Saint Mark
+and his Lion to the latest posterity. Both appear in great state towards
+its summit, and have nothing superior, but an archangel perched on the
+topmost pinnacle, and pointing to the skies. The dusk prevented my
+remarking the various sculptures with which the Loggetta is crowded.
+
+Crossing the ample space between this graceful edifice and the ducal
+palace, I passed through a labyrinth of pillars and entered the
+principal court, of which nothing but the great outline was visible at
+so late an hour. Two reservoirs of bronze richly sculptured diversify
+the area. In front a magnificent flight of steps presents itself, by
+which the senators ascend through vast and solemn corridors, which lead
+to the interior of the edifice. The colossal statues of Mars and Neptune
+guard the entrance, and have given the appellation of _scala dei
+giganti_ to the steps below, which I mounted not without respect; and,
+leaning against the balustrades, formed like the rest of the building of
+the rarest marbles, contemplated the tutelary divinities.
+
+My admiration was shortly interrupted by one of the sbirri, or officers
+of police, who take their stands after sunset before the avenues of the
+palace, and who told me the gates were upon the point of being closed.
+So, hurrying down the steps, I left a million of delicate sculptures
+unexplored; for every pilaster, every frieze, every entablature, is
+encrusted with porphyry, verde antique, or some other precious marble,
+carved into as many grotesque wreaths of foliage as we admire in the
+loggie of Raphael. The various portals, the strange projections; in
+short, the striking irregularity of these stately piles, delighted me
+beyond idea; and I was sorry to be forced to abandon them so soon,
+especially as the twilight, which bats and owls love not better than I
+do, enlarged every portico, lengthened every colonnade, and increased
+the dimensions of the whole, just as imagination desired. This faculty
+would have had full scope had I but remained an hour longer. The moon
+would then have gleamed upon the gigantic forms of Mars and Neptune, and
+discovered the statues of ancient heroes emerging from the gloom of
+their niches.
+
+Such an interesting combination of objects, such regal scenery, with the
+reflection that many of their ornaments once contributed to the
+decoration of Athens, transported me beyond myself. The sbirri thought
+me distracted. True enough, I was stalking proudly about like an actor
+in an ancient Grecian tragedy, lifting up his hands to the consecrated
+fanes and images around, expecting the reply of his attendant chorus,
+and declaiming the first verses of OEdipus Tyrannus.
+
+This fit of enthusiasm was hardly subsided, when I passed the gates of
+the palace into the great square, which received a faint gleam from its
+casinos and palaces, just beginning to be lighted up, and to become the
+resort of pleasure and dissipation. Numbers were walking in parties upon
+the pavement; some sought the convenient gloom of the porticoes with
+their favourites; others were earnestly engaged in conversation, and
+filled the gay illuminated apartments, where they resorted to drink
+coffee and sorbet, with laughter and merriment. A thoughtless giddy
+transport prevailed; for, at this hour, anything like restraint seems
+perfectly out of the question; and however solemn a magistrate or
+senator may appear in the day, at night he lays up wig and robe and
+gravity to sleep together, runs intriguing about in his gondola, takes
+the reigning sultana under his arm, and so rambles half over the town,
+which grows gayer and gayer as the day declines.
+
+Many of the noble Venetians have a little suite of apartments in some
+out-of-the-way corner, near the grand piazza, of which their families
+are totally ignorant. To these they skulk in the dusk, and revel
+undisturbed with the companions of their pleasures. Jealousy itself
+cannot discover the alleys, the winding passages, the unsuspected doors,
+by which these retreats are accessible. Many an unhappy lover, whose
+mistress disappears on a sudden with some fortunate rival, has searched
+for her haunts in vain. The gondoliers themselves, though the prime
+managers of intrigue, are often unacquainted with these interior
+cabinets. When a gallant has a mind to pursue his adventures with
+mystery, he rows to the piazza, orders his bark to wait, meets his
+goddess in the crowd, and vanishes from all beholders. Surely, Venice is
+the city in the universe best calculated for giving scope to the
+observations of a devil upon two sticks. What a variety of
+lurking-places would one stroke of his crutch uncover!
+
+Whilst the higher ranks were solacing themselves in their casinos, the
+rabble were gathered in knots round the strollers and mountebanks,
+singing and scaramouching in the middle of the square. I observed a
+great number of Orientals amongst the crowd, and heard Turkish and
+Arabic muttering in every corner. Here the Sclavonian dialect
+predominated; there some Grecian jargon, almost unintelligible. Had
+Saint Mark's church been the wondrous tower, and its piazza the chief
+square, of the city of Babylon, there could scarcely have been a greater
+confusion of languages.
+
+The novelty of the scene afforded me no small share of amusement, and I
+wandered about from group to group, and from one strange exotic to
+another, asking and being asked innumerable ridiculous questions, and
+settling the politics of London and Constantinople, almost in the same
+breath. This instant I found myself in a circle of grave Armenian
+priests and jewellers; the next amongst Greeks and Dalmatians, who
+accosted me with the smoothest compliments, and gave proof that their
+reputation for pliability and address was not ill-founded.
+
+I was entering into a grand harum-scarum discourse with some Russian
+counts or princes, or whatever you please, just landed with dwarfs, and
+footmen, and governors, and staring like me, about them, when Madame de
+Rosenberg arrived, to whom I had the happiness of being recommended. She
+presented me to some of the most distinguished of the Venetian families
+at their great casino, which looks into the piazza, and consists of five
+or six rooms, fitted up in a gay flimsy taste, neither rich nor elegant,
+where were a great many lights, and a great many ladies negligently
+dressed, their hair falling very freely about them, and innumerable
+adventures written in their eyes. The gentlemen were lolling upon the
+sofas, or lounging about the apartments.
+
+The whole assembly seemed upon the verge of gaping, till coffee was
+carried round. This magic beverage diffused a temporary animation; and,
+for a moment or two, conversation moved on with a degree of pleasing
+extravagance; but the flash was soon dissipated, and nothing remained
+save cards and stupidity.
+
+In the intervals of shuffling and dealing, some talked over the affairs
+of the grand council with less reserve than I expected; and two or three
+of them asked some feeble questions about the late tumults in London. It
+was one o'clock before all the company were assembled, and I left them
+at three, still dreaming over their coffee and card-tables. Trieze is
+their favourite game: _uno_, _due_, _tre_, _quatro_, _cinque_, _fante_,
+_cavallo re_, are eternally repeated; the apartments echoed no other
+sound.
+
+I wonder a lively people can endure such monotony, for I have been told
+the Venetians are remarkably spirited; and so eager in the pursuit of
+amusement as hardly to allow themselves any sleep. Some, for instance,
+after declaiming in the Senate, walking an hour in the square, and
+fidgeting about from one casino to another till morning dawns, will get
+into a gondola, row across the Lagunes, take the post to Mestre or
+Fusina, and jumble over craggy pavements to Treviso, breakfast in haste,
+and rattle back again as if the Devil were charioteer: by eleven the
+party is restored to Venice, resumes robe and periwig, and goes to
+council.
+
+This may be very true, and yet I will never cite the Venetians as
+examples of vivacity. Their nerves unstrung by early debaucheries, allow
+no natural flow of lively spirits, and at best but a few moments of a
+false and feverish activity. The approaches of sleep, forced back by an
+immoderate use of coffee, render them weak and listless, and the
+facility of being wafted from place to place in a gondola, adds not a
+little to their indolence. In short, I can scarcely regard their Eastern
+neighbours in a more lazy light; who, thanks to their opium and their
+harems, pass their lives in one perpetual doze.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+     Excessive heat.--The Devil and Senegal.--A dreary shore.--Scene of
+     the Doge's nuptials with the sea.--Return to the Place of St.
+     Mark.--Swarm of Lawyers.--Receptacles for anonymous
+     accusations.--The Council of Ten.--Terrible punishments of its
+     victims.--Statue of Neptune.--Fatal Waters.--Bridge of Sighs.--The
+     Fondamenti Nuovi.--Conservatory of the Mendicanti.--An
+     Oratorio.--Profound attention of the Audience.
+
+
+August 4th, 1780.
+
+The heats were so excessive in the night, that I thought myself several
+times on the point of suffocation, tossed about like a wounded fish, and
+dreamt of the Devil and Senegal. Towards sunrise, a faint breeze
+restored me to life and reason. I slumbered till late in the day, and
+the moment I was fairly awake, ordered my gondolier to row out to the
+main ocean, that I might plunge into the waves, and hear and see nothing
+but waters around me.
+
+We shot off, wound amongst a number of sheds, shops, churches, casinos,
+and palaces, growing immediately out of the canals, without any
+apparent foundation. No quay, no terrace, not even a slab is to be seen
+before the doors; one step brings you from the hall into the bark, and
+the vestibules of the stateliest structures lie open to the waters, and
+but just above their level. I observed several, as I glided along,
+supported by rows of well-proportioned columns, adorned with terms and
+vases, beyond which the eye generally discovers a grand court, and
+sometimes a garden.
+
+In about half an hour, we had left the thickest cluster of isles behind,
+and, coasting the Place of St. Mark opposite to San Giorgio Maggiore,
+whose elegant frontispiece was distinctly reflected by the calm waters,
+launched into the blue expanse of sea, from which rise the Carthusian
+and two or three other woody islands. I hailed the spot where I had
+passed such a happy visionary evening, and nodded to my friends the
+pines.
+
+A few minutes more brought me to a dreary, sun-burnt shore, stalked over
+by a few Sclavonian soldiers, who inhabit a castle hard by, go regularly
+to an ugly unfinished church, and from thence, it is to be hoped, to
+paradise; as the air of their barracks is abominable, and kills them
+like blasted sheep.
+
+Forlorn as this island appeared to me, I was told it was the scene of
+the Doge's pageantry at the feast of the Ascension; and the very spot to
+which he sails in the Bucentaur, previously to wedding the sea. You have
+heard enough, and if ever you looked into a show-box, seen full
+sufficient of this gaudy spectacle, without my enlarging upon the topic.
+I shall only say, that I was obliged to pursue, partly, the same road as
+the nuptial procession, in order to reach the beach, and was broiled and
+dazzled accordingly.
+
+At last, after traversing some desert hillocks, all of a hop with toads
+and locusts (amongst which English heretics have the honour of being
+interred), I passed under an arch, and suddenly the boundless plains of
+ocean opened to my view. I ran to the smooth sands, extending on both
+sides out of sight, and dashed into the waves, which were coursing one
+another with a gentle motion, and breaking lightly on the shores. The
+tide rolled over me as I lay floating about, buoyed up by the water, and
+carried me wheresoever it listed. It might have borne me far out into
+the main before I had been aware, so totally was I abandoned to the
+illusion of the moment. My ears were filled with murmuring undecided
+sounds; my limbs, stretched languidly on the surge, rose or sunk just as
+it swelled or subsided. In this passive state I remained, till the sun
+cast a less intolerable light, and the fishing-vessels, lying out in the
+bay at a great distance, spread their sails and were coming home.
+
+Hastening back over the desert of locusts, I threw myself into the
+gondola; and, no wind or wave opposing, was soon wafted across to those
+venerable columns, so conspicuous in the Place of St. Mark. Directing my
+course immediately to the ducal palace, I entered the grand court,
+ascending the giants' stairs, and examined at my leisure its
+bas-reliefs. Then, taking the first guide that presented himself, I was
+shown along several cloisters and corridors, sustained by innumerable
+pillars, into the state apartments, which Tintoret and Paolo Veronese
+have covered with the triumphs of their country.
+
+A swarm of lawyers filled the Sala del Maggior Consiglio, and one of the
+first advocates in the republic was pleading with all his might, before
+a solemn row of senators. The eyes and ears of the assembly seemed
+equally affected. Clouds of powder, and volleys of execrations issuing
+every instant from the disputants, I got out of their way; and was led
+from hall to hall, and from picture to picture, with exemplary
+resignation. To be sure, I was heartily tired, but behaved with decency,
+having never once expressed how much I wished the chefs-d'oeuvre I had
+been contemplating, less smoky and numerous.
+
+At last, I reached once more the colonnades at the entrance, and caught
+the sea-breeze in the open porticoes which front San Giorgio Maggiore.
+The walls are covered in most places with grim visages sculptured in
+marble, whose mouths gape for accusations, and swallow every lie that
+malice and revenge can dictate. I wished for a few ears of the same
+kind, dispersed about the Doge's residence, to which one might apply
+one's own, and catch some account of the mysteries within; some little
+dialogue between the three Inquisitors, or debate in the Council of Ten.
+
+This is the tribunal which holds the wealthy nobility in continual awe;
+before which they appear with trembling and terror; and whose summons
+they dare not disobey. Sometimes, by way of clemency, it condemns its
+victims to perpetual imprisonment, in close, stifling cells, between
+the leads and beams of the palace; or, unwilling to spill the blood of a
+fellow-citizen, generously sinks them into dungeons, deep under the
+canals which wash its foundations; so that, above and below, its majesty
+is contaminated by the abodes of punishment. What other sovereign could
+endure the idea of having his immediate residence polluted with tears?
+or revel in his halls, conscious that many of his species were consuming
+their hours in lamentations above his head, and that but a few beams
+separated him from the scene of their tortures? However gaily disposed,
+could one dance with pleasure on a pavement, beneath which lie damp and
+gloomy caverns, whose inhabitants waste away by painful degrees, and
+feel themselves whole years a-dying? Impressed by these terrible ideas,
+I could not regard the palace without horror, and wished for the
+strength of a thousand antediluvians, to level it with the sea, lay open
+the secret recesses of punishment, and admit free gales and sunshine
+into every den.
+
+When I had thus vented my indignation, I repaired to the statue of
+Neptune, whom twenty ages ago I should have invoked to second my
+enterprise. Once upon a time no deity had a freer hand at razing cities.
+His execution was renowned throughout all antiquity, and the proudest
+monarchs deprecated the wrath of [Greek: KREI�N ENOSICHTH�N]. But, like
+the other mighty ones of ancient days, his reign is past and his trident
+disregarded. Formerly any wild spirit found favour in the eyes of
+fortune, and was led along the career of glory to the deliverance of
+captives and the extirpation of monsters; but, in our degenerate times,
+this easy road to fame is no longer open, and the means of producing
+such signal events are perplexed and difficult.
+
+Abandoning therefore the sad tenants of the Piombi to their fate, I left
+the courts, and stepping into my bark, was rowed down a canal
+overshadowed by the lofty walls of the palace. Beneath these fatal
+waters the dungeons I have also been speaking of are situated. There the
+wretches lie marking the sound of the oars, and counting the free
+passage of every gondola. Above, a marble bridge, of bold majestic
+architecture, joins the highest part of the prisons to the secret
+galleries of the palace; from whence criminals are conducted over the
+arch to a cruel and mysterious death. I shuddered whilst passing below;
+and believe it is not without cause, this structure is named PONTE DEI
+SOSPIRI. Horrors and dismal prospects haunted my fancy upon my return. I
+could not dine in peace, so strongly was my imagination affected; but
+snatching my pencil, I drew chasms and subterraneous hollows, the domain
+of fear and torture, with chains, racks, wheels, and dreadful engines in
+the style of Piranesi. About sunset I went and refreshed myself with the
+cool air and cheerful scenery of the Fondamenti nuovi, a vast quay or
+terrace of white marble, which commands the whole series of isles, from
+San Michele to Torcello,
+
+    "That rise and glitter o'er the ambient tide."
+
+Nothing can be more picturesque than the groups of towers and cupolas
+which they present, mixed with flat roofs and low buildings, and now and
+then a pine or cypress. Afar off, a little woody isle, called Il
+Deserto, swells from the ocean and diversifies its expanse.
+
+When I had spent a delightful half-hour in viewing the distant isles, M.
+de Benincasa accompanied me to the Mendicanti, one of the four
+conservatorios, which give the best musical education conceivable to
+near one hundred young women. You may imagine how admirably those of
+the Mendicanti in particular are taught, since their establishment is
+under the direction of Bertoni, who breathes around him the very soul of
+harmony. The chapel in which we sat to hear the oratorio was dark and
+solemn; a screen of lofty pillars, formed of black marble and highly
+polished, reflected the lamps which burn perpetually before the altar.
+Every tribune was thronged with people, whose profound silence showed
+them worthy auditors of this master's music. Here were no cackling old
+women, or groaning Methodists, such as infest our English tabernacles,
+and scare one's ears with hoarse coughs accompanied by the naso
+obligato. All were still and attentive, imbibing the plaintive notes of
+the voices with eagerness; and scarce a countenance but seemed deeply
+affected with David's sorrows, the subject of the performance. I sat
+retired in a solitary tribune, and felt them as my own. Night came on
+before the last chorus was sung, and I still seem to hear its sacred
+melody.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+     M. de Viloison and his attendant Laplander.--Drawings of ancient
+     Venetian costume in one of the Gradanigo palaces.--Titian's
+     master-piece in the church of San Giovanni e Paolo.--The distant
+     Euganean hills.
+
+
+August 18, 1780.
+
+It rains; the air is refreshed and I have courage to resume my pen,
+which the sultry weather had forced to lie dormant so long. I like this
+odd town of Venice, and find every day some new amusement in rambling
+about its innumerable canals and alleys. Sometimes I pry about the great
+church of Saint Mark, and examine the variety of marbles and mazes of
+delicate sculpture with which it is covered. The cupola, glittering with
+gold, mosaic, and paintings of half the wonders in the Apocalypse, never
+fails to transport me to the period of the Eastern empire. I think
+myself in Constantinople, and expect Michael Paleologus with all his
+train. One circumstance alone prevents my observing half the treasures
+of the place, and holds down my fancy just springing into the air: I
+mean the vile stench which exhales from every recess and corner of the
+edifice, and which all the incense of the altars cannot subdue.
+
+When no longer able to endure this noxious atmosphere, I run up the
+Campanile in the piazza, and seating myself amongst the pillars of the
+gallery, breathe the fresh gales which blow from the Adriatic; survey at
+my leisure all Venice beneath me, with its azure sea, white sails, and
+long tracks of islands shining in the sun. Having thus laid in a
+provision of wholesome breezes, I brave the vapours of the canals, and
+venture into the most curious and murky quarters of the city, in search
+of Turks and Infidels, that I may ask as many questions as I please
+about Cairo and Damascus.
+
+Asiatics find Venice very much to their taste, and all those I conversed
+with allowed its customs and style of living had a good deal of
+conformity to their own. The eternal lounging in coffee-houses and
+sipping of sorbets agree perfectly well with the inhabitants of the
+Ottoman empire, who stalk about here in their proper dresses, and smoke
+their own exotic pipes, without being stared and wondered at as in most
+other European capitals. Some few of these Orientals are communicative
+and enlightened; but, generally speaking, they know nothing beyond the
+rule of three, and the commonest transactions of mercantile affairs.
+
+The Greeks are by far a more lively generation, still retaining their
+propensity to works of genius and imagination. Metastasio has been
+lately translated into their modern language, and some obliging papa or
+other has had the patience to put the long-winded romance of Clelia into
+a Grecian dress. I saw two or three of these volumes exposed on a stall,
+under the grand arcades of the public library, as I went one day to
+admire the antiques in its vestibules.
+
+Whilst I was intent upon my occupation, a little door, I never should
+have suspected, flew open, and out popped Monsieur de Viloison, from a
+place where nothing, I believe, but broomsticks and certain other
+utensils were ever before deposited. This gentleman, the most active
+investigator of Homer since the days of the good bishop of Thessalonica,
+bespatters you with more learning in a minute than others communicate in
+half a year; quotes Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, &c. with formidable
+fluency; and drove me from one end of the room to the other with a storm
+of erudition. Syllables fell thicker than hail, and in an instant I
+found myself so weighed down and covered, that I prayed, for mercy's
+sake, to be introduced, by way of respite, to a Laplander whom he leads
+about as a curiosity; a poor harmless good sort of a soul, calm and
+indifferent, who has acquired the words of several Oriental languages to
+perfection: ideas he has in none.
+
+We went all together to view a collection of medals in one of the
+Gradanigo palaces, and two or three inestimable volumes, filled with
+paintings that represent the dress of the ancient Venetians; so that I
+had an opportunity of observing to perfection all the Lapland
+nothingness of my companion. What a perfect void! Cold and silent as the
+polar regions, not one passion ever throbbed in his bosom; not one
+bright ray of fancy ever glittered in his mind; without love or anger,
+pleasure or pain, his days fleet smoothly along: all things considered,
+I must confess I envied such comfortable apathy.
+
+After having passed an instructive hour in examining the medals and
+drawings, M. de Viloison proposed conducting me to the Armenian convent,
+but I begged to be excused, and went to San Giovanni e Paolo, a church
+to be held most holy in the annals of painting, since it contains that
+masterpiece of Titian, the martyrdom of the hermits St. Paul and St.
+Peter.
+
+In the evening I rowed out as usual
+
+    "On the clear hyaline, the glassy sea,"
+
+to observe the effect of sunset on the tufted gardens of the Giudeca,
+and to contemplate the distant Euganean hills, once the happiest region
+of Italy; where wandering nations enjoyed the simplicity of a pastoral
+life, long before the arrival of Antenor. In these primeval days deep
+forests and extensive pastures covered the shores of the Adriatic, and
+innumerable flocks hung on the brow of the mountains. This golden period
+ended upon the incursion of the Trojans and Heneti; who, led by Antenor,
+drove away the unfortunate savages, and possessed themselves of their
+habitations.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+     Isles of Burano, Torcello, and Mazorbo.--The once populous city of
+     Altina.--An excursion.--Effects of our music on the inhabitants of
+     the Islands.--Solitary fields infested by serpents.--Remains of
+     ancient sculpture.--Antique and fantastic ornaments of the
+     Cathedral of Torcello.--San Lorenzo's chair.--Dine in a
+     Convent.--The Nuns.--Oratorio of Sisera.--Remarks on the
+     music.--Singing of the Marchetti.--A female orchestra.
+
+
+I am just returned from visiting the isles of Burano, Torcello, and
+Mazorbo, distant about five miles from Venice. To these amphibious spots
+the Romans, inhabitants of eastern Lombardy, fled from the rapine of
+Attila; and, if we may believe Cassiodorus, there was a time when they
+presented a beautiful appearance. Beyond them, on the coast of the
+Lagunes, rose the once populous city of Altina, with its six stately
+gates, which Dandolo mentions. Its neighbourhood was scattered with
+innumerable villas and temples, composing altogether a prospect which
+Martial compares to Bai�:
+
+    "�mula Baianis Altini littora villis."
+
+But this agreeable scene, like so many others, is passed entirely away,
+and has left nothing, except heaps of stones and mis-shapen fragments,
+to vouch for its former magnificence. Two of the islands, Costanziaco
+and Amiano, that are imagined to have contained the bowers and gardens
+of the Altinatians, have sunk beneath the waters; those which remain are
+scarcely worthy to rise above their surface.
+
+Though I was persuaded little was left to be seen above ground, I could
+not deny myself the imaginary pleasure of treading a corner of the earth
+once so adorned and cultivated; and of walking over the roofs, perhaps,
+of undiscovered palaces. M. de R. to whom I communicated my ideas,
+entered at once into the scheme; hiring therefore a _peiotte_, we took
+some provisions and music (to us equally necessaries of life) and
+launched into the canal, between Saint Michael and Murano. Our
+instruments played several delightful airs, that called forth the
+inhabitants of every island, and held them in silence, as if
+spell-bound, on the edge of their quays and terraces, till we were out
+of hearing.
+
+Leaving Murano far behind, Venice and its world of turrets began to
+sink on the horizon, and the low desert isles beyond Mazorbo to lie
+stretched out before us. Now we beheld vast wastes of purple flowers,
+and could distinguish the low hum of the insects which hover above them;
+such was the stillness of the place. Coasting these solitary fields, we
+wound amongst several serpentine canals, bordered by gardens of figs and
+pomegranates, with neat Indian-looking inclosures of cane and reed: an
+aromatic plant, which the people justly dignify with the title of marine
+incense, clothes the margin of the waters. It proved very serviceable in
+subduing a musky odour, which attacked us the moment we landed, and
+which proceeds from serpents that lurk in the hedges. These animals, say
+the gondoliers, defend immense treasures which lie buried under the
+ruins. Woe to those who attempt to invade them, or to pry too cautiously
+about!
+
+Not choosing to be devoured, we left many a mound of fragments
+unnoticed, and made the best of our way to a little green, bounded on
+one side by a miserable shed, decorated with the name of the Podesta's
+residence, and on the other by a circular church. Some remains of
+tolerable antique sculpture are enchased in the walls; and the dome,
+supported by pillars of a smooth Grecian marble, though uncouth and
+ill-proportioned, impresses a sort of veneration, and transports the
+fancy to the twilight glimmering period when it was raised.
+
+Having surveyed what little was visible, and given as much career to our
+imaginations as the scene inspired, we walked over a soil composed of
+crumbling bricks and cement to the cathedral; whose arches, in the
+ancient Roman style, convinced us that it dates at least as high as the
+sixth or seventh century.
+
+Nothing can well be more fantastic than the ornaments of this structure,
+formed from the ruins of the Pagan temples of Altina, and encrusted with
+a gilt mosaic, like that which covers our Edward the Confessor's tomb.
+The pavement, composed of various precious marbles, is richer and more
+beautiful than one could have expected, in a place where every other
+object savours of the grossest barbarism. At the farther end, beyond the
+altar, appears a semicircular niche, with seats like the gradines of a
+diminutive amphitheatre; above rise the quaint forms of the apostles, in
+red, blue, green, and black mosaic, and in the midst of the group a
+sort of marble chair, cool and penitential enough, where Saint Lorenzo
+Giustiniani sat to hold a provincial council, the Lord knows how long
+ago! The fount for holy water stands by the principal entrance, fronting
+this curious recess, and seems to have belonged to some place of Gentile
+worship. The figures of horned imps clinging round its sides, more
+devilish, more Egyptian, than any I ever beheld. The dragons on old
+china are not more whimsical; filled with bats' blood it would have been
+an admirable present to the sabbath of witches, and have cut a capital
+figure in their orgies. The sculpture is not the most delicate, but I
+cannot say a great deal about it, as very little light reaches the spot
+where it is fixed: indeed, the whole church is far from luminous, its
+windows being narrow and near the roof, with shutters composed of blocks
+of marble, which nothing but the whirlwinds of the last day, one should
+think, would move from their hinges.
+
+By the time we had examined every nook and corner of this singular
+edifice, and tried to catch some small portion of sanctity by sitting in
+San Lorenzo's chair, dinner was prepared in a neighbouring convent, and
+the nuns, allured by the sound of our flutes and oboes, peeped out of
+their cells and showed themselves by dozens at the grate. Some few
+agreeable faces and interesting eyes enlivened the dark sisterhood; all
+seemed to catch a gleam of pleasure from the music; two or three of
+them, probably the last immured, let fall a tear, and suffered the
+recollection of the world and its profane joys to interrupt for a moment
+their sacred tranquillity.
+
+We stayed till the sun was low, on purpose that they might listen as
+long as possible to a harmony which seemed to issue, as the old abbess
+expressed herself, from the gates of paradise ajar. A thousand
+benedictions consecrated our departure; twilight came on just as we
+entered the bark and rowed out upon the waves, agitated by a fresh gale,
+but fearing nothing under the protection of Santa Margherita, whose good
+wishes our music had secured.
+
+In two hours we were safely landed at the Fondamenti nuovi, and went
+immediately to the Mendicanti, where they were performing the oratorio
+of Sisera. The composer, a young man, had displayed great fire and
+originality in this performance; and a knowledge of character seldom
+found in the most celebrated masters. The supplication of the thirsty
+chieftain, and Jael's insinuating arts and pious treachery, are
+admirably expressed; but the agitation and boding slumbers which precede
+his death, are imagined in the highest strain of genius. The terror and
+agony of his dreams made me start, more than once, from my seat; and all
+the horrors of his assassination seemed full before me.
+
+Too much applause cannot be given to the Marchetti, who sang the part of
+Sisera, and seconded the composer's ideas by the most feeling and
+spirited execution. There are few things I shall regret more on leaving
+Venice, than this conservatorio. Whenever I am musically given, I fly to
+it, and hear the most striking finales in Paesiello's and Anfossi's
+operas, as long and often as I please.
+
+The sight of the orchestra still makes me smile. You know, I suppose, it
+is entirely of the feminine gender, and that nothing is more common than
+to see a delicate white hand journeying across an enormous double bass,
+or a pair of roseate cheeks puffing, with all their efforts, at a French
+horn. Some that are grown old and Amazonian, who have abandoned their
+fiddles and their lovers, take vigorously to the kettle-drum; and one
+poor limping lady, who had been crossed in love, now makes an admirable
+figure on the bassoon.
+
+Good night! I am quite exhausted with composing a chorus for this
+angelic choir. The poetry I send you. The music takes up too much room
+to travel at present. One day or other, perhaps, we may hear it in some
+dark grove, when the moon is eclipsed and nature in alarm.
+
+This is not the last letter you would receive from Venice, were I not
+hurrying to Lucca, where Pacchierotti sings next week, in Bertoni's
+opera of Quinto Fabio.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+     Coast of Fusina.--The Brenta.--A Village of
+     Palaces.--Fiesso.--Exquisite singing of the Galuzzi.--Marietta
+     Cornaro.--Scenes of enchantment and fascination.
+
+
+I was sorry to leave Venice, and regretted my peaceful excursions upon
+the Adriatic. No bright rays illuminated my departure, the sun was
+concealed in clouds; but the coolness and perfume of the air made ample
+amends for his absence.
+
+About an hour's rowing from the isle of Saint Giorgio in Alga, brought
+us to the coast of Fusina, right opposite the opening where the Brenta
+mixes with the sea. This river flows calmly between banks of verdure,
+crowned by poplars, with vines twining round every stalk, and depending
+from tree to tree in beautiful festoons. Beds of mint and iris clothe
+the brink of the stream, except where interrupted by a tall growth of
+reeds and osiers. The morning continued to lower as we advanced; scarce
+a wind ventured to breathe: all was still and placid as the surface of
+the river. No sound struck my ears except the bargemen hallooing to open
+the sluices, and deepen the water.
+
+As yet I had not perceived an habitation, nor any other objects than
+green inclosures and fields of Turkish corn, shaded with vines and
+poplars. It grew late before we glided along by the Mira, a village of
+palaces, whose courts and gardens, as magnificent as statues, terraces,
+and vases can make them, are far from composing a rural prospect.
+
+Such artificial scenery not engaging much of my attention, we stayed no
+longer than our dinner required, and reached the Dolo an hour before
+sunset. Passing the great sluices, whose gates opened with a thundering
+noise, we continued our course along the peaceful Brenta, winding its
+broad full stream through impenetrable copses. Day was about to close
+when we reached Fiesso; and it being a misty evening, I could scarcely
+distinguish the pompous fa�ade of the Pisani palace. That of Cornaro,
+where we were engaged to sup, looks upon a broad mass of foliage which
+I contemplated with pleasure as it sank in the dusk.
+
+We walked a long while under a pavilion stretched before the entrance,
+breathing the freshness of the wood after a shower which had lately
+fallen. The Galuzzi sang some of her father Ferandini's compositions
+with surprising energy; her cheek was flushed, her eyes glistened; the
+whole tone of her countenance was that of a person rapt and inspired. I
+forgot both time and place while she was singing. The night stole
+imperceptibly away, before I awoke from my trance.
+
+I do not recollect ever to have passed an evening, which every
+circumstance conspired to render so full of charm. In general, my
+musical pleasures suffer terrible abatements from the phlegm and
+stupidity of my neighbourhood; but here, every one seemed to catch the
+flame, and to listen with reciprocal delight. Marietta Cornaro, whose
+lively talents are the boast of the Venetians, threw quick around her
+the glancing fires of genius.
+
+What with the song of the Galuzzi, and those intellectual meteors, I
+scarcely knew to what element I was transported, and doubted for
+several moments, whether I was not fallen into a celestial dream: to
+wake was painful, and it was not without much lingering reluctance I
+left these scenes of enchantment and fascination, repeating with
+melancholy earnestness that pathetic sonnet of Petrarch's--
+
+    O giorno, o ora, o ultimo momento,
+    O stelle congiurate a' impoverirme!
+    O fido sguardo, or che volei tu dirme,
+    Partend' io, per non esser mai contento?
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+     Reveries.--Walls of Padua.--Confused Pile dedicated to Saint
+     Anthony.--Devotion at his Shrine.--Penitential
+     Worshippers.--Magnificent Altar.--Sculpture of Sansovino.--Colossal
+     Chamber like Noah's Ark.
+
+
+The splendour of the rising sun, for once in my life, drew little of my
+attention. I was too deeply plunged in my reveries, to notice the
+landscape which lay before me; and the walls of Padua presented
+themselves some time ere I was aware. At any other moment, how sensibly
+should I have been affected with their appearance! How many ideas of
+Antenor and his Trojans, would have thronged into my memory! but now I
+regarded the scene with indifference, and passed many a palace, and many
+a woody garden, with my eyes riveted to the ground. The first object
+that appeared upon lifting them up, was a confused pile of spires and
+cupolas, dedicated to blessed Saint Anthony, one of whose most eloquent
+sermons the great Addison has translated _con amore_, and in his very
+best manner.
+
+You are too well apprised of the veneration I have always entertained
+for this inspired preacher, to doubt that I immediately repaired to his
+shrine. Mine was a disturbed spirit, and required all the balm of Saint
+Anthony's kindness to appease it. Perhaps you will say I had better have
+gone to bed, and applied myself to my sleepy friend, the pagan divinity.
+It is probable that you are in the right; but I could not retire to rest
+without first venting some portion of effervescence in sighs and
+supplications. The nave was filled with decrepit women and feeble
+children, kneeling by baskets of vegetables and other provisions; which,
+by good Anthony's interposition, they hoped to sell advantageously in
+the course of the day. Beyond these, nearer the choir, and in a gloomier
+part of the edifice, knelt a row of rueful penitents, smiting their
+breasts, and lifting their eyes to heaven. Further on, in front of the
+dark recess, where the sacred relics are deposited, a few desperate,
+melancholy sinners lay prostrate.
+
+To these I joined myself. The sunbeams had not yet penetrated into this
+religious quarter; and the only light it received proceeded from the
+golden lamps, which hang in clusters round the sanctuary. A lofty altar,
+decked with the most lavish magnificence, supports the shrine. Those who
+are profoundly touched with its sanctity, may approach, and walking
+round, look through the crevices of the tomb, which, it is observed,
+exude a balsamic odour. But supposing a traveller ever so heretical, I
+would advise him by no means to neglect this pilgrimage; since every
+part of the recess he visits is decorated with exquisite sculptures.
+Sansovino and other renowned artists have vied with each other in
+carving the alto relievos of the arcade, which, for design and
+execution, would do honour to the sculptors of antiquity.
+
+Having observed these objects with less exactness than they merited, I
+hastened to the inn, luckily hard by, and one of the best I am
+acquainted with. Here I soon fell asleep in defiance of sunshine. It is
+true my slumbers were not a little agitated. The saint had been deaf to
+my prayer, and I still found myself a frail, infatuated mortal.
+
+At five I got up; we dined, and afterwards scarcely knowing, nor much
+caring, what became of us, we strolled to the great hall of the town;
+an enormous edifice, larger considerably than that of Westminster, but
+free from stalls, or shops, or nests of litigation. The roof, one
+spacious vault of brown timber, casts a solemn gloom, which was still
+increased by the lateness of the hour, and not diminished by the wan
+light, admitted through the windows of pale blue glass. The size and
+shape of this colossal chamber, the arching of the roof, with enormous
+rafters stretching across it, and, above all, the watery gleams that
+glanced through the dull casements, possessed my fancy with ideas of
+Noah's ark, and almost persuaded me I beheld that extraordinary vessel.
+The representation one sees of it in many an old Dutch Bible, seems to
+be formed upon this very model, and for several moments I indulged the
+chimera of imagining myself confined within its precincts. Could I but
+choose my companions, I should have no great objection to encounter a
+deluge, and to float away a few months upon the waves!
+
+We remained till night walking to and fro in the ark; it was then full
+time to retire, as the guardian of the place was by no means formed to
+divine our diluvian ideas.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+     Church of St. Justina.--Tombs of remote antiquity.--Ridiculous
+     attitudes of rheumatic devotees.--Turini's music.--Another
+     excursion to Fiesso.--Journey to the Euganean hills.--Newly
+     discovered ruins.--High Mass in the great Church of Saint
+     Anthony.--A thunder-storm.--Palladio's Theatre at
+     Vicenza.--Verona.--An a�rial chamber.--Striking prospect from
+     it.--The Amphitheatre.--Its interior.--Leave Verona.--Country
+     between that town and Mantua.--German soldiers.--Remains of the
+     palace of the Gonzagas.--Paintings of Julio Romano.--A ruined
+     garden.--Subterranean apartments.
+
+
+Immediately after breakfast we went to St. Justina's. Both extremities
+of the cross aisles are terminated by altar-tombs of very remote
+antiquity, adorned with uncouth sculptures of the evangelists, supported
+by wreathed columns of alabaster, round which, to my no small
+astonishment, four or five gawky fellows were waddling on their knees,
+persuaded, it seems, that this strange devotion would cure the
+rheumatism, or any other aches with which they were afflicted. You can
+have no conception of the ridiculous attitudes into which they threw
+themselves; nor the difficulty with which they squeezed along, between
+the middle column of the tomb and those which surround it. No criminal
+in the pillory ever exhibited a more rueful appearance, no swine ever
+scrubbed itself more fervently than these infatuated lubbers.
+
+I left them hard at work, taking more exercise than had been their lot
+for many a day; and, mounting into the organ gallery, listened to
+Turini's[7] music with infinite satisfaction. The loud harmonious tones
+of the instrument filled the whole edifice; and, being repeated by the
+echoes of its lofty domes and arches, produced a wonderful effect.
+Turini, aware of this circumstance, adapts his compositions with great
+intelligence to the place. Nothing can be more original than his style.
+Deprived of sight by an unhappy accident, in the flower of his days, he
+gave up his entire soul to music, and can scarcely be said to exist, but
+from its mediums.
+
+When we came out of St. Justina's, the azure of the sky and the softness
+of the air inclined us to think of some excursion. Where could I wish to
+go, but to the place in which I had been so delighted? Besides, it was
+proper to make the Cornaro another visit, and proper to see the Pisani
+palace, which happily I had before neglected. All these proprieties
+considered, Madame de R. accompanied me to Fiesso.
+
+The sun was just sunk when we arrived. The whole ether in a glow, and
+the fragrance of the arched citron alleys delightful. Beneath them I
+walked in the cool, till the Galuzzi began once more her enchanting
+melody. She sang till the fineness of the weather tempted us to quit the
+palace for the banks of the Brenta. A profound calm reigned upon the
+woods and the waters, and moonlight added serenity to a scene naturally
+peaceful.
+
+We supped late: before the Galuzzi had repeated the airs which had most
+affected me, morning began to dawn.
+
+
+September 8th.
+
+The want of sound repose, after my return home, had thrown me into a
+feverish and impatient mood. I had scarcely snatched some slight
+refreshment, before I flew to the great organ at St. Justina's; but
+tried this time to compose myself, in vain.
+
+Madame de Rosenberg, finding my endeavours unsuccessful, proposed, by
+way of diverting my attention, that we should set out immediately for
+one of the Euganean hills, about six or seven miles from Padua, at the
+foot of which some antique baths had been very lately discovered. I
+consented without hesitation, little concerned whither I went, or what
+happened to me, provided the scene was often shifted. The lanes and
+inclosures we passed, in our road to the hills, appeared in all the
+gaiety that verdure, flowers, and sunshine could give them. But my
+pleasures were overcast, and I beheld every object, however cheerful,
+through a dusky medium.
+
+Deeply engaged in conversation, distance made no impression, and I found
+myself entering the meadow, over which the ruins are scattered, whilst I
+imagined myself several miles distant. No scene could be more smiling
+than this which here presented itself, or answer, in a fuller degree,
+the ideas I had always formed of Italy.
+
+Leaving our carriage at the entrance of the meadow, we traversed its
+surface, and shortly perceived among the grass, an oblong basin,
+incrusted with pure white marble. Most of the slabs are large and
+perfect, apparently brought from Greece, and still retaining their
+polished smoothness. The pipes to convey the waters are still perfectly
+discernible; in short, the whole ground-plan may be easily traced. Near
+the principal bath, we remarked the platforms of several circular
+apartments, paved with mosaic, in a neat simple taste, far from
+inelegant. Weeds have not yet sprung up amongst the crevices; and the
+freshness of the ruin everywhere shows that it has not long been
+exposed.
+
+Theodoric is the prince to whom these structures are attributed; and
+Cassiodorus, the prime chronicler of the country, is quoted to maintain
+the supposition. My spirit was too much engaged to make any learned
+parade, or to dispute upon a subject, which I abandon, with all its
+importance, to calmer and less impatient minds.
+
+Having taken a cursory view of the ruins, we ascended the hill just
+above them, and surveyed a prospect of the same nature, though in a more
+lovely and expanded style than that which I beheld from Mosolente. Padua
+crowns the landscape, with its towers and cupolas rising from a
+continued grove; and, from the drawings I have seen, I should
+conjecture that Damascus presents somewhat of a similar appearance.
+
+Taking our eyes off this extensive prospect, we brought them home to the
+fragments beneath our feet. The walls exhibit the _opus reticulatum_, so
+common in the environs of Naples. A sort of terrace, with the remaining
+bases of columns which encircle the hill, leads me to imagine here were
+formerly arcades and porticos, constructed for enjoying the view; for on
+the summit I could trace no vestiges of any considerable edifice, and am
+therefore inclined to conclude, that nothing more than a colonnade
+surrounded the hill, leading perhaps to some slight fane, or pavilion,
+for the recreation of the bathers below.
+
+A profusion of aromatic flowers covered the slopes, and exhaled
+additional perfumes, as the sun declined, and the still hour approached,
+which was wont to spread over my mind a divine composure, and to restore
+the tranquillity I might have lost in the day. But now it diffused its
+reviving coolness in vain, and I remained, if possible, more sad and
+restless than before.
+
+
+September 9th.
+
+You may imagine how I felt when the hour of leaving Padua drew near. It
+happened to be a festival, and high mass was celebrated at the great
+church of Saint Anthony in all its splendour. The ceremony was about
+half over when such a peal of thunder reverberated through the vaults
+and cupolas, as I expected would have shaken them to their foundations.
+The principal dome appeared invested with a sheet of fire; and the
+effect of terror produced upon the majority of the congregation, by this
+sudden lighting up of the most gloomy recesses of the edifice, was so
+violent that they rushed out in the wildest confusion. Had my faith been
+less lively, I should have followed their example; but, absorbed in the
+thought of a separation from those to whom I felt fondly attached, I
+remained till the ceremony ended; then took leave of Madame de R. with
+heartfelt regret, and was driven away to Vicenza.
+
+
+September 10th.
+
+The morning being overcast, I went to Palladio's theatre. It is
+impossible to conceive a structure more truly classical, or to point out
+a single ornament which has not the best antique authority. I am not in
+the least surprised that the citizens of Vicenza enthusiastically gave
+in to this great architect's plan, and sacrificed large sums to erect
+so beautiful a model. When finished, they procured, at a vast expense,
+the representation of a Grecian tragedy, with its chorus and majestic
+decorations.
+
+After I had mused a long while in the most retired recess of the
+edifice, fancying I had penetrated into a real and perfect monument of
+antiquity, which till this moment had remained undiscovered, we set out
+for Verona. The situation is striking and picturesque. A long line of
+battlemented walls, flanked by venerable towers, mounts the hill in a
+grand irregular sweep, and incloses the city with many a woody garden,
+and grove of slender cypress. Beyond rises a group of mountains;
+opposite to which a plain presents itself, decked with all the variety
+of meads and thickets, olive-grounds and vineyards.
+
+Amongst these our road kept winding till we entered the city gate, and
+passed (the post knows how many streets and alleys in the way!) to the
+inn, a lofty handsome-looking building; but so full that we were obliged
+to take up with an apartment on its very summit, open to all the winds,
+like the magic chamber Apuleius mentions, and commanding the roofs of
+half Verona. Here and there a pine shot up amongst them, and the shady
+hills, terminating the perspective of walls and turrets, formed a
+romantic scene.
+
+Placing our table in a balcony, to enjoy the prospect with greater
+freedom, we feasted upon fish from the Lago di Guarda, and the delicious
+fruits of the country. Thus did I remain, solacing myself, breathing the
+cool air, and remarking the tints of the mountains. Neither paintings
+nor antiques could tempt me from my a�rial situation; I refused hunting
+out the famous works of Paul Veronese scattered over the town, and sat
+like the owl in the Georgics,
+
+    Solis et occasum servans de culmine summo.
+
+Twilight drawing on, I left my haunt, and stealing down stairs, enquired
+for a guide to conduct me to the amphitheatre, perhaps the most entire
+monument of Roman days. The people of the house, instead of bringing me
+a quiet peasant, officiously delivered me up to a professed antiquary,
+one of those precise plausible young men, to whom, God help me! I have
+so capital an aversion. This sweet spark displayed all his little
+erudition, and flourished away upon cloacas and vomitoriums with
+eternal fluency. He was very profound in the doctrine of conduits, and
+knew to admiration how the filthiness of all the amphitheatre was
+disposed of.
+
+But perceiving my inattention, and having just grace enough to remark
+that I chose one side of the street when he preferred the other, and
+sometimes trotted through despair in the kennel, he made me a pretty
+bow, I threw him half-a-crown, and seeing the ruins before me, traversed
+a gloomy arcade and emerged alone into the arena. A smooth turf covers
+its surface, from which a spacious sweep of gradines rises to a majestic
+elevation. Four arches, with their simple Doric ornament, alone remain
+of the grand circular arcade which once crowned the highest seats of the
+amphitheatre; and, had it not been for Gothic violence, this part of the
+structure would have equally resisted the ravages of time. Nothing can
+be more exact than the preservation of the gradines; not a block has
+sunk from its place, and whatever trifling injuries they may have
+received have been carefully repaired. The two chief entrances are
+rebuilt with solidity and closed by portals, no passage being permitted
+through the amphitheatre except at public shows and representations,
+sometimes still given in the arena.
+
+When I paced slowly across it, silence reigned undisturbed, and nothing
+moved, except the weeds and grasses which skirt the walls and tremble
+with the faintest breeze. Throwing myself upon the grass in the middle
+of the arena, I enjoyed the freedom of my situation, its profound
+stillness and solitude. How long I remained shut in by endless gradines
+on every side, wrapped as it were in the recollections of perished ages,
+is not worth noting down; but when I passed from the amphitheatre to the
+opening before it, night was drawing on, and the grand outline of a
+terrific feudal fortress, once inhabited by the Scaligeri, alone dimly
+visible.
+
+
+September 11th.
+
+Traversing once more the grand piazza, and casting a last glance upon
+the amphitheatre, we passed under a lofty arch which terminates the
+perspective, and left Verona by a wide, irregular, picturesque street,
+commanding, whenever you look back, a striking scene of towers, cypress,
+and mountains.
+
+The country, between this beautiful town and Mantua, presents one
+continued grove of dwarfish mulberries, with here and there a knot of
+poplars, and sometimes a miserable shed. Mantua itself rises out of a
+morass formed by the Mincio, whose course, in most places, is so choked
+up with reeds as to be scarcely discernible. It requires a creative
+imagination to discover any charms in such a prospect, and a strong
+prepossession not to be disgusted with the scene where Virgil was born.
+
+The beating of drums, and sight of German whiskers, finished what
+croaking frogs and stagnant ditches had begun. Every classic idea being
+scared by such sounds and such objects, I dined in dudgeon, and refused
+stirring out till late in the evening.
+
+A few paces from the town stand the remains of the palace where the
+Gonzagas formerly resided. This I could not resist looking at, and was
+amply rewarded. Several of the apartments, adorned by the bold pencil of
+Julio Romano, merit the most exact attention; and the arabesques, with
+which the stucco ceilings are covered, equal those of the Vatican. Being
+painted in fresco upon damp neglected walls, each year diminishes their
+number, and every winter moulders some beautiful figure away.
+
+The subjects, mostly from antique fables, are treated with all the
+purity and gracefulness of Raphael; the story of Polypheme is very
+conspicuous. Acis appears, reclined with his beloved Galatea, on the
+shore of the ocean, whilst their gigantic enemy, seated above on the
+brow of �tna, seems by the paleness and horrors of his countenance to
+meditate some terrible revenge.
+
+When it was too late to examine the paintings any longer, I walked into
+a sort of court, or rather garden, which had been decorated with
+fountains and antique statues. Their fragments still remain amongst
+weeds and beds of flowers, for every corner of the place is smothered
+with vegetation. Here nettles grow thick and rampant; there, tuberoses
+and jessamine spring from mounds of ruins, which during the elegant
+reign of the Gonzagas led to grottoes and subterranean apartments,
+concealed from vulgar eyes, and sacred to the most refined enjoyments.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER X.
+
+     Cross the Po.--A woody country.--The Vintage.--Reggio.--Ridge of
+     the Apennines.--Romantic ideas connected with those
+     mountains.--Arrive at Modena.--Road to Bologna.--Magnificent
+     Convent of Madonna del Monte.--Natural and political commotions in
+     Bologna.--Proceed towards the mountains.--Dreary prospects.--The
+     scenery improves.--Herds of goats.--A run with them.--Return to the
+     carriage.--Wretched hamlet.--Miserable repast.
+
+
+September 12th, 1780.
+
+A shower, having fallen, the air was refreshed, and the drops still
+glittered upon the vines, through which our road conducted us. Three or
+four miles from Mantua the scene changed to extensive grounds of rice,
+and meads of the tenderest verdure watered by springs, whose frequent
+meanders gave to the whole prospect the appearance of a vast green
+carpet shot with silver. Further on we crossed the Po, and passing
+Guastalla, entered a woody country full of inclosures and villages;
+herds feeding in the meadows, and poultry parading before every wicket.
+
+The peasants were busied in winnowing their corn; or, mounted upon the
+elms and poplars, gathering the rich clusters from the vines that hang
+streaming in braids from one branch to another. I was surprised to find
+myself already in the midst of the vintage, and to see every road
+crowded with carts and baskets bringing it along; you cannot imagine a
+pleasanter scene.
+
+Round Reggio it grew still more lively, and on the other side of that
+sketch-inviting little city, I remarked many a cottage that Tityrus
+might have inhabited, with its garden and willow hedge in flower,
+swarming with bees. Our road, the smoothest conceivable, enabled us to
+pass too rapidly through so cheerful a landscape. I caught glimpses of
+fields and copses as we were driven along, that could have afforded me
+amusement for hours, and orchards on gentle acclivities, beneath which I
+could have walked till evening. The trees literally bent under their
+loads of fruit, and innumerable ruddy apples lay scattered upon the
+ground.
+
+Beyond these rich masses of foliage, to which the sun lent additional
+splendour, at the utmost extremity of the pastures, rose the irregular
+ridge of the Apennines, whose deep blue presented a striking contrast
+to the glowing colours of the foreground. I fixed my eyes on the chain
+of distant mountains, and indulged a thousand romantic conjectures of
+what was passing in their recesses--hermits absorbed in
+prayer--beautiful Contadine fetching water from springs, and banditti
+conveying their victims, perhaps at this very moment, to caves and
+fastnesses.
+
+Such were the dreams that filled my fancy, and kept it incessantly
+employed till it was dusk, and the moon began to show herself; the same
+moon which but a few nights ago had seen me so happy at Fiesso. I left
+the carriage, and running into the dim haze, abandoned myself to the
+recollections it excited....
+
+At length, having wandered where chance or the wildness of my fancy led,
+till the lateness of the evening alarmed me, I regained the chaise as
+fast as I could, and arrived between twelve and one at Modena, the place
+of my destination.
+
+
+September 13th.
+
+We traversed a champagne country in our way to Bologna, whose richness
+and fertility encreased in proportion as we drew near that celebrated
+mart of lap-dogs and sausages. A chain of hills commands the city,
+variegated with green inclosures and villas innumerable. On the highest
+acclivity of this range appears the magnificent convent of Madonna del
+Monte, embosomed in wood and joined to the town by a corridor a league
+in length. This vast portico ascending the steeps and winding amongst
+the thickets, sometimes concealed and sometimes visible, produces an
+effect wonderfully grand and singular. I longed to have mounted the
+height by so extraordinary a passage; and hope on some future day to be
+better acquainted with Santa Maria del Monte.
+
+At present I have very little indeed to say about Bologna (where I
+passed only two hours) except that it is sadly out of humour, an
+earthquake and Cardinal Buoncompagni having disarranged both land and
+people. For half-a-year the ground continued trembling; and for these
+last six months, the legate and senators have grumbled and scratched
+incessantly; so that, between natural and political commotions, the
+Bolognese must have passed an agreeable summer.
+
+Such a report of the situation of things, you may suppose, was not
+likely to retard my journey. I put off delivering my letters to another
+opportunity, and proceeded immediately after dinner towards the
+mountains. We were soon in the midst of crags and stony channels, that
+stream with ten thousand rills in the winter season, but during the
+summer months reflect every sunbeam, and harbour half the scorpions in
+the country.
+
+For many a toilsome league our prospect consisted of nothing but dreary
+hillocks and intervening wastes, more barren and mournful than those to
+which Mary Magdalene retired. Sometimes a crucifix or chapel peeped out
+of the parched fern and grasses, with which these desolate fields are
+clothed; and now and then we met a goggle-eyed pilgrim trudging along,
+and staring about him as if he waited only for night and opportunity to
+have additional reasons for hurrying to Loretto.
+
+During three or four hours that we continued ascending, the scene
+increased in sterility and desolation; but, at the end of our second
+post, the landscape began to alter for the better: little green valleys
+at the base of tremendous steeps, discovered themselves, scattered over
+with oaks, and freshened with running waters, which the nakedness of the
+impending rocks set off to advantage. The sides of the cliffs in general
+consist of rude misshapen masses; but their summits are smooth and
+verdant, and continually browsed by herds of white goats, which were
+gambolling on the edge of the precipices as we passed beneath.
+
+I joined one of these frisking assemblies, whose shadows were stretched
+by the setting sun along the level herbage. There I sat a few minutes
+whilst they shook their beards at me, and tried to scare me with all
+their horns. Being tired with skipping and butting at me in vain, the
+whole herd trotted away, and I after them. They led me a dance from crag
+to crag and from thicket to thicket.
+
+It was growing dusky apace, and wreaths of smoke began to ascend from
+the mysterious depths of the valleys. I was ignorant what monster
+inhabited such retirements, so gave over my pursuit lest some Polypheme
+or other might make me repent it. I looked around, the carriage was out
+of sight; but hearing the neighing of horses at a distance, I soon came
+up with them, and mounted another rapid ascent, from whence an extensive
+tract of cliff and forest land was discernible.
+
+A chill wind blew from the highest peak of the Apennines, and made a
+dismal rustle amongst the woods of chesnut that hung on the mountain's
+side, through which we were forced to pass. Walking out of the sound of
+the carriage, I began interpreting the language of the leaves, not
+greatly to my own advantage or that of any being in the universe. I was
+no prophet of good, and had I but commanded an oracle, as ancient
+visionaries were wont, I should have flung mischief about me.
+
+How long I continued in this strange temper I cannot pretend to say, but
+believe it was midnight before we emerged from the oracular forest, and
+saw faintly before us an assemblage of miserable huts, where we were to
+sleep. This wretched hamlet is suspended on the brow of a bleak
+mountain, and every gust that stirs, shakes the whole village to its
+foundations. At our approach two hags stalked forth with lanterns and
+invited us with a grin, which I shall always remember, to a dish of
+mustard and crows' gizzards, a dish I was more than half afraid of
+tasting, lest it should change me to some bird of darkness, condemned to
+mope eternally on the black rafters of the cottage.
+
+After repeated supplications we procured a few eggs, and some faggots to
+make a fire. Pitching my bed in a warm corner I soon fell asleep, and
+forgot all my cares and inquietudes.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+     A sterile region.--Our descent into a milder landscape.--Distant
+     view of Florence.--Moonlight effect.--Visit the Gallery.--Relics of
+     ancient credulity.--Paintings.--A Medusa's head by Leonardo da
+     Vinci.--Curious picture by Polemberg.--The Venus de
+     Medicis.--Exquisitely sculptured figure of Morpheus.--Vast
+     Cathedral.--Garden of Boboli.--Views from different parts of
+     it.--Its resemblance to an antique Roman garden.
+
+
+September 14th, 1780.
+
+The sun had not been long above the horizon, before we set forward upon
+a craggy pavement hewn out of rough cliffs and precipices. Scarcely a
+tree was visible, and the few that presented themselves began already to
+shed their leaves. The raw nipping air of this desert with difficulty
+spares a blade of vegetation; and in the whole range of these extensive
+eminences I could not discover a single corn-field or pasture.
+Inhabitants, you may guess, there were none. I would defy even a Scotch
+highlander to find means of subsistence in so rude a soil.
+
+Towards mid-day, we had surmounted the dreariest part of our journey,
+and began to perceive a milder landscape. The climate improved as well
+as the prospect, and after a continual descent of several hours, we saw
+groves and villages in the dips of the hills, and met a string of mules
+and horses laden with fruit. I purchased some figs and peaches from this
+little caravan, and spread my repast upon a bank, in the midst of
+lavender bushes in full bloom.
+
+Continuing our route, we bade adieu to the realms of poverty and
+barrenness, and entered a cultivated vale, shaded by woody acclivities.
+Amongst these we wound along, between groves of poplar and cypress, till
+late in the evening. Upon winding a hill we discovered Florence at a
+distance surrounded with gardens and terraces rising one above another;
+the full moon seemed to shine with a peculiar charm upon this favoured
+region. Her serene light on the pale grey of the olive, gave a visionary
+and Elysian appearance to the landscape, and I was sorry when I found
+myself excluded from it by the gates of Florence.
+
+I slept as well as my impatience would allow, till it was time next
+morning (Sept. 15,) to visit the gallery, and worship the Venus de
+Medicis. I felt, upon entering this world of refinement, as if I could
+have taken up my abode in it for ever, but, confused with the multitude
+of objects, I knew not on which first to bend my attention, and ran
+childishly by the ample ranks of sculptures, like a butterfly in a
+parterre, that skims before it fixes, over ten thousand flowers.
+
+Having taken my course down one side of the gallery, I turned the angle
+and discovered another long perspective, equally stored with
+master-pieces of bronze and marble. A minute brought me to the extremity
+of this range, vast as it was; then, flying down a third, adorned in the
+same delightful manner, I paused under the bust of Jupiter Olympius; and
+began to reflect a little more maturely upon the company in which I
+found myself. Opposite, appeared the majestic features of Minerva,
+breathing divinity: and Cybele, the mother of the gods.
+
+Having regarded these powers with due veneration, I next cast my eyes
+upon a black figure, whose attitude seemed to announce the deity of
+sleep. You know my fondness for this drowsy personage, and that it is
+not the first time I have quitted the most splendid society for him. I
+found him at present, of touchstone, with the countenance of a towardly
+brat, sleeping ill through indigestion. The artist had not conceived
+very poetical ideas of the god, or else he never would have represented
+him with so little grace and dignity.
+
+Displeased at finding my favourite subject profaned, I perceived the
+transports of enthusiasm beginning to subside, and felt myself calm
+enough to follow the herd of guides and spectators from chamber to
+chamber, cabinet to cabinet, without falling into errors of rapture and
+admiration. We were led slowly and moderately through the large rooms,
+containing the portraits of painters, good, bad, and indifferent, from
+Raphael to Liotard; then into a museum of bronzes, which would afford
+both amusement and instruction for years.
+
+When I had rather alarmed than satisfied my curiosity by rapidly running
+over a multitude of candelabrums, urns, and sacred utensils, we entered
+a small luminous apartment, surrounded with cases richly decorated, and
+filled with the most exquisite models of workmanship in bronze and
+various metals, classed in exact order. Here are crowds of diminutive
+deities and tutelary lars, to whom the superstition of former days
+attributed those midnight murmurs which were believed to presage the
+misfortunes of a family. Amongst these now neglected images are
+preserved a vast number of talismans, cabalistic amulets, and other
+grotesque relics of ancient credulity.
+
+In the centre of the room I remarked a table, beautifully formed of
+polished gems, and, near it, the statue of a genius with his familiar
+serpent, and all his attributes; the guardian of the treasured
+antiquities. From this chamber we were conducted into another, which
+opens to that part of the gallery where the busts of Adrian and Antinous
+are placed. Two pilasters, delicately carved in trophies and clusters of
+ancient armour, stand on each side of the entrance; within are several
+perfumed cabinets of miniatures, and a single column of oriental
+alabaster about ten feet in height,
+
+    Lucido e terso, e bianco, pi� che latte.
+
+I put my guide's patience to the proof, by lingering to admire the
+column and cabinets. At last, the musk with which they are impregnated,
+obliged me to desist, and I moved on to a suite of saloons, with low
+arched roofs, glittering with arabesque, in azure and gold. Several
+medallions appear amongst the wreaths of foliage, tolerably well
+painted, with representations of splendid feasts and tournaments for
+which Florence was once so famous.
+
+A vast collection of small pictures, most of them Flemish, covers the
+walls of these apartments. But nothing struck me more than a Medusa's
+head by Leonardo da Vinci. It appears just severed from the body and
+cast on the damp pavement of a cavern: a deadly paleness covers the
+countenance, and the mouth exhales a pestilential vapour; the snakes,
+which fill almost the whole picture, beginning to untwist their folds;
+one or two seemed already crept away, and crawling up the rock in
+company with toads and other venomous reptiles.
+
+Here are a great many Polembergs: one in particular, the strangest I
+ever beheld. Instead of those soft scenes of woods and waterfalls he is
+in general so fond of representing, he has chosen for his subject Virgil
+ushering Dante into the regions of eternal punishment, amidst the ruins
+of flaming edifices that glare across the infernal waters. These
+mournful towers harbour innumerable shapes, all busy in preying upon the
+damned. One capital devil, in the form of an enormous lobster, seems
+very strenuously employed in mumbling a miserable mortal, who sprawls,
+though in vain, to escape from his claws. This performance, whimsical as
+it is, retains all that softness of tint and delicacy of pencil for
+which Polemberg is so renowned.
+
+Had not the subject so palpably contradicted the painter's choice, I
+should have passed over this picture, like a thousand more, and have
+brought you immediately to the tribune. Need I say I was spell-bound the
+moment I set my feet within it, and saw full before me the Venus de
+Medicis? The warm ivory hue of the original marble is a beauty no copy
+has ever imitated, and the softness of the limbs exceeded the liveliest
+idea I had formed to myself of their perfection.
+
+When I had taken my eyes reluctantly away from this beautiful object, I
+cast them upon a Morpheus of white marble, which lies slumbering at the
+feet of the goddess in the form of a graceful child. A dormant lion
+serves him for a pillow; two ample wings, carved with the utmost
+delicacy, are gathered under him; two others, budding from his temples,
+half-concealed by a flow of lovely ringlets. His languid hands scarcely
+hold a bunch of poppies: near him creeps a lizard, just yielding to his
+influence. Nothing can be more just than the expression of sleep in the
+countenance of the little divinity. His lion too is perfectly lulled,
+and rests his muzzle upon his fore paws as quiet as a domestic spaniel.
+My ill-humour at seeing this deity so grossly sculptured in the gallery,
+was dissipated by the gracefulness of his appearance in the tribune. I
+was now contented, for the artist had realized my ideas; and, if I may
+venture my opinion, sculpture never arrived to higher perfection, and,
+at the same time, kept more justly within its province. Sleeping figures
+with me always produce the finest illusion; but when I see an archer in
+the very act of discharging his arrow, a dancer with one foot in the
+air, or a gladiator extending his fist to all eternity, I grow tired,
+and view such wearisome attitudes with infinitely more admiration than
+pleasure.
+
+The morning was gone before I could snatch myself from the tribune. In
+my way home, I looked into the cathedral, an enormous fabric, inlaid
+with the richest marbles, and covered with stars and chequered work,
+like an old-fashioned cabinet. The architect seems to have turned his
+building inside out; nothing in art being more ornamented than the
+exterior, and few churches so simple within. The nave is vast and
+solemn, the dome amazingly spacious, with the high altar in its centre,
+inclosed by a circular arcade near two hundred feet in diameter. There
+is something imposing in this decoration, as it suggests the idea of a
+sanctuary, into which none but the holy ought to penetrate. However
+profane I might feel myself, I took the liberty of entering, and sat
+down in a niche. Not a ray of light reaches this sacred inclosure, but
+through the medium of narrow windows, high in the dome, and richly
+painted. A sort of yellow tint predominates, which gives additional
+solemnity to the altar, and paleness to the votary before it. I was
+sensible of the effect, and obtained at least the colour of sanctity.
+
+Having remained some time in this pious hue, I returned home and feasted
+upon grapes and ortolans with great edification; then walked to one of
+the bridges across the Arno, and from thence to the garden of Boboli,
+which lies behind the Grand Duke's palace, stretched out on the side of
+a mountain. I ascended terrace after terrace, robed by a thick underwood
+of bay and myrtle, above which rise several nodding towers, and a long
+sweep of venerable wall, almost entirely concealed by ivy. You would
+have been enraptured with the broad masses of shade and dusky alleys
+that opened as I advanced, with white statues of fauns and sylvans
+glimmering amongst them; some of which pour water into sarcophagi of the
+purest marble, covered with antique relievos. The capitals of columns
+and ancient friezes are scattered about as seats.
+
+On these I reposed myself, and looked up to the cypress groves which
+spring above the thickets; then, plunging into their retirements, I
+followed a winding path, which led me by a series of steep ascents to a
+green platform overlooking the whole extent of wood, with Florence deep
+beneath, and the tops of the hills which encircle it jagged with pines;
+here and there a convent, or villa, whitening in the sun. This scene
+extends as far as the eye can reach.
+
+Still ascending I attained the brow of the eminence, and had nothing but
+the fortress of Belvedere, and two or three open porticos above me. On
+this elevated situation, I found several walks of trellis-work, clothed
+with luxuriant vines. A colossal statue of Ceres, her hands extended in
+the act of scattering fertility over the country, crowns the summit.
+
+Descending alley after alley, and bank after bank, I came to the
+orangery in front of the palace, disposed in a grand amphitheatre, with
+marble niches relieved by dark foliage, out of which spring cedars and
+tall a�rial cypresses. This spot brought the scenery of an antique Roman
+garden so vividly into my mind, that, lost in the train of recollections
+this idea excited, I expected every instant to be called to the table of
+Lucullus hard by, in one of the porticos, and to stretch myself on his
+purple triclinias; but waiting in vain for a summons till the approach
+of night, I returned delighted with a ramble that had led my imagination
+so far into antiquity.
+
+Friday, Sept. 16.--My impatience to hear Pacchierotti called me up with
+the sun. I blessed a day which was to give me the greatest of musical
+pleasures, and travelled gaily towards Lucca, along a fertile plain,
+bounded by rocky hills, and scattered over with towns and villages. We
+passed Pistoia in haste, and about three in the afternoon entered the
+Lucchese territory, by a clean paved road, which runs through chestnut
+copses bordered with broom in blossom, and an immense variety of heaths;
+a red soil peeping forth from the vegetation, adds to the richness of
+the landscape, which swells all the way into gentle acclivities: and at
+about seven or eight miles from the city spreads all round into
+mountains, green to their very summits, and diversified with gardens and
+palaces. More pleasing scenery can with difficulty be imagined: I was
+quite charmed with beholding it, as I knew very well that the opera
+would keep me a long while chained down in its neighbourhood.
+
+Happy for me that the environs of Lucca were so beautiful; since I defy
+almost any city to contain more ugliness within its walls. Narrow
+streets and dismal alleys; wide gutters and cracked pavements; everybody
+in black, according with the gloom of their habitations, which however
+are large and lofty enough of conscience; but having all grated windows,
+they convey none but dark and dungeon-like ideas. My spirits fell many
+degrees upon entering this sable capital; and when I found Friday was
+meagre day, in every sense of the word, with its inhabitants, and no
+opera to be performed, I grew wofully out of humour. Instead of a
+delightful symphony, I heard nothing for some time but the clatter of
+plates and the swearing of waiters.
+
+Amongst the number of my tormentors was a whole Genoese family of
+distinction; very fat and sleek, and terribly addicted to the violin.
+Overhearing my sad complaint for want of music, they most generously
+determined I should have my fill of it, and, getting together a few
+scrapers, began such an academia as drove me to the further end of a
+very spacious apartment, whilst they possessed the other. The hopes and
+heir of the family--a chubby dolt of between eighteen and nineteen, his
+uncle, a thickset smiling personage, and a brace of innocent-looking
+younger brothers, plied their fiddles with a hearty good will, waggled
+their double chins, and played out of tune with the most happy
+unconsciousness, as amateurs are apt to do ninety-nine times in a
+hundred.
+
+Pacchierotti, whom they all worshipped in their heavy way, sat silent
+the while in a corner; the second soprano warbled, not absolutely ill,
+at the harpsichord; whilst the old lady, young lady, and attendant
+females, kept ogling him with great perseverance. Those who could not
+get in, squinted through the crevices of the door. Abbates and
+greyhounds were fidgetting continually without. In short, I was so
+persecuted with questions, criticisms, and concertos, that, pleading
+headache and indisposition, I escaped about ten o'clock, and shook
+myself when I got safe to my apartment like a worried spaniel.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XII.
+
+     Rambles among the hills.--Excursions with Pacchierotti.--He catches
+     cold in the mountains.--The whole Republic is in commotion, and
+     send a deputation to remonstrate with the Singer on his
+     imprudence.--The Conte Nobili.--Hill scenery.--Princely Castle and
+     Gardens of the Garzoni Family.--Colossal Statue of Fame.--Grove of
+     Ilex.--Endless bowers of Vines.--Delightful Wood of the Marchese
+     Mansi.--Return to Lucca.
+
+
+Lucca, Sept. 25, 1780.
+
+You ask me how I pass my time. Generally upon the hills, in wild spots
+where the arbutus flourishes; from whence I may catch a glimpse of the
+distant sea; my horse tied to a cypress, and myself cast upon the grass,
+like Palmerin of Oliva, with a tablet and pencil in my hand, a basket of
+grapes by my side, and a crooked stick to shake down the chestnuts. I
+have bidden adieu, several days ago, to the visits, dinners,
+conversazioni, and glories of the town, and only go thither in an
+evening, just time enough for the grand march which precedes
+Pacchierotti in Quinto Fabio. Sometimes he accompanies me in my
+excursions, to the utter discontent of the Lucchese, who swear I shall
+ruin their Opera, by leading him such extravagant rambles amongst the
+mountains, and exposing him to the inclemency of winds and showers. One
+day they made a vehement remonstrance, but in vain; for the next, away
+we trotted over hill and dale, and stayed so late in the evening, that a
+cold and hoarseness were the consequence.
+
+The whole republic was thrown into commotion, and some of its prime
+ministers were deputed to harangue Pacchierotti upon the rides he had
+committed. Had the safety of their mighty state depended upon this
+imprudent excursion, they could not have vociferated with greater
+violence. You know I am rather energetic, and, to say truth, I had very
+nearly got into a scrape of importance, and drawn down the execrations
+of the Gonfalonier and all his council upon my head by openly declaring
+our intention of taking, next morning, another ride over the rocks, and
+absolutely losing ourselves in the clouds which veil their acclivities.
+These terrible threats were put into execution, and yesterday we made a
+tour of about thirty miles upon the high lands, and visited a variety
+of castles and palaces.
+
+The Conte Nobili, a noble Lucchese, born in Flanders and educated at
+Paris, was our conductor. He possesses great elegance of imagination,
+and a degree of sensibility rarely met with. The way did not appear
+tedious in such company. The sun was tempered by light clouds, and a
+soft autumnal haze rested upon the hills, covered with shrubs and
+olives. The distant plains and forests appeared tinted with so deep a
+blue, that I began to think the azure so prevalent in Velvet Breughel's
+landscapes is hardly exaggerated.
+
+After riding for six or seven miles along the cultivated levels, we
+began to ascend a rough slope, overgrown with chestnuts; a great many
+loose fragments and stumps of ancient pomegranates perplexed our route,
+which continued, turning and winding through this wilderness, till it
+opened on a sudden to the side of a lofty mountain, covered with tufted
+groves, amongst which hangs the princely castle of the Garzoni, on the
+very side of a precipice.
+
+Alcina could not have chosen a more romantic situation. The garden lies
+extended beneath, gay with flowers, and glittering with compartments of
+spar, which, though in no great purity of taste, strikes for the first
+time with the effect of enchantment. Two large marble basins, with
+jets-d'eau, seventy feet in height, divide the parterres; from the
+extremity of which rises a rude cliff, shaded with cedar and ilex, and
+cut into terraces.
+
+Leaving our horses at the great gate of this magic enclosure, we passed
+through the spray of the fountains, and mounting an endless flight of
+steps, entered an alley of oranges, and gathered ripe fruit from the
+trees. Whilst we were thus employed, the sun broke from the clouds, and
+lighted up the green of the vegetation; at the same time spangling the
+waters, which pour copiously down a succession of rocky terraces, and
+sprinkle the impending citron-trees with perpetual dew. These streams
+issue from a chasm in the cliff, surrounded by cypresses, which conceal
+by their thick branches a pavilion with baths. Above arises a colossal
+statue of Fame, boldly carved, and in the very act of starting from the
+precipices. A narrow path leads up to the feet of the goddess, on which
+I reclined; whilst a vast column of water arching over my head, fell,
+without even wetting me with its spray, into the depths below.
+
+I could hardly prevail upon myself to abandon this cool recess; which
+the fragrance of bay and orange, maintained by constant showers,
+rendered uncommonly luxurious. At last I consented to move on, through a
+dark wall of ilex, which, to the credit of Signor Garzoni be it spoken,
+is suffered to grow as wild as it pleases. This grove is suspended on
+the mountain side, whose summit is clothed with a boundless wood of
+olives, and forms, by its willowy colour, a striking contrast with the
+deep verdure of its base.
+
+After resting a few moments in the shade, we proceeded to a long avenue,
+bordered by aloes in bloom, forming majestic pyramids of flowers thirty
+feet high. This led us to the palace, which was soon run over. Then,
+mounting our horses, we wound amongst sunny vales, and inclosures with
+myrtle hedges, till we came to a rapid steep. We felt the heat most
+powerfully in ascending it, and were glad to take refuge under a
+continued bower of vines, which runs for miles along its summit. These
+arbours afforded us both shade and refreshment; I fell upon the
+clusters which formed our ceiling, like a native of the north, unused to
+such luxuriance: one of those Goths, Gray so poetically describes, who
+
+    Scent the new fragrance of the breathing rose,
+    And quaff the pendent vintage as it grows.
+
+I wish you had journeyed with us under this fruitful canopy, and
+observed the partial sunshine through its transparent leaves, and the
+glimpses of the blue sky it every now and then admitted. I say only
+every now and then, for in most places a sort of verdant gloom
+prevailed, exquisitely agreeable in so hot a day.
+
+But such luxury did not last, you may suppose, for ever. We were soon
+forced from our covert, and obliged to traverse a mountain exposed to
+the sun, which had dispersed every cloud, and shone with intolerable
+brightness. On the other side of this extensive eminence lies a pastoral
+hillock, surrounded by others, woody and irregular. Wide vineyards and
+fields of Indian corn lay between, across which the Conte Nobili
+conducted us to his house, where we found prepared a very comfortable
+dinner. We drank the growth of the spot, and defied the richest wines of
+Constantia to exceed it.
+
+Afterwards, retiring into a wood of the Marchese Mansi, with neat pebble
+walks and trickling rivulets, we took coffee and loitered till sunset.
+It was then time to return, as the mists were beginning to rise from the
+valleys. The calm and silence of evening threw us into our reveries. We
+went pacing along heedlessly, just as our horses pleased, without
+hearing any sound but their steps.
+
+Between nine and ten we entered the gates of Lucca. Pacchierotti
+coughed, and half its inhabitants wished us at the devil.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIII.
+
+     Set out for Pisa.--The Duomo.--Interior of the Cathedral.--The
+     Campo Santo.--Solitude of the streets at midday.--Proceed to
+     Leghorn.--Beauty of the road.--Tower of the Fanale.
+
+
+Leghorn, October 2nd, 1780.
+
+This morning we set out for Pisa. No sooner had we passed the highly
+cultivated garden-grounds about Lucca than we found ourselves in narrow
+roads, shut in by vines and grassy banks of canes and osiers, rising
+high above our carriage and waving their leaves in the air. Through the
+openings which sometimes intervened we discovered a variety of hillocks
+clothed with shrubs, ruined towers looking out of the bushes, not one
+without a romantic tale attending it.
+
+This sort of scenery lasted till, passing the baths, we beheld Pisa
+rising from an extensive plain, the most open we had as yet seen in
+Italy, crossed by an aqueduct. We were set down immediately before the
+Duomo, which stands insulated in a vast green area, and is perhaps the
+most curious edifice my eyes ever viewed. Do not ask of what shape or
+architecture; it is almost impossible to tell, so great is the confusion
+of ornaments. The dome gives the mass an oriental appearance, which
+helped to bewilder me; in short, I have dreamed of such buildings, but
+little thought they existed. On one side you survey the famous tower, as
+perfectly awry as I expected; on the other the baptistery, a circular
+edifice distinct from the church and right opposite its principal
+entrance, crowded with sculptures and topped by the strangest of
+cupolas.
+
+Having indulged our curiosity with this singular prospect for some
+moments, we entered the cathedral and admired the stately columns of
+porphyry and of the rarest marbles, supporting a roof which, like the
+rest of the building, shines with gold. A pavement of the brightest
+mosaic completes its magnificence: all around are sculptures by Michael
+Angelo Buonarotti, and paintings by the most distinguished artists. We
+examined them with due attention, and then walked down the nave and
+remarked the striking effect of the baptistery, seen in perspective
+through the bronze portals, which you know, I suppose, are covered with
+relievos of the finest workmanship. These noble valves were thrown wide
+open, and we passed between them to the baptistery, where stands an
+alabaster font, constructed after the primitive ritual and exquisitely
+wrought.
+
+Our next object was the Campo Santo, which forms one side of the area in
+which the cathedral is situated. The walls, and Gothic tabernacle above
+the entrance, rising from the level turf and preserving a neat straw
+colour, appear as fresh as if built within the present century. Our
+guide unlocking the gates, we entered a spacious cloister, forming an
+oblong quadrangle, which encloses the sacred earth of Jerusalem,
+conveyed hither about the period of the crusades, the days of Pisanese
+prosperity. The holy mould produces a rampant crop of weeds, but none
+are permitted to spring from the pavement, which is entirely composed of
+tombs with slabs, smoothly laid and covered with monumental
+inscriptions. Ranges of slender pillars, formed of the whitest marble
+and glistening in the sun, support the arcade of the cloister, which is
+carved with innumerable stars and roses, partly Gothic and partly
+Saracenial. Strange paintings of hell and the devil, mostly taken from
+Dante's rhapsodies, cover the walls of these fantastic galleries,
+attributed to the venerable Giotto and Bufalmacco, whom Boccaccio
+mentions in his Decamerone.
+
+Beneath, along the base of the columns, are placed, to my no small
+surprise, rows of pagan sarcophagi; I could not have supposed the
+Pisanese sufficiently tolerant to admit profane sculptures within such
+consecrated precincts. However, there they are, as well as fifty other
+contradictory ornaments.
+
+I was quite seized by the strangeness of the place, and paced fifty
+times round and round the cloisters, discovering at every time some odd
+novelty. When tired, I seated myself on a fair slab of _giallo antico_,
+that looked a little cleaner than its neighbours (which I only mention
+to identify the precise point of view), and looking through the
+filigreed tracery of the arches observed the domes of the cathedral,
+cupola of the baptistery, and roof of the leaning tower rising above the
+leads, and forming the strangest assemblage of pinnacles perhaps in
+Europe. The place is neither sad nor solemn; the arches are airy, the
+pillars light, and there is so much caprice, such an exotic look in the
+whole scene, that without any violent effort of fancy one might imagine
+one's self in fairy land. Every object is new, every ornament original;
+the mixture of antique sarcophagi with Gothic sepulchres, completes the
+vagaries of the prospect, to which, one day or other, I think of
+returning, to hear visionary music and commune with sprites, for I shall
+never find in the whole universe besides so whimsical a theatre.
+
+The heat was so powerful that all the inhabitants of Pisa showed their
+wisdom by keeping within doors. Not an animal appeared in the streets,
+except five camels laden with water, stalking along a range of garden
+walls and pompous mansions, with an awning before every door. We were
+obliged to follow their steps, at least a quarter of a mile, before we
+reached our inn. Ice was the first thing I sought after, and when I had
+swallowed an unreasonable portion, I began not to think quite so much of
+the deserts of Africa, as the heat and the camels had induced me to do a
+moment ago.
+
+Early in the afternoon, we proceeded to Leghorn through a wild tract of
+forest, somewhat in the style of our English parks. The trees in some
+places formed such shady arbours, that we could not resist the desire of
+walking beneath them, and were well rewarded; for after struggling
+through a rough thicket, we entered a lawn hemmed in by oaks and
+chesnuts, which extends several leagues along the coast and conceals the
+prospect of the ocean; but we heard its murmurs.
+
+Nothing could be smoother or more verdant than the herbage, which was
+sprinkled with daisies and purple crocuses as in the month of May. I
+felt all the genial sensations of Spring steal into my bosom, and was
+greatly delighted upon discovering vast bushes of myrtle in the fullest
+and most luxuriant bloom. The softness of the air, the sound of the
+distant surges, the evening gleams, and repose of the landscape, quieted
+the tumult of my spirits, and I experienced the calm of my infant hours.
+I lay down in the open turf-walks between the shrubberies, and during a
+few moments had forgotten every care; but when I began to enquire into
+my happiness, I found it vanish. I felt myself without those I love
+most, in situations they would have warmly admired, and without them
+these pleasant lawns and woodlands looked pleasant in vain.
+
+We had not left this woody region far behind, when the Fanale began to
+lift itself above the horizon--the very tower you have so often
+mentioned; the sky and ocean glowing with amber light, and the ships out
+at sea appearing in a golden haze, of which we have no conception in our
+northern climates. Such a prospect, together with the fresh gales from
+the Mediterranean, charmed me; I hurried immediately to the port and sat
+on a reef of rocks, listening to the waves that broke amongst them.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIV.
+
+     The Mole at Leghorn.--Coast scattered over with
+     Watch-towers.--Branches of rare Coral unexpectedly acquired.
+
+
+October 3rd, 1780.
+
+I went, as you would have done, to walk on the mole as soon as the sun
+began to shine upon it. Its construction you are no stranger to;
+therefore I think I may spare myself the trouble of saying anything
+about it, except that the port which it embraces is no longer crowded.
+Instead of ten ranks of vessels there are only three, and those consist
+chiefly of Corsican galleys, that look as poor and tattered as their
+masters. Not much attention did I bestow upon such objects, but, taking
+my seat at the extremity of the quay, surveyed the smooth plains of
+ocean, the coast scattered over with watchtowers, and the rocky isle of
+Gorgona, emerging from the morning mists, which still lingered upon the
+horizon.
+
+Whilst I was musing upon the scene, and calling up all that train of
+ideas before my imagination, which pleased your own upon beholding it,
+an ancient figure, with a beard that would have suited a sea-god,
+stepped out of a boat, and tottering up the steps of the quay, presented
+himself before me with a basket in his hand. He stayed dripping a few
+moments before he pronounced a syllable, and when he began his
+discourse, I was in doubt whether I should not have moved off in a
+hurry, there was something so wan and singular in his countenance.
+Except this being, no other was visible for a quarter of a mile at
+least. I knew not what strange adventure I might be upon the point of
+commencing, or what message I was to expect from the submarine
+divinities. However, after all my conjectures, the figure turned out to
+be no other than an old fisherman, who having picked up a few branches
+of the rarest species of coral, offered them to sale. I eagerly made the
+purchase, and thought myself a favourite of Neptune, since he allowed me
+to acquire, with such facility, some of his most beautiful ornaments.
+
+My bargain thus expeditiously concluded, I ran along the quay with my
+basket of coral, and, taking boat, was rowed back to the gate of the
+port. The carriage waited there; I shut myself up in the grateful shade
+of green blinds, and was driven away at a rate that favoured my
+impatience. We bowled smoothly over the lawns described in my last
+letter, amongst myrtles in flower, that would have done honour to the
+island of Juan Fernandez.
+
+Arrived at Pisa, I scarcely allowed myself a moment to revisit the Campo
+Santo, but hurried on to Lucca, and threw the whole idle town into a
+stare by my speedy return.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XV.
+
+     Florence again.--Palazzo Vecchio.--View on the Arno.--Sculptures by
+     Cellini and John of Bologna.--Contempt shown by the Austrians to
+     the memory of the House of Medici.--Evening visit to the Garden of
+     Boboli.--The Opera.--Miserable singing.--A Neapolitan Duchess.
+
+
+Florence, October 5th, 1780.
+
+It was not without regret that I forced myself from Lucca. We had all
+the same road to go over again, that brought us to this important
+republic, but we broke down by way of variety. The wind was chill, the
+atmosphere damp and clogged with unwholesome vapours, through which we
+were forced to walk for a league, whilst our chaise lagged after us.
+
+Taking shelter in a miserable cottage, we remained shivering and shaking
+till the carriage was in some sort of order, and then proceeded so
+slowly that we did not arrive at Florence till late in the evening, and
+took possession of an apartment over the Arno, which being swollen with
+rains roared like a mountain torrent. Throwing open my windows, I viewed
+its agitated course by the light of the moon, half concealed in stormy
+clouds, which hung above the fortress of the Belvedere. I sat
+contemplating the effect of the shadows on the bridge, on the heights of
+Boboli, and the mountain covered with pale olive groves, amongst which a
+convent is situated, till the moon sank into the darkest quarter of the
+sky, and a bell began to toll. Its mournful sound filled me with gloomy
+recollections. I closed the casements, and read till midnight some
+dismal memoir of conspiracies and assassinations, Guelphs and
+Ghibelines, the black story of ancient Florence.
+
+
+October 6th.
+
+Every cloud was dispersed when I arose, and the purity and transparence
+of the �ther added new charms to the picturesque eminences around. I
+felt quite revived by this exhilarating prospect, and walked in the
+splendour of sunshine to the porticos beneath the famous gallery, then
+to an antient castle, raised in the days of the Republic, which fronts
+the grand piazza. Colossal statues and trophies badly carved in the
+true spirit of the antique, are placed before it. On one side a
+fountain, clung round with antick figures of bronze, by John of Bologna.
+On the other, three lofty pointed arches, and under one of them the
+Perseus of Benvenuto Cellini.
+
+Having examined some groups of sculptures by Baccio Bandinelli and other
+mighty artists, I entered the court of the castle, dark and deep, as if
+hewn out of a rock, surrounded by a vaulted arcade covered with
+arabesque ornaments and supported by pillars almost as uncouthly
+designed as those of Persepolis. In the midst appears a marble fount
+with an image of bronze, that looks quite strange and cabalistic. I
+leaned against it to look up to the summits of the walls, which rise to
+a vast height, from whence springs a slender tower. Above, in the
+apartments of the castle, are still preserved numbers of curious
+cabinets, tables of inlaid gems, and a thousand rarities, collected by
+the house of Medici, and not yet entirely frittered away and disposed of
+by public sale.
+
+It was not without indignation that I learnt this new mark of contempt
+which the Austrians bestow on the memory of those illustrious patrons of
+the Arts; whom, being unwilling to imitate, they affect to despise as a
+race of merchants whose example it would be abasing their dignity to
+follow.
+
+I could have stayed much longer to enjoy the novelty and strangeness of
+the place; but it was right to pay some compliments of form. That duty
+over, I dined in peace and solitude, and repaired, as evening drew on,
+to the thickets of Boboli.
+
+What a serene sky! what mellowness in the tints of the mountains! A
+purple haze concealed the bases, whilst their summits were invested with
+saffron light, discovering every white cot and every copse that clothed
+their declivities. The prospect widened as I ascended the terraces of
+the garden.
+
+After traversing many long dusky alleys, I reached the opening on the
+brow of the hill, and seating myself under the statue of Ceres, took a
+sketch of the huge mountainous cupola of the Duomo, the adjoining lovely
+tower and one more massive in its neighbourhood, built not improbably in
+the style of ancient Etruria. Beyond this historic group of buildings a
+plain stretches itself far and wide, most richly studded with villas
+and gardens, and groves of pine and olive, quite to the feet of the
+mountains.
+
+Having marked the sun's going down and all the soothing effects cast by
+his declining rays on every object, I went through a plat of vines to a
+favourite haunt of mine:--a little garden of the most fragrant roses,
+with a spring under a rustic arch of grotto-work fringed with ivy.
+Thousands of fish inhabit here, of that beautiful glittering species
+which comes from China. This golden nation were leaping after insects as
+I stood gazing upon the deep clear water, listening to the drops that
+trickle from the cove. Opposite to which, at the end of a green alley,
+you discover an oval basin, and in the midst of it an antique statue
+full of that graceful languor so peculiarly Grecian.
+
+Whilst I was musing on the margin of the spring (for I returned to it
+after casting a look upon the sculpture), the moon rose above the tufted
+foliage of the terraces, which I descended by several flights of steps,
+with marble balustrades crowned by vases of aloes.
+
+It was now seven o'clock, and all the world were going to my Lord T----'s, who lives in a fine house all over blue and silver, with stuffed
+birds, alabaster cupids, and a thousand prettinesses more; but to say
+truth, neither he nor his abode are worth mentioning. I found a deal of
+slopping and sipping of tea going forward, and many dawdlers assembled.
+
+As I can say little good of the party, I had better shut the door, and
+conduct you to the Opera, which is really a striking spectacle. The
+first soprano put my patience to severe proof, during the few minutes I
+attended. You never beheld such a porpoise. If these animals were to
+sing, I should conjecture it would be in his style. You may suppose how
+often I invoked Pacchierotti, and regretted the lofty melody of Quinto
+Fabio. Everybody seemed as well contented as if there were no such thing
+as good singing in the world, except a Neapolitan duchess who delighted
+me by her vivacity. We took our fill of maledictions, and went home
+equally pleased with each other for having mutually execrated both
+singers and audience.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVI.
+
+     Detained at Florence by reports of the Malaria at Rome.--Ascend one
+     of the hills celebrated by Dante.--View from its brow.--Chapel
+     designed by Michael Angelo.--Birth of a Princess.--The
+     christening.--Another evening visit in the woods of Boboli.
+
+
+October 22nd, 1780.
+
+They say the air is worse this year at Rome than ever, and that it would
+be madness to go thither during its malign influence. This was very bad
+news indeed to one heartily tired of Florence, at least of its society.
+Merciful powers! what a set harbour within its walls! * * * You may
+imagine I do not take vehement delight in this company, though very
+ingenious, praiseworthy, &c. The woods of the Cascini shelter me every
+morning; and there grows an old crooked ilex at their entrance, twisting
+round a pine, upon whose branches I sit for hours.
+
+In the afternoon I am irresistibly attracted to the thickets of Boboli.
+The other evening, however, I varied my walks, and ascended one of those
+pleasant hills celebrated by Dante, which rise in the vicinity of the
+city, and command a variegated scene of towers, villas, cottages, and
+gardens. On the right, as you stand upon the brow, appears Fiesole with
+its turrets and white houses, covering a rocky mount to the left, the
+Val d'Arno lost in the haze of the horizon. A Franciscan convent stands
+on the summit of the eminence, wrapped up in antient cypresses, which
+hinder its holy inhabitants from seeing too much of so gay a view. The
+paved ascent leading up to their abode receives also a shade from the
+cypresses which border it. Beneath this venerable avenue, crosses with
+inscriptions are placed at certain distances, to mark the various
+moments of Christ's passion; as when fainting under his burden he halted
+to repose himself, or when he met his afflicted mother.
+
+Above, at the end of the perspective, rises a chapel designed by M. A.
+Buonarotti; further on, an antient church, encrusted with white marble,
+porphyry, and verd antique. The interior presents a crowded assemblage
+of ornaments, elaborate mosaic pavements and inlaid work without end.
+The high altar is placed in a semicircular recess, which, like the apsis
+of the church at Torcello, glitters with barbaric paintings on a gold
+ground, and receives a fervid glow of light from five windows, filled up
+with transparent marble clouded like tortoiseshell. A smooth polished
+staircase leads to this mysterious place: another brought me to a
+subterraneous chapel, supported by confused groups of variegated
+pillars, just visible by the glimmer of lamps.
+
+Passing on not unawed, I followed some flights of steps, which terminate
+in the neat cloisters of the convent, in perfect preservation, but
+totally deserted. Ranges of citron and aloes fill up the quadrangle,
+whose walls are hung with superstitious pictures most singularly
+fancied. The Jesuits were the last tenants of this retirement, and seem
+to have had great reason for their choice. Its peace and stillness
+delighted me.
+
+Next day I was engaged by a very opposite scene, though much against my
+will. Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess having produced a princess in
+the night, everybody put on grand gala in the morning, and I was
+carried, along with the glittering tide of courtiers, ministers, and
+ladies, to see the christening. After the Grand Duke had talked
+politics for some time, the doors of a temporary chapel were thrown
+open. Trumpets flourished, processions marched, and the archbishop began
+the ceremony at an altar of massive gold, placed under a yellow silk
+pavilion, with pyramids of lights before it. Wax tapers, though it was
+noon-day, shone in every corner of the apartments. Two rows of pages,
+gorgeously accoutred, and holding enormous torches, stood on each side
+his Royal Highness, and made him the prettiest courtesies imaginable, to
+the sound of an indifferent band of music, though led by Nardini. The
+poor old archbishop, who looked very piteous and saint-like, led the Te
+Deum with a quavering voice, and the rest followed him with thoughtless
+expedition.
+
+The ceremony being despatched, (for his Royal Highness was in a mighty
+fidget to shrink back into his beloved obscurity,) the crowd dispersed,
+and I went, with a few others, to dine at my Lord T----'s.
+
+Evening drawing on, I ran to throw myself once more into the woods of
+Boboli, and remained till it was night in their recesses. Really this
+garden is enough to bewilder an enthusiastic spirit; there is something
+so solemn in its shades, its avenues, and spires of cypresses. When I
+had mused for many an interesting hour amongst them, I emerged into the
+orangery before the palace, which overlooks the largest district of the
+town, and beheld, as I slowly descended the road which leads up to it,
+certain bright lights glancing about the cupola of the Duomo and the
+points of the highest towers. At first I thought them meteors, or those
+illusive fires which often dance before the eye of my imagination; but
+soon I was convinced of their reality; for in a few minutes the lantern
+of the cathedral was lighted up by agents really invisible; whilst a
+stream of torches ran along the battlements of the old castle which I
+mentioned in a former letter.
+
+I enjoyed this prospect at a distance: when near, my pleasure was
+greatly diminished, for half the fish in the town were frying to rejoice
+the hearts of his Royal Highness's loyal subjects, and bonfires blazing
+in every street and alley. Hubbubs and stinks of every denomination
+drove me quickly to the theatre; but that was all glitter and glare. No
+taste, no arrangement, paltry looking-glasses, and rat's-tail candles.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVII.
+
+     Pilgrimage to Valombrosa.--Rocky Steeps.--Groves of Pine.--Vast
+     Amphitheatre of Lawns and Meadows.--Reception at the Convent.--Wild
+     Glens where the Hermit Gualbertus had his Cell.--Conversation with
+     the holy Fathers.--Legendary Tales.--The consecrated Cleft.--The
+     Romitorio.--Extensive View of the Val d'Arno.--Return to Florence.
+
+
+October 23rd, 1780.
+
+Do you recollect our evening rambles last year, in the valley at F----,
+under the hill of pines? I remember we often fancied the scene like
+Valombrosa; and vowed, if ever an occasion offered, to visit its deep
+retirements. I had put off the execution of this pilgrimage from day to
+day till the warm weather was gone; and the Florentines declared I
+should be frozen if I attempted it. Everybody stared last night at the
+Opera when I told them I was going to bury myself in fallen leaves, and
+hear no music but their rustlings.
+
+Mr. ---- was just as eager as myself to escape the chit-chat and
+nothingness of Florence; so we finally determined upon our expedition,
+and mounting our horses, set out this morning, happily without any
+company but the spirit which led us along. We had need of inspiration,
+since nothing else, I think, would have tempted us over such dreary,
+uninteresting hillocks as rise from the banks of the Arno. The hoary
+olive is their principal vegetation; so that Nature, in this part of the
+country, seems in a withering decrepit state, and may not unaptly be
+compared to "an old woman clothed in grey." However, we did not suffer
+the prospect to damp our enthusiasm, which was the better preserved for
+Valombrosa.
+
+About half way, our palfreys thought proper to look out for some oats,
+and I to creep into a sort of granary in the midst of a barren waste,
+scattered over with white rocks, that reflected more heat than I cared
+for, although I had been told snow and ice were to be my portion.
+Seating myself on the floor between heaps of corn, I reached down a few
+purple clusters of Muscadine grapes, which hung to dry in the ceiling,
+and amused myself very pleasantly with them till the horses had
+finished their meal and it was lawful to set forwards. We met with
+nothing but rocky steeps shattered into fragments, and such roads as
+half inclined us to repent our undertaking; but cold was not yet amongst
+the number of our evils.
+
+At last, after ascending a tedious while, we began to feel the wind blow
+sharply from the peaks of the mountains, and to hear the murmur of
+groves of pine. A paved path leads across them, quite darkened by
+boughs, which meeting over our heads cast a gloom and a chilness below
+that would have stopped the proceedings of reasonable mortals, and sent
+them to bask in the plain; but, being not so easily discomfited, we
+threw ourselves boldly into the forest. It presented that boundless
+confusion of tall straight stems I am so fond of, and exhaled a fresh
+aromatic odour that revived my spirits.
+
+The cold to be sure was piercing; but setting that at defiance, we
+galloped on, and entered a vast amphitheatre of lawns and meadows
+surrounded by thick woods beautifully green. The steep cliffs and
+mountains which guard this retired valley are clothed with beech to
+their very summits; and on their slopes, whose smoothness and verdure
+equal our English pastures, were dispersed large flocks of sheep. The
+herbage, moistened by streams which fall from the eminences, has never
+been known to fade; thus, whilst the chief part of Tuscany is parched by
+the heats of summer, these upland meadows retain the freshness of
+spring. I regretted not having visited them sooner, as autumn had
+already made great havock amongst the foliage. Showers of leaves blew
+full in our faces as we rode towards the convent, placed at an extremity
+of the vale and sheltered by firs and chesnuts towering one above
+another.
+
+Whilst we were alighting before the entrance, two fathers came out and
+received us into the peace of their retirement. We found a blazing fire,
+and tables spread very comfortably before it, round which five or six
+overgrown friars were lounging, who seemed by the sleekness and rosy hue
+of their countenances not totally to have despised this mortal
+existence.
+
+My letters of recommendation soon brought the heads of the order about
+me, fair round figures, such as a Chinese would have placed in his
+pagoda. I could willingly have dispensed with their attention; yet to
+avoid this was scarcely within the circle of possibility. All dinner,
+therefore, we endured an infinity of nonsensical questions; but as soon
+as that was over, I lost no time in repairing to the lawns and forests.
+The fathers made a shift to waddle after, as fast and as complaisantly
+as they were able, but were soon distanced.
+
+Now I found myself at liberty, and pursued a narrow path overhung by
+rock, with bushy chesnuts starting from the crevices. This led me into
+wild glens of beech trees, mostly decayed and covered with moss: several
+were fallen. It was amongst these the holy hermit Gualbertus had his
+cell. I rested a moment upon one of their huge branches, listening to
+the roar of a waterfall which the wood concealed. The dry leaves chased
+each other down the steeps on the edge of the torrents with hollow
+rustlings, whilst the solemn wave of the forests above most perfectly
+answered the idea I had formed of Valombrosa,
+
+  ----where the Etrurian shades
+    High overarch'd embower.
+
+The scene was beginning to take effect, and the genius of Milton to move
+across his favourite valley, when the fathers arrived puffing and
+blowing, by an easier ascent than I knew of.
+
+"You have missed the way," cried the youngest; "the hermitage, with the
+fine picture by Andr�a del Sarto, which all the English admire, is on
+the opposite side of the wood: there! don't you see it on the point of
+the cliff?"
+
+"Yes, yes," said I a little peevishly; "I wonder the devil has not
+pushed it down long ago; it seems to invite his kick."
+
+"Satan," answered the old Pagod very dryly, "is full of malice; but
+whoever drinks of a spring which the Lord causeth to flow near the
+hermitage is freed from his illusions."
+
+"Are they so?" replied I with a sanctified accent, "then I pray thee
+conduct me thither, for I have great need of such salutary waters."
+
+The youngest father shook his head, as much as to say, "This is nothing
+more than a heretic's whim."
+
+The senior set forwards with greater piety, and began some legendary
+tales of the kind which my soul loveth. He pointed to a chasm in the
+cliff, round which we were winding by a spiral path, where Gualbertus
+used to sleep, and, turning himself towards the west, see a long
+succession of saints and martyrs sweeping athwart the sky, and gilding
+the clouds with far brighter splendours than the setting sun. Here he
+rested till his last hour, when the bells of the convent beneath (which
+till that moment would have made dogs howl had there been any within its
+precincts) struck out such harmonious jingling that all the country
+around was ravished, and began lifting up their eyes with singular
+devotion, when, behold! light dawned, cherubim appeared, and birds
+chirped although it was midnight. "Alas! alas! what would I not give to
+witness such a spectacle, and read my prayer-book by the effulgence of
+opening heaven!"
+
+However, willing to see something at least, I crept into the consecrated
+cleft and extended myself on its rugged surface. A very penitential
+couch! but commanding glorious prospects of the world below, which lay
+this evening in deep blue shade; the sun looking red and angry through
+misty vapours, which prevented our discovering the Tuscan sea.
+
+Finding the rock as damp as might be expected, I soon shifted my
+quarters, and followed the youngest father up to the Romitorio, a snug
+little hermitage, with a neat chapel, and altar-piece by Andr�a del
+Sarto, which I should have examined more minutely had not the wild and
+mountainous forest scenery possessed my whole attention. I just stayed
+to taste the holy fountain; and then, escaping from my conductors, ran
+eagerly down the path, leaping over the springs that crossed it, and
+entered a lawn of the smoothest turf grazed by sheep. Beyond this
+opening rises a second, hemmed in with thickets; and still higher, a
+third, whence a forest of young pines spires up into a lofty theatre
+terminated by peaks, half concealed by a thick mantle of beech tinged
+with ruddy brown. Pausing in the midst of the lawns, and looking upward
+to the sweeps of wood which surrounded me, I addressed my orisons to the
+genius of the place, and prayed that I might once more return into its
+bosom, and be permitted to bring you along with me, for surely such
+meads, such groves, were formed for our enjoyment!
+
+This little rite performed, I walked on quite to the extremity of the
+pastures, traversed a thicket, and found myself on the edge of
+precipices, beneath whose base the whole Val d'Arno lies expanded. I
+listened to distant murmurings in the plain, saw wreaths of smoke rising
+from the cottages, and viewed a vast tract of grey barren country, which
+evening rendered still more desolate, bounded by the black mountain of
+Radicofani. Then, turning round, I beheld the whole extent of rock and
+forest, the groves of beech, and wilds above the convent, glowing with
+fiery red, for the sun, making a last effort to pierce the vapours,
+produced this effect; which was the more striking, as the sky was
+gloomy, and the rest of the prospect of a melancholy blue.
+
+Returning slowly homeward, I marked the warm glow deserting the
+eminences, and heard the sullen toll of a bell. The young boys of the
+seminary were moving in a body to their dark enclosure, all dressed in
+black. Many of them looked pale and wan. I wished to ask them whether
+the solitude of Valombrosa suited their age and vivacity; but a tall
+spectre of a priest drove them along like a herd, and presently, the
+gates opening, I saw them no more.
+
+The night was growing chill, the winds boisterous, and in the intervals
+of the gusts I had the addition of a lamentable screech owl to depress
+my spirits. Upon the whole, I was not at all concerned to meet the
+fathers, who came out to show me to my room, and entertain me with
+various gossipings, both sacred and profane, till supper appeared.
+
+Next morning, the Padre Decano gave us chocolate in his apartment; and
+afterwards led us round the convent, insisting most unmercifully upon
+our viewing every cell and every dormitory. However, I was determined to
+make a full stop at the organ, one of the most harmonious I ever played
+upon; but placed in a deep recess, feebly lighted by lamps, not
+calculated to inspire triumphant voluntaries. The monks, who had all
+crowded into the loft in expectation of brisk jigs and lively overtures,
+soon retired upon hearing a strain ten times more sorrowful than that to
+which they were accustomed. I did not lament their departure, but played
+on till our horses came to the gate. We mounted, wound back through the
+grove of pines which protect Valombrosa from intrusion, descended the
+steeps, and, gaining the plains, galloped in a few hours to Florence.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVIII.
+
+     Cathedral at Sienna.--A vaulted Chamber.--Leave Sienna.--Mountains
+     round Radicofani.--Hunting Palace of the Grand Dukes.--A grim
+     fraternity of Cats.--Dreary Apartment.
+
+
+Sienna, October 27th, 1780.
+
+Here my duty of course was to see the cathedral, and I got up much
+earlier than I wished, in order to perform it. I wonder that our holy
+ancestors did not choose a mountain at once, scrape it into tabernacles,
+and chisel it into scripture stories. It would have cost them almost as
+little trouble as the building in question, which, by many of the
+Italian devotees to a purer style of architecture, is esteemed a
+masterpiece of ridiculous taste and elaborate absurdity. The front,
+encrusted with alabaster, is worked into a million of fretted arches and
+puzzling ornaments. There are statues without number, and relievos
+without end or meaning.
+
+The church within is all of black and white marble alternately; the roof
+blue and gold, with a profusion of silken banners hanging from it; and
+a cornice running above the principal arcade, composed entirely of
+bustos representing the whole series of sovereign pontiffs, from the
+first Bishop of Rome to Adrian the Fourth. Pope Joan they say figured
+amongst them, between Leo the Fourth and Benedict the Third, till the
+year 1600, when some authors have asserted she was turned out, at the
+instance of Clement the Eighth, to make room for Zacharias the First.
+
+I hardly knew which was the nave, or which the cross aisle, of this
+singular edifice, so perfect is the confusion of its parts. The pavement
+demands attention, being inlaid so curiously as to represent variety of
+histories taken from Holy Writ, and designed somewhat in the style of
+that hobgoblin tapestry which used to bestare the walls of our
+ancestors. Near the high altar stands the strangest of pulpits,
+supported by polished pillars of granite, rising from lions' backs,
+which serve as pedestals. In every corner of the place some glittering
+chapel or other offends or astonishes you. That, however, of the Chigi
+family, it must be allowed, has infinite merit with respect to design
+and execution; but it wants effect, as seeming out of place in this
+chaos of caprice and finery.
+
+From the church I entered a vaulted chamber, erected by the
+Piccoliminis, filled with missals most exquisitely illuminated. The
+paintings in fresco on the walls are rather barbarous, though executed
+after the designs of the mighty Raphael; but then we must remember, he
+had but just escaped from Pietro Perugino.
+
+Not staying long in the Duomo, we left Sienna in good time; and, after
+being shaken and tumbled in the worst roads that ever pretended to be
+made use of, found ourselves beneath the rough mountains round
+Radicofani, about seven o'clock on a cold and dismal evening. Up we
+toiled a steep craggy ascent, and reached at length the inn upon its
+summit. My heart sank when I entered a vast range of apartments, with
+high black raftered roofs, once intended for a hunting palace of the
+Grand Dukes, but now desolate and forlorn. The wind having risen, every
+door began to shake, and every board substituted for a window to
+clatter, as if the severe power who dwells on the topmost peak of
+Radicofani, according to its village mythologists, was about to visit
+his abode.
+
+My only spell to keep him at a distance was kindling an enormous fire,
+whose charitable gleams cheered my spirits, and gave them a quicker
+flow. Yet, for some minutes, I never ceased looking, now to the right,
+now to the left, up at the dark beams, and down the long passages, where
+the pavement, broken up in several places, and earth newly strewn about,
+seemed to indicate that something horrid was concealed below.
+
+A grim fraternity of cats kept whisking backwards and forwards in these
+dreary avenues, which I am apt to imagine is the very identical scene of
+a sabbath of witches at certain periods. Not venturing to explore them,
+I fastened my door, pitched my bed opposite the hearth which glowed with
+embers, and crept under the coverlids, hardly venturing to go to sleep
+lest I should be suddenly roused from it by I know not what terrible
+initiation into the mysteries of the place.
+
+Scarce was I settled, before two or three of the brotherhood just
+mentioned stalked in at a little opening under the door. I insisted upon
+their moving off faster than they had entered, and was surprised, when
+midnight came, to hear nothing more than their doleful mewings echoed by
+the hollow walls and arches.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIX.
+
+     Leave the gloomy precincts of Radicofani and enter the Papal
+     territory.--Country near Aquapendente.--Shores of the Lake of
+     Bolsena.--Forest of Oaks.--Ascend Monte Fiascone.--Inhabited
+     Caverns.--Viterbo.--Anticipations of Rome.
+
+
+Radicofani, October 28th, 1780.
+
+I begin to despair of magical adventures, since none happened at
+Radicofani, which Nature seems wholly to have abandoned. Not a tree, not
+an acre of soil, has she bestowed upon its inhabitants, who would have
+more excuse for practising the gloomy art than the rest of mankind. I
+was very glad to leave their black hills and stony wilderness behind,
+and, entering the Papal territory, to see some shrubs and cornfields at
+a distance.
+
+Near Aquapendente, which is situated on a ledge of cliffs mantled with
+chesnut copses and tufted ilex, the country grew varied and picturesque.
+St. Lorenzo, the next post, built upon a hill, overlooks the lake of
+Bolsena, whose woody shores conceal many ruined buildings. We passed
+some of them in a retired vale, with arches from rock to rock, and
+grottos beneath half lost in thickets, from which rise craggy pinnacles
+crowned by mouldering towers; just such scenery as Polemberg and
+Bamboche introduce in their paintings.
+
+Beyond these truly Italian prospects, which a mellow evening tint
+rendered still more interesting, a forest of oaks presents itself upon
+the brows of hills, which extends almost the whole way to Monte
+Fiascone. It was late before we ascended it. The whole country seems
+full of inhabited caverns, that began as night drew on to shine with
+fires. We saw many dark shapes glancing before them, and perhaps a
+subterraneous people like the Cimmerians lurk in their recesses. As we
+drew near Viterbo, the lights in the fields grew less and less frequent;
+and when we entered the town, all was total darkness.
+
+To-morrow I hope to pay my vows before the high altar of St. Peter, and
+tread the Vatican. Why are you not here to usher me into the imperial
+city: to watch my first glance of the Coliseo: and lead me up the stairs
+of the Capitol? I shall rise before the sun, that I may see him set from
+Monte Cavallo.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XX.
+
+     Set out in the dark.--The Lago di Vico.--View of the spacious
+     plains where the Romans reared their seat of empire.--Ancient
+     splendour.--Present silence and desolation.--Shepherds'
+     huts.--Wretched policy of the Papal Government.--Distant view of
+     Rome.--Sensations on entering the City.--The Pope returning from
+     Vespers.--St Peter's Colonnade.--Interior of the
+     Church.--Reveries.--A visionary scheme.--The Pantheon.
+
+
+Rome, October 29th, 1780.
+
+We set out in the dark. Morning dawned over the Lago di Vico; its waters
+of a deep ultramarine blue, and its surrounding forests catching the
+rays of the rising sun. It was in vain I looked for the cupola of St.
+Peter's upon descending the mountains beyond Viterbo. Nothing but a sea
+of vapours was visible.
+
+At length they rolled away, and the spacious plains began to show
+themselves, in which the most warlike of nations reared their seat of
+empire. On the left, afar off, rises the rugged chain of Apennines, and
+on the other side, a shining expanse of ocean terminates the view. It
+was upon this vast surface so many illustrious actions were performed,
+and I know not where a mighty people could have chosen a grander
+theatre. Here was space for the march of armies, and verge enough for
+encampments: levels for martial games, and room for that variety of
+roads and causeways that led from the capital to Ostia. How many
+triumphant legions have trodden these pavements! how many captive kings!
+What throngs of cars and chariots once glittered on their surface!
+savage animals dragged from the interior of Africa; and the ambassadors
+of Indian princes, followed by their exotic train, hastening to implore
+the favour of the senate!
+
+During many ages, this eminence commanded almost every day such
+illustrious scenes; but all are vanished: the splendid tumult is passed
+away: silence and desolation remain. Dreary flats thinly scattered over
+with ilex, and barren hillocks crowned by solitary towers, were the only
+objects we perceived for several miles. Now and then we passed a few
+black ill-favoured sheep straggling by the way's side, near a ruined
+sepulchre, just such animals as an ancient would have sacrificed to the
+Manes. Sometimes we crossed a brook, whose ripplings were the only
+sounds which broke the general stillness, and observed the shepherds'
+huts on its banks, propped up with broken pedestals and marble friezes.
+I entered one of them, whose owner was abroad tending his herds, and
+began writing upon the sand and murmuring a melancholy song. Perhaps the
+dead listened to me from their narrow cells. The living I can answer
+for: they were far enough removed.
+
+You will not be surprised at the dark tone of my musings in so sad a
+scene, especially as the weather lowered; and you are well acquainted
+how greatly I depend upon skies and sunshine. To-day I had no blue
+firmament to revive my spirits; no genial gales, no aromatic plants to
+irritate my nerves and lend at least a momentary animation. Heath and a
+greyish kind of moss are the sole vegetation which covers this endless
+wilderness. Every slope is strewed with the relics of a happier period;
+trunks of trees, shattered columns, cedar beams, helmets of bronze,
+skulls and coins, are frequently dug up together.
+
+I cannot boast of having made any discoveries, nor of sending you any
+novel intelligence. You knew before how perfectly the environs of Rome
+were desolate, and how completely the Papal government contrives to make
+its subjects miserable. But who knows that they were not just as
+wretched in those boasted times we are so fond of celebrating? All is
+doubt and conjecture in this frail existence; and I might as well
+attempt proving to whom belonged the mouldering bones which lay
+dispersed around me, as venture to affirm that one age is more fortunate
+than another. Very likely the poor cottager, under whose roof I reposed,
+is happier than the luxurious Roman upon the remains of whose palace,
+perhaps, his shed is raised: and yet that Roman flourished in the purple
+days of the empire, when all was wealth and splendour, triumph and
+exultation.
+
+I could have spent the whole day by the rivulet, lost in dreams and
+meditations; but recollecting my vow, I ran back to the carriage and
+drove on. The road not having been mended, I believe, since the days of
+the C�sars, would not allow our motions to be very precipitate. "When
+you gain the summit of yonder hill, you will discover Rome," said one of
+the postilions: up we dragged; no city appeared. "From the next," cried
+out a second; and so on from height to height did they amuse my
+expectations. I thought Rome fled before us, such was my impatience,
+till at last we perceived a cluster of hills with green pastures on
+their summits, inclosed by thickets and shaded by flourishing ilex. Here
+and there a white house, built in the antique style, with open porticos,
+that received a faint gleam of the evening sun, just emerged from the
+clouds and tinting the meads below. Now domes and towers began to
+discover themselves in the valley, and St. Peter's to rise above the
+magnificent roofs of the Vatican. Every step we advanced the scene
+extended, till, winding suddenly round the hill, all Rome opened to our
+view.
+
+Shall I ever forget the sensations I experienced upon slowly descending
+the hills, and crossing the bridge over the Tiber; when I entered an
+avenue between terraces and ornamented gates of villas, which leads to
+the Porto del Popolo, and beheld the square, the domes, the obelisk, the
+long perspective of streets and palaces opening beyond, all glowing with
+the vivid red of sunset? You can imagine how I enjoyed my beloved tint,
+my favourite hour, surrounded by such objects. You can fancy me
+ascending Monte Cavallo, leaning against the pedestal which supports
+Bucephalus; then, spite of time and distance, hurrying to St. Peter's in
+performance of my vow.
+
+I met the Holy Father in all his pomp returning from vespers. Trumpets
+flourishing, and a troop of guards drawn out upon Ponte St. Angelo.
+Casting a respectful glance upon the Moles Adriani, I moved on till the
+full sweep of St. Peter's colonnade opened upon me. The edifice appears
+to have been raised within the year, such is its freshness and
+preservation. I could hardly take my eyes from off the beautiful
+symmetry of its front, contrasted with the magnificent, though irregular
+courts of the Vatican towering over the colonnade, till, the sun sinking
+behind the dome, I ran up the steps and entered the grand portal, which
+was on the very point of being closed.
+
+I knew not where I was, or to what scene transported. A sacred twilight
+concealing the extremities of the structure, I could not distinguish any
+particular ornament, but enjoyed the effect of the whole. No damp air or
+foetid exhalation offended me. The perfume of incense was not yet
+entirely dissipated. No human being stirred. I heard a door close with
+the sound of thunder, and thought I distinguished some faint
+whisperings, but am ignorant whence they came. Several hundred lamps
+twinkled round the high altar, quite lost in the immensity of the pile.
+No other light disturbed my reveries but the dying glow still visible
+through the western windows. Imagine how I felt upon finding myself
+alone in this vast temple at so late an hour. Do you think I quitted it
+without some revelation?
+
+It was almost eight o'clock before I issued forth, and, pausing a few
+minutes under the porticos, listened to the rush of the fountains: then
+traversing half the town, I believe, in my way to the Villa Medici,
+under which I am lodged, fell into a profound repose, which my zeal and
+exercise may be allowed, I think, to have merited.
+
+October 30th.
+
+Immediately after breakfast I repaired again to St. Peter's, which even
+exceeded the height of my expectations. I could hardly quit it. I wish
+his Holiness would allow me to erect a little tabernacle within this
+glorious temple. I should desire no other prospect during the winter; no
+other sky than the vast arches glowing with golden ornaments, so lofty
+as to lose all glitter or gaudiness. But I cannot say I should be
+perfectly contented, unless I could obtain another tabernacle for you.
+Thus established, we would take our evening walks on the field of
+marble; for is not the pavement vast enough for the extravagance of the
+appellation? Sometimes, instead of climbing a mountain, we should ascend
+the cupola, and look down on our little encampment below. At night I
+should wish for a constellation of lamps dispersed about in clusters,
+and so contrived as to diffuse a mild and equal light. Music should not
+be wanting: at one time to breathe in the subterraneous chapels, at
+another to echo through the dome.
+
+The doors should be closed, and not a mortal admitted. No priests, no
+cardinals: God forbid! We would have all the space to ourselves, and to
+beings of our own visionary persuasion.
+
+I was so absorbed in my imaginary palace, and exhausted with contriving
+plans for its embellishment, as scarcely to have spirits left for the
+Pantheon, which I visited late in the evening, and entered with a
+reverence approaching to superstition. The whiteness of the dome
+offended me, for, alas! this venerable temple has been whitewashed. I
+slunk into one of the recesses, closed my eyes, transported myself into
+antiquity; then opened them again, tried to persuade myself the Pagan
+gods were in their niches, and the saints out of the question; was vexed
+at coming to my senses, and finding them all there, St. Andrew with his
+cross, and St. Agnes with her lamb, &c. Then I paced disconsolately into
+the portico, which shows the name of Agrippa on its pediment. Fixed for
+a few minutes against a Corinthian column, I lamented that no pontiff
+arrived with victims and aruspices, of whom I might enquire, what, in
+the name of birds and garbage, put me so terribly out of humour! for you
+must know I was very near being disappointed, and began to think
+Piranesi and Paolo Panini had been a great deal too colossal in their
+representations of this venerable structure. I left the column, walked
+to the centre of the temple, and there remained motionless as a statue.
+Some architects have celebrated the effect of light from the opening
+above, and pretended it to be distributed in such a manner as to give
+those, who walk beneath, the appearance of mystic beings streaming with
+radiance. If that were the case! I appeared, to be sure, a luminous
+figure, and never stood I more in need of something to enliven me.
+
+My spirits were not mended upon returning home. I had expected a heap of
+Venetian letters, but could not discover one. I had received no
+intelligence from England for many a tedious day; and for aught I can
+tell to the contrary, you may have been dead these three weeks. I think
+I shall wander soon in the Catacombs, which I try lustily to persuade
+myself communicate with the lower world; and perhaps I may find some
+letter there from you lying upon a broken sarcophagus, dated from the
+realms of Night, and giving an account of your descent into her bosom.
+Yet, I pray continually, notwithstanding my curiosity to learn what
+passes in the dark regions beyond the tomb, that you will remain a few
+years longer on our planet; for what would become of me should I lose
+sight of you for ever? Stay, therefore, as long as you can, and let us
+have the delight of dozing a little more of this poor existence away
+together, and steeping ourselves in pleasant dreams.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXI.
+
+     Leave Rome for Naples.--Scenery in the vicinity of
+     Rome.--Albano.--Malaria.--Veletri.--Classical associations.--The
+     Circean Promontory.--Terracina.--Ruined Palace.--Mountain
+     Groves.--Rock of Circe.--The Appian Way.--Arrive at Mola di
+     Gaieta.--Beautiful prospect.--A Deluge.--Enter Naples by night,
+     during a fearful Storm.--Clear Morning.--View from my
+     window.--Courtly Mob at the Palace.--The Presence Chamber.--The
+     King and his Courtiers.--Party at the House of Sir W. H.--Grand
+     Illumination at the Theatre of St. Carlo.--Marchesi.
+
+
+November 1st, 1780.
+
+Though you find I am not yet snatched away from the earth, according to
+my last night's bodings, I was far too restless and dispirited to
+deliver my recommendatory letters. St. Carlos, a mighty day of gala at
+Naples, was an excellent excuse for leaving Rome, and indulging my
+roving disposition. After spending my morning at St. Peter's, we set off
+about four o'clock, and drove by the Coliseo and a Capuchin convent,
+whose monks were all busied in preparing the skeletons of their order,
+to figure by torch-light in the evening. St. John's of Lateran
+astonished me. I could not help walking several times round the obelisk,
+and admiring the noble space in which the palace is erected, and the
+extensive scene of towers and aqueducts discovered from the platform in
+front.
+
+We went out at the Porta Appia, and began to perceive the plains which
+surround the city opening on every side. Long reaches of walls and
+arches, seldom interrupted, stretch across them. Sometimes, indeed, a
+withered pine, lifting itself up to the mercy of every blast that sweeps
+the champagne, breaks their uniformity. Between the aqueducts to the
+left, nothing but wastes of fern, or tracts of ploughed lands, dark and
+desolate, are visible, the corn not being yet sprung up. On the right,
+several groups of ruined fanes and sepulchres diversify the levels, with
+here and there a garden or woody enclosure. Such objects are scattered
+over the landscape, which towards the horizon bulges into gentle
+ascents, and, rising by degrees, swells at length into a chain of
+mountains, which received the pale gleams of the sun setting in watery
+clouds.
+
+By this uncertain light we discovered the white buildings of Albano,
+sprinkled about the steeps. We had not many moments to contemplate them,
+for it was night when we passed the Torre di mezza via, and began
+breathing a close pestilential vapour. Half suffocated, and recollecting
+a variety of terrifying tales about the malaria, we advanced, not
+without fear, to Veletri, and hardly ventured to fall asleep when
+arrived there.
+
+November 2nd.
+
+I arose at day-break, and, forgetting fevers and mortalities, ran into a
+level meadow without the town, whilst the horses were putting to the
+carriage. Why should I calumniate the pearly transparent air? it seemed
+at least purer than any I had before inhaled. Being perfectly alone, and
+not discovering any trace of the neighbouring city, I fancied myself
+existing in the ancient days of Hesperia, and hoped to meet Picus in his
+woods before the evening. But, instead of those shrill clamours which
+used to echo through the thickets when Pan joined with mortals in the
+chase, I heard the rumbling of our carriage, and the cursing of
+postilions. Mounting a horse I flew before them, and seemed to catch
+inspiration from the breezes. Now I turned my eyes to the ridge of
+precipices, in whose grots and caverns Saturn and his people passed
+their life; then to the distant ocean. Afar off rose the cliff, so
+famous for Circe's incantations, and the whole line of coasts, which was
+once covered with her forests.
+
+Whilst I was advancing with full speed, the sun-beams began to shoot
+athwart the mountains, the plains to light up by degrees, and their
+shrubberies of myrtle to glisten with dew-drops. The sea brightened, and
+the Circean promontory soon glowed with purple. All day we kept winding
+through this enchanted country. Towards evening Terracina appeared
+before us, in a bold romantic scite; house above house, and turret
+looking over turret, on the steeps of a mountain, enclosed with
+mouldering walls, and crowned by the ruined terraces of a palace; one of
+those, perhaps, which the luxurious Romans inhabited during the summer,
+when so free and lofty an exposition (the sea below, with its gales and
+murmurs) must have been delightful. Groves of orange and citron hang on
+the declivity, rough with the Indian fig, whose bright red flowers,
+illuminated by the sun, had a magic splendour. A palm-tree, growing on
+the highest crag, adds not a little to its singular appearance. Being
+the largest I had yet seen, and clustered with fruit, I climbed up the
+rocks to take a sketch of it; and looking down upon the beach and glassy
+plains of ocean, exclaimed with Martial:
+
+    O nemus! O fontes! solidumque madentis aren�
+      Littus, et �quoreis splendidus Anxur aquis!
+
+Glancing my eyes athwart the sea, I fixed them on the rock of Circe,
+which lies right opposite to Terracina, joined to the continent by a
+very narrow strip of land, and appearing like an island. The roar of the
+waves lashing the base of the precipices, might still be thought the
+howl of savage monsters; but where are those woods which shaded the dome
+of the goddess? Scarce a tree appears. A few thickets, and but a few,
+are the sole remains of this once impenetrable vegetation; yet even
+these I longed to visit, such was my predilection for the spot.
+
+Descending the cliff, and pursuing our route to Mola along the shore, by
+a grand road formed on the ruins of the Appian Way, we drove under an
+enormous perpendicular rock, standing detached, like a watch tower, and
+cut into arsenals and magazines. Day closed just as we got beyond it,
+and a new moon gleamed faintly on the waters. We saw fires afar off in
+the bay; some twinkling on the coast, others upon the waves, and heard
+the murmur of voices; for the night was still and solemn, like that of
+Cajetas's funeral. I looked anxiously on a sea, where the heroes of the
+Odyssey and �neid had sailed to fulfil their mystic destinies.
+
+Nine struck when we arrived at Mola di Gaeta. The boats were just coming
+in (whose lights we had seen out upon the main), and brought such fish
+as Neptune, I dare say, would have grudged �neas and Ulysses.
+
+
+November 3rd.
+
+The morning was soft, but hazy. I walked in a grove of orange trees,
+white with blossoms, and at the same time glowing with fruit. The spot
+sloped pleasantly toward the sea, and here I loitered till the horses
+were ready, then set off on the Appian, between hedges of myrtle and
+aloes. We observed a variety of towns, with battlemented walls and
+ancient turrets, crowning the pinnacles of rocky steeps, surrounded by
+wilds, and rude uncultivated mountains. The Liris, now Garigliano, winds
+its peaceful course through wide extensive meadows, scattered over with
+the remains of aqueducts, and waters the base of the rocks I have just
+mentioned. Such a prospect could not fail of bringing Virgil's panegyric
+of Italy into my mind:
+
+    Tot congesta manu pr�ruptis oppida saxis
+    Fluminaque antiquos subterlabentia muros.
+
+As soon as we arrived in sight of Capua, the sky darkened, clouds
+covered the horizon, and presently poured down such deluges of rain as
+floated the whole country. The gloom was general; Vesuvius disappeared
+just after we had discovered it. At four o'clock darkness universally
+prevailed, except when a livid glare of lightning presented momentary
+glimpses of the bay and mountains. We lighted torches, and forded
+several torrents almost at the hazard of our lives. The plains of Aversa
+were filled with herds, lowing most piteously, and yet not half so much
+scared as their masters, who ran about raving and ranting like Indians
+during the eclipse of the moon. I knew Vesuvius had often put their
+courage to proof, but little thought of an inundation occasioning such
+commotions.
+
+For three hours the storm increased in violence, and instead of
+entering Naples on a calm evening, and viewing its delightful shores by
+moonlight--instead of finding the squares and terraces thronged with
+people and animated by music, we advanced with fear and terror through
+dark streets totally deserted, every creature being shut up in their
+houses, and we heard nothing but driving rain, rushing torrents, and the
+fall of fragments beaten down by their violence. Our inn, like every
+other habitation, was in great disorder, and we waited a long while
+before we could settle in our apartments with any comfort. All night the
+waves roared round the rocky foundations of a fortress beneath my
+windows, and the lightning played clear in my eyes.
+
+
+November 4th.
+
+Peace was restored to nature in the morning, but every mouth was full of
+the dreadful accidents which had happened in the night. The sky was
+cloudless when I awoke, and such was the transparence of the atmosphere
+that I could clearly discern the rocks, and even some white buildings on
+the island of Caprea, though at the distance of thirty miles. A large
+window fronts my bed, and its casements being thrown open, gives me a
+vast prospect of ocean uninterrupted, except by the peaks of Caprea and
+the Cape of Sorento. I lay half an hour gazing on the smooth level
+waters, and listening to the confused voices of the fishermen, passing
+and repassing in light skiffs, which came and disappeared in an instant.
+
+Running to the balcony the moment my eyes were fairly open (for till
+then I saw objects, I know not how, as one does in dreams,) I leaned
+over its rails and viewed Vesuvius rising distinct into the blue �ther,
+with all that world of gardens and casinos which are scattered about its
+base; then looked down into the street, deep below, thronged with people
+in holiday garments, and carriages, and soldiers in full parade. The
+shrubby, variegated shore of Posilipo drew my attention to the opposite
+side of the bay. It was on those very rocks, under those tall pines,
+Sannazaro was wont to sit by moonlight, or at peep of dawn, composing
+his marine eclogues. It is there he still sleeps; and I wished to have
+gone immediately and strewed coral over his tomb, but I was obliged to
+check my impatience and hurry to the palace in form and gala.
+
+A courtly mob had got thither upon the same errand, daubed over with
+lace and most notably be-periwigged. Nothing but bows and salutations
+were going forward on the staircase, one of the largest I ever beheld,
+and which a multitude of prelates and friars were ascending with awkward
+pomposity. I jostled along to the presence chamber, where his Majesty
+was dining alone in a circular enclosure of fine clothes and smirking
+faces. The moment he had finished, twenty long necks were poked forth,
+and it was a glorious struggle amongst some of the most decorated who
+first should kiss his hand, the great business of the day. Everybody
+pressed forward to the best of their abilities. His Majesty seemed to
+eye nothing but the end of his nose, which is doubtless a capital
+object.
+
+Though people have imagined him a weak monarch, I beg leave to differ in
+opinion, since he has the boldness to prolong his childhood and be
+happy, in spite of years and conviction. Give him a boar to stab, and a
+pigeon to shoot at, a battledore or an angling rod, and he is better
+contented than Solomon in all his glory, and will never discover, like
+that sapient sovereign, that all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
+
+His courtiers in general have rather a barbaric appearance, and differ
+little in the character of their physiognomies from the most savage
+nations. I should have taken them for Calmucks or Samoieds, had it not
+been for their dresses and European finery.
+
+You may suppose I was not sorry, after my presentation was over, to
+return to Sir W. H.'s, where an interesting group of lovely women,
+literati, and artists, were assembled--Gagliani and Cyrillo, Aprile,
+Milico, and Deamicis--the determined Santo Marco, and the more
+nymph-like modest-looking, though not less dangerous, Belmonte. Gagliani
+happened to be in full story, and vied with his countryman Polichinello,
+not only in gesticulation and loquacity, but in the excessive
+licentiousness of his narrations. He was proceeding beyond all bounds of
+decency and decorum, at least according to English notions, when Lady
+H.[8] sat down to the pianoforte. Her plaintive modulations breathed a
+far different language. No performer that ever I heard produced such
+soothing effects; they seemed the emanations of a pure, uncontaminated
+mind, at peace with itself and benevolently desirous of diffusing that
+happy tranquillity around it; these were modes a Grecian legislature
+would have encouraged to further the triumph over vice of the most
+amiable virtue.
+
+The evening was passing swiftly away, and I had almost forgotten there
+was a grand illumination at the theatre of St. Carlo. After traversing a
+number of dark streets, we suddenly entered this enormous edifice, whose
+seven rows of boxes one above the other blazed with tapers. I never
+beheld such lofty walls of light, nor so pompous a decoration as covered
+the stage. Marchesi was singing in the midst of all these splendours
+some of the poorest music imaginable, with the clearest and most
+triumphant voice, perhaps, in the universe.
+
+It was some time before I could look to any purpose around me, or
+discover what animals inhabited this glittering world: such was its size
+and glare. At last I perceived vast numbers of swarthy ill-favoured
+beings, in gold and silver raiment, peeping out of their boxes. The
+court being present, a tolerable silence was maintained, but the moment
+his Majesty withdrew (which great event took place at the beginning of
+the second act) every tongue broke loose, and nothing but buzz and
+hubbub filled up the rest of the entertainment.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXII.
+
+     View of the coast of Posilipo.--Virgil's tomb.--Superstition of the
+     Neapolitans with respect to Virgil.--A�rial situation.--A grand
+     scene.
+
+
+November 6th, 1780.
+
+Till to-day we have had nothing but rains; the sea covered with mists,
+and Caprea invisible. Would you believe it? I have not yet been able to
+mount to St. Elmo and the Capo di Monte, in order to take a general view
+of the town.
+
+At length a bright gleam of sunshine summoned me to the broad terrace of
+Chiaja, which commands the whole coast of Posilipo. Insensibly I drew
+towards it, and (you know the pace I run when out upon discoveries) soon
+reached the entrance of the grotto, which lay in dark shades, whilst the
+crags that lower over it were brightly illumined. Shrubs and vines grow
+luxuriantly in the crevices of the rock; and its fresh yellow colours,
+variegated with ivy, have a beautiful effect. To the right, a grove of
+pines spring from the highest pinnacles: on the left, bay and chesnut
+conceal the tomb of Virgil placed on the summit of a cliff which impends
+over the opening of the grotto, and is fringed with vegetation. Beneath
+are several wide apertures hollowed in the solid stone, which lead to
+caverns sixty or seventy feet in depth, where a number of peasants, who
+were employed in quarrying, made a strange but not absolutely
+unharmonious din with their tools and their voices.
+
+Walking out of the sunshine, I seated myself on a loose stone
+immediately beneath the first gloomy arch of the grotto, and looking
+down the long and solemn perspective terminated by a speck of gray
+uncertain light, venerated a work which some old chroniclers have
+imagined as ancient as the Trojan war. It was here the mysterious race
+of the Cimmerians performed their infernal rites, and it was this
+excavation perhaps which led to their abode.
+
+The Neapolitans attribute a more modern, though full as problematical an
+origin to their famous cavern, and most piously believe it to have been
+formed by the enchantments of Virgil, who, as Addison very justly
+observes, is better known at Naples in his magical character than as
+the author of the �neid. This strange infatuation most probably arose
+from the vicinity of the tomb in which his ashes are supposed to have
+been deposited; and which, according to popular tradition, was guarded
+by those very spirits who assisted in constructing the cave. But
+whatever may have given rise to these ideas, certain it is they were not
+confined to the lower ranks alone. King Robert,[9] a wise though far
+from poetical monarch, conducted his friend Petrarch with great
+solemnity to the spot; and, pointing to the entrance of the grotto, very
+gravely asked him, whether he did not adopt the general belief, and
+conclude this stupendous passage derived its origin from Virgil's
+powerful incantations? The answer, I think, may easily be conjectured.
+
+When I had sat for some time, contemplating this dusky avenue, and
+trying to persuade myself that it was hewn by the Cimmerians, I
+retreated without proceeding any farther, and followed a narrow path
+which led me, after some windings and turnings, along the brink of the
+precipice, across a vineyard, to that retired nook of the rocks which
+shelters Virgil's tomb, most venerably mossed over and more than half
+concealed by bushes and vegetation. The clown who conducted me remained
+aloof at awful distance, whilst I sat commercing with the manes of my
+beloved poet, or straggled about the shrubbery which hangs directly
+above the mouth of the grot.
+
+Advancing to the edge of the rock, I saw crowds of people and carriages,
+diminished by distance, issuing from the bosom of the mountain and
+disappearing almost as soon as discovered in the windings of its road.
+Clambering high above the cavern, I hazarded my neck on the top of one
+of the pines, and looked contemptuously down on the race of pigmies that
+were so busily moving to and fro. The sun was fiercer than I could have
+wished, but the sea-breezes fanned me in my a�rial situation, which
+commanded the grand sweep of the bay, varied by convents, palaces, and
+gardens mixed with huge masses of rock and crowned by the stately
+buildings of the Carthusians and fortress of St. Elmo. Add a glittering
+blue sea to this perspective, with Caprea rising from its bosom and
+Vesuvius breathing forth a white column of smoke into the �ther, and you
+will then have a scene upon which I gazed with delight, for more than
+an hour, almost forgetting that I was perched upon the head of a pine
+with nothing but a frail branch to uphold me. However, I descended
+alive, as Virgil's genii, I am resolved to believe, were my protectors.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXIII.
+
+     A ramble on the shore of Baii.--Local traditions.--Cross the
+     bay.--Fragments of a temple dedicated to Hercules.--Wondrous
+     reservoir constructed for the fleet of Nero.--The Dead Lake.--Wild
+     scene.--Beautiful meadow. Uncouth rocks.--An unfathomable
+     gulph.--Sadness induced by the wild appearance of the
+     place.--Conversation with a recluse.--Her fearful
+     narration.--Melancholy evening.
+
+
+November 8th, 1780.
+
+This morning I awoke in the glow of sunshine--the air blew fresh and
+fragrant--never did I feel more elastic and enlivened. A brisker flow of
+spirits than I had for many a day experienced, animated me with a desire
+of rambling about the shore of Baii, and creeping into caverns and
+subterraneous chambers. Off I set along the Chiaja, and up strange paths
+which impend over the grotto of Posilipo, amongst the thickets mentioned
+a letter or two ago; for in my present buoyant humour I disdained
+ordinary roads, and would take paths and ways of my own. A society of
+kids did not understand what I meant by intruding upon their precipices;
+and scrambling away, scattered sand and fragments upon the good people
+that were trudging along the pavement below.
+
+I went on from pine to pine and thicket to thicket, upon the brink of
+rapid declivities. My conductor, a shrewd savage, whom Sir William had
+recommended to me, cheered our route with stories that had passed in the
+neighbourhood, and traditions about the grot over which we were
+travelling. I wish you had been of the party, and sat down by us on
+little smooth spots of sward, where I reclined, scarcely knowing which
+way caprice had led me. My mind was full of the tales of the place, and
+glowed with a vehement desire of exploring the world beyond the grot. I
+longed to ascend the promontory of Misenus, and follow the same dusky
+route down which the Sibyl conducted �neas.
+
+With these dispositions I proceeded; and soon the cliffs and copses
+opened to views of the Baian sea with the little isles of Niscita and
+Lazaretto, lifting themselves out of the waters. Procita and Ischia
+appeared at a distance invested with that purple bloom so inexpressibly
+beautiful, and peculiar to this fortunate climate. I hailed the
+prospect, and blessed the transparent air that gave me life and vigour
+to run down the rocks, and hie as fast as my savage across the plain to
+Pozzuoli. There we took bark and rowed out into the blue ocean, by the
+remains of a sturdy mole: many such, I imagine, adorned the bay in Roman
+ages, crowned by vast lengths of slender pillars; pavilions at their
+extremities and taper cypresses spiring above their balustrades: this
+character of villa occurs very frequently in the paintings of
+Herculaneum.
+
+We had soon crossed the bay, and landing on a bushy coast near some
+fragments of a temple which they say was raised to Hercules, advanced
+into the country by narrow tracks covered with moss and strewed with
+shining pebbles; to the right and left, broad masses of luxuriant
+foliage, chesnut, bay and ilex, that shelter the ruins of sepulchral
+chambers. No parties of smart Englishmen and connoisseurs were about. I
+had all the land to myself, and mounted its steeps and penetrated into
+its recesses, with the importance of a discoverer. What a variety of
+narrow paths, between banks and shades, did I wildly follow! my savage
+laughing loud at my odd gestures and useless activity. He wondered I did
+not scrape the ground for medals, and pocket little bits of plaster,
+like other inquisitive young travellers that had gone before me.
+
+After ascending some time, I followed him into the wondrous[10]
+reservoir which Nero constructed to supply his fleet, when anchored in
+the neighbouring bay. A noise of trickling waters prevailed throughout
+this grand labyrinth of solid vaults and arches, that had almost lulled
+me to sleep as I rested myself on the celandine which carpets the floor;
+but curiosity urging me forward, I gained the upper air; walked amongst
+woods a few minutes, and then into grots and dismal excavations (prisons
+they call them) which began to weary me.
+
+After having gone up and down in this manner for some time, we at last
+reached an eminence that commanded the Mare Morto, and Elysian fields
+trembling with reeds and poplars. The Dead Lake, a faithful emblem of
+eternal tranquillity, looked deep and solemn. A few peasants seemed
+fixed on its margin, their shadows reflected on the water. Turning from
+the lake I espied a rock at about a league distant, whose summit was
+clad with verdure, and finding this to be the promontory of Misenus, I
+immediately set my face to that quarter.
+
+We passed several dirty villages, inhabited by an ill-favoured
+generation, infamous for depredations and murders. Their gardens,
+however, discover some marks of industry; the fields are separated by
+neat hedges of cane, and a variety of herbs and pulses and Indian corn
+seemed to flourish in the inclosures. Insensibly we began to leave the
+cultivated lands behind us, and to lose ourselves in shady wilds, which,
+to all appearance, no mortal had ever trodden. Here were no paths, no
+inclosures; a primeval rudeness characterized the whole scene.
+
+After forcing our way about a mile, through glades of shrubs and briars,
+we entered a lawn-like opening at the base of the cliff which takes its
+name from Misenus. The poets of the Augustan age would have celebrated
+such a meadow with the warmest raptures, and peopled its green expanse
+with all the sylvan demi-gods of their beautiful mythology. Here were
+springs issuing from rocks of pumice, and grassy hillocks partially
+concealed by thickets of bay.
+
+    Et circum irriguo surgebant lilia prato
+    Candida purpureis mista papaveribus.
+
+But as it is not the lot of human animals to be contented, instead of
+reposing in the vale, I scaled the rock, and was three parts dissolved
+in attaining its summit. The sun darted upon my head, I wished to avoid
+its immediate influence; no tree was near; the pleasant valley lay below
+at a considerable depth, and it was a long way to descend to it. Looking
+round and round, I spied something like a hut, under a crag on the edge
+of a dark fissure. Might I avail myself of its covert? My conductor
+answered in the affirmative, and added that it was inhabited by a good
+old woman, who never refused a cup of milk, or slice of bread, to
+refresh a weary traveller.
+
+Thirst and fatigue urged me speedily down an intervening slope of
+stunted myrtle. Though oppressed with heat, I could not help deviating a
+few steps from the direct path to notice the uncouth rocks which rose
+frowning on every quarter. Above the hut, their appearance was truly
+formidable, bristled over with sharp-spired dwarf aloes, such as
+Lucifer himself might be supposed to have sown. Indeed I knew not
+whether I was not approaching some gate that leads to his abode, as I
+drew near a gulph (the fissure lately mentioned) and heard the deep
+hollow murmurs of the gusts which were imprisoned below. The savage, my
+guide, shuddered as he passed by to apprise the old woman of my coming.
+I felt strangely, and stared around me, and but half liked my situation.
+
+In the midst of my doubts, forth tottered the old woman. "You are
+welcome," said she, in a feeble voice, but a better dialect than I had
+heard in the neighbourhood. Her look was more humane, and she seemed of
+a superior race to the inhabitants of the surrounding valleys. My savage
+treated her with peculiar deference. She had just given him some bread,
+with which he retired to a respectful distance bowing to the earth. I
+caught the mode, and was very obsequious, thinking myself on the point
+of experiencing a witch's influence, and gaining, perhaps, some insight
+into the volume of futurity. She smiled at my agitation and kept
+beckoning me into the cottage.
+
+"Now," thought I to myself, "I am upon the verge of an adventure." I saw
+nothing, however, but clay walls, a straw bed, some glazed earthen
+bowls, and a wooden crucifix. My shoes were loaded with sand: this my
+hostess perceived, and immediately kindling a fire in an inner part of
+the hovel, brought out some warm water to refresh my feet, and set some
+milk and chesnuts before me. This patriarchal attention was by no means
+indifferent after my tiresome ramble. I sat down opposite to the door
+which fronted the unfathomable gulph; beyond appeared the sea, of a deep
+cerulean, foaming with waves. The sky also was darkening apace with
+storms. Sadness came over me like a cloud, and I looked up to the old
+woman for consolation.
+
+"And you too are sorrowful, young stranger," said she, "that come from
+the gay world! how must I feel, who pass year after year in these lonely
+mountains?" I answered that the weather affected me, and my spirits were
+exhausted by the walk.
+
+All the while I spoke she looked at me with such a melancholy
+earnestness that I asked the cause, and began again to imagine myself
+in some fatal habitation,
+
+    Where more is meant than meets the ear.
+
+"Your features," said she, "are wonderfully like those of an unfortunate
+young person, who, in this retirement...." The tears began to fall as
+she pronounced these words; my curiosity was fired. "Tell me," continued
+I, "what you mean; who was this youth for whom you are so interested?
+and why did he seclude himself in this wild region? Your kindness to him
+might no doubt have alleviated, in some measure, the horrors of the
+place; but may God defend me from passing the night near such a gulph! I
+would not trust myself in a despairing moment."
+
+"It is," said she, "a place of horrors. I tremble to relate what has
+happened on this very spot; but your manner interests me, and though I
+am little given to narrations, for once I will unlock my lips concerning
+the secrets of yonder fatal chasm.
+
+"I was born in a distant part of Italy, and have known better days. In
+my youth fortune smiled upon my family, but in a few years they withered
+away; no matter by what accident. I am not going to talk much of
+myself. Have patience a few moments! A series of unfortunate events
+reduced me to indigence, and drove me to this desert, where, from
+rearing goats and making their milk into cheese, by a different method
+than is common in the Neapolitan state, I have, for about thirty years,
+prolonged a sorrowful existence. My silent grief and constant retirement
+had made me appear to some a saint, and to others a sorceress. The
+slight knowledge I have of plants has been exaggerated, and, some years
+back, the hours I gave up to prayer, and the recollection of former
+friends, lost to me for ever! were cruelly intruded upon by the idle and
+the ignorant. But soon I sank into obscurity: my little recipes were
+disregarded, and you are the first stranger who, for these twelve months
+past, has visited my abode. Ah, would to God its solitude had ever
+remained inviolate!
+
+"It is now three-and-twenty years," and she looked upon some characters
+cut on the planks of the cottage, "since I was sitting by moonlight,
+under that cliff you view to the right, my eyes fixed on the ocean, my
+mind lost in the memory of my misfortunes, when I heard a step, and
+starting up, a figure stood before me. It was a young man, in a rich
+habit, with streaming hair, and looks that bespoke the utmost terror. I
+knew not what to think of this sudden apparition. 'Mother,' said he with
+faltering accents, 'let me rest under your roof; and deliver me not up
+to those who thirst after my blood. Take this gold; take all, all!'
+
+"Surprise held me speechless; the purse fell to the ground; the youth
+stared wildly on every side: I heard many voices beyond the rocks; the
+wind bore them distinctly, but presently they died away. I took courage,
+and assured the youth my cot should shelter him. 'Oh! thank you, thank
+you!' answered he, and pressed my hand. He shared my scanty provision.
+
+"Overcome with toil (for I had worked hard in the day) sleep closed my
+eyes for a short interval. When I awoke the moon was set, but I heard my
+unhappy guest sobbing in darkness. I disturbed him not. Morning dawned,
+and he was fallen into a slumber. The tears bubbled out of his closed
+eyelids, and coursed one another down his wan cheeks. I had been too
+wretched myself not to respect the sorrows of another: neglecting
+therefore my accustomed occupations, I drove away the flies that buzzed
+around his temples. His breast heaved high with sighs, and he cried
+loudly in his sleep for mercy.
+
+"The beams of the sun dispelling his dream, he started up like one that
+had heard the voice of an avenging angel, and hid his face with his
+hands. I poured some milk down his parched throat. 'Oh, mother!' he
+exclaimed, 'I am a wretch unworthy of compassion; the cause of
+innumerable sufferings; a murderer! a parricide!' My blood curdled to
+hear a stripling utter such dreadful words, and behold such agonising
+sighs swell in so young a bosom; for I marked the sting of conscience
+urging him to disclose what I am going to relate.
+
+"It seems he was of high extraction, nursed in the pomps and luxuries of
+Naples, the pride and darling of his parents, adorned with a thousand
+lively talents, which the keenest sensibility conspired to improve.
+Unable to fix any bounds to whatever became the object of his desires,
+he passed his first years in roving from one extravagance to another,
+but as yet there was no crime in his caprices.
+
+"At length it pleased Heaven to visit his family, and make their idol
+the slave of an unbridled passion. He had a friend, who from his birth
+had been devoted to his interest, and placed all his confidence in him.
+This friend loved to distraction a young creature, the most graceful of
+her sex (as I can witness), and she returned his affection. In the
+exultation of his heart he showed her to the wretch whose tale I am
+about to tell. He sickened at her sight. She too caught fire at his
+glances. They languished--they consumed away--they conversed, and his
+persuasive language finished what his guilty glances had begun.
+
+"Their flame was soon discovered, for he disdained to conceal a thought,
+however dishonourable. The parents warned the youth in the tenderest
+manner; but advice and prudent counsels were to him so loathsome, that
+unable to contain his rage, and infatuated with love, he menaced the
+life of his friend as the obstacle of his enjoyment. Coolness and
+moderation were opposed to violence and frenzy, and he found himself
+treated with a contemptuous gentleness. Stricken to the heart, he
+wandered about for some time like one entranced. Meanwhile the nuptials
+were preparing, and the lovely girl he had perverted found ways to let
+him know she was about to be torn from his embraces.
+
+"He raved like a demoniac, and rousing his dire spirit, applied to a
+malignant wretch who sold the most inveterate poisons. These he infused
+into a cup of pure iced water and presented to his friend, and to his
+own too fond confiding father, who soon after they had drunk the fatal
+potion began evidently to pine away. He marked the progress of their
+dissolution with a horrid firmness, he let the moment pass beyond which
+all antidotes were vain. His friend expired; and the young criminal,
+though he beheld the dews of death hang on his parent's forehead, yet
+stretched not forth his hand. In a short space the miserable father
+breathed his last, whilst his son was sitting aloof in the same chamber.
+
+"The sight overcame him. He felt, for the first time, the pangs of
+remorse. His agitations passed not unnoticed. He was watched: suspicions
+beginning to unfold he took alarm, and one evening escaped; but not
+without previously informing the partner of his crimes which way he
+intended to flee. Several pursued; but the inscrutable will of
+Providence blinded their search, and I was doomed to behold the effects
+of celestial vengeance.
+
+"Such are the chief circumstances of the tale I gathered from the youth.
+I swooned whilst he related it, and could take no sustenance. One whole
+day afterwards did I pray the Lord, that I might die rather than be near
+an incarnate demon. With what indignation did I now survey that slender
+form and those flowing tresses, which had interested me before so much
+in his behalf!
+
+"No sooner did he perceive the change in my countenance, than sullenly
+retiring to yonder rock he sat careless of the sun and scorching winds;
+for it was now the summer solstice. He was equally heedless of the
+unwholesome dews. When midnight came my horrors were augmented; and I
+meditated several times to abandon my hovel and fly to the next village;
+but a power more than human chained me to the spot and fortified my
+mind.
+
+"I slept, and it was late next morning when some one called at the
+wicket of the little fold, where my goats are penned. I arose, and saw a
+peasant of my acquaintance leading a female strangely muffled up, and
+casting her eyes on the ground. My heart misgave me. I thought this was
+the very maid who had been the cause of such atrocious wickedness. Nor
+were my conjectures ill-founded. Regardless of the clown who stood by in
+stupid astonishment, she fell to the earth and bathed my hand with
+tears. Her trembling lips with difficulty enquired after the youth; and,
+as she spoke, a glow of conscious guilt lightened up her pale
+countenance.
+
+"The full recollection of her lover's crimes shot through my memory. I
+was incensed, and would have spurned her away; but, she clung to my
+garments and seemed to implore my pity with a look so full of misery,
+that, relenting, I led her in silence to the extremity of the cliff
+where the youth was seated, his feet dangling above the sea. His eye was
+rolling wildly around, but it soon fixed upon the object for whose sake
+he had doomed himself to perdition.
+
+"Far be it from me to describe their ecstasies, or the eagerness with
+which they sought each other's embraces. I indignantly turned my head
+away; and, driving my goats to a recess amongst the rocks, sat revolving
+in my mind these strange events. I neglected procuring any provision for
+my unwelcome guests; and about midnight returned homewards by the light
+of the moon which shone serenely in the heavens. Almost the first object
+her beams discovered was the guilty maid sustaining the head of her
+lover, who had fainted through weakness and want of nourishment. I
+fetched some dry bread, and dipping it in milk laid it before them.
+Having performed this duty I set open the door of my hut, and retiring
+to a neighbouring cavity, there stretched myself on a heap of leaves and
+offered my prayers to Heaven.
+
+"A thousand fears, till this moment unknown, thronged into my fancy. The
+shadow of leaves that chequered the entrance to the grot, seemed to
+assume in my distempered imagination the form of ugly reptiles, and I
+repeatedly shook my garments. The flow of the distant surges was
+deepened by my apprehensions into distant groans: in a word, I could not
+rest; but issuing from the cavern as hastily as my trembling knees would
+allow, paced along the edge of the precipice. An unaccountable impulse
+would have hurried my steps, yet such was my terror and shivering, that
+unable to advance to my hut or retreat to the cavern, I was about to
+shield myself from the night in a sandy crevice, when a loud shriek
+pierced my ear. My fears had confused me; I was in fact near my hovel
+and scarcely three paces from the brink of the cavern: it was thence the
+cries proceeded.
+
+"Advancing in a cold shudder to its edge, part of which was newly
+crumbled in, I discovered the form of the young man suspended by one
+foot to a branch of juniper that grew several feet down: thus dreadfully
+did he hang over the gulph from the branch bending with his weight. His
+features were distorted, his eye-balls glared with agony, and his
+screams became so shrill and terrible that I lost all power of affording
+assistance. Fixed, I stood with my eyes riveted upon the criminal, who
+incessantly cried out, 'O God! O Father! save me if there be yet mercy!
+save me, or I sink into the abyss!'
+
+"I am convinced he did not see me; for not once did he implore my help.
+His voice grew faint, and as I gazed intent upon him, the loose thong of
+leather, which had entangled itself in the branches by which he hung
+suspended, gave way, and he fell into utter darkness. I sank to the
+earth in a trance; during which a sound like the rush of pennons
+assaulted my ear: methought the evil spirit was bearing off his soul;
+but when I lifted up my eyes nothing stirred; the stillness that
+prevailed was awful.
+
+"The moon hanging low over the waves afforded a sickly light, by which I
+perceived some one coming down that white cliff you see before you; and
+I soon heard the voice of the young woman calling aloud on her guilty
+lover. She stopped. She repeated again and again her exclamation; but
+there was no reply. Alarmed and frantic she hurried along the path, and
+now I saw her on the promontory, and now by yonder pine, devouring with
+her glances every crevice in the rock. At length perceiving me, she flew
+to where I stood, by the fatal precipice, and having noticed the
+fragments fresh crumbled in, pored importunately on my countenance. I
+continued pointing to the chasm; she trembled not; her tears could not
+flow; but she divined the meaning. 'He is lost!' said she; 'the earth
+has swallowed him! but, as I have shared with him the highest joy, so
+will I partake his torments. I will follow: dare not to hinder me.'
+
+"Like the phantoms I have seen in dreams, she glanced beside me; and,
+clasping her hands above her head, lifted a steadfast look on the
+hemisphere, and viewed the moon with an anxiousness that told me she
+was bidding it farewell for ever. Observing a silken handkerchief on the
+ground, with which she had but an hour ago bound her lover's temples,
+she snatched it up, and imprinting it with burning kisses, thrust it
+into her bosom. Once more, expanding her arms in the last act of despair
+and miserable passion, she threw herself, with a furious leap, into the
+gulph.
+
+"To its margin I crawled on my knees, and there did I remain in the most
+dreadful darkness; for now the moon was sunk, the sky obscured with
+storms, and a tempestuous blast ranging the ocean. Showers poured thick
+upon me, and the lightning, in clear and frequent flashes, gave me
+terrifying glimpses of yonder accursed chasm.
+
+"Stranger, dost thou believe in our Redeemer? in his most holy mother?
+in the tenets of our faith?" I answered with reverence, but said her
+faith and mine were different. "Then," continued the aged woman, "I will
+not declare before a heretic what were the visions of that night of
+vengeance!" She paused; I was silent.
+
+After a short interval, with deep and frequent sighs, she resumed her
+narrative. "Daylight began to dawn as if with difficulty, and it was
+late before its radiance had tinged the watery and tempestuous clouds. I
+was still kneeling by the gulph in prayer when the cliffs began to
+brighten, and the beams of the morning sun to strike against me. Then
+did I rejoice. Then no longer did I think myself of all human beings the
+most abject and miserable. How different did I feel myself from those,
+fresh plunged into the abodes of torment, and driven for ever from the
+morning!
+
+"Three days elapsed in total solitude: on the fourth, some grave and
+ancient persons arrived from Naples, who questioned me, repeatedly,
+about the wretched lovers, and to whom I related their fate with every
+dreadful particular. Soon after I learned that all discourse concerning
+them was expressly stopped, and that no prayers were offered up for
+their souls."
+
+With these words, as well as I recollect, the old woman ended her
+singular narration. My blood thrilled as I walked by the gulph to call
+my guide, who stood aloof under the cliffs. He seemed to think, from the
+paleness of my countenance, that I had heard some gloomy prediction,
+and shook his head, when I turned round to bid my old hostess adieu! It
+was a melancholy evening, and I could not refrain from tears, whilst,
+winding through the defiles of the rocks, the sad scenes which had
+passed amongst them recurred to my memory.
+
+Traversing a wild thicket, we soon regained the shore, where I rambled a
+few minutes whilst the peasant went for the boatmen. The last streaks of
+light were quivering on the waters when I stepped into the bark, and
+wrapping myself up in an awning, slept till we reached Puzzoli, some of
+whose inhabitants came forth with torches to light us home.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXIV.
+
+     The Tyrol Mountains.--Intense cold.--Delight on beholding human
+     habitations.
+
+
+Augsburg, 20th January, 1781.
+
+For these ten days past have I been traversing Lapland: winds whistling
+in my ears, and cones showering down upon my head from the wilds of pine
+through which our route conducted us. We were often obliged to travel by
+moonlight, and I leave you to imagine the awful aspect of the Tyrol
+mountains buried in snow.
+
+I scarcely ventured to utter an exclamation of surprise, though prompted
+by some of the most striking scenes in nature, lest I should interrupt
+the sacred silence that prevails, during winter, in these boundless
+solitudes. The streams are frozen, and mankind petrified, for aught I
+know to the contrary, since whole days have we journeyed on without
+perceiving the slightest hint of their existence.
+
+I never before felt so much pleasure by discovering a smoke rising from
+a cottage, or hearing a heifer lowing in its stall; and could not have
+supposed there was so much satisfaction in perceiving two or three fur
+caps, with faces under them, peeping out of their concealments. I wish
+you had been with me, exploring this savage region: wrapped up in our
+bear-skins, we should have followed its secret avenues, and penetrated,
+perhaps, into some enchanted cave lined with sables, where, like the
+heroes of northern romances, we should have been waited upon by dwarfs,
+and sung drowsily to repose. I think it no bad scheme to sleep away five
+or six years to come, since every hour affairs are growing more and more
+turbulent. Well, let them! provided we may enjoy, in security, the
+shades of our thickets.
+
+
+
+
+SECOND VISIT TO ITALY.
+
+
+
+
+The following letters, written during a second excursion, are added, on
+account of their affinity to some of the preceding.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+     First day of Summer.--A dismal Plain.--Gloomy entrance to
+     Cologne.--Labyrinth of hideous edifices.--Hotel of Der Heilige
+     Geist.
+
+
+Cologne, 28th May, 1782.
+
+This is the first day of summer; the oak leaves expand, the roses blow,
+butterflies are on the wing, and I have spirits enough to write to you.
+We have had clouded skies this fortnight past, and roads like the slough
+of Despond. Last Wednesday we were benighted on a dismal plain,
+apparently boundless. The moon cast a sickly gleam, and now and then a
+blue meteor glided along the morass which lay before us.
+
+After much difficulty we gained an avenue, and in an hour's time
+discovered something like a gateway, shaded by crooked elms and crowned
+by a cluster of turrets. Here we paused and knocked; no one answered.
+We repeated our knocks; the gate returned a hollow sound; the horses
+coughed, their riders blew their horns. At length the bars fell, and we
+entered--by what means I am ignorant, for no human being appeared.
+
+A labyrinth of narrow winding streets, dark as the vaults of a
+cathedral, opened to our view. We kept wandering along, at least twenty
+minutes, between lofty mansions with grated windows and strange
+galleries projecting one over another, from which depended innumerable
+uncouth figures and crosses, in iron-work, swinging to and fro with the
+wind. At the end of this gloomy maze we found a long street, not fifteen
+feet wide, I am certain; the houses still loftier than those just
+mentioned, the windows thicker barred, and the gibbets (for I know not
+what else to call them) more frequent. Here and there we saw lights
+glimmering in the highest stories, and arches on the right and left,
+which seemed to lead into retired courts and deeper darkness.
+
+Along one of these recesses we were jumbled, over such pavement as I
+hope you may never tread upon; and, after parading round it, went out
+at the same arch through which we had entered. This procession seemed at
+first very mystical, but it was too soon accounted for by our
+postilions, who confessed they had lost their way. A council was held
+amongst them in form, and then we struck into another labyrinth of
+hideous edifices, habitations I will not venture to call them, as not a
+creature stirred; though the rumbling of our carriages was echoed by all
+the vaults and arches.
+
+Towards midnight we rested a few minutes, and a head poking out of a
+casement directed us to the hotel of Der Heilige Geist, where an
+apartment, thirty feet square, was prepared for our reception.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+     Enter the Tyrol.--Picturesque scenery.--Village of
+     Nasseriet.--World of boughs.--Forest huts.--Floral abundance.
+
+
+Inspruck, June 4, 1782.
+
+No sooner had we passed Fuessen than we entered the Tyrol, a country of
+picturesque wonders. Those lofty peaks, those steeps of wood I delight
+in, lay before us. Innumerable clear springs gushed out on every side,
+overhung by luxuriant shrubs in blossom. The day was mild, though
+overcast, and a soft blue vapour rested upon the hills, above which rise
+mountains that bear plains of snow into the clouds.
+
+At night we lay at Nasseriet, a village buried amongst savage
+promontories. The next morning we advanced, in bright sunshine, into
+smooth lawns on the slopes of mountains, scattered over with larches,
+whose delicate foliage formed a light green veil to the azure sky.
+Flights of birds were merrily travelling from spray to spray. I ran
+delighted into this world of boughs, whilst Cozens sat down to draw the
+huts which are scattered about for the shelter of herds, and discover
+themselves amongst the groves in the most picturesque manner.
+
+These little edifices are uncommonly neat, and excite those ideas of
+pastoral life to which I am so fondly attached. The turf from whence
+they rise is enamelled, in the strict sense of the word, with flowers.
+Gentians predominated, brighter than ultramarine; here and there
+auriculas looked out of the moss, and I often reposed upon tufts of
+ranunculus. Bushes of phillyrea were very frequent, the sun shining full
+on their glossy leaves. An hour passed away swiftly in these pleasant
+groves, where I lay supine under a lofty fir, a tower of leaves and
+branches.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+     Rapidity of our drive along the causeways of the Brenta.--Shore of
+     Fusina.--A stormy sky.--Draw near to Venice.--Its deserted
+     appearance.--Visit to Madame de R.--Cesarotti.
+
+
+Padua, June 14th, 1782.
+
+Once more, said I to myself, I shall have the delight of beholding
+Venice; so got into an open chaise, the strangest curricle that ever man
+was jolted in, and drove furiously along the causeways by the Brenta,
+into whose deep waters it is a mercy, methinks, I was not precipitated.
+Fiesso, the Dolo, the Mira, with all their gardens, statues, and
+palaces, seemed flying after each other, so rapid was our motion.
+
+After a few hours' confinement between close steeps, the scene opened to
+the wide shore of Fusina. I looked up (for I had scarcely time to look
+before) and beheld a troubled sky, shot with vivid red, the Lagunes
+tinted like the opal, and the islands of a glowing flame-colour. The
+mountains of the distant continent appeared of a deep melancholy grey,
+and innumerable gondolas were passing to and fro in all their blackness.
+The sun, after a long struggle, was swallowed up in the tempestuous
+clouds.
+
+In an hour we drew near to Venice, and saw its world of domes rising out
+of the waters. A fresh breeze bore the toll of innumerable bells to my
+ear. Sadness came over me as I entered the great canal, and recognised
+those solemn palaces, with their lofty arcades and gloomy arches,
+beneath which I had so often sat, the scene of many a strange adventure.
+
+The Venetians being mostly at their villas on the Brenta, the town
+appeared deserted. I visited, however, all my old haunts in the Place of
+St. Mark, ran up the Campanile, and rowed backwards and forwards,
+opposite the Ducal Palace, by moon-light. They are building a spacious
+quay, near the street of the Sclavonians, fronting the island of San
+Giorgio Maggiore, where I remained alone at least an hour, following the
+wanderings of the moon amongst mountainous clouds, and listening to the
+waters dashing against marble steps.
+
+I closed my evening at my friend Madame de Rosenberg's, where I met
+Cesarotti, who read to us some of the most affecting passages in his
+Fingal, with all the intensity of a poet, thoroughly persuaded that into
+his own bosom the very soul of Ossian had been transfused.
+
+Next morning the wind was uncommonly violent for the mild season of
+June, and the canals much ruffled; but I was determined to visit the
+Lido once more, and bathe on my accustomed beach. The pines in the
+garden of the Carthusians were nodding as I passed by in my gondola,
+which was very poetically buffeted by the waves.
+
+Traversing the desert of locusts,[11] I hailed the Adriatic, and plunged
+into its agitated waters. The sea, delightfully cool, refreshed me to
+such a degree, that, upon my return to Venice, I found myself able to
+thread its labyrinths of streets, canals, and alleys, in search of amber
+and oriental curiosities. The variety of exotic merchandise, the perfume
+of coffee, the shade of awnings, and the sight of Greeks and Asiatics
+sitting cross-legged under them, made me think myself in the bazaars of
+Constantinople.
+
+It is certain my beloved town of Venice ever recalls a series of eastern
+ideas and adventures. I cannot help thinking St. Mark's a mosque, and
+the neighbouring palace some vast seraglio, full of arabesque saloons,
+embroidered sofas, and voluptuous Circassians.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+     Excursion to Mirabello.--Beauty of the road thither.--Madame de
+     R.'s wild-looking niece.--A comfortable Monk's nest.
+
+
+Padua, June 19th, 1782.
+
+The morning was delightful, and St. Anthony's bells in full chime. A
+shower which had fallen in the night rendered the air so cool and
+grateful, that Madame de R. and myself determined to seize the
+opportunity and go to Mirabello, a country house, which Algarotti had
+inhabited, situate amongst the Euganean hills, eight or nine miles from
+Padua.
+
+Our road lay between poplar alleys and fields of yellow corn, overhung
+by garlands of vine, most beautifully green. I soon found myself in the
+midst of my favourite hills, upon slopes covered with clover, and shaded
+by cherry-trees. Bending down their boughs I gathered the fruit, and
+grew cooler and happier every instant.
+
+We dined very comfortably in a strange hall, where my friend's little
+wild-looking niece pitched her pianoforte, and sang the voluptuous airs
+of Bertoni's Armida. That enchantress might have raised her palace in
+this situation; and, had I been Rinaldo, I certainly should not very
+soon have abandoned it.
+
+After dinner we drank coffee under some branching lemons, which sprang
+from a terrace, commanding a boundless scene of towers and villas; tall
+cypresses and shrubby hillocks rising, like islands, out of a sea of
+corn and vine.
+
+Evening drawing on, and the breeze blowing fresh from the distant
+Adriatic, I reclined on a slope, and turned my eyes anxiously towards
+Venice; then upon some little fields hemmed in by chesnuts, where the
+peasants were making their hay, and, from thence, to a mountain, crowned
+by a circular grove of fir and cypress.
+
+In the centre of these shades some monks have a comfortable nest;
+perennial springs, a garden of delicious vegetables, and, I dare say, a
+thousand luxuries besides, which the poor mortals below never dream of.
+
+Had it not been late, I should certainly have climbed up to the grove,
+and asked admittance into its recesses; but having no mind to pass the
+night in this eyrie, I contented myself with the distant prospect.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+     Rome.--Stroll to the Coliseo and the Palatine Mount.--A grand
+     Rinfresco.--The Egyptian Lionesses.--Illuminations.
+
+
+Rome, 29th June 1782.
+
+It is needless for me to say I wish you with me: you know I do; you know
+how delightfully we should ramble about Rome together. This evening,
+instead of parading the Corso with the puppets in blue and silver coats,
+and green and gold coaches, instead of bowing to Cardinal this, and
+dotting my head to Abb� t'other, I strolled to the Coliseo and scrambled
+amongst its arches. Then bending my course to the Palatine Mount, I
+passed under the Arch of Titus, and gained the Capitol, which was quite
+deserted, the world, thank Heaven, being all slip-slopping in
+coffee-houses, or staring at a few painted boards, patched up before the
+Colonna palace, where, by the by, to-night is a grand _rinfresco_ for
+all the dolls and doll-fanciers of Rome. I heard their buzz at a
+distance; that was enough for me!
+
+Soothed by the rippling of waters, I descended the Capitoline stairs,
+and leaned several minutes against one of the Egyptian lionesses. This
+animal has no knack at oracles, or else it would have murmured out to me
+the situation of that secret cave, where the wolf suckled Romulus and
+his brother.
+
+About nine, I returned home, and am now writing to you like a prophet on
+the housetop. Behind me rustle the thickets of the Villa Medici; before,
+lies roof beyond roof, and dome beyond dome: these are dimly discovered;
+but do not you see the great cupola of cupolas, twinkling with
+illuminations? The town is real, I am certain; but, surely, that
+structure of fire must be visionary.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+     The Negroni Garden.--Its solitary and antique appearance.--Stately
+     Porticos of the Lateran.--Dreary Scene.
+
+
+Rome, 30th June 1782.
+
+As soon as the sun declined I strolled into the Villa Medici; but
+finding it haunted by pompous people, nay, even by the Spanish
+Ambassador, and several red-legged Cardinals, I moved off to the Negroni
+garden. There I found what my soul desired, thickets of jasmine, and
+wild spots overgrown with bay; long alleys of cypress totally neglected,
+and almost impassable through the luxuriance of the vegetation; on every
+side antique fragments, vases, sarcophagi, and altars sacred to the
+Manes, in deep, shady recesses, which I am certain the Manes must love.
+The air was filled with the murmurs of water, trickling down basins of
+porphyry, and losing itself amongst overgrown weeds and grasses.
+
+Above the wood and between its boughs appeared several domes, and a
+strange lofty tower. I will not say they belong to St. Maria Maggiore;
+no, they are fanes and porticos dedicated to Cybele, who delights in
+sylvan situations. The forlorn air of this garden, with its high and
+reverend shades, make me imagine it as old as the baths of Dioclesian,
+which peep over one of its walls.
+
+At the close of day, I repaired to the platform before the stately
+porticos of the Lateran. There I sat, folded up in myself. Some priests
+jarred the iron gates behind me. I looked over my shoulder through the
+portals, into the portico. Night began to fill it with darkness. Upon
+turning round, the melancholy waste of the Campagna met my eyes, and I
+wished to go home, but had scarcely the power. A pressure, like that I
+have felt in horrid dreams, seemed to fix me to the pavement.
+
+I was thus in a manner forced to dwell upon the dreary scene, the long
+line of aqueducts and lonesome towers. Perhaps the unwholesome vapours,
+rising like blue mists from the plains, had affected me. I know not how
+it was; but I never experienced such strange, such chilling terrors.
+About ten o'clock, thank God, the spell dissolved, I found my limbs at
+liberty, and returned home.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+     Naples.--Portici.--The King's Pagliaro and Garden.--Description of
+     that pleasant spot.
+
+
+Naples, July 8th, 1782.
+
+The sea-breezes restore me to life. I set the heat of mid-day at
+defiance, and do not believe in the horrors of the sirocco. I passed
+yesterday at Portici, with Lady H. The morning, refreshing and pleasant,
+invited us at an early hour into the open air. We drove, in an uncovered
+chaise, to the royal Bosquetto: no other unroyal carriage except Sir
+W.'s being allowed to enter its alleys, we breathed a fresh air,
+untainted by dust or garlick. Every now and then, amidst wild bushes of
+ilex and myrtle, one finds a graceful antique statue, sometimes a
+fountain, and often a rude knoll, where the rabbits sit undisturbed,
+contemplating the blue glittering bay.
+
+The walls of this shady inclosure are lined with Peruvian aloes, whose
+white blossoms, scented like those of the magnolia, form the most
+magnificent clusters. They are plants to salute respectfully as one
+passes by; such is their size and dignity. In the midst of the thickets
+stands the King's Pagliaro, in a small garden, with hedges of luxuriant
+jasmine, whose branches are suffered to flaunt as much as nature
+pleases.
+
+The morning sun darted his first rays on their flowers just as I entered
+this pleasant spot. The hut looks as if erected in the days of fairy
+pastoral life; its neatness is quite delightful. Bright tiles compose
+the floor; straw, nicely platted, covers the walls. In the middle of the
+room you see a table spread with a beautiful Persian carpet; at one end,
+four niches with mattresses of silk, where the King and his favourites
+repose after dinner; at the other, a white marble basin. Mount a little
+staircase, and you find yourself in another apartment, formed by the
+roof, which being entirely composed of glistening straw, casts that
+comfortable yellow glow I admire. From the windows you look into the
+garden, not flourished over with parterres, but divided into plats of
+fragrant herbs and flowers, with here and there a little marble table,
+or basin of the purest water.
+
+These sequestered inclosures are cultivated with the greatest care, and
+so frequently watered, that I observed lettuces, and a variety of other
+vegetables, as fresh as in our green England.
+
+
+
+
+GRANDE CHARTREUSE.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+     Determination to visit the Grande Chartreuse.--Reach the Village of
+     Les Echelles.--Gloomy region.--The Torrent.--Entrance of the
+     Desert.--Portal of the consecrated Enclosure.--Dark Woods and
+     Caverns.--Crosses.--Inscriptions.
+
+
+Gray's sublime Ode on the Grande Chartreuse had sunk so deeply into my
+spirit that I could not rest in peace on the banks of the Leman Lake
+till I had visited the scene from whence he caught inspiration. I longed
+to penetrate these sacred precincts, to hear the language of their
+falling waters, and throw myself into the gloom of their forests: no
+object of a worldly nature did I allow to divert my thoughts, neither
+the baths of Aix, nor the habitation of the too indulgent Madame de
+Warens (held so holy by Rousseau's worshippers), nor the magnificent
+road cut by Charles Emanuel of Savoy through the heart of a rocky
+mountain. All these points of attraction, so interesting to general
+travellers, were lost upon me, so totally was I absorbed in the
+anticipation of the pilgrimage I had undertaken.
+
+Mr. Lettice, who shared all my sentiments of admiration for Gray, and
+eagerness to explore the region he had described in his short and
+masterly letters with such energy, felt the same indifference as myself
+to commonplace scenery.
+
+The twilight was beginning to prevail when we reached Les Echelles, a
+miserable village, with but few of its chimneys smoking, situated at the
+base of a mountain, round which had gathered a concourse of red and
+greyish clouds. I was heartily glad to leave these forlorn and wretched
+quarters at the first dawn of the next day. We were now obliged to
+abandon our coach; and taking horse, proceeded towards the mountains,
+which, with the valleys between them, form what is called the Desert of
+the Carthusians.
+
+In an hour's time we were drawing near, and could discern the opening of
+a narrow valley overhung by shaggy precipices, above which rose lofty
+peaks, covered to their very summits with wood. We could now distinguish
+the roar of torrents, and a confusion of strange sounds, issuing from
+dark forests of pine. I confess at this moment I was somewhat startled.
+I experienced some disagreeable sensations, and it was not without a
+degree of unwillingness that I left the gay pastures and enlivening
+sunshine, to throw myself into this gloomy and disturbed region. How
+dreadful, thought I, must be the despair of those, who enter it, never
+to return!
+
+But after the first impression was worn away all my curiosity redoubled;
+and desiring our guide to put forward with greater speed, we made such
+good haste, that the meadows and cottages of the plain were soon left
+far behind, and we found ourselves on the banks of the torrent, whose
+agitation answered the ideas which its sounds had inspired. Into the
+midst of these troubled waters we were obliged to plunge with our
+horses, and, when landed on the opposite shore, were by no means
+displeased to have passed them.
+
+We had now closed with the forests, over which the impending rocks
+diffused an additional gloom. The day grew obscured by clouds, and the
+sun no longer enlightened the distant plains, when we began to ascend
+towards the entrance of the desert, marked by two pinnacles of rock far
+above us, beyond which a melancholy twilight prevailed. Every moment we
+approached nearer and nearer to the sounds which had alarmed us; and,
+suddenly emerging from the woods, we discovered several mills and
+forges, with many complicated machines of iron, hanging over the
+torrent, that threw itself headlong from a cleft in the precipices; on
+one side of which I perceived our road winding along, till it was
+stopped by a venerable gateway. A rock above one of the forges was
+hollowed into the shape of a round tower, of no great size, but
+resembling very much an altar in figure; and, what added greatly to the
+grandeur of the object, was a livid flame continually palpitating upon
+it, which the gloom of the valley rendered perfectly discernible.
+
+The road, at a small distance from this remarkable scene, was become so
+narrow, that, had my horse started, I should have been but too well
+acquainted with the torrent that raged beneath; dismounting, therefore,
+I walked towards the edge of the great fell, and there, leaning on a
+fragment of cliff, looked down into the foaming gulph, where the waters
+were hurled along over broken pines, pointed rocks, and stakes of iron.
+Then, lifting up my eyes, I took in the vast extent of the forests,
+frowning on the brows of the mountains.
+
+It was here first I felt myself seized by the genius of the place, and
+penetrated with veneration of its religious gloom; and, I believe,
+uttered many extravagant exclamations; but, such was the dashing of the
+wheels, and the rushing of the waters at the bottom of the forges, that
+what I said was luckily undistinguishable.
+
+I was not yet, however, within the consecrated enclosure, and therefore
+not perfectly contented; so, leaving my fragment, I paced in silence up
+the path, which led to the great portal. When we arrived before it, I
+rested a moment, and looking against the stout oaken gate, which closed
+up the entrance to this unknown region, felt at my heart a certain awe,
+that brought to my mind the sacred terror of those, in ancient days
+going to be admitted into the Eleusinian mysteries.
+
+My guide gave two knocks; after a solemn pause, the gate was slowly
+opened, and all our horses having passed through it, was again carefully
+closed.
+
+I now found myself in a narrow dell, surrounded on every side by peaks
+of the mountains, rising almost beyond my sight, and shelving downwards
+till their bases were hidden by the foam and spray of the water, over
+which hung a thousand withered and distorted trees. The rocks seemed
+crowding upon me, and, by their particular situation, threatened to
+obstruct every ray of light; but, notwithstanding the menacing
+appearance of the prospect, I still kept following my guide, up a craggy
+ascent, partly hewn through a rock, and bordered by the trunks of
+ancient fir-trees, which formed a fantastic barrier, till we came to a
+dreary and exposed promontory, impending directly over the dell.
+
+The woods are here clouded with darkness, and the torrents rushing with
+additional violence are lost in the gloom of the caverns below; every
+object, as I looked downwards from my path, that hung midway between the
+base and the summit of the cliff, was horrid and woeful. The channel of
+the torrent sunk deep amidst frightful crags, and the pale willows and
+wreathed roots spreading over it, answered my ideas of those dismal
+abodes, where, according to the druidical mythology, the ghosts of
+conquered warriors were bound. I shivered whilst I was regarding these
+regions of desolation, and, quickly lifting up my eyes to vary the
+scene, I perceived a range of whitish cliffs glistening with the light
+of the sun, to emerge from these melancholy forests.
+
+On a fragment that projected over the chasm, and concealed for a moment
+its terrors, I saw a cross, on which was written VIA COELI. The cliffs
+being the heaven to which I now aspired, we deserted the edge of the
+precipice, and ascending, came to a retired nook of the rocks, in which
+several copious rills had worn irregular grottoes. Here we reposed an
+instant, and were enlivened with a few sunbeams, piercing the thickets
+and gilding the waters that bubbled from the rock, over which hung
+another cross, inscribed with this short sentence, which the situation
+rendered wonderfully pathetic, O SPES UNICA! the fervent exclamation of
+some wretch disgusted with the world whose only consolation was found in
+this retirement.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+     Thick forest of beech trees.--Fearful glimpses of the
+     torrent.--Throne of Moses.--Lofty bridge.--Distant view of the
+     Convent.--Profound calm.--Enter the convent gate.--Arched
+     aisle.--Welcomed by the father Coadjutor.--The Secretary and
+     Procurator.--Conversation with them.--A walk amongst the cloisters
+     and galleries.--Pictures of different Convents of the order.--Grand
+     Hall adorned with historical paintings of St. Bruno's life.
+
+
+We quitted this solitary cross to enter a thick forest of beech trees,
+that screened in some measure the precipices on which they grew,
+catching however every instant terrifying glimpses of the torrent below.
+Streams gushed from every crevice in the cliffs, and falling over the
+mossy roots and branches of the beech, hastened to join the great
+torrent, athwart which I every now and then remarked certain tottering
+bridges, and sometimes could distinguish a Carthusian crossing over to
+his hermitage, that just peeped above the woody labyrinths on the
+opposite shore.
+
+Whilst I was proceeding amongst the innumerable trunks of the beech
+trees, my guide pointed out to me a peak, rising above the others, which
+he called the Throne of Moses. If that prophet had received his
+revelations in this desert, no voice need have declared it holy ground,
+for every part of it is stamped with such a sublimity of character as
+would alone be sufficient to impress the idea.
+
+Having left these woods behind, and crossing a bridge of many lofty
+arches, I shuddered once more at the impetuosity of the torrent; and,
+mounting still higher, came at length to a kind of platform before two
+cliffs, joined by an arch of rock, under which we were to pursue our
+road. Below we beheld again innumerable streams, turbulently
+precipitating themselves from the woods and lashing the base of the
+mountains, mossed over with a dark sea green.
+
+In this deep hollow such mists and vapours prevailed as hindered my
+prying into its recesses; besides, such was the dampness of the air,
+that I hastened gladly from its neighbourhood, and passing under the
+second portal beheld with pleasure the sunbeams gilding the throne of
+Moses.
+
+It was now about ten o'clock, and my guide assured me I should soon
+discover the convent. Upon this information I took new courage, and
+continued my route on the edge of the rocks, till we struck into another
+gloomy grove. After turning about it for some time, we entered again
+into the glare of daylight, and saw a green valley skirted by ridges of
+cliffs and sweeps of wood before us. Towards the farther end of this
+inclosure, on a gentle acclivity, rose the revered turrets of the
+Carthusians, which extend in a long line on the brow of the hill; beyond
+them a woody amphitheatre majestically presents itself, terminated by
+spires of rock and promontories lost amongst the clouds.
+
+The roar of the torrent was now but faintly distinguishable, and all the
+scenes of horror and confusion I had passed were succeeded by a sacred
+and profound calm. I traversed the valley with a thousand sensations I
+despair of describing, and stood before the gate of the convent with as
+much awe as some novice or candidate newly arrived to solicit the holy
+retirement of the order.
+
+As admittance is more readily granted to the English than to almost any
+other nation, it was not long before the gates opened, and whilst the
+porter ordered our horses to the stable, we entered a court watered by
+two fountains and built round with lofty edifices, characterized by a
+noble simplicity.
+
+The interior portal opening discovered an arched aisle, extending till
+the perspective nearly met, along which windows, but scantily
+distributed between the pilasters, admitted a pale solemn light, just
+sufficient to distinguish the objects with a picturesque uncertainty. We
+had scarcely set our feet on the pavement when the monks began to issue
+from an arch, about half way down, and passing in a long succession from
+their chapel, bowed reverently with much humility and meekness, and
+dispersed in silence, leaving one of their body alone in the aisle.
+
+The father Coadjutor (for he only remained) advanced towards us with
+great courtesy, and welcomed us in a manner which gave me far more
+pleasure than all the frivolous salutations and affected greetings so
+common in the world beneath. After asking us a few indifferent
+questions, he called one of the lay brothers, who live in the convent
+under less severe restrictions than the fathers, whom they serve, and
+ordering him to prepare our apartment, conducted us to a large square
+hall with casement windows, and, what was more comfortable, an enormous
+chimney, whose hospitable hearth blazed with a fire of dry aromatic fir,
+on each side of which were two doors that communicated with the neat
+little cells destined for our bed-chambers.
+
+Whilst he was placing us round the fire, a ceremony by no means
+unimportant in the cold climate of these upper regions, a bell rang
+which summoned him to prayers. After charging the lay brother to set
+before us the best fare their desert afforded, he retired, and left us
+at full liberty to examine our chambers.
+
+The weather lowered, and the casements permitted very little light to
+enter the apartment: but on the other side it was amply enlivened by the
+gleams of the fire, that spread all over a certain comfortable air,
+which even sunshine but rarely diffuses. Whilst the showers descended
+with great violence, the lay brother and another of his companions were
+placing an oval table, very neatly carved and covered with the finest
+linen, in the middle of the hall; and, before we had examined a number
+of portraits which were hung in all the panels of the wainscot, they
+called us to a dinner widely different from what might have been
+expected in so dreary a situation. Our attendant friar was helping us to
+some Burgundy, of the happiest growth and vintage, when the coadjutor
+returned, accompanied by two other fathers, the secretary and
+procurator, whom he presented to us. You would have been both charmed
+and surprised with the cheerful resignation that appeared in their
+countenances, and with the easy turn of their conversation.
+
+The coadjutor, though equally kind, was as yet more reserved: his
+countenance, however, spoke for him without the aid of words, and there
+was in his manner a mixture of dignity and humility, which could not
+fail to interest. There were moments when the recollection of some past
+event seemed to shade his countenance with a melancholy that rendered it
+still more affecting. I should suspect he formerly possessed a great
+share of natural vivacity (something of it being still, indeed, apparent
+in his more unguarded moments); but this spirit is almost entirely
+subdued by the penitence and mortification of the order.
+
+The secretary displayed a very considerable share of knowledge in the
+political state of Europe, furnished probably by the extensive
+correspondence these fathers preserve with the three hundred and sixty
+subordinate convents, dispersed throughout all those countries where the
+court of Rome still maintains its influence.
+
+In the course of our conversation they asked me innumerable questions
+about England, where formerly, they said, many monasteries had belonged
+to their order; and principally that of Witham, which they had learnt to
+be now in my possession.
+
+The secretary, almost with tears in his eyes, beseeched me to revere
+these consecrated edifices, and to preserve their remains, for the sake
+of St. Hugo, their canonized prior. I replied greatly to his
+satisfaction, and then declaimed so much in favour of St. Bruno, and the
+holy prior of Witham, that the good fathers grew exceedingly delighted
+with the conversation, and made me promise to remain some days with
+them. I readily complied with their request, and, continuing in the same
+strain, that had so agreeably affected their ears, was soon presented
+with the works of St. Bruno, whom I so zealously admired.
+
+After we had sat extolling them, and talking upon much the same sort of
+subjects for about an hour, the coadjutor proposed a walk amongst the
+cloisters and galleries, as the weather would not admit of any longer
+excursion. He leading the way, we ascended a flight of steps, which
+brought us to a gallery, on each side of which a vast number of
+pictures, representing the dependent convents, were ranged; for I was
+now in the capital of the order, where the general resides, and from
+whence he issues forth his commands to his numerous subjects; who depute
+the superiors of their respective convents, whether situated in the
+wilds of Calabria, the forests of Poland, or in the remotest districts
+of Portugal and Spain, to assist at the grand chapter, held annually
+under him, a week or two after Easter.
+
+This reverend father died about ten days before our arrival: a week ago
+they elected the prior of the Carthusian convent at Paris in his room,
+and two fathers were now on their route to apprise him of their choice,
+and to salute him General of the Carthusians. During this interregnum
+the coadjutor holds the first rank in the temporal, and the grand
+vicaire in the spiritual affairs of the order; both of which are very
+extensive.
+
+If I may judge from the representation of the different convents, which
+adorn this gallery, there are many highly worthy of notice, for the
+singularity of their situations, and the wild beauties of the landscapes
+which surround them. The Venetian Chartreuse, placed in a woody island;
+and that of Rome, rising from amongst groups of majestic ruins, struck
+me as peculiarly pleasing. Views of the English monasteries hung
+formerly in such a gallery, but had been destroyed by fire, together
+with the old convent. The list only remains, with but a very few written
+particulars concerning them.
+
+Having amused myself for some time with the pictures, and the
+descriptions the coadjutor gave me of them, we quitted the gallery and
+entered a kind of chapel, in which were two altars with lamps burning
+before them, on each side of a lofty portal. This opened into a grand
+coved hall, adorned with historical paintings of St. Bruno's life, and
+the portraits of the generals of the order, since the year of the great
+founder's death (1085) to the present time. Under these portraits are
+the stalls for the superiors, who assist at the grand convocation. In
+front, appears the general's throne; above, hangs a representation of
+the canonized Bruno, crowned with stars.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+     Cloisters of extraordinary dimensions.--Cells of the
+     Monks.--Severity of the order.--Death-like calm.--The great
+     Chapel.--Its interior.--Marvellous events relating to St.
+     Bruno.--Retire to my cell.--Strange writings of St. Bruno.--Sketch
+     of his Life.--Appalling occurrence.--Vision of the Bishop of
+     Grenoble.--First institution of the Carthusian order.--Death of St.
+     Bruno.--His translation.
+
+
+The coadjutor seemed charmed with the respect with which I looked round
+on these holy objects; and if the hour of vespers had not been drawing
+near, we should have spent more time in the contemplation of Bruno's
+miracles, pourtrayed on the lower panels of the hall. We left that room
+to enter a winding passage (lighted by windows in the roof) that brought
+us to a cloister six hundred feet in length, from which branched off two
+others, joining a fourth of the same most extraordinary dimensions. Vast
+ranges of slender pillars extend round the different courts of the
+edifice, many of which are thrown into gardens belonging to particular
+cells.
+
+We entered one of them: its inhabitant received us with much civility,
+walked before us through a little corridor that looked on his garden,
+showed us his narrow dwelling, and, having obtained leave of the
+coadjutor to speak, gave us his benediction, and beheld us depart with
+concern. Nature has given this poor monk very considerable talents for
+painting. He has drawn the portrait of the late General, in a manner
+that discovers great facility of execution; but he is not allowed to
+exercise his pencil on any other subject, lest he should be amused; and
+amusement in this severe order is a crime. He had so subdued, so
+mortified an appearance, that I was not sorry to hear the bell, which
+summoned the coadjutor to prayers, and prevented my entering any more of
+the cells. We continued straying from cloister to cloister, and
+wandering along the winding passages and intricate galleries of this
+immense edifice, whilst the coadjutor was assisting at vespers.
+
+In every part of the structure reigned the most death-like calm: no
+sound reached my ears but the "minute drops from off the eaves." I sat
+down in a niche of the cloister, and fell into a profound reverie, from
+which I was recalled by the return of our conductor; who, I believe, was
+almost tempted to imagine, from the cast of my countenance, that I was
+deliberating whether I should not remain with them for ever.
+
+But I soon roused myself, and testified some impatience to see the great
+chapel, at which we at length arrived after traversing another labyrinth
+of cloisters. The gallery immediately before its entrance appeared quite
+gay, in comparison with the others I had passed, and owes its
+cheerfulness to a large window (ornamented with slabs of polished
+marble) that admits the view of a lovely wood, and allows a full blaze
+of light to dart on the chapel door; which is also adorned with marble,
+in a plain but noble style of architecture.
+
+The father sacristan stood ready on the steps of the portal to grant us
+admittance; and, throwing open the valves, we entered the chapel and
+were struck by the justness of its proportions, the simple majesty of
+the arched roof, and the mild solemn light equally diffused over every
+part of the edifice. No tawdry ornaments, no glaring pictures disgraced
+the sanctity of the place. The high altar, standing distinct from the
+walls, which were hung with a rich velvet, was the only object on which
+many ornaments were lavished; and, it being a high festival, was
+clustered with statues of gold, shrines, and candelabra of the
+stateliest shape and most delicate execution. Four of the latter, of a
+gigantic size, were placed on the steps; which, together with part of
+the inlaid floor within the choir, were spread with beautiful carpets.
+
+The illumination of so many tapers striking on the shrines, censers, and
+pillars of polished jasper, sustaining the canopy of the altar, produced
+a wonderful effect; and, as the rest of the chapel was visible only by
+the feint external light admitted from above, the splendour and dignity
+of the altar was enhanced by contrast. I retired a moment from it, and
+seating myself in one of the furthermost stalls of the choir, looked
+towards it, and fancied the whole structure had risen by "subtle magic,"
+like an exhalation.
+
+Here I remained several minutes breathing nothing but incense, and
+should not have quitted my station soon, had I not been apprehensive of
+disturbing the devotions of two aged fathers who had just entered, and
+were prostrating themselves before the steps of the altar. These
+venerable figures added greatly to the solemnity of the scene; which as
+the day declined increased every moment in splendour; for the sparkling
+of several lamps of chased silver that hung from the roofs, and the
+gleaming of nine huge tapers which I had not before noticed, began to be
+visible just as I left the chapel.
+
+Passing through the sacristy, where lay several piles of rich
+embroidered vestments, purposely displayed for our inspection, we
+regained the cloister which led to our apartment, where the supper was
+ready prepared. We had scarcely finished it, when the coadjutor, and the
+fathers who had accompanied us before, returned, and ranging themselves
+round the fire, resumed the conversation about St. Bruno.
+
+Finding me disposed by the wonders I had seen in the day to listen to
+things of a miraculous nature, they began to relate the inspirations
+they had received from him, and his mysterious apparitions. I was all
+attention, respect, and credulity. The old secretary worked himself up
+to such a pitch of enthusiasm, that I am very much inclined to imagine
+he believed in these moments all the marvellous events he related. The
+coadjutor being less violent in his pretensions to St. Bruno's modern
+miracles, contented himself with enumerating the noble works he had done
+in the days of his fathers, and in the old time before them.
+
+It grew rather late before my kind hosts had finished their narrations,
+and I was not sorry, after all the exercise I had taken, to return to my
+cell, where everything invited to repose. I was charmed with the
+neatness and oddity of my little apartment; its cabin-like bed, oratory,
+and ebony crucifix; in short, every thing it contained; not forgetting
+the aromatic odour of the pine, with which it was roofed, floored, and
+wainscoted. The night was luckily dark. Had the moon appeared, I could
+not have prevailed upon myself to have quitted her till very late; but,
+as it happened, I crept into my cabin, and was by "whispering winds soon
+lulled asleep."
+
+Eight o'clock struck next morning before I awoke; when, to my great
+sorrow, I found the peaks, which rose above the convent, veiled in
+vapours, and the rain descending with violence.
+
+After we had breakfasted by the light of our fire (for the casements
+admitted but a very feeble gleam), I sat down to the works of St.
+Bruno; of all medleys one of the strangest. Allegories without end; a
+theologico-natural history of birds, beasts, and fishes; several
+chapters on paradise; the delights of solitude; the glory of Solomon's
+temple; the new Jerusalem; and numberless other wonderful subjects, full
+of the loftiest enthusiasm. The revered author of this strangely
+abstruse and mystic volume was certainly a being of no common order, nor
+do we find in the wide circle of legendary traditions an event recorded,
+better calculated to inspire the utmost degree of religious terror than
+that which determined him to the monastic state.
+
+St. Bruno was of noble descent, and possessed considerable wealth. Not
+less remarkable for the qualities of his mind, their assiduous
+cultivation obtained for him the chair of master of the great sciences
+in the University of Rheims, where he contracted an intimate friendship
+with Odo, afterwards Pope Urban II. Though it appears that a very
+cheering degree of public approbation, and all the blandishments of a
+society highly polished for the period, contributed, not unprofitably
+one should think, to fill up his time, always singular, always
+visionary, he began early in life to loathe the world, and sigh after
+retirement.
+
+But a most appalling occurrence converted these sighs into the deepest
+groans. A man, who had borne the highest character for the exercise of
+every virtue, died, and was being carried to the grave. The procession,
+of which Bruno formed a part, was moving slowly on, when a low, mournful
+sound issued from the bier. The corpse was distinctly seen to lift up
+its ghastly countenance, and as distinctly heard to articulate these
+words--"_I am summoned to trial._" After an agonizing pause, the same
+terrific voice declared--"_I stand before the tribunal._" Some further
+moments of amazement and horror having elapsed, the dead body lifted
+itself up a third time, and moving its livid lips uttered forth this
+dreadful sentence--"_I am condemned by the just judgment of God._"
+"Alas! alas!" exclaimed Bruno--"of how little avail are apparent good
+works, or the favourable opinion of mankind!
+
+    Ubi fugiam nisi ad te?--
+
+Thy mercies alone can save, and it is not in the frivolous and seductive
+intercourse of a worldly life those mercies can be obtained."
+
+Stricken to the heart by these reflections, he hurried in a fever of
+terror and alarm (the sepulchral voice still ringing in his ears) to
+Grenoble, of which see one of his dearest friends, the venerable Hugo,
+had lately been appointed bishop.
+
+This saintly prelate soothed the dreadful agitation of his spirits by
+relating to him a revelation he had just received in a dream.
+
+"As I slept," said Hugo, "methought the desert mountains beyond Grenoble
+became suddenly visible in the dead of night by the streaming of seven
+lucid stars which hung directly over them. Whilst I remained absorbed in
+the contemplation of this wonder, an awful voice seemed to break the
+nocturnal silence, declaring their dreary solitudes thy future abode, O
+Bruno!--by thee to be consecrated as a retirement for holy men desirous
+of holding converse with their God. No shepherd's pipe shall be heard
+within these precincts; no huntsman's profane feet ever invade their
+fastnesses; nor shall woman ascend this mountain, or violate by her
+allurements the sacred repose of its inhabitants."
+
+Such were the first institutions of the order as the inspired Bishop of
+Grenoble delivered them to Bruno, who selecting a few persons that,
+like himself, contemned the splendours of the world and the charms of
+society, repaired with them to this spot; and, in the darkest parts of
+the forests which shade the most gloomy recesses of the mountains,
+founded the first convent of Carthusians, long since destroyed.
+
+Several years passed away, whilst Bruno was employed in actions of the
+most exalted piety; and, the fame of his exemplary conduct reaching
+Rome, (where his friend had been lately invested with the papal tiara,)
+the whole conclave was desirous of seeing him, and entreated Urban to
+invite him to Rome. The request of Christ's vicegerent was not to be
+refused; and Bruno quitted his beloved solitude, leaving some of his
+disciples behind, who propagated his doctrines, and tended zealously the
+infant order.
+
+The pomp of the Roman court soon disgusted the rigid Bruno, who had
+weaned himself entirely from worldly affections.
+
+Being wholly intent on futurity, the bustle and tumults of a busy
+metropolis became so irksome that he supplicated Urban for leave to
+retire; and, having obtained it, left Rome, and immediately seeking the
+wilds of Calabria, there sequestered himself in a lonely hermitage,
+calmly expecting his last moments.
+
+In his death there was no bitterness. A celestial radiance shone around
+him even before he closed his eyes upon this frail existence, and many a
+venerable witness has testified that the voices of angelic beings were
+heard calling him to come and receive his reward; but as the different
+accounts of his translation are not essentially varied, it would be
+tedious to recite them.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+     Mystic discourse.--A mountain ramble.--A benevolent Hermit.--Red
+     light in the northern sky.--Lose my way in the solitary
+     hills.--Approach of night.
+
+
+I had scarcely finished taking extracts from the writings of this holy
+and highly-gifted personage when the dinner appeared, consisting of
+everything most delicate which a strict adherence to the rules of meagre
+could allow. The good fathers returned as usual before our repast was
+half over, and resumed as usual their mystic discourse, looking all the
+time rather earnestly into my countenance to observe the sort of effect
+their most marvellous narrations produced upon it.
+
+Our conversation, which was beginning to take a gloomy and serious turn,
+was interrupted, I thought very agreeably, by the sudden intrusion of
+the sun, which, escaping from the clouds, shone in full splendour above
+the highest peak of the mountains, and the vapours fleeting by degrees
+discovered the woods in all the freshness of their verdure. The pleasure
+I received from seeing this new creation rising to view was very lively,
+and, as the fathers assured me the humidity of their walks did not often
+continue longer than the showers, I left my hall.
+
+Crossing the court, I hastened out of the gates, and running swiftly
+along a winding path on the side of the meadow, bordered by the forests,
+enjoyed the charms of the prospect inhaled the perfume of the woodlands,
+and now turning towards the summits of the precipices that encircled
+this sacred inclosure, admired the glowing colours they borrowed from
+the sun, contrasted by the dark hues of the forest. Now, casting my eyes
+below, I suffered them to roam from valley to valley, and from one
+stream (beset with tall pines and tufted beech trees) to another. The
+purity of the air in these exalted regions, and the lightness of my own
+spirits, almost seized me with the idea of treading in that element.
+
+Not content with the distant beauties of the hanging rocks and falling
+waters, I still kept running wildly along, with an eagerness and
+rapidity that, to a sober spectator, would have given me the appearance
+of one possessed, and with reason, for I was affected with the scene to
+a degree I despair of expressing.
+
+Whilst I was continuing my course, pursued by a thousand strange ideas,
+a father, who was returning from some distant hermitage, stopped my
+career, and made signs for me to repose myself on a bench erected under
+a neighbouring shed; and, perceiving my agitation and disordered looks,
+fancied, I believe, that one of the bears that lurk near the snows of
+the mountains had alarmed me by his sudden appearance.
+
+The good old man, expressing by his gestures that he wished me to
+recover myself in quiet on the bench, hastened, with as much alacrity as
+his age permitted, to a cottage adjoining the shed, and returning in a
+few moments, presented me some water in a wooden bowl, into which he let
+fall several drops of an elixir composed of innumerable herbs, and
+having performed this deed of charity, signified to me by a look, in
+which benevolence, compassion, and perhaps some little remains of
+curiosity were strongly painted, how sorry he was to be restrained by
+his vow of silence from enquiring into the cause of my agitation, and
+giving me farther assistance. I answered also by signs, on purpose to
+carry on the adventure, and suffered him to depart with all his
+conjectures unsatisfied.
+
+No sooner had I lost sight of the benevolent hermit than I started up,
+and pursued my path with my former agility, till I came to the edge of a
+woody dell, that divided the meadow on which I was running from the
+opposite promontory. Here I paused, and looking up at the cliffs, now
+but faintly illumined by the sun, which had been some time sinking on
+our narrow horizon, reflected that it would be madness to bewilder
+myself, at so late an hour, in the mazes of the forest. Being thus
+determined, I abandoned with regret the idea of penetrating into the
+lovely region before me, and contented myself for some moments with
+marking the pale tints of the evening gradually overspreading the
+cliffs, so lately flushed with the gleams of the setting sun.
+
+But my eyes were soon diverted from contemplating these objects by a red
+light streaming over the northern sky, which attracted my notice as I
+sat on the brow of a sloping hill, looking down what appeared to be a
+fathomless ravine blackened by the shade of impervious forests, above
+which rose majestically the varied peaks and promontories of the
+mountains.
+
+The upland lawns, which hang at immense heights above the vale, next
+caught my attention. I was gazing alternately at them and the valley,
+when a long succession of light misty clouds, of strange fantastic
+shapes, issuing from a narrow gully between the rocks, passed on, like a
+solemn procession, over the hollow dale, midway between the stream that
+watered it below, and the summits of the cliffs on high.
+
+The tranquillity of the region, the verdure of the lawn, environed by
+girdles of flourishing wood, and the lowing of the distant herds, filled
+me with the most pleasing sensations. But when I lifted up my eyes to
+the towering cliffs, and beheld the northern sky streaming with ruddy
+light, and the long succession of misty forms hovering over the space
+beneath, they became sublime and awful. The dews which began to descend,
+and the vapours which were rising from every dell, reminded me of the
+lateness of the hour; and it was with great reluctance that I turned
+from the scene which had so long engaged my contemplation, and traversed
+slowly and silently the solitary meadows, over which I had hurried with
+such eagerness an hour ago.
+
+Hill appeared after hill, and hillock succeeded hillock, which I had
+passed unnoticed before. Sometimes I imagined myself following a
+different path from that which had brought me to the edge of the deep
+valley. Another moment, descending into the hollows between the hillocks
+that concealed the distant prospects from my sight, I fancied I had
+entirely mistaken my route, and expected every moment to be lost amongst
+the rude brakes and tangled thickets that skirted the eminences around.
+
+As the darkness increased, my situation became still more and more
+forlorn. I had almost abandoned the idea of reaching the convent; and
+whenever I gained any swelling ground, looked above, below, and on every
+side of me, in hopes of discovering some glimmering lamp which might
+indicate a hermitage, whose charitable possessor, I flattered myself,
+would direct me to the monastery.
+
+At length, after a tedious wandering along the hills, I found myself,
+unexpectedly, under the convent walls; and, as I was looking for the
+gate, the attendant lay-brothers came out with lights, in order to
+search for me; scarcely had I joined them, when the Coadjutor and the
+Secretary came forward, with the kindest anxiety expressed their
+uneasiness at my long absence, and conducted me to my apartment, where
+Mr. Lettice was waiting, with no small degree of impatience; but I found
+not a word had been mentioned of my adventure with the hermit; so that,
+I believe, he strictly kept his vow till the day when the Carthusians
+are allowed to speak, and which happened after my departure.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+     Pastoral Scenery of Valombr�.--Ascent of the highest Peak in the
+     Desert.--Grand amphitheatre of Mountains.--Farewell benediction of
+     the Fathers.
+
+
+We had hardly supped before the gates of the convent were shut, a
+circumstance which disconcerted me not a little, as the full moon
+gleamed through the casements, and the stars sparkling above the forests
+of pines, invited me to leave my apartment again, and to give myself up
+entirely to the spectacle they offered.
+
+The coadjutor, perceiving that I was often looking earnestly through the
+windows, guessed my wishes, and calling a lay-brother, ordered him to
+open the gates, and wait at them till my return. It was not long before
+I took advantage of this permission, and escaping from the courts and
+cloisters of the monastery, all hushed in death-like stillness, ascended
+a green knoll, which several ancient pines strongly marked with their
+shadows: there, leaning against one of their trunks, I lifted up my eyes
+to the awful barrier of surrounding mountains, discovered by the
+trembling silver light of the moon shooting directly on the woods which
+fringed their acclivities.
+
+The lawns, the vast woods, the steep descents, the precipices, the
+torrents, lay all extended beneath, softened by a pale blueish haze,
+that alleviated, in some measure, the stern prospect of the rocky
+promontories above, wrapped in dark shadows. The sky was of the deepest
+azure, innumerable stars were distinguished with unusual clearness from
+this elevation, many of which twinkled behind the fir-trees edging the
+promontories. White, grey, and darkish clouds came marching towards the
+moon, that shone full against a range of cliffs, which lift themselves
+far above the others. The hoarse murmur of the torrent, throwing itself
+from the distant wildernesses into the gloomy vales, was mingled with
+the blast that blew from the mountains.
+
+It increased. The forests began to wave, black clouds rose from the
+north, and, as they fleeted along, approached the moon, whose light
+they shortly extinguished. A moment of darkness succeeded; the gust was
+chill and melancholy; it swept along the desert, and then subsiding, the
+vapours began to pass away, and the moon returned; the grandeur of the
+scene was renewed, and its imposing solemnity was increased by her
+presence. Inspiration was in every wind.
+
+I followed some impulse which drove me to the summit of the mountains
+before me; and there, casting a look on the whole extent of wild woods
+and romantic precipices, thought of the days of St. Bruno. I eagerly
+contemplated every rock that formerly might have met his eyes; drank of
+the spring which tradition says he was wont to drink of; and ran to
+every pine, whose withered appearance bespoke the most remote antiquity,
+and beneath which, perhaps, the saint had reposed himself, when worn
+with vigils, or possessed with the sacred spirit of his institutions. It
+was midnight before I returned to the convent and retired to my quiet
+chamber, but my imagination was too much disturbed, and my spirits far
+too active, to allow me any rest for some time.
+
+I had scarcely fallen asleep, when I was suddenly awakened by a furious
+blast, which drove open my casement, for it was a troubled and
+tempestuous night, and let in the roar of the tempest. In the intervals
+of the storm, in those moments when the winds seemed to pause, the faint
+sounds of the choir stole upon my ear; but were swallowed up the next
+instant by the redoubled fury of the gust, which was still increased by
+the roar of the waters.
+
+I started from my bed, closed the casement, and composed myself as well
+as I was able; but no sooner had the sunbeams entered my window, than I
+arose, and gladly leaving my cell, hastened to the same knoll, where I
+had stood the night before. The storm was dissipated, and the pure
+morning air delightfully refreshing: every tree, every shrub, glistened
+with dew. A gentle wind breathed upon the woods, and waved the fir-trees
+on the cliffs, which, free from clouds, rose distinctly into the clear
+blue sky. I strayed from the knoll into the valley between the steeps of
+wood and the turrets of the convent, and passed the different buildings,
+destined for the manufacture of the articles necessary to the fathers;
+for nothing is worn or used within this inclosure, which comes from the
+profane world.
+
+Traversing the meadows and a succession of little dells, where I was so
+lately bewildered, I came to a bridge thrown over the torrent, which I
+crossed; and here followed a slight path that brought me to an eminence,
+covered with a hanging wood of beech-trees feathered to the ground, from
+whence I looked down the narrow pass towards Grenoble. Perceiving a
+smoke to arise from the groves which nodded over the eminence, I climbed
+up a rocky steep, and, after struggling through a thicket of shrubs,
+entered a smooth, sloping lawn, framed in by woody precipices; at one
+extremity of which I discovered the cottage, whose smoke had directed me
+to this sequestered spot; and, at the other, a numerous group of cattle,
+lying under the shade of some beech-trees, whilst several friars, with
+long beards and russet garments, were employed in milking them.
+
+The luxuriant foliage of the woods, clinging round the steeps that
+skirted the lawn; its gay, sunny exposition; the groups of sleek,
+dappled cows, and the odd employment of the friars, so little consonant
+with their venerable beards, formed a picturesque and certainly very
+singular spectacle. I, who had been accustomed to behold "milk-maids
+singing blithe," and tripping lightly along with their pails, was not a
+little surprised at the silent gravity with which these figures shifted
+their trivets from cow to cow; and it was curious to see with what
+adroitness they performed their functions, managing their long beards
+with a facility and cleanliness equally admirable.
+
+I watched all their movements for some time, concealed by the trees,
+before I made myself visible; but no sooner did I appear on the lawn,
+than one of the friars quitted his trivet, very methodically set down
+his pail, and coming towards me with an open, smiling countenance,
+desired me to refresh myself with some bread and milk. A second,
+observing what was going forward, was resolved not to be exceeded in an
+hospitable act, and, quitting his pail too, hastened into the woods,
+from whence he returned in a few minutes with some strawberries, very
+neatly enveloped in fresh leaves. These hospitable, milking fathers,
+next invited me to the cottage, whither I declined going, as I preferred
+the shade of the beeches; so, throwing myself on the dry aromatic
+herbage, I enjoyed the pastoral character of the scene with all possible
+glee.
+
+Not a cloud darkened the heavens; every object smiled; innumerable gaudy
+flies glanced in the sunbeams that played in a clear spring by the
+cottage; I saw with pleasure the sultry glow of the distant cliffs and
+forests, whilst indolently reclined in the shade, listening to the
+summer hum; one hour passed after another neglected away, during my
+repose in this most delightful of valleys.
+
+When I returned unwillingly to the convent, the only topic on which I
+could converse was the charms of Valombr�, for so is this beautifully
+wooded region most appropriately called. Notwithstanding the
+indifference with which I now regarded the prospects that surrounded the
+monastery, I could not disdain an offer made by one of the friars, of
+conducting me to the summit of the highest peak in the desert.
+
+Pretty late in the afternoon I set out with my guide, and, following his
+steps through many forests of pine, and wild apertures among them,
+strewed with fragments, arrived at a chapel, built on a mossy rock, and
+dedicated to St. Bruno.
+
+Having once more drunk of the spring that issues from the rock on which
+this edifice is raised, I moved forward, keeping my eyes fixed on a
+lofty green mountain, from whence rises a vast cliff, spiring up to a
+surprising elevation; and which (owing to the sun's reflection on a
+transparent mist hovering around it) was tinged with a pale visionary
+light. This object was the goal to which I aspired; and redoubling my
+activity, I made the best of my way over rude ledges of rocks, and
+crumbled fragments of the mountain interspersed with firs, till I came
+to the green steeps I had surveyed at a distance.
+
+These I ascended with some difficulty, and, leaving a few scattered
+beech-trees behind, in full leaf, shortly bade adieu to summer, and
+entered the regions of spring; for, as I approached that part of the
+mountain next the summit, the trees, which I found there rooted in the
+crevices, were but just beginning to unfold their leaves, and every spot
+of the greensward was covered with cowslips and violets.
+
+After taking a few moments' repose, my guide prepared to clamber amongst
+the rocks, and I followed him with as much alertness as I was able, till
+laying hold of the trunk of a withered pine, we sprang upon a small
+level space, where I seated myself, and beheld far beneath me the vast
+desert and dreary solitudes, amongst which appeared, thinly scattered,
+the green meadows and hanging lawns. The eye next overlooking the
+barrier of mountains, ranged through immense tracts of distant
+countries; the plains where Lyons is situated; the woodlands and lakes
+of Savoy; amongst which that of Bourget was near enough to discover its
+beauties, all glowing with the warm haze of the setting sun.
+
+My situation was too dizzy to allow a long survey, so turning my eyes
+from the terrific precipice, I gladly beheld an opening in the rocks,
+through which we passed into a little irregular glen of the smoothest
+greensward, closed in on one side by the great peak, and on the others
+by a ridge of sharp pinnacles, which crown the range of white cliffs I
+had so much admired the night before, when brightened by the moon.
+
+The singular situation of this romantic spot invited me to remain in it
+till the sun was about to sink on the horizon: during which time I
+visited every little cave delved in the ridges of rock, and gathered
+large sprigs of the mezereon and rhododendron in full bloom, which with
+a surprising variety of other plants carpeted this lovely glen. A
+luxuriant vegetation,
+
+    That on the green turf suck'd the honey'd showers,
+    And purpled all the ground with vernal flowers.
+
+My guide, perceiving I was ready to mount still higher, told me it would
+be in vain, as the beds of snow that lie eternally in some fissures of
+the mountain, must necessarily impede my progress; but, finding I was
+very unwilling to abandon the enterprise, he showed me a few notches in
+the peak, by which we might ascend, though not without danger. This
+prospect rather abated my courage, and the wind rising, drove several
+thick clouds round the bottom of the peak, which increasing every
+minute, shortly skreened the green mountain and all the forest from our
+sight. A sea of vapours soon undulated beneath my feet, and lightning
+began to flash from a dark angry cloud that hung over the valleys and
+deluged them with storms, whilst I was securely standing under the clear
+expanse of �ther.
+
+But the hour did not admit of my remaining long in this proud station;
+so descending, I was soon obliged to pass through the vapours, and,
+carefully following my guide (for a false step might have caused my
+destruction) wound amongst the declivities, till we left the peak
+behind, and just as we reached the green mountain which was moistened
+with the late storm, the clouds fleeted and the evening recovered its
+serenity.
+
+Leaving the chapel of St. Bruno on the right, we entered the woods, and
+soon emerged from them into a large pasture, under the grand
+amphitheatre of mountains, having a gentle ascent before us, beyond
+which appeared the neat blue roofs and glittering spires of the convent,
+where we arrived as the moon was beginning to assume her empire.
+
+I need not say I rested well after the interesting fatigues of the day.
+The next morning early, I quitted my kind hosts with great reluctance.
+The coadjutor and two other fathers accompanied me to the outward gate,
+and there within the solemn circle of the desert bestowed on me their
+benediction.
+
+It seemed indeed to come from their hearts, nor would they leave me till
+I was an hundred paces from the convent; and then, laying their hands on
+their breasts, declared that if ever I was disgusted with the world,
+here was an asylum.
+
+I was in a melancholy mood when I traced back all the windings of my
+road, and when I found myself beyond the last gate in the midst of the
+wide world again, it increased.
+
+We returned to Les Echelles; from thence to Chambery, and, instead of
+going through Aix, passed by Annecy; but nothing in all the route
+engaged my attention, nor had I any pleasing sensations till I beheld
+the glassy lake of Geneva, and its lovely environs.
+
+I rejoiced then because I knew of a retirement on its banks where I
+could sit and think of Valombr�.
+
+
+
+
+SALEVE.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+     Revisit the trees on the summit of Saleve.--Pas
+     d'Echelle.--Moneti.--Bird's-eye prospects.--Alpine
+     flowers.--Extensive view from the summit of Saleve.--Youthful
+     enthusiasm.--Sad realities.
+
+
+I had long wished to revisit the holt of trees so conspicuous on the
+summit of Saleve, and set forth this morning to accomplish that purpose.
+Brandoin an artist, once the delight of our travelling lords and ladies,
+accompanied me. We rode pleasantly and sketchingly along through Carouge
+to the base of the mountain, taking views every now and then of
+picturesque stumps and cottages.
+
+At length, after a good deal of lackadaisical loitering on the banks of
+the Arve, we reached a sort of goats' path, leading to some steps cut
+in the rock, and justly called the Pas d'Echelle. I need not say we were
+obliged to dismount and toil up this ladder, beyond which rise steeps of
+verdure shaded by walnuts.
+
+These brought us to Moneti, a rude straggling village, with its church
+tower embosomed in gigantic limes. We availed ourselves of their deep
+cool shade to dine as comfortably as a whole posse of withered hags, who
+seemed to have been just alighted from their broomsticks, would allow
+us.
+
+About half past three, a sledge drawn by four oxen was got ready to drag
+us up to the holt of trees, the goal to which we were tending:
+stretching ourselves on the straw spread over our vehicle, we set off
+along a rugged path, conducted aslant the steep slope of the mountain,
+vast prospects opening as we ascended; to our right the crags of the
+little Saleve--the variegated plains of Gex and Chablais, separated by
+the lake; below, Moneti, almost concealed in wood; behind, the mole,
+lifting up its pyramidical summit amidst the wild amphitheatre of
+glaciers, which lay this evening in dismal shadow, the sun being
+overcast, the Jura half lost in rainy mists, and a heavy storm
+darkening the Fort de l'Ecluse. Except a sickly gleam cast on the snows
+of the Buet, not a ray of sunshine enlivened our landscape.
+
+This sorrowful colouring agreed but too well with the dejection of my
+spirits. I suffered melancholy recollections to take full possession of
+me, and glancing my eyes over the vast map below, sought out those spots
+where I had lived so happy with my lovely Margaret. On them did I
+eagerly gaze--absorbed in the consciousness of a fatal, irreparable
+loss, I little noticed the transports expressed by my companion at the
+grand effects of light and shade, which obeyed the movements of the
+clouds; nor was I more attentive to the route of our oxen, which,
+perfectly familiarized with precipices, preferred their edge to the bank
+on the other side, and by this choice gave us an opportunity of looking
+down more than a thousand feet perpendicularly on the wild shrubberies
+and shattered rocks deep below, at the base of the mountain. In general
+I shrink back from such bird's-eye prospects with my head in a whirl,
+and yet, by a most unaccountable fascination, feel a feverish impulse
+to throw myself into the very gulph I abhor; but to-day I lay in passive
+indifference, listlessly extended on our moving bed.
+
+Its progress being extremely deliberate, we had leisure to observe, as
+we crept along, a profusion of Alpine flowers; but none of those
+gorgeous insects mentioned by Saussure as abounding on Saleve were
+fluttering about them. This was no favourable day for butterfly
+excursions; the flowers laden with heavy drops, the forerunners of still
+heavier rain, hung down their heads. We passed several chalets, formed
+of mud and stone, instead of the neat timber, with which those on the
+Swiss mountains are constructed. Meagre peasants, whose sallow
+countenances looked quite of a piece with the sandy hue of their
+habitations, kept staring at us from crevices and hollow places: the
+fresh roses of a garden are not more different from the rank weeds of an
+unhealthy swamp, than these wretched objects from the ruddy inhabitants
+of Switzerland.
+
+My heart sank as we were driven alongside of one of these squalid
+groups, huddled together under a blasted beech in expectation of a
+storm. The wind drove the smoke and sparks of a fire just kindled at the
+root of the tree, full in the face of an infant, whose mother had
+abandoned it to implore our charity with outstretched withered hands.
+The poor helpless being filled the air with waitings, and being tightly
+swaddled lip in yellow rags, according to Savoyarde custom, exhibited an
+appearance in form and colour not unlike that of an overgrown pumpkin
+thrown on the ground out of the way. How should I have enjoyed setting
+its limbs at liberty, and transporting it to the swelling bosom of a
+Bernese peasant! such as I have seen in untaxed garments, red, blue and
+green, with hair falling in braids mixed with flowers and silver
+trinkets, hurrying along to some wake or wedding, with that firm step
+and smiling hilarity which the consciousness of freedom inspires.
+
+A few minutes dragging beyond the tree just mentioned, we reached the
+bold verdant slopes of delicate short herbage which crown the crags of
+the mountain. We now moved smoothly along the turf, brushing it with our
+hands to extract its aromatic fragrance, and having no longer rough
+stones to encounter, our conveyance became so agreeable that we
+regretted our arrival before a chalet, under a clump of weather-beaten
+beach. These are the identical trees, so far and widely discovered, on
+the summit of Saleve, and the point to which we had been tending.
+
+Seating ourselves on the very edge of a rocky cornice, we surveyed the
+busy crowded territory of Geneva, the vast reach of the lake, its coast,
+thickset with castles, towns, and villages, and the long line of the
+Jura protecting these richly cultivated possessions. Turning round, we
+traced the course of the Arve up to its awful sanctuary, the Alps of
+Savoy, above which rose the Mont-Blanc in deadly paleness, backed by a
+gloomy sky; nothing could form a stronger contrast to the populous and
+fertile plains in front of the mountain than this chaos of snowy peaks
+and melancholy deserts, the loftiest in the old world, held up in the
+air, and beaten, in spite of summer, with wintry storms.
+
+I know not how long we should have remained examining the prospect had
+the weather been favourable, and had we enjoyed one of those serene
+evenings to be expected in the month of July. Many such have I passed in
+my careless childish days, stretched out on the brow of this very
+mountain, contemplating the heavenly azure of the lake, the innumerable
+windows of the villas below blazing in the setting sun, and the glaciers
+suffused by its last ray with a blushing pink. How often, giving way to
+youthful enthusiasm, have I peopled these singularly varied peaks with
+gnomes and fairies, the distributors of gold and crystal to those who
+adventurously scaled their lofty abode.
+
+This evening my fancy was led to no such gay a�rial excursions; sad
+realities chained it to the earth, and to the scene before my eyes,
+which, in lowering, sombre hue, corresponded with my interior gloom. A
+rude blast driving us off the margin of the precipices, we returned to
+the shelter of the beech. There we found some disappointed butterfly
+catchers, probably of the watch-making tribe, and a silly boy gaping
+after them with a lank net and empty boxes. This being Monday, I thought
+the Saleve had been delivered from such intruders; but it seems that
+the rage for natural history has so victoriously pervaded all ranks of
+people in the republic, that almost every day in the week sends forth
+some of its journeymen to ransack the neighbouring cliffs, and transfix
+unhappy butterflies.
+
+Silversmiths and toymen, possessed by the spirit of De Luc and De
+Saussure's lucubrations, throw away the light implements of their trade,
+and sally forth with hammer and pickaxe to pound pebbles and knock at
+the door of every mountain for information. Instead of furbishing up
+teaspoons and sorting watch-chains, they talk of nothing but quartz and
+feldspath. One flourishes away on the durability of granite, whilst
+another treats calcareous rocks with contempt; but as human pleasures
+are seldom perfect and permanent, acrimonious disputes too frequently
+interrupt the calm of the philosophic excursion. Squabbles arise about
+the genus of a coralite, or concerning that element which has borne the
+greatest part in the convulsion of nature. The advocate of water too
+often sneaks home to his wife with a tattered collar, whilst the
+partisan of fire and volcanoes lies vanquished in a puddle, or winding
+up the clue of his argument in a solitary ditch. I cannot help thinking
+so diffused a taste for fossils and petrifactions of no very particular
+benefit to the artisans of Geneva, and that watches would go as well,
+though their makers were less enlightened.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+     Chalet under the Beech-trees.--A mountain Bridge.--Solemnity of the
+     Night.--The Comedie.--Relaxation of Genevese Morality.
+
+
+It began to rain just as we entered the chalet under the beech-trees,
+and one of the dirtiest I ever crept into--it would have been
+uncharitable not to have regretted the absence of swine, for here was
+mud and filth enough to have insured their felicity. A woman, whose
+teeth of a shining whiteness were the only clean objects I could
+discover, brought us foaming bowls of cream and milk, with which we
+regaled ourselves, and then got into our vehicle. We but too soon left
+the smooth herbage behind, and passed about an hour in rambling down the
+mountain pelted by the showers, from which we took shelter under the
+limes at Moneti.
+
+Here we should have drunk our tea in peace and quietness, had it not
+been for the incursion of a gang of bandylegged watchmakers, smoking
+their pipes, and scraping their fiddles, and snapping their fingers,
+with all that insolent vulgarity so characteristic of the Rue-basse
+portion of the Genevese community. We got out of their way, you may
+easily imagine, as fast as we were able, and descending a rough road,
+most abominably strewn with rolling pebbles, arrived at the bridge
+d'Etrombieres just as it fell dark. The mouldering planks with which the
+bridge is awkwardly put together, sounded suspiciously hollow under the
+feet of our horses, and had it not been for the friendly light of a pine
+torch which a peasant brought forth, we might have been tumbled into the
+Arve.
+
+It was a mild summer night, the rainy clouds were dissolving away with a
+murmur of distant thunder so faint as to be scarcely heard. From time to
+time a flash of summer lightning discovered the lonely tower of Moneti
+on the edge of the lesser Saleve. The ghostly tales, which the old cur�
+of the mountains had told me at a period when I hungered and thirsted
+after supernatural narrations, recurred to my memory, in all their
+variety of horrors, and kept it fully employed till I found myself under
+the walls of Geneva. The gates were shut, but I knew they were to be
+opened again at ten o'clock for the convenience of those returning from
+the _Comedie_.
+
+The _Comedie_ is become of wonderful importance; but a few years ago the
+very name of a play was held in such abhorrence by the spiritual
+consistory of Geneva and its obsequious servants, which then included
+the best part of the republic, that the partakers and abettors of such
+diversions were esteemed on the high road to eternal perdition. Though,
+God knows, I am unconscious of any extreme partiality for Calvin, I
+cannot help thinking his severe discipline wisely adapted to the moral
+constitution of this starch bit of a republic which he took to his grim
+embraces. But these days of rigidity and plainness are completely gone
+by; the soft spirit of toleration, so eloquently insinuated by Voltaire,
+has removed all thorny fences, familiarized his numerous admirers with
+every innovation, and laughed scruples of every nature to scorn.
+Voltaire, indeed, may justly be styled the architect of that gay
+well-ornamented bridge, by which freethinking and immorality have been
+smuggled into the republic under the mask of philosophy and liberality
+and sentiment. These monsters, like the Sin and Death of Milton, have
+made speedy and irreparable havoc. To facilitate their operations, rose
+the genius of "Rentes Viag�res" at his bidding, tawdry villas with their
+little pert groves of poplar and horse-chesnut start up--his power
+enables Madame C. D. the bookseller's lady to amuse the D. of G. with
+assemblies, sets Parisian cabriolets and English phaetons rolling from
+one faro table to another, and launches innumerable pleasure parties
+with banners and popguns on the lake, drumming and trumpeting away their
+time from morn till evening. I recollect, not many years past, how
+seldom the echoes of the mountains were profaned by such noises, and how
+rarely the drones of Geneva, if any there were in that once industrious
+city, had opportunities of displaying their idleness; but now
+Dissipation reigns triumphant, and to pay the tribute she exacts, every
+fool runs headlong to throw his scrapings into the voracious whirlpool
+of annuities; little caring, provided he feeds high and lolls in his
+carriage, what becomes of his posterity. I had ample time to make these
+reflections, as the _Comedie_ lasted longer than usual.
+
+Luckily the night improved, the storms had rolled away, and the moon
+rising from behind the crags of the lesser Saleve cast a pleasant gleam
+on the smooth turf of plain-palais, where we walked to and fro above
+half an hour. We had this extensive level almost entirely to ourselves,
+no light glimmered in any window, no sound broke the general stillness,
+except a low murmur proceeding from a group of chesnut trees. There,
+snug under a garden wall on a sequestered bench, sat two or three
+Genevois of the old stamp, chewing the cud of sober sermons--men who
+receive not more than seven or eight per cent. for their money; there
+sat they waiting for their young ones, who had been seduced to the
+theatre.
+
+A loud hubbub and glare of flambeaus proclaiming the end of the play, we
+left these good folks to their rumination, and regaining our carriage
+rattled furiously through the streets of Geneva, once so quiet, so
+silent at these hours, to the no small terror and annoyance of those
+whom Rentes Viag�res had not yet provided with a speedier conveyance
+than their own legs, or a brighter satellite than an old cook-maid with
+a candle and lantern.
+
+It was eleven o'clock before we reached home, and near two before I
+retired to rest, having sat down immediately to write this letter whilst
+the impressions of the day were fresh in my memory.
+
+END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
+
+LONDON:
+
+PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,
+
+Dorset Street, Fleet Street.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ITALY;
+
+WITH SKETCHES OF
+
+SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
+
+BY THE AUTHOR OF "VATHEK."
+
+THIRD EDITION.
+
+IN TWO VOLUMES.
+
+VOL. II.
+
+LONDON:
+
+RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
+
+Publisher in Ordinary to His Majesty.
+
+1835.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+OF
+
+THE SECOND VOLUME.
+
+PORTUGAL.
+
+LETTER I.
+
+Detained at Falmouth.--Navigation at a stop.--An evening
+ramble.                                      Page 5
+
+LETTER II.
+
+Mines in the parish of Gwynnap.--Piety and gin.--Rapid
+progress of Methodism.--Freaks of fortune.--Pernicious
+extravagance.--Minerals.--Mr. Beauchamp's mansion.--Beautiful
+lake.--The wind still contrary.                                        8
+
+LETTER III.
+
+A lovely morning.--Antiquated mansion.--Its lady.--Ancestral
+effigies.--Collection of animals.--Serene evening.--Owls.--Expected
+dreams.                                                               12
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+A blustering night.--Tedium of the language of the
+compass.--Another excursion to Trefusis.                              16
+
+LETTER V.
+
+Regrets produced by contrasts.                                        19
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+Still no prospect of embarkation.--Pen-dennis Castle.--Luxuriant
+vegetation.--A serene day.--Anticipations of
+the voyage.                                                           21
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+Portugal.--Excursion to Pagliavam.--The villa.--Dismal
+labyrinths in the Dutch style.--Roses.--Anglo-Portuguese
+Master of the Horse.--Interior of the Palace.--Furniture
+in petticoats.--Force of education.--Royalty without power.--Return
+from the Palace.                                                      23
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+Glare of the climate in Portugal.--Apish luxury.--Botanic
+Gardens.--A�afatas.--Description of the Gardens and
+Terraces.                                                             29
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+Consecration of the Bishop of Algarve.--Pathetic Music.--Valley
+of Alcantara.--Enormous Aqueduct.--Visit to the
+Marialva Palace.--Its much revered Masters.--Collection of
+rarities.--The Viceroy of Algarve.--Polyglottery.--A
+night-scene.--Modinhas.--Extraordinary Procession.--Blessings
+of Patriarchal Government.                                            34
+
+LETTER X.
+
+Festival of the Corpo de Deos.--Striking decoration of the
+streets.--The Patriarchal Cathedral.--Coming forth of the
+Sacrament in awful state.--Gorgeous procession.--Bewildering
+confusion of sounds.                                                  47
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+Dinner at the country-house of Mr. S----.--His Brazilian
+wife.--Magnificent Repast.--A tragic damsel.                          51
+
+LETTER XII.
+
+Pass the day at Belem.--Visit the neighbouring Monastery.--Habitation
+of King Emanuel.--A gold Custodium of
+exquisite workmanship.--The Church.--Bonfires on the
+edge of the Tagus.--Fire-works.--Images of the Holy
+One of Lisbon.                                                        55
+
+LETTER XIII.
+
+The New Church of St. Anthony.--Sprightly Music.--Enthusiastic
+Sermon.--The good Prior of Avia.--Visit to
+the Carthusian Convent of Cachiez.--Spectres of the Order.--Striking
+effigy of the Saviour.--A young and melancholy
+Carthusian.--The Cemetery.                                            59
+
+LETTER XIV.
+
+Curious succession of visiters.--A Seraphic Doctor.--Monsenhor
+Aguilar.--Mob of old hags, children, and ragamuffins.--Visit
+to the Theatre in the Rua d'os Condes.--The
+Archbishop Confessor.--Brazilian Modinhas.--Bewitching
+nature of that music.--Nocturnal processions.--Enthusiasm
+of the young Conde de Villanova.--No accounting for
+fancies.                                                              68
+
+LETTER XV.
+
+Excessive sultriness of Lisbon.--Night-sounds of the city.--Public
+gala in the garden of the Conde de Villa Nova.--Visit
+to the Anjeja Palace.--The heir of the family.--Marvellous
+narrations of a young priest.--Convent of
+Savoyard nuns.--Father Theodore's chickens.--Sequestered
+group of beauties.--Singing of the Scarlati.                          77
+
+LETTER XVI.
+
+Ups-and-downs of Lisbon.--Negro Beldames.--Quinta of
+Marvilla.--Moonlight view of Lisbon.--Illuminated windows
+of the Palace.--The old Marquis of Penalva.--Padre
+Duarte, a famous Jesuit.--Conversation between him and a
+conceited Physician.--Their ludicrous blunders.--Toad-eaters.--Sonatas.--Portuguese
+minuets.                                                              88
+
+LETTER XVII.
+
+Dog-howlings.--Visit to the Convent of San Jos� di Ribamar.--Breakfast
+at the Marquis of Penalvas.--Magnificent
+and hospitable reception.--Whispering in the shade of
+mysterious chambers.--The Bishop of Algarve.--Evening
+scene in the garden of Marvilla.                                      96
+
+LETTER XVIII.
+
+Excursion to Cintra.--Villa of Ramalha�.--The Garden.--Collares.--Pavilion
+designed by Pillement.--A convulsive
+gallop.--Cold weather in July.                                       104
+
+LETTER XIX.
+
+Sympathy between Toads and Old Women.--Palace of
+Cintra.--Reservoir of Gold and Silver Fish.--Parterre on
+the summit of a lofty terrace.--Place of confinement of
+Alphonso the Sixth.--The Chapel.--Barbaric profusion
+of Gold.--Altar at which Don Sebastian knelt when he
+received a supernatural warning.--Rooms in preparation
+for the Queen and the Infantas.--Return to Ramalha�.                 110
+
+LETTER XX.
+
+Grand gala at Court.--Festival in honour of the birthday
+of Guildermeester.--Mad freaks of a Frenchman.--Unwelcome
+lights of Truth.--Invective against the English.                     117
+
+LETTER XXI.
+
+The Queen of Portugal's Chapel.--The Orchestra.--Rehearsal
+of a Council.--Proposal to visit Mafra.                              123
+
+LETTER XXII.
+
+Road to Mafra.--Distant view of the Convent.--Its vast
+fronts.--General magnificence of the Edifice.--The
+Church.--The High Altar.--Eve of the Festival of St.
+Augustine.--The collateral Chapels.--The Sacristy.--The
+Abbot of the Convent.--The Library.--View from
+the Convent-roof.--Chime of Bells.--House of the Capitan
+Mor.--Dinner.--Vespers.--Awful sound of the Organs.--The
+Palace.--Return to the Convent.--Inquisitive crowd.--The
+Garden.--Matins.--A Procession.--The Hall de
+Profundis.--Solemn Repast.--Supper at the Capitan
+Mor's.                                                               127
+
+LETTER XXIII.
+
+High mass.--Garden of the Viscount Ponte de Lima.--Leave
+Mafra.--An accident.--Return to Cintra.--My saloon.--Beautiful
+view from it.                                                        143
+
+LETTER XXIV.
+
+A saloon in the highest style of oriental decoration.--Amusing
+stories of King John the Fifth and his recluses.--Cheerful
+funeral.--Refreshing ramble to the heights of
+Penha Verde.                                                         147
+
+LETTER XXV.
+
+Anecdotes of the Conde de San Lorenzo.--Visit to Mrs.
+Guildermeester.--Toads active, and toads passive.--The
+old Consul and his tray of jewels.                                   157
+
+LETTER XXVI.
+
+Expected arrival at Cintra of the Queen and suite.--Duke
+d'Alafoens.--Excursion to a rustic Fair.--Revels of
+the Peasantry.--Night-scene at the Marialva Villa.                   163
+
+LETTER XXVII.
+
+Curious scene in the interior of the palace of Cintra.--Singular
+invitation.--Dinner with the Archbishop Confessor.--Hilarity
+and shrewd remarks of that extraordinary
+personage.                                                           169
+
+LETTER XXVIII.
+
+Explore the Cintra Mountains.--Convent of Nossa Senhora
+da Penha.--Moorish Ruins.--The Cork Convent.--The
+Rock of Lisbon.--Marine Scenery.--Susceptible imagination
+of the Ancients exemplified.                                         179
+
+LETTER XXIX.
+
+Excursion to Penha Verde.--Resemblance of that Villa
+to the edifices in Caspar Poussin's landscapes.--The ancient
+pine-trees, said to have been planted by Don John de
+Castro.--The old forests displaced by gaudy terraces.--Influx
+of visitors.--A celebrated Prior's erudition and
+strange anachronisms.--The Beast in the Apocalypse.--OEcolampadius.--Bevy
+of Palace damsels.--F�te at the
+Marialva Villa.--The Queen and the Royal Family.--A
+favourite dwarf Negress.--Dignified manner of the
+Queen.--Profound respect inspired by her presence.--Rigorous
+etiquette.--Grand display of Fireworks.--The
+young Countess of Lumieres.--Affecting resemblance.                  189
+
+LETTER XXX.
+
+Cathedral of Lisbon.--Trace of St. Anthony's fingers.--The
+Holy Crows.--Party formed to visit them.--A Portuguese
+poet.--Comfortable establishment of the Holy
+Crows.--Singular tradition connected with them.--Illuminations
+in honour of the Infanta's accouchement.--Public
+harangues.--Policarpio's singing, and anecdotes
+of the _haute noblesse_.                                             201
+
+LETTER XXXI.
+
+Rambles in the Valley of Collates.--Elysian scenery.--Song
+of a young female peasant.--Rustic hospitality.--Interview
+with the Prince of Brazil in the plains of Cascais.--Conversation
+with His Royal Highness.--Return to
+Ramalha�.                                                            212
+
+LETTER XXXII.
+
+Convent of Boa Morte.--Emaciated priests.--Austerity of
+the Order.--Contrite personages.--A _nouveau riche_.--His
+house.--Walk on the veranda of the palace at Belem.--Train
+of attendants at dinner.--Portuguese gluttony.--Black
+dose of legendary superstition.--Terrible denunciations.--A
+dreary evening.                                                      229
+
+LETTER XXXIII.
+
+Rehearsal of Seguidillas.--Evening scene.--Crowds of
+beggars.--Royal charity misplaced.--Mendicant flattery.--Frightful
+countenances.--Performance at the Salitri theatre.--Countess
+of Pombeiro and her dwarf negresses.--A
+strange ballet.--Return to the Palace.--Supper at the Camareira
+Mor's.--Filial affection.--Last interview with the
+Archbishop.--Fatal tide of events.--Heart-felt regret on
+leaving Portugal.                                                    235
+
+LETTER XXXIV.
+
+Dead mass at the church of Martyrs.--Awful music by
+Perez and Jomelli.--Marialva's affecting address.--My
+sorrow and anxiety.                                                  253
+
+
+
+
+SPAIN.
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+Embark on the Tagus.--Aldea Gallega.--A poetical postmaster.--The
+church.--Leave Aldea Gallega.--Scenery on
+the road.--Palace built by John the Fifth.--Ruins at Montemor.--Reach
+Arroyolos.                                                           259
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+A wild tract of forest-land.--Arrival at Estremoz.--A fair.--An
+outrageous sermon.--Boundless wastes of gum-cistus.--Elvas.--Our
+reception there.--My visiters.                                       268
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+Pass the rivulet which separates Spain and Portugal.--A
+muleteer's enthusiasm.--Badajoz.--The cathedral.--Journey
+resumed.--A vast plain.--Village of Lubaon.--Withered
+hags.--Names and characters of our mules.--Posada at
+Merida.                                                              275
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+Arrival at Miaxada.--Monotonous singing.--Dismal
+country.--Truxillo.--A rainy morning.--Resume our journey.--Immense
+wood of cork-trees.--Almaraz.--Reception by the
+escrivano.--A terrific volume.--Village of Laval de Moral.--Range
+of lofty mountains.--Calzada.                                        282
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+Sierra de los Gregos.--Mass.--Oropeza.--Talavera.--Drawling
+tirannas.--Talavera de la Reyna.--Reception at
+Santa Olaya.--The lady of the house and her dogs and
+dancers.                                                             289
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+Dismal plains.--Santa Cruz.--Val de Carneiro.--A most
+determined musical amateur.--The Alcayde Mayor.--Approach
+to Madrid.--Aspect of the city.--The Calle d'Alcala.--The
+Prado.--The Ave-Maria bell.                                          296
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+The Duchess of Berwick in all her nonchalance.--Her
+apartment described.--Her passion for music.--Her se�oros
+de honor.                                                            301
+
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+The Chevalier de Roxas.--Excursion to the palace and
+gardens of the Buen Retiro.--The Turkish Ambassador and
+his numerous train.--Farinelli's apartments.                         305
+
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+The Museum and Academy of Arts.--Scene on the Prado.--The
+Portuguese Ambassador and his comforters.--The
+Theatre.--A highly popular dancer.--Seguidillas in all their
+glory.                                                               310
+
+
+LETTER X.
+
+Visit to the Escurial.--Imposing site of that regal convent.--Reception
+by the Mystagogue of the place.--Magnificence
+of the choir.--Charles the Fifth's organ.--Crucifix
+by Cellini.--Gorgeous ceiling painted by Lucca Giordano.--Extent
+and intricacy of the stupendous edifice.                             314
+
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+Mysterious cabinets.--Relics of Martyrs.--A feather from
+the Archangel Gabriel's wing.--Labyrinth of gloomy cloisters.--Sepulchral
+cave.--River of death.--The regal sarcophagi.                        323
+
+
+LETTER XII.
+
+A concert and ball at Senhor Pacheco's.--Curious assemblage
+in his long pompous gallery.--Deplorable ditty by an
+eastern dilettante.--A bolero in the most rapturous style.--Boccharini
+in despair.--Solecisms in dancing.                                   329
+
+
+LETTER XIII.
+
+Palace of Madrid.--Masterly productions of the great
+Italian, Spanish, and Flemish painters.--The King's sleeping
+apartment.--Musical clocks.--Feathered favourites.--Picture
+of the Madonna del Spasimo.--Interview with Don
+Gabriel and the Infanta.--Her Royal Highness's affecting
+recollections of home.--Head-quarters of Masserano.--Exhibition
+of national manners there.                                           339
+
+
+LETTER XIV.
+
+A German Visionary.--Remarkable conversation with
+him.--History of a Ghost-seer.                                       349
+
+
+LETTER XV.
+
+Madame Bendicho.--Unsuccessful search on the Prado.--Kauffman,
+an infidel in the German style.--Mass in the
+chapel of the Virgin.--The Duchess of Alba's villa.--Destruction
+by a young French artist of the paintings of Rubens.--French
+ambassador's ball.--Heir-apparent of the
+house of Medina Celi.                                                354
+
+
+LETTER XVI.
+
+Visit from the Turkish Ambassador.--Stroll to the gardens
+of the Buen Retiro.--Troop of ostriches.--Madame
+d'Aranda.--State of Cortejo-ism.--Powers of drapery.--Madame
+d'Aranda's toilet.--Assembly at the house of Madame
+Badaan.--Cortejos off duty.--Blaze of beauty.--A
+curious group.--A dance.                                             358
+
+
+LETTER XVII.
+
+Valley of Aranjuez.--The island garden.--The palace.--Strange
+medley of pictures.--Oratories of the King and the
+Queen.--Destruction of a grand apartment painted in fresco
+by Mengs.--Boundless freedom of conduct in the present
+reign.--Decoration of the Duchess of Ossuna's house.--Apathy
+pervading the whole Iberian peninsula.                               365
+
+
+LETTER XVIII.
+
+Explore the extremities of the Calle de la Reyna.--Destructive
+rage for improvement.--Loveliness of the valley
+of Aranjuez.--Undisturbed happiness of the animals there.--Degeneration
+of the race of grandees.--A royal cook.                              376
+
+
+
+
+PORTUGAL.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+TO
+
+PORTUGUESE LETTERS.
+
+
+Portugal attracting much attention in her present convulsed and
+declining state, it might not perhaps be uninteresting to the public to
+cast back a glance by way of contrast to the happier times when she
+enjoyed, under the mild and beneficent reign of Donna Maria the First, a
+great share of courtly and commercial prosperity.
+
+March 1, 1834.
+
+
+
+
+PORTUGAL.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+     Detained at Falmouth.--Navigation at a stop.--An evening ramble.
+
+
+Falmouth, March 6, 1787.
+
+The glass is sinking; the west wind gently breathing upon the water, the
+smoke softly descending into the room, and sailors yawning dismally at
+the door of every ale-house.
+
+Navigation seems at a full stop. The captains lounging about with their
+hands in their pockets, and passengers idling at billiards. Dr. V----
+has scraped acquaintance with a quaker, and went last night to one of
+their assemblies, where he kept jingling his fine Genevan watch-chains
+to their sober and silent dismay.
+
+In the intervals of the mild showers with which we are blessed, I ramble
+about some fields already springing with fresh herbage, which slope
+down to the harbour: the immediate environs of Falmouth are not
+unpleasant upon better acquaintance. Just out of the town, in a
+sheltered recess of the bay, lies a grove of tall elms, forming several
+avenues carpeted with turf. In the central point rises a stone pyramid
+about thirty feet high, well designed and constructed, but quite plain
+without any inscription; between the stems of the trees one discovers a
+low white house, built in and out in a very capricious manner, with
+oriel windows and porches, shaded by bushes of prosperous bay. Several
+rose-coloured cabbages, with leaves as crisped and curled as those of
+the acanthus, decorate a little grass-plat, neatly swept, before the
+door. Over the roof of this snug habitation I spied the skeleton of a
+gothic mansion, so completely robed with thick ivy, as to appear like
+one of those castles of clipped box I have often seen in a Dutch garden.
+
+Yesterday evening, the winds being still, and the sun gleaming warm for
+a moment or two, I visited this spot to examine the ruin, hear birds
+chirp, and scent wall-flowers.
+
+Two young girls, beautifully shaped, and dressed with a sort of romantic
+provincial elegance, were walking up and down the grove by the pyramid.
+There was something so love-lorn in their gestures, that I have no doubt
+they were sighing out their souls to each other. As a decided amateur of
+this sort of _confidential promenade_, I would have given my ears to
+have heard their _confessions_.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+     Mines in the parish of Gwynnap.--Piety and gin.--Rapid progress of
+     Methodism.--Freaks of fortune.--Pernicious
+     extravagance.--Minerals.--Mr. Beauchamp's mansion.--Beautiful
+     lake.--The wind still contrary.
+
+
+Falmouth, March 7, 1787.
+
+Scott came this morning and took me to see the consolidated mines in the
+parish of Gwynnap; they are situated in a bleak desert, rendered still
+more doleful by the unhealthy appearance of its inhabitants. At every
+step one stumbles upon ladders that lead into utter darkness, or funnels
+that exhale warm copperous vapours. All around these openings the ore is
+piled up in heaps waiting for purchasers. I saw it drawn reeking out of
+the mine by the help of a machine called a whim, put in motion by mules,
+which in their turn are stimulated by impish children hanging over the
+poor brutes, and flogging them round without respite. This dismal scene
+of _whims_, suffering mules, and hillocks of cinders, extends for
+miles. Huge iron engines creaking and groaning, invented by Watt, and
+tall chimneys smoking and flaming, that seem to belong to old Nicholas's
+abode, diversify the prospect.
+
+Two strange-looking Cornish beings, dressed in ghostly white, conducted
+me about, and very kindly proposed a descent into the bowels of the
+earth, but I declined initiation. These mystagogues occupy a tolerable
+house, with fair sash windows, where the inspectors of the mine hold
+their meetings, and regale upon beef, pudding, and brandy.
+
+While I was standing at the door of this habitation, several woful
+figures in tattered garments, with pickaxes on their shoulders, crawled
+out of a dark fissure and repaired to a hovel, which I learnt was a
+gin-shop. There they pass the few hours allotted them above ground, and
+drink, it is to be hoped, an oblivion of their subterraneous existence.
+Piety as well as gin helps to fill up their leisure moments, and I was
+told that Wesley, who came apostolising into Cornwall a few years ago,
+preached on this very spot to above seven thousand followers.
+
+Since this period Methodism has made a very rapid progress, and has been
+of no trifling service in diverting the attention of these sons of
+darkness from then present condition to the glories of the life to come.
+However, some people inform me their actual state is not so much to be
+lamented, and that, notwithstanding their pale looks and tattered
+raiment, they are far from being poor or unhealthy. Fortune often throws
+a considerable sum into their laps when they least expect it, and many a
+common miner has been known to gain a hundred pounds in the space of a
+month or two. Like sailors in the first effusion of prize-money, they
+have no notion of turning their good-luck to advantage; but squander the
+fruits of their toil in the silliest species of extravagance. Their
+wives are dressed out in tawdry silks, and flaunt away in ale-houses
+between rows of obedient fiddlers. The money spent, down they sink again
+into damps and darkness.
+
+Having passed about an hour in collecting minerals, stopping engines
+with my finger, and performing all the functions of a diligent young man
+desirous of information, I turned my back on smokes, flames, and
+coal-holes, with great pleasure.
+
+Not above a mile-and-a-half from this black bustling scene, in a
+sheltered valley, lies the mansion of Mr. Beauchamp, wrapped up in
+shrubberies of laurel and laurustine. Copses of hazel and holly
+terminate the prospect on almost every side, and in the midst of the
+glen a broad clear stream reflects the impending vegetation. This
+transparent water, after performing the part of a mirror before the
+house, forms a succession of waterfalls which glitter between slopes of
+the smoothest turf, sprinkled with daffodils: numerous flights of
+widgeon and Muscovy ducks, were sprucing themselves on the edge of the
+stream, and two grave swans seemed highly to approve of its woody
+retired banks for the education of their progeny.
+
+Very glad was I to disport on its "margent green," after crushing
+cinders at every step all the morning; had not the sun hid himself, and
+the air grown chill, I might have fooled away three or four hours with
+the swans and the widgeons, and lost my dinner. Upon my return home, I
+found the wind as contrary as ever, and all thoughts of sailing
+abandoned.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+     A lovely morning.--Antiquated mansion.--Its lady.--Ancestral
+     effigies.--Collection of animals.--Serene evening.--Owls.--Expected
+     dreams.
+
+
+Falmouth, March 8, 1787.
+
+What a lovely morning! how glassy the sea, how busy the fishing-boats,
+and how fast asleep the wind in its old quarter! Towards evening,
+however, it freshened, and I took a toss in a boat with Mr. Trefusis,
+whose territories extend half round the bay. His green hanging downs
+spotted with sheep, and intersected by rocky gullies, shaded by tall
+straight oaks and ashes, form a romantic prospect, very much in the
+style of Mount Edgcumbe.
+
+We drank tea at the capital of these dominions, an antiquated mansion,
+which is placed in a hollow on the summit of a lofty hill, and contains
+many ruinous halls and never-ending passages: they cannot, however, be
+said to lead to nothing, like those celebrated by Gray in his Long
+Story, for Mrs. Trefusis terminated the perspective. She is a native of
+Lausanne, and was quite happy to see her countryman Verdeil.
+
+We should have very much enjoyed her conversation, but the moment tea
+was over, the squire could not resist leading us round his improvements
+in kennel, stable, and oxstall: though it was pitch-dark, and we were
+obliged to be escorted by grooms and groomlings with candles and
+lanterns; a very necessary precaution, as the winds blew not more
+violently without the house than within.
+
+In the course of our peregrination through halls, pantries, and
+antechambers, we passed a staircase with heavy walnut-railing, lined
+from top to bottom with effigies of ancestors that looked quite
+formidable by the horny glow of our lanterns; which illumination, dull
+as it was, occasioned much alarm amongst a collection of animals, both
+furred and feathered, the delight of Mr. Trefusis's existence.
+
+Every corner of his house contains some strange and stinking inhabitant;
+one can hardly move without stumbling over a basket of puppies, or
+rolling along a mealy tub, with ferrets in the bottom of it; rap went my
+head against a wire cage, and behold a squirrel twirled out of its sleep
+in sad confusion: a little further on, I was very near being the
+destruction of some new-born dormice--their feeble squeak haunts my ears
+at this moment!
+
+Beyond this nursery, a door opened and admitted us into a large saloon,
+in the days of Mr. Trefusis's father very splendidly decorated, but at
+present exhibiting nothing, save damp plastered walls, mouldering
+floors, and cracked windows. A well-known perfume issuing from this
+apartment, proclaimed the neighbourhood of those fragrant animals, which
+you perfectly recollect were the joy of my infancy, and presently three
+or four couple of spanking yellow rabbits made their appearance. A
+racoon poked his head out of a coop, whilst an owl lifted up the gloom
+of his countenance, and gave us his malediction.
+
+My nose having lost all relish for _rabbitish_ odours, took refuge in my
+handkerchief; there did I keep it snug till it pleased our conductors to
+light us through two or three closets, all of a flutter with Virginia
+nightingales, goldfinches, and canary-birds, into the stable. Several
+game-cocks fell a crowing with most triumphant shrillness upon our
+approach; and a monkey--the image of poor Brandoin--expanded his jaws in
+so woful a manner, that I grew melancholy, and paid the hunters not half
+the attention they merited.
+
+At length we got into the open air again, made our bows and departed.
+The evening was become serene and pleasant, the moon beamed brilliantly
+on the sea; but the owls, who are never to be pleased, hooted most
+ruefully.
+
+Good night: I expect to dream of _closed-up doors_,[12] and haunted
+passages; rats, puppies, racoons, game-cocks, rabbits, and dormice.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+     A blustering night.--Tedium of the language of the
+     compass.--Another excursion to Trefusis.
+
+
+Falmouth, March 10, 1787.
+
+I thought last night our thin pasteboard habitation would have been
+blown into the sea, for never in my life did I hear such dreadful
+blusterings. Perhaps the winds are celebrating the approach of the
+equinox, or some high festival in �olus's calendar, with which we poor
+mortals are unacquainted. How tired I am of the language of the compass,
+of wind shifting to this point and veering to the other; of gales
+springing up, and breezes freshening; of rough seas, clear berths, ships
+driving, and anchors lifting. Oh! that I was rooted like a tree, in some
+sheltered corner of an inland valley, where I might never hear more of
+saltwater or sailing.
+
+You cannot wonder at my becoming impatient, after eleven days'
+captivity, nor at my wishing myself anywhere but where I am: I should
+almost prefer a quarantine party at the new elegant Lazaretto off
+Marseilles, to this smoky residence; at least, I might there learn some
+curious particulars of the Levant, enjoy bright sunshine, and perfect
+myself in Arabic. But what can a being of my turn do at Falmouth? I have
+little taste for the explanation of fire-engines, Mr. Scott; the pursuit
+of hares under the auspices of young Trefusis; or the gliding of
+billiard-balls in the society of Barbadoes Creoles and packet-boat
+captains. The Lord have mercy upon me! now, indeed, do I perform
+penance.
+
+Our dinner yesterday went off tolerably well. We had _on_ the table a
+savoury pig, right worthy of Otaheite, and some of the finest poultry I
+ever tasted; and _round_ the table two or three brace of odd Cornish
+gentlefolks, not deficient in humour and originality.
+
+About eight in the evening, six game-cocks were ushered into the
+eating-room by two limber lads in scarlet jackets; and, after a flourish
+of crowing, the noble birds set-to with surprising keenness. Tufts of
+brilliant feathers soon flew about the apartment; but the carpet was
+not stained with the blood of the combatants: for, to do Trefusis
+justice, he has a generous heart, and takes no pleasure in cruelty. The
+cocks were unarmed, had their spurs cut short, and may live to fight
+fifty such harmless battles.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+     Regrets produced by Contrasts.
+
+
+Falmouth, March 11, 1787.
+
+What a fool was I to leave my beloved retirement at Evian! Instead of
+viewing innumerable transparent rills falling over the amber-coloured
+rocks of Melierie, I am chained down to contemplate an oozy beach,
+deserted by the sea, and becrawled with worms tracking their way in the
+slime that harbours them. Instead of the cheerful crackling of a
+wood-fire in the old baron's great hall, I hear the bellowing of winds
+in narrow chimneys. You must allow the aromatic fragrance of fir-cones,
+such heaps of which I used to burn in Savoy, is greatly preferable to
+the exhalations of Welsh coal, and that to a person wrapped up in
+musical devotion, high mass must be a good deal superior to the hummings
+and hawings of a Quaker assembly. Colett swears he had rather be
+boarded at the Inquisition than remain at the mercy of the confounded
+keeper of this hotel, the worst and the dearest in Christendom. We are
+all tired to death, and know not what to do with ourselves.
+
+As I look upon ennui to be very catching, I shall break off before I
+give you a share of it.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+     Still no prospect of embarkation.--Pen-dennis Castle.--Luxuriant
+     vegetation.--A serene day.--Anticipations of the voyage.
+
+
+Falmouth, March 13, 1787.
+
+No prospect of launching this day upon the ocean. Every breeze is
+subsided, and a profound calm established. I walk up and down the path
+which leads to Pen-dennis Castle with folded arms, in a most listless
+desponding mood. Vast brakes of furze, much stouter and loftier than any
+with which I am acquainted, scent the air with the perfume of apricots.
+Primroses, violets, and fresh herbs innumerable expand on every bank.
+Larks, poised in the soft blue sky, warble delightfully. The sea, far
+and wide, is covered with fishing-boats; and such a stillness prevails,
+that I hear the voices of the fishermen.
+
+You will be rambling in sheltered alleys, whilst winds and currents
+drive me furiously along craggy shores, under the scowl of a
+tempestuous sky. You will be angling for perch, whilst sharks are
+whetting their teeth at me. Methinks I hear the voracious gluttons
+disputing the first snap, and pointing upwards their cold slimy noses.
+Out upon them! I have no desire to invade their element, or (using
+poetical language) to plough those plains of waves which brings them
+rich harvests of carcasses, and had much rather cling fast to the green
+banks of Pen-dennis. I even prefer mining to sailing; and of the two,
+had rather be swallowed up by the earth than the ocean.
+
+I wish some "swart fairy of the mine" would snatch me to her
+concealments. Rather than pass a month in the qualms of sea-sickness, I
+would consent to live three by candlelight, in the deepest den you could
+discover, stuck close to a foul midnight hag as mouldy as a rotten
+apple.
+
+This, you will tell me, is being very energetic in my aversions, that I
+allow; but such, you know, is my trim, and I cannot help it.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+     Portugal.--Excursion to Pagliavam.--The villa.--Dismal labyrinths
+     in the Dutch style.--Roses.--Anglo-Portuguese Master of the
+     Horse.--Interior of the Palace.--Furniture in petticoats.--Force of
+     education.--Royalty without power.--Return from the Palace.
+
+
+30th May, 1787.
+
+Horne persuaded me much against my will to accompany him in his
+Portuguese chaise to Pagliavam, the residence of John the Fifth's
+bastards, instead of following my usual track along the sea-shore. The
+roads to this stately garden are abominable, and more infested by
+beggars, dogs, flies, and musquitoes, than any I am acquainted with. The
+villa itself, which belongs to the Marquis of Lourical, is placed in a
+hollow, and the tufted groves which surround it admit not a breath of
+air; so I was half suffocated the moment I entered their shade.
+
+A great flat space before the garden-front of the villa is laid out in
+dismal labyrinths of clipped myrtle, with lofty pyramids rising from
+them, in the style of that vile Dutch maze planted by King William at
+Kensington, and rooted up some years ago by King George the Third.
+Beyond this puzzling ground are several long alleys of stiff dark
+verdure, called _ruas_, _i. e._ literally streets, with great propriety,
+being more close, more formal, and not less dusty than High-Holborn. I
+deviated from them into plats of well-watered vegetables and aromatic
+herbs, enclosed by neat fences of cane, covered with an embroidery of
+the freshest and most perfect roses, quite free from insects and
+cankers, worthy to have strewn the couches and graced the bosom of Lais,
+Aspasia, or Lady----. You know how warmly every mortal of taste delights
+in these lovely flowers; how frequently, and in what harmonious numbers,
+Ariosto has celebrated them. Has not Lady ---- a whole apartment painted
+over with roses? Does she not fill her bath with their leaves, and deck
+her idols with garlands of no other flowers? and is she not quite in the
+right of it?
+
+Whilst I was poetically engaged with the roses, Horne entered into
+conversation with a sort of Anglo-Portuguese Master of the Horse to
+their bastard highnesses. He had a snug well-powdered wig, a bright
+silver-hilted sword, a crimson full-dress suit, and a gently bulging
+paunch. With one hand in his bosom and the other in the act of taking
+snuff, he harangued emphatically upon the holiness, temperance, and
+chastity of his august masters, who live sequestered from the world in
+dingy silent state, abhor profane company, and never cast a look upon
+females.
+
+Being curious to see the abode of these semi-royal sober personages, I
+entered the palace. Not an insect stirred, not a whisper was audible.
+The principal apartments consist in a suite of lofty-coved saloons,
+nobly proportioned, and uniformly hung with damask of the deepest
+crimson. The upper end of each room is doubly shaded by a ponderous
+canopy of cut velvet. To the right and left appear rows of huge
+elbow-chairs of the same materials. No glasses, no pictures, no gilding,
+no decoration, but heavy drapery; even the tables are concealed by cut
+velvet flounces, in the style of those with which our dowagers used
+formerly to array their toilets. The very sight of such close tables is
+enough to make one perspire; and I cannot imagine what demon prompted
+the Portuguese to invent such a fusty fashion.
+
+This taste for putting commodes and tables into petticoats is pretty
+general here, at least in royal apartments. At Queluz, not a card or
+dining-table has escaped; and many an old court-dress, I should suspect,
+has been cut up to furnish these accoutrements, which are of all
+colours, plain and flowered, pastorally sprigged or gorgeously
+embroidered. Not so at Pagliavam. Crimson alone prevails, and casts its
+royal gloom unrivalled on every object. Stuck fast to the wall, between
+two of the aforementioned tables, are two fauteuils for their
+highnesses; and opposite, a rank of chairs for those reverend fathers in
+God who from time to time are honoured with admittance.
+
+How mighty is the force of Education!--What pains it must require on the
+part of nurses, equerries, and chamberlains, to stifle every lively and
+generous sensation in the princelings they educate,--to break a human
+being into the habits of impotent royalty! Dignity without command is
+one of the heaviest of burthens. A sovereign may employ himself; he has
+the choice of good or evil; but princes, like those of Pagliavam,
+without power or influence, who have nothing to feed on but imaginary
+greatness, must yawn their souls out, and become in process of time as
+formal and inanimate as the pyramids of stunted myrtle in their gardens.
+Happier were those babies King John did not think proper to recognize,
+and they are not few in number, for that pious monarch,
+
+                "Wide as his command,
+    "Scattered his Maker's image through the land."
+
+They, perhaps, whilst their brothers are gaping under rusty canopies,
+tinkle their guitars in careless moonlight rambles, wriggle in gay
+fandangos, or enjoy sound sleep, rural fare, and merriment, in the
+character of jolly village curates.
+
+I was glad to get out of the palace; its stillness and gloom depressed
+my spirits, and a confined atmosphere, impregnated with the smell of
+burnt lavender, almost overcame me. I am just returned gasping for air.
+No wonder; one might as well be in bed with a warming-pan as in a
+Portuguese cariole with the portly Horne, who carries a noble
+protuberance, set off in this season with a satin waistcoat richly
+spangled.
+
+I must go to Cintra, or I shall expire!
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+     Glare of the climate in Portugal.--Apish luxury.--Botanic
+     Gardens.--A�afatas.--Description of the Gardens and Terraces.
+
+
+May 31, 1787.
+
+It is in vain I call upon clouds to cover me and fogs to wrap me up. You
+can form no adequate idea of the continual glare of this renowned
+climate. Lisbon is the place in the world best calculated to make one
+cry out
+
+    "Hide me from day's garish eye;"
+
+but where to hide is not so easy. Here are no thickets of pine as in the
+classic Italian villas, none of those quivering poplars and leafy
+chestnuts which cover the plains of Lombardy. The groves in the
+immediate environs of this capital are composed of--with, alas! but few
+exceptions--dwarfish orange-trees and cinder-coloured olives. Under
+their branches repose neither shepherds nor shepherdesses, but
+whitening bones, scraps of leather, broken pantiles, and passengers not
+unfrequently attended by monkeys, who, I have been told, are let out for
+the purpose of picking up a livelihood. Those who cannot afford this
+apish luxury, have their bushy poles untenanted by affectionate
+relations, for yesterday just under my window I saw two blessed babies
+rendering this good office to their aged parent.
+
+I had determined not to have stirred beyond the shade of my awning;
+however, towards eve, the extreme fervour of the sun being a little
+abated, old Horne (who has yet a colt's-tooth) prevailed upon me to walk
+in the Botanic Gardens, where not unfrequently are to be found certain
+youthful animals of the female gender called A�afatas, in Portuguese; a
+species between a bedchamber woman and a maid of honour. The Queen has
+kindly taken the ugliest with her to the Caldas: those who remain have
+large black eyes sparkling with the true spirit of adventure, an
+exuberant flow of dark hair, and pouting lips of the colour and size of
+full-blown roses.
+
+All this, you will tell me, does not compose a perfect beauty. I never
+meant to convey such a notion: I only wish you to understand that the
+nymphs we have just quitted are the flowers of the Queen's flock, and
+that she has, at least, four or five dozen more in attendance upon her
+sacred person, with larger mouths, smaller eyes, and swarthier
+complexions.
+
+Not being in sufficient spirits to flourish away in Portuguese, my
+conversation was chiefly addressed to a lovely blue-eyed Irish girl of
+fifteen or sixteen, lately married to an officer of her Majesty's
+customs. Spouse goes a pilgrimaging to Nossa Senhora do Cabo--little
+madam whisks about the Botanic Garden with the ladies of the palace and
+a troop of sopranos, who teach her to warble and speak Italian. She is
+well worth teaching everything in their power. Her hair of the loveliest
+auburn, her straight Grecian eyebrows and fair complexion, form a
+striking contrast to the gipsy-coloured skins and jetty tresses of her
+companions. She looked like a visionary being skimming along the alleys,
+and leaving the pot-bellied sopranos and dowdy A�afatas far behind,
+wondering at her agility.
+
+The garden is pleasant enough, situated upon an eminence, planted with
+light flowering trees clustered with blossoms. Above their topmost
+branches rises a broad majestic terrace, with marble balustrades of
+shining whiteness and strange Oriental pattern. They design
+indifferently in this country, but execute with great neatness and
+precision. I never saw balustrades better hewn or chiseled than those
+bordering the steps which lead up to the grand terrace. Its ample
+surface is laid out in oblong compartments of marble, containing no very
+great variety of heliotropes, aloes, geraniums, china-roses, and the
+commonest plants of our green-houses. Such ponderous divisions have a
+dismal effect; they reminded one of a place of interment, and it struck
+me as if the deceased inhabitants of the adjoining palace were sprouting
+up in the shape of prickly-pears, Indian-figs, gaudy holly-oaks, and
+peppery capsicums.
+
+The terrace is about fifteen hundred paces in length. Three copious
+fountains give it an air of coolness, much increased by the waving of
+tall acacias, exposed by their lofty situation to every breeze which
+blows from the entrance of the Tagus, whose lovely azure appears to
+great advantage between the quivering foliage.
+
+The Irish girl and your faithful correspondent coursed each other like
+children along the terrace, and when tired reposed under a group of
+gigantic Brazilian aloes by one of the fountains. The swarthy party
+detached its principal guardian, a gawky young priest, to observe all
+the wanderings and riposos of us white people.
+
+It was late, and the sun had set several minutes before I took my
+departure. Black eyes and blue eyes seem horridly jealous of each other.
+I fear my youthful and lively companion will suffer for having more
+alertness than the A�afatas: she will be pinched, if I am not mistaken,
+as the party return through the dark and intricate passages which join
+the palace of the Ajuda to the gardens. Sad thought, the leaving such a
+fair little being in the hands of fiery, despotic females, so greatly
+her inferiors in complexion and delicacy.
+
+They will take especial care, I warrant them, to fill the husband's head
+with suspicions less charitable than those inspired by Nossa Senhora do
+Cabo.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+     Consecration of the Bishop of Algarve.--Pathetic Music.--Valley of
+     Alcantara.--Enormous Aqueduct.--Visit to the Marialva Palace.--Its
+     much revered Masters.--Collection of Rarities.--The Viceroy of
+     Algarve.--Polyglottery.--A Night-scene.--Modinhas.--Extraordinary
+     Procession.--Blessings of Patriarchal Government.
+
+
+3 June, 1787.
+
+We went by special invitation to the royal Convent of the Necessidades,
+belonging to the Oratorians, to see the ceremony of consecrating a
+father of that order Bishop of Algarve, and were placed fronting the
+altar in a gallery crowded with important personages in shining raiment,
+the relations of the new prelate. The floor being spread with rich
+Persian carpets and velvet cushions, it was pretty good kneeling; but,
+notwithstanding this comfortable accommodation, I thought the ceremony
+would never finish. There was a mighty glitter of crosses, censers,
+mitres, and crosiers, continually in motion, as several bishops
+assisted in all their pomp.
+
+The music, which was extremely simple and pathetic, appeared to affect
+the grandees in my neighbourhood very profoundly, for they put on woful
+contrite countenances, thumped their breasts, and seemed to think
+themselves, as most of them are, miserable sinners. Feeling oppressed by
+the heat and the sermon, I made my retreat slyly and silently from the
+splendid gallery, and passed through some narrow corridors, as warm as
+flues, into the garden.
+
+But this was only exchanging one scene of formality and closeness for
+another. I panted after air, and to obtain that blessing escaped through
+a little narrow door into the wild free valley of Alcantara. Here all
+was solitude and humming of bees, and fresh gales blowing from the
+entrance of the Tagus over the tufted tops of orange gardens. The
+refreshing sound of water-wheels seemed to give me new life.
+
+I set the sun at defiance, and advanced towards that part of the valley
+across which stretches the enormous aqueduct you have heard so often
+mentioned as the most colossal edifice of its kind in Europe. It has
+only one row of pointed openings, and the principal arch, which crosses
+a rapid brook, measures above two hundred and fifty feet in height. The
+Pont de Garde and Caserta have several rows of arches one above the
+other, which, by dividing the attention, take off from the size of the
+whole. There is a vastness in this single range that strikes with
+astonishment. I sat down on a fragment of rock, under the great arch,
+and looked up to the vaulted stone-work so high above me with a
+sensation of awe not unallied to fear; as if the building I gazed upon
+was the performance of some immeasurable being endued with gigantic
+strength, who might perhaps take a fancy to saunter about his works this
+morning, and, in mere awkwardness, crush me to atoms.
+
+Hard by the spot where I sat are several inclosures filled with canes,
+eleven or twelve feet high: their fresh green leaves, agitated by the
+feeblest wind, form a perpetual murmur. I am fond of this rustling, and
+suffered myself to be lulled by it into a state of very necessary repose
+after the fatigues of scrambling over crags and precipices.
+
+As soon as I returned from my walk, Horne took me to dine with him, and
+afterwards to the Marialva Palace to pay the Grand Prior a visit. The
+court-yard, filled with shabby two-wheeled chaises, put me in mind of
+the entrance of a French post-house; a recollection not weakened by the
+sight of several ample heaps of manure, between which we made the best
+of our way up the great staircase, and had near tumbled over a swingeing
+sow and her numerous progeny, which escaped from under our legs with
+bitter squeakings.
+
+This hubbub announced our arrival, so out came the Grand Prior, his
+nephew, the old Abade, and a troop of domestics. All great Portuguese
+families are infested with herds of these, in general, ill-favoured
+dependants; and none more than the Marialvas, who dole out every day
+three hundred portions, at least, of rice and other eatables to as many
+greedy devourers.
+
+The Grand Prior had shed his pontifical garments and did the honours of
+the house, and conducted us with much agility all over the apartments,
+and through the _man�ge_, where the old Marquis, his brother, though at
+a very advanced age, displays feats of the most consummate
+horsemanship. He seems to have a decided taste for clocks, compasses,
+and time-keepers. I counted no less than ten in his bedchamber; four or
+five in full swing, making a loud hissing: they were chiming and
+striking away (for it was exactly six) when I followed my conductor up
+and down half-a-dozen staircases into a saloon hung with rusty damask.
+
+A table in the centre of this antiquated apartment was covered with
+rarities brought forth for our inspection; curious shell-work, ivory
+crucifixes, models of ships, housings embroidered with feathers, and the
+Lord knows what besides, stinking of camphor enough to knock one down.
+
+Whilst we were staring with all our eyes and holding our handkerchiefs
+to our noses, the Count of V----, Viceroy of Algarve, made his
+appearance, in grand pea-green and pink and silver gala, straddling and
+making wry faces as if some disagreeable accident had befallen him. He
+was, however, in a most gracious mood, and received our eulogiums upon
+his relation, the new bishop, with much complacency. Our conversation
+was limpingly carried on in a great variety of broken languages.
+Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, and English, had each their turn
+in rapid succession. The subject of all this polyglottery was the
+glories and piety of John the Fifth, regret for the extinction of the
+Jesuits, and the reverse for the death of Pombal, whose memory he holds
+in something not distantly removed from execration. This flow of
+eloquence was accompanied by the strangest, most buffoonical grimaces
+and slobberings I ever beheld, for the Viceroy having a perennial
+moistness of mouth, drivels at every syllable.
+
+One must not, however, decide too hastily upon outward appearances. This
+slobbering, canting personage, is a distinguished statesman and good
+officer, pre-eminent amongst the few who have seen service and given
+proofs of prowess and capacity.
+
+To escape the long-winded narrations which were pouring warm into my
+ear, I took refuge near a harpsichord, where Policarpio, one of the
+first tenors in the Queen's chapel, was singing and accompanying
+himself. The curtains of the door of an adjoining dark apartment being
+half drawn, gave me a transient glimpse of Donna Henriquetta de L----,
+Don Pedro's sister, advancing one moment and retiring the next, eager to
+approach and examine us exotic beings, but not venturing to enter the
+saloon during her mother's absence. She appeared to me a most
+interesting girl, with eyes full of bewitching languor;--but of what do
+I talk? I only saw her pale and evanescent, as one fancies one sees
+objects in a dream. A group of lovely children (her sisters, I believe)
+sat at her feet upon the ground, resembling genii partially concealed by
+folds of drapery in some grand allegorical picture by Rubens or Paul
+Veronese.
+
+Night approaching, lights glimmered on the turrets, terraces, and every
+part of the strange huddle of buildings of which this morisco-looking
+palace is composed; half the family were engaged in reciting the
+litanies of saints, the other in freaks and frolics, perhaps of no very
+edifying nature: the monotonous staccato of the guitar, accompanied by
+the low soothing murmur of female voices singing modinhas, formed
+altogether a strange though not unpleasant combination of sounds.
+
+I was listening to them with avidity, when a glare of flambeaus, and
+the noise of a splashing and dashing of water, called us out upon the
+verandas, in time to witness a procession scarcely equalled since the
+days of Noah. I doubt whether his ark contained a more heterogeneous
+collection of animals than issued from a scalera with fifty oars, which
+had just landed the old Marquis of M. and his son Don Jos�, attended by
+a swarm of musicians, poets, bullfighters, grooms, monks, dwarfs, and
+children of both sexes, fantastically dressed.
+
+The whole party, it seems, were returned from a pilgrimage to some
+saint's nest or other on the opposite shore of the Tagus. First jumped
+out a hump-backed dwarf, blowing a little squeaking trumpet three or
+four inches long; then a pair of led captains, apparently commanded by a
+strange, old, swaggering fellow in a showy uniform, who, I was told, had
+acted the part of a sort of brigadier-general in some sort of an island.
+Had it been Barataria, Sancho would soon have sent him about his
+business, for, if we believe the scandalous chronicle of Lisbon, a more
+impudent buffoon, parasite, and pilferer seldom existed.
+
+Close at his heels stalked a savage-looking monk, as tall as Samson,
+and two Capuchin friars, heavily laden, but with what sort of provision
+I am ignorant; next came a very slim and sallow-faced apothecary, in
+deep sables, completely answering in gait and costume the figure one
+fancies to one's self of Senhor Apuntador, in Gil Blas, followed by a
+half-crazed improvisatore, spouting verses at us as he passed under the
+balustrades against which we were leaning.
+
+He was hardly out of hearing before a confused rabble of watermen and
+servants with bird-cages, lanterns, baskets of fruit, and chaplets of
+flowers, came gamboling along to the great delight of a bevy of
+children; who, to look more like the inhabitants of Heaven than even
+Nature designed, had light fluttering wings attached to their
+rose-coloured shoulders. Some of these little theatrical angels were
+extremely beautiful, and had their hair most coquettishly arranged in
+ringlets.
+
+The old Marquis is doatingly fond of them; night and day they remain
+with him, imparting all the advantages that can possibly be derived from
+fresh and innocent breath to a declining constitution. The patriarch of
+the Marialvas has followed this regimen many years, and also some
+others which are scarcely credible. Having a more than Roman facility of
+swallowing an immense profusion of dainties, and making room continually
+for a fresh supply, he dines alone every day between two silver canteens
+of extraordinary magnitude. Nobody in England would believe me if I
+detailed the enormous repast I saw spread out for him; but let your
+imagination loose upon all that was ever conceived in the way of
+gormandizing, and it will not in this case exceed the reality.
+
+As soon as the contents, animal and vegetable, of the principal scalera,
+and three or four other barges in its train, had been deposited in their
+respective holes, corners, and roosting-places, I received an invitation
+from the old Marquis to partake of a collation in his apartment. Not
+less, I am certain, than fifty servants were in waiting, and exclusive
+of half-a-dozen wax-torches, which were borne in state before us, above
+a hundred tapers of different sizes were lighted up in the range of
+rooms, intermingled with silver braziers and cassolettes diffusing a
+very pleasant perfume. I found the master of all this magnificence most
+courteous, affable, and engaging. There is an urbanity and good-humour
+in his looks, gestures, and tone of voice, that prepossesses
+instantaneously in his favour, and justifies the universal popularity he
+enjoys, and the affectionate name of Father, by which the Queen and
+Royal Family often address him. All the favours of the crown have been
+heaped upon him by the present and preceding sovereigns, a tide of
+prosperity uninterrupted even during the grand vizariat of Pombal. "Act
+as you judge wisest with the rest of my nobility," used to say the King
+Don Joseph to this redoubted minister; "but beware how you interfere
+with the Marquis of Marialva."
+
+In consequence of this decided predilection, the Marialva Palace became
+in many cases a sort of rallying point, an asylum for the oppressed; and
+its master, in more than one instance, a shield against the thunderbolts
+of a too powerful minister. The recollections of these times seem still
+to be kept alive; for the heart-felt respect, the filial adoration, I
+saw paid the old Marquis, was indeed most remarkable; his slightest
+glances were obeyed, and the person on whom they fell seemed gratified
+and animated; his sons, the Marquis of Tancos and Don Jos� de Meneses,
+never approached to offer him anything without bending the knee; and the
+Conde de Villaverde, the heir of the great house of Anjeja, as well as
+the Viceroy of Algarve, stood in the circle which was formed around him,
+receiving a kind or gracious word with the same thankful earnestness as
+courtiers who hang upon the smiles and favour of their sovereign. I
+shall long remember the grateful sensations with which this scene of
+reciprocal kindness filled me; it appeared an interchange of amiable
+sentiments; beneficence diffused without guile or affectation, and
+protection received without sullen or abject servility.
+
+How preferable is patriarchal government of this nature to the cold
+theories pedantic sophists would establish, and which, should success
+attend their selfish atheistical ravings, bid fair to undermine the best
+and surest props of society! When parents cease to be honoured by their
+children, and the feelings of grateful subordination in those of
+helpless age or condition are unknown, kings will soon cease to reign,
+and republics to be governed by the councils of experience; anarchy,
+rapine, and massacre will walk the earth, and the abode of d�mons be
+transferred from hell to our unfortunate planet.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER X.
+
+     Festival of the Corpo de Deos.--Striking decoration of the
+     streets.--The Patriarchal Cathedral.--Coming forth of the Sacrament
+     in awful state.--Gorgeous Procession.--Bewildering confusion of
+     sounds.
+
+
+7th June.
+
+A most sonorous peal of bells, an alarming rattle of drums, and a
+piercing flourish of trumpets, roused me at daybreak. You are too
+piously disposed to be ignorant that this day is the festival of the
+Corpo de Deos. I had half a mind to have stayed at home, turning over a
+curious collection of Portuguese chronicles the Prior of Avis has just
+sent to me; but I was told such wonders of the expected procession that
+I could not refuse giving myself a little trouble in order to witness
+them.
+
+Everybody was gone before I set out, and the streets of the suburb I
+inhabit, as well as those in the city through which I passed in my way
+to the patriarchal cathedral, were entirely deserted. A pestilence
+seemed to have swept the Great Square and the busy environs of the
+Exchange and India House; for even vagrants, scavengers, and beggars, in
+the last state of decrepitude, had all hobbled away to the scene of
+action. A few miserable curs sniffing at offals alone remained in the
+deserted streets, and I saw no human being at any of the windows, except
+half-a-dozen scabby children blubbering at being kept at home.
+
+The murmur of the crowds, assembled round the _patriarchale_, reached us
+a long while before we got into the midst of them, for we advanced with
+difficulty between rows of soldiers drawn up in battle array. Upon
+turning a dark angle, overshadowed by the high buildings of the seminary
+adjoining the patriarchale, we discovered houses, shops, and palaces,
+all metamorphosed into tents, and hung from top to bottom with red
+damask, tapestry, satin coverlids, and fringed counterpanes glittering
+with gold. I thought myself in the midst of the Mogul's encampment, so
+pompously described by Bernier.
+
+The front of the Great Church in particular was most magnificently
+curtained; it rises from a vast flight of steps, which were covered
+to-day with the yeomen of the Queen's guard in their rich
+party-coloured velvet dresses, and a multitude of priests bearing a
+gorgeous variety of painted and silken banners; flocks of sallow monks,
+white, brown, and black, kept pouring in continually, like turkeys
+driving to market.
+
+This part of the holy display lasting a tiresome while, I grew weary,
+and left the balcony, where we were placed most advantageously, and got
+into the church. High mass was performing with awful pomp, incense
+ascending in clouds, and the light of innumerable tapers blazing on the
+diamonds of the ostensory, just elevated by the patriarch with trembling
+devout hands to receive the mysterious wafer.
+
+Before the close of the ceremony, I regained my window, to have a full
+view of the coming forth of the Sacrament. All was expectation and
+silence in the people. The guards had ranged them on each side of the
+steps before the entrance of the church. At length a shower of aromatic
+herbs and flowers announced the approach of the patriarch, bearing the
+host under a regal canopy, surrounded by grandees, and preceded by a
+long train of mitred figures, their hands joined in prayer, their
+scarlet and purple vestments sweeping the ground, their attendants
+bearing croziers, crosses, and other insignia of pontifical grandeur.
+
+The procession slowly descending the flights of stairs to the sound of
+choirs and the distant thunder of artillery, lost itself in a winding
+street decorated with embroidered hangings, and left me with my senses
+in a whirl, and my eyes dazzled, as if awakened from a vision of
+celestial splendour.... My head swims at this moment, and my ears tingle
+with a confusion of sounds, bells, voices, and the echoes of cannon,
+prolonged by mountains and wafted over waters.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+     Dinner at the country-house of Mr. S----.--His Brazilian
+     wife.--Magnificent repast.--A tragic damsel.
+
+
+11th June, 1787.
+
+To-day we were engaged to dine in the country at a villa belonging to a
+gentleman, whose volley of names, when pronounced with the true
+Portuguese twang, sounds like an expectoration--Jos� Street-Arriaga-Brum
+da Silveira. Our hospitable host is of Irish extraction, boasts a
+stature of six feet, proportionable breadth, a ruddy countenance,
+herculean legs, and all the exterior attributes, at least, of that
+enterprising race, who often have the luck of marrying great fortunes.
+About a year or two ago he bore off a wealthy Brazilian heiress, and is
+now master of a large estate and a fubsical, squat wife, with a head not
+unlike that of Holofernes in old tapestry, and shoulders that act the
+part of a platter with rather too much exactitude. Poor soul! to be
+sure, she is neither a Venus nor a Hebe, has a rough lip, and a manly
+voice, and I fear is somewhat inclined to be dropsical; but her smiles
+are frequent and fondling, and she cleaves to her husband with great
+perseverance.
+
+He is an odd character, will accept of no employment, civil or military,
+and affects a bullying frankness, that I should think must displease
+very much in this country, where independence either in fortune or
+sentiment is a crime seldom if ever tolerated.
+
+Mr. S---- likes a display, and the repast he gave us was magnificent;
+sixty dishes at least, eight smoking roasts, and every ragout, French,
+English, and Portuguese, that could be thought of. The dessert appeared
+like the model of a fortification. The principal cake-tower measured, I
+dare say, three feet perpendicular in height. The company was not equal
+either in number or consequence to the splendour of the entertainment.
+
+Had not Miss Sill and Bezerra been luckily in my neighbourhood, I should
+have perished with _ennui_. One stately damsel, with portentous
+eyebrows, and looks that reproached the male part of the assembly with
+inattention, was the only lady of the palace Mr. S---- had invited.
+
+I expected to have met the whole troop of my Botanic Garden
+acquaintance, and to have escorted them about the vineyards and
+citron-orchards which surround this villa; but, alas! I was not destined
+to any such amusing excursion. The tragic damsel, who I am told has been
+unhappy in her tender attachments, took my arm, and never quitted it
+during a long walk through Mr. S----'s ample possessions. We conversed
+in Italian, and paid the birds that were singing, and the rills that
+were murmuring, many fine compliments in a sort of prose run mad,
+borrowed from operas and serenatas, the Aminto of Tasso, and the Adone
+of Marini.
+
+The sun was just diffusing his last rays over the distant rocks of
+Cintra, the air balsamic, and the paths amongst the vines springing with
+fresh herbage and a thousand flowers revived by last night's rain.
+Giving up the narrow tract which leads through these rural regions to
+the signora, I stalked by her side in a furrow well garnished with
+nettles, acanthus, and dwarf aloes, stinging and scratching myself at
+every step. This penance, and the disappointment I was feeling most
+acutely, put me not a little out of humour; I regretted so delicious an
+evening should pass away in such forlorn company, and lacerating my legs
+to so little purpose. How should I have enjoyed rambling with the young
+Irish girl about these pleasant clover paths, between festoons of
+luxuriant leaves and tendrils, not fastened to stiff poles and stumpy
+stakes as in France and Switzerland, but climbing up light canes eight
+or ten feet in height!
+
+Pinioned as I was, you may imagine I felt no inclination to prolong a
+walk which already had been prolonged unconscionably. I escaped tea and
+playing at voltarete, made a solemn bow to the solemn damsel, and got
+home before it was quite dark.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XII.
+
+     Pass the day at Belem.--Visit the neighbouring
+     Monastery.--Habitation of King Emanuel.--A gold Custodium of
+     exquisite workmanship.--The Church.--Bonfires on the edge of the
+     Tagus.--Fire-works.--Images of the Holy One of Lisbon.
+
+
+June 12th, 1787.
+
+We passed the day quite _en famille_ at Belem with a whole legion of
+Marialvas. Some reverend fathers, of I know not what community, had sent
+them immense messes of soup, very thick, slab, and oily; a portion
+which, it seems, the faithful are accustomed to swallow on the eve of
+St. Anthony's festival.
+
+As soon as I decently could, after a collation which was served under an
+awning stretched over one of the terraces, I stole out of the circle of
+lords, ladies, dwarfs, monks, buffoons, bullies, and almoners, to visit
+the neighbouring monastery. I ascended the great stairs, constructed at
+the expense of the Infanta Catherine, King Charles the Second's
+dowager, and after walking in the cloisters of Emanuel, looked into the
+library, which is far from being in the cleanest or best ordered
+condition. The spacious and lofty cloisters present a striking spread of
+arches, which, though not in the purest style, attract the eye by their
+delicately-carved arabesque ornament, and the warm reddish hue of the
+marble. The corridor, into which open an almost endless range of cells,
+is full five hundred feet in length. Each window has a commodious
+resting-place, where the monks loll at their ease and enjoy the view of
+the river.
+
+In a little dark treasury communicating by winding-stairs with that part
+of the edifice tradition points out as the habitation of King Emanuel,
+when at certain holy seasons he retired within these precincts, I was
+shown by candlelight some extremely curious plate, particularly a
+custodium, made in the year 1506, of the pure gold of Quiloa. Nothing
+can be more beautiful as a specimen of elaborate gothic sculpture, than
+this complicated enamelled mass of flying buttresses and fretted
+pinnacles, with the twelve Apostles in their niches, under canopies
+formed of ten thousand wreaths and ramifications.
+
+From this gloomy recess, I was conducted to the church, one of the
+largest in Portugal, vast, solemn, and fantastic, like the interior of
+the Temple of Jerusalem, as I have seen it figured in some old German
+Bibles. There was little, however, in the altars or monuments worth any
+very minute investigation.
+
+It fell dark before I went out at the great porch, and found the wide
+space before it beginning to catch a vivid gleam from a line of bonfires
+on the edge of the Tagus. I could hardly reach my carriage without being
+singed by squibs and crackers, and wished myself out the moment I got
+into it, a rocket having shot up just under the noses of my mules and
+scared them terribly.
+
+Unless St. Anthony lulls me asleep by a miracle, I must expect no rest
+to-night, there is such a whizzing of fireworks, blazing of bonfires and
+flourishing of French horns in honour of to-morrow, the five hundred and
+fifty-fifth anniversary of that memorable day, when the Holy One of
+Lisbon passed by a soft transition to the joys of Paradise. I saw his
+image at the door of almost every house and even hovel of this populous
+capital, placed on an altar, and decked with a profusion of wax-lights
+and flowers.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIII.
+
+     The New Church of St. Anthony.--Sprightly Music.--Enthusiastic
+     Sermon.--The good Prior of Avis.--Visit to the Carthusian Convent
+     of Cachiez.--Spectres of the Order.--Striking effigy of the
+     Saviour.--A young and melancholy Carthusian.--The Cemetery.
+
+
+June 13th, 1787.
+
+I slept better than I expected: the Saint was propitious, and during the
+night cooled the ardour of his votaries and the flames of their bonfires
+by a vernal shower, which pattered agreeably this morning amongst the
+vineleaves of my garden. The clouds dispersed about eight o'clock, and
+at nine, just as I ascended the steps of the new church built over the
+identical house where St. Anthony was born, the sun shone out in all its
+splendour.
+
+I cannot say this edifice recalled to my mind the magnificent sanctuary
+of Padua, which five years ago on this very day impressed my imagination
+so forcibly. Here are no constellations of golden lamps depending by
+glittering chains from a mysterious vaulted ceiling, no arcades of
+alabaster, no sculptured marbles. The church is supported by two rows of
+pillars neatly carved in stone, but wretchedly proportioned. Over the
+high altar, where stands the revered image in the midst of a bright
+illumination, was stretched a canopy of flowered velvet. This drapery,
+richly fringed and tasseled, marks out the spot formerly occupied by the
+chamber of the saint, and receives an amber-light from a row of tall
+casement windows, the woodwork gleaming with burnished gold.
+
+A great many broad English faces burst forth from amongst the crowd of
+profane vulgar at the portal of the church, and all their eyes were
+directed to their enthusiastic countryman, but he was not to be stared
+out of a decent countenance.
+
+The ceremony was extremely pompous. A prelate of the first rank, with a
+considerable detachment of priests from the royal chapel, officiated to
+the sounds of lively jigs and ranting minuets, better calculated to set
+a parcel of water-drinkers a dancing in a pump-room, than to direct the
+movements of a pontiff and his assistants.
+
+After much indifferent music, vocal and instrumental, performed full
+gallop in the most rapid allegro, Fr� Joa� Jacinto, a famous preacher,
+mounted the pulpit, lifted up hands and eyes, and poured forth a torrent
+of sounding phrases in honour of St. Anthony. What would I not give for
+such a voice?--it would almost have reached from Dan unto Beersheba!
+
+The Father has undoubtedly great powers of elocution, and none of that
+canting, nasal whine so common in the delivery of monkish sermons. He
+treated kings, tetrarchs, and conquerors, the heroes and sages of
+antiquity, with ineffable contempt; reduced their palaces and
+fortifications to dust, their armies to pismires, their imperial
+vestments to cobwebs, and impressed all his audience, except the
+heretical squinters at the door, with the most thorough conviction of
+St. Anthony's superiority over these objects of an erring and impious
+admiration.
+
+"Happy," exclaimed the preacher, "were those gothic ages, falsely called
+ages of barbarism and ignorance, when the hearts of men, uncorrupted by
+the delusive beverage of philosophy, were open to the words of truth
+falling like honey from the mouths of saints and confessors, such words
+as distilled from the lips of Anthony, yet a suckling hanging at the
+breast in this very spot. It was here the spirit of the Most High
+descended upon him, here that he conceived the sublime intention of
+penetrating into the most turbulent parts of Europe, setting the
+inclemency of seasons and the malice of men at defiance, and sprinkling
+amongst lawless nations the seeds of grace and repentance. There, my
+brethren, is the door out of which he issued. Do you not see him in the
+habit of a Menino de Coro, smiling with all the graces of innocence, and
+dispensing with his infant hands to a group of squalid children the
+portion of nourishment he has just received from his mother?
+
+"But Anthony, from the first dawn of his existence, lived for others,
+and not for himself: he forewent even the luxury of meditation, and
+instead of retiring into a peaceful cell, rushed into the world,
+helpless and unprotected, lifting high the banner of the Cross amidst
+perils and uproar, appeasing wars, settling differences both public and
+domestic, exhorting at the risk of his life ruffians and plunderers to
+make restitution, and armed misers, guarding their coffers with bloody
+swords, to open their hearts and their hands to the distresses of the
+widow and the fatherless.
+
+"Anthony ever sighed after the crown of martyrdom, and had long
+entertained an ardent desire of passing over into Morocco, and exposing
+himself to the fury of its bigoted and cruel sovereign; but the commands
+of his superior retain him on the point of embarkation; he makes a
+sacrifice of even this most laudable and glorious ambition; he traverses
+Spain, repairs to Assisi, embraces the rigid order of the great St.
+Francis, and continues to his last hour administering consolation to the
+dejected, fortifying their hopes of heaven, and confirming the faith of
+such as were wavering or deluded by a succession of prodigies. The dead
+are raised, the sick are healed, the sea is calmed by a glance of St
+Anthony; even the lowest ranks of the creation are attracted by
+eloquence more than human, and give marks of sensibility. Fish swim in
+shoals to hear the word of the Lord; and to convince the obdurate and
+those accursed whose hearts the false reasoning of the world had
+hardened, mules and animals the most perversely obstinate humble
+themselves to the earth when Anthony holds forth the Sacrament, and
+acknowledge the presence of the Divinity."
+
+The sermon ended, fiddling began anew with redoubled vigour, and I,
+disgusted with such unseasonable levity, retired home in dudgeon. This
+little cloud of peevishness was soon dissipated by the cheering presence
+of the good Prior of Avis, than whom there exists not, perhaps, in this
+world a more benign, evangelical character; one who gives glory to God
+with less ostentation, or bears a more unaffected goodwill towards men.
+This excellent prelate had been passing his morning, not in attending
+pompous ceremonies, but in consoling the sick and relieving the
+indigent; climbing up to their miserable chambers to afford assistance
+in the name of the saint whose festival was celebrating, and whose fame,
+for every charitable beneficent act, had been handed down by the
+inhabitants of Lisbon from father to child, through a long series of
+generations.
+
+Our discourse was not of a nature to incline me to relish pomps and
+vanities. I waved seeing the procession which was expected to pass
+through the principal streets of the city, and, accompanied by my
+reverend friend, enjoyed the serenity of the evening on the shore of
+Belem. We stopped as we passed by the Marialva palace, and took up Don
+Pedro and his nursing father, the old Abade, who proposed a visit to the
+Carthusian convent of Cachiez.
+
+In about half an hour we were set down before the church, which fronts
+the royal gardens, and were ushered into a solemn, silent quadrangle.
+Several spectres of the order were gliding about the cloisters, which
+branch off from this court. In the middle is a marble fountain, shaded
+by pyramids of clipped box; around are seven or eight small chapels; one
+of which contains a coloured image of the Saviour in the last dreadful
+agonies of his passion, covered with livid bruises and corrupted gore.
+
+Whilst we were examining this too faithful effigy, some of the monks, by
+leave of their superior, gathered around us; one of them, a tall
+interesting figure, attracted my attention by the deep melancholy which
+sat upon his features. Upon inquiry, I learned he was only
+two-and-twenty years of age, of illustrious parentage, and lively
+talents; but the immediate cause of his having sought these mansions of
+stillness and mortification, the Grand Prior seemed loth to communicate.
+
+I could not help observing, as this young victim stood before me, and I
+contemplated the evening light thrown on the arcades of the quadrangle,
+how many setting suns he was likely to behold wasting their gleams upon
+these walls, and what a wearisome succession of years he had in all
+probability devoted himself to consume within their precincts. The eyes
+of the good prior filled with tears, Verdeil shuddered, and the Abade,
+forgetting the superstitious part he generally acts in religious places,
+exclaimed loudly against the toleration of human sacrifices, and the
+folly of permitting those to renounce the world, whose youth
+incapacitates them from making a due estimate of its sorrows or
+advantages. As for Don Pedro, his serious disposition received
+additional gloom from the objects with which we were environed.
+
+The chill gust that blew from an arched hall where the fathers are
+interred, and whose pavement returned a hollow sound as we walked over
+it, struck him with horror. It was the first time of his entering a
+Carthusian convent, and, to my surprise, he appeared ignorant of the
+severities of the order.
+
+The sun set before we regained our carriage, and our conversation the
+whole way home partook of the impression which the scenery we had been
+contemplating inspired.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIV.
+
+     Curious succession of visiters.--A Seraphic Doctor.--Monsenhor
+     Aguilar.--Mob of old hags, children, and ragamuffins.--Visit to the
+     Theatre in the Rua d'os Condes.--The Archbishop
+     Confessor.--Brazilian Modinhas.--Bewitching nature of that
+     music.--Nocturnal processions.--Enthusiasm of the young Conde de
+     Villanova.--No accounting for fancies.
+
+
+14th June, 1787.
+
+It was my lot this afternoon to receive a curious succession of
+visitors. First came Pombal, who looked worn down with gay living and
+late hours; but there is an ease and fashion in his address not common
+in this country. Though he possesses one of the largest landed estates
+in the kingdom, (about one hundred and twenty thousand crowns a-year,)
+he wished me to understand that his dread father, the scourge and terror
+of the noblest houses in Portugal, the sole dispenser during so many
+years of the royal treasure, died, notwithstanding, in distressed
+circumstances, loaded with debts contracted in supporting the dignity
+of his post.
+
+The next who did me the honour of a visit was the Judge Conservator of
+the English factory, Joa� Telles, a relation, legitimate or illegitimate
+(I know not exactly which), of the Penalvas. This man, who has risen to
+one of the highest posts of the law by the sole strength of his
+abilities, has a nervous, original style of expression, which put me in
+mind of Lord Thurlow; but to all this vigour of character and diction,
+he joins the pliability and subtleness of a serpent; and those he cannot
+take by storm, he is sure of overcoming by every soothing art of
+flattery and insinuation.
+
+As soon as he was departed, entered a pair of monks with a basket of
+sweetmeats in cut paper, from a good lady abbess, beseeching me to
+portion out two sweet virgins as God's spouses in some neighbouring
+monastery.
+
+They were scarcely dismissed, before Father Theodore d'Almeida and
+another of his brethren were ushered in. The whites of their eyes alone
+were visible, nor could Whitfield himself, the original Doctor Squintum
+of Foote, have squinted more scientifically.
+
+I was all attention to Father Theodore's seraphic discourse; so
+excellent an opportunity of hearing a first-rate specimen of
+hypocritical cant was not to be neglected. No sooner had the fathers
+been conducted to the stairshead with due ceremony, than Monsenhor
+Aguilar, one of the prelates of the Patriarchal Cathedral, was
+announced. He confirmed me in the opinion I entertained of Father
+Theodore. No person can accuse Aguilar of being a hypocrite. He lays
+himself but too much open, and treats the church from which he derives a
+handsome maintenance, not as a patroness, but as an humble companion;
+the constant butt and object of his sarcasms. In Portugal, even in the
+year 1787, such conduct is madness, and I fear will expose him one day
+or other to severe persecution.
+
+We were roused from a peaceful dish of tea by a loud hubbub in the
+street, and running to the balcony, found a beastly mob of old hags,
+children, and ragamuffins assembled, headed by half-a-dozen drummers,
+and as many negroes in scarlet jackets, blowing French-horns with
+unusual vehemence, and pointing them directly at the house. I was
+wondering at this Jericho fashion of besieging one's door, and drawing
+back to avoid being singed by a rocket which whizzed along within an
+inch of my nose, when one of the servants entered with a crucifix on a
+silver salver, and a mighty kind message from the nuns of the Convent of
+the Sacrament, who had sent their musicians with trimbrels and
+fireworks, to invite us to some grand doings at their convent, in honour
+of the Festival of the Heart of Jesus. Really, these church parties
+begin to lose in my eyes great part of the charm which novelty gave
+them. I have had pretty nearly my fill of motets, and Kyrie eleisons,
+and incense, and sweetmeats, and sermons.
+
+That heretic Verdeil, who would almost as soon be in hell at once as in
+such a cloying heaven, would not let me rest till I went with him to the
+theatre in the Rua d'os Condes, in order to dissipate by a little
+profane air the fumes of so much holiness. The play afforded me more
+disgust than amusement; the theatre is low and narrow, and the actors,
+for there are no actresses, below criticism. Her Majesty's absolute
+commands having swept females off the stage, their parts are acted by
+calvish young fellows. Judge what a pleasing effect this metamorphosis
+must produce, especially in the dancers, where one sees a stout
+shepherdess in virgin white, with a soft blue beard, and a prominent
+collar-bone, clenching a nosegay in a fist that would almost have
+knocked down Goliah, and a train of milk-maids attending her enormous
+foot-steps, tossing their petticoats over their heads at every step.
+Such sprawling, jerking, and ogling I never saw before, and hope never
+to see again.
+
+We were heartily sick of the performance before it was half finished,
+and the night being serene and pleasant, were tempted to take a ramble
+in the Great Square, which received a faint gleam from the lights in the
+apartments of the palace, every window being thrown open to catch the
+breeze. The Archbishop Confessor displayed his goodly person at one of
+the balconies; from a clown, this now most important personage became a
+common soldier, from a common soldier a corporal, from a corporal a
+monk, in which station he gave so many proofs of toleration and
+good-humour, that Pombal, who happened to stumble upon him by one of
+those chances which set all calculation at defiance, judged him
+sufficiently shrewd, jovial, and ignorant, to make a very harmless and
+comfortable confessor to her Majesty, then Princess of Brazil: since her
+accession to the throne, he is become Archbishop, _in partibus_, Grand
+Inquisitor, and the first spring in the present Government of Portugal.
+I never saw a sturdier fellow. He seems to anoint himself with the oil
+of gladness, to laugh and grow fat in spite of the critical situation of
+affairs in this kingdom, and the just fears all its true patriots
+entertain of seeing it once more relapse into a Spanish province.
+
+At a window immediately over his right reverence's shining forehead, we
+spied out the Lacerdas, two handsome sisters, maids of honour to the
+Queen, waving their hands to us very invitingly. This was encouragement
+enough for us to run up a vast many flights of stairs to their
+apartment, which was crowded with nephews and nieces and cousins
+clustering round two very elegant young women, who, accompanied by their
+singing-master, a little square friar, with greenish eyes, were warbling
+Brazilian modinhas.
+
+Those who have never heard this original sort of music, must and will
+remain ignorant of the most bewitching melodies that ever existed since
+the days of the Sybarites. They consist of languid interrupted measures,
+as if the breath was gone with excess of rapture, and the soul panting
+to meet the kindred soul of some beloved object. With a childish
+carelessness they steal into the heart, before it has time to arm itself
+against their enervating influence; you fancy you are swallowing milk,
+and are admitting the poison of voluptuousness into the closest recesses
+of your existence. At least, such beings as feel the power of harmonious
+sounds are doing so; I won't answer for hard-eared, phlegmatic northern
+animals.
+
+An hour or two passed away almost imperceptibly in the pleasing delirium
+these syren notes inspired, and it was not without regret I saw the
+company disperse and the spell dissolve. The ladies of the apartment
+having received a summons to attend her Majesty's supper, curtsied us
+off very gracefully, and vanished.
+
+In our way home we met the Sacrament, enveloped in a glare of light,
+marching in state to pay some sick person a farewell visit; and that
+hopeful young nobleman, the Conde de Villa Nova,[13] preceding the
+canopy in a scarlet mantle, and tinkling a silver bell. He is always in
+close attendance upon the Host, and passes the flower of his days in
+this singular species of danglement. No lover was ever more jealous of
+his mistress than this ingenuous youth of his bell. He cannot endure any
+other person should give it vibration. The parish officers of the
+extensive and populous district in which his palace is situated, from
+respect to his birth and opulence, indulge him in this caprice, and
+indeed a more perseverant bell-bearer they could not have chosen. At all
+hours and in all weathers he is ready to perform this holy office. In
+the dead of the night, or in the most intense heat of the day, out he
+issues and down he dives, or up he climbs, to any dungeon or garret
+where spiritual assistance of this nature is demanded.
+
+It has been again and again observed, that there is no accounting for
+fancies. Every person has his own, which he follows to the best of his
+means and abilities. The old Marialva's delights are centered between
+his two silver recipiendaries; the Marquis his son in dancing attendance
+with the Queen; and Villa Nova, in announcing with his bell to all true
+believers the approach of celestial majesty. The present rage of the
+scribbler of all these extravagances is modinhas, and under its
+prevalence he feels half-tempted to set sail for the Brazils, the native
+land of these enchanting compositions, to live in tents, such as the
+Chevalier de Parny describes in his agreeable little voyage, and swing
+in hammocks, or glide over smooth mats surrounded by bands of youthful
+minstrels, diffusing at every step the perfume of jasmine and roses.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XV.
+
+     Excessive sultriness of Lisbon.--Night sounds of the city.--Public
+     gala in the garden of the Conde de Villa Nova.--Visit to the Anjeja
+     Palace.--The heir of the family.--Marvellous narrations of a young
+     priest.--Convent of Savoyard nuns.--Father Theodore's
+     chickens.--Sequestered group of beauties.--Singing of the Scarlati.
+
+
+29th June, 1787.
+
+The bright sunshine which has lately been our portion, glorious as it
+is, begins to tire me. Twenty times a day I cannot help wishing myself
+extended at full-length upon the fresh herbage of some shady English
+valley, where fairies gambol in the twilights of Midsummer, whispering
+in the ears of their sleeping favourites the good or evil fortunes which
+await them. It is too hot for these oracular little elvish beings in
+Portugal, one must not here expect their inspirations; but would to
+Heaven some revelation of this or any other nature had warned me off in
+time, from the blinding dust and excessive sultriness of Lisbon and its
+neighbourhood. How silly, when one is well and cool, to gad abroad, in
+the vain hope of making what is really best, better. Depend upon it,
+there is more vernal delight and joy in our green hills and copses, than
+in all these stunted olive fields and sun-burnt promontories.
+
+We have a homely saying, that what is poison to one man is meat to
+another, and true enough; for these days and nights of glowing
+temperature, which oppress me beyond endurance, are the delight and
+boast of the inhabitants of this capital. The heat seems not only to
+have new venomed the stings of the fleas and the musquitoes, but to have
+drawn out, the whole night long, all the human ephemera of Lisbon. They
+frisk, and dance, and tinkle their guitars from sunset to sunrise. The
+dogs, too, keep yelping and howling without intermission; and what with
+the bellowing of litanies by parochial processions, the whizzing of
+fireworks, which devotees are perpetually letting off in honour of some
+member or other of the celestial hierarchy, and the squabbles of
+bullying rake-hells, who scour the streets in search of adventures,
+there is no getting a wink of sleep, even if the heat would allow it.
+
+As to those quiet nocturnal parties, where ingenuous youths rest their
+heads, not on the lap of earth, but on that of their mistresses, who are
+soothingly employed in delivering the jetty locks of their lovers from
+too abundant a population, I have nothing to say against them, nor am I
+much disturbed by the dashing sound of a few downfalls[14] from the
+windows; but these dog-howlings exceed every annoyance of the kind I
+ever endured, and give no slight foretaste of the infernal regions.
+
+Nothing but amusement and racket being thought of here at this season
+(when to celebrate St. Peter's festival with all the noise and
+extravagance in your power, is not more a profane inclination than a
+pious duty,) that simpleton, the Conde de Villa Nova, opened his garden
+last night to the nob and mob-ility of Lisbon. There was a dull
+illumination of paper lanterns, and a sort of pavilion awkwardly
+constructed for dancing, beneath which the prettiest French and English
+mantua-makers, milliners, and abigails of the metropolis, figured away
+in cotillons with the Duke of Cadaval and some other young men of the
+first distinction, who, like many as hopeful in our own capital, are
+never at their ease but in low company. Two or three of my servants
+accompanied my tailor to the f�te, and returned enraptured with the
+affable pleasing manners of the foreign milliners and native nobility.
+
+I should have been most happy to remain at home, in the shade of my
+green blinds, giving ear, through mere laziness, to any nonsense that
+anybody chose to say to me; but we had been long engaged to dine with
+Don Diego de Noronha, at the Anjeja Palace.
+
+When we arrived at our destination, we found the heir of the family
+surrounded by priests and tutors, learning to look out at the window,
+the chief employment of Portuguese fidalgo life. Oh what a precious
+collection of stories did I hear at this attic banquet! There happened
+to be amongst the company a young oaf of a priest, from I forget what
+university (I hope not Coimbra), who kept on during the whole dinner
+favouring us with marvellous narrations, such as the late Queen's
+pounding a pearl of inestimable value, to swallow in medical potions;
+and that one of the nuns of the Convent of the Sacrament, having
+intrigued with old Beelzebub _in propria persona_, had been sent to the
+Inquisition, and the window through which his infernal majesty had
+entered upon this gallant exploit, walled up and painted over with red
+crosses. The same precautionary decoration, continued he, has been
+bestowed upon every opening in the fa�ade, so that no demon, however
+sharp-set, can get in again. He would fain also have made us believe,
+that a woman very fair and plump to the eye, with an overflowing breast
+of milk, who took in sucklings to nurse cheaper than anybody else,
+regularly made away with them, and was now in the dungeons of the holy
+office, accused of having minced up above a score of innocents!
+
+Heaven forbid I should detail any further particulars of our
+table-talk; if I did, you would be finely surfeited.
+
+After dinner the company dispersed, some to their couches, some to hear
+a sonata on the dulcimer, accompanied on the jew's harp by a couple of
+dwarfs; the heir-apparent to his beloved window; and Verdeil and I to a
+convent of Savoyard nuns, at Belem, the coolest, cleanest retirement in
+the whole neighbourhood, and blessed into the bargain by the especial
+patronage and inspection of Father Theodore d'Almeida. His reverence, it
+seems, had been the principal instrument, under Providence, of
+transplanting these blessed sprouts of holiness from the Convent of the
+Visitation at Annecy to the glowing climate of Portugal.
+
+As I had just received a sugary epistle from this paragon of piety,
+recommending his favourite establishment in several pages of ardent
+panegyric, he could do no less than come forth from his interior nest,
+and bid us welcome with a countenance arrayed in the sweetest smiles,
+though I dare say he wished us at old scratch for our intrusion.
+
+"Poor things," said he, speaking of the chickens under education in this
+coop, "we do all we can to improve their tender minds and their
+guileless tongues in foreign languages. Sister Theresa has an admirable
+knack for teaching arithmetic; our venerable mother is remarkably
+well-bottomed in grammar, and Sister Francisca Salesia, whom I had the
+happiness to bring over from Lyons, is not only a most pure and
+persuasive moralist, but is acknowledged to be one of the first needles
+in Christendom, so we do tolerably well in embroidery. In music we are
+no great proficients. We allow of no modinhas, no opera airs; a plain
+hymn is all you must expect here; in short, we are ill-fitted to receive
+such distinguished visiters, and have nothing the world would call
+interesting to recommend us; but then, I, their unworthy confessor, must
+allow that such sweet, clean consciences as I meet with in this asylum
+are treasures beyond all that the Indies can furnish."
+
+Both Verdeil and myself, conscious of our own extreme unworthiness, were
+quite abashed by this sublime declamation, poured forth with hands
+crossed on the bosom, and eyes turned up to the ceiling, like some
+images one has seen of St. Ignatius or St. Francis Xavier.
+
+It was a minute at least before his reverence relaxed from this
+attitude, and, drawing a curtain, condescended to admit us into a
+spacious parlour, delightfully cool, perfumed with jasmine, and filled
+with little Brazilian doves, parroquets, and canary birds. Such a cooing
+and chirping was never heard in greater perfection, except in Mahomet's
+Paradise; nor were the houries wanting, for in a deep recess, behind a
+tolerably wide lattice, sat a row of the loveliest young creatures I
+ever beheld. A daughter of my friend Don Jos� de Brito was amongst the
+number, and her eyes, of the most bewitching softness, seemed to acquire
+new fascination in this mysterious sort of twilight, beaming from behind
+a double grating of iron.
+
+Every now and then the birds, not in the least intimidated by the
+predatory glances of Father Theodore, violated the sanctuary, and
+pitched upon ivory necks, and were received with ten thousand
+endearments by the angels of this little sequestered heaven, which
+looked so refreshing, and formed by its sacred calm so inviting a
+contrast to the turbulent world without, and its glaring atmosphere,
+that I could not resist exclaiming, "O that I had wings like a dove,
+that I might fly through those bars and be at rest!"
+
+I need not tell you we passed half-an-hour most delightfully in talking
+of music, gardens, roses, and devotion, with the meninas, and had almost
+forgotten we were engaged to hear the Scarlati sing. Her father, an old
+captain of horse, of Italian extraction, lives not far from the Convent
+of the Visitation, so we had not much time during our transit to
+experience the woful difference between the cool parlour of the nuns and
+the suffocating exterior air.
+
+A numerous group of the young ladies' kindred stood ready at the
+street-door, with all that hospitable courtesy for which the Portuguese
+are so remarkably distinguished, to usher the strangers up-stairs into a
+gallery hung with arras and sconces, not unlike the great room of an
+Italian inn, once the palace of a nobleman. To keep up these post-house
+ideas, we scented a strong effluvia of the stable, and heard certain
+stampings and neighings, as if a party of hounnyms had arrived to
+partake of the concert.
+
+Many strange, aboriginal figures of both sexes were assembled, an
+uncouth collection enough, I am apt to conjecture; however, I soon
+ceased giving them any notice. The young lady of the house charmed me at
+first sight by her graceful, modest manner; but when she sang some airs,
+composed by the famous Perez, I was not less delighted than surprised.
+Her voice modulates with unaffected carelessness into the most pathetic
+tones.[15] Though she has adopted the masterly and scientific style of
+Ferracuti, one of the first singers in the Queen's service, she gives a
+simplicity of expression to the most difficult passages, that makes them
+appear the effusions of a young romantic girl warbling to herself in the
+secret recesses of a forest.
+
+I sat in a dark corner, unconscious of every thing that passed in the
+apartment, of the singular figures that entered, or those that went
+away; the starings, whisperings, and fan-flirtings of the assembly were
+lost upon me: I could not utter a syllable, and was vexed when an
+arbitrary old aunt insisted upon no more singing, and proposed a
+faro-table and a dance.
+
+Most eagerly did I wish all the kindred and their friends petrified for
+the time being by some obliging necromancer, and would have done any
+thing, short of engaging my own dear self to the devil, to have obtained
+an uninterrupted audience of the syren till morning.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVI.
+
+     Ups-and-downs of Lisbon.--Negro Beldames.--Quinta of
+     Marvilla.--Moonlight view of Lisbon.--Illuminated windows of the
+     Palace.--The old Marquis of Penalva.--Padre Duarte, a famous
+     Jesuit.--Conversation between him and a conceited Physician.--Their
+     ludicrous blunders.--Toad-eaters.--Sonatas.--Portuguese minuets.
+
+
+30th June, 1787.
+
+...We sallied out after dinner to pay visits. Never did I behold such
+cursed ups-and-downs, such shelving descents and sudden rises, as occur
+at every step one takes in going about Lisbon. I thought myself fifty
+times on the point of being overturned into the Tagus, or tumbled into
+sandy ditches, among rotten shoes, dead cats, and negro beldames, who
+retire into such dens and burrows for the purpose of telling fortunes
+and selling charms for the ague.
+
+The Inquisition too often lays hold of these wretched sibyls, and works
+them confoundedly. I saw one dragging into light as I passed by the
+ruins of a palace thrown down by the earthquake. Whether a familiar of
+the Inquisition was griping her in his clutches, or whether she was
+being taken to account by some disappointed votary, I will not pretend
+to answer. Be that as it may, I was happy to be driven out of sight of
+this hideous object, whose contortions and howlings were truly horrible.
+
+The more one is acquainted with Lisbon, the less it answers the
+expectations raised by its magnificent appearance from the river. Could
+a traveller be suddenly transported without preparation or prejudice to
+many parts of this city, he would reasonably conclude himself traversing
+a succession of villages awkwardly tacked together, and overpowered by
+massive convents. The churches in general are in a woful taste of
+architecture, the taste of Borromini, with crinkled pediments,
+furbelowed cornices and turrets, somewhat in the style of old-fashioned
+French clock-cases, such as Boucher designed with many a scrawl and
+flourish to adorn the apartments of Madame de Pompadour.
+
+We traversed the city this evening in all its extent in our way to the
+Duke d'Alafoens's villa, and gave vast numbers of her most faithful
+Majesty's subjects an opportunity of staring at the height of the
+coach-box, the short jacket of the postilion, and other Anglicisms of
+the equipage. The Duke had been summoned to a council of state; but we
+found the Marquis of Marialva, who went with us round the apartments of
+the villa, which have nothing remarkable except one or two large saloons
+of excellent and striking proportions.
+
+He afterwards proposed accompanying us about half-a-mile farther to the
+quinta of Marvilla, which belongs to his father. This spot has great
+picturesque beauties. The trees are old and fantastic, bending over
+ruined fountains and mutilated statues of heroes in armour, variegated
+by the lapse of years with innumerable tints of purple, green, and
+yellow. In the centre of almost impenetrable thickets of bay and myrtle,
+rise strange pyramids of rock-work surrounded by marble lions, that have
+a magic, symbolical appearance. M---- has feeling enough to respect
+these uncouth monuments of an age when his ancestors performed so many
+heroic achievements, and readily promised me never to sacrifice them and
+the venerable shades in which they are embowered, to the pert, gaudy
+taste of modern Portuguese gardening.
+
+We walked part of the way home by the serene light of the full moon
+rising from behind the mountains on the opposite shore of the Tagus, at
+this extremity of the metropolis above nine miles broad. Lisbon, which
+appeared to me so uninteresting a few hours ago, assumed a very
+different aspect by these soft gleams. The flights of steps, terraces,
+chapels, and porticos of several convents and palaces on the brink of
+the river, shone forth like edifices of white marble, whilst the rough
+cliffs and miserable sheds rising above them were lost in dark shadows.
+The great square through which we passed was filled with idlers of all
+sorts and sexes, staring up at the illuminated windows of the palace in
+hopes of catching a glimpse of her Majesty, the Prince, the Infantas,
+the Confessor, or Maids of Honour, whisking about from one apartment to
+the other, and giving ample scope to amusing conjectures. I am told the
+Confessor, though somewhat advanced in his career, is far from being
+insensible to the allurements of beauty, and pursues the young nymphs of
+the palace from window to window with juvenile alacrity.
+
+It was nine before we got home, and I had not been long reposing myself
+after my walk, and arranging some plants I had gathered in the thickets
+of Marvilla, before three distinct ringings of the bell at my door
+announced the arrival of some distinguished personage; nor was I
+disappointed, for in came the old Marquis of Penalva and his son, who
+till a year ago, when the Queen granted him the same title as his
+father, was called Conde de Tarouca.
+
+You must have heard frequently of that name. A grandfather of the old
+Marquis rendered it very illustrious by several important and successful
+embassies: the splendid entertainments he gave at the Congress of
+Utrecht, are amply described in Madame du Noyers and several other books
+of memoirs.
+
+The Penalvas brought this evening in their suite a famous Jesuit, Padre
+Duarte, whom Pombal thought of sufficient consequence to be imprisoned
+for eighteen years, and a tall, knock-kneed, rhubarb-faced physician,
+in a gorgeous suit of glistening satin, one of the most ungain,
+conceited professors of the art of murdering I ever met with. Between
+the Jesuit and the doctor I had enough to do to keep my temper or
+countenance. They prated incessantly, pretended to have the most
+implicit admiration for everything that came from England, either in the
+way of furniture or poetry, and confounding dates, names, and subjects
+in one strange jumble, asked whether Sir Peter Lely was not the actual
+President of our Royal Academy, and launched forth into a warm encomium
+of my countryman Hans Holbein. I begged leave to assure these
+complaisant sages, that the last-mentioned artist was born at Basle, and
+that Sir Peter Lely had been dead a century. They stared a little at
+this information, but continued, nevertheless, in full song, playing off
+a sounding peal of compliments upon our national proficiency in
+painting, watch-making, the stocking-manufactory, &c. when General
+Forbes came in and made a diversion in my favour. We had some
+conversation upon the present state of Portugal, and the risks it runs
+of being swallowed up by the negotiations, not by the arms of Spain,
+ere many years are elapsed....
+
+Our discourse was interrupted by the arrival of a fiddler, a priest, and
+an Italian musician, humble servants and toad-eaters to my illustrious
+guests. They fell a thumping my poor piano-forte, and playing sonatas
+whether I would or not. You are aware I am no great friend to sonatas,
+and that certain chromatic, squeaking tones of a fiddle, when the
+performer turns up the whites of his eyes, waggles a greasy chin, and
+affects ecstasies, set my teeth on edge. The griping countenance of the
+doctor was enough to produce that effect already, without the assistance
+of his fellow parasites, the priest and musician. Padre Duarte seemed to
+like them no better than myself; General Forbes had wisely withdrawn;
+and the old Marquis, inspired by a pathetic adagio, glided suddenly
+across the room in a step which I took for the beginning of a ballet
+heroique, but which turned out a minuet in the Portuguese style, with
+all its kicks and flourishes, in which Miss S----, who had come in to
+tea, was persuaded to join much against her inclination. It was no
+sooner ended, than the doctor displayed his rueful length of person in
+such a twitching angular minuet, as I want words to describe; so,
+between the sister-arts of music and dancing, I passed a delectable
+evening. This set shan't catch me at home again in a hurry.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVII.
+
+     Dog-howlings.--Visit to the Convent of San Jos� di
+     Ribamar.--Breakfast at the Marquis of Penalvas.--Magnificent and
+     hospitable reception.--Whispering in the shade of mysterious
+     chambers.--The Bishop of Algarve.--Evening scene in the garden of
+     Marvilla.
+
+
+July 2nd, 1787.
+
+I was awakened in the night by a horrid cry of dogs; not that infernal
+pack which Dryden tells us in his divine tale of Theodore and Honoria
+went regularly a ghost-hunting every Friday, howled half so dreadfully:
+Lisbon is more infested than any other capital I ever inhabited by herds
+of these half-famished animals, making themselves of use and importance
+by ridding the streets of some part, at least, of their unsavoury
+incumbrances.
+
+Verdeil, who could not sleep any more than myself, on account of a
+furious and long protracted battle between two parties of these
+hell-hounds, persuaded me to rise with the sun, and proceed on
+horseback along the shore of Belem, which appeared in all its morning
+glory; the sky diversified by streaming clouds of purple edged with
+gold, and the sea by innumerable vessels of different sizes shooting
+along in various directions, whilst the waves at the entrance of the
+harbour were in violent agitation, all froth and foam.
+
+To vary our excursion a little, we struck out of the common track, and
+visited the convent of San Jos� di Ribamar. The building is irregular
+and picturesque, rising from a craggy eminence, and backed by a thicket
+of elm, bay, and arbor jud�. We were shown by simple, smiling friars,
+into a small court with cloisters, supported by low Tuscan columns. A
+fountain playing in the middle and sprinkling a profusion of flowers,
+gave an oriental air to this little court that pleased me exceedingly.
+The monks seem sensible of its merits, for they keep it tolerably clean,
+which is more than I will say for their garden. Bindweed and dwarf-aloes
+almost prevented our crossing it in our way to the thicket; a delicious
+retreat, the refuge and comfort of half the birds in the country. Thanks
+to monkish laziness, the underwood remains unclipped, and intrudes
+wherever it pleases upon the alleys, which hang over the sea, in a bold
+romantic manner.
+
+The fathers would show me their flower-garden, and a very pleasant
+terrace it is; neatly paved with chequered tiles, and interspersed with
+knots of carnations, in a style as ancient, I should conjecture, as the
+dominion of the Moors in Portugal. Espaliers of citron and orange cover
+the walls, and have almost gotten the better of some glaring shell-work,
+with which a reverend father encrusted them ten or twelve years ago.
+Shining beads, china plates and saucers turned inside out, compose the
+chief ornaments of this decoration; I observed the same propensity to
+shell-work and broken china in a Mr. de Visme, whose quinta at Bemfica
+eclipses our Clapham and Islington villas in all the attractions of
+leaden statues, Chinese temples, serpentine rivers, and dusty
+hermitages.
+
+We returned home before the heat grew quite intolerable, and just in
+time to go to a breakfast at the Marquis of Penalva's, to which we had
+been invited the day before yesterday. When once a Portuguese of the
+first class determines to admit a stranger into the penetralia of his
+family, he spares no pains to set off all he possesses to the most
+striking advantage, and offer it to his guest with the most liberal
+hospitality; you appear to command him, and he everything. Our
+reception, therefore, was most sumptuous and most cordial.
+
+If we had wished for a concert, the best musicians of the royal chapel
+were in waiting to perform it; if to examine early editions of the
+classics or scarce Portuguese authors, the library was open, and the
+librarian ready to hand and explain to us any article that happened to
+attract our attention; if to see pictures, the walls of several
+apartments displayed an interesting collection, both of the Italian and
+Flemish schools; if conversation, almost every person of literary note
+in this capital, academicians and artists, were assembled. Supposing the
+rarest botanical specimens and flowers had been our peculiar taste, some
+of the most perfect I ever beheld were presented to us; and that nothing
+in any line might be wanting, the rich grated folding-doors of a chapel
+were expanded, and an altar splendidly lighted up, seemed to invite
+those who felt spiritual calls, to indulge themselves.
+
+For my part, the sea breezes having sharpened my temporal appetite, I
+sat down with great alacrity to breakfast. It was magnificent and well
+served. I could not help noticing the extreme fineness of the linen,
+curiously embroidered with arms and flowers, red on a white ground.
+Superb embossed gilt salvers supported plates of iced fruit,
+particularly scarlet strawberries, which are uncommon in Portugal, and
+filled the apartment with fragrance; the more grateful, as it excited,
+by the strong power of associated ideas, recollections of home and of
+England.
+
+Much whispering and giggling was going forward in the cool shade of
+several mysterious chambers, which opened into the saloon where we were
+at table. These sounds proceeded from the ladies of the family, who, had
+they been natives of Bagdad or Constantinople, could hardly have
+remained in a more Asiatic state of seclusion. I was allowed, however,
+to make my bow to them in their harem itself, which, I was given to
+understand, I ought to look upon as a most flattering mark of
+distinction. Who should I find in the midst of the group of senhoras,
+and seated like them upon the ground _� la fa�on de Barbarie_, but the
+newly-consecrated, and very young-looking Bishop of Algarve, whose
+small, black, sleek, schoolboyish head and sallow countenance, was
+overshadowed by an enormous pair of green spectacles. Truth obliges me
+to confess that the expression which beamed from the eyes under these
+formidable glasses, did not absolutely partake of the most decent, mild,
+or apostolic character. In process of time, perhaps, he may acquire that
+varnish, without which the least holy intentions often miss their aim,
+the varnish of hypocrisy. I wonder he has not already attained a more
+conspicuous degree of perfection in this style, having studied under a
+complete _tartuffe_ and Jansenistical bigot as ever existed, one of the
+cock-birds of a nest of imaginary philosophers, who are working hard to
+undo what little good has been done in this country, and laying a mine
+of ten thousand intrigues to blow up, if they can but contrive it, all
+genuine sentiments of religion and morality.
+
+The old Marquis of Penalva pressed us to stay dinner, which was set out
+in high order, in a pleasant, shady apartment. Verdeil could not resist
+the temptation; but I was fatigued with the howlings of the night, and
+the sultriness and bustle of the day, and went home to a quieter party
+with the Grand Prior and Don Pedro.
+
+In the evening we drove to Marvilla, the neglected garden I have before
+mentioned, and which commands the broadest expanse of the Tagus, a
+prospect which recalled to my mind the lake of Geneva, and all that
+befel me on its banks. You may imagine, then, it tended much more to
+depress than exhilarate my spirits. I consented, however, to accompany
+the Grand Prior about the alleys and terraces of this romantic
+enclosure, the scene of his childhood, and of which he is peculiarly
+fond. The palace, courts, and fountains are almost in ruins, the
+parterres of myrtle have shot up into wild bushes covered with blossoms,
+and the statues are half concealed by jasmine.
+
+Here is a small theatre for operas, and a chapel, not unlike a mosque in
+shape, and arabesque ornaments, darkly shadowed by Spanish banners, the
+trophies of the battle of Elvas, gained by an ancestor of the Marialvas.
+
+A long bower of vines, supported by marble pillars, leads from the
+palace to the chapel. There is something majestic in this verdant
+gallery, and the glow of sun-set piercing its foliage, lighted up the
+wan features of several superannuated servants of the family, who
+crawled out of their decayed chambers and threw themselves on their
+knees before the Grand Prior and Don Pedro.
+
+We wandered about this forlorn, abandoned garden, whose stillness
+equalled that of a Carthusian convent, till dusk, when a refreshing wind
+having risen, waved the cypresses and scattered the white jasmine
+flowers over the parterres of myrtle in clouds like snow. Don Pedro
+filled the carriage with flowery sprays pulled from mutilated statues,
+and we were all half intoxicated before we reached my habitation with
+the delicious but overcoming perfume.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVIII.
+
+     Excursion to Cintra.--Villa of Ramalha�.--The
+     Garden.--Collares.--Pavilion designed by Pillement.--A convulsive
+     gallop.--Cold weather in July.
+
+
+July 9th, 1787.
+
+I was at the Marialva Palace by nine, and set off from thence with the
+Marquis for Cintra. Having the command of the Queen's stables, in which
+are four thousand mules and two thousand horses, he orders as many
+relays as he pleases, and we changed mules four times in the space of an
+hour.
+
+A few minutes after ten we were landed at Ramalha�, a villa, under the
+pyramidical rocks of Cintra, Signor S. Arriaga was so kind as to lend me
+a month or two ago, and which I have not had time to visit till to-day.
+The suite of apartments are spacious and airy, and the views they
+command of sea and arid country boundless; but unless the heat becomes
+more violent, I shall be cooler than I wish in them, as they contain
+not a chimney except in the kitchen.
+
+I found the garden in excellent order, and flourishing crops of
+vegetables springing up between rows of orange and citron. Such is the
+power of the climate, that the gardenias and Cape plants I brought with
+me from England, mere stumps, are covered with beautiful blossoms. The
+curled mallows, and some varieties of Indian-corn, sown by my English
+gardener, have shot up to a strange elevation, and begin already to form
+shady avenues and fairy forests, where children might play in perfection
+at landscape-gardening.
+
+After I had passed half-an-hour in looking about me, the Marquis and I
+got into our chair and drove to his own villa; a new creation, which has
+cost him a great many thousand pounds sterling. Five years ago it was a
+wild hill bestrewn with flints and rocky fragments. At present you find
+a gay pavilion designed by Pillement, and elegantly decorated; a
+parterre with statues and fountains, thick alleys of laurel, bay, and
+laurustine, cascades, arbours, clipped box-trees, and every ornament the
+Portuguese taste in gardening renders desirable.
+
+We dined at a clean snug inn, situated towards the middle of the village
+of Cintra. The Queen has lately bestowed this house and a large tract of
+ground adjoining it, upon the Marquis. From its windows and loggias you
+look down deep ravines and bold slopes of woods and copses, variegated
+with mossy stones and ancient decayed chesnuts.
+
+As soon as the sun grew low we went to Collares, and walked on a terrace
+belonging to M. la Roche, a French merchant, who has shown some
+glimmering of taste in the laying out of his villa. The groves of pine
+and chesnut starting from the crevices of rock, and rising one above
+another to a considerable elevation, give Collares the air of an Alpine
+village. Innumerable rills, overhung by cork-trees and branching lemons,
+burst out of ruined walls by the wayside, and dash into marble basins. A
+favourite attendant of the late king's, who has a very large property in
+these environs, invited us with much civility and obsequiousness into
+his garden. I thought myself entering the orchards of Alcinous. The
+boughs literally bent under loads of fruit; the slightest shake strewed
+the ground with plums, oranges, and apricots.
+
+This villa boasts a grand artificial cascade, with tritons and dolphins
+vomiting torrents of water; but I paid it not half the attention its
+proprietor expected, and retiring under the shade of the fruit-trees,
+feasted on the golden apples and purple plums that were rolling about me
+in such profusion. The Marquis, who shares with most of the Portuguese a
+remarkable predilection for flowers, filled his carriage with carnations
+and jasmine. I never saw plants more conspicuous for size and vigour
+than those which have the luck of being sown in this fortunate soil. The
+exposition likewise is singularly happy; skreened by sloping hills, and
+defended from the sea-airs by several miles of thickets and orchards. I
+felt unwilling to quit a spot so favoured by nature, and M---- flatters
+himself I shall be tempted to purchase it.
+
+The wind became troublesome as we ascended the hill, crowned by the
+Marialva villa. The sky was clear and the sun set fiery. The distant
+convent of Mafra, glowing with ruddy light, looked like the enchanted
+palace of a giant, and the surrounding country bleak and barren as if
+the monster had eaten it desolate. To repose ourselves a little after
+our rapid excursion we entered the pavilion I told you just now
+Pillement had designed. It represents a bower of fantastic Indian trees
+mingling their branches, and discovering between them peeps of a summer
+sky. From the mouth of a flying dragon depends a magnificent lustre for
+fifty lights, hung with festoons of brilliant glass, that twinkle like
+strings of diamonds.
+
+We loitered in this saloon till it was pitch-dark. The pages riding full
+speed before us with flaming torches, and the wind driving back sparks
+and smoke full in our faces, I was stunned and bewildered, and
+experienced, perhaps, the sensations of a novice in sorcery, mounted for
+the first time behind a witch on a broomstick. In less than an hour we
+had rattled over twelve miles of rough, disjoined pavement, going up and
+down the steepest hills in a convulsive gallop, so that I expected every
+instant to be thrown flat on my nose; but, happily, the mules were
+picked from perhaps a hundred, and never stumbled. I found the air on
+the heights above the Ajueda very keen and piercing.
+
+It sounds strange to be complaining of cold at Lisbon on the ninth of
+July.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIX.
+
+     Sympathy between Toads and Old Women.--Palace of Cintra.--Reservoir
+     of Gold and Silver Fish.--Parterre on the summit of a lofty
+     terrace.--Place of confinement of Alphonso the Sixth.--The
+     Chapel.--Barbaric profusion of Gold.--Altar at which Don Sebastian
+     knelt when he received a supernatural warning.--Rooms in
+     preparation for the Queen and the Infantas.--Return to Ramalha�.
+
+
+July 24th, 1787.
+
+There exists, I am convinced, a decided sympathy between toads and
+witch-like old women. Mother Morgan[16] descended this morning, not into
+the infernal regions, but into the cellar, and immediately five or six
+spanking reptiles of this mysterious species waddled around her. She
+rewarded the confidence the poor things placed in her rather scurvily,
+and laid three of the fattest sprawling. I saw them lying breathless in
+the court as I got on horseback; the largest measured seven inches in
+diameter. Portuguese toads may be more distinguished for size, but are
+not half so amiably speckled as those we have the happiness to harbour
+in England.
+
+I was some time hesitating which way I should turn my horse's steps,
+whether to the Pedra d'os Ovos, or on the other side of the rock to the
+Peninha, a cell belonging to the Hieronimites, and dependent upon their
+principal eyry, Nossa Senhora da Penha. Marialva, whom I met with all
+his train of equerries and picadors coming forth from his villa, decided
+me not to take a clambering ride, but to accompany him to the palace,
+the interior of which I had not yet visited.
+
+The Alhambra itself is scarcely more morisco in point of architecture
+than this confused pile, which seems to grow out of the summit of a
+rocky eminence, and is broken into a variety of picturesque recesses and
+projections. It is a thousand pities that they have whitened its
+venerable walls, stopped up a range of bold arcades, and sliced out one
+end of the great hall into two or three mean apartments like the
+dressing-rooms of a theatre. From the windows, which are all in a
+fantastic oriental style, crinkled and crankled, and supported by
+twisted pillars of smooth marble, striking, romantic views of the cliffs
+and village of Cintra are commanded. Several irregular courts and
+loggias, formed by the angles of square towers, are enlivened by
+fountains of marble and gilt bronze, continually pouring forth abundant
+streams of the purest water.
+
+A sort of reservoir, almost long enough to be styled a canal, is
+continued the whole length of the great hall, and serves as a paradise
+for shoals of the largest and most brilliant gold and silver fish I ever
+set eyes upon. The murmur of the jets-d'eau which rise from this canal,
+the ripple of the water undulating against steps and slabs of polished
+marble, the glancing and gleaming of the fish, and the striking contrast
+of light and shade produced by the intricate labyrinth of arches and
+columns, combine altogether to form a scene of enchantment such as we
+sometimes dream of, but hardly suppose is ever realized. There is a
+sobriety in the hues of the marble, a mysteriousness in the dark
+recesses seen in perspective, and a solemnity in the deep colour,
+approaching to blackness, of the water in that part of the reservoir
+which is overshadowed by lofty buildings, I cannot help thinking
+superior to all the flutter and glitter of the most famous Moorish
+edifices at Granada or Seville.
+
+The flat summit of one of the loftiest terraces, not less than one
+hundred and fifty feet from the ground, is laid out as a neat parterre,
+which is spread like an embroidered carpet before the entrance of a huge
+square tower, almost entirely occupied by a hall encrusted with
+glistening tiles, and crowned by a most singularly-shaped dome. Amidst
+the scrolls of arabesque foliage which adorn it, appear the arms of the
+principal Portuguese nobility. The achievement of the unfortunate house
+of Tavora is blotted out, and the panel it occupied left bare.
+
+We had climbed up to this terrace and tower by one of those steep,
+cork-screw staircases, of which there are numbers in the palace, and
+which connect with vaulted passages in a secret and suspicious manner.
+The Marquis pointed out to me the mosaic pavement of a small chamber,
+fretted and worn away in several places by the steps of Alphonso the
+Sixth, who was confined to this narrow space a long series of years.
+
+Descending from it, we looked into the chapel, not less singular in form
+and construction than the rest of the edifice. The low flat cupola, as
+well as the intersections of the arches, are much in the style of a
+mosque; but the barbaric profusion of gold, and still more barbaric
+paintings with which every soffite and panel are covered, might almost
+be supposed the work of Cingalese or Hindostanee artists, and reminded
+me of those subterraneous pagodas where his Satanic Majesty receives
+homage under the form of Gumputy or of Boodh.
+
+The original glare of all this strange scenery is greatly subdued by the
+smoke of lamps, which have been burning for ages before the altar: a
+mysterious pile of carved work and imagery, in perfect consonance, as to
+gloom and uncouthness, with every other object in the place. It was
+whilst kneeling before this very altar that the young, the ardent, the
+chivalrous Don Sebastian is said to have received a supernatural warning
+to renounce that fatal African expedition which cost him his crown and
+his life, and what an heroic mind holds in far higher estimation, that
+immortal fame which follows successful achievements.
+
+A something I can hardly describe, an oppressive gloom, seemed to hang
+over this chapel, which remains very nearly, I should imagine, in the
+same style it was left by the ill-fated Sebastian. The want of a free
+circulation of air, and a heavy cloud of incense, affected the nerves of
+my head so disagreeably that I was glad to move on, and follow the
+Marquis into the rooms preparing for the Queen and the Infantas. These
+are airy and well ventilated; but instead of hanging them with rich
+arras, representing the adventures of knights and worthies, her
+Majesty's upholsterers are hard at work covering the stout walls with
+bright silks and satins of the palest and most delicate colours. I saw
+no furniture worth notice, not a picture or a cabinet: our stay,
+therefore, as we had nothing to see, was not protracted.
+
+As soon as the Marquis had given some orders, with which his royal
+mistress had charged him, we returned to Ramalha�, where Horne and
+Guildermeester, the Dutch Consul, were waiting our arrival, and
+squabbling about insurances, percentages, commissions, and other
+commercial speculations.
+
+I have been persuading the Marquis to accompany me to-morrow to
+Guildermeester's: it is the old man's birthday, and he opens his new
+house with dancing and suppering. We shall have a pretty sample of the
+factory misses, clerks, and apprentices, some underlings of the _corps
+diplomatique_, and God knows how many thousand pound weight of Dutch and
+Hambro merchants.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XX.
+
+     Grand gala at Court.--Festival in honour of the birthday of
+     Guildermeester.--Mad freaks of a Frenchman.--Unwelcome lights of
+     Truth.--Invective against the English.
+
+
+July 25th, 1787.
+
+Grand gala at Court, and the Marquis gone to attend it; for this blessed
+day not only gave birth to Guildermeester, but to the Princess of
+Brazil. We went to dine with the Marchioness. A band of regimental
+music, on their march to Guildermeester, began playing in the court, and
+drew forth one of those curious swarms of all sexes, ages, and colours,
+which this beneficent family are so fond of harbouring. Donna
+Henriquetta was seated on the steps, which lead up to the great
+pavilion, whispering to some of her favourite attendants, who, like the
+chorus in an ancient Greek tragedy, were continually giving their
+opinion of whatever was going forward.
+
+Just as Don Pedro and I were preparing to set off together for the ball
+at the old consul's, we were agreeably surprised by the arrival of the
+Marquis, who had escaped from the palace much earlier than he expected.
+I carried him in my chaise to Horne's, where we drank tea on his
+terrace, which commands the most romantic view in Cintra; vast sweeps of
+varied foliage, banks with twisted roots, and trunks of enormous
+chesnuts, mingled with weeping-willows of the freshest verdure, and
+citrons clustered with fruit. Above this sylvan scene tower three
+shattered pinnacles of rock, the middle one diversified by the turrets
+and walls of Nossa Senhora da Penha, a convent of Jeronimites,
+frequently concealed in clouds. I leaned against a cork-tree, which
+spreads its branches almost entirely over the veranda, enjoying the
+view, and staring idly at the grotesque figures, Dutch, English, and
+Portuguese, passing along to Guildermeester's; a series sufficiently
+diversified to have amused me for some time, had not M---- grown
+impatient and uneasy. His brother-in-law, S---- V----, to whom he has a
+mortal aversion, having made his appearance, the powers of light and
+darkness, if personified, could not exhibit a stronger contrast than
+these two personages; M---- looking all benignity, and S---- V---- all
+malevolence. Indeed, if one half of the atrocities[17] public report
+attributes to this notorious nobleman be true, I should not wonder at
+the blackness of revenge and tyranny being so deeply marked in every
+line of his countenance.
+
+Moving off the first opportunity, we passed through dark and gloomy
+lanes, admirably calculated for such exploits as I have just alluded to,
+and were near being jerked into a ditch as we drove to the old consul's
+door. The space before this new building is in sad disorder. The house
+has little more than bare walls, and was not very splendidly lighted up.
+
+As for the company, they turned out just what I expected. Madame G----,
+who is a woman of spirit and discernment, did the honours with the
+greatest ease, and paid her principal guests the most marked attentions.
+There is a something pointedly original in all her observations, which
+pleased me very much. She is not, however, of the merciful tribe, and
+joined forces with Verdeil (no foe to a little slashing conversation) in
+cutting up the factory. M---- handed her in to supper. This part of the
+entertainment was magnificent. There was a bright illumination, an
+immense profusion of plate, a striking breadth of table, every delicacy
+that could be procured, and a dessert-frame, fifty or sixty feet in
+length, gleaming with burnished figures and vases of silver flowers. I
+felt no inclination to dance after supper; the music was not inspiring,
+and the company thrown into the utmost confusion by the mad freaks of a
+Frenchman, upon whom one of the principal ladies present is supposed for
+two or three years past to have placed her affections. A _coup de
+soleil_ and a quarrel with his ambassador, Monsieur de Bombelles, it
+seems had turned the poor fellow's brain: there was no preventing his
+rushing from room to room with the sputter and eccentricity of a
+fire-work, now abusing one person, now another, confessing publicly the
+universal kindness he had received from the lady above hinted at, and
+the many marks of tender affection a certain Miss W---- had bestowed on
+him. "Why," said he to the two heroines, who I am told are not upon the
+best terms imaginable, "should you squabble and scratch? You are both
+equally indulgent, and have both rendered me in your turns the happiest
+mortal in the universe."
+
+Whilst the light of truth was shining upon the bystanders in this very
+singular manner, I leave you to imagine the awkward surprise of the
+worthy old husband, and the angry blushes of his spouse and her fair
+associate. I never beheld a more capital scene. In some of our
+pantomimes, if I recollect rightly, harlequin applies a touchstone to
+his adversaries, and by its magic influence draws truth from their
+mouths in spite of propriety or interest. The lawyer confesses having
+fingered a bribe, the soldier his flight in the day of battle, and the
+whining methodistical dowager her frequent recourse to the bottle of
+inspiration. This wondrous effect seems to have been here realized, and
+some malicious demon to have possessed the talkative Frenchman, and to
+have compelled him to disclose the mysteries to which he owes his
+subsistence. Amongst the harsh truths poured out by this flow of
+sincerity was a vehement apostrophe to the English canaille, as he
+styled them, upon their rank intolerance of all customs except their
+own, and their ten thousand starch uncharitable prejudices. Mrs.----,
+become dauntless through despair, took up the cudgels in this cause most
+vigorously, compared the chief part of the company to a swarm of
+venomous insects, unworthy to crawl upon the hem of her really pure,
+though calumniated garments, and fit to be shaken off with a vengeance
+the first opportunity.
+
+The Marquis, Don Pedro, and I enjoyed the scene so much, that we stayed
+later than we intended.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXI.
+
+     The Queen of Portugal's Chapel.--The Orchestra.--Rehearsal of a
+     Council.--Proposal to visit Mafra.
+
+
+Ramalha�, near Cintra, 26th August, 1787.
+
+The Queen of Portugal's chapel is still the first in Europe; in point of
+vocal and instrumental excellence, no other establishment of the kind,
+the papal not excepted, can boast such an assemblage of admirable
+musicians. Wherever her Majesty moves they follow; when she goes a
+hawking to Salvaterra, or a health-hunting to the baths of the Caldas.
+Even in the midst of these wild rocks and mountains, she is surrounded
+by a bevy of delicate warblers, as plump as quails, and as gurgling and
+melodious as nightingales. The violins and violoncellos at her Majesty's
+beck are all of the first order, and in oboe and flute-players her
+musical menagerie is unrivalled.
+
+The Marquis of M----, as first Lord of the Bedchamber, Master of the
+Horse, and, as it were, hereditary prime favourite, enjoys a decided
+influence over this empire of sweet sounds; and having been so friendly
+as to impart a share of these musical blessings to me, I have been
+permitted to avail myself, whenever I please, of a selection from this
+wonderful band of performers. This very morning, to my shame be it
+recorded, I remained hour after hour in my newly-arranged pavilion,
+without reading a word, writing a line, or entering into any
+conversation. All my faculties were absorbed by the harmony of the wind
+instruments, stationed at a distance in a thicket of orange and bay
+trees. It was to no purpose that I tried several times to retire out of
+the sound--I was as often drawn back as I attempted to snatch myself
+away. Did I consult the health of my mind, I should dismiss these
+musicians; their plaintive affecting tones are sure to awaken in my
+bosom a long train of mournful recollections, and by the force of
+associated ideas to plunge me into a state of languor and gloom.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+My excellent friend, the Prior of Aviz, performed a real act of
+friendship, by breaking in almost by force upon my seclusion, and
+rousing me from my reveries. He insisted upon my accompanying him to the
+Archbishop's, where the rehearsal of a council to be held in the Queen's
+presence was going forward, and all the ministers with their assistant
+under-secretaries assembled. Such congregations are new to the good old
+Confessor, who has been just pressed into the supreme direction, I might
+say control, of the Cabinet, much against his will. He knows too well
+the value of ease and tranquillity not to regret so violent an inroad
+upon his usual habits of life. We found him, therefore, as might be
+expected, in a state of turmoil and irritation, flushed up to the very
+forehead with a ruddy tint, which was highly contrasted by his flowing
+white flannel garments. These garments he frequently shook and crumpled,
+and more than once did he strike with vehemence against his portly
+paunch, which, though he declared it had waited an hour longer than
+customary for its wonted replenishment, sounded by no means so hollow as
+an empty tub. The old saying, that "_fat paunches make lean pates_,"
+could not, however, be applied to him; he was so gracious and
+confidential as to give me a summary of what had been represented to him
+from the different departments of state, with great perspicuity and
+acuteness.
+
+Notwithstanding the interest this singular communication ought to have
+excited, I paid it not half the attention it deserved. The impression I
+had received in the morning, from the music of Haydn and Jomelli, still
+lingered about me. The Grand Prior, finding politics could not shake
+them off, consulted with his nephew, who happened to be just by in the
+Queen's apartment, and returned with a proposal, that as I had long
+expressed a wish to see Mafra, we should put this scheme in execution
+to-morrow. It was settled, therefore, that to-morrow we should set off.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXII.
+
+     Road to Mafra.--Distant view of the Convent.--Its vast
+     fronts.--General magnificence of the Edifice.--The Church.--The
+     High Altar.--Eve of the Festival of St. Augustine.--The collateral
+     Chapels.--The Sacristy.--The Abbot of the Convent.--The
+     Library.--View from the Convent-roof.--Chime of Bells.--House of
+     the Capitan Mor.--Dinner.--Vespers.--Awful sound of the
+     Organs.--The Palace.--Return to the Convent.--Inquisitive
+     crowd.--The Garden.--Matins.--A Procession.--The Hall de
+     Profundis.--Solemn Repast.--Supper at the Capitan Mor's.
+
+
+August 27th, 1787.
+
+We got into the carriage at nine, in spite of the wind, which blew full
+in our faces. The distance from the villa I inhabit to this stupendous
+convent is about fourteen English miles, and the road, which by
+good-luck has been lately mended, conducted across a parched, open
+country, thinly scattered with windmills and villages. The retrospect on
+the woody slopes and pointed rocks of Cintra is pleasant enough; but
+when you look forward, nothing can be more bleak or barren than the
+prospect. Thanks to relays of mules, we advanced, full speed, and in
+less than an hour and a quarter found ourselves under a strong wall
+which winds boldly across the hills, and incloses the park of Mafra.
+
+We now caught a glimpse of the marble towers and dome of the convent,
+relieved by an azure expanse of ocean, rising above the brow of heathy
+eminences, diversified here and there by the bushy heads of Italian
+pines and the tall spires of cypress. The roofs of the edifice were not
+yet visible, and we continued some time winding about the undulating
+acclivities in the park before they were discovered. A detachment of
+lay-brothers were waiting to open the gates of the royal inclosure,
+sadly blackened by a fire, which about a month ago consumed a great part
+of its wood and verdure. Our approach spread a terrible alarm among the
+herds of deer, which were peacefully browsing on a slope rather greener
+than those in its neighbourhood. Off they scudded and took refuge in a
+thicket of half-burnt pines.
+
+After coasting the wall of the great garden, we turned suddenly the
+corner, and discovered one of the vast fronts of the convent, appearing
+like a street of palaces. I cannot pretend that the style of the
+building is such as a lover of pure Grecian architecture would approve;
+the windows and doors are many of them fantastically shaped, but at
+least well proportioned.
+
+I was admiring their ample range as we drove rapidly along, when, upon
+wheeling round the lofty square pavilion which flanks the edifice, the
+grand fa�ade, extending above eight hundred feet, opened to my view. The
+centre is formed by the porticos of the church richly adorned with
+columns, niches, and bass-reliefs of marble. On each side two towers,
+somewhat resembling those of St. Paul's in London, rise to the height of
+near two hundred feet, and, joining on to the enormous _corps de logis_,
+the palace terminates to the right and left by its stately pavilions.
+These towers are light, airy, and clustered with pillars, remarkably
+beautiful; but their form in general borders too much on a sort of
+pagoda-ish style, and wants solemnity. They contain many bells of the
+largest dimensions, and a famous chime which cost several hundred
+thousand crusadoes, and which was set playing the moment our arrival was
+notified. The platform and flight of steps before the columned entrance
+of the church is strikingly grand; and the dome, which lifts itself up
+so proudly above the pediment of the portico, merits praise for its
+lightness and elegance.
+
+My eyes ranged along the vast extent of palace on each side till they
+were tired, and I was glad to turn them from the glare of marble and
+confusion of sculptured ornaments to the blue expanse of the distant
+ocean. Before the front of this colossal structure a wide level of space
+extends itself, at the extremity of which several white houses lie
+dispersed. Though these buildings are by no means inconsiderable, they
+appear, when contrasted with the immense pile in the neighbourhood, like
+the booths of workmen, for such I took them upon my first survey, and
+upon a nearer approach was quite surprised at their real dimensions.
+
+Few objects render the prospect from the platform of Mafra, interesting.
+You look over the roofs of an indifferent village and the summits of
+sandy acclivities, backed by a boundless stretch of sea. On the left,
+your view is terminated by the craggy mountains of Cintra; to the right,
+a forest of pines in the Viscount of Ponte de Lima's extensive garden,
+affords the eye some small refreshment.
+
+To skreen ourselves from the sun, which darted powerfully on our heads,
+we entered the church, passing through its magnificent portico, which
+reminded me not a little of the entrance of St. Peter's; and is crowded
+with the statues of saints and martyrs, carved with infinite delicacy.
+
+The first _coup-d'oeil_ of the church is very imposing. The high
+altar, adorned with two majestic columns of reddish variegated marble,
+each, a single block, above thirty feet in height, immediately fixes the
+eye. Trevisani has painted the altar-piece in a masterly manner. It
+represents St. Anthony in the ecstasy of beholding the infant Jesus
+descending into his cell amidst an effulgence of glory.
+
+To-morrow being the festival of St. Augustine, whose followers are the
+actual possessors of this monastery, all the golden candelabra were
+displayed, and tapers lighted. After pausing a few minutes in the midst
+of this bright illumination, we visited the collateral chapels, each
+enriched with highly finished bassi-relievi and stately portals of black
+and yellow marble, richly veined, and so highly polished as to reflect
+objects like a mirror. Never did I behold such an assemblage of
+beautiful marble as gleamed above, below, and around us. The pavement,
+the vaulted ceiling, the dome, and even the topmost lantern, is
+encrusted with the same costly and durable materials. Roses of white
+marble and wreaths of palm-branches, most exquisitely sculptured, enrich
+every part of the edifice. I never saw Corinthian capitals better
+modelled, or executed with more precision and sharpness, than those of
+the columns which support the nave.
+
+Having satisfied our curiosity by examining the various ornaments of the
+altars, we followed our conductor through a long coved gallery into the
+sacristy, a magnificent vaulted hall, panelled with some beautiful
+varieties of alabaster and porphyry, and carpeted, as well as a chapel
+adjoining it, in a style of the utmost magnificence. We traversed
+several more halls and chapels, adorned with equal splendour, till we
+were fatigued and bewildered like errant knights in the mazes of an
+enchanted palace.
+
+I began to think there was no end to these spacious apartments. The monk
+who preceded us, a good-natured, slobbering greybeard, taking for
+granted that I could not understand a syllable of his language,
+attempted to explain the objects which presented themselves by signs,
+and would hardly believe his ears, when I asked him in good Portuguese
+when we should have done with chapels and sacristies. The old fellow
+seemed vastly delighted with the Meninos, as he called Don Pedro and me;
+and to give our young legs an opportunity of stretching themselves,
+trotted along with such expedition that the Marquis and Verdeil wished
+him in purgatory. To be sure, we advanced at a most rapid rate, striding
+from one end to the other of a dormitory, six hundred feet in length, in
+a minute or two. These vast corridors, and the cells with which they
+communicate, three hundred in number, are all arched in the most
+sumptuous and solid manner. Every cell, or rather chamber, for they are
+sufficiently spacious, lofty, and well lighted, to merit that
+appellation, is furnished with tables and cabinets of Brazil-wood.
+
+Just as we entered the library, the Abbot of the convent, dressed in his
+ceremonial habit, advanced to bid us welcome, and invite us to dine with
+him to-morrow, St. Augustine's day, in the refectory; which it seems is
+a mighty compliment. We thought proper, however, to decline the honour,
+being aware that, to enjoy it, we must sacrifice at least two hours of
+our time, and be half parboiled by the steam of huge roasted calves,
+turkeys, and gruntlings, which had long been fattening, no doubt, for
+this solemn occasion.
+
+The library is of a prodigious length, not less than three hundred feet;
+the arched roof of a pleasing form, beautifully stuccoed, and the
+pavement of red and white marble. Much cannot be said in praise of the
+cases in which the books are to be arranged. They are clumsily designed,
+coarsely executed, and darkened by a gallery which projects into the
+room in a very awkward manner. The collection, which consists of above
+sixty thousand volumes, is locked up at present in a suite of apartments
+which opens into the library. Several well preserved and richly
+illuminated first editions of the Greek and Roman classics were handed
+to me by the father librarian; but my nimble conductor would not allow
+me much time to examine them. He set off full speed, and, ascending a
+winding staircase, led us out upon the roof of the convent and palace,
+which form a broad, smooth terrace, bounded by a magnificent balustrade,
+unincumbered by chimneys, and commanding a bird's-eye view of the courts
+and garden.
+
+From this elevation the whole plan of the edifice may be comprehended at
+a glance. In the centre rises the dome, like a beautiful temple from the
+spacious walks of a royal garden. It is infinitely superior, in point of
+design, to the rest of the edifice, and may certainly be reckoned among
+the lightest and best proportioned in Europe. Don Pedro and Monsieur
+Verdeil proposed scaling a ladder which leads up to the lantern, but I
+begged to be excused accompanying them, and amused myself during their
+absence with ranging about the extensive loggias, now and then venturing
+a look down on the courts and parterres so far below; but oftener
+enjoying the prospect of the towers shining bright in the sunbeams, and
+the azure bloom of the distant sea. A fresh balsamic air wafted from the
+orchards of citron and orange, fanned me as I rested on the steps of the
+dome, and tempered the warmth of the glowing �ther.
+
+But I was soon driven from this cloudless, peaceful situation, by a
+confounded jingle of all the bells; then followed a most complicated
+sonata, banged off on the chimes by a great proficient. The Marquis, who
+had climbed up on purpose to enjoy this cataract of what some persons
+call melodious sounds at its fountainhead, would have me approach to
+examine the mechanism, and I was half stunned. I know very little indeed
+about chimes and clocks, and am quite at a loss for amusement in a
+belfry. My friend, who inherits a mechanical turn from his father, the
+renowned patron of clocks and time-pieces, investigated every wheel with
+minute attention.
+
+His survey finished, we descended innumerable stairs, and retired to the
+Capitan Mor's, whose jurisdiction extends over the park and district of
+Mafra. He has seven or eight thousand crusadoes a year, and his
+habitation wears every appearance of comfort and opulence. The floors
+are covered with mats of the finest texture, the doors hung with red
+damask curtains, and our beds, quite new for the occasion, spread with
+satin coverlids richly embroidered and fringed. We had a most luxurious
+repast, and a better dessert than even the monks could have given
+us--the Capitan Mor taking the dishes from his long train of servants,
+and placing them himself on the table, quite in the feudal style.
+
+After coffee we hurried to vespers in the great church of the convent,
+and advancing between the range of illuminated chapels, took our places
+in the royal tribune. We were no sooner seated than the monks entered in
+procession, preceding their abbot, who ascended his throne, having a row
+of sacristans at his feet and canons on his right hand, in their cloth
+of gold embroidered vestments. The service was chaunted with the most
+imposing solemnity to the awful sound of organs, for there are no fewer
+than six in the church, all of an enormous size.
+
+When it was ended, being once more laid hold of by the nimble
+lay-brother, we were conducted up a magnificent staircase into the
+palace. The suite extends seven or eight hundred feet, and the almost
+endless succession of lofty doors seen in perspective, strikes with
+astonishment; but we were soon weary of being merely astonished, and
+agreed to pronounce the apartments the dullest and most comfortless we
+had ever beheld; there is no variety in their shape, and little in their
+dimensions. The furniture being all locked up at Lisbon, a naked
+sameness universally prevails; not a niche, not a cornice, not a curved
+moulding breaks the tedious uniformity of dead white walls.
+
+I was glad to return to the convent and refresh my eyes with the sight
+of marble pillars, and my feet by treading on Persian carpets. We were
+followed wherever we moved, into every cell, chapel, hall, passage, or
+sacristy, by a strange medley of inquisitive monks, sacristans,
+lay-brothers, corregidors, village-curates, and country beaux with long
+rapiers and pigtails. If I happened to ask a question, half-a-dozen all
+at once poked their necks out to answer it, like turkey-polts when
+addressed in their native hobble-gobble dialect. The Marquis was quite
+sick of being trotted after in this tumultuous manner, and tried several
+times to leave the crowd behind him, by taking sudden turns; but
+sticking close to our heels, it baffled all his endeavours, and
+increased to such a degree, that we seemed to have swept the whole
+convent and village of their inhabitants, and to draw them after us by
+one of those supernatural attractions we read of in tales and romances.
+
+At length, perceiving a large door open into the garden, we bolted out,
+and striking into a labyrinth of myrtles and laurels, got rid of our
+pursuers. The garden, which is about a mile and a half in circumference,
+contains, besides wild thickets of pine and bay-trees, several orchards
+of lemon and orange, and two or three parterres more filled with weeds
+than flowers. I was much disgusted at finding this beautiful inclosure
+so wretchedly neglected, and its luxuriant plants withering away for
+want of being properly watered.
+
+You may suppose, that after adding a walk in the principal alleys of the
+garden to our other peregrinations, we began to find ourselves somewhat
+fatigued, and were not sorry to repose ourselves in the Abbot's
+apartment till we were summoned once more to our tribune to hear matins
+performed. It was growing dark, and the innumerable tapers burning
+before the altars and in every part of the church, began to diffuse a
+mysterious light. The organs joined again in full accord, the long
+series of monks and novices entered with slow and solemn steps, and the
+Abbot resumed his throne with the same pomp as at vespers. The Marquis
+began muttering his orisons, the Grand Prior to recite his breviary, and
+I to fall into a profound reverie, which lasted as long as the service,
+that is to say above two hours. Verdeil, ready to expire with ennui,
+could not help leaving the tribune and the cloud of incense which filled
+the choir, to breathe a freer air in the body of the church and its
+adjoining chapels.
+
+It was almost nine when the monks, after chaunting a most solemn and
+sonorous hymn in praise of their venerable father, Saint Augustine,
+quitted the choir. We followed their procession through lofty chapels
+and arched cloisters, which by a glimmering light appeared to have
+neither roof nor termination, till it entered an octagon forty feet in
+diameter, with fountains in the four principal angles. The monks, after
+dispersing to wash their hands at the several fountains, again resumed
+their order, and passed two-and-two under a portal thirty feet high into
+a vast hall, communicating with their refectory by another portal of the
+same lofty dimensions. Here the procession made a pause, for this
+chamber is consecrated to the remembrance of the departed, and styled
+the Hall de Profundis. Before every repast, the monks standing round it
+in solemn ranks, silently revolve in their minds the precariousness of
+our frail existence, and offer up prayers for the salvation of their
+predecessors. I could not help being struck with awe when I beheld by
+the glow of flaming lamps, so many venerable figures in their black and
+white habits bending their eyes on the pavement, and absorbed in the
+most interesting and gloomy of meditations.
+
+The moment allotted to this solemn supplication being passed, every one
+took his place at the long tables in the refectory, which are made of
+Brazil-wood, and covered with the whitest linen. Each monk had his
+glass caraffe of water and wine, his plate of apples and salad set
+before him; neither fish nor flesh were served up, the vigil of St.
+Augustine's day being observed as a fast with the utmost strictness.
+
+To enjoy at a glance this singular and majestic spectacle, we retreated
+to a vestibule preceding the octagon, and from thence looked through all
+the portals down the long row of lamps into the refectory, which, owing
+to its vast length of full two hundred feet, seemed ending in a point.
+After remaining a few minutes to enjoy this perspective, four monks
+advanced with torches to light us out of the convent, and bid us
+good-night with many bows and genuflections.
+
+Our supper at the Capitan Mor's was very cheerful. We sat up late,
+notwithstanding our fatigue, talking over the variety of objects that
+had passed before our eyes in so short a space of time, the crowd of
+grotesque figures which had stuck to our heels so long and so closely,
+and the awkward vivacity of the lay-brother.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXIII.
+
+     High mass.--Garden of the Viscount Ponte de Lima.--Leave Mafra.--An
+     accident.--Return to Cintra.--My saloon.--Beautiful view from it.
+
+
+August 28th, 1787.
+
+I was half asleep, half awake, when the sonorous bells of the convent
+struck my ears. The Marquis and Don Pedro's voices in earnest
+conversation with the Capitan Mor in the adjoining chamber, completely
+roused me. We swallowed our coffee in haste; the Grand Prior reluctantly
+left his pillow, and accompanied us to high mass. The monks once more
+exerted their efforts to prevail on us to dine with them; but we
+remained inflexible, and to avoid their importunities hastened away, as
+soon as mass was ended, to the Viscount Ponte de Lima's gardens, where
+the deep shade of the bay and ilex skreened us from the excessive heat
+of the sun.
+
+The Marquis, seating himself by me near one of those clear and copious
+fountains with which this magnificent Italian-looking garden is
+refreshed and enlivened, entered into a most serious and semi-official
+discourse about my stay in Portugal, and the means which were projecting
+in a very high quarter to render it not only pleasant to myself, but of
+some importance to many others.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I felt relieved when the appearance of Don Pedro and his uncle, who had
+been walking to the end of an immensely long avenue of pines, warded off
+a conversation that began to press hard upon me. We returned altogether
+to the Capitan Mor's, and found dinner ready.
+
+Both Don Pedro and myself were sorry to leave Mafra, and should have had
+no objection to another race along the cloisters and dormitories with
+the lay-brother. The evening was bright and clear, and the azure tints
+of the distant sea inexpressibly lovely. We drove with a tumultuous
+rapidity over the rough-paved roads, that the Marquis and I could hardly
+hear a word we said to each other. Don Pedro had mounted his horse.
+Verdeil, who preceded us in the carinho, seemed to outstrip the winds.
+His mule, one of the most fiery and gigantic of her species, excited by
+repeated floggings and the shout of a hulking Portuguese postilion,
+perched up behind the carriage, galloped at an ungovernable rate; and at
+about a league from the rocks of Cintra, thought proper to jerk out its
+drivers into the midst of some bushes at the foot of a lofty bank,
+nearly perpendicular, where they still remained sprawling when we passed
+by.
+
+Verdeil hobbled up to us, and pointed to the carinho in the ditch below.
+Except a slight contusion in the knee, he had received no hurt. I
+exclaimed immediately, that his escape was miraculous, and that,
+doubtless, St. Anthony had some hand in it. My friend, who has always
+the horrors of heresy before his eyes, whispered me that the devil had
+saved him this time, but might not be so favourably disposed another.
+
+It was not half-past five, when we reached Cintra. The Marchioness, the
+Abade, and the children, were waiting our arrival.
+
+Feeling my head in a whirl, and my ideas as much jolted and jumbled as
+my body, I returned home just before it fell dark, to enjoy a few hours
+of uninterrupted calm. The scenery of my ample saloon, its air of
+seclusion, its silence, seemed to breathe a momentary tranquillity over
+my spirits. The mat smoothly laid down, and formed of the finest and
+most glossy straw, assumed by candlelight a delightful, soft, and
+harmonious colour. It looked so cool and glistening that I stretched
+myself upon it. There did I lie supine, contemplating the serene
+summer-sky, and the moon rising slowly from behind the brow of a shrubby
+hill. A faint breeze blowing aside the curtains, discovered the summit
+of the woods in the garden, and beyond, a wide expanse of country,
+terminated by plains of sea and hazy promontories.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXIV.
+
+     A saloon in the highest style of oriental decoration.--Amusing
+     stories of King John the Fifth and his recluses.--Cheerful
+     funeral.--Refreshing ramble to the heights of Penha Verde.
+
+
+August 29th, 1787.
+
+It was furiously hot, and I trifled away the whole morning in my
+pavilion, surrounded by fidalgos in flowered bed-gowns, and musicians in
+violet-coloured accoutrements, with broad straw-hats, like bonzes or
+talapoins, looking as sunburnt, vacant, and listless, as the inhabitants
+of Ormus or Bengal; so that my company as well as my apartment wore the
+most decided oriental appearance: the divan raised a few inches above
+the floor, the gilt trellis-work of the windows, and the pellucid
+streams of water rising from a tank immediately beneath them, supplied
+in endless succession by springs from the native rock.
+
+An agreeable variety prevails in my Asiatic saloon; half its curtains
+admit no light, and display the richest folds; the other half are
+transparent, and cast a mild glow on the mat and sofas. Large clear
+mirrors multiply this profusion of drapery, and several of my guests
+seemed never tired of running from corner to corner, to view the
+different groups of objects reflected on all sides in the most
+unexpected directions, as if they fancied themselves admitted by
+enchantment to peep into a labyrinth of magic chambers.
+
+One of the party, a very shrewd old Italian priest, who had left his
+native land before the too-famous earthquake shook more than the half of
+Lisbon to its foundations, told me he remembered an apartment a good
+deal in this style, that is to say, bedecked with mirrors and curtains,
+in a sort of fairy palace communicating with the Nunnery of Odivellas,
+so famous for the pious retirement of that paragon of splendour and
+holiness, King John the Fifth. These were delightful days for the
+monarch and the fair companions of his devotions.
+
+"Oh!" said the old priest very judiciously, "of what avail is the finest
+cage without birds to enliven it? Had you but heard the celestial
+harmony of King John's recluses, you would never have sat down contented
+in your fine tent with the squalling of sopranos and the grumbling of
+bass-viols. The silver, virgin tones I allude to, proceeding from the
+holy recess into which no other male mortal except the monarch was ever
+allowed to penetrate, had an effect I still remember with ecstasy,
+though at the distance of so many years. Four of our finest singers, two
+from Venice and two from Naples, attracted by a truly regal munificence,
+added all that the most consummate taste and science could give to the
+best voices in Portugal; the result was perfection."
+
+Aguilar, who came to dine with us, and whose mother, when in the bloom
+of youth and beauty, had been not unfrequently invited to act the part
+of perhaps more than audience at these edifying parties, confirmed all
+the wonders the old Italian narrated, and added not a few of the same
+gold and ruby colour in a strain so extravagantly enthusiastic, that
+were I to repeat even half the glittering anecdotes he favoured me with,
+upon the subject of Don John the Fifth's unbounded fervour and
+magnificence, your imagination would be completely dazzled.
+
+Just as we had removed from the dinner to the dessert-table, which was
+spread out upon a terrace fronting the principal alley of the gardens,
+entered the abade Xavier, in full cry, with a rapturous story of the
+conversion of an old consumptive Englishwoman, who, it seems, finding
+herself upon the eve of departure, had called for a priest, to whom she
+might confess, and abjure her errors of every description. Happening to
+lodge at the Cintra inn, kept by a most flaming Irish Catholic, her
+commendable desires were speedily complied with, and Mascarenhas and
+Acciaoli, and two or three other priests and monsignors, summoned to
+further the good work.
+
+"Great," said the abade, "are our rejoicings upon the occasion. This
+very evening the aged innocent is to be buried in triumph: Marialva, San
+Lorenzo, Asseca, and several more of the principal nobility are already
+assembled to grace the festival; suppose you were to come with me and
+join the procession?"
+
+"With all my heart," did I reply; "although I have no great taste for
+funerals, so gay a one as this you talk of may form an exception."
+
+Off we set, driving as fast as most excellent mules could carry us, lest
+we should come too late for the entertainment. A great mob was assembled
+before the door. At one of the windows stood the grand prior, looking as
+if he wished himself a thousand leagues away, and reciting his breviary.
+I went up-stairs, and was immediately surrounded by the old Conde de San
+Lorenzo and other believers, overflowing with congratulations.
+Mascarenhas, one of the soundest limbs of the patriarchal establishment,
+a capital devotee and seraphic doctor, was introduced to me. Acciaoli,
+whom I was before acquainted with, skipped about the room, rubbing his
+hands for joy, with a cunning leer on his jovial countenance, and
+snapping his fingers at Satan, as much as to say, "I don't care a d----
+n for you. We have got one at least safe out of your clutches, and clear
+at this very moment of the smoke of your cauldron."
+
+There was such a bustle in the interior apartment where the wretched
+corpse was deposited, such a chaunting and praying, for not a tongue
+was idle, that my head swam round, and I took refuge by the grand prior.
+He by no means relished the party, and kept shrugging up his shoulders,
+and saying that it was very edifying--very edifying indeed, and that
+Acciaoli had been extremely alert, extremely active, and deserved great
+commendation, but that so much fuss might as well have been spared.
+
+By some hints that dropped, I won't say from whom, I discovered the
+innocent now on the high road to eternal felicity by no means to have
+suffered the cup of joy to pass by untasted in this existence, and to
+have lived many years on a very easy footing, not only with a stout
+English bachelor, but with several others, married and unmarried, of his
+particular acquaintance. However, she had taken a sudden tack upon
+finding herself driven apace down the tide of a rapid consumption, and
+had been fairly towed into port by the joint efforts of the Irish
+hostess and the monsignori Mascarenhas and Acciaoli.
+
+"Thrice happy Englishwoman," exclaimed M--a, "what luck is thine! In
+the next world immediate admission to paradise, and in this thy body
+will have the proud distinction of being borne to the grave by men of
+the highest rank.--Was there ever such felicity?"
+
+The arrival of a band of priests and sacristans, with tapers lighted and
+cross erected, called us to the scene of action. The procession being
+marshalled, the corpse, dressed in virgin-white, lying snug in a sort of
+rose-coloured bandbox with six silvered handles, was brought forth.
+M----, who abhors the sight of a dead body, reddened up to his ears, and
+would have given a good sum to make an honourable retreat; but no
+retreat could now have been made consistent with piety: he was obliged
+to conquer his disgust and take a handle of the bier. Another was placed
+in the murderous gripe of the notorious San Vicente; another fell to the
+poor old snuffling Conde de San Lorenzo; a fourth to the Viscount
+d'Asseca, a mighty simple-looking young gentleman; the fifth and sixth
+were allotted to the Capita� Mor of Cintra, and to the judge, a gaunt
+fellow with a hang-dog countenance.
+
+No sooner did the grand prior catch sight of the ghastly visage of the
+dead body as it was being conveyed down-stairs in the manner I have
+recited, than he made an attempt to move on, and precede instead of
+following the procession; but Acciaoli, who acted as master of the
+ceremonies, would not let him off so easily: he allotted him the post of
+honour immediately at the head of the corpse, and placed himself at his
+left hand, giving the right to Mascarenhas. All the bells of Cintra
+struck up a cheerful peal, and to their merry jinglings we hurried along
+through a dense cloud of dust, a rabble of children frolicking on either
+side, and their grandmothers hobbling after, telling their beads, and
+grinning from ear to ear at this triumph over the prince of darkness.
+
+Happily the way to the church was not long, or the dust would have
+choked us. The grand prior kept his mouth close not to admit a particle
+of it, but Acciaoli and his colleague were too full of their fortunate
+exploit not to chatter incessantly. Poor old San Lorenzo, who is fat,
+squat, and pursy, gasping for breath, stopped several times to rest on
+his journey. Marialva, whom disgust rendered heartily fatigued with his
+burthen, was very glad likewise to make a pause or two.
+
+We found all the altars in the church blazing with lights, the grave
+gaping for its immaculate inhabitant, and a numerous detachment of
+priests and choristers waiting to receive the procession. The moment it
+entered, the same hymn which is sung at the interment of babes and
+sucklings burst forth from a hundred youthful voices, incense arose in
+clouds, and joy and gladness shone in the eyes of the whole
+congregation.
+
+A murmur of applause and congratulation went round anew, those whom it
+most concerned receiving with great affability and meekness the
+compliments of the occasion. Old San Lorenzo, waddling up to the grand
+prior, hugged him in his arms, and strewing him all over with snuff, set
+him violently a-sneezing. San Vicente, as soon as the innocent was
+safely deposited, retired in a sort of dudgeon, being never rightly at
+ease in the presence of his brother-in-law Marialva. As for the latter
+warm-hearted nobleman, exultation and triumph carried him beyond all
+bounds of decorum. He scoffed bitterly at heretics, represented in their
+true colours the actual happiness of the convert, and just as we left
+the church, cried out loud enough for all those who were near to have
+heard him, "_Elle se f----iche de nous tous � pr�sent._"
+
+Their pious toil being ended, Mascarenhas and Acciaoli accompanied us to
+the heights of Penha Verde, to breathe a fresh air under the odoriferous
+pines: then, returning in our company to Ramalha�, partook of a nice
+collation of iced fruit and sweetmeats, and concluded the evening with
+much gratifying discourse about the lively scene we had just witnessed.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXV.
+
+     Anecdotes of the Conde de San Lorenzo.--Visit to Mrs.
+     Guildermeester.--Toads active, and toads passive.--The old Consul
+     and his tray of jewels.
+
+
+The principal personages who had so piously distinguished themselves
+yesterday dined with me this blessed afternoon. Old San Lorenzo has a
+prodigious memory and a warm imagination, rendered still more glowing by
+a slight touch of madness. He appears perfectly well acquainted with the
+general politics of Europe, and though never beyond the limits of
+Portugal, gave so circumstantial and plausible a detail of what
+occurred, and of the part he himself acted at the congress of
+Aix-la-Chapelle, that I was completely his dupe, and believed, until I
+was let into the secret, that he had actually witnessed what he only
+dreamt of. Notwithstanding the high favour he enjoyed with the infante
+Don Pedro, Pombal cast him into a dungeon with the other victims of the
+Aveiro conspiracy, and for eighteen most melancholy years was his active
+mind reduced to prey upon itself for sustenance.
+
+Upon the present queen's accession he was released, and found his
+intimate friend the Infante sharing the throne; but thinking himself
+somewhat coolly received and shabbily neglected, he threw the key of
+chamberlain which was sent him into a place of less dignity than
+convenience, and retired to the convent of the Necessidades. No means, I
+have been assured, were left untried by the king to soothe and flatter
+him; but they all proved fruitless. Since this period, though he quitted
+the convent, he has never appeared at court, and has refused all
+employment. Devotion now absorbs his entire soul. Except when the chord
+of imprisonment and Pombal is touched upon, he is calm and reasonable. I
+found him extremely so to-day, and full of the most instructive and
+amusing anecdote.
+
+Coffee over, my company having stretched themselves out at full-length
+most comfortably, some on the mat, and some on the sofas, to recruit
+their spirits I suppose, after the pious toils and enthusiastic
+procession of the day before, I prevailed upon Marialva to escort me to
+Mrs. Guildermeester's, whom we found in a vast but dingy saloon, her
+toads squatting around her. She gave us some excellent tea, and a plain
+sensible loaf of brown bread, accompanied by delicious butter, just
+fresh from a genuine Dutch dairy, conducted upon the most immaculate
+Dutch principles. Donna Genuefa, the toad-passive in waiting, is a
+little jossish old woman, with a head as round as a humming-top, and a
+large placid lip, very smiling and good-natured. Miss Coster, the
+toad-active, has been rather pretty a few years ago, makes tea with
+decorum, shuts doors and opens windows with judgment, and has a good
+deal to say for herself when allowed to sit still on her chair.
+
+We had scarcely begun complimenting the mistress of the house upon the
+complete success of her cow-establishment, when the old consul her
+spouse entered, with many bows and salutations, bearing a huge japan
+tray, upon which was spread out in glittering profusion an ample
+treasure, both of rough and well-lapidated brilliants, the fruits of his
+famous and most lucrative contract in the days of Pombal. Some of the
+largest diamonds, in superb though heavy Dutch or German settings, he
+eagerly desired Marialva would recommend to the attention of the queen,
+and whispered in my ear that he hoped I also would speak a good word for
+him. I remained as deaf as an adder, and the Marquis as blind as a
+beetle, to the splendour of the display; so he returned once more to his
+interior cabinet, with all his hopes out of blossom, and we moved off.
+
+Evening was drawing on, and a drizzling mist overspreading the crags of
+Cintra. It did not, however, prevent us from going to Mr. Horne's. We
+passed under arching elms and chesnuts, whose moistened foliage exhaled
+a fresh woody odour. High above the vapours, which were rolling away
+just as we emerged from the shady avenue, appeared the turret of the
+convent of the Penha, faintly tinted by the last rays of the sun, and
+looking down, like the ark on Mount Ararat, on a sea of undulating
+clouds.
+
+At Horne's, Aguilar, Bezerra, and the usual set were assembled. The
+Marquis, as soon as he had made his condescending bows to the right and
+left, retired to his villa, and I took Horne in my chaise to Mrs.
+Staits, a little slender-waisted, wild-eyed woman, by no means
+unpleasing or flinty-hearted. It was her birthday, and she had
+congregated most of the English at Cintra, in a damp garden about
+seventy feet long by thirty-two, illuminated by thirty or forty
+lanterns. Mrs. Guildermeester was there, covered with diamonds, and
+sparkling like a star in the midst of this murky atmosphere. We had a
+cold funereal supper, under a low tent in imitation of a grotto.
+
+Mrs. Staits' well-disposed, easy-tempered husband placed me next Mrs.
+Guildermeester, who amused herself tolerably well at the expense of the
+entertainment. The dingy, subterraneous appearance of the booth, the wan
+light of the lanterns sparingly scattered along it, and the fragrance of
+a dish of rather mature prawns placed under my nose, seized me with the
+idea of being dead and buried. "Alas!" said I to my fair neighbour, "it
+is all over with us now, and this our first banquet in the infernal
+regions; we are all equal and jumbled together. There sits the pious
+presbyterian Mrs. Fussock, with that bridling miss her daughter, and
+close to them those adulterous doves, Mr. ---- and his sultana. Here am
+I, miserable sinner, right opposite your righteous and much enduring
+spouse; a little lower our kind host, that pattern of conjugal meekness
+and resignation. Hark! don't you hear a lumbering noise? They are
+letting down a cargo of heavy bodies into a neighbouring tomb."
+
+In this strain did we continue till the subject was exhausted, and it
+was time to take our departure.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXVI.
+
+     Expected arrival at Cintra of the Queen and suite.--Duke
+     d'Alafoins.--Excursion to a rustic Fair.--Revels of the
+     Peasantry.--Night-scene at the Marialva Villa.
+
+
+Sept. 10th, 1787.
+
+Adieu to the tranquillity of Cintra, we shall soon have nothing but
+hubbub and confusion. The queen is on the point of arriving with all her
+maids of honour, secretaries of state, dwarfs, negresses and horses,
+white, black, and pie-bald. Half the quintas around will be dried up,
+military possession having been taken of the aqueducts, and their waters
+diverted into new channels for the use of an encampment.
+
+I was walking in a long arched bower of citron-trees, when M----
+appeared at the end of the avenue, accompanied by the duke d'Alafoins.
+This is the identical personage well-known in every part of Europe by
+the appellation of Duke of Braganza. He has no right however, to wear
+that illustrious title, which is merged in the crown. Were he called
+Duchess Dowager, of anything you please, I think nobody would dispute
+the propriety of his style, he being so like an old lady of the
+bed-chamber, so fiddle-faddle and so coquettish. He had put on rouge and
+patches, and though he has seen seventy winters, contrived to turn on
+his heel and glide about with juvenile agility.
+
+I was much surprised at the ease of his motions, having been told that
+he was a martyr to the gout. After lisping French with a most refined
+accent, complaining of the sun, and the roads, and the state of
+architecture, he departed, (thank heaven!) to mark out a spot for the
+encampment of the cavalry, which are to guard the queen's sacred person
+during her residence in these mountains. M---- was in duty bound to
+accompany him; but left his son and his nephews, the heirs of the House
+of Tancos, to dine with me.
+
+In the evening, Verdeil, tired with sauntering about the verandas,
+proposed a ride to a neighbouring village, where there was a fair. He
+and Don Pedro mounted their horses, and preceded the young Tancos and me
+in a garden-chair, drawn by a most resolute mule. The roads are
+abominable, and lay partly along the sloping base of the Cintra
+mountains, which in the spring, no doubt, are clothed with a tolerable
+verdure, but at this season every blade of grass is parched and
+withered. Our carriage-wheels, as we drove sideling along these slippery
+declivities, pressed forth the odour of innumerable aromatic herbs, half
+pulverized. Thicknesse perhaps would have said, in his original quaint
+style, that nature was treating us with a pinch of her best cephalic. No
+snuff, indeed, ever threw me into a more violent fit of sneezing.
+
+I could hardly keep up my head when we arrived at the fair, which is
+held on a pleasant lawn, bounded on one side by the picturesque
+buildings of a convent of Hieronimites, and on the other by rocky hills,
+shattered into a variety of uncouth romantic forms; one cliff in
+particular, called the Pedra d'os Ovos, terminated by a cross, crowns
+the assemblage, and exhibits a very grotesque appearance. Behind the
+convent a thick shrubbery of olives, ilex, and citron, fills up a small
+valley refreshed by fountains, whose clear waters are conducted through
+several cloisters and gardens, surrounded by low marble columns,
+supporting fretted arches in the morisco style.
+
+The peasants assembled at the fair were scattered over the lawn; some
+conversing with the monks, others half intoxicated, sliding off their
+donkeys and sprawling upon the ground; others bargaining for silk-nets
+and spangled rings, to bestow on their mistresses. The monks, who were
+busily employed in administering all sorts of consolations, spiritual
+and temporal, according to their respective ages and vocations, happily
+paid us no kind of attention, so we escaped being stuffed with
+sweetmeats, and worried with compliments.
+
+At sunset we returned to Ramalha�, and drank tea in its lantern-like
+saloon, in which are no less than eleven glazed doors and windows of
+large dimensions. The winds were still; the air balsamic; and the sky of
+so soft an azure that we could not remain with patience under any other
+canopy, but stept once more into our curricles and drove as far as the
+Dutch consul's new building, by the mingled light of innumerable stars.
+
+It was after ten when we got back to the Marialva villa, and long before
+we reached it, we heard the plaintive tones of voices and wind
+instruments issuing from the thickets. On the margin of the principal
+basin sat the marchioness and Donna Henriquetta, and a numerous group of
+their female attendants, many of them most graceful figures, and
+listening with all their hearts and souls to the rehearsal of some very
+delightful music with which her majesty is to be serenaded a few
+evenings hence.
+
+It was one of those serene and genial nights when music acquires a
+double charm, and opens the heart to tender, though melancholy
+impressions. Not a leaf rustled, not a breath of wind disturbed the
+clear flame of the lights which had been placed near the fountains, and
+which just served to make them visible. The waters, flowing in rills
+round the roots of the lemon-trees, formed a rippling murmur; and in the
+pauses of the concert, no other sound except some very faint whisperings
+was to be distinguished, so that the enchantment of climate, music, and
+mystery, all contributed to throw my mind into a sort of trance from
+which I was not roused again without a degree of painful reluctance.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXVII.
+
+     Curious scene in the interior of the palace of Cintra.--Singular
+     invitation.--Dinner with the Archbishop Confessor.--Hilarity and
+     shrewd remarks of that extraordinary personage.
+
+
+September 12th, 1787.
+
+I was hardly up before the grand prior and Mr. Street were announced:
+the latter abusing kings, queens, and princes, with all his might, and
+roaring after liberty and independence; the former complaining of fogs
+and damps.
+
+As soon as the advocate for republicanism had taken his departure, we
+went by appointment to the archbishop confessor's, and were immediately
+admitted into his _sanctum sanctorum_, a snug apartment communicating by
+a winding staircase with that of the queen, and hung with bright, lively
+tapestry. A lay-brother, fat, round, buffoonical, and to the full as
+coarse and vulgar as any carter or muleteer in christendom, entertained
+us with some very amusing, though not the most decent, palace stories,
+till his patron came forth.
+
+Those who expect to see the Grand Inquisitor of Portugal, a doleful,
+meagre figure, with eyes of reproof and malediction, would be
+disappointed. A pleasanter or more honest countenance than that kind
+heaven has blessed him with, one has seldom the comfort of looking upon.
+He received me in the most open, cordial manner, and I have reason to
+think I am in mighty favour.
+
+We talked about archbishops in England being married. "Pray," said the
+prelate, "are not your archbishops strange fellows? consecrated in
+ale-houses, and good bottle companions? I have been told that mad-cap
+Lord Tyrawley was an archbishop at home." You may imagine how much I
+laughed at this inconceivable nonsense; and though I cannot say,
+speaking of his right reverence, that "truths divine came mended from
+his tongue," it may be allowed, that nonsense itself became more
+conspicuously nonsensical, flowing from so revered a source.
+
+Whilst we sat in the windows of the saloon, listening to a band of
+regimental music, we saw Joa� Antonio de Castro, the ingenious
+mechanician, who invented the present method of lighting Lisbon, two or
+three solemn dominicans, and a famous court fool[18] in a tawdry
+gala-suit, bedizened with mock orders, coming up the steps which lead to
+the great audience-chamber, all together. "Ay, ay," said the
+lay-brother, who is a shrewd, comical fellow, "behold a true picture of
+our customers. Three sorts of persons find their way most readily into
+this palace; men of superior abilities, buffoons, and saints; the first
+soon lose what cleverness they possessed, the saints become martyrs, and
+the buffoons alone prosper."
+
+To all this the Archbishop gave his hearty assent by a very significant
+nod of the head; and being, as I have already told you, in a most
+gracious, communicative disposition, would not permit me to go away,
+when I rose up to take leave of him.
+
+"No, no," said he, "don't think of quitting me yet awhile. Let us repair
+to the hall of Swans, where all the court are waiting for me, and pray
+tell me then what you think of our great fidalgos."
+
+Taking me by the tip of the fingers he led me along through a number of
+shady rooms and dark passages to a private door, which opened from the
+queen's presence-chamber, into a vast saloon, crowded, I really believe,
+by half the dignitaries of the kingdom; here were bishops, heads of
+orders, secretaries of state, generals, lords of the bedchamber, and
+courtiers of all denominations, as fine and as conspicuous as
+embroidered uniforms, stars, crosses, and gold keys could make them.
+
+The astonishment of this group at our sudden apparition was truly
+laughable, and indeed, no wonder; we must have appeared on the point of
+beginning a minuet--the portly archbishop in his monastic, flowing white
+drapery, spreading himself out like a turkey in full pride, and myself
+bowing and advancing in a sort of _pas-grave_, blinking all the while
+like an owl in sunshine, thanks to my rapid transition from darkness to
+the most glaring daylight.
+
+Down went half the party upon their knees, some with petitions and some
+with memorials; those begging for places and promotions, and these for
+benedictions, of which my revered conductor was by no means prodigal. He
+seemed to treat all these eager demonstrations of fawning servility with
+the most contemptuous composure, and pushing through the crowd which
+divided respectfully to give us passage, beckoned the Viscount Ponte de
+Lima, the Marquis of Lavradio, the Count d'Obidos, and two or three of
+the lords in waiting, into a mean little room, not above twenty by
+fourteen.
+
+After a deal of adulatory complimentation in a most subdued tone from
+the circle of courtiers, for which they had got nothing in return but
+rebuffs and gruntling, the Archbishop drew his chair close to mine, and
+said with a very distinct and audible pronunciation, "My dear
+Englishman, these are all a parcel of flattering scoundrels, do not
+believe one word they say to you. Though they glitter like gold, mud is
+not meaner--I know them well. Here," continued he, holding up the flap
+of my coat, "is a proof of English prudence, this little button to
+secure the pocket is a precious contrivance, especially in grand
+company, do not leave it off, do not adopt any of our fashions, or you
+will repent it."
+
+This sally of wit was received with the most resigned complacency by
+those who had inspired it, and, staring with all my eyes, and listening
+with all my ears, I could hardly credit either upon seeing the most
+complaisant gesticulations, and hearing the most abject protestations of
+devoted attachment to his right reverence's sacred person from all the
+company.
+
+There is no saying how long this tide of adulation would have continued
+pouring on, if it had not been interrupted by a message from the queen,
+commanding the confessor's immediate attendance. Giving his garments a
+hearty shake, he trudged off bawling out to me over his shoulder, "I
+shall be back in half-an-hour, and you must dine with me."--"Dine with
+him!" exclaimed the company in chorus: "such an honour never befel any
+one of us; how fortunate! how distinguished you are!"
+
+Now, I must confess, I was by no means enchanted with this most peculiar
+invitation; I had a much pleasanter engagement at Penha-Verde, one of
+the coolest and most romantic spots in all this poetic district, and
+felt no vocation to be cooped up in a close bandboxical apartment,
+smelling of paint and varnish enough to give the head-ache; however,
+there was no getting off. I was told that I must obey, for everybody in
+these regions, high or low, the royal family themselves not excepted,
+obeyed the archbishop, and that I ought to esteem myself too happy in so
+agreeable an opportunity.
+
+It would be only repeating what is known to every one, who knows any
+thing of courts and courtiers, were I to add the flowery speeches, the
+warm encomiums, I received from the finest feathered birds of this covey
+upon my own transcendant perfections, and those of my host that was to
+be. The half-hour, which, by-the-by, was more than three-quarters,
+scarcely sufficed for half those very people had to say in my
+commendation, who, a few days ago, were all reserve and indifference, if
+I happened to approach them. My summons to this envied repast was
+conveyed to me by no less a personage than the Marquis of M----, who,
+with gladsome surprise in all his gestures, whispered me, "I am to be of
+the party too, the first time in my life I can assure you; not a
+creature besides is to be admitted; for my uncle is gone home tired of
+waiting for you."
+
+We knocked at the private door, which was immediately opened, and
+following the same passages through which I had been before conducted,
+emerged into an ante-chamber looking into a very neat little kitchen,
+where the lay-brother, with his sleeves tucked up to his shoulders, was
+making hospitable preparation. A table with three covers was prepared in
+the tapestry-room, and upon a sofa, in the corner of it, sat the
+omnipotent prelate wrapped up in an old snuff-coloured great coat, sadly
+patched and tattered.
+
+"Come," said he, clapping his hands after the oriental fashion, "serve
+up and let us be merry--oh, these women, these women, above stairs, what
+a plague it is to settle their differences! Who knows better than you,
+Marquis, what enigmas they are to unriddle? I dare say the Englishman's
+archbishops have not half such puzzles to get over as I have: well, let
+us see what we have got for you."
+
+Entered the lay-brother with three roasting-pigs, on a huge tray of
+massive silver, and an enormous pillau, as admirable in quality as in
+size; and so it had need to have been, for in these two dishes consisted
+our whole dinner. I am told the fare at the Archbishop's table never
+varies, and roasting-pigs succeed roasting-pigs, and pillaus pillaus,
+throughout all the vicissitudes of the seasons, except on certain
+peculiar fast-days of supreme meagre.
+
+The simplicity of this part of our entertainment was made up by the
+profusion and splendour of our dessert, which exceeded in variety of
+fruits and sweetmeats any one of which I had ever partaken. As to the
+wines, they were admirable, the tribute of every part of the Portuguese
+dominions offered up at this holy shrine. The Port Company, who are just
+soliciting the renewal of their charter, had contributed the choicest
+produce of their happiest vintages, and as I happened to commend its
+peculiar excellence, my hospitable entertainer, whose good-humour seemed
+to acquire every instant a livelier glow, insisted upon my accepting
+several pipes of it, which were punctually sent me the next morning. The
+Archbishop became quite jovial, and supposing I was not more insensible
+to the joys of convivial potations than many of my countrymen, plied me
+as often and as waggishly as if I had been one of his imaginary
+archbishops, or Lord Tyrawley himself, returned from those cold
+precincts where no dinners are given or bottle circulated.
+
+The lay-brother was such a fountain of anecdote, the Archbishop in such
+glee, and Marialva in such jubilation at being admitted to this
+confidential party, that it is impossible to say how long it would have
+lasted, had not the hour of her Majesty's evening excursion approached,
+and the Archbishop been called to accompany her. As Master of the Horse,
+the Marquis could not dispense with his attendance, so I was left under
+the guidance of the lay-brother, who, leading me through another
+labyrinth of passages, opened a kind of wicket door, and let me out with
+as little ceremony as he would have turned a goose adrift on a common.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXVIII.
+
+     Explore the Cintra Mountains.--Convent of Nossa Senhora da
+     Penha.--Moorish Ruins.--The Cork Convent.--The Rock of
+     Lisbon.--Marine Scenery.--Susceptible imagination of the Ancients
+     exemplified.
+
+
+Sept. 19th, 1787.
+
+Never did I behold so fine a day, or a sky of such lovely azure. The
+M---- were with me by half-past six, and we rode over wild hills, which
+command a great extent of apparently desert country; for the villages,
+if there are any, are concealed in ravines and hollows.
+
+Intending to explore the Cintra mountains from one extremity to the
+other of the range, we placed relays at different stations. Our first
+object was the Convent of Nossa Senhora da Penha, the little romantic
+pile of white buildings I had seen glittering from afar when I first
+sailed by the coast of Lisbon. From this pyramidical elevation the view
+is boundless: you look immediately down upon an immense expanse of sea,
+the vast, unlimited Atlantic. A long series of detached clouds of a
+dazzling whiteness, suspended low over the waves, had a magic effect,
+and in pagan times might have appeared, without any great stretch of
+fancy, the cars of marine divinities just risen from the bosom of their
+element.
+
+There was nothing very interesting in the objects immediately around us.
+The Moorish remains in the neighbourhood of the convent are scarcely
+worth notice, and indeed seem never to have made part of any
+considerable edifice. They were probably built up with the dilapidations
+of a Roman temple, whose constructors had perhaps in their turn availed
+themselves of the fragments of a Punic or Tyrian fane raised on this
+high place, and blackened with the smoke of some horrible sacrifice.
+
+Amidst the crevices of the mouldering walls, and particularly in the
+vault of a cistern, which seems to have served both as a reservoir and a
+bath, I noticed some capillaries and polypodiums of infinite delicacy;
+and on a little flat space before the convent a numerous tribe of
+pinks, gentians, and other alpine plants, fanned and invigorated by the
+pure mountain air. These refreshing breezes, impregnated with the
+perfume of innumerable aromatic herbs and flowers, seemed to infuse new
+life into my veins, and, with it, an almost irresistible impulse to fall
+down and worship in this vast temple of Nature the source and cause of
+existence.
+
+As we had a very extensive ride in contemplation, I could not remain
+half so long as I wished on this a�rial and secluded summit. Descending
+by a tolerably easy road, which wound amongst the rocks in many an
+irregular curve, we followed for several miles a narrow tract over the
+brow of savage and desolate eminences, to the Cork convent, which
+answered exactly, at the first glance we caught of it, the picture one
+represents to one's self of the settlement of Robinson Crusoe. Before
+the entrance, formed of two ledges of ponderous rock, extends a smooth
+level of greensward, browsed by cattle, whose tinkling bells filled me
+with recollections of early days passed amongst wild and alpine scenery.
+The Hermitage, its cells, chapel, and refectory, are all scooped out of
+the native marble, and lined with the bark of the cork-tree. Several of
+the passages about it are not only roofed, but floored with the same
+material, extremely soft and pleasant to the feet. The shrubberies and
+garden plats, dispersed amongst the mossy rocks which lie about in the
+wildest confusion, are delightful, and I took great pleasure in
+exploring their nooks and corners, following the course of a
+transparent, gurgling rill, which is conducted through a rustic
+water-shoot, between bushes of lavender and rosemary of the tenderest
+green.
+
+The Prior of this romantic retirement is appointed by the Marialvas, and
+this very day his installation takes place, so we were pressed to dine
+with him upon the occasion, and could not refuse; but as it was still
+very early, we galloped on, intending to visit a famous cliff, the Pedra
+d'Alvidrar, which composes one of the most striking features of that
+renowned promontory the Rock of Lisbon.
+
+Our road led us through the skirts of the woods which surround the
+delightful village of Collares, to another range of barren eminences
+extending along the sea-shore. I advanced to the very margin of the
+cliff, which is of great height, and nearly perpendicular. A rabble of
+boys followed at the heels of our horses, and five stout lads, detached
+from this posse, descended with the most perfect unconcern the dreadful
+precipice. One in particular walked down with his arms expanded, like a
+being of a superior order. The coast is truly picturesque, and consists
+of bold projections, intermixed with pyramidical rocks succeeding each
+other in theatrical perspective, the most distant crowned by a lofty
+tower, which serves as a lighthouse.
+
+No words can convey an adequate idea of the bloom of the atmosphere, and
+the silvery light reflected from the sea. From the edge of the abyss,
+where I had remained several minutes like one spell-bound, we descended
+a winding path, about half a mile, to the beach. Here we found ourselves
+nearly shut in by shattered cliffs and grottos, a fantastic
+amphitheatre, the best calculated that can possibly be imagined to
+invite the sports of sea nymphs. Such coves, such deep and broken
+recesses, such a play of outline I never beheld, nor did I ever hear so
+powerful a roar of rushing waters upon any other coast. No wonder the
+warm and susceptible imagination of the ancients, inflamed by the
+scenery of the place, led them to believe they distinguished the conchs
+of tritons sounding in these retired caverns; nay, some grave
+Lusitanians positively declared they had not only heard, but seen them,
+and despatched a messenger to the Emperor Tiberius to announce the
+event, and congratulate him upon so evident and auspicious a
+manifestation of divinity.
+
+The tide was beginning to ebb, and allowed us, not without some risk
+however, to pass into a cavern of surprising loftiness, the sides of
+which were incrusted with beautiful limpets, and a variety of small
+shells grouped together. Against some rude and porous fragments, not far
+from the aperture through which we had crept, the waves swell with
+violence, rush into the air, form instantaneous canopies of foam, then
+fall down in a thousand trickling rills of silver. The flickering gleams
+of light thrown upon irregular arches admitting into darker and more
+retired grottos, the mysterious, watery gloom, the echoing murmurs and
+almost musical sounds, occasioned by the conflict of winds and waters,
+the strong odour of an atmosphere composed of saline particles, produced
+altogether such a bewildering effect upon the senses, that I can easily
+conceive a mind, poetically given, might be thrown into that kind of
+tone which inclines to the belief of supernatural appearances. I am not
+surprised, therefore, at the credulity of the ancients, and only wonder
+my own imagination did not deceive me in a similar manner.
+
+If solitude could have induced the Nereids to have vouchsafed me an
+apparition, it was not wanting, for all my company had separated upon
+different pursuits, and had left me entirely to myself. During the full
+half-hour I remained shut out from the breathing world, one solitary
+corvo marino was the only living creature I caught sight of, perched
+upon an insulated rock, about fifty paces from the opening of the
+cavern.
+
+I was so stunned with the complicated sounds and murmurs which filled my
+ears, that it was some moments before I could distinguish the voices of
+Verdeil and Don Pedro, who were just returned from a hunt after
+seaweeds and madrapores, calling me loudly to mount on horseback, and
+make the best of our way to rejoin the Marquis and his attendants, all
+gone to mass at the Cork convent. Happily, the little detached clouds we
+had seen from the high point of Nossa Senhora da Penha, instead of
+melting into the blue sky, had been gathering together, and skreened us
+from the sun. We had therefore a delightful ride, and upon alighting
+from our palfreys found the old abade just arrived with Luis de Miranda,
+the colonel of the Cascais regiment, surrounded by a whole synod of
+monks, as picturesque as bald pates and venerable beards could make
+them.
+
+As soon as the Marquis came forth from his devotions, dinner was served
+up exactly in the style one might have expected at Mequinez or
+Morocco--pillaus of different kinds, delicious quails, and pyramids of
+rice tinged with saffron. Our dessert, in point of fruits and
+sweetmeats, was most luxurious, nor would Pomona herself have been
+ashamed of carrying in her lap such peaches and nectarines as rolled in
+profusion about the table.
+
+The abade seemed animated after dinner by the spirit of contradiction,
+and would not allow the Marquis or Luis de Miranda to know more about
+the court of John the Fifth, than of that of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
+
+To avoid being stunned by the clamours of the dispute, in which two or
+three monks with stentorian voices began to take part most vehemently,
+Don Pedro, Verdeil, and I climbed up amongst the hanging shrubberies of
+arbutus, bay, and myrtle, to a little platform carpeted with delicate
+herbage, exhaling a fresh, aromatic perfume upon the slightest pressure.
+There we sat, lulled by the murmur of distant waves, breaking over the
+craggy shore we had visited in the morning. The clouds came slowly
+sailing over the hills. My companions pounded the cones of the pines,
+and gave me the kernels, which have an agreeable almond taste.
+
+The evening was far advanced before we abandoned our peaceful,
+sequestered situation, and joined the Marquis, who had not been yet able
+to appease the abade. The vociferous old man made so many appeals to the
+father-guardian of the convent in defence of his opinions, that I
+thought we never should have got away. At length we departed, and after
+wandering about in clouds and darkness for two hours, reached Cintra
+exactly at ten. The Marchioness and the children had been much alarmed
+at our long absence, and rated the abade severely for having occasioned
+it.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXIX.
+
+     Excursion to Penha Verde.--Resemblance of that Villa to the
+     edifices in Gaspar Poussin's landscapes.--The ancient pine-trees,
+     said to have been planted by Don John de Castro.--The old forests
+     displaced by gaudy terraces.--Influx of Visiters.--A celebrated
+     Prior's erudition and strange anachronisms.--The Beast in the
+     Apocalypse.--OEcolampadius.--Bevy of Palace damsels.--F�te at the
+     Marialva Villa.--The Queen and the Royal Family.--A favourite dwarf
+     Negress.--Dignified manner of the Queen.--Profound respect inspired
+     by her presence.--Rigorous etiquette.--Grand display of
+     Fireworks.--The young Countess of Lumiares.--Affecting resemblance.
+
+
+September 22nd, 1787.
+
+When I got up, the mists were stealing off the hills, and the distant
+sea discovering itself in all its azure bloom. Though I had been led to
+expect many visiters of importance from Lisbon, the morning was so
+inviting that I could not resist riding out after breakfast, even at the
+risk of not being present at their arrival.
+
+I took the road to Collares, and found the air delightfully soft and
+fragrant. Some rain which had lately fallen, had refreshed the whole
+face of the country, and tinged the steeps beyond Penha Verde with
+purple and green; for the numerous tribe of heaths had started into
+blossom, and the little irregular lawns, overhung by crooked cork-trees,
+which occur so frequently by the way-side, are now covered with large
+white lilies streaked with pink.
+
+Penha Verde itself is a lovely spot. The villa, with its low, flat
+roofs, and a loggia projecting at one end, exactly resembles the
+edifices in Gaspar Poussin's landscapes. Before one of the fronts is a
+square parterre with a fountain in the middle, and niches in the walls
+with antique busts. Above these walls a variety of trees and shrubs rise
+to a great elevation, and compose a mass of the richest foliage. The
+pines, which, by their bright-green colour, have given the epithet of
+verdant to this rocky point (Penha Verde), are as picturesque as those I
+used to admire so warmly in the Negroni garden at Rome, and full as
+ancient, perhaps more so: tradition assures us they were planted by the
+far-famed Don John de Castro, whose heart reposes in a small marble
+chapel beneath their shade.
+
+How often must that heroic heart, whilst it still beat in one of the
+best and most magnanimous of human bosoms, have yearned after this calm
+retirement! Here, at least, did it promise itself that rest so cruelly
+denied him by the blind perversities of his ungrateful countrymen: for
+his had been an arduous contest, a long and agonizing struggle, not only
+in the field under a burning sun, and in the face of peril and death,
+but in sustaining the glory and good fame of Portugal against court
+intrigues, and the vile cabals of envious, domestic enemies.
+
+These scenes, though still enchanting, have most probably undergone
+great changes since his days. The deep forests we read of have
+disappeared, and with them many a spring they fostered. Architectural
+fountains, gaudy terraces, and regular stripes of orange-gardens, have
+usurped the place of those wild orchards and gushing rivulets he may be
+supposed to have often visited in his dreams, when removed some thousand
+leagues from his native country. All these are changed; but mankind are
+the same as in his time, equally insensible to the warning voice of
+genuine patriotism, equally disposed to crouch under the rod of corrupt
+tyranny. And thus, by the neglect of wise and virtuous men, and a mean
+subserviency to knavish fools, eras which might become of gold, are
+transmuted by an accursed alchymy into iron rusted with blood.
+
+Impressed with all the recollections this most interesting spot could
+not fail to inspire, I could hardly tear myself away from it. Again and
+again did I follow the mossy steps, which wind up amongst shady rocks to
+the little platform, terminated by the sepulchral chapel--
+
+        "----densis quam pinus opacat
+    Frondibus et nulla lucos agitante procella
+    Stridula coniferis modulatur carmina ramis."
+
+You must not wonder then, that I was haunted the whole way home by these
+mysterious whisperings, nor that, in such a tone of mind, I saw with no
+great pleasure a procession of two-wheeled chaises, the lord knows how
+many out-riders, and a caravan of bouras, marching up to the gate of my
+villa. I had, indeed, been prepared to expect a very considerable influx
+of visiters; but this was a deluge.
+
+Do not let me send you a catalogue of the company, lest you should be as
+much annoyed with the detail, as I was with such a formidable arrival
+_en masse_. Let it suffice to name two of the principal characters, the
+old pious Conde de San Lorenzo, and the prior of San Julia�, one of the
+archbishop's prime favourites, and a person of great worship. Mortier's
+Dutch bible happening to lie upon the table, they began tumbling over
+the leaves in an egregiously awkward manner. I, who abhor seeing books
+thumbed, and prints demonstrated by the close application of a greasy
+fore-finger, snapped at the old Conde, and cast an evil look at the
+prior, who was leaning his whole priestly weight on the volume, and
+creasing its corners.
+
+My musicians were in full song, and Pedro Grua, a capital violoncello,
+exerted his abilities in his best style; but San Lorenzo was too
+pathetically engaged in deploring the massacre of the Innocents to pay
+him any attention, and his reverend companion had entered into a
+long-winded dissertation upon parables, miracles, and martyrdom, from
+which I prayed in vain the Lord to deliver me. Verdeil, scenting from
+afar the saintly flavour of the discourse, stole off.
+
+I cannot say much in praise of the prior's erudition, even in holy
+matters, for he positively affirmed that it was Henry the Eighth
+himself, who knocked St. Thomas � Becket's brains out, and that by the
+beast in the Apocalypse, Luther was positively indicated. I hate
+wrangles, and had it not been for the soiling of my prints, should never
+have contradicted his reverence; but as I was a little out of humour, I
+lowered him somewhat in the Conde's opinion, by stating the real period
+of St. Thomas's murder, and by tolerably specious arguments, shoving the
+beast's horns off Luther, and clapping them tight upon--whom do you
+think?--OEcolampadius! So grand a name, which very probably they had
+never heard pronounced in their lives, carried all before it, (adding
+another instance of the triumph of sound over sense,) and settled our
+bickerings.
+
+We sat down, I believe, full thirty to dinner, and had hardly got
+through the dessert, when Berti came in to tell me that Madame Ariaga,
+and a bevy of the palace damsels, were prancing about the quinta on
+palfreys and bouras. I hastened to join them. There was Donna Maria do
+Carmo, and Donna Maria da Penha, with her hair flowing about her
+shoulders, and her large beautiful eyes looking as wild and roving as
+those of an antelope. I called for my horse, and galloped through alleys
+and citron bushes, brushing off leaves, fruit, and blossoms. Every
+breeze wafted to us the sound of French horns and oboes. The ladies
+seemed to enjoy the freedom and novelty of this scamper prodigiously,
+and to regret the short time it was doomed to last; for at seven they
+are obliged to return to strict attendance on the Queen, and had some
+strange fairy-tale metamorphosis into a pumpkin or a cucumber been the
+penalty of disobedience, they could not have shown more alarm or anxiety
+when the fatal hour of seven drew near. Luckily, they had not far to go,
+for her Majesty and the Royal Family were all assembled at the Marialva
+villa, to partake of a splendid merenda and see fireworks.
+
+As soon as it fell dark Verdeil and I set forth to catch a glimpse of
+the royal party. The Grand Prior and Don Pedro conducted us mysteriously
+into a snug boudoir which looks into the great pavilion, whose gay,
+fantastic scenery appeared to infinite advantage by the light of
+innumerable tapers reflected on all sides from lustres of glittering
+crystal. The little Infanta Donna Carlotta was perched on a sofa in
+conversation with the Marchioness and Donna Henriquetta, who, in the
+true oriental fashion, had placed themselves cross-legged on the floor.
+A troop of maids of honour, commanded by the Countess of Lumieres, sat
+in the same posture at a little distance. Donna Rosa, the favourite
+dwarf negress, dressed out in a flaming scarlet riding-habit, not so
+frolicsome as the last time I had the pleasure of seeing her in this
+fairy bower, was more sentimental, and leaned against the door, ogling
+and flirting with a handsome Moor belonging to the Marquis.
+
+Presently the Queen, followed by her sister and daughter-in-law, the
+Princess of Brazil, came forth from her merenda, and seated herself in
+front of the latticed-window, behind which I was placed. Her manner
+struck me as being peculiarly dignified and conciliating. She looks born
+to command; but at the same time to make that high authority as much
+beloved as respected. Justice and clemency, the motto so glaringly
+misapplied on the banner of the abhorred Inquisition, might be
+transferred with the strictest truth to this good princess. During the
+fatal contest betwixt England and its colonies, the wise neutrality she
+persevered in maintaining was of the most vital benefit to her
+dominions, and hitherto, the native commerce of Portugal has attained
+under her mild auspices an unprecedented degree of prosperity.
+
+Nothing could exceed the profound respect, the courtly decorum her
+presence appeared to inspire. The Conde de Sampayo and the Viscount
+Ponte de Lima knelt by the august personages with not much less
+veneration, I should be tempted to imagine, than Moslems before the tomb
+of their prophet, or Tartars in the presence of the Dalai Lama. Marialva
+alone, who took his station opposite her Majesty, seemed to preserve his
+ease and cheerfulness. The Prince of Brazil and Don Joa� looked not a
+little ennuied; for they kept stalking about with their hands in their
+pockets, their mouths in a perpetual yawn, and their eyes wandering
+from object to object, with a stare of royal vacancy.
+
+A most rigorous etiquette confining the Infants of Portugal within their
+palaces, they are seldom known to mix even incognito with the crowd; so
+that their flattering smiles or confidential yawns are not lavished upon
+common observers. This sort of embalming princes alive, after all, is no
+bad policy; it keeps them sacred; it concentrates their royal essence,
+too apt, alas! to evaporate by exposure. What is so liberally paid for
+by the willing tribute of the people as a rarity of exquisite relish,
+should not be suffered to turn mundungus. However the individual may
+dislike this severe regimen, state pageants might have the goodness to
+recollect for what purpose they are bedecked and beworshipped.
+
+The Conde de Sampayo, lord in waiting, handed the tea to the Queen, and
+fell down on both knees to present it. This ceremony over, for every
+thing is ceremony at this stately court, the fireworks were announced,
+and the royal sufferers, followed by their sufferees, adjourned to a
+neighbouring apartment. The Marchioness, her daughters, and the
+Countess of Lumieres, mounted up to the boudoir where I was sitting,
+and took possession of the windows. Seven or eight wheels, and as many
+tourbillons began whirling and whizzing, whilst a profusion of admirable
+line-rockets darted along in various directions, to the infinite delight
+of the Countess of Lumieres, who, though hardly sixteen, has been
+married four years. Her youthful cheerfulness, light hair, and fair
+complexion, put me so much in mind of my Margaret, that I could not help
+looking at her with a melancholy tenderness: her being with child
+increased the resemblance, and as she sat in the recess of the window,
+discovered at intervals by the blue light of rockets bursting high in
+the air, I felt my blood thrill as if I beheld a phantom, and my eyes
+were filled with tears.
+
+The last firework being played off, the Queen and the Infantas departed.
+The Marchioness and the other ladies descended into the pavilion, where
+we partook of a magnificent and truly royal collation. Donna Maria and
+her little sister, animated by the dazzling illumination, tripped about
+in their light muslin dresses, with all the sportiveness of fairy
+beings, such as might be supposed to have dropped down from the floating
+clouds, which Pillement has so well represented on the ceiling.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXX.
+
+     Cathedral of Lisbon.--Trace of St. Anthony's fingers.--The Holy
+     Crows.--Party formed to visit them.--A Portuguese
+     poet.--Comfortable establishment of the Holy Crows.--Singular
+     tradition connected with them.--Illuminations in honour of the
+     Infanta's accouchement.--Public harangues.--Policarpio's singing,
+     and anecdotes of the _haute noblesse_.
+
+
+November 8th, 1787.
+
+Verdeil and I rattled over cracked pavements this morning in my rough
+travelling-coach, for the sake of exercise. The pretext for our
+excursion was to see a remarkable chapel, inlaid with jasper and
+lapis-lazuli, in the church of St. Roch; but when we arrived, three or
+four masses were celebrating, and not a creature sufficiently disengaged
+to draw the curtain which veils the altar, so we went out as wise as we
+came in.
+
+Not having yet seen the cathedral, or See-church, as it is called at
+Lisbon, we directed our course to that quarter. It is a building of no
+striking dimensions, narrow and gloomy, without being awful. The
+earthquake crumbled its glories to dust, if ever it had any, and so
+dreadfully shattered the chapels, with which it is clustered, that very
+slight traces of their having made part of a mosque are discernible.
+
+Though I had not been led to expect great things, even from descriptions
+in travels and topographical works, which, like peerage-books and
+pedigrees, are tenderly inclined to make something of what is next to
+nothing at all: I hunted away, as became a diligent traveller, after
+altar-pieces and tombs, but can boast of no discoveries. To be sure, we
+had not much time to look about us: the priests and sacristans, who
+fastened upon us, insisted upon our revisiting the corner of a bye
+staircase, where are to be kissed and worshipped the traces of St.
+Anthony's fingers. The saint, it seems, being closely pursued by the
+father of lies and parent of evil, alias Old Scratch, (I really could
+not clearly learn upon what occasion,) indented the sign of the cross
+into a wall of the hardest marble, and stopped his proceedings. A very
+pleasing little picture hangs up near the miraculous cross, and records
+the tradition.
+
+All this was admirable; but nothing in comparison with some stories
+about certain holy crows. "The very birds are in being," said a
+sacristan. "What!" answered I, "the individual[19] crows who attended
+St. Vincent?"--"Not exactly," was the reply, (in a whisper, intended for
+my private ear); "but their immediate descendants."--"Mighty well; this
+very evening, please God, I will pay my respects to them, and in good
+company, so adieu for the present."
+
+Our next point was the Theatine convent. We looked into the library,
+which lies in the same confusion in which it was left by the earthquake;
+half the books out of their shelves, tumbled one over the other in dusty
+heaps. A shrewd, active monk, who, I am told, has written a history of
+the House of Braganza, not yet printed, guided our steps through this
+chaos of literature; and after searching half-an-hour for some curious
+voyages he wished to display to us, led us into his cell, and pressed
+our attention to a cabinet of medals he had been at some pains and
+expense in collecting.
+
+Not feeling any particular vocation for numismatic researches, I left
+Verdeil with the monk, puzzling out some very questionable inscriptions,
+and went to beat up for recruits to accompany me in the evening to the
+holy crows. First, I found the Abade Xavier, and secondly, the famous
+missionary preacher from Boa Morte, and then the Grand Prior, and
+lastly, the Marquis of Marialva; Don Pedro begged not to be left out, so
+we formed a coach full, and I drove my whole cargo home to dinner.
+Verdeil was already returned with his reverend medallist, and had also
+collected the governor of Goa, Don Frederic de Sousa Cagliariz, his
+constant attendant a bullying Savoyard, or Piedmontese Count, by name
+Lucatelli; and a pale, limber, odd-looking young man, Senhor Manuel
+Maria, the queerest, but, perhaps, the most original of God's poetical
+creatures. He happened to be in one of those eccentric, lively moods,
+which, like sunshine in the depth of winter, come on when least
+expected. A thousand quaint conceits, a thousand flashes of wild
+merriment, a thousand satirical darts shot from him, and we were all
+convulsed with laughter; but when he began reciting some of his
+compositions, in which great depth of thought is blended with the most
+pathetic touches, I felt myself thrilled and agitated. Indeed, this
+strange and versatile character may be said to possess the true wand of
+enchantment, which, at the will of its master, either animates or
+petrifies.
+
+Perceiving how much I was attracted towards him, he said to me, "I did
+not expect an Englishman would have condescended to pay a young,
+obscure, modern versifier, any attention. You think we have no bard but
+Camoens, and that Camoens has written nothing worth notice, but the
+Lusiad. Here is a sonnet worth half the Lusiad.
+
+              CXCII.
+
+    'A fermosura desta fresca serra,
+     E a sombra dos verdes castanheiros,
+     O manso caminhar destes ribeiros,
+     Donde toda a tristeza se desterra;
+     O rouco som do mar, a estranha terra,
+     O esconder do Sol pellos outeiros,
+     O recolher dos gados derradeiros,
+     Das nuvens pello ar a branda guerra:
+     Em fim tudo o que a rara natureza
+     Com tanta variedade nos ofrece,
+     Me est� (se n�o te vejo) magoando:
+     Sem ti tudo me enoja, e me aborrece,
+     Sem ti perpetuamente estou passando
+     Nas m�res alegrias, m�r tristeza!'
+
+Not an image of rural beauty has escaped our divine poet; and how
+feelingly are they applied from the landscape to the heart! What a
+fascinating languor, like the last beams of an evening sun, is thrown
+over the whole composition! If I am any thing, this sonnet has made me
+what I am; but what am I, compared to Monteiro? Judge," continued he,
+putting into my hand some manuscript verses of this author, to whom the
+Portuguese are vehemently partial. Though they were striking and
+sonorous, I must confess the sonnet of Camoens, and many of Senhor
+Manuel Maria's own verses, pleased me infinitely more; but in fact, I
+was not sufficiently initiated into the force and idiom of the
+Portuguese language to be a competent judge; and it was only in fancying
+me one, that this powerful genius discovered any want of penetration.
+
+Our dinner was lively and convivial. At the dessert the Abad� produced
+an immense tray of dried fruits and sweetmeats, which one of his hundred
+and fifty _prot�g�s_ had sent him from, I forget what exotic region.
+These good things he kept handing to us, and almost cramming down our
+throats, as if we had been turkeys and he a poulterer, whose livelihood
+depended upon our fattening. "There," said he, "did you ever behold such
+admirable productions? Our Queen has thousands and thousands of miles
+with fruit-groves over your head, and rocks of gold and diamonds beneath
+your feet. The riches and fertility of her possessions have no bounds,
+but the sea, and the sea itself might belong to us if we pleased; for we
+have such means of ship-building, masts two hundred feet high,
+incorruptible timbers, courageous seamen. Don Frederic can tell you what
+some of our heroes achieved not long ago against the gentiles at Goa.
+Your Joa� Bulles are not half so smart, half so valorous."
+
+Thus he went on, bouncing and roaring us deaf. For patriotic
+rodomontades and flourishes, no nation excels the Portuguese, and no
+Portuguese the Abad�!
+
+At length, however, all this tasting and praising having been gone
+through with, we set forth on the wings of holiness, to pay our devoirs
+to the holy crows. A certain sum having been allotted time immemorial
+for the maintenance of two birds of this species, we found them very
+comfortably established in a recess of a cloister adjoining the
+cathedral, well fed and certainly most devoutly venerated.
+
+The origin of this singular custom dates as high as the days of St.
+Vincent, who was martyrized near the Cape, which bears his name, and
+whose mangled body was conveyed to Lisbon in a boat, attended by crows.
+These disinterested birds, after seeing it decently interred, pursued
+his murderers with dreadful screams and tore their eyes out. The boat
+and the crows are painted or sculptured in every corner of the
+cathedral, and upon several tablets appear emblazoned an endless record
+of their penetration in the discovery of criminals.
+
+It was growing late when we arrived, and their feathered sanctities were
+gone quietly to roost; but the sacristans in waiting, the moment they
+saw us approach, officiously roused them. O, how plump and sleek, and
+glossy they are! My admiration of their size, their plumage, and their
+deep-toned croakings carried me, I fear, beyond the bounds of saintly
+decorum. I was just stretching out my hand to stroke their feathers,
+when the missionary checked me with a solemn forbidding look. The rest
+of the company, aware of the proper ceremonial, kept a respectful
+distance, whilst the sacristan and a toothless priest, almost bent
+double with age, communicated a long string of miraculous anecdotes
+concerning the present holy crows, their immediate predecessors, and
+other holy crows in the old time before them.
+
+To all these super-marvellous narrations, the missionary appeared to
+listen with implicit faith, and never opened his lips during the time we
+remained in the cloister, except to enforce our veneration, and exclaim
+with pious composure, "_honrado corvo_." I really believe we should have
+stayed till midnight, had not a page arrived from her Majesty to summon
+the Marquis of M---- and his almoner away.
+
+My curiosity being fully satisfied upon the subject of the holy crows, I
+was easily persuaded by the Grand Prior to move off, and drive through
+the principal streets to see the illuminations in honour of the Infanta,
+consort to Don Gabriel of Spain, who had produced a prince. A great
+many idlers being abroad upon the same errand, we proceeded with
+difficulty, and were very near having the wheels of our carriage
+dislocated in attempting to pass an old-fashioned, preposterous coach,
+belonging to one of the dignitaries of the patriarchal cathedral. I
+cannot launch forth in praise of the illuminations; but some rockets
+which were let off in the Terreiro do Paco, surprised me by the vast
+height to which they rose, and the unusual number of clear blue stars
+into which they burst. The Portuguese excel in fireworks; the late poor,
+drivelling, saintly king having expended large sums in bringing this art
+to perfection.
+
+From the Terreiro do Paco we drove to the great square, in which the
+palace of the Inquisition is situated. There we found a vast mob, to
+whom three or four Capuchin preachers were holding forth upon the
+glories and illuminations of a better world. I should have listened not
+uninterested to their harangues, which appeared, from the specimen I
+caught of them, to be full of fire and frenzy, had not the Grand Prior,
+in perpetual awe of the rheumatism, complained of the night, so we
+drove home. Every apartment of the house was filled with the thick
+vapour of wax-torches, which had been set most loyally a blazing. I
+fumed and fretted and threw open the windows. Away went the Grand Prior,
+and in came Policarpio, the famous tenor singer, who entertained us with
+several bravura airs of glib and surprising volubility, before supper
+and during it, in a style equally professional, with many private
+anecdotes of the _haute noblesse_, his principal employers, not
+infinitely to their advantage.
+
+I longed, in return, to have enlarged a little upon the adventures of
+the holy crows, but prudently repressed my inclination. It would
+ill-become a person so well treated as I had been by the crow-fanciers,
+to handle such subjects with any degree of levity.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXXI.
+
+     Rambles in the Valley of Collares.--Elysian scenery. Song of a
+     young female peasant.--Rustic hospitality.--Interview with the
+     Prince of Brazil[20] in the plains of Cascais.--Conversation with
+     His Royal Highness.--Return to Ramalha�.
+
+
+Oct. 19th, 1787.
+
+My health improves every day. The clear exhilarating weather we now
+enjoy calls forth the liveliest sense of existence. I ride, walk, and
+climb, as long as I please, without fatiguing myself. The valley of
+Collares affords me a source of perpetual amusement. I have discovered a
+variety of paths which lead through chesnut copses and orchards to
+irregular green spots, where self-sown bays and citron-bushes hang wild
+over the rocky margin of a little river, and drop their fruit and
+blossoms into the stream. You may ride for miles along the bank of this
+delightful water, catching endless perspectives of flowery thickets,
+between the stems of poplar and walnut. The scenery is truly elysian,
+and exactly such as poets assign for the resort of happy spirits.
+
+The mossy fragments of rock, grotesque pollards, and rustic bridges you
+meet with at every step, recall Savoy and Switzerland to the
+imagination; but the exotic cast of the vegetation, the vivid green of
+the citron, the golden fruitage of the orange, the blossoming myrtle,
+and the rich fragrance of a turf, embroidered with the
+brightest-coloured and most aromatic flowers, allow me without a violent
+stretch of fancy to believe myself in the garden of the Hesperides, and
+to expect the dragon under every tree. I by no means like the thoughts
+of abandoning these smiling regions, and have been twenty times on the
+point this very day of revoking the orders I have given for my journey.
+Whatever objections I may have had to Portugal seem to vanish, since I
+have determined to leave it; for such is the perversity of human nature,
+that objects appear the most estimable precisely at the moment when we
+are going to lose them.
+
+There was this morning a mild radiance in the sunbeams, and a balsamic
+serenity in the air, which infused that voluptuous listlessness, that
+desire of remaining imparadised in one delightful spot, which, in
+classical fictions, was supposed to render those who had tasted the
+lotos forgetful of country, of friends, and of every tie. My feelings
+were not dissimilar, I loathed the idea of moving away.
+
+Though I had entered these beautiful orchards soon after sunrise, the
+clocks of some distant conventual churches had chimed hour after hour
+before I could prevail upon myself to quit the spreading odoriferous
+bay-trees under which I had been lying. If shades so cool and fragrant
+invited to repose, I must observe that never were paths better
+calculated to tempt the laziest of beings to a walk, than those which
+opened on all sides, and are formed of a smooth dry sand, bound firmly
+together, composing a surface as hard as gravel.
+
+These level paths wind about amongst a labyrinth of light and elegant
+fruit-trees; almond, plum, and cherry, something like the groves of
+Tonga-taboo, as represented in Cook's voyages; and to increase the
+resemblance, neat cane fences and low open sheds, thatched with reeds,
+appear at intervals, breaking the horizontal lines of the perspective.
+
+I had now lingered and loitered away pretty nearly the whole morning,
+and though, as far as scenery could authorize and climate inspire, I
+might fancy myself an inhabitant of elysium, I could not pretend to be
+sufficiently ethereal to exist without nourishment. In plain English, I
+was extremely hungry. The pears, quinces, and oranges which dangled
+above my head, although fair to the eye, were neither so juicy nor
+gratifying to the palate, as might have been expected from their
+promising appearance.
+
+Being considerably
+
+    More than a mile immersed within the wood,[21]
+
+and not recollecting by which clue of a path I could get out of it, I
+remained at least half-an-hour deliberating which way to turn myself.
+The sheds and enclosures I have mentioned were put together with care
+and even nicety, it is true, but seemed to have no other inhabitants
+than flocks of bantams, strutting about and destroying the eggs and
+hopes of many an insect family. These glistening fowls, like their
+brethren described in Anson's voyages, as animating the profound
+solitudes of the island of Tinian, appeared to have no master.
+
+At length, just as I was beginning to wish myself very heartily in a
+less romantic region, I heard the loud, though not unmusical, tones of a
+powerful female voice, echoing through the arched green avenues;
+presently, a stout ruddy young peasant, very picturesquely attired in
+brown and scarlet, came hoydening along, driving a mule before her,
+laden with two enormous panniers of grapes. To ask for a share of this
+luxuriant load, and to compliment the fair driver, was instantaneous on
+my part, but to no purpose. I was answered by a sly wink, "We all belong
+to Senhor Jos� Dias, whose corral, or farm-yard, is half a league
+distant. There, Senhor, if you follow that road, and don't puzzle
+yourself by straying to the right or left, you will soon reach it, and
+the bailiff, I dare say, will be proud to give you as many grapes as you
+please. Good morning, happy days to you! I must mind my business."
+
+Seating herself between the tantalizing panniers, she was gone in an
+instant, and I had the good luck to arrive straight at the wicket of a
+rude, dry wall, winding up and down several bushy slopes in a wild
+irregular manner. If the outside of this enclosure was rough and
+unpromising, the interior presented a most cheering scene of rural
+opulence. Droves of cows and goats milking; ovens, out of which huge
+cakes of savoury bread had just been taken; ranges of beehives, and long
+pillared sheds, entirely tapestried with purple and yellow muscadine
+grapes, half candied, which were hung up to dry. A very good-natured,
+classical-look-magister pecorum, followed by two well-disciplined,
+though savage-eyed dogs, whom the least glance of their master prevented
+from barking, gave me a hearty welcome, and with genuine hospitality not
+only allowed me the free range of his domain, but set whatever it
+produced in the greatest perfection before me. A contest took place
+between two or three curly-haired, chubby-faced children, who should be
+first to bring me walnuts fresh from the shell, bowls of milk, and
+cream-cheeses, made after the best of fashions, that of the province of
+Alemtejo.
+
+I found myself so abstracted from the world in this retirement, so
+perfectly transported back some centuries into primitive patriarchal
+times, that I don't recollect having ever enjoyed a few hours of more
+delightful calm. "Here," did I say to myself, "am I out of the way of
+courts and ceremonies, and commonplace visitations, or salutations, or
+gossip." But, alas! how vain is all one thinks or says to one's self
+nineteen times out of twenty.
+
+Whilst I was blessing my stars for this truce to the irksome bustle of
+the life I had led ever since her Majesty's arrival at Cintra, a loud
+hallooing, the cracking of whips, and the tramping of horses, made me
+start up from the snug corner in which I had established myself, and
+dispelled all my soothing visions. Luis de Miranda, the colonel of the
+Cascais regiment, an intimate confidant and favourite of the Prince of
+Brazil, broke in upon me with a thousand (as he thought) obliging
+reproaches, for having deserted Ramalha� the very morning he had come on
+purpose to dine with me, and to propose a ride after dinner to a
+particular point of the Cintra mountains, which commands, he assured me,
+such a prospect as I had not yet been blessed with in Portugal. "It is
+not even now," said he, "too late. I have brought your horses along
+with me, whom I found fretting and stamping under a great tree at the
+entrance of these foolish lanes. Come, get into your stirrups for God's
+sake, and I will answer for your thinking yourself well repaid by the
+scene I shall disclose to you."
+
+As I was doomed to be disturbed and talked out of the elysium in which I
+had been lapped for these last seven or eight hours, it was no matter in
+what position, whether on foot or on horseback; I therefore complied,
+and away we galloped. The horses were remarkably sure-footed, or else, I
+think, we must have rolled down the precipices; for our road,
+
+    "If road it could be call'd where road was none,"
+
+led us by zigzags and short cuts over steeps and acclivities about three
+or four leagues, till reaching a heathy desert, where a solitary cross
+staring out of a few weather-beaten bushes, marked the highest point of
+this wild eminence, one of the most expansive prospects of sea, and
+plain, and distant mountains, I ever beheld, burst suddenly upon me,
+rendered still more vast, a�rial, and indefinite, by the visionary,
+magic vapour of the evening sun.
+
+After enjoying a moment or two the general effect, I began tracing out
+the principal objects in the view, as far, that is to say, as they could
+be traced, through the medium of the intense glowing haze. I followed
+the course of the Tagus, from its entrance till it was lost in the low
+estuaries beyond Lisbon. Cascais appeared with its long reaches of wall
+and bomb-proof casemates like a Moorish town, and by the help of a glass
+I distinguished a tall palm lifting itself above a cluster of white
+buildings.
+
+"Well," said I, to my conductor, "this prospect has certainly charms
+worth seeing; but not sufficient to make me forget that it is high time
+to get home and refresh ourselves." "Not so fast," was the answer, "we
+have still a great deal more to see."
+
+Having acquired, I can hardly tell why or wherefore, a sheep-like habit
+of following wherever he led, I spurred after him down a rough
+declivity, thick strewn with rolling stones and pebbles. At the bottom
+of this descent, a dreary sun-burnt plain extended itself far and wide.
+Whilst we dismounted and halted a few minutes to give our horses breath,
+I could not help observing, that the view we were now contemplating but
+ill-rewarded the risk of breaking our necks in riding down such rapid
+declivities. He smiled, and asked me whether I saw nothing at all
+interesting in the prospect. "Yes," said I, "a sort of caravan I
+perceive, about a quarter of a mile off, is by no means uninteresting;
+that confused group of people in scarlet, with gleaming arms and
+sumpter-mules, and those striped awnings stretched from ruined walls,
+present exactly that kind of scenery I should expect to meet with in the
+neighbourhood of Grand Cairo." "Come then," said he, "it is time to
+clear up this mystery, and tell you for what purpose we have taken such
+a long and fatiguing ride. The caravan which strikes you as being so
+very picturesque, is composed of the attendants of the Prince of Brazil,
+who has been passing the whole day upon a shooting-party, and is just at
+this moment taking a little repose beneath yonder awnings. It was by his
+desire I brought you here, for I have his commands to express his wishes
+of having half-an-hour's conversation with you, unobserved, and in
+perfect incognito. Walk on as if you were collecting plants or taking
+sketches, I will apprize his royal highness, and you will meet as it
+were by chance, and without any form. No one shall be near enough to
+hear a word you say to each other, for I will take my station at the
+distance of at least one hundred paces, and keep off all spies and
+intruders."
+
+I did as I was directed. A little door in the ruined wall, against which
+an awning was fixed, opened, and there appeared a young man of rather a
+prepossessing figure, fairer and ruddier than most of his countrymen,
+who advanced towards me with a very pleasant engaging countenance, moved
+his hat in a dignified graceful manner, and after insisting upon my
+being covered, began addressing himself to me with great precipitation,
+in a most fluent lingua-franca, half Italian and half Portuguese. This
+jargon is very prevalent at the Ajuda[22] palace, where Italian singers
+are in much higher request and fashion than persons of deeper tone and
+intellect.
+
+The first question his royal highness honoured me with was, whether I
+had visited his cabinet of instruments. Upon my answering in the
+affirmative, and that the apparatus appeared to me extremely perfect,
+and in admirable order, he observed, "The arrangement is certainly good,
+for one of my particular friends, a very learned man, has made it; but
+notwithstanding the high price I have paid, your Ramsdens and Dollonds
+have treated themselves more generously than me. I believe," continued
+his royal highness, "according to what the Duke d'Alafoens has
+repeatedly assured me, I am conversing with a person who has no weak,
+blind prejudices, in favour of his country, and who sees things as they
+are, not as they have been, or as they ought to be. That commercial
+greediness the English display in every transaction has cost us dear in
+more than one particular."
+
+He then ran over the ground Pombal had so often trodden bare, both in
+his state papers and in various publications which had been promulgated
+during his administration, and I soon perceived of what school his royal
+highness was a disciple.
+
+"We deserve all this," continued he, "and worse, for our tame
+acquiescence in every measure your cabinet dictates; but no wonder,
+oppressed and debased as we are, by ponderous, useless institutions.
+When there are so many drones in a hive, it is in vain to look for
+honey. Were you not surprised, were you not shocked, at finding us so
+many centuries behind the rest of Europe?"
+
+I bowed, and smiled. This spark of approbation induced, I believe, his
+royal highness to blaze forth into a flaming encomium upon certain
+reforms and purifications which were carrying on in Brabant, under the
+auspices of his most sacred apostolic Majesty Joseph the Second. "I have
+the happiness," continued the Prince, "to correspond not unfrequently
+with this enlightened sovereign. The Duke d'Alafoens, who has likewise
+the advantage of communicating with him, never fails to give me the
+detail of these salutary proceedings. When shall we have sufficient
+manliness to imitate them!"
+
+Though I bowed and smiled again, I could not resist taking the liberty
+of observing that such very rapid and vigorous measures as those his
+imperial Majesty had resorted to, were more to be admired than imitated;
+that people who had been so long in darkness, if too suddenly broken in
+upon by a stream of effulgence, were more likely to be blinded than
+enlightened; and that blows given at random by persons whose eyes were
+closed were dangerous, and might fall heaviest perhaps in directions
+very opposite to those for which they were intended. This was rather
+bold, and did not seem to please the novice in boldness.
+
+After a short pause, which allowed him, at least, an opportunity of
+taking breath, he looked steadily at me, and perceiving my countenance
+arrayed in the best expression of admiration I could throw into it,
+resumed the thread of his philosophical discourse, and even condescended
+to detail some very singular and, as they struck me, most perilous
+projects. Continuing to talk on with an increased impetus (like those
+whose steps are accelerated by running down hill) he dropped some vague
+hints of measures that filled me not only with surprise, but with a
+sensation approaching to horror. I bowed, but I could not smile. My
+imagination, which had caught the alarm at the extraordinary nature of
+the topics he was discoursing upon, conjured up a train of appalling
+images, and I asked myself more than once whether I was not under the
+influence of a distempered dream.
+
+Being too much engaged in listening to himself to notice my confusion,
+he worked as hard as a pioneer in clearing away the rubbish of ages,
+entered minutely and not unlearnedly into the ancient jurisprudence and
+maxims of his country, its relations with foreign powers, and the rank
+from whence it had fallen in modern times, to be attributed in a great
+measure, he observed, to a blind and mistaken reliance upon the selfish
+politics of our predominant island. Although he did not spare my
+country, he certainly appeared not over partial to his own. He painted
+its military defects and priest-ridden policy in vivid colours. In
+short, this part of our discourse was a "_deploratio Lusitanic�
+Gentis_," full as vehement as that which the celebrated Damien a Goes,
+to show his fine Latin and fine humanity, poured forth some centuries
+ago over the poor wretched Laplanders.
+
+Not approving in any degree the tendency of all this display, I most
+heartily prayed it might end. Above an hour had passed since it began,
+and flattered as I was by the protraction of so condescending a
+conference, I could not help thinking that these fountains of honour are
+fountains of talk and not of mercy; they flow over, if once set a going,
+without pity or moderation. Persons in supreme stations, whom no one
+ventures to contradict, run on at a furious rate. You frequently flatter
+yourself they are exhausted; but you flatter yourself in vain. Sometimes
+indeed, by way of variety, they contradict themselves, and then the
+debate is carried on between self and self, to the desperation of their
+subject auditors, who, without being guilty of a word in reply, are
+involved in the same penalty us the most captious disputant. This was my
+case. I scarcely uttered a syllable after my first unsuccessful essay;
+but thousands of words were nevertheless lavished upon me, and
+innumerable questions proposed and answered by the questioner with equal
+rapidity.
+
+In return for the honour of being admitted to this monological dialogue,
+I kept bowing and nodding; and towards the close of the conference,
+contrived to smile again pretty decently. His royal highness, I learned
+afterwards, was satisfied with my looks and gestures, and even bestowed
+a brevet upon me of a great deal more erudition than I possessed or
+pretended to.
+
+The sun set, the dews fell, the Prince retired, Louis de Miranda
+followed him, and I remounted my horse with an indigestion of sounding
+phrases, and the most confirmed belief that "_the church was in
+danger_."
+
+Tired and exhausted, I threw myself on my sofa the moment I reached
+Ramalha�; but the agitation of my spirits would not allow me any repose.
+I swallowed some tea with avidity, and driving to the palace, evocated
+the archbishop confessor, who had been locked up above half-an-hour in
+his interior cabinet. To him I related all that had passed at this
+unsought, unexpected interview. The consequences in time developed
+themselves.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXXII.
+
+     Convent of Boa Morte.--Emaciated priests.--Austerity of the
+     Order.--Contrite personages.--A _nouveau riche_.--His house.--Walk
+     on the veranda of the palace at Belem.--Train of attendants at
+     dinner.--Portuguese gluttony.--Black dose of legendary
+     superstition.--Terrible denunciations.--A dreary evening.
+
+
+Nov. 9th, 1787.
+
+M---- and his principal almoner, a renowned missionary, and one of the
+most eloquent preachers in her Majesty's dominions, were at my door by
+ten, waiting to take me with them to the convent of Boa Morte. This is a
+true Golgotha, a place of many skulls, for its inhabitants, though they
+live, move, and have a sort of being, are little better than skeletons.
+The priest who officiated appeared so emaciated and cadaverous, that I
+could hardly have supposed he would have had strength sufficient to
+elevate the chalice. It did not, however, fall from his hands, and
+having finished his mass, a second phantom tottered forth and began
+another. From the pictures and images of more than ordinary ghastliness
+which cover the chapels and cloisters, and from the deep contrition
+apparent in the tears, gestures, and ejaculations of the faithful who
+resort to them, I fancy no convent in Lisbon can be compared with this
+for austerity and devotion.
+
+M---- shook all over with piety, and so did his companion, whose knees
+are become horny with frequent kneelings, and who, if one is to believe
+Verdeil, will end his days in a hermitage, or go mad, or perhaps both.
+He pretends, too, that it is this grey-beard that has added new fuel to
+the flame of M----'s devotion, and that by mutually encouraging each
+other, they will soon produce fruits worthy of Bedlam, if not of
+Paradise. To be sure, this father may boast a conspicuously devout turn,
+and a most resolute manner of thumping himself; but he must not be too
+vain. In Lisbon there are at least fifty or sixty thousand good souls,
+who, without having travelled so far, thump full as sonorously as he.
+This morning, at Boa Morte, one shrivelled sinner remained the whole
+time the masses lasted with outstretched arms, in the shape and with all
+the inflexible stiffness of an old-fashioned branched candlestick.
+Another contrite personage was so affected at the moment of
+consecration, that he flattened his nose on the pavement, and licked the
+dirt and dust with which it was thickly encrusted.
+
+I must confess that, notwithstanding this very superior display of
+sanctity, I was not sorry to escape from the dingy cloisters of the
+convent, and breathe the pure air, and look up at the blue exhilarating
+sky. The weather being delightful, we drove to several distant parts of
+the town, to which I was yet a stranger. Returning back by the Bairro
+Alto, we looked into a new house, just finished building at an enormous
+expense, by Joa� Ferreira, who, from an humble retailer of leather, has
+risen, by the archbishop's favour, to the possession of some of the most
+lucrative contracts in Portugal. Uglier-shaped apartments than those the
+poor shoe-man had contrived for himself I never beheld. The hangings are
+of satin of the deepest blue, and the fiercest and most sulphureous
+yellow. Every ceiling is daubed over with allegorical paintings, most
+indifferently executed, and loaded with gilt ornaments, in the style of
+those splendid sign-posts which some years past were the glory of
+High-Holborn and St. Giles's.
+
+We were soon tired of all this finery, and as it was growing late, made
+the best of our way to Belem. Whilst M---- was writing letters, I walked
+out with Don Pedro on the verandas of the palace, which are washed by
+the Tagus, and flanked with turrets. The views are enchanting, and the
+day being warm and serene, I enjoyed them in all their beauty. Several
+large vessels passed by as we were leaning over the balustrades, and
+almost touched us with their streamers. Even frigates and ships of the
+first rate approach within a quarter of a mile of the palace.
+
+There was a greater crowd of attendants than usual round our table at
+dinner to-day, and the huge massy dishes were brought up by a long train
+of gentlemen and chaplains, several of them decorated with the orders of
+Avis and Christ. This attendance had quite a feudal air, and transported
+the imagination to the days of chivalry, when great chieftains were
+waited upon like kings, by noble vassals.
+
+The Portuguese had need have the stomachs of ostriches to digest the
+loads of savoury viands with which they cram themselves. Their
+vegetables, their rice, their poultry, are all stewed in the essence of
+ham, and so strongly seasoned with pepper and spices, that a spoonful of
+peas, or a quarter of an onion, is sufficient to set one's mouth in a
+flame. With such a diet, and the continual swallowing of sweetmeats, I
+am not surprised at their complaining so often of head-aches and
+vapours.
+
+Several of the old Marquis of M----'s confidants and buffoons crept
+forth to have a peep at the stranger, and hear the famous missionary
+descant upon martyrdom and miracles. The scenery of Boa Morte being
+fresh in his thoughts, his descriptions were gloomy and appalling: Don
+Pedro, his sisters, and his cousin, the young Conde d'Atalaya,[23]
+gathered round him with all the trembling eagerness of children who
+hunger and thirst after hobgoblin stories. You may be sure he sent them
+not empty away. A blacker dose of legendary superstition was never
+administered. The Marchioness seemed to swallow these terrific
+narrations with nearly as much avidity as her children, and the old
+Abade, dropping his chin in a woful manner, produced an enormous rosary,
+and kept thumbing his beads and mumbling orisons.
+
+M---- had luckily been summoned to the palace by a special mandate from
+his royal mistress. Had he been of the party, I fear Verdeil's prophecy
+would have been accomplished, for never did mortal hold forth with so
+much scaring energy as this enthusiastic preacher. The most terrible
+denunciations of divine wrath which ever were thundered forth by ancient
+or modern writers of sermons and homilies recurred to his memory, and he
+dealt them about him with a vengeance. The last half hour of the
+discourse we were all in total darkness,--nobody had thought of calling
+for lights: the children were huddled together, scarce venturing to move
+or breathe. It was a most singular scene.
+
+Full of the ghastly images the good father had conjured up in my
+imagination, I returned home alone in my carriage, shivering and
+shuddering. My friends were out, and nothing could be more dreary than
+the appearance of my fireless apartments.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXXIII.
+
+     Rehearsal of Seguidillas.--Evening scene.--Crowds of
+     beggars.--Royal charity misplaced.--Mendicant flattery.--Frightful
+     countenances.--Performance at the Salitri theatre.--Countess of
+     Pombeiro and her dwarf negresses.--A strange ballet.--Return to the
+     Palace.--Supper at the Camareira Mor's.--Filial affection.--Last
+     interview with the Archbishop.--Fatal tide of events.--Heart-felt
+     regret on leaving Portugal.
+
+
+Sunday, November 25th, 1787.
+
+What a morning for the 25th of November! The sun shining most
+brilliantly, insects fluttering about, and flowers expanding--the late
+rains having called forth a second spring, and tinted the hills round
+Almada, on the opposite shore of the Tagus, with a lively green.
+
+I breakfasted alone, Verdeil being gone to St. Roch's, to see the
+ceremony of publishing the bull of the Crusade, which allows good
+Christians to eat eggs and butter during Lent, upon paying his holiness
+a few shillings. I stayed at home, hearing a rehearsal of Seguidillas,
+in preparation for a new intermez at the Salitri theatre, till the hour
+of mass was over, then getting into the Portuguese chaise, drove
+headlong to the palace in the Placa do Commercio, and hastened to the
+Marquis of M----'s apartments. All his family were assembled to dine
+with him.
+
+Had it not been for the thoughts of my approaching departure, I should
+have felt more comfort and happiness than has fallen to my lot for a
+long interval. M----, whose attendance on the Queen may be too justly
+termed a state of downright slavery, had hardly taken his place at
+table, before he was called away. The Marchioness, Donna Henriquetta,
+and her little sister, soon retreated to the Camareira-Mor's apartments,
+and I was left alone with Pedro and Duarte. They seized fast hold, each
+of a hand, and running like greyhounds through long corridors, took me
+to a balcony which commands one of the greatest thoroughfares in Lisbon.
+
+The evening was delightful, and vast crowds of people moving about, of
+all degrees and nations, old and young, active and crippled, monks and
+officers. Shoals of beggars kept pouring in from every quarter to take
+their stands at the gates of the palace and watch the Queen's going out;
+for her Majesty is a most indulgent mother to these sturdy sons of
+idleness, and scarcely ever steps into her carriage without distributing
+considerable alms amongst them. By this misplaced charity, hundreds of
+stout fellows are taught the management of a crutch instead of a musket,
+and the art of manufacturing sores, ulcers, and scabby pates, in the
+most loathsome perfection. Duarte, who is all life and gaiety, vaulted
+upon the railing of the balcony, and hung for a moment or two suspended
+in a manner that would have frightened mothers and nurses into
+convulsions. The beggars, who had nothing to do till her Majesty should
+be forthcoming, seemed to be vastly entertained with these feats of
+agility.
+
+They soon spied me out, and two brawny lubbers, whom an unfortunate
+combination of smallpox and king's-evil had deprived of eye-sight,
+informed, no doubt, by their comrades of what was going forward, began a
+curious dialogue with voices still deeper and harsher than those of the
+holy crows:--"Heaven prosper their noble excellencies, Don Duarte Manoel
+and Don Pedro, and all the Marialvas--sweet dear youths, long may they
+be blessed with the use of their eyes and of all their limbs! Is that
+the charitable Englishman in their sweet company?"--"Yes, my comrade,"
+answered the second blind.--"What!" said the first, "that generous
+favourite of the most glorious Lord St. Anthony? (O gloriosissimo Senhor
+Sant-Antonio!)"--"Yes, my comrade."--"O that I had but my precious eyes,
+that I might enjoy the sight of his countenance!" exclaimed both
+together.
+
+By the time the duet was thus far advanced, the halt, the maimed, and
+the scabby, having tied some greasy nightcaps to the end of long poles,
+poked them up through the very railing, bawling and roaring out charity,
+"charity for the sake of the holy one of Lisbon." Never was I looked up
+to by a more distorted or frightful collection of countenances. I made
+haste to throw down a plentiful shower of small copper money, or else
+Duarte would have twitched away both poles and nightcaps, a frolic by no
+means to be encouraged, as it might have marred our fame for the
+readiest and most polite attention to every demand in the name of St.
+Anthony.
+
+Just as the orators were receiving their portion of pence and farthings,
+a cry of "There's the Queen, there's the Princess!" carried the whole
+hideous crowd away to another scene of action, and left me at full
+liberty to be amused in my turn with the squirrel-like gambols of my
+lively companion; he is really a fine enterprising boy, bold, alert, and
+sprightly; quite different from most of his illustrious young relations.
+
+Don Pedro by no means approved my English partiality to such active
+feats, and after scolding his cousin for skipping about in so hazardous
+a style, entreated me to take them to the Salitri theatre, where a box
+had been prepared for us by his father's orders. Upon the whole, I was
+better entertained than I expected, though the performance lasted above
+four hours and a half, from seven to near twelve. It consisted of a
+ranting prose tragedy, in three acts, called Sesostris, two ballets, a
+pastoral, and a farce. The decorations were not amiss, and the dresses
+showy. A shambling, blear-eyed boy, bundled out in weeds of the deepest
+sable, squeaked and bellowed alternately the part of a widowed
+princess. Another hob-e-di-hoy, tottering on high-heeled shoes,
+represented her Egyptian majesty, and warbled two airs with all the
+nauseous sweetness of a fluted falsetto. Though I could have boxed his
+ears for surfeiting mine so filthily, the audience were of a very
+different opinion, and were quite enthusiastic in their applause.
+
+In the stage-box I observed the mincing Countess of Pombeiro, whose
+light hair and waxen complexion was finely contrasted by the ebon hue of
+two little negro attendants perched on each side of her. It is the high
+tone at present in this court to be surrounded by African implings, the
+more hideous, the more prized, and to bedizen them in the most expensive
+manner. The Queen has set the example, and the royal family vie with
+each other in spoiling and caressing Donna Rosa, her Majesty's
+black-skinned, blubber-lipped, flat-nosed favourite.
+
+One of the ballets was admirably got up; upon the rising of the curtain,
+a strange cabalistic apartment is discovered, where an astrologer
+appears very busy at a table covered with spheres and astrolabes,
+arranging certain mysterious images, and pinking their eyes with a
+gigantic pair of black compasses. A sort of Pierrot announces some
+inquisitive travellers, who enter with many bows and scrapings. One of
+them, the chief of the party, an old dapper beau in pink and silver,
+reminded me very much of the Duke d'Alafoens, and sidled along and
+tossed his cane about, and seemed to ask questions without waiting for
+answers, with as good a grace as that janty general. The astrologer,
+after explaining the wonders of his apartment with many pantomimical
+contortions, invites his company to follow him, and the scene changes to
+a long gallery, illuminated with a profusion of lights in gilt branches.
+The perspective ends in a flight of steps, upon each of which stands a
+row of figures, pantaloons, harlequins, sultans, sultanas, Indian
+chiefs, devils, and savages, to all appearance motionless. Pierrot
+brings in a machine like a hand-organ, and his master begins to grind,
+the music accompanying. At the first chord, down drop the arms of all
+the figures; at the second, each rank descends a step, and so on, till
+gaining the level of the stage, and the astrologer grinding faster and
+faster, the supposed clock-work-assembly begin a general dance.
+
+Their ballet ended, the same accords are repeated, and all hop up in the
+same stiff manner they hopped down. The travellers, highly pleased with
+the show, depart; Pierrot, who longs to be grinding, persuades his
+master to take a walk, and leave him in possession of the gallery. He
+consents; but enjoins the gaping oaf upon no account to meddle with the
+machine, or set the figures in motion. Vain are his directions! no
+sooner has he turned his back than Pierrot goes to work with all his
+strength; the figures fall a shaking as if on the point of disjoining
+themselves; creak, crack, grinds the machine with horrid harshness;
+legs, arms, and noddles are thrown into convulsions, three steps are
+jumped at once. Pierrot, frightened out of his senses at the goggle-eyed
+crowd advancing upon him, clings close to the machine and gives the
+handle no respite. The music, too, degenerates into the most jarring,
+screaking sounds, and the figures knocking against each other, and
+whirling round and round in utter confusion, fall flat upon the stage.
+Pierrot runs from group to group in rueful despair, tries in vain to
+reanimate them, and at length losing all patience, throws one over the
+other, and heaps sultanas upon savages, and shepherds upon devilkins.
+Most of these personages being represented by boys of twelve or thirteen
+were easily wielded. After Pierrot has finished tossing and tumbling, he
+drops down exhausted and lies as dead as his neighbours, hoping to
+escape unnoticed amongst them. But this subterfuge avails him not; in
+comes the astrologer armed with his compasses; back he starts at sight
+of the confounded jumble. Pierrot pays for it all, is soon drawn forth
+from his lurking-place, and the astrologer grinding in a moderate and
+scientific manner, the figures lift themselves up, and returning all in
+_status quo_, the ballet finishes.
+
+Shall I confess that this nonsense amused me pretty nearly as much as it
+did my companions, whose raptures were only exceeded by those of madame
+de Pombeiro's implings. They, sweet, sooty innocents, kept gibbering and
+pointing at the man with the black compasses in a manner so completely
+African and ludicrous, that I thought their contortions the best part
+of the entertainment.
+
+The play ended, we hastened back to the palace, and traversing a number
+of dark vestibules and guard-chambers, (all of a snore with jaded
+equerries,) were almost blinded with a blaze of light from the room in
+which supper was served up. There we found in addition to all the
+Marialvas, the old marquis only excepted, the Camareira-mor, and five or
+six other hags of supreme quality, feeding like cormorants upon a
+variety of high-coloured and high-seasoned dishes. I suppose the keen
+air from the Tagus, which blows right into the palace-windows, operates
+as a powerful whet, for I never beheld eaters or eateresses, no not even
+our old acquaintance madame la Pr�sidente at Paris, lay about them with
+greater intrepidity. To be sure, it was a splendid repast, quite a
+banquet. We had manjar branco and manjar real, and among other good
+things a certain preparation of rice and chicken, which suited me
+exactly, and no wonder, for this excellent mess had been just tossed up
+by Donna Isabel de Castro with her own illustrious hands, in a nice
+little kitchen adjoining the queen's apartment, in which all the
+utensils are of solid silver.
+
+The number of lights upon the table, and of attendants and pages in rich
+uniforms around it, was prodigious; but what interested me far more than
+all this parade, was the sportive good-humour and frankness of the
+company. How it happened that the presence of a stranger failed to
+inspire any reserve, is one of those odd circumstances I can hardly
+account for; especially as the higher orders of the Portuguese are the
+farthest removed of all persons from admitting any but their nearest
+relations to these family parties; but so it was, and I felt both
+flattered and gratified at being permitted to witness the ease and
+hilarity which prevailed.
+
+The dutiful, affectionate attention of the younger part of the company
+to their parents was truly amiable; nor do I believe that, at this day
+in any other realm in Europe, the sacred precept of honouring your
+father and your mother is so cordially observed as in Portugal. Happy
+if, in our intercourse with that nation, we had profited in that respect
+by their example; the peace of so many of our noblest families would
+not have been disturbed by the lowest connexions, nor their best blood
+contaminated by matches of the most immoral, degrading tendency. We
+should not have seen one year a performer acting the part of lady this
+or lady t'other upon the stage, and the next in the drawing-room; nor,
+upon entering some of our principal houses, have been tempted to cry
+out--"Bless me! that lovely countenance is the same I recollect adoring
+by moonlight on the fine broad flagstones of Bond Street or Portland
+Place!"[24]
+
+It was now after two in the morning, and I must own, notwithstanding the
+good cheer of which I had participated, and the kind entertainment I had
+received, I began to feel a little tired. The children were in such
+spirits, so full of frolic, and her sublimity, the Camareira-mor, so
+unusually tolerant and condescending, that there was no knowing when
+the party would break up. Taking, therefore, my leave in due form, I
+made my retreat escorted by half-a-dozen torch-bearers.
+
+Just as I had gotten about half-way on my journey through what appeared
+to me interminable passages, I was arrested in my progress by a pair of
+dominicans, father Rocha, and his scarecrow satellite fr� Jos� do
+Rosario. A person less accustomed than I had lately been to such
+apparitions would have been startled; especially, too, if he had found
+himself like me between the most formidable living pillars of the holy
+inquisition.
+
+"What are you doing here so very late," I could not help exclaiming, "my
+reverend fathers? What's the matter?"
+
+"The matter is," answered Rocha, with a voice of terrific hoarseness,
+"that we have caught cold waiting for you in these confounded corridors.
+The archbishop, above half-an-hour ago, commanded us to bring you to him
+dead or alive; but a rascally jackanapes in waiting upon her excellency
+the Camareira-mor would not let us in to deliver our message, so we
+have been airing ourselves hitherto to no purpose."
+
+"Do you know," said Rocha, taking me into a little room where a lamp was
+still burning, "that affairs do not go on so smoothly as they ought? The
+archbishop seems to have lost both time and temper since he has been
+pressed into the cabinet; and, as for the Prince of Brazil and his
+consort, God forgive me for wishing their advisers and all their
+intrigues in the lowest abyss of perdition. How can you be scheming a
+journey to Madrid at this season? The floods are out, and the robbers
+also, and I tell you what, as the archbishop says twenty times a day, if
+you do go you deserve to be drowned and murdered."
+
+"The die is cast," I replied, "and I must take my chance; but really I
+wish you would have the goodness to bid the archbishop a very good night
+in my name, and let me put off asking his benediction till to-morrow,
+for I am quite jaded."
+
+"Jaded or not," answered the monk, "you must come with me; the wind is
+up in the archbishop's brain just at this moment, and by the least
+contradiction more would become a hurricane."
+
+Finding resistance vain, I suffered myself to be conducted through two
+or three open courts, very refreshing at this hour you may suppose, and
+up a little staircase into the archbishop's interior cabinet. All was
+still as death--no lay-brother bustling about--no sound audible but a
+low breathing, which now and then swelled into a half suppressed groan,
+from the agitated prelate, whom we found knee-deep in papers, immersed
+in thought.
+
+"So," said he, "there you are at last. What have you been doing all this
+while? Who but a brute of an Englishman would have kept me waiting. Ay,
+ay, you told me how it would be, and you are right. They plague my soul
+out. We have twenty rascals pulling as many ways. Your people too are
+not what they used to be, though Mello would make us believe to the
+contrary. One thing I know for certain, some infernal mischief is
+afloat, and unless God's grace is speedily manifested, I see no end to
+confusion, and wish myself anywhere but where I am. These
+smooth-tongued, Frenchified, Italian, Voltaireists and encyclopedians
+have poisoned all sound doctrine. Ay," continued he, rising up, with an
+expression of indignation and anger I never saw before on his
+countenance, "somebody's ears[25] are poisoned whom I could name.... But
+where is the use of talking to you? You are determined to leave us, be
+it so. God's providence is above all. He knows what is best for you, and
+for me, and for these kingdoms. There is your passport, countersigned by
+your friend Mello; and here is a letter for Lorenzana, and another for
+his catholic majesty's confessor, in which I tell him what an amazing
+fool you are, and unless you continue one without any remission, we
+shall soon have you back again. Tell Marialva," he added, addressing
+himself to Rocha (for the other father had not been admitted), "tell
+Marialva and all his friends that I have dried up my tongue almost more
+times than one, in attempting to argue a thousand silly whimsies and
+crotchets out of his harum-scarum English brain; but come," said he,
+extending his arms, "I bear no malice, I pity, I do not condemn. Let me
+give you an embrace, and pray God it may not be the last you will
+receive from me."
+
+It was, alas! the last I ever received from him, poor, honest-hearted,
+kind old man! A sort of melancholy foreboding which seemed to pervade
+all he said in this interview was too soon realized. The fatal tide of
+events flowing on as it were with redoubled, tremendous velocity, swept
+away in the course of a few short months from this period the Prince of
+Brazil, the lovely and amiable infanta his sister, her husband Don
+Gabriel of Spain, and the good old King Charles the Third. Not long
+after, the archbishop-confessor himself was called from the plenitude of
+power and the enjoyment of unrivalled influence to the presence of that
+Being in whose sight "no man living shall be justified;" but as in many
+trying and peculiar instances he had shown the tenderest mercy, it may
+tremblingly be hoped that mercy has been shown to him. Notwithstanding
+the bluntness of his manner, the kindness of his heart, so apparent in
+his good-humoured, benevolent eye, found its way, almost imperceptibly
+to himself, to the hearts of others, and tempered the despotic roughness
+he sometimes assumed both in voice and gesture.
+
+I still seem to behold the last, earnest, solemn look he gave me when,
+the door closing, he retired to the cares of state, and I with my escort
+of torch-bearers and dominicans hastened forth to breathe the open air,
+of which I stood greatly in need. Many things I had heard, and many
+others I conjectured, above all, the reluctance I felt at the bottom of
+my heart to leave a country in which I had received such uncommon marks
+of friendship, bore heavily upon me. When I got home, scarcely two hours
+before daybreak, and tried to compose myself to sleep, I was neither
+refreshed nor recruited, but experienced the agitation of feverish and
+broken slumbers.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XXXIV.
+
+     Dead mass at the church of Martyrs.--Awful music by Perez and
+     Jomelli.--Marialva's affecting address.--My sorrow and anxiety.
+
+
+26th Nov. 1787.
+
+I went to the church of the Martyrs to hear the matins of Perez and the
+dead mass of Jomelli performed by all the principal musicians of the
+royal chapel for the repose of the souls of their deceased predecessors.
+Such august, such affecting music I never heard, and perhaps may never
+hear again; for the flame of devout enthusiasm burns dim in almost every
+part of Europe, and threatens total extinction in a very few years. As
+yet it glows at Lisbon, and produced this day the most striking musical
+effect.
+
+Every individual present seemed penetrated with the spirit of those
+awful words which Perez and Jomelli have set with tremendous sublimity.
+Not only the music, but the serious demeanour of the performers, of the
+officiating priests, and indeed of the whole congregation, was
+calculated to impress a solemn, pious terror of the world beyond the
+grave. The splendid decoration of the church was changed into mourning,
+the tribunes hung with black, and a veil of gold and purple thrown over
+the high altar. In the midst of the choir stood a catafalque surrounded
+with tapers in lofty candelabra, a row of priests motionless on each
+side. There was an awful silence for several minutes, and then began the
+solemn service of the dead. The singers turned pale as they sang, "Timor
+mortis me conturbat."
+
+After the requiem, the high mass of Jomelli, in commemoration of the
+deceased, was performed; that famous composition which begins with a
+movement imitative of the tolling of bells,
+
+    "Swinging slow with sullen roar."
+
+These deep, majestic sounds, mingled with others like the cries for
+mercy of unhappy beings, around whom the shadows of death and the pains
+of hell were gathering, shook every nerve in my frame, and called up in
+my recollection so many affecting images, that I could not refrain from
+tears.
+
+I scarcely knew how I was conveyed to the palace, where Marialva
+expected my coming with the utmost impatience. Our conversation took a
+most serious turn. He entreated me not to forget Portugal, to meditate
+upon the awful service I had been hearing, and to remember he should not
+die in peace unless I was present to close his eyes.
+
+In the actual tone of my mind I was doubly touched by this melancholy,
+affectionate address. It seemed to cut through my soul, and I execrated
+Verdeil and all those who had been instrumental in persuading me to
+abandon such a friend. The grand prior wept bitterly at seeing my
+agitation. Marialva went to the queen, and the grand prior home with me.
+We dined alone; my heart was full of heaviness, and I could not eat. At
+night we returned to the palace, and there all my sorrow and anxiety was
+renewed.
+
+
+
+
+SPAIN.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER I.
+
+     Embark on the Tagus.--Aldea Gallega.--A poetical postmaster.--The
+     church.--Leave Aldea Gallega.--Scenery on the road.--Palace built
+     by John the Fifth.--Ruins at Montemor.--Reach Arroyolos.
+
+
+Wednesday, Nov. 28th, 1787.
+
+The winds are reposing themselves, and the surface of the Tagus has all
+the smoothness of a mirror. The clouds are dispersing, for it rained
+heavily in the night, and the sun tinging the distant mountains of
+Palmella. Charming weather for crossing to Aldea Gallega, that self-same
+village in whose praises Baretti launches out with so much luxuriance.
+Horne and his nephew accompanied me to the stairs of Pampulha, where the
+old marquis's scalera was waiting for me, with eight-and-twenty rowers
+in their bright scarlet accoutrements.
+
+Beggars innumerable, blind, dumb, and scabby, followed me almost into
+the water. No beggars equal those of Portugal for strength of lungs,
+luxuriance of sores, profusion of vermin, variety and arrangement of
+tatters, and dauntless perseverance. Several clocks were striking one
+when we pushed off from the shore, and in a few minutes less than two
+hours we found ourselves at Aldea Gallega, four leagues from Lisbon.
+Vast numbers of boats and skiffs passed us in the course of our
+navigation, which I should have thought highly agreeable in other
+circumstances; but I felt oppressed and melancholy; the thoughts of my
+separation from the Marialvas bearing heavily on my mind. Nor could the
+grand prospects of the river, and its shores, crowded with convents,
+towers, and palaces, remove this dead cold weight a single instant.
+
+The sun having sunk into watery clouds, the expanse of the Tagus wore a
+dismal, leaden-coloured aspect. Lisbon was cast into shade, and the huge
+mass of the convent of San Vicente, crowning an eminence, looked dark
+and solemn. The low shores of Aldea Gallega are pleasant and woody;
+many varieties of the tulip, the iris, and other bulbous roots, already
+springing up under the protection of spreading pines.
+
+Instead of going to a swinish, stinking estellagem, my courier, Martinho
+de mello's prime favourite, and the one he employs upon the most
+confidential negociations, conducted me to the postmaster's; a neat,
+snug habitation, where I found very tolerable accommodations, and dined
+in the midst of a vapour of burnt lavender, that was near depriving us
+of all appetite.
+
+Before I sat down to table, I wrote to M----, and sent my letter by the
+return of the scalera. It was not without difficulty I wrote then, or
+write at present, for my kind host, the postmaster, has not only the
+same age, but equal glibness of tongue as the abade. They were
+cotemporary at Coimbra, and their tongues have kept pace with each other
+these eighty years. The postmaster is blessed with a most tenacious
+memory, and having been a mighty reader of operas, serenatas, sonnets,
+and romances, seemed to sweat verses at every pore. For three hours he
+gave neither himself nor us any respite, but spouted whole volleys of
+Metastasio, till he was black in the face. Having washed down the heroic
+sentiments of Megacle, Artaserse, and Demetrio with a dish of tea, he
+fell to quoting Spanish and Latin authors, Ovid, Seneca, Lopez de Vega,
+Calderon, with the same volubility.
+
+As millers sleep sound to the click of their mill, so I, at the end of
+the two hours' gabbling, was perfectly well-seasoned, and let him run on
+with the most resigned composure, writing and reading as unconcernedly
+as if in a convent of Carthusians.
+
+
+Thursday, November 29th.
+
+There was a continual racket in the house and about the street-door all
+night. At four o'clock the baggage-carts set forth, with a tremendous
+jingling of bells. The morning was so soft and vernal, that we drank our
+chocolate on the veranda, which commands a wild rural view of shrubby
+fields and scattered pines, terminated by a long range of blue hills,
+most picturesquely varied in form, if not in colour.
+
+After breakfast I went to the church, which Colmenar pretends is
+magnificently gilt and ornamented; but which, in fact, can boast no
+other decoration than a few shabby altars, displaying the images of
+Nossa Senhora, and the patron saint, in tinselled garments of faded
+taffeta. I knelt on a mouldy pavement, and felt a chill wind issuing
+from between the crevices of loose grave-stones, that returned a hollow
+sound when I rose up and walked over them. A priest, who was saying
+mass, officiated with uncommon slowness and solemnity. It was hardly
+light in the recesses of the chapels.
+
+Soon after eight o'clock we left Aldea Gallega, and ploughed through
+deep furrows of sand at the sober rate of two miles and a half in an
+hour. On both sides of the heavy road the eye ranges uninterrupted,
+except by the stems of starveling pines, through a boundless extent of
+barren country, overgrown with stunted ilex and gum-cistus. The same
+scenery lasted without any variation full five leagues, to the venta de
+Pegoens, where I am now writing, in a long dismal room, with plastered
+walls, a damp brick-floor, and cracked window-shutters. A pack of
+half-famished dogs are leaping around me, their eyes ready to start out
+of their sockets and their ribs out of their skin.
+
+After dining upon the provisions we brought with us, of which the
+yelping generation enjoyed no inconsiderable share, we proceeded through
+sandy wilds diversified alone by pines. Not a single habitation
+occurred, till by a glimmering dubious starlight, for it was now
+half-past seven, we discovered the extensive front of a palace, built in
+the year 1729, by John the fifth, for the accommodation of the infanta
+of Spain, who married his son, the late king D. Jos�. Here we were to
+lodge, and I was rather surprised, upon entering a long suite of
+well-proportioned apartments, to find doors and windows still capable of
+being shut and opened, large chimneys guiltless of smoking out of their
+right channel, and painted ceilings without cracks or crevices.
+
+A young priest, neither deficient in manners nor erudition, the keeper
+of this solitary palace, did his utmost to make our stay in it
+agreeable. By his attention, we had some chairs and tables placed by a
+blazing fire, which I worshipped with all the fervour of an ancient
+Persian. I had need of this consolation, being much disordered by the
+tiresome dragging of our heavy coach through heaps of sand, and
+depressed with feverish shiverings.
+
+
+Friday, November 30th.
+
+It was a long while last night before I composed myself to sleep, and
+being called at the first dawn, I rose, if possible, more indisposed
+than when I lay down; I could scarcely swallow any refreshment, and kept
+walking disconsolately through the vast range of naked apartments, till
+the rays of the rising sun entered the windows. The horizon glowed with
+ruddy clouds. The vast desert levels, discovered from the balconies of
+the palace, gleamed with dewy verdure. I hastened out to breathe the
+fresh morning air, impregnated with the perfume of a thousand aromatic
+shrubs and opening flowers. I could not believe it was the last day of
+November, but fancied I had slept away the winter, and was just awakened
+in the month of May.
+
+To enjoy these fragrant breezes in full liberty, I left our carriage to
+drag along as slowly as the mules pleased, and the muleteers to smoke
+their cigarros as deliberately as they thought proper; and mounting my
+horse, rode the best part of the way to Montemor; which is built on the
+acclivity of a mountain, and surrounded on every side by groves of
+olives. The whole face of the country is covered by the same
+vegetation, and, of course, presents no very cheerful appearance.
+
+About a mile from Montemor we crossed a clear river, whose banks are
+thick-set with poplars, and a light, airy species of broom, intermixed
+with indian-fig, and laurustine in full blossom. The bees were swarming
+amongst the flowers, and filling the air with their hum.
+
+Whilst our dinner was preparing we climbed up the green slopes of a
+lofty hill, to some ruins on its summit; and passing under a narrow arch
+discovered a broad flight of steps, which lead to a very ancient church
+of gothic uncouth architecture: the pavement almost entirely composed of
+sepulchral slabs and brasses. As we walked on a platform before the
+entrance, the sun shone so fiercely that we were glad to descend the
+eminence on its shadiest side, and take refuge in a cavern-like
+apartment of the estallagem, very damp and dingy; but in which, however,
+an excellent dinner awaited our arrival.
+
+We set out at two in a blaze of sunshine, so cheerful and reviving, that
+I got once more on horseback, and never dismounted till I reached
+Arroyolos. Just as we came in sight of this ugly old town, which, like
+Montemor, crowns the summit of a rocky eminence, it fell totally dark;
+but the postmaster coming forth with torches, lighted us through several
+winding alleys to his house. I found some pleasant apartments amply
+furnished, and richly carpeted, and had the comfort of settling myself
+by a crackling fire, writing to the whole circle of the Marialvas, and
+drinking tea without being attacked by quotations of Virgil and
+Metastasio.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER II.
+
+     A wild tract of forest-land.--Arrival at Estremoz.--A fair.--An
+     outrageous sermon.--Boundless wastes of gum-cistus.--Elvas.--Our
+     reception there.--My visiters.
+
+
+Saturday, December 1st, 1787.
+
+Hitherto I have had no reason to complain of my accommodations in
+travelling through Portugal. A mandate from the governor procured me
+milk this morning for my breakfast, much against the will of the
+proprietor, who had a great inclination to keep all to himself. The idea
+of its being squeezed out by force, persuaded me that it had a very sour
+taste, and I hardly touched it.
+
+I laid in a stock of carpets for my journey, of strange grotesque
+patterns and glaring colours, the produce of a manufactory in this town,
+which employs about three hundred persons. Methinks I begin to write as
+dully as Major W. Dalrymple, whose dry journal of travels through a
+part of Spain I had the misfortune of reading in the coach this morning,
+as we jogged and jolted along the dreary road between Arroyolos and
+Venta do Duque.
+
+We passed a wild tract of forest-land, and saw numerous herds of swine
+luxuriously scratching themselves against the rugged bark of cork-trees,
+and routing up the moss at their roots in search of acorns. Venta do
+Duque is a sty right worthy of being the capital of hoggish dominions.
+It can boast, however, of a chimney, which, giving us the opportunity of
+making a fire, rendered our stay in it less intolerable.
+
+The evening turned out cloudy and cold. Before we arrived at Estremoz,
+another city on a hill, better and farther seen than it merits, it began
+to rain with a vengeance. I hear it splashing and driving this moment in
+the puddles which lie in the vast, forlorn market-place, at one end of
+which our posada is situated. For Portugal, this posada is by no means
+indifferent; the walls and ceilings have been neatly whitewashed, and
+here are chairs and tables. My carpets are of essential service in
+protecting my feet from the damp brick-floors. I have spread them all
+round my bed, and they make a flaming exotic appearance.
+
+
+Sunday, December 2nd.
+
+When I opened my eyes about seven in the morning, the sky was still
+dismal and lowering; and a crowd of human figures, enveloped in dark
+capotes, were just issuing from several dens and lurking-places on each
+side the entrance of the posada. A fair, which was held to-day, had
+drawn them together, and they were lamenting in chorus the rainy
+weather, which prevented the display of their rural finery. Most of
+these good people had passed the night in the stables of the posada. As
+I came down stairs, I saw several of their companions of both sexes
+lying about like the killed and wounded on a field of battle; or, to use
+a less fatal comparison, like the dead-drunk during a contested election
+in England.
+
+From the windows of the posada I looked down on a vast opening a
+thousand feet in breadth, surrounded by irregular buildings; amongst
+which I could not discover any of those handsome edifices adorned with
+marble columns, some travelling scribblers mention in terms of the
+highest commendation. The marble tower, too, they describe, built by Don
+Deniz, has totally lost its polish, if true it is it ever had any.
+
+Hard by the posada is a little chapel, to which I repaired as soon as I
+had breakfasted, and heard an outrageous sermon preached by a
+grey-headed, fiery-eyed capuchin, to a troop of blubbering females.
+
+As it did not positively rain, but only drizzled, after the fashion of
+my own dear native country, I rode part of the way to Elvas, and
+traversed boundless wastes of gum-cistus, whose dark-green casts a
+melancholy shade over the face of the country. A mile or two from Elvas,
+the scene changes to a forest of olives, with fountains by the wayside,
+and avenues of poplars, which were not yet deprived of their foliage.
+Above their summits tower the arches of an aqueduct, supported by strong
+buttresses, and presenting, when seen in perspective, an appearance, in
+some points of view, not unlike that of a ruined gothic cathedral. The
+ramparts of Elvas are laid out and planted much in the style of our
+English gardens, and form very delightful walks.
+
+Upon entering the town, which seems populous and thriving, we were
+conducted to a very clean neat house, prepared for our reception by
+order of the governor, Monsieur de Vallar�. A dignified sort of a page,
+or groom of the chambers, in a blue coat richly laced, and the order of
+St. Jago dangling at his buttonhole, stood ready at the door to show us
+up stairs, and, according to the Portuguese system of politeness, never
+quitted our elbows a single moment.
+
+I had hardly reconnoitred my new apartments, before Monsieur de Vallar�
+was announced. He brought with him the Abade Correa, one of the
+luminaries of modern Portuguese literature, whose conversation afforded
+me great amusement. We sallied out together to visit the fortifications,
+the stables for the cavalry, and barracks for the soldiers, which are
+all in admirable order; thanks to the governor, who is indefatigable in
+his exertions, and retains at a very experienced age the agility of
+five-and-twenty. I was delighted with his cheerful, military frankness,
+and unaffected attentions. He told me, he had stood the fire of our
+formidable column at Fontenoy, and never enjoyed himself so much in his
+life, as in the smoke and havoc of that furious engagement.
+
+From one of the bastions to which he conducted us, we had a distinct
+view of the fort de la Lippe, erected at an enormous expense on the
+summit of a woody mountain. Had the weather been fine, it might have
+tempted me to climb up to it; but showers beginning to descend, I
+preferred taking shelter in a snug apartment of the mar�chal, enlivened
+by a blazing pile of aromatic woods, raised up on a grate in a
+christian-like manner. The abade and I drawing close to this hospitable
+hearth, talked over Lisbon and its inhabitants; whilst Verdeil amused
+himself with scrutinizing some minerals the mar�chal had collected, and
+which lay scattered about his room.
+
+In these occupations the time passed till supper. We had pork delicately
+flavoured, exquisite quails, and salads, prepared in different manners,
+the most delicious I ever tasted. Our conversation was lively and
+unrestrained; Correa has an originality of genius and freedom of
+sentiment, which the terrors of the inquisition have not yet
+extinguished.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER III.
+
+     Pass the rivulet which separates Spain and Portugal.--A muleteer's
+     enthusiasm.--Badajoz.--The cathedral.--Journey resumed.--A vast
+     plain.--Village of Lubaon.--Withered hags.--Names and characters of
+     our mules.--Posada at Merida.
+
+
+Monday, Dec. 3rd, 1787.
+
+The mar�chal and the abade breakfasted with me, but the rain prevented
+my taking another walk about the fortifications, and seeing the troops
+go through their exercise. At ten we set off, well escorted, traversed a
+dismal plain, and passed a rivulet which separates the two kingdoms. No
+sooner had one of our muleteers passed this boundary, than cutting a
+cross in the turf with his knife, he fell prostrate and kissed the
+ground with a transport of devotion.
+
+Upon ascending the bank of the rivulet we came in sight of Badajoz and
+its long narrow bridge over the Guadiana. The custom-house was all
+mildness and moderation. Its harpies have neither flown away with my
+books, as Bezerra predicted, nor set their talons in my coffers. At
+sight of my passport, such a one, I believe, as is not very frequently
+granted, all difficulties gave way, and I was permitted to enter the
+lonely, melancholy streets of Badajoz, without being stopped an instant,
+or having my baggage ransacked.
+
+This circumstance, no wonder, gave me greater satisfaction than the
+aspect of the town and its inhabitants, which is decidedly gloomy. Every
+house almost has grated-windows, and the few human creatures that stared
+at us from them, were muffled up to their noses in heavy mantles of the
+darkest colours.
+
+We continued winding half an hour in slow and solemn procession through
+narrow streets and alleys, whose gutters were full to the brim, before
+we reached the large dingy mansion their excellencies, the governor and
+intendant, had been so gracious as to allot for my reception. Both these
+personages were, providentially, laid up with agues, or else, it seems,
+I should have been honoured with their company the whole evening.
+
+A mob of eyes and mantles, for neither mouths, arms, nor scarcely legs
+were discernible, assembled round the carriages the moment they halted,
+and had the patience to remain in the street, silently smoking their
+cigarros, the whole time I was at dinner.
+
+It was night before I rose from table, crept down stairs, and, though it
+continued raining at frequent intervals, waded to the cathedral, through
+much mire, and between several societies of hogs, which lay sweetly
+sleeping to the murmur of dropping eaves, in the midst of gutters and
+kennels.
+
+The cathedral is formed by three aisles of equal breadth, supported by
+pillars and arches, in a tolerably good pointed style. Several lofty
+chapels open into them, with solemn gates of iron. In the centre of the
+middle aisle some bungling architect has awkwardly stuck the choir, not
+many paces from the principal entrance, and by so doing has shut out the
+view of the high altar: no great loss, however, the high altar looking
+little better than a huge mass of rock-work, gilt and burnished. Under
+the choir is a staircase leading down to the grated entrance of a vault.
+Lamps were burning before many of the altars, and they distributed a
+faint light throughout the whole edifice.
+
+I paced silently to and fro in the aisles, whilst the canons were
+chaunting vespers. The choristers still retain the same dress in which
+St. Anthony is represented, in the picture which hung by the miraculous
+cross he indented when flying the persecutions of Satan. There was a
+solemnity in the glimmer of the lamps, the gloomy, indefinite depth of
+the chapels, and the darkness of the vault beneath the choir, that
+affected me. I passed a very uncomfortable evening, and a worse night.
+
+
+Tuesday, Dec. 4.
+
+Not a wink of sleep did the musquitos allow me. I was glad to call for
+lights at four, and was still happier to step into the coach at five;
+from that hour to half-past-eight I contrived to slumber in a feverish,
+agitated manner, that did me little good.
+
+When I opened my eyes, I found myself traversing a vast plain as level
+as the ocean. In summer, this waste must convey none but ideas of
+sterility and desolation; at present, a fresh verdure, browsed by
+numerous flocks, rendered its appearance tolerable. The sheep, which
+are large and thriving, have fleeces as long and as silky as the hair of
+a barbet, combed every day by the hands of its mistress. I observed
+numbers of lambs of the most shining whiteness, with black ears and
+noses; just such neat little animals as those I remember to have seen in
+the era of Dresden china, at the feet of smirking shepherdesses.
+
+We dined at a village of mud cottages, called Lubaon, situated on some
+rising ground, about eighteen miles from Badajoz, whose inhabitants seem
+to have attained the last stage of poverty and wretchedness. Two or
+three withered hags, that even in the prophet Habakkuk's resurrection of
+dry bones, would have attracted attention, laid hold of me the moment I
+got out of the carriage. I thought the cold hand of the weird sisters
+was giving me a gripe; and trembled lest, whether I would or not, I
+might hear some fatal prediction. To get out of their way I flew to the
+church, an old gothic building, placed on the edge of a steep, which
+shelves almost perpendicularly down to the banks of the Guadiana, and
+took sanctuary in its porch. There I remained till summoned to dinner,
+listening to the murmur of the distant river flowing round sandy
+islands.
+
+I won the hearts of my muleteers by caressing their mules, and inquiring
+with a respectful earnestness their names and characters. Capitana may
+be depended upon in cases of labour and difficulty; Valerosa is skittish
+and enterprising; Pelerina rather sluggish and cowardly; but la
+Commissaria unites every mulish perfection; is tractable, steady, and
+sure-footed, and at the same time (to use the identical expression of my
+calasero) the greatest driver of dirt before her in the universe. She is
+certainly an animal of uncommon resolution; and when tired to death by
+the slow paces of her companions, how often have I wished myself
+abandoned to her guidance in a light two-wheeled chaise.
+
+We left Lubaon at half-past two, and, as I had the happiness of sleeping
+almost the whole way to Merida, can give little account of the country.
+
+I was hardly awake, when we entered the posada at Merida, and started
+back, dazzled with an illumination of wax-lights, solemnly stuck in
+sconces all round a lofty room, with glaring white walls, as if I had
+been expected to lie in state. In the middle of the apartment stood a
+large brasier, full of glowing embers, exhaling so strong a perfume of
+rosemary and lavender, that my head swam, and I reeled like a drunkard.
+But as soon as this vile machine was removed, I sat down to write in
+peace and comfort.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IV.
+
+     Arrival at Miaxadas.--Monotonous singing.--Dismal
+     country.--Truxillo.--A rainy morning.--Resume our journey.--Immense
+     wood of cork-trees.--Almaraz.--Reception by the escrivano.--A
+     terrific volume.--Village of Laval de Moral.--Range of lofty
+     mountains.--Calzada.
+
+
+Wednesday, Dec. 5th, 1787.
+
+About five leagues from Merida we stopped at a hovel too wretched to
+afford shelter even to our mules. The situation, amidst green hills
+scattered over with picturesque ilex, is not unpleasant; and such was
+the mildness of the day, that we spread our table on a knoll, and dined
+in the open air, surrounded by geese and asses, to whom I distributed
+ample slices of water-melons. From this spot three short leagues brought
+us to Miaxadas, where we arrived at night. Its inhabitants were gathered
+in clusters at their doors, each holding a lamp, and crying, "Biva!
+Biva!"
+
+Instead of entering a dirty posada, my courier ushered me into a sort
+of gallery, with a handsome arched roof, matted all over, and set round
+with gilt chairs. The donna de la casa made very low obeisances, not
+without great primness, and her maids sang tirannas with a wailful
+monotony that wore my very soul out.
+
+
+Thursday, Dec. 6th.
+
+Soaking rain and dismal country, thick strewn with fragments of rock.
+Mountains wrapped in mists,--here and there a few green spots studded
+with mushrooms. We went seven leagues without stopping, and reached
+Truxillo by four. It was this gloomy city, situated on a black eminence,
+that gave birth to the ruthless Pizarro, the scourge of the Peruvians,
+and the murderer of Atabaliba. We were lodged in a very tolerable
+posada, unmolested by speech-makers, and heard no noise but the
+trickling of showers.
+
+
+Friday, Dec. 7th.
+
+I was awakened at five: the gutters were pouring, and all the
+water-spouts of Truxillo streaming with rain. An hour and a half did I
+pass in a ghostly twilight, my candles being packed up, and all the oil
+of the house expended. It required great exertion on the part of my
+vigilant courier to prevail on our hulky muleteers to expose themselves
+to the bad weather.
+
+At length, with much ado, we rumbled out of Truxillo, and after
+traversing for the space of two leagues the nakedest and most dreary
+region I ever beheld, a faint gleam of sunshine melted the deadly white
+of the thick clouds which hung over us, and the horizon brightening up,
+we discovered a wood of cork-trees interspersed with lawns extending as
+far as the eye could stretch itself. These green spots continued to
+occur our whole way to Sarase�os. There we halted, dined in haste at not
+half so wretched a posada as I had been taught to expect, and continuing
+our route, the sky clearing, ascended a mountain, from whose brow we
+looked down on a valley variegated with patches of ploughed land, wild
+shrubberies, and wandering rivulets.
+
+We had not much time to feast our eyes with this pastoral prospect; the
+clouds soon rolled over it, and we found ourselves in a damp fog. The
+rest of our journey to Almaraz was a total blank; we saw nothing and
+heard nothing, and arrived at the place of our destination in perfect
+health and stupidity.
+
+The escrivano, who is the judge and jury of the village, was so kind as
+to accommodate us with his house, and so polite as not to incommode us
+with his presence. He is a holy man, and a strenuous advocate for the
+immaculate conception, no less than three large folios upon that
+mysterious subject lying about in his apartment.
+
+
+Saturday, Dec. 8th.
+
+Whilst the muleteers were harnessing their beasts together with rotten
+cords, I took up a little old book of my pious host's, full of the most
+dismal superstitions, entitled _Espeio de Cristal fino, y Antorcha que
+aviva el alma_, and read in it till I was benumbed with horror. Many
+pages are engrossed with a description of the state into which the
+author imagines we are plunged immediately after death. The body he
+supposes conscious of all that befalls it in the grave, of exchanging
+its warm, comfortable habitation for the cold, pestilential soil of a
+churchyard, conscious that its friends have abandoned it for ever, and
+of its inability to call them back; to be sensible of the approaches and
+progress of the most loathsome corruption, and to hear the voice of an
+accusing angel, recapitulating its offences, and summoning it to the
+judgment of God. The book ends with a vehement exhortation to repent
+while there is yet time, and to procure by fervent prayer, and ample
+donations to religious communities, the intercession of the host of
+martyrs and of Nuestra Se�ora. I can easily conceive these scarecrow
+publications of infinite use in frightening three parts of mankind out
+of their senses, prolonging the reign, and swelling the coffers of the
+clergy.
+
+The horrid images I had seen in this (Espeio) mirror haunted my fancy
+for several hours. To dissipate them I mounted my horse, and eagerly
+inhaled the fresh breezes that blew over springing herbage, and wastes
+of lavender. The birds were singing, the clouds dividing, and
+discovering long tracts of soft blue sky. I galloped gaily along a level
+country, interspersed with woods of ilex, to the village of Laval de
+Moral, where the inhabitants were most devoutly employed in their
+churches conciliating the favour of the madonna by keeping holy the
+festival of the immaculate conception. There the coach coming up with
+me, I got in; and the mules dragging it along at a rate which in the
+days of my fire and fury would have made me thump out its bottom with
+impatience, I fell into a resigned slumber, and am ignorant of every
+object between Laval de Moral and Calzada, in sight of which town I
+awoke near five in the evening.
+
+The sun was setting in a sea of molten gold, and tinging the snows of a
+range of lofty mountains, which I discovered for the first time bounding
+our horizon. I might have seen them before most probably, had they not
+remained till this evening wrapped up in rainy vapours.
+
+It is at their base the Escurial is situated. I had the consolation of
+stepping out of the coach at Calzada into a house with cheerful, neat
+apartments, with an open gallery, where I walked contemplating the red
+streams of light, and brilliant skirted clouds of the western sky, till
+dinner came upon table. Though the doors and windows were all wide open,
+I suffered no inconvenience worth mentioning from cold. The master of
+the house, a portly, pompous barber-surgeon, most firm in his belief of
+the supremacy of Spain over every country in the universe, confessed,
+however, the weather was uncommonly warm, and that so mild a month of
+December was rather extraordinary.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER V.
+
+     Sierra de los Gregos.--Mass.--Oropeza.--Talavera--Drawling
+     tirannas.--Talavera de la Reyna.--Reception at Santa Olaya.--The
+     lady of the house, and her dogs and dancers.
+
+
+Sunday, December 9th, 1787.
+
+The mountains I saw yesterday are called the Sierra de los Gregos, and
+the winds that blow over their summits begin to chill the atmosphere;
+but the sun is shining gloriously, and not a cloud obscures his
+effulgence. The stars were still twinkling in the firmament, when I was
+attracted to mass in the large gloomy church of a nunnery, by the voices
+of the Lord's spouses issuing from a sepulchral grate bristled with
+spikes of iron. These tremulous, plaintive sounds filled me with such
+sadness, and so many recollections of interesting hours departed never
+to return, that I felt relieved when I found myself out of sight of the
+convent, on a cheerful road thronged with passengers.
+
+We passed Oropeza, a picturesque, Italian-looking town, on the brow of a
+mountain; dined at a venda, in the midst of a savage tract of
+forest-land, infamous till within this year or two for robberies and
+assassinations; and reached Talavera de la Reyna by sunset.
+
+More, I believe, has been said in praise of this town than it deserves.
+Its appearance is far from cheerful or elegant; and the heavy
+brick-fronts of the convents and churches as ill designed as executed.
+The streets, however, are crowded with people, who seem to be moving
+about with rather more activity than falls to the lot of Spaniards in
+general. I am told the silk-manufactories at Talavera are in a
+flourishing state, and have taken a good many hands out of the folds of
+their mantles.
+
+Colmenar is perpetually leading me into errors, and causing me
+disappointments. He pretends that the inhabitants of this place are
+nearly as skilful as those of Pekin and Macao in the manufacturing of
+lacquered wares, and that their pottery is unrivalled; but, upon
+inquiry, I found the Talaverans no particular proficients in varnish,
+and that they had neither a cup nor basin to produce in the least
+preferable to those of other villages.
+
+In one art they are indefatigable, I can answer to my sorrow; that is,
+singing drawling tirannas to the monotonous accompaniment of a sort of
+hum-strum or hurdy-gurdy, or the devil knows best what sort of
+instruments, for such as I hear at this moment under my windows are only
+fit to be played in his dominions. I am quite at the mercy of these
+untoward minstrels; if they cease not, I must defer sleeping to another
+opportunity. Am I then come into Spain to hear hum-strums and
+hurdy-gurdies? Where are the rapturous seguidillas, of which I have been
+told such wonders? Do they exist, or, like the japanned wares of the
+Talaverans, are they only to be found in books of travels and
+geographical dictionaries?
+
+
+Monday, December 10th.
+
+I beg Talavera de la Reyna a thousand pardons; it is not quite so
+frightful as it appeared in the twilight of yesterday evening. Many of
+the houses have a palace-like appearance, and the interior of the old
+gothic cathedral, though not remarkably spacious, has an air of
+magnificence; the stalls of the choir are elaborately carved, and on
+each side the high altar, curtains of the richest crimson damask fall
+from the roof in ample folds, and cast a ruddy glow on the pavement.
+
+If Talavera has nothing within its walls to be much boasted of, there
+are many objects in its environs that merit praise. No sooner had we
+left its dark crooked streets behind us, than we discovered a thick wood
+of elms skirting an extensive lawn, beautifully green and level, from
+which rises the convent of Nuestra Se�ora del Prayo, crowned by an
+octangular cupola. This edifice is built of brick encrusted with stone
+ornaments, and choked up by ranges of arcades and heavy galleries. I
+have seen several structures which resembled it in the neighbourhood of
+Antwerp and Brussels; but whether the Spaniards carried this clumsy
+style of architecture into the Low Countries, or borrowed from thence,
+is scarcely worth while to determine.
+
+Not far from Nuestra Se�ora del Prayo we crossed the Tagus, and
+continued dragging through heavy sands for five tedious hours, without
+perceiving a habitation, or meeting any animal, biped or quadruped,
+except herds of swine, in which, I believe, consist the principal riches
+of this part of the Spanish dominions. I doubt whether the royal sty of
+Ithaca was half so well garnished, as many private ones in New Castile
+and Estremadura.
+
+Having nothing to look at except a dreary plain bounded by barren,
+uninteresting mountains, I was reduced to tumble over the trashy
+collection of books, with which I happen in this journey to be provided;
+poor fiddle-faddle Derrick's Letters from Cork, Chester, and Tunbridge;
+John Buncle, Esquire's, life, holy rhapsodies, and peregrinations;
+Shenstone's, Mr. Whistler's, and the good Duchess of Somerset's
+Correspondence; Bray's tour, right worthy of an ass; Heley's fulsome
+description of the Leasowes and Hagley; Clarke's ponderous account of
+Spain; and Major Dalrymple's dry, tiresome, and splenetic excursion.
+There's a set, equal it if you can. I hope to get a better at Madrid,
+and throw my old stock into the Man�anares.
+
+We dined at a village called Brabo, not in the least worth mentioning,
+and arrived in due tiresome course, about six in the evening, at Santa
+Olaya, where my courier had procured us an admirable lodging in the
+house of a veteran colonel. The principal apartment, in which I pitched
+my bed, was a lofty gallery, with large folding glazed doors, gilt and
+varnished, its white walls almost covered with saintly pictures and
+small mirrors, stuck near the ceiling, beyond the reach of mortal sight,
+as if their proprietor was afraid they would wear out by being looked
+into. On low tables, to the right and left of the door, stood
+glass-cases, filled with relics and artificial flowers. Stools covered
+with velvet, and raised not above a foot from the floor, were stationed
+all round the room. On one of these I squatted like an oriental, warming
+my hands over a brasier of coals.
+
+The old lady of the house, followed by a train of curtseying handmaids
+and snifling lapdogs, favoured me with her company the best part of the
+evening. Her spouse, the colonel, being indisposed, did not make his
+appearance. Whilst she was entertaining me with a most flourishing
+detail of the excellent qualities and wonderful acquisitions of the
+infant Don Louis, who died about two years ago at his villa in this
+neighbourhood, some very grotesque figures entered the antechamber, and
+tinkling their guitars, struck up a seguidilla, that in a minute or two
+set all the feet in the house in motion. Amongst the dancers, two young
+girls, whose jetty locks were braided with some degree of elegance,
+shone forth in a fandango, beating the ground and snapping their fingers
+with rapturous agility.
+
+This sport lasted a full hour, before they showed the least sign of
+being tired; then succeeded some languorous tirannas, by no means so
+delightful as I expected. I was not sorry when the ball ceased, and my
+kind hostess, moving off with all her dogs and dancers, left me to sup
+and sleep in tranquillity.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VI.
+
+     Dismal plains.--Santa Cruz.--Val de Carneiro.--A most determined
+     musical amateur.--The Alcayde Mayor.--Approach to Madrid.--Aspect
+     of the city.--The Calle d'Alcala.--The Prado.--The Ave-Maria bell.
+
+
+Tuesday, Dec. 11th, 1787.
+
+Dismal plains and still more dismal mountains; no indication as yet of
+the approach to a capital; dined at Santa Cruz; thought we should have
+been flayed alive by its greedy inhabitants; arrived in the dark at Val
+de Carneiro; lodged in the house of a certain Don Bernardo, passionately
+fond of music. The apartment allotted to me contained no less than two
+harpsichords: one of them, in a fine gilt case, very pompous and sullen,
+I could scarcely prevail upon the keys to move; next it stood a very
+sweet-toned modest little spinet, that responded to my touch right
+willingly, and as I happened to play some Brazilian ditties Don
+Bernardo never heard before, he was so good as to be in raptures.
+
+These were becoming every minute more enthusiastic, when the arrival of
+the alcayde mayor, followed by a priest or two with enormous spectacles
+on their thin snipish noses, interrupted our harmonious proceedings.
+This personage came expressly to pay me a visit, and to ask questions
+about England and her unnatural offspring, the revolted provinces of
+North America; a country which he had heard was colder and darker than
+the grave, and spread all over with animals, whether biped or quadruped
+he could not tell, called _koakeres_, living like beavers, in strange
+huts or tabernacles of their own construction.
+
+
+Wednesday, Dec. 12th.
+
+Don Bernardo showed me his cellars, in which are several casks capable
+of holding thirty or forty hogsheads, and ranges of jars in the shape of
+the antique amphor�, ten feet high, and not less than six in diameter.
+For the first time in my life I tasted the genuine Spanish chocolate,
+spiced and cinnamoned beyond all endurance. It has put my mouth in a
+flame, and I do nothing but spit and sputter.
+
+The weather was so damp and foggy that we could hardly see ten yards
+before us: I cannot, therefore, in conscience abuse the approach to
+Madrid so much, I believe, as it deserves. About one o'clock, the
+vapours beginning to dissipate, a huge mass of building, and a confused
+jumble of steeples, domes, and towers, started on a sudden from the
+mist. The large building I soon recognized to be the new palace. It is a
+good deal in the style of Caserta, but being raised on a considerable
+eminence, produces a more striking effect. At its base flows the pitiful
+river Man�anares, whose banks were all of a flutter with linen hanging
+out to dry.
+
+We passed through this rag-fair, between crowds of mahogany-coloured
+hags, who left off thumping their linen to stare at us, and, crossing a
+broad bridge over a narrow streamlet, entered Madrid by a gateway of
+very indifferent architecture. The neat pavement of the streets, the
+loftiness of the houses, and the cheerful showy appearance of many of
+the shops, far surpassed my expectation.
+
+Upon entering the Calle d'Alcala, a noble street, much wider than any in
+London, I was still more surprised. Several magnificent palaces and
+convents adorn it on both sides. At one extremity, you perceive the
+trees and fountains of the Prado, and, at the other, the lofty domes of
+a series of churches. We have got apartments at the Cruz de Malta,
+which, though very indifferently furnished, have at least the advantage
+of commanding this prospect. I passed half-an-hour after dinner in one
+of the balconies, gazing upon the variety of equipages which were
+rattling along. The street sloping gradually down, and being paved with
+remarkable smoothness, they drove at a furious rate, the high fashion at
+Madrid; where to hurry along at the risk of laming your mules, and
+cracking their skulls, is to follow the example of his Majesty, than
+whom no monarch drives with greater vehemence.
+
+I strolled to the Prado, and was much struck by the spaciousness of the
+principal walk, the length of the avenues, and the stateliness of the
+fountains. Though the evening was damp and gloomy, a great many people
+were rambling about, and a long line of carriages parading. The dress of
+the ladies, the cut of their servants' liveries, the bags of the
+coachmen, and the painting of the coaches, were so perfectly Parisian,
+that I fancied myself on the Boulevards, and looked in vain for those
+ponderous equipages, surrounded by pages and escudeiros, one reads of in
+Spanish romances. A total change has taken place, and the original
+national customs are almost obliterated.
+
+Devotion, however, is not yet banished from the Prado; at the ringing of
+the Ave-Maria bell, the coaches stopped, the servants took off their
+hats, the ladies crossed themselves, and the foot passengers stood
+motionless, muttering their orisons. There is both opera and play
+to-night, I believe, but I am in no mood to go to either.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VII.
+
+     The Duchess of Berwick in all her nonchalance.--Her apartment
+     described.--Her passion for music.--Her se�oras de honor.
+
+
+Thursday, Dec. 13th, 1787.
+
+It was a heavy damp morning, and I could hardly prevail upon myself to
+quit my fireside and deliver the archbishop's most confidential
+despatches to the Portuguese ambassador Don Diogo de Noronha.
+
+The ambassador being gone to the palace, I drove to the Duchess of
+Berwick's, my old acquaintance, with whom I passed so much of my time at
+Paris eight years ago. Her dear spouse, so well known at Spa, Brussels,
+Aix-la-Chapelle, and all the gaming-places of Europe, by the name,
+style, and title of marquis of Jamaica, has been departed these five or
+six months; and she is now mistress of the most splendid palace in
+Madrid, of one of the first fortunes, and of the affairs of her only
+son, the present Duke of Berwick, to whom she is guardian.
+
+The fa�ade of the palace, and the spacious court before it, pleased me
+extremely. It is in the best style of modern Parisian architecture,
+simple and graceful. I was conducted up a majestic staircase, adorned
+with corinthian columns, and through a long suite of apartments, at the
+extremity of which, in a saloon hung with embroidered India satin, sat
+reclined madame la duchesse, in all her accustomed nonchalance. She
+seemed never to have moved from her sofa since I last had the pleasure
+of seeing her, and is exactly the same good-natured, indolent being,
+free from malice or uncharitableness; I wish the world was fuller of
+this harmless, quiet species.
+
+The morning passed most rapidly away in talking over rose-coloured
+times; I returned home to dine, and as soon as it was dark went back
+again to madame de Berwick's, who was waiting tea for me. I like her
+apartment very much, the angles are taken off by low semicircular sofas,
+and the space between them and the hangings filled up with slabs of
+Granadian marble, on which are placed most beautiful porcelain vases
+with mignonette and rose-trees in full bloom. The fire burnt cheerfully,
+the table was drawn close to it; the duchess's little girl, Donna
+Ferdinanda, sat playing and smiling upon a dog, which she held in her
+lap, and had swaddled up like an infant.
+
+Soon after tea, the young duke of Berwick and a French abb�, his
+preceptor, came in and stayed with us the remainder of the evening. The
+duke is only fourteen and some months, but he is taller than I am, and
+as plump as the plumpest of partridges. His manners are French, and his
+address as prematurely formed as his figure. Few, if any, fortunes in
+Europe equal that which he enjoys, and of which he has expectations;
+being heir to the house of Alba, seventy thousand a-year at least, and
+in possession of the Veragua and Liria estates. These immense properties
+are of course underlet, and wretchedly cultivated. If able exertions
+were made in their management, his income might be doubled.
+
+Madame de Berwick has not lost her passion for music; operas and sonatas
+lie scattered all over her apartment; not only singing-books were lying
+on the carpet, but singers themselves; three of her musical attendants,
+a page, and two pretty little se�oras de honor, having cast themselves
+carelessly at her feet in the true Spanish, or rather morisco, fashion,
+ready to warble forth the moment she gave the signal, which was not long
+delayed, and never did I hear more soothing voices. The inspiration they
+gave rise to drove me to the piano-forte, where I played and sang those
+airs Madame de Berwick was so fond of in the dawn of our acquaintance;
+when, thanks to her cherished indolence, she had the resignation to
+listen day after day, and hour after hour, to my romantic rhapsodies.
+How fervid and ecstatic was I in those days; the toy of every impulse,
+the willing dupe of every gay illusion. The duchess tells me, she thinks
+from the tone of our conversation in the morning, that I am now a little
+sobered, and may possibly get through this thorny world without losing
+my wits on its briars.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER VIII.
+
+     The Chevalier de Roxas.--Excursion to the palace and gardens of the
+     Buen Retiro.--The Turkish Ambassador and his numerous
+     train.--Farinelli's apartments.
+
+
+Dec. 14th, 1785.
+
+One of the best informed and pleasantest of Spaniards, the Chevalier de
+Roxas, who had been very intimate both with Verdeil and me at Lausanne,
+came in a violent hurry this morning to give us a cordial embrace. He
+seems to have set his heart upon showing us about Madrid, and rendering
+our stay here as lively as he could make it. Fifty schemes did he
+propose in half a minute, of visiting museums, churches, and public
+buildings; of goings to balls, theatres, and tertullias.
+
+I took alarm at this busy prospect, drew back into my shell, and began
+wishing myself in the most perfect incognito; but, alas! to no purpose,
+it was all in vain.
+
+Roxas, most eager to enter upon his office of cicerone, fidgeted to the
+window, observed we had still an hour or two of daylight, and proposed
+an excursion to the palace and gardens of the Buen Retiro. Upon entering
+the court of the palace, which is surrounded by low buildings, with
+plastered fronts, sadly battered by wind and weather, I espied some
+venerable figures in caftans and turbans, leaning against a doorway.
+
+My sparks of orientalism instantly burst into a flame at such a sight:
+"Who are those picturesque animals?" said I to our conductor. "Is it
+lawful to approach them?" "As often as you please," answered Roxas.
+"They belong to the Turkish ambassador, who is lodged, with all his
+train, at the Buen Retiro, in the identical apartments once occupied by
+Farinelli; where he held his state levees and opera rehearsals; drilling
+ministers one day, and tenors and soprani the other: if you have a mind,
+we will go up-stairs and examine the whole menagerie."
+
+No sooner said, no sooner done. I cleared four steps at a leap, to the
+great delight of his sublime excellency's pages and attendants, and
+entered a saloon spread with the most sumptuous carpets, and perfumed
+with the fragrance of the wood of aloes. In a corner of this magnificent
+chamber sat the ambassador, Achmet Vassif Effendi, wrapped up in a
+pelisse of the most precious sables, playing with a light cane he had in
+his hand, and every now and then passing it under the noses of some
+tall, handsome slaves, who were standing in a row before him. These
+figures, fixed as statues, and to all appearance equally insensible,
+neither moved hand nor eye. As I advanced to make my salam to the grand
+seignor's representative, who received me with a most gracious nod of
+the head; his interpreter announced to what nation I belonged, and my
+own individual warm partiality for the Sublime Porte.
+
+As soon as I had taken my seat in a ponderous fauteuil of figured
+velvet, coffee was carried round in cups of most delicate china, with
+gold enamelled saucers. Notwithstanding my predilection for the east and
+its customs, I could hardly get this beverage down, it was so thick and
+bitter; whilst I was making a few wry faces in consequence, a low
+murmuring sound, like that of flutes and dulcimers, accompanied by a
+sort of tabor, issued from behind a curtain which separated us from
+another apartment. There was a melancholy wildness in the melody, and a
+continual repetition of the same plaintive cadences, that soothed and
+affected me.
+
+The ambassador kept poring upon my countenance, and appeared much
+delighted with the effect his music seemed to produce upon it. He is a
+man of considerable talent, deeply skilled in Turkish literature; a
+native of Bagdad; rich, munificent, and nobly born, being descended from
+the house of Barmek; gracious in his address, smooth and plausible in
+his elocution; but not without something like a spark of despotism in a
+corner of his eye. Now and then I fancied that the recollection of
+having recommended the bow-string, and certain doubts whether he might
+not one day or other be complimented with it in his turn, passed across
+his venerable and interesting physiognomy.
+
+My eager questions about Bagdad, the tomb of Zobeida, the vestiges of
+the Dhar al Khalifat, or palace of the Abbassides, seemed to excite a
+thousand remembrances which gave him pleasure; and when I added a few
+quotations from some of his favourite authors, particularly Mesihi, he
+became so flowingly communicative, that a shrewd dapper Greek, called
+Timoni, who acted as his most confidential interpreter, could hardly
+keep pace with him.
+
+Had not the hour of prayer arrived, our conversation might have lasted
+till midnight. Rising up with much stateliness, he extended his arms to
+bid me a good evening, and was assisted along by two good-looking
+Georgian pages, to an adjoining chamber, where his secretaries,
+dragoman, and attendants, were all assembled to perform their devotions,
+each on his little carpet, as if in a mosque; and it was not unedifying
+to witness the solemnity and abstractedness with which these devotions
+were performed.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER IX.
+
+     The Museum and Academy of Arts.--Scene on the Prado.--The
+     Portuguese Ambassador and his comforters.--The Theatre.--A highly
+     popular dancer.--Seguidillas in all their glory.
+
+
+Sunday, Dec. 16th, 1787.
+
+The kind, indefatigable Roxas came to conduct us to the Museum and
+Academy of Arts. It consists of seven or eight apartments, with cases
+all around them, in a plain, good style; the objects clearly arranged,
+and exposed to view in a very intelligible manner. There is a vast
+collection of minerals, corals, madrepores, and stalactites, from all
+the grottoes in the universe; and curious specimens of virgin-gold and
+silver. Amongst the latter, a lump weighing seventy pounds, which was
+shivered off an enormous mass by a master miner, who, after dining on
+it, with twelve or thirteen persons, hacked it to pieces, and
+distributed the fragments amongst his guests.
+
+What pleased me most was a collection of Peruvian vases; a polished
+stone, which served the Incas for a mirror; and a linen mantle, which
+formerly adorned their copper-coloured shoulders, as finely woven as a
+shawl, and flowered in very nearly a similar manner, the colours as
+fresh and vivid as if new.
+
+In the apartments of the academy is a most valuable collection of casts
+after the serene and graceful antique, and several fierce, obtrusive
+daubings by modern Spanish artists.
+
+I found our acute, intelligent charg�-d'affaires'[26] card lying on my
+table when I got home, and a great many more, of equal whiteness; such a
+sight chills me like a fall of snow, for I think of the cold idleness of
+going about day after day dropping little bits of pasteboard in return.
+Verdeil and I dined t�te-�-t�te, planning schemes how to escape formal
+fussifications. No easy matter, I suspect, if I may judge from
+appearances.
+
+Our repast and our council over, we hurried to the Prado, where a
+brilliant string of equipages was moving along in two files. In the
+middle paraded the state coaches of the royal family, containing their
+own precious selves, and their wonted accompaniment of bedchamber lords
+and ladies, duly bedizened. It was a gay spectacle; the music of the
+Swiss guards playing, and the evening sun shining bright on their showy
+uniforms. The botanic garden is separated from the walk by magnificent
+railings and pilasters, placed at regular distances, crowned with vases
+of aloes and yuccas. The verdure and fountains of this vast enclosure,
+terminated by a range of columned conservatories, with an entrance of
+very majestic architecture, has a delightful and striking effect.
+
+From the Prado I drove to the Portuguese ambassador's, who is laid up
+with a sore toe. Three diplomatic animals, two males and one female,
+were nursing and comforting him. He is most supremely dull, and so are
+his comforters. One of them in particular, who shall be nameless, quite
+asinine.
+
+The little sympathy I feel for creatures of this genus, made me shorten
+my visit as much as I decently could, and return home to take up Roxas,
+who was waiting to accompany us to the Spanish theatre. They were acting
+the Barber of Seville, with Paesiello's music, and singing better than
+at the opera. The entertainment ended with a sort of intermez, very
+characteristic of Spanish manners in low life; in which were introduced
+seguidillas. One of the dancers, a young fellow, smartly dressed as a
+maxo, so enraptured the audience, that they made him repeat his dance
+four times over; a French dancing-master would have absolutely shuddered
+at the manner in which he turned in his knees. The women sit by
+themselves in a gallery as dingy as limbo, wrapped up in their white
+mantillas, and looking like spectres. I never heard anything like the
+vociferation with which the pit called out for the seguidillas, nor the
+frantic, deafening applause they bestowed on their favourite dancer.
+
+The play ended at eight, and we came back to tea by our fireside.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER X.
+
+     Visit to the Escurial.--Imposing site of that regal
+     convent.--Reception by the Mystagogue of the place.--Magnificence
+     of the choir.--Charles the Fifth's organ.--Crucifix by
+     Cellini.--Gorgeous ceiling painted by Luca Giordano.--Extent and
+     intricacy of the stupendous edifice.
+
+
+Thursday, Dec. 19th, 1787.
+
+I hate being roused out of bed by candlelight on a sharp wintry morning;
+but as I had fixed to-day for visiting the Escurial, and had stationed
+three relays on the road, in order to perform the journey expeditiously,
+I thought myself obliged to carry my plan into execution.
+
+The weather was cold and threatening, the sky red and deeply coloured.
+Roxas was to be of our party, so we drove to his brother, the Marquis of
+Villanueva's, to take him up. He is one of the best-natured and most
+friendly of human beings, and I would not have gone without him upon
+any account; though in general I abhor turning and twisting about a town
+in search of any body, let its soul be never so transcendent.
+
+It was past eight before we issued out of the gates of Madrid, and
+rattled along an avenue on the banks of the Man�anares full gallop,
+which brought us to the Casa del Campo, one of the king's palaces,
+wrapped up in groves and thickets. We continued a mile or two by the
+wall of this enclosure, and leaving La Sarsuela, another royal villa,
+surrounded by shrubby hillocks, on the right, traversed three or four
+leagues of a wild, naked country, and, after ascending several
+considerable eminences, the sun broke out, the clouds partially rolled
+away, and we discovered the white buildings of this far-famed monastery,
+with its dome and towers detaching themselves from the bold back-ground
+of a lofty, irregular mountain.
+
+We were now about a league off: the country wore a better aspect than
+near Madrid. To the right and left of the road, which is of a noble
+width, and perfectly well made, lie extensive parks of greensward,
+scattered over with fragments of rock and stumps of oak and ash-trees.
+Numerous herds of deer were standing stock-still, quietly lifting up
+their innocent noses, and looking us full in the face with their
+beautiful eyes, secure of remaining unmolested, for the King never
+permits a gun to be discharged in these enclosures.
+
+The Escurial, though overhung by melancholy mountains, is placed itself
+on a very considerable eminence, up which we were full half an hour
+toiling, the late rains having washed this part of the road into utter
+confusion. There is something most severely impressive in the fa�ade of
+this regal convent, which, like the palace of Persepolis, is
+overshadowed by the adjoining mountain; nor did I pass through a vaulted
+cloister into the court before the church, solid as if hewn out of a
+rock, without experiencing a sort of shudder, to which no doubt the
+vivid recollection of the black and blood-stained days of our gloomy
+queen Mary's husband not slightly contributed. The sun being again
+overcast, the porches of the church, surmounted by grim statues,
+appeared so dark and cavern-like, that I thought myself about to enter a
+subterraneous temple set apart for the service of some mysterious and
+terrible religion. And when I saw the high altar, in all its pomp of
+jasper-steps, ranks of columns one above the other, and paintings
+filling up every interstice, full before me, I felt completely awed.
+
+The sides of the recess, in which this imposing pile is placed, are
+formed by lofty chapels, almost entirely occupied by catafalques of gilt
+enamelled bronze. Here, with their crowns and sceptres humbly prostrate
+at their feet, bare-headed and unhelmed, kneel the figures, large as
+life, of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, and his imperious son, the
+second Philip, accompanied by those of their unhappy consorts and
+ill-fated children. My sensations of dread and dreariness were not
+diminished upon finding myself alone in such company; for Roxas had left
+me to deliver some letters to his right reverence the prior, which were
+to open to us all the arcana of this terrific edifice, at once a temple,
+a palace, a convent, and a tomb.
+
+Presently my amiable friend returned, and with him a tall old monk, with
+an ash-coloured forbidding countenance, and staring eyes, the expression
+of which was the farthest removed possible from anything like
+cordiality. This was the mystagogue of the place--the prior _in propria
+persona_, the representative of St. Jerome, as far as this monastery and
+its domain was concerned, and a disciplinarian of celebrated rigidness.
+He began examining me from head to foot, and, after what I thought
+rather a strange scrutiny, asked me in broad Spanish what I wished
+particularly to see. Then turning to Roxas, said loud enough for me to
+hear him, "He is very young; does he understand what I say to him? But,
+as I am peremptorily commanded to show him about, I suppose I must
+comply, though I am quite unused to the office of explaining our
+curiosities. However, if it must be, it must; so let us begin, and not
+dally. I have no time to spare, you well know, and have quite enough to
+do in the choir and the convent."
+
+After this not very gracious exordium, we set forth on our tour. First
+we visited some apartments with vaulted roofs, painted in arabesque, in
+the finest style of the sixteenth century; and then a vast hall, which
+had been used for the celebration of mass, whilst the great church was
+building, where I saw the Perla in all its purity, the most
+delicately-finished work of Raphael, the Pesce, with its divine angel,
+graceful infant; and devout young Tobit, breathing the very soul of
+pious, unaffected simplicity. My attention was next attracted by that
+most profoundly pathetic of pictures, Jacob weeping over the bloody
+garment of his son; the loftiest proof in existence of the extraordinary
+powers of Velasquez in the noblest work of art.
+
+These three pictures so absorbed my admiration, that I had little left
+for a host of glorious performances by Titian and the highest masters,
+which cover the plain, massive walls of these conventual rooms with a
+paradise of glowing colours; so I passed along almost as rapidly as my
+grumbling cicerone could desire, and followed him up several flights of
+stairs, and through many and many an arched passage and vestibule, all
+of the sternest doric, into the choir, which is placed over the grand
+western entrance, right opposite, at the distance of more than two
+hundred feet, to the high altar and its solemn accompaniments. No regal
+chamber I ever beheld can be compared, in point of sober harmonious
+majesty, to this apartment, which looks more as if it belonged to a
+palace than to a church. The series of stalls, designed in a severer
+taste than was common in the sixteenth century, are carved out of the
+most precious woods the Indies could furnish. At the extremity of this
+striking perspective of onyx-coloured seats, columns, and canopies,
+appears suspended upon a black velvet pall that revered image of the
+crucified Saviour, formed of the purest ivory, which Cellini seems to
+have sculptured in moments of devout rapture and inspiration. It is by
+far his finest work; his Perseus, at Florence, is tame and laboured in
+comparison.
+
+In a long narrow corridor which runs behind the stalls, panelled all
+over like an inlaid cabinet, I was shown a beautiful little organ, in a
+richly chased silver case, which accompanied Charles the Fifth in his
+African expedition, and must often have gently beguiled the cares of
+empire, for he played on it, tradition says, almost every evening. That
+it is worth playing upon even now I can safely vouch, for I never
+touched any instrument with a tone of more delicious sweetness; and
+touch it I did, though my austere conductor, the sour-visaged prior,
+looked doubly forbidding on the occasion.
+
+The stalls I have just mentioned are much less ornamented than those I
+have seen in Pavia, and many other monasteries; the ceiling of this
+noblest of choirs, displays the utmost exuberance of decoration--the
+richest and most gorgeous of spectacles, the heavens and all the powers
+therein. Imagination can scarcely conceive the pomp and prodigality of
+pencil with which Luca Giordano has treated this subject, and filled
+every corner of the vast space it covers with well-rounded forms, that
+seem actually starting from the glowing clouds with which they are
+environed.
+
+"Is not this fine?" said the monk; "you can have nothing like it in your
+country. And now be pleased to move forward, for the day is wasting, and
+you will have little time left to examine our inestimable relics, and
+the jewelled shrines in which they are deposited."
+
+We went down from the choir, I can scarcely tell whither, such is the
+extent and intricacy of this stupendous edifice. We passed, I believe,
+through some of the lateral chapels at the great church, into several
+quadrangles, one in particular, with a fountain under a cupola in the
+centre, surrounded by doric arcades, equal in justness of proportion and
+architectural terseness to Palladio's court in the convent of S. Giorgio
+Maggiore.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XI.
+
+     Mysterious cabinets.--Relics of Martyrs.--A feather from the
+     Archangel Gabriel's wing.--Labyrinth of gloomy
+     cloisters.--Sepulchral cave.--River of death.--The regal
+     sarcophagi.
+
+
+My lord the prior, not favouring a prolonged survey, I reluctantly left
+this beautiful court, and was led into a low gallery, roofed and
+wainscoted with cedar, lined on both sides by ranges of small doors of
+different-coloured Brazil-wood, looking in appearance, at least, as
+solid as marble. Four sacristans, and as many lay-brothers, with large
+lighted flambeaux of yellow wax in their hands, and who, by the by,
+never quitted us more the remainder of our peregrinations, stood silent
+as death, ready to unlock those mysterious entrances.
+
+The first they opened exhibited a buffet, or _credence_, three stories
+high, set out with many a row of grinning skulls, looking as pretty as
+gold and diamonds could make them; the second, every possible and
+impossible variety of odds and ends, culled from the carcasses of
+martyrs; the third, enormous ebony presses, the secrets of which I
+begged for pity's sake might not be intruded upon for my recreation, as
+I began to be heartily wearied of sightseeing; but when my conductors
+opened the fourth mysterious door, I absolutely shrank back, almost
+sickened by a perfume of musk and ambergris.
+
+A spacious vault was now disclosed to me--one noble arch, richly
+panelled: had the pavement of this strange-looking chamber been strewn
+with saffron, I should have thought myself transported to the enchanted
+courser's forbidden stable we read of in the tale of the Three
+Calenders.
+
+The prior, who is not easily pleased, seemed to have suspicions that the
+seriousness of my demeanour was not entirely orthodox; I overheard him
+saying to Roxas, "Shall I show him the Angel's feather? you know we do
+not display this our most-valued, incomparable relic to everybody, nor
+unless upon special occasions."--"The occasion is sufficiently
+special," answered my partial friend; "the letters I brought to you are
+your warrant, and I beseech your reverence to let us look at this gift
+of heaven, which I am extremely anxious myself to adore and venerate."
+
+Forth stalked the prior, and drawing out from a remarkably large cabinet
+an equally capacious sliding shelf--(the source, I conjecture, of the
+potent odour I complained of)--displayed lying stretched out upon a
+quilted silken mattress, the most glorious specimen of plumage ever
+beheld in terrestrial regions--a feather from the wing of the Archangel
+Gabriel, full three feet long, and of a blushing hue more soft and
+delicate than that of the loveliest rose. I longed to ask at what
+precise moment this treasure beyond price had been dropped--whether from
+the air--on the open ground, or within the walls of the humble tenement
+at Nazareth; but I repressed all questions of an indiscreet
+tendency--the why and wherefore, the when and how, for what and to whom
+such a palpable manifestation of archangelic beauty and wingedness had
+been vouchsafed.
+
+We all knelt in silence, and when we rose up after the holy feather had
+been again deposited in its perfumed lurking-place, I fancied the prior
+looked doubly suspicious, and uttered a sort of _humph_ very doggedly;
+nor did his ill-humour evaporate upon my desiring to be conducted to the
+library. "It is too late for you to see the precious books and
+miniatures by daylight," replied the crusty old monk, "and you would not
+surely have me run the risk of dropping wax upon them. No, no, another
+time, another time, when you come earlier. For the present, let us visit
+the tomb of the catholic kings; there, our flambeaux will be of service
+without doing injury."
+
+He led the way through a labyrinth of cloisters, gloomy as the grave;
+till ordering a grated door to be thrown open, the light of our
+flambeaux fell upon a flight of most beautiful marble steps, polished as
+a mirror, leading down between walls of the rarest jaspers to a portal
+of no great size, but enriched with balusters of rich bronze, sculptured
+architraves, and tablets of inscriptions, in a style of the greatest
+magnificence.
+
+As I descended the steps, a gurgling sound, like that of a rivulet,
+caught my ear. "What means this?" said I. "It means," answered the monk,
+"that the sepulchral cave on the left of the stairs, where repose the
+bodies of many of our queens and infantas, is properly ventilated,
+running water being excellent for that purpose." I went on, not lulled
+by these rippling murmurs, but chilled when I reflected through what
+precincts flows this river of death.
+
+Arrived at the bottom of the stairs, we passed through the portal just
+mentioned, and entered a circular saloon, not more than five-and-thirty
+feet in diameter, characterized by extreme elegance, not stern
+solemnity. The regal sarcophagi, rich in golden ornaments, ranged one
+above the other, forming panels of the most decorative kind; the lustre
+of exquisitely sculptured bronze, the pavement of mottled alabaster; in
+short, this graceful dome, covered with scrolls of the most delicate
+foliage, appeared to the eye of my imagination more like a subterranean
+boudoir, prepared by some gallant young magician for the reception of an
+enchanted and enchanting princess, than a temple consecrated to the
+king of terrors.
+
+My conductor's visage growing longer and longer every minute, and
+looking pretty nearly as grim as that of the last-mentioned sovereign, I
+whispered Roxas it was full time to take our leave; which we did
+immediately after my intimating that express desire, to the no small
+satisfaction, I am perfectly convinced, of my lord the prior.
+
+Cold and hungry, for we had not been offered a morsel of refreshment, we
+repaired to a warm opulent-looking habitation belonging to one of my
+kind companion's most particular friends, a much favoured attendant of
+his catholic Majesty's; here we were received with open arms and
+generous hospitality; and it grew pitch dark before we quitted this
+comfortable shelter from the piercing winds, which blow almost
+perpetually over the Escurial, and returned to Madrid.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XII.
+
+     A concert and ball at Senhor Pacheco's.--Curious assemblage in his
+     long pompous gallery.--Deplorable ditty by an eastern
+     dilettante.--A bolero in the most rapturous style.--Boccharini in
+     despair.--Solecisms in dancing.
+
+
+The mules galloped back at so rapid a rate, and their conductors bawled
+and screamed so lustily to encourage their exertions, that half my
+recollections of the Escurial were whirled out of my head before I
+reached my old quarters at the Cruz de Malta. I had quite forgotten,
+amongst other things, that I had actually accepted a most pressing
+invitation to a concert and ball at Pacheco's this very evening.
+
+Pacheco is an old Portuguese, immensely rich, and who had been immensely
+favoured in the days of his youth by his august countrywoman, Queen
+Barbara, the consort of Ferdinand the sixth, and the patroness of
+Farinelli. He is uncle to madame Arriaga, her most Faithful Majesty's
+most faithful and favourite attendant, and a person of such worship,
+that courtiers, ministers, and prelates, are too happy to congregate at
+his house, whenever he takes it into his head to allow them an
+opportunity.
+
+Though I had been half petrified by my cold ramble through the Escurial,
+under the prior's still more chilling auspices, I had quite life enough
+left to obey Pacheco's summons with alacrity; and as I expected to dance
+a great deal, I put on my dancing-dress, that of a maxo, with ties and
+tags, and trimmings and buttons, redecilla and all.
+
+I must confess, however, that I felt rather abashed and disappointed,
+upon entering Pacheco's long pompous gallery, to find myself in the
+midst of diplomatic and ministerial personages, assembled in stiff gala
+to do honour to Achmet Vassif, whose musicians were seated on the carpet
+howling forth a deplorable ditty, composed, as the Armenian interpreter
+informed me, by one of the most impassioned and lovesick dilettantes of
+the east; no strain I ever heard was half so lugubrious, not even that
+of a dog baying the moon, or owls making their complaints to it.
+
+I could not help telling the ambassador, without the smallest
+circumlocution, that his tabor and pipe people I heard the other day
+accompanying a dulcimer, were far more worthy of praise than his vocal
+attendants; but this truth, like most others, did not exactly please;
+and I fear my reputation for musical connoisseurship was completely
+forfeited in his excellency's estimation, for he looked a little glum
+upon the occasion. What surprised me most, after all, was the patience
+with which the whole assembly listened for full three-quarters of an
+hour to these languorous wailings.
+
+Amongst the audience, none bore the severe infliction with a greater
+degree of evangelical resignation than the grand inquisitor and the
+archbishop of Toledo; both these prelates have not only the look, but
+the character of beneficence, which promises a truce to the faggot and
+pitch-barrel; the expression of the archbishop's countenance in
+particular is most engagingly mild and pleasing. He came up to me
+without the least reserve or formality, and taking me by the hand, said
+with a cheerful smile, "I see you are equipped for a dance, and have
+adopted our fashion; we all long to judge whether an Englishman can
+enter (as I hear you can) into the extravagant spirit of our national
+dances. I will speak to Pacheco, and desire him to form a diversion in
+your favour, by calling off these doleful minstrels to the rinfresco
+prepared for them." And so he did, and there was an end of the concert,
+to my infinite joy, and the no less delight of the villa mayors and
+sabbatinis, with whom, without a moment's farther delay, I sprang forth
+in a bolero.
+
+Down came all the Spanish musicians from their formal orchestra, too
+happy to escape its trammels; away went the foreign regulars, taking
+vehement pinches of snuff, with the most unequivocal expressions of
+anger and indignation. A circle was soon formed, a host of guitars put
+in immediate requisition, and never did I hear such wild, extravagant,
+passionate modulations.
+
+Boccharini, who led and presided over the Duchess of Ossuna's concerts,
+and who had been lent to Pacheco as a special favour, witnessed these
+most original deviations from all established musical rule with the
+utmost contempt and dismay. He said to me in a loud whisper, "If _you_
+dance and _they_ play in this ridiculous manner, I shall never be able
+to introduce a decent style into our musical world here, which I
+flattered myself I was on the very point of doing. What possesses you?
+Is it the devil? Who could suppose that a reasonable being, an
+Englishman of all others, would have encouraged these inveterate
+barbarians in such absurdities. There's a chromatic scream! there's a
+passage! We have heard of robbing time; this is murdering it. What!
+again! Why, this is worse than a convulsive hiccup, or the last rattle
+in the throat of a dying malefactor. Give me the Turkish howlings in
+preference; they are not so obtrusive and impudent."
+
+So saying, he moved off with a semi-seria stride, and we danced on with
+redoubled delight and joy. The quicker we moved, the more intrepidly we
+stamped with our feet, the more sonorously we snapped our fingers, the
+better reconciled the sublime Effendi appeared to be with me. He forgot
+my critiques upon his vocal performers: he rose up from his snug
+cushion, and nodded his turbaned head, and expressed his delight, not
+only by word and gesture, but in a most comfortable orientalish sort of
+chuckling. As to the rest of the company, the Spanish part at least,
+they were so much animated, that not less than twenty voices accompanied
+the bolero with its appropriate words in full chorus, and with a glow of
+enthusiasm that inspired my lovely partners and myself with such energy,
+that we outdid all our former outdancings.
+
+"Is it possible," exclaimed an old fandango-fancier of great
+notoriety--"is it possible, that a son of the cold north can have learnt
+all our rapturous flings and stampings?"--"The French never _could_, or
+rather never _would_," observed a Monsieur Gaudin, one of the Duke de la
+V----'s secretaries, who was standing by perfectly astounded.
+
+Who persecute like renegades? who are so virulent against their former
+sect as fresh converts to another? This was partly my case; though my
+dancing and musical education had been strictly orthodox, according to
+the precepts of Mozart and Sacchini, of Vestris and Gardel, I declared
+loudly there was no music but Spanish, no dancing but Spanish, no
+salvation in either art out of the Spanish pale, and that, compared with
+such rapturous melodies, such inspired movements, the rest of Europe
+afforded only examples of dullness and insipidity. I would not allow my
+former instructors a spark of merit; and at the very moment I was
+committing solecisms in good dancing at every step, and stamping and
+piaffing like a courser but half-broken in at a man�ge, I felt and
+looked as firmly persuaded of the truth of my impudent assertions as the
+greatest bigot of his nonsense in some untried new-fangled superstition.
+Success, founded or unfounded, is everything in this world. We too well
+know the sad fate of merit. I am more than apt to conjecture we were but
+very slightly entitled to any applause; yet the transports we called
+forth were as fervid as those the famous Le Pique excited at Naples in
+the zenith of his popularity.
+
+The British and American ministers, who were standing by the whole time,
+enjoyed this amusing proof of Spanish fanaticism, in its profane mood,
+with all the zest of intelligent and shrewd observers. Pisani, the
+Venetian ambassador, inclined decidedly to the southern side of the
+question. He was bound, heart and soul, by a variety of silken ties to
+the Spanish interest, and had almost forgotten the fascinations of
+Venice in those of Andalusia. Consequently I had his vote in my favour.
+Not so that of the Duchess of Ossuna, Boccharini's patroness. She said
+to me in the plainest language, "You are making the greatest fool of
+yourself I ever beheld; and as to those riotous self-taught hoydens,
+your partners, I tell you what, they are scarcely worthy to figure in
+the third rank at a second-rate theatre. Come along with me, and I will
+present you to my mother, the Countess of Benevente, who gives a very
+different sort of education to the charming young women she admits to
+her court."
+
+I had heard of this court and its delectabilities, and at the same time
+been informed that its throne was a faro-table, to which the initiated
+were imperatively expected to become tributaries. The sovereign, old
+Benevente, is the most determined hag of her rout-giving, card-playing
+species in Europe, of the highest birth, the highest consequence, and
+the principal disposer, by long habit and old cortejo-ship, of Florida
+Blanca's good graces.
+
+Notwithstanding the severe regulations against gambling societies, most
+severely enforced at Madrid; notwithstanding the prime minister's
+morality, and the still higher morality of his royal master, this great
+lady's aberrations of every kind are most complaisantly winked at; she
+is allowed not only to set up under her own princely roof a refuge for
+the desolate, in the most delicate style of Spanish refinement, for the
+kind purpose of enchanting all persons sufficiently favoured by fortune
+to merit admission to her parties, by every blandishment and
+languishment the most seductive eyes of Seville and Cadiz she had
+collected together could throw around them; but so sure as the hour of
+midnight arrived, and Florida Blanca (who never fails paying his devoirs
+to the countess every evening) had made his retiring bow, so sure a
+confidential party of illuminati, of unsleeping partners in the
+gambling-line, made their appearance, heavily laden with well-stored
+caskets.
+
+Now came the tug of play, and hope, and fear in all their thrilling and
+throbbing alternations; but, to say truth, I was so completely jaded and
+worn-out that I partook of neither, and was too happy, after losing
+almost unconsciously a few dobras, to be allowed to retire; old
+Benevente calling out to me, with the croak of a vulture scenting its
+prey from afar, _Cavallero Inglez, a ma�ana a la misma hora_.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIII.
+
+     Palace of Madrid.--Masterly productions of the great Italian,
+     Spanish, and Flemish painters.--The King's sleeping
+     apartment.--Musical clocks.--Feathered favourites.--Picture of the
+     Madonna del Spasimo.--Interview with Don Gabriel and the
+     Infanta.--Her Royal Highness's affecting recollections of
+     home.--Head-quarters of Masserano.--Exhibition of national manners
+     there.
+
+
+Monday, 24th Dec. 1787.
+
+I shall have the megrims for want of exercise, like my friend Achmet
+Vassif, if I don't alter my way of life. This morning I only took a
+listless saunter in the Prado, and returned early to dinner, with a very
+slight provision of fresh air in my lungs. Roxas was with me, hurrying
+me out of all appetite that I might see the palace by daylight; and so
+to the palace we went, and it was luckily a bright ruddy afternoon, the
+sun gilding a grand confusion of mountainous clouds, and chequering the
+wild extent of country between Madrid and the Escurial with powerful
+effects of light and shade.
+
+I cannot praise the front of the palace very warmly. In the centre of
+the edifice starts up a whimsical sort of turret, with gilt bells, the
+vilest ornament that could possibly have been imagined. The interior
+court is of pure and classic architecture, and the great staircase so
+spacious and well-contrived that you arrive almost imperceptibly at the
+portal of the guard-chamber. Every door-case and window recess of this
+magnificent edifice gleams with the richest polished marbles: the
+immense and fortress-like thickness of the walls, and double panes of
+the strongest glass, exclude the keen blasts which range almost
+uninterrupted over the wide plains of Castile, and preserve an admirable
+temperature throughout the whole extent of these royal rooms, the
+grandeur, and at the same time comfort, of which cannot possibly be
+exceeded.
+
+The king, the prince of Asturias, and the chief part of their
+attendants, were all absent hunting in the park of the Escurial; but the
+reposteros, or curtain-drawers of the palace, having received particular
+orders for my admittance, I enjoyed the entire liberty of wandering
+about unrestrained and unmolested. Roxas having left me to join a gay
+party of the royal body-guard in Masserano's apartments, I remained in
+total solitude, surrounded by the pure unsullied works of the great
+Italian, Spanish, and Flemish painters, fresh as the flowers of a
+parterre in early morning, and many of them as beautiful in point of
+hues.
+
+Not a door being closed, I penetrated through the chamber of the throne
+even into the old king's sleeping-apartment, which, unlike the dormitory
+of most of his subjects, is remarkable for extreme neatness. A book of
+pious orisons, with engravings by Spanish artists, and containing,
+amongst other prayers in different languages, one adapted to the
+exclusive use of majesty, _Regi solo proprius_, was lying on his
+praying-desk; and at the head of the richly-canopied, but uncurtained
+bed, I noticed with much delight an enamelled tablet by Mengs,
+representing the infant Saviour appearing to Saint Anthony of Padua.
+
+In this room, as in all the others I passed through, without any
+exception, stood cages of gilded wire, of different forms and sizes,
+and in every cage a curious exotic bird, in full song, each trying to
+out-sing his neighbour. Mingled with these warblings was heard at
+certain intervals the low chime of musical clocks, stealing upon the ear
+like the tones of harmonic glasses. No other sound broke in any degree
+the general stillness, except, indeed, the almost inaudible footsteps of
+several aged domestics, in court-dresses of the cut and fashion
+prevalent in the days of the king's mother, Elizabeth Farnese, gliding
+along quietly and cautiously to open the cages, and offer their inmates
+such dainties as highly-educated birds are taught to relish. Much
+fluttering and cowering down ensued in consequence of these attentions,
+and much rubbing of bills and scratching of poles on my part, as well as
+on that of the smiling old gentlemen.
+
+As soon as the ceremony of pampering these feathered favourites had been
+most affectionately performed, I availed myself of the light reflected
+from a clear sun-set to examine the pictures, chiefly of a religious
+cast, with which these stately apartments are tapestried; particularly
+the Madonna del Spasimo, that vivid representation of the blessed
+Virgin's maternal agony, when her divine son, fainting under the
+burthen of the cross, approached to ascend the mount of torture, and
+complete the awful mystery of redemption. Raphael never attained in any
+other of his works such solemn depth of colour, such majesty of
+character, as in this triumph of his art. "Never was sorrow like unto
+the sorrow" he has depicted in the Virgin's countenance and attitude;
+never was the expression of a sublime and God-like calm in the midst of
+acute suffering conveyed more closely home to the human heart than in
+the face of Christ.
+
+I stood fixed in the contemplation of this holy vision--for such I
+almost fancied it to be--till the approaching shadows of night had
+overspread every recess of these vast apartments: still I kept intensely
+gazing upon the picture. I knew it was time to retire,--still I gazed
+on. I was aware that Roxas had been long expecting me in Masserano's
+apartments,--still I could not snatch myself away; the Virgin mother
+with her outstretched arms still haunted me. The song of the birds had
+ceased, as well as the soft diapason of the self-playing organs;--all
+was hushed, all tranquil. I departed at length with the languid
+unwillingness of an enthusiast exhausted by the intensity of his
+feelings and loth to arouse himself from the bosom of grateful
+illusions.
+
+Just as I reached the portal of the great stairs, whom should I meet but
+Noronha advancing towards me with a hurried step. "Where are you going
+so fast?" said he to me, "and where have you been staying so long? I
+have been sending repeatedly after you to no purpose; you must come with
+me immediately to the Infanta and Don Gabriel, they want to ask you a
+thousand questions about the Ajuda: the letters you brought them from
+Marialva, and the archbishop in particular, have, I suppose, inspired
+that wish; and as royal wishes, you know, cannot be too speedily
+gratified, you must kiss their hands this very evening. I am to be your
+introductor."--"What!" said I, "in this unceremonious dress?"--"Yes,"
+said the ambassador, "I have heard that you are not a pattern of
+correctness in these matters." I wished to have been one in this
+instance. At this particular moment I was in no trim exteriorly or
+interiorly for courtly introductions. I thought of nothing but birds and
+pictures, and had much rather have been presented to a cockatoo than to
+the greatest monarch in Christendom.
+
+However, I put on the best face I was able, and we proceeded together
+very placidly to that part of the palace assigned to Don Gabriel and his
+blooming bride. The doors of a coved ante-chamber flew open, and after
+passing through an enfilade of saloons peopled with ladies-in-waiting
+and pages, (some mere children,) we entered a lofty chamber hung with
+white satin, formed into compartments by a rich embroidery of gold and
+colours, and illuminated by a lustre of rock crystal.
+
+At the farther extremity of the apartment, stood the Infant Don Gabriel,
+leaning against a table covered with velvet, on which I observed a case
+of large golden antique medals he was in the very act of contemplating:
+the Infanta was seated near. She rose up most graciously to hold out a
+beautiful hand, which I kissed with unfeigned fervour: her countenance
+is most prepossessing; the same florid complexion, handsome features,
+and open exhilarating smile which distinguishes her brother the Prince
+of Brazil.
+
+"Ah," said her royal highness with great earnestness, "you have then
+lately seen my dear mother, and walked perhaps in the little garden I
+was so fond of; did you notice the fine flowers that grow there?
+particularly the blue carnation; we have not such flowers at Madrid;
+this climate is not like that of Portugal, nor are our views so
+pleasant; I miss the azure Tagus, and your ships continually sailing up
+it; but when you write to your friend Marialva and the archbishop, tell
+them, I possess what no other prospect upon earth can equal, the smiles
+of an adored husband."
+
+The Infant now approached towards me with a look of courteous benignity
+that reminded me strongly of the Bourbons, nor could I trace in his
+frank kindly manner the least leaven of Austrian hauteur or Spanish
+starchness. After inquiring somewhat facetiously how the Duke d'Alafoens
+and the Portuguese academicians proceeded on their road to the temple of
+fame, he asked me whether our universities continued to be the favoured
+abode of classical attainments, and if the books they printed were as
+correct and as handsome now as in the days of the Stuarts; adding that
+his private collection contained some copies which had formerly
+belonged to the celebrated Count of Oxford. This was far too good an
+opportunity of putting in a word to the praise and glory of his own
+famous translation of Sallust, to be neglected; so I expressed
+everything he could have wished to hear upon the subject.
+
+"You are very good," observed his royal highness; "but to tell you the
+truth, it was hard work for me. I began it, and so I went on, and lost
+many a day's wholesome exercise in our parks and forests: however, such
+as it is, I performed my task without any assistance, though you may
+perhaps have heard the contrary."
+
+It was now Noronha's turn to begin complimenting, which he did with all
+the high court mellifluence of an accredited family ambassador: whether,
+indeed, the Infant received as gospel all the fine things that were said
+to him I won't answer, but he looked even kinder and more gracious than
+at our first entrance. The Infanta recurred again and again to the
+subject of the Ajuda, and appeared so visibly affected that she awakened
+all my sympathies; for I, too, had left those behind me on the banks of
+the Tagus for whom I felt a fond and indelible regard. As we were
+making our retiring bows, I saw tears gathering in her eyes, whilst she
+kept gracefully waving her hand to bid us a happy night.
+
+The impressions I received from this interview were not of a nature to
+allow my enjoying with much vivaciousness the next scene to which I was
+transported--the head-quarters of Masserano, whom I found in unusually
+high spirits surrounded by a train of gay young officers, rapping out
+the rankest Castilian oaths, quaffing their flowing cups of champagne
+and val de pe�as, and playing off upon each other, not exactly the most
+decorous specimens of practical wit.
+
+Roxas looked rather abashed at so unrefined an exhibition of national
+manners: Noronha had taken good care to keep aloof, and I regretted not
+having followed his example.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XIV.
+
+     A German Visionary.--Remarkable conversation with him.--History of
+     a Ghost-seer.
+
+
+It is not at every corner of life that we stumble upon an intrinsically
+singular character: to-day however, at Noronha's, I fell in with a Saxon
+count,[27] who justly answers to that description. This man is not only
+thoroughly imbued with the theoretical mysticism of the German school,
+but has most firmly persuaded himself, and hundreds besides, that he
+holds converse with the souls of the departed. Though most impressive
+and even extravagant upon this subject, when started, he proves himself
+a man of singular judgment upon most others, is a good geometrician, an
+able chymist, a mineralogist of no ordinary proficiency, and has made
+discoveries in the art of smelting metals, which have been turned
+already to useful purpose. Yet nothing can beat out of this cool
+reflective head, that magical operations may be performed to evident
+effect, and the devil most positively evocated.
+
+I thought, at first sight, there was a something uncouth and ghostly in
+his appearance, that promised strange communications; he has a careworn
+look, a countenance often convulsed with apparently painful twitches,
+and a lofty skull, set off with bristling hair, powdered as white as
+Caucasus.
+
+Notwithstanding I by no means courted his acquaintance, he was resolved
+to make up to me, and dissipate by the smoothest address he could
+assume, any prejudices his uncommon cast of features might have
+inspired. Drawing his chair close to mine, whilst Noronha and his party
+were busily engaged at voltarete, he tried to allure my attention by
+throwing out hints of the wonders within reach of a person born under
+the smile of certain constellations: that I was the person he meant to
+insinuate, I have little doubt. Having heard that fortune had conferred
+upon me some few of her golden gifts, he thought, perhaps, that I might
+be _fused_ to advantage, like any other lump of the precious metals. Be
+his motives what they may, he certainly took as many pains to wind
+himself into my good opinion as if I had actually been the prime
+favourite of a planet, or a distant cousin by some diabolical
+intermarriage, in the style of one of the Plantagenet matches, of old
+Beelzebub himself.
+
+After a good deal of conversation upon different subjects, chiefly of a
+sombrous nature, happening to ask him if he had known Schr�ffer, the
+most renowned ghost-seer in all Germany,--"Intimately well," was his
+reply; "a bold young man, not so free, alas! from sensual taint as the
+awful career he had engaged in demanded,--he rushed upon danger
+unprepared, at an unhallowed moment--his fate was terrible. I passed a
+week with him not six months before he disappeared in the frightful
+manner you have heard of; it was a week of mental toil and suffering, of
+fasts and privations of various natures, and of sights sufficiently
+appalling to drive back the whole current of the blood from the heart.
+It was at this period that, returning one dark and stormy night from
+trying experiments upon living animals, more excruciating than any the
+keenest anatomist ever perpetrated, I found lying upon my chair, coiled
+up in a circle like the symbol of eternity, an enormous snake of a
+deadly lead colour; it neither hissed nor moved for several minutes:
+during this pause, whilst I remained aghast looking full upon it, a
+voice more like the whisper of trees than any sound of human utterance,
+articulated certain words, which I have retained, and used to powerful
+effect in moments of peril and extreme urgency."
+
+I shall not easily forget the strange inquisitive look he gave me whilst
+making this still stranger communication; he saw my curiosity was
+excited, and flattered himself he had made upon me the impression he
+meditated; but when I asked, with the tone of careless levity, what
+became of the snake on the cushion, after the voice had ceased, he shook
+his white locks somewhat angrily, and croaked forth with a formidable
+German accent, "Ask no more--ask no more--you are not in a disposition
+at present sufficiently pure and serious to comprehend what I _might_
+disclose. Ask no more."--For this time at least I most implicitly obeyed
+him.
+
+Promising to call upon me and continue our conversation any day or hour
+I might choose to appoint, he glided off so imperceptibly, that had I
+been a little more persuaded of the possibility of supernatural
+occurrences, I might have believed he had actually vanished. "A good
+riddance," said Noronha; "I don't half like that man, nor can I make out
+why Florida Blanca is so gracious to him."--"I rather suspect he is a
+spy upon us all," observed the Sardinian ambassadress, who made one of
+the voltarete party; "and though he guessed right about the winning card
+last night at the Countess of Benevente's, I am determined not to invite
+him to dinner again in a hurry."
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XV.
+
+     Madame Bendicho.--Unsuccessful search on the Prado.--Kauffman, an
+     infidel in the German style.--Mass in the chapel of the
+     Virgin.--The Duchess of Alba's villa.--Destruction by a young
+     French artist of the paintings of Rubens.--French ambassador's
+     ball.--Heir-apparent of the house of Medina Celi.
+
+
+Sunday, Jan. 13th.
+
+Kauffman[28] accompanied me to the Prado this morning, where we met
+Madame Bendicho and her faithful Expilly, (a famous tactician in war or
+peace,) who told me that somebody I thought particularly interesting was
+not far off. This intelligence imparted to me such animation, that
+Kauffman was obliged to take long strides to equal my pace. I traversed
+the whole Prado without meeting the object of my pursuit, and found
+myself almost unconsciously in the court before the ugly front of the
+church of Atocha. A tide of devotees carried us into the chapel of the
+Virgin, which is hung round with trophies, and ex-voto's, legs, arms,
+and fingers, in wax and plaster.
+
+Kauffman is three parts an infidel in the German style, but I advised
+him to kneel with something like Castilian solemnity, and hear out a
+mass which was none of the shortest, the priest being old, and much
+given to the wiping and adjusting of spectacles, a pair of which,
+uncommonly large and lustrous, I thought he would never have succeeded
+in fitting to his nose.
+
+We happened to kneel under the shade of some banners which the British
+lion was simple enough to let slip out of his paws during the last war.
+The colours of fort St. Philip dangled immediately above my head.
+Amongst the crowd of Our Lady's worshippers I espied one of the gayest
+of my ball-room acquaintances, the young Duke of Arion, looking like a
+strayed sheep, and smiting his breast most piteously.
+
+A tiresome salve regina being ended, I measured back my steps to the
+Prado, and at length discovered the person of all others I wished most
+to see, strictly guarded by mamma. I accompanied them to their door,
+and returned loiteringly and lingeringly home, where I found Infantado,
+who had been waiting for me above half an hour. With him I rode out on
+the Toledo road to see a pompous bridge, or rather viaduct; for the
+river it spans, even in this season, is scarcely copious enough to turn
+the model of a mill-wheel, much less the reality.
+
+From this spot we went to a villa lately purchased by the Duchess of
+Alba, and which, I was told, Rubens had once inhabited. True enough, we
+found a conceited young French artist in the arabesque and cupid line,
+busily employed in pouncing out the last memorials in this spot of that
+great painter; reminiscences of favourite pictures he had thrown off in
+fresco, upon what appeared a rich crimson damask ground. Yes, I
+witnessed this vandalish operation, and saw large flakes of stucco
+imprinted with the touches of Rubens fall upon the floor, and heard the
+wretch who was perpetrating the irreparable act sing, "Veillons mes
+soeurs, veillons encorrre," with a strong Parisian accent, all the
+while he was slashing away.
+
+My sweet temper was so much ruffled by this spectacle, that I begged to
+be excused any further excursion, and returned home to dress and
+compose myself, while Infantado went back to his palace. I soon joined
+him, having been invited to dine with his right virtuous and estimable
+papa. Thank heaven the rage for Frenchified decoration has not yet
+reached this plain but princely abode, which remains in noble Castilian
+simplicity, with all its famed pictures untouched and uncontaminated.
+
+As soon as the old duke had retired to his evening's devotions, we
+hurried to the French ambassador's ball, where I met fewer saints than
+sinners, and saw nothing particularly edifying, except the semi-royal
+race of the Medina Celis dancing "high and disposedly." Cogolhudo, the
+heir-apparent of this great house, is a good-natured, busy personage,
+but his illustrious consort, who has been recently appointed to the
+important office of Camerara mayor, or mistress of the robes to the
+image of Our Lady of La Soledad, is a great deal less kindly and
+affable.[29]
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVI.
+
+     Visit from the Turkish Ambassador.--Stroll to the gardens of the
+     Buen Retiro.--Troop of ostriches.--Madame d'Aranda.--State of
+     Cortejo-ism.--Powers of drapery.--Madame d'Aranda's
+     toilet.--Assembly at the house of Madame Badaan.--Cortejos off
+     duty.--Blaze of beauty.--A curious group.--A dance.
+
+
+Sunday, 23rd.
+
+Every morning I have the pleasure of supplying the Grand Signior's
+representative with rolls and brioche, baked at home for my breakfast;
+and this very day he came himself in one of the king's lumbering state
+coaches, with some of his special favourites, to thank me for these
+piping hot attentions. We had a great deal of conversation about the
+marvels of London, though he seemed stoutly convinced that in every
+respect Islembul exceeded it ten times over.
+
+As soon as he moved off, I strolled to the gardens of the Buen Retiro,
+which contains neither statues nor fountains worth describing. They
+cover a vast extent of sandy ground, in which there is no prevailing
+upon anything vegetable or animal to thrive, except ostriches, a troop
+of which were striding about in high spirits, apparently as much at home
+as in their own native parched-up deserts.
+
+Roxas dined with us, and we went together in the evening to the French
+ambassador's, the Duke de la V****. His daughter, a fine young woman of
+eighteen or nineteen, is married to the Prince de L****, a smart
+stripling, who has scarcely entered his fifteenth year; the ambassador
+is no trifling proficient in political intrigue, no common-place twister
+and turner in the paths of diplomacy, looks about him with calm and
+polished indifference, though full of hazardous schemes and projects;
+ever in secret ferment, and a Jesuit to the heart's core. I could not
+help noticing his quiet, observing eye--the still eye of a serpent lying
+perdue in a cave. In his address and manners he is quite a model of
+high-bred ease, without the slightest tincture of pedantry or
+affectation.
+
+Madame la Duchesse is a great deal fonder of fine phrases, which she
+does not always reserve for grand occasions. Their son, the Prince de
+C***, amused me beyond bounds with his lightning-like flashes of wit and
+merriment, at the expense of Madrid and its tertullias. Upon the whole,
+I like this family very much, and ardently wish they may like me.
+
+I could not stay with them so long as I desired, Roxas having promised
+to present me to Madame d'Aranda, whose devoted friend and _cortejo_ he
+has the consummate pleasure to be. Happy the man who has the good
+fortune of being attached by such delicious, though not quite strictly
+sacred ties, to so charming a little creature; but in general the state
+of cortejo-ism is far from enviable. You are the sworn victim of all the
+lady's caprices, and can never move out of the rustle of her black silk
+petticoats, or beyond the wave of her fan, without especial permission,
+less frequently granted with complacence than refused with asperity. I
+imagine she has very good-naturedly given him leave of absence to show
+me about this royal village, or else I should think he would hardly
+venture to spare me so much of his company.
+
+We found her sitting _en famille_ with her sister, and two young boys
+her brothers, over a silver brazier in a snug interior apartment hung
+with a bright valencia satin. She showed me the most pleasing marks of
+civility and attention, and ordered her own apartments to be lighted up,
+that I might see its magnificent furniture to advantage. The bed, of the
+richest blue velvet trimmed with point lace, is beautifully shaped, and
+placed in a spacious and deep recess hung round with an immense
+profusion of ample curtains.
+
+I wonder architects and fitters up of apartments do not avail themselves
+more frequently of the powers of drapery. Nothing produces so grand and
+at the same time so comfortable an effect. The moment I have an
+opportunity I will set about constructing a tabernacle, larger than the
+one I arranged at Ramalha�, and indulge myself in every variety of plait
+and fold that can possibly be invented.
+
+Madame d'Aranda's toilet, designed by Moite the sculptor and executed by
+Auguste, is by far the most exquisite _chef-d'oeuvre_ of the kind I
+ever saw. Poor thing! she has every exterior delight the pomps and
+vanities of the world can give; but she is married to a man old enough
+to be her grandfather, and looks as pale and drooping as a narcissus or
+lily of the valley would appear if stuck in Abraham's bosom, and
+continually breathed upon by that venerable patriarch.
+
+After passing a delightful hour in what appeared to me an ethereal sort
+of fairy-land, we went to a far more earthly abode, that of a Madame
+Badaan, who is so obliging as to give immense assemblies once or twice a
+week, in rather confined apartments. This small, but convenient
+habitation, is no idle or unimportant resort for cortejos off duty, or
+in search of novel adventures. Several of these disbanded worthies were
+lounging about in the mean time, quite lackadaisically. There was a
+blaze of beauty in every corner of the room, sufficient to enchant those
+the least given to being enchanted; and there frisked the two little
+Sabatinis, half Spanish, half Italian, sporting their neatly turned
+ankles; and there sat Madame de Villamayor in all her pride, and her
+daughters so full of promise; and the Marchioness of Santa Cruz, with
+her dark hair and blue eyes, in all her loveliness. How delighted my
+friend, the Effendi, must have been upon entering such a paradise, which
+he soon did after we arrived there, followed by his Armenian
+interpreter, whom I like better than the Greek, Timoni, with his prying,
+squirrelish look, and malicious propensities.
+
+The ambassador found me out almost immediately, and taking me to an
+angle of the apartment, where a well-cushioned divan had been prepared
+for his lollification, made me sit down by him whether I would or not.
+We were just settled, when a bevy of young tits dressed out in a
+fantastic, blowzy style, with sparkling eyes and streaming ribbons, drew
+their chairs round us, and began talking a strange lingua-franca,
+composed of three or four different languages. We must have formed a
+curious group; I was declaiming and gesticulating with all my might,
+reciting scraps of Hafiz and Mesihi, whilst the ladies, none of the
+tallest, who were seated on low chairs, kept perking up their pretty
+little inquisitive faces in the very beard of the stately Moslem, whose
+solemn demeanour formed an amusing contrast to their giddy vivacity.
+
+Madame Badaan and her spouse, the very best people in the world, and the
+readiest to afford their company all possible varieties of
+accommodation, sent for the most famous band of musicians Madrid could
+boast of, and proposed a dance for the entertainment of his bearded
+excellency. Accordingly, thirteen or fourteen couples started, and
+boleroed and fandangoed away upon a thick carpet for an hour or two,
+without intermission. There are scarcely any boarded floors in Madrid,
+so the custom of dancing upon rugs is universally established.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVII.
+
+     Valley of Aranjuez.--The island garden.--The palace.--Strange
+     medley of pictures.--Oratories of the King and the
+     Queen.--Destruction of a grand apartment painted in fresco by
+     Mengs.--Boundless freedom of conduct in the present
+     reign.--Decoration of the Duchess of Ossuna's house.--Apathy
+     pervading the whole Iberian peninsula.
+
+
+Tuesday, December 1st, 1795.
+
+It was on a clear bright morning (scarce any frost) that we left a
+wretched place called Villatoba, falling into ruins like almost all the
+towns and villages I have seen in Spain. The sky was so transparent, so
+pearly, and the sunbeams so fresh and reviving, that the country
+appeared pleasant in spite of its flatness and aridity. Every tree has
+been cut down, and all chance of their being replaced precluded by the
+wandering flocks of sheep, goats and swine, which rout, and grout, and
+nibble uncontrolled and unmolested.
+
+At length, after a tedious drive through vast tracts of desolate
+country, scarce a house, scarce a shrub, scarce a human being to meet
+with, we descended a rapid declivity, and I once more found myself in
+the valley of Aranjuez. The avenues of poplar and plane have shot up to
+a striking elevation since I saw them last. The planes on the banks of
+the Tagus incline most respectfully towards its waters; they are
+vigorously luxuriant, although planted only seven years ago, as the
+gardener informed me.
+
+Charles the Fifth's elms in the island-garden close to the palace are
+decaying apace. I visited the nine venerable stumps close to a hideous
+brick-ruin; the largest measures forty or fifty feet in girth; the roots
+are picturesquely fantastic. The fountains, like the shades in which
+they are embowered, are rapidly going to decay: the bronze Venus, at the
+fountain which takes its name from Don John of Austria, has lost her
+arm.
+
+Notwithstanding the dreariness of the season with all its accompaniment
+of dry leaves and faded herbage, this historic garden had still charms;
+the air was mild, and the sunbeams played on the Tagus, and many a bird
+flitted from spray to spray. Several long alleys of the loftiest elms,
+their huge rough trunks mantled with ivy, and their grotesque roots
+advancing and receding like grotto-work into the walk, struck me as
+singularly pleasing.
+
+The palace has not been long completed; the additions made by Charles
+the Third agree not ill with the original edifice. It is a comfortable,
+though not a magnificent abode; walls thick, windows cheerfully glazed
+in two panels, neat low chimney-pieces in many of the apartments; few
+traces of the days of the Philips; scarce any furniture that bespeak an
+ancient family. A flimsy modern style, half Italian, half French,
+prevails. Even the pictures are, in point of subjects, preservation,
+originality, and masters, as strangely jumbled together as in the
+dominions of an auctioneer. This may be accounted for by their being
+collected indiscriminately by the present King, whilst prince of
+Asturias. Amongst innumerable trash, I noticed a Crucifixion by Mengs;
+not overburthened with expression, but finely coloured; the back-ground
+and sky most gloomily portentous, and producing a grand effect of light
+and shade. The interior of a gothic church, by Peter Neef, so fine, so
+clear, so silvery in point of tint, as to reconcile me, (for the moment,
+at least,) to this harsh, stiff master; the figures exquisite, the
+preservation perfect; no varnish, no retouches.
+
+A set of twelve small cabinet pictures, touched with admirable spirit by
+Teniers, the subjects taken from the Gierusalemme Liberata, treated as
+familiarly as if the boozy painter had been still copying his
+pot-companions. Armida's palace is a little round summer-house; she
+herself, habited like a burgher's frouw in her holiday garments, holds a
+Nuremberg-shaped looking-glass up to the broad vulgar face of a boorish
+Rinaldo. The fair Naiads, comfortably fat, and most invitingly smirkish,
+are naked to be sure, but a pile of furbelowed garments and farthingales
+is ostentatiously displayed on the bank of the water; close by a small
+table covered with a neat white tablecloth, and garnished with silver
+tankards, cold pie, and salvers of custard and jellies. All these vulgar
+accessories are finished with scrupulous delicacy.
+
+Several oratories open into the royal apartments. One set apart for the
+Queen is adorned with a very costly, and at the same time beautiful
+altar, rich, simple, and majestic; not an ornament is lavished in vain.
+Two Corinthian columns of a most beautiful purple and white marble,
+sustain a pediment, as highly polished and as richly mottled as any
+agate I ever beheld; the capitals are bronze splendidly gilt, so is the
+foliage of the consoles supporting the slab which forms the altar. The
+design, the materials, the workmanship, are all Spanish, and do the
+nation credit.
+
+The king's oratory is much larger, and not ill-designed; the proportion
+is good, about twenty-six by twenty-two, and twenty-four high, besides a
+solemn recess for the altar. The walls entirely covered with
+fresco-painting; saints, prophets, clouds, and angels, in grand
+confusion. The sides of the arch, and all the frame of the altar-piece,
+are profusely and solidly gilt. A plinth of jasper, and a skirting about
+three feet high, of a light-grey marble, streaked with black, not unlike
+the capricious ramifications on mocho-stones, and polished as a mirror,
+is continued round the room, so that nothing meets the eye but the rich
+gleam of gold, painting, and marble, all blended together in one
+glowing tint. The pavement, too, of different Spanish marbles, is a
+_chef-d'oeuvre_ of workmanship. I particularly admired the soft
+ivory-hue of the white marble, but my conductor allowed it little merit
+when compared with that of Italy: I think him mistaken in this remark,
+and heartily wish him so in many others.
+
+This conductor, an old snuffling domestic of the late king, was rather
+forward in making his remarks upon times present. A sort of Piedmontese
+in my train, I believe the master of the fonda where I lodge, pointing
+to a _manege_ now building, asked for whom it was designed, the King or
+the Duke d'Alcudia? "For both, no doubt," was the answer; "what serves
+one serves the other." In the royal tribune, I was informed, with a
+woful shrug, that the King, thank God! continued to be exact and fervent
+in his devotions; never missing mass a single day, and frequently
+spending considerable time in mental prayer; but that the Queen was
+scandalously remiss, and seldom appeared in the chapels, except when
+some slender remains of etiquette render her presence indispensable.
+
+The chapel, repaired after designs of Sabbatini, an old Italian
+architect, much in favour with Charles the Third, has merit, and is
+remarkable for the just distribution of light, which produces a solemn
+religious effect. The three altars are noble, and their paintings good.
+One in particular, on the right, dedicated to St. Anthony, immediately
+attracted my attention by the effulgence of glory amidst which the
+infant Jesus is descending to caress the kneeling saint, whose attitude,
+and youthful, enthusiastic countenance, have great expression. The
+colouring is warm and harmonious; Maella is the painter.
+
+I inquired after a remarkable room in this palace, called in the plan
+_Salon de los Funciones_, and vulgarly _el Coliseo_. The ceiling was
+painted by Mengs, and esteemed one of his capital works: here Ferdinand
+and Barbara, the most musical of sovereigns, used to melt in ecstasies
+at the soft warblings of Farinelli and Egiziello--but, alas! the scene
+of their amusements, like themselves and their warblers, is no more.
+Not later than last summer, this grand theatrical apartment was divided
+into a suite of shabby, bandboxical rooms for the accommodation of the
+Infant of Parma. No mercy was shown to the beautiful roof. In some
+places, legs and folds of drapery are still visible; but the workmen are
+hammering and plastering at a great rate, and in a few days whitewash
+will cover all.
+
+Coming out of the palace, and observing how deserted and melancholy the
+walks, garden, and avenues appeared, I was told, that in a few weeks a
+total change would take place, for the court was expected on the 6th of
+January, to remain six months, and that every pleasure followed in its
+train. Shoals of gamblers, and ladies of easy virtue of all ranks, ages,
+and descriptions. Every barrier which Charles the Third, of chaste and
+pious memory, attempted to oppose to the wanton inclinations of his
+subjects, has been broken down in the present reign; boundless freedom
+of conduct prevails, and the most disgusting debauchery riots in these
+lovely groves, which deserve to be set apart for elegant and rural
+pleasures.
+
+In my walks I passed a huge edifice lately built for the favourite
+Alcudia. Common report accuses it of being more magnificently furnished
+than the royal residence; but as I did not enter it, I shall content
+myself with noting down, that it boasts nineteen windows in front, and a
+plain Tuscan portal with handsome granite pillars. Adjoining is a house
+belonging to the Duchess of Ossuna, full of workmen, painters, and
+stuccadors: a goggle-eyed Milanese, most fiercely conceited, is daubing
+the walls with all his might and main. He is an architect too, at least
+I have his word for it, and claims the merit, a great one as he
+believes, of having designed a sort of ball-room, with many a festoon
+and Bohemian glass-chandelier and coarse arabesque. The floor is
+bricked, upon which thick mats or carpets are spread when dancing is
+going forward.
+
+I was in hopes this tiresome custom of thumping mats and rugs with the
+feet, to the brisk airs of boleros and fandangos, was exploded. No music
+is more inspiring than the Spanish; what a pity they refuse themselves
+the joy of rising a foot or two into the air at every step, by the help
+of elastic boards.
+
+Next to this sort of a ball-room is a sort of an oval boudoir, and then
+a sort of an octagon; all bad sorts of their kind. This confounded
+painter is covering the oval with landscapes, not half so harmonious or
+spirited as those which figure on Birmingham snuff-boxes or tea-boards.
+He has a terrible partiality to blues and greens of the crudest tints.
+Such colours affect my eyes as disagreeably as certain sounds my teeth,
+when set on edge. I pity the Duchess of Ossuna, whose liberal desire of
+encouraging the arts deserves better artists. In music she has been more
+fortunate: Boccharini directed her band when I was last at Madrid; and I
+remember with what transport she heard and applauded the Galli, to whom
+she sent one morning a present of the most expensive trinkets,
+carelessly heaped up upon a magnificent salver of massive silver, two or
+three feet in diameter.
+
+The day closed as I was wandering about the Duchess's mansion, surprised
+at the slovenly neglect of the furniture, not an article of which has
+been moved out of the reach of dust, scaffoldings, the exhalations of
+paint, and the still more pestilential exhalation of garlick-eating
+workmen. Universal apathy and indifference to everything seems to
+pervade the whole Iberian peninsula. If not caring what you eat or what
+you drink is a virtue, so far the evangelical precept is obeyed. So it
+is in Portugal, and so it is in Spain, and so it looks likely to be
+world without end: to which, let the rest of Europe say amen; for were
+these countries to open their long-closed eyes, cast off their trammels,
+and rouse themselves to industry, they would soon surpass their
+neighbours in wealth and population.
+
+
+
+
+LETTER XVIII.
+
+     Explore the extremities of the Calle de la Reyna.--Destructive rage
+     for improvement.--Loveliness of the valley of
+     Aranjuez.--Undisturbed happiness of the animals
+     there.--Degeneration of the race of grandees.--A royal cook.
+
+
+Wednesday, Dec. 2nd, 1795.
+
+It was near eleven before a thick fog, which had arisen from the groves
+and waters of Aranjuez, dispersed. I took advantage of a bright sunshine
+to issue forth on horseback, and explore the extremities of the Calle de
+la Reyna. Most of the ancient elms which compose this noble avenue, are
+dead-topped, many have lost their flourishing heads since I was last
+here, but on every side innumerable plantations of oak, elm, poplar, and
+plane, are springing up in all the vigour and luxuriance of youth. I was
+sorry to see many, very many acres of unmeaning shrubbery, serpentine
+walks, and clumps of paltry flowers, encroaching upon the wild thickets
+upon the banks of the Tagus.
+
+The King, the Queen, the favourite, are bitten by the rage of what they
+fancy to be improvement, and are levelling ground, and smoothing banks,
+and building rock-work, with pagodas and Chinese-railing. The laburnums,
+weeping-willows, and flowering shrubs, which I admired so much seven
+years ago in all their native luxuriance, are beginning to be trimmed
+and tortured into what the gardener calls genteel shapes. Even the
+course of the Tagus has been thwarted, and part of its waters diverted
+into a broad ditch in order to form an island; flat, swampy, and dotted
+over with exotic shrubs, to make room for which many a venerable arbele
+and poplar has been laid low.
+
+Hard by stands a large brick mansion, just erected, in the dullest and
+commonest Spanish taste, very improperly called Casa del Labrador. It
+has nothing rural about it, not even a hen-roost or a hog-sty; but the
+kitchen is snug and commodious, and to this his Catholic Majesty often
+resorts, and cooks with his own royal hands, and for his own royal
+self, creadillas, (alias lamb's fry,) garlick-omelets, and other savoury
+messes, in the national style.
+
+Nothing delights the good-natured monarch so much as a pretence for
+descending into low life, and creeping out of the sight of his court,
+his council, and his people; therefore Madrid is almost totally
+abandoned by him, and many capricious buildings are starting up in every
+secluded corner of the royal parks and gardens. This last is the ugliest
+and most unmeaning of all. I recollect being pleased with the casinos he
+built whilst Prince of Asturias, at the Escurial and the Pardo. His
+present advisers, in matters of taste, are inferior even to those who
+direct his political movements; and the workmen, who obey the first,
+still more unskilful and bungling than the generals, admirals, and
+engineers, who carry the plans of the latter into execution.
+
+If they would but let Aranjuez alone, I should not care. Nature has
+lavished her charms most bountifully on this valley; the wild hills
+which close it in, though barren, are picturesquely-shaped; the Tagus
+here winds along in the boldest manner, overhung by crooked willows and
+lofty arbeles; now losing itself in almost impervious thickets, now
+under-mining steep banks, laying rocks bare, and forming irregular coves
+and recesses; now flowing smoothly through vast tracts of low shrubs,
+aspens, and tamarisks; in one spot edged by the most delicate
+greensward, in another by beds of mint and a thousand other fragrant
+herbs. I saw numerous herds of deer bounding along in full enjoyment of
+pasture and liberty; droves of horses, many of a soft cream-colour, were
+frisking about under some gigantic alders; and I counted one hundred and
+eighty cows, of a most remarkable size, in a green meadow, ruminating in
+peace and plenty.
+
+The animal creation at Aranjuez seem, undoubtedly, to enjoy all the
+blessings of an excellent government. The breed is peculiarly attended
+to, and no pains or expense spared, to procure the finest bulls from
+every quarter. Cows more beautifully dappled, more comfortably sleek, I
+never beheld.
+
+If the race of grandees could, by judicious crossing, be sustained as
+successfully, Spain would not have to lament her present scurvy,
+ill-favoured generation of nobility. Should they be suffered to dwindle
+much longer, and accumulate estates and diseases by eternal
+intermarriages in the same family, I expect to see them on all-fours
+before the next century is much advanced in its course. These little
+men, however, are not without some sparks of a lofty, resolute spirit;
+very few, indeed, have bowed the knee to the Baal of the present hour,
+to the image which the King has set up. A train of eager, hungry
+dependants, picked out of inferior and foreign classes, form the company
+of the Duke of Alcudia. Notwithstanding his lofty titles, unbounded
+wealth, solid power, and dazzling magnificence, he is treated by the
+first class with silent contempt and passive indifference. They read the
+tale of his illustrious descent with the same sneering incredulity, as
+the patents and decrees which enumerate the services he has done the
+state. Few instances, perhaps, are upon record, of a more steady,
+persevering contempt of an object in actual power, stamped with every
+ornament royal favour can devise to give it credit, value, and currency.
+
+A thousand interesting reflections arising from this subject crowded my
+mind as I rode home through the stately and now deserted alleys of
+Aranjuez. The weather was growing chill, and the withered leaves began
+to rustle. I was glad to take refuge by a blazing fire. Money, which
+procures almost everything, had not failed to seduce the best salads and
+apples from the royal gardens, admirable butter and good game; so I
+feasted royally, though I dare say I should have done more so, in the
+most extensive sense of the word, could some supernatural power or
+Frenchified revolution have procured me the royal cook. His Majesty, I
+am assured, by those I am far from suspecting of flattery, has real
+talents for this most useful profession.
+
+The comfortable listlessness which had crept over me was too pleasant to
+be shaken off, and I remained snug by my fireside the whole evening.
+
+THE END.
+
+LONDON: PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY, Dorset Street, Fleet Street.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
+
+headach and indisposition=> headache and indisposition {pg v1 185}
+
+so wan and singugular=> so wan and singular {pg v1 201}
+
+into some inchanted cave=> into some enchanted cave {pg v1 231}
+
+suprising variety of other plants=> surprising variety of other plants
+{pg v1 351}
+
+The shubberies and garden=> The shrubberies and garden {pg v2 182}
+
+ton at present in this court=> tone at present in this court {pg v2 240}
+
+statu quo=> status quo {pg v2 243}
+
+Nuestra Senora=> Nuestra Se�ora {pg v2 286}
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] This crucifix was made of the bronze which had formed the statue of
+the terrible Duke of Alva, swept in its first form from the citadel
+where it was proudly stationed, in a moment of popular fury.
+
+[2] The History of John Bull explains this ridiculous appellation.
+
+[3] Hills in the neighbourhood of Canton.
+
+[4] Apuleius Met: Lib. 5.
+
+    Vehementer iterum ac s�pius beatos illos qui
+    Super gemmas et monilia calcant!
+
+
+[5] Sch�nberg, beautiful mountain.
+
+[6] Ariosto Orlando Furioso.--_Canto 7, stanza 32._
+
+[7] A nephew of Bertoni, the celebrated composer.
+
+[8] This excellent and highly cultivated woman died at Naples in August
+1782. Had she lived to a later period her example and influence might
+probably have gone great lengths towards arresting that tide of
+corruption and profligacy which swept off this ill-fated court to
+Sicily, and threatened its total destruction.
+
+[9] Mem. pour la Vie de Petrarque, vol. i. p. 439.
+
+[10] The Piscina mirabilis.
+
+[11] See Letter VII.
+
+[12] See Miss Williams's poems.
+
+[13] Since Marquis of Abrantes.
+
+[14] Writers of travels are sadly given to exaggeration. The author of
+the Tableau du Lisbonne writes, "Il est dix heures, une foule de P. de
+Ch. s'avance," &c. From such an account one would suppose the whole line
+of houses in motion. No such thing. At intervals, to be sure, some
+accidents of this sort, more or less, slily occur; but by no means in so
+general and evident a manner.
+
+[15] These affecting tones seem to have made a lasting impression indeed
+upon the heart of a young man, one of the principal clerks in the
+Secretary of State's office; he was all admiration, all ardour, his
+divinity all indifference. After a long period of unavailing courtship,
+the poor lover, driven to absolute despair, made a donation of all he
+was worth in the world to the object of his adoration, and threw himself
+into the Tagus. Providentially he was fished out and brought home, pale
+and almost inanimate. Such a spectacle, accompanied by so vivid a proof
+of unlimited passion, had its effect. The lady relented, they were
+united, and are as happy at this day, I believe, as the recollection of
+so narrow an escape, and its cause, can make them.
+
+[16] An old English housekeeper.
+
+[17] For no light specimen of these atrocities, see Southey's Letters
+from Spain and Portugal.
+
+[18] Don Joa� da Valperra.
+
+[19] At the time I wrote this, half Lisbon believed in the individuality
+of the holy crows, and the other half prudently concealed their
+scepticism.
+
+[20] Don Jos�, elder brother of the late king, John VI.
+
+[21] Dryden.
+
+[22] The royal chapel of the Ajuda, though somewhat fallen from the
+unequalled splendour it boasted during the sing-song days of the late
+king, Don Joseph, still displayed some of the finest specimens of vocal
+manufacture which Italy could furnish. It possessed, at the same time,
+Carlo Reina, Ferracuti, Totti, Fedelino, Ripa, Gelati, Venanzio,
+Biagino, and Marini--all these _virtuosi_, with names ending in vowels,
+were either _contraltos_ of the softest note, or _sopranos_ of the
+highest squeakery.
+
+[23] Now Marquis of Tancos.
+
+[24] About the period of the present king's accession, several ladies of
+this description had bounced into the peerage; but as they did not walk
+at the coronation, somebody observed, it was odd enough that the
+peeresses best accustomed to a free use of their limbs, declined
+stirring a step upon this occasion. Horace Walpole mentions this bon mot
+in some of his letters; I forget to whom he attributes it.
+
+[25] The personage in question paid dearly for having listened to evil
+counsellors and exciting the suspicions of the church. In about a
+twelvemonth after this conversation, the small pox, not attended to so
+skilfully as it might have been, was suffered to carry him off, and
+reduced his imperious widow to a mere cipher in the politics of a court
+she had begun very successfully to agitate. To this period the cruel
+distress of the queen's mind may be traced. The conflict between
+maternal tenderness and what she thought political duty, may be supposed
+with much greater probability to have produced her fatal derangement,
+than all the scruples respecting the Aveiro and Tavoura confiscations
+which the fanatical, interested priest, who succeeded my excellent
+friend, excited.
+
+[26] A well-known wily diplomatist, afterwards ambassador at
+Constantinople.
+
+[27] He resided afterwards at Paris in a diplomatic character, and is
+supposed to have been implicated in some of the least amiable events of
+the revolution. A mysterious passage in the first volume of Soulavie's
+Memoirs is said to refer to him. He was particularly intimate with
+citizen Egalit�.
+
+[28] A nephew of the famous Angelica, and no indifferent painter
+himself.
+
+[29] I have seen a beautiful portrait, engraved by Selma, of this image,
+and dedicated in due form to its first lady of the dressing-room,
+Marchioness of Cogolhudo, Duchess of San Est�van, &c.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Italy; with sketches of Spain and
+Portugal, by William Beckford
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Italy; with sketches of Spain and Portugal, by 
+William Beckford
+
+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/license
+
+
+Title: Italy; with sketches of Spain and Portugal
+
+Author: William Beckford
+
+Release Date: October 23, 2012 [EBook #41150]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ITALY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was
+produced from scanned images of public domain material
+from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""
+style="border:1px solid gray;padding:2%;text-align:center;
+margin-right:auto;margin-left:auto;max-width:40em;">
+<tr><td>Transcriber’s note: This etext, which includes the two
+volumes, attempts to replicate the printed book as
+closely as possible. Obvious errors in spelling and punctuation have
+been corrected. <a href="#transc">A list follows the etext.</a> The archaic spelling of words used by
+the author (chesnuts, befel, visiters, cotemporary, woful, etc.) has not been corrected or modernized by the etext
+transcriber. Footnotes have been moved to the end of the text body.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="338" height="550" alt="image of the book&#39;s cover" title="" />
+</p>
+
+<table border="2" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" summary="">
+<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CONTENTS-1"><b>Contents, Volume I</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CONTENTS-2"><b>Contents, Volume II</b></a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<h1>ITALY;<br />
+<small>WITH SKETCHES OF</small><br /><br />
+SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.<br />&nbsp;</h1>
+
+<p class="cb">BY THE AUTHOR OF “VATHEK.”<br /><br /><br />
+THIRD EDITION.<br /><br />
+IN TWO VOLUMES.<br /><br />
+VOL. I.<br /><br /><br /><br />
+LONDON:<br />
+RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,<br />
+<span class="eng">Publisher in Ordinary to His Majesty.</span><br />
+1835.</p>
+
+<h2>ADVERTISEMENT.</h2>
+
+<p>S<small>OME</small> justly admired Authors having condescended to glean a few stray
+thoughts from these Letters, which have remained dormant a great many
+years; I have been at length emboldened to lay them before the public.
+Perhaps, as they happen to contain passages which persons of
+acknowledged taste have honoured with their notice, they may possibly be
+less unworthy of emerging from the shade into daylight than I imagined.</p>
+
+<p>Most of these Letters were written in the bloom and heyday of youthful
+spirits and youthful confidence, at a period when the old order of
+things existed with all its picturesque pomps and absurdities; when
+Venice enjoyed her piombi and submarine dungeons; France her bastile;
+the Peninsula her holy Inquisition. To look back upon what is beginning
+to appear almost a fabulous era in the eyes of the modern children of
+light, is not unamusing or uninstructive; for, still better to
+appreciate the present, we should be led not unfrequently to recall the
+intellectual muzziness of the past.</p>
+
+<p>But happily these pages are not crowded with such records: they are
+chiefly filled with delineations of landscape and those effects of
+natural phenomena which it is not in the power of revolutions or
+constitutions to alter or destroy.</p>
+
+<p>A few moments snatched from the contemplation of political crimes,
+bloodshed, and treachery, are a few moments gained to all lovers of
+innocent illusion. Nor need the statesman or the scholar despise the
+occasional relaxation of light reading. When Jupiter and the great
+deities are represented by Homer as retiring from scenes of havoc and
+carnage to visit the blameless and quiet Ethiopians, who were the
+farthest removed of all nations, the Lord knows whither, at the very
+extremities of the ocean,&mdash;would they have given ear to manifestos or
+protocols? No, they would much rather have listened to the Tales of
+Mother Goose.</p>
+
+<p>London, June 12th, 1834.</p>
+
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS-1" id="CONTENTS-1"></a>CONTENTS<br /><br />
+OF<br /><br />
+THE FIRST VOLUME.</h2>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""
+style="border:none;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;max-width:30em;">
+
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><big><a href="#THE_LOW_COUNTRIES">THE LOW COUNTRIES AND GERMANY.</a></big></th></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_I-low">LETTER I.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Passage to Ostend.&mdash;The Capuchin church.&mdash;Ghent.&mdash;Quiet
+and Content, the presiding deities of Flanders.&mdash;Antwerp.&mdash;The
+Place de Meir.&mdash;Silence and solitude of
+the town, contrasted with the tumult and uproar of London.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>3</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_II-low">LETTER II.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Visit to the cabinets of pictures in Antwerp.&mdash;Monsieur
+Van Lencren’s collection.&mdash;The Canon Knyff’s house and
+gallery of paintings.&mdash;The Canon himself.&mdash;His domestic
+felicity.&mdash;Revisit the cathedral.&mdash;Grand service in honour of
+Saint John the Baptist.&mdash;Mynheer Van den Bosch, the organist’s
+astonishing flashes of execution.&mdash;Evening service
+in the cathedral.&mdash;Magical effect of the music of Jomelli.&mdash;Blighted
+avenues.&mdash;Slow travelling.&mdash;Enter the United
+Provinces.&mdash;Level scenery.&mdash;Chinese prospects.&mdash;Reach
+Meerdyke.&mdash;Arrival at the Hague.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>14</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_III-low">LETTER III.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>The Prince of Orange’s cabinet of paintings.&mdash;Temptation
+of St. Anthony, by Breughel.&mdash;Exquisite pictures by
+Berghem and Wouvermans.&mdash;Mean garrets stored with inestimable
+productions of the Indies.&mdash;Enamelled flasks of
+oriental essences.&mdash;Vision of the wardrobe of Hecuba.&mdash;Disenchantment.&mdash;Cabinet
+of natural history.&mdash;A day dream.&mdash;A
+delicious morsel.&mdash;Dinner at Sir Joseph Yorke’s.&mdash;Two
+honourable boobies.&mdash;The Great Wood.&mdash;Parterres
+of the Greffier Fagel.&mdash;Air poisoned by the sluggish canals.&mdash;Fishy
+locality of Dutch banquetting rooms.&mdash;Derivation
+of the inhabitants of Holland.&mdash;Origin and use of enormous
+galligaskins.&mdash;Escape from damp alleys and lazy waters.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>24</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_IV-low">LETTER IV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Leave the Hague.&mdash;Leyden.&mdash;Wood near Haerlem.&mdash;Waddling
+fishermen.&mdash;Enter the town.&mdash;The great fair.&mdash;Riot
+and uproar.&mdash;Confusion of tongues.&mdash;Mine hostess.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>32</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_V-low">LETTER V.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Amsterdam.&mdash;The road to Utrecht&mdash;Country-houses and
+gardens.&mdash;Neat enclosures.&mdash;Comfortable parties.&mdash;Ladies
+and Lapdogs.&mdash;Arrival at Utrecht.&mdash;Moravian establishment&mdash;The
+woods.&mdash;Shops.&mdash;Celestial love.&mdash;Musical
+Sempstresses.&mdash;Return to Utrecht.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>35</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_VI-low">LETTER VI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Arrival at Aix-la-Chapelle.&mdash;Glimpse of a dingy grove.&mdash;Melancholy
+saunterers.&mdash;Dusseldorf Gallery.&mdash;Nocturnal
+depredators.&mdash;Arrival at Cologne.&mdash;Shrine of the Three
+Wise Sovereigns.&mdash;Peregrinations of their beatified bones.&mdash;Road
+to Bonn.&mdash;Delights of Catholicism.&mdash;Azure mountains.&mdash;Visionary
+palaces.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>39</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_VII-low">LETTER VII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Borders of the Rhine.&mdash;Richly picturesque road from Bonn
+to Andernach.&mdash;Scheme for a floating village.&mdash;Coblentz.&mdash;A
+winding valley.&mdash;The river Lahn.&mdash;Ems.&mdash;The planet.&mdash;A
+supposed Apparition.&mdash;A little sequestered Paradise.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>47</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_VIII-low">LETTER VIII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Inveterate Idlers.&mdash;The planet Orloff and his satellites.&mdash;A
+Storm.&mdash;Scared women.&mdash;A dreary Forest.&mdash;Village
+of Wiesbaden.&mdash;Manheim.&mdash;Ulm.&mdash;The Danube&mdash;unlimited
+plains on its margin.&mdash;Augsburg.&mdash;Sketch of the
+Town.&mdash;Pomposities of the Town House.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>53</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_IX-low">LETTER IX.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Extensive woods of fir in Bavaria.&mdash;Grand Fair at
+Munich.&mdash;The Elector’s country palace.&mdash;Court Ladies.&mdash;Fountains.&mdash;Costume.&mdash;Garden
+and tea-room.&mdash;Hoydening
+festivities there.&mdash;The Palace and Chapel.&mdash;Gorgeous riches
+of the latter.&mdash;St. Peter’s thumb.&mdash;The Elector’s collection
+of pictures.&mdash;The Churches.&mdash;Hubbub and confusion
+of the Fair.&mdash;Wild tract of country.&mdash;Village of Wolfrathshausen.&mdash;Perpetual
+forests.&mdash;A Tempest.&mdash;A night
+at a cottage.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>63</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_X-low">LETTER X.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Mittenwald.&mdash;Mountain chapels.&mdash;Saint Anna’s young
+and fair worshippers.&mdash;Road to Inspruck.&mdash;Maximilian’s
+tomb.&mdash;Vast range of prospects.&mdash;A mountain torrent.&mdash;Schönberg.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>73</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XI-low">LETTER XI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Steinach.&mdash;Its torrent and gloomy strait.&mdash;Achievements
+of Industry.&mdash;A sleepy Region.&mdash;Beautiful country round
+Brixen.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>84</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><big><a href="#ITALY">ITALY.</a></big></th></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_I-italy">LETTER I.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Bolsano.&mdash;Indications of approaching Italy.&mdash;Fire-flies.&mdash;Appearance
+of the Peasantry.&mdash;A forest Lake.&mdash;Arrive
+at Borgo di Volsugano.&mdash;Prospect of Hills in the Venetian
+State.&mdash;Gorgeous Flies.&mdash;Fortress of Covalo.&mdash;Leave the
+country of crags and precipices and enter the territory
+of the Bassanese.&mdash;Groves of olives and vines.&mdash;Classic appearance
+of Bassano.&mdash;Happy groups.&mdash;Pachierotti, the
+celebrated singer.&mdash;Anecdote of him.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>89</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_II-italy">LETTER II.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Villa of Mosolente.&mdash;The route to Venice.&mdash;First view
+of that city.&mdash;Striking prospect from the Leon Bianco.&mdash;Morning
+scene on the grand canal.&mdash;Church of Santa
+Maria della Salute.&mdash;Interesting group of stately buildings.&mdash;Convent
+of St. Giorgio Maggiore.&mdash;The Redentore&mdash;Island
+of the Carthusians.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>97</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_III-italy">LETTER III.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Church of St. Mark.&mdash;The Piazza.&mdash;Magnificent festivals
+formerly celebrated there.&mdash;Stately architecture of Sansovino.&mdash;The
+Campanile.&mdash;The Loggetta.&mdash;The Ducal Palace.&mdash;Colossal
+Statues.&mdash;Giants’ Stairs.&mdash;Fit of enthusiasm.&mdash;Evening-scene
+in the great Square.&mdash;Venetian
+intrigue.&mdash;Confusion of languages.&mdash;Madame de Rosenberg.&mdash;Character
+of the Venetians.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>111</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_IV-italy">LETTER IV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Excessive heat.&mdash;The Devil and Senegal.&mdash;A dreary
+shore.&mdash;Scene of the Doge’s nuptials with the sea.&mdash;Return
+to the Place of St. Mark.&mdash;Swarm of Lawyers.&mdash;Receptacles
+for anonymous accusations.&mdash;The Council of Ten.&mdash;Terrible
+punishments of its victims.&mdash;Statue of Neptune.&mdash;Fatal
+Waters.&mdash;Bridge of Sighs.&mdash;The Fondamenti Nuovi.&mdash;Conservatory
+of the Mendicanti.&mdash;An Oratorio.&mdash;Profound
+attention of the Audience.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>123</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_V-italy">LETTER V.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>M. de Villoison and his attendant Laplander.&mdash;Drawings
+of ancient Venetian costume in one of the Gradanigo palaces.&mdash;Titian’s
+master-piece in the church of San Giovanni
+e Paolo.&mdash;The distant Euganean hills.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>132</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_VI-italy">LETTER VI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Isles of Burano, Torcello, and Mazorbo.&mdash;The once populous
+city of Altina.&mdash;An excursion.&mdash;Effects of our music
+on the inhabitants of the Islands.&mdash;Solitary fields infested
+by serpents.&mdash;Remains of ancient sculpture.&mdash;Antique and
+fantastic ornaments of the Cathedral of Torcello.&mdash;San Lorenzo’s
+chair.&mdash;Dine in a Convent.&mdash;The Nuns.&mdash;Oratorio
+of Sisera.&mdash;Remarks on the music.&mdash;Singing of the Marchetti.&mdash;A
+female orchestra.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>137</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_VII-italy">LETTER VII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Coast of Fusina.&mdash;The Brenta.&mdash;A Village of Palaces.&mdash;Fiesso.&mdash;Exquisite
+singing of the Galuzzi.&mdash;Marietta
+Cornaro.&mdash;Scenes of enchantment and fascination.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>145</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_VIII-italy">LETTER VIII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Reveries.&mdash;Walls of Padua.&mdash;Confused Pile dedicated to
+Saint Anthony.&mdash;Devotion at his Shrine.&mdash;Penitential
+Worshippers.&mdash;Magnificent Altar.&mdash;Sculpture of Sansovino.&mdash;Colossal
+Chamber like Noah’s Ark.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>149</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_IX-italy">LETTER IX.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Church of St. Justina.&mdash;Tombs of remote antiquity.&mdash;Ridiculous
+attitudes of rheumatic devotees.&mdash;Turini’s music.&mdash;Another
+excursion to Fiesso.&mdash;Journey to the Euganean
+hills.&mdash;Newly discovered ruins.&mdash;High Mass in the great
+Church of Saint Anthony.&mdash;A thunder-storm.&mdash;Palladio’s
+Theatre at Vicenza.&mdash;Verona.&mdash;An aërial chamber.&mdash;Striking
+prospect from it.&mdash;The amphitheatre.&mdash;Its interior.&mdash;Leave
+Verona.&mdash;Country between that town and
+Mantua.&mdash;German soldiers.&mdash;Remains of the palace of the
+Gonzagas.&mdash;Paintings of Julio Romano.&mdash;A ruined garden.&mdash;Subterranean
+apartments.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>153</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_X-italy">LETTER X.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Cross the Po.&mdash;A woody country.&mdash;The Vintage.&mdash;Reggio.&mdash;Ridge
+of the Apennines.&mdash;Romantic ideas connected
+with those mountains.&mdash;Arrive at Modena.&mdash;Road to
+Bologna.&mdash;Magnificent Convent of Madonna del Monte.&mdash;Natural
+and political commotions in Bologna.&mdash;Proceed towards
+the mountains.&mdash;Dreary prospects.&mdash;The scenery
+improves.&mdash;Herds of goats.&mdash;A run with them.&mdash;Return
+to the carriage.&mdash;Wretched hamlet.&mdash;Miserable repast.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>166</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XI-italy">LETTER XI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>A sterile region.&mdash;Our descent into a milder landscape.&mdash;Distant
+view of Florence.&mdash;Moonlight effect.&mdash;Visit the
+Gallery.&mdash;Relics of ancient credulity.&mdash;Paintings.&mdash;A
+Medusa’s head by Leonardo da Vinci.&mdash;Curious picture
+by Polemberg.&mdash;The Venus de Medicis.&mdash;Exquisitely
+sculptured figure of Morpheus.&mdash;Vast Cathedral.&mdash;Garden
+of Boboli.&mdash;Views from different parts of it.&mdash;Its resemblance
+to an antique Roman garden.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>173</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XII-italy">LETTER XII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Rambles among the hills.&mdash;Excursions with Pacchierotti.&mdash;He
+catches cold in the mountains.&mdash;The whole Republic is
+in commotion, and send a deputation to remonstrate with
+the Singer on his imprudence.&mdash;The Conte Nobili.&mdash;Hill
+scenery.&mdash;Princely Castle and Gardens of the Garzoni
+Family.&mdash;Colossal Statue of Fame.&mdash;Grove of Ilex.&mdash;Endless
+bowers of Vines.&mdash;Delightful Wood of the Marchese
+Mansi.&mdash;Return to Lucca.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>186</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XIII-italy">LETTER XIII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Set out for Pisa.&mdash;The Duomo.&mdash;Interior of the Cathedral.&mdash;The
+Campo Santo.&mdash;Solitude of the streets at midday.&mdash;Proceed
+to Leghorn.&mdash;Beauty of the road.&mdash;Tower of
+the Fanale.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>198</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XIV-italy">LETTER XIV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>The Mole at Leghorn.&mdash;Coast scattered over with Watch-towers.&mdash;Branches
+of rare coral unexpectedly acquired.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>200</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XV-italy">LETTER XV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Florence again.&mdash;Palazzo Vecchio.&mdash;View on the Arno.&mdash;Sculptures
+by Cellini and John of Bologna.&mdash;Contempt
+shown by the Austrians to the memory of the House of
+Medici.&mdash;Evening visit to the Garden of Boboli.&mdash;The
+Opera.&mdash;Miserable Singing.&mdash;A Neapolitan Duchess.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>203</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XVI-italy">LETTER XVI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Detained at Florence by reports of the Malaria at Rome.&mdash;Ascend
+one of the hills celebrated by Dante.&mdash;View from
+its brow.&mdash;Chapel designed by Michael Angelo.&mdash;Birth of
+a Princess.&mdash;The christening.&mdash;Another evening visit to
+the woods of Boboli.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>209</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XVII-italy">LETTER XVII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Pilgrimage to Valombrosa.&mdash;Rocky Steeps.&mdash;Groves of
+Pine.&mdash;Vast Amphitheatre of Lawns and Meadows.&mdash;Reception
+at the Convent.&mdash;Wild Glens where the Hermit
+Gualbertus had his Cell.&mdash;Conversation with the holy
+Fathers.&mdash;Legendary Tales.&mdash;The consecrated Cleft.&mdash;The
+Romitorio.&mdash;Extensive View of the Val d’Arno.&mdash;Return
+to Florence.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>214</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XVIII-italy">LETTER XVIII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Cathedral at Sienna.&mdash;A vaulted Chamber.&mdash;Leave Sienna.&mdash;Mountains
+round Radicofani.&mdash;Hunting Palace of the
+Grand Dukes.&mdash;A grim fraternity of Cats.&mdash;Dreary Apartment.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>224</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XIX-italy">LETTER XIX.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Leave the gloomy precincts of Radicofani and enter the
+Papal territory.&mdash;Country near Aquapendente.&mdash;Shores of
+the Lake of Bolsena.&mdash;Forest of Oaks.&mdash;Ascend Monte
+Fiascone.&mdash;Inhabited Caverns.&mdash;Viterbo.&mdash;Anticipations
+of Rome.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>228</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XX-italy">LETTER XX.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Set out in the dark.&mdash;The Lago di Vico.&mdash;View of the
+spacious plains where the Romans reared their seat of empire.&mdash;Ancient
+splendour.&mdash;Present silence and desolation.&mdash;Shepherd
+huts.&mdash;Wretched policy of the Papal Government.&mdash;Distant
+view of Rome.&mdash;Sensations on entering the City.&mdash;The
+Pope returning from Vespers.&mdash;St. Peter’s Colonnade.&mdash;Interior
+of the Church.&mdash;Reveries.&mdash;A visionary
+scheme.&mdash;The Pantheon.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>230</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXI-italy">LETTER XXI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Leave Rome for Naples.&mdash;Scenery in the vicinity of Rome.&mdash;Albano.&mdash;Malaria.&mdash;Veletri.&mdash;Classical
+associations.&mdash;The
+Circean Promontory.&mdash;Terracina.&mdash;Ruined Palace.&mdash;Mountain
+Groves.&mdash;Rock of Circe.&mdash;The Appian Way.&mdash;Arrive
+at Mola di Gaeta.&mdash;Beautiful prospect.&mdash;A Deluge.&mdash;Enter
+Naples by night, during a fearful Storm.&mdash;Clear
+Morning.&mdash;View from my window.&mdash;Courtly Mob at the
+Palace.&mdash;The Presence Chamber.&mdash;The King and his Courtiers.&mdash;Party
+at the House of Sir W. H.&mdash;Grand Illumination
+at the Theatre of St. Carlo.&mdash;Marchesi.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>240</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXII-italy">LETTER XXII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>View of the coast of Posilipo.&mdash;Virgil’s tomb.&mdash;Superstition
+of the Neapolitans with respect to Virgil.&mdash;Aërial
+situation.&mdash;A grand scene.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>253</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXIII-italy">LETTER XXIII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>A ramble on the shore of Baii.&mdash;Local traditions.&mdash;Cross
+the bay.&mdash;Fragments of a temple dedicated to Hercules.&mdash;Wondrous
+reservoir constructed for the fleet of Nero.&mdash;The
+Dead Lake.&mdash;Wild scene.&mdash;Beautiful meadow.&mdash;Uncouth
+rocks.&mdash;An unfathomable gulph.&mdash;Sadness induced
+by the wild appearance of the place.&mdash;Conversation
+with a recluse.&mdash;Her fearful narration.&mdash;Melancholy
+evening.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>258</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXIV-italy">LETTER XXIV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>The Tyrol Mountains.&mdash;Intense cold.&mdash;Delight on beholding
+human habitations.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>280</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><big><a href="#SECOND_VISIT_TO_ITALY">SECOND VISIT TO ITALY.</a></big></th></tr>
+
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_I-italy2">LETTER I.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>First day of summer.&mdash;A dismal plain.&mdash;Gloomy entrance
+to Cologne.&mdash;Labyrinth of hideous edifices.&mdash;Hotel of Der
+Heilige Geist.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>285</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_II-italy2">LETTER II.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Enter the Tyrol.&mdash;Picturesque scenery.&mdash;Village of Nasseriet.&mdash;World
+of boughs.&mdash;Forest huts.&mdash;Floral abundance.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>288</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_III-italy2">LETTER III.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Rapidity of our drive along the causeways of the Brenta.&mdash;Shore
+of Fusina.&mdash;A stormy sky.&mdash;Draw near to Venice.&mdash;Its
+deserted appearance.&mdash;Visit to Madame de R.&mdash;Cesarotti.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>290</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_IV-italy2">LETTER IV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Excursion to Mirabello.&mdash;Beauty of the road thither.&mdash;Madame
+de R.’s wild-looking niece.&mdash;A comfortable
+Monk’s nest.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>294</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_V-italy2">LETTER V.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Rome.&mdash;Strole to the Coliseo and the Palatine Mount.&mdash;A
+grand Rinfresco.&mdash;The Egyptian Lionesses.&mdash;Illuminations.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>297</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_VI-italy2">LETTER VI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>The Negroni Garden.&mdash;Its solitary and antique appearance.&mdash;Stately
+Porticos of the Lateran.&mdash;Dreary Scene.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>299</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_VII-italy2">LETTER VII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Naples.&mdash;Portici.&mdash;The King’s Pagliaro and Garden.&mdash;Description
+of that pleasant spot.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>302</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><big><a href="#GRANDE_CHARTREUSE">GRANDE CHARTREUSE.</a></big></th></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_I-grch">LETTER I.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Determination to visit the Grande Chartreuse.&mdash;Reach the
+Village of Les Echelles.&mdash;Gloomy region.&mdash;The Torrent.&mdash;Entrance
+of the Desert.&mdash;Portal of the consecrated Enclosure.&mdash;Dark
+Woods and Caverns.&mdash;Crosses.&mdash;Inscriptions.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>307</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_II-grch">LETTER II.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Thick forest of beech-trees.&mdash;Fearful glimpses of the torrent.&mdash;Throne
+of Moses.&mdash;Lofty bridge.&mdash;Distant view of
+the Convent.&mdash;Profound calm.&mdash;Enter the convent gate.&mdash;Arched
+aisle.&mdash;Welcomed by the father Coadjutor.&mdash;The
+Secretary and Procurator.&mdash;Conversation with them.&mdash;A
+walk amongst the cloisters and galleries.&mdash;Pictures of different
+Convents of the order.&mdash;Grand Hall adorned with
+historical paintings of St. Bruno’s life.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>314</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_III-grch">LETTER III.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Cloisters of extraordinary dimensions.&mdash;Cells of the
+Monks.&mdash;Severity of the order.&mdash;Death-like calm.&mdash;The
+great Chapel.&mdash;Its interior.&mdash;Marvellous events relating to
+St. Bruno.&mdash;Retire to my cell.&mdash;Strange writings of St.
+Bruno.&mdash;Sketch of his Life.&mdash;Appalling occurrence.&mdash;Vision
+of the Bishop of Grenoble.&mdash;First institution of the Carthusian
+order.&mdash;Death of St. Bruno.&mdash;His translation.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>324</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_IV-grch">LETTER IV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Mystic discourse.&mdash;A mountain ramble.&mdash;A benevolent
+Hermit.&mdash;Red light in the northern sky.&mdash;Lose my way in
+the solitary hills.&mdash;Approach of night.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>335</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_V-grch">LETTER V.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Pastoral scenery of Valombré.&mdash;Ascent of the highest
+Peak in the Desert.&mdash;Grand amphitheatre of Mountains.&mdash;Farewell
+benediction of the Fathers.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>342</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><big><a href="#SALEVE">SALEVE.</a></big></th></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_I-sal">LETTER I.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Revisit the trees on the summit of Saleve.&mdash;Pas d’Echelle.&mdash;Moneti.&mdash;Bird’s-eye
+prospects.&mdash;Alpine flowers.&mdash;Extensive
+view from the summit of Saleve.&mdash;Youthful enthusiasm.&mdash;Sad
+realities.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>357</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_II-sal">LETTER II.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Chalet under the Beech-trees.&mdash;A mountain Bridge.&mdash;Solemnity
+of the night.&mdash;The Comedie.&mdash;Relaxation of
+Genevese Morality.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>366</p></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p><a name="page_vol_1_001" id="page_vol_1_001"></a></p>
+
+<h2><a name="THE_LOW_COUNTRIES" id="THE_LOW_COUNTRIES"></a>THE LOW COUNTRIES<br /><br />
+AND<br /><br />
+GERMANY.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_I-low" id="LETTER_I-low"></a>LETTER I.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Passage to Ostend.&mdash;The Capuchin church.&mdash;Ghent.&mdash;Quiet and
+Content, the presiding deities of Flanders.&mdash;Antwerp.&mdash;The Place de
+Meir.&mdash;Silence and solitude of the town, contrasted with the tumult
+and uproar of London.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Ostend, 21st June, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>W<small>E</small> had a rough passage, and arrived at this imperial haven in a piteous
+condition. Notwithstanding its renown and importance, it is but a scurvy
+place&mdash;preposterous Flemish roofs disgust your eyes when cast
+upwards&mdash;swaggering Dutch skippers and mongrel smugglers are the
+principal objects they meet with below; and then the whole atmosphere is
+impregnated with the<a name="page_vol_1_004" id="page_vol_1_004"></a> fumes of tobacco, burnt peat, and garlick. I
+should esteem myself in luck, were the nuisances of this seaport
+confined only to two senses; but, alas! the apartment above my head
+proves a squalling brattery, and the sounds which proceed from it are so
+loud and frequent, that a person might think himself in limbo, without
+any extravagance.</p>
+
+<p>In hope of some relief, I went to the Capuchin church, a large solemn
+building, in search of silence and solitude; but here again was I
+disappointed. There happened to be an exposition of the holy wafer with
+ten thousand candles; and whilst half-a-dozen squeaking fiddles fugued
+and flourished away in the galleries, and as many paralytic monks
+gabbled before the altars, a whole posse of devotees, in long white
+hoods and flannels, were sweltering on either side.</p>
+
+<p>This papal piety, in warm weather, was no very fragrant circumstance; so
+I sought the open air again as fast as I was able. The serenity of the
+evening&mdash;for the black huddle of clouds, which the late storms had
+accumulated, were all melted away&mdash;tempted me to the ramparts. There, at
+least, thought I to myself, I may range<a name="page_vol_1_005" id="page_vol_1_005"></a> undisturbed, and talk with my
+old friends the breezes, and address my discourse to the waves, and be
+as romantic and fanciful as I please; but I had scarcely begun a poetic
+apostrophe, before out flaunted a whole rank of officers, with ladies
+and abbés and puppy dogs, singing, and flirting, and making such a
+hubbub, that I had not one peaceful moment to observe the bright tints
+of the western horizon, or enjoy those ideas of classic antiquity which
+a calm sunset never fails to bring before my imagination.</p>
+
+<p>Finding, therefore, no quiet abroad, I returned to my inn, and should
+have gone immediately to bed, in hopes of relapsing into the bosom of
+dreams and delusions; but the limbo I mentioned before grew so very
+outrageous, that I was obliged to postpone my rest till sugarplums and
+nursery eloquence had hushed it to repose. At length peace was restored,
+and about eleven o’clock I fell into a slumber. My dreams anticipated
+the classic scenes of Italy, the proposed term of my excursion.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning I arose refreshed with these agreeable impressions. No
+ideas, but such as Nemi and Albano suggested, haunted me whilst<a name="page_vol_1_006" id="page_vol_1_006"></a>
+travelling to Ghent. I neither heard the coarse dialect which was
+talking around me, nor noticed the formal avenues and marshy country
+which we passed. When we stopped to change horses, I closed my eyes upon
+the dull prospect, and was transported immediately to those Grecian
+solitudes which Theocritus so enchantingly describes.</p>
+
+<p>To one so far gone in the poetic lore of ancient days, Ghent is not the
+most likely place to recall his attention; and I know nothing more about
+it, than that it is a large, ill-paved, plethoric, pompous-looking city,
+with a decent proportion of convents and chapels, monuments, brazen
+gates, and gilded marbles. In the great church were several pictures by
+Rubens, so striking, so masterly, as to hold me broad awake; though, I
+must own, there are moments when I could contentedly fall asleep in a
+Flemish cathedral, for the mere chance of beholding in vision the temple
+of Olympian Jupiter.</p>
+
+<p>But I think I hear, at this moment, some grave and respectable personage
+chiding my enthusiasm&mdash;“Really, sir, you had better stay at home, and
+dream in your great chair, than give<a name="page_vol_1_007" id="page_vol_1_007"></a> yourself the trouble of going post
+through Europe, in search of places where to fall asleep. If Flanders
+and Holland are to be dreamed over at this rate, you had better take
+ship at once, and doze all the way to Italy.” Upon my word, I should not
+have much objection to that scheme; and, if some enchanter would but
+transport me in an instant to the summit of Ætna, anybody might slop
+through the Low Countries that pleased.</p>
+
+<p>Being, however, so far advanced, there is no retracting; and I am
+resolved to journey along with Quiet and Content for my companions.
+These two comfortable deities have, I believe, taken Flanders under
+their especial protection; every step one advances discovering some new
+proof of their influence. The neatness of the houses, and the universal
+cleanliness of the villages, show plainly that their inhabitants live in
+ease and good humour. All is still and peaceful in these fertile
+lowlands: the eye meets nothing but round unmeaning faces at every door,
+and harmless stupidity smiling at every window. The beasts, as placid as
+their masters, graze on without any disturbance; and I scarcely
+recollect to have heard<a name="page_vol_1_008" id="page_vol_1_008"></a> one grunting swine or snarling mastiff during
+my whole progress. Before every village is a wealthy dunghill, not at
+all offensive, because but seldom disturbed; and there sows and porkers
+bask in the sun, and wallow at their ease, till the hour of death and
+bacon arrives.</p>
+
+<p>But it is high time to lead you towards Antwerp. More rich pastures,
+more ample fields of grain, more flourishing willows! A boundless plain
+lies before this city, dotted with cows, and speckled with flowers; a
+level whence its spires and quaint roofs are seen to advantage! The pale
+colours of the sky, and a few gleams of watery sunshine, gave a true
+Flemish cast to the scenery, and everything appeared so consistent, that
+I had not a shadow of pretence to think myself asleep.</p>
+
+<p>After crossing a broad expanse of river, edged on one side by beds of
+osiers beautifully green, and on the other by gates and turrets
+preposterously ugly, we came through several streets of lofty houses to
+our inn. Its situation in the “Place de Meir,” a vast open space
+surrounded by buildings above buildings, and roof above roof, has
+something striking and singular. A tall gilt crucifix of bronze,
+sculptured by Cortels of<a name="page_vol_1_009" id="page_vol_1_009"></a> Malines,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> adds to its splendour; and the
+tops of some tufted trees, seen above a line of magnificent hotels, add
+greatly to the effect of the perspective.</p>
+
+<p>It was almost dusk when we arrived; and as I am very partial to new
+objects discovered by this dubious, visionary light, I went immediately
+a rambling. Not a sound disturbed my meditations: there were no groups
+of squabbling children or talkative old women. The whole town seemed
+retired into their inmost chambers; and I kept winding and turning
+about, from street to street, and from alley to alley, without meeting a
+single inhabitant. Now and then, indeed, one or two women in long cloaks
+and mantles glided by at a distance; but their dress was so shroud-like,
+and their whole appearance so ghostly, that I should have been afraid to
+accost them. As night approached, the ranges of buildings grew more and
+more dim, and the silence which reigned amongst them more awful. The
+canals,<a name="page_vol_1_010" id="page_vol_1_010"></a> which in some places intersect the streets, were likewise in
+perfect solitude, and there was just light sufficient for me to observe
+on the still waters the reflection of the structures above them. Except
+two or three tapers glimmering through the casements, no one
+circumstance indicated human existence. I might, without being thought
+very romantic, have imagined myself in the city of petrified people
+which Arabian fabulists are so fond of describing. Were any one to ask
+my advice upon the subject of retirement, I should tell him&mdash;By all
+means repair to Antwerp. No village amongst the Alps, or hermitage upon
+Mount Lebanon, is less disturbed: you may pass your days in this great
+city without being the least conscious of its sixty thousand
+inhabitants, unless you visit the churches. There, indeed, are to be
+heard a few devout whispers, and sometimes, to be sure, the bells make a
+little chiming; but, walk about, as I do, in the twilights of midsummer,
+and be assured your ears will be free from all molestation.</p>
+
+<p>You can have no idea how many strange, amusing fancies played around me
+whilst I wandered along; nor how delighted I was with the novelty<a name="page_vol_1_011" id="page_vol_1_011"></a> of my
+situation. But a few days ago, thought I within myself, I was in the
+midst of all the tumult and uproar of London: now, as if by some magic
+influence, I am transported to a city equally remarkable indeed for
+streets and edifices, but whose inhabitants seem cast into a profound
+repose. What a pity that we cannot borrow some small share of this
+soporific disposition! It would temper that restless spirit which throws
+us sometimes into such dreadful convulsions. However, let us not be too
+precipitate in desiring so dead a calm; the time may arrive when, like
+Antwerp, we may sink into the arms of forgetfulness; when a fine verdure
+may carpet our Exchange, and passengers traverse the Strand without any
+danger of being smothered in crowds or crushed by carriages.</p>
+
+<p>Reflecting, in this manner, upon the silence of the place, contrasted
+with the important bustle which formerly rendered it so famous, I
+insensibly drew near to the cathedral, and found myself, before I was
+aware, under its stupendous tower. It is difficult to conceive an object
+more solemn or more imposing than this edifice at the hour I first
+beheld it. Dark shades hindered my<a name="page_vol_1_012" id="page_vol_1_012"></a> examining the lower galleries; their
+elaborate carved work was invisible; nothing but huge masses of building
+met my sight, and the tower, shooting up four hundred and sixty-six feet
+in the air, received an additional importance from the gloom which
+prevailed below. The sky being perfectly clear, several stars twinkled
+through the mosaic of the pinnacles, and increased the charm of their
+effect.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst I was indulging my reveries, a ponderous bell struck ten, and
+such a peal of chimes succeeded, as shook the whole edifice,
+notwithstanding its bulk, and drove me away in a hurry. I need not say,
+no mob obstructed my passage. I ran through a succession of streets,
+free and unmolested, as if I had been skimming along over the downs of
+Wiltshire. The voices of my servants conversing before the hotel were
+the only sounds which the great “Place de Meir” echoed.</p>
+
+<p>This characteristic stillness was the more pleasing, when I looked back
+upon those scenes of outcry and horror which filled London but a week or
+two ago, when danger was not confined to night only, and to the environs
+of the capital,<a name="page_vol_1_013" id="page_vol_1_013"></a> but haunted our streets at mid-day. Here, I could
+wander over an entire city; stray by the port, and venture through the
+most obscure alleys, without a single apprehension; without beholding a
+sky red and portentous with the light of houses on fire, or hearing the
+confusion of shouts and groans mingled with the reports of artillery. I
+can assure you, I think myself very fortunate to have escaped the
+possibility of another such week of desolation, and to be peaceably
+lulled at Antwerp.<a name="page_vol_1_014" id="page_vol_1_014"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_II-low" id="LETTER_II-low"></a>LETTER II.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Visit to the cabinets of pictures in Antwerp.&mdash;Monsieur Van
+Lencren’s collection.&mdash;The Canon Knyff’s house and gallery of
+paintings.&mdash;The Canon himself.&mdash;His domestic felicity.&mdash;Revisit the
+cathedral.&mdash;Grand service in honour of St. John the
+Baptist.&mdash;Mynheer Van den Bosch, the organist’s astonishing flashes
+of execution.&mdash;Evening service in the cathedral.&mdash;Magical effect of
+the music of Jomelli.&mdash;Blighted avenues.&mdash;Slow travelling.&mdash;Enter
+the United Provinces.&mdash;Level scenery.&mdash;Chinese prospects.&mdash;Reach
+Meerdyke.&mdash;Arrival at the Hague.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Antwerp, 23rd June, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>A<small>FTER</small> breakfast this morning I began my pilgrimage to all the cabinets
+of pictures in Antwerp. First, I went to Monsieur Van Lencren’s, who
+possesses a suite of apartments, lined, from the base to the cornice,
+with the rarest productions of the Flemish school. Heaven forbid I
+should enter into a detail of their niceties! I might as well count the
+dew-drops upon the most spangled of Van Huysum’s flower-pieces, or the
+pimples<a name="page_vol_1_015" id="page_vol_1_015"></a> on their possessor’s countenance; a very good sort of man,
+indeed; but from whom I was not at all sorry to be delivered.</p>
+
+<p>My joy was, however, of short duration, as a few minutes brought me into
+the court-yard of the Canon Knyff’s habitation; a snug abode, well
+furnished with ample fauteuils and orthodox couches. After viewing the
+rooms on the first floor, we mounted an easy staircase, and entered an
+ante-chamber, which they who delight in the imitations of art rather
+than of nature, in the likenesses of joint stools and the portraits of
+tankards, would esteem most capitally adorned: but it must be confessed,
+that amongst these uninteresting performances are dispersed a few
+striking Berghems and agreeable Polembergs. In the gallery adjoining,
+two or three Rosa de Tivolis merit observation; and a large Teniers,
+representing the Hermit St. Anthony surrounded by a malicious set of
+imps and leering devilesses, is well calculated to display the whimsical
+buffoonery of a Dutch imagination.</p>
+
+<p>I was enjoying this strange medley, when the canon made his appearance;
+and a most prepossessing figure he has, according to Flemish ideas. In
+my humble opinion, his reverence looked a<a name="page_vol_1_016" id="page_vol_1_016"></a> little muddled or so; and, to
+be sure, the description I afterwards heard of his style of living
+favours not a little my surmises. This worthy dignitary, what with his
+private fortune and the good things of the church, enjoys a spanking
+revenue, which he contrives to get rid of in the joys of the table and
+the encouragement of the pencil.</p>
+
+<p>His servants, perhaps, assist not a little in the expenditure of so
+comfortable an income; the canon being upon a very social footing with
+them all. At four o’clock in the afternoon, a select party attend him in
+his coach to an ale-house about a league from the city; where a table,
+well spread with jugs of beer and handsome cheeses, waits their arrival.
+After enjoying this rural fare, the same equipage conducts them back
+again, by all accounts, much faster than they came; which may well be
+conceived, as the coachman is one of the brightest wits of the
+entertainment.</p>
+
+<p>My compliments, alas! were not much appreciated, you may suppose, by
+this jovial personage. I said a few favourable words of Polemberg, and
+offered up a small tribute of praise to the memory of Berghem; but, as I
+could not prevail upon<a name="page_vol_1_017" id="page_vol_1_017"></a> Mynheer Knyff to expand, I made one of my best
+bows, and left him to the enjoyment of his domestic felicity.</p>
+
+<p>In my way home, I looked into another cabinet, the greatest ornament of
+which was a most sublime thistle by Snyders, of the heroic size, and so
+faithfully imitated that I dare say no Ass could see it unmoved. At
+length, it was lawful to return home; and as I positively refused
+visiting any more cabinets in the afternoon, I sent for a harpsichord of
+Rucker, and played myself quite out of the Netherlands.</p>
+
+<p>It was late before I finished my musical excursion, and I took advantage
+of this dusky moment to revisit the cathedral. A flight of starlings had
+just pitched on one of the pinnacles of the tower, whose faint chirpings
+were the only sounds that broke the evening stillness. Not a human form
+appeared at any of the windows around; no footsteps were audible in the
+opening before the grand entrance; and during the half hour I spent in
+walking to and fro, one solitary Franciscan was the only creature that
+accosted me. From him I learned that a grand service was to be performed
+next day in honour of St. John the Baptist, and the best music in
+Flanders would<a name="page_vol_1_018" id="page_vol_1_018"></a> be called forth on the occasion, so I determined to stay
+one day longer at Antwerp.</p>
+
+<p>Having taken this resolution, I availed myself of a special invitation
+from Mynheer Van den Bosch, the first organist of the place, and sat
+next to him in his lofty perch during the celebration of high mass. The
+service ended, I strayed about the aisles, and examined the innumerable
+chapels which decorate them, whilst Mynheer Van den Bosch thundered and
+lightened away upon his huge organ with fifty stops.</p>
+
+<p>When the first flashes of execution had a little subsided, I took an
+opportunity of surveying the celebrated Descent from the Cross. This has
+ever been esteemed the master-piece of Rubens, which, large as it is,
+they pretend here that Old Lewis Baboon<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> offered to cover with gold. A
+swingeing St. Christopher, fording a brook with a child on his
+shoulders, cannot fail of attracting attention. This colossal personage
+is painted on the folding-doors which defend the grand effort of art
+just mentioned from vulgar eyes; and here Rubens has selected a very
+proper subject to display the gigantic boldness of his pencil.<a name="page_vol_1_019" id="page_vol_1_019"></a></p>
+
+<p>After I had most dutifully surveyed all his productions in this church,
+I walked half over Antwerp in quest of St. John’s relics, which were
+moving about in procession. If my eyes were not much regaled by the
+saint’s magnificence, my ears were greatly affected in the evening by
+the music which sang forth his praises. The cathedral was crowded with
+devotees, and perfumed with incense. A motet, in the lofty style of
+Jomelli, performed with taste and feeling, transported me to Italian
+climates; and I grieved, when a cessation dissolved the charm, to think
+that I had still so many tramontane regions to pass before I could in
+effect reach that classic country. Finding it was in vain to expect
+preternatural interposition, and perceiving no conscious angel or
+Loretto-vehicle waiting in some dark consecrated corner to bear me away,
+I humbly returned to my hotel.</p>
+
+<p>Monday, June 26th.&mdash;We were again upon the pavé, rattling and jumbling
+along between clipped hedges and blighted avenues. The plagues of Egypt
+have been renewed, one might almost imagine, in this country, by the
+appearance of the oak trees: not a leaf have the insects spared. After
+having had the displeasure of<a name="page_vol_1_020" id="page_vol_1_020"></a> seeing no other objects for several hours
+but these blasted rows, the scene changed to vast tracts of level
+country, buried in sand and smothered with heath; the particular
+character of which I had but too good an opportunity of intimately
+knowing, as a tortoise might have kept pace with us without being once
+out of breath.</p>
+
+<p>Towards evening, we entered the dominions of the United Provinces, and
+had all their glory of canals, treck-schuyts, and windmills, before us.
+The minute neatness of the villages, their red roofs, and the lively
+green of the willows which shade them, corresponded with the ideas I had
+formed of Chinese prospects; a resemblance which was not diminished upon
+viewing on every side the level scenery of enamelled meadows, with
+stripes of clear water across them, and innumerable barges gliding
+busily along. Nothing could be finer than the weather; it improved each
+moment, as if propitious to my exotic fancies; and, at sun-set, not one
+single cloud obscured the horizon. Several storks were parading by the
+water-side, amongst flags and osiers; and, as far as the eye could
+reach, large herds of beautifully spotted cattle were enjoying the
+plenty of their<a name="page_vol_1_021" id="page_vol_1_021"></a> pastures. I was perfectly in the environs of Canton, or
+Ning Po, till we reached Meerdyke. You know fumigations are always the
+current recipe in romance to break an enchantment; as soon, therefore,
+as I left my carriage and entered my inn, the clouds of tobacco which
+filled every one of its apartments dispersed my Chinese imaginations,
+and reduced me in an instant to Holland.</p>
+
+<p>Why should I enlarge upon my adventures at Meerdyke? To tell you that
+its inhabitants are the most uncouth bipeds in the universe would be
+nothing very new or entertaining; so let me at once pass over the
+village, leave Rotterdam, and even Delft, that great parent of pottery,
+and transport you with a wave of my pen to the Hague.</p>
+
+<p>As the evening was rather warm, I immediately walked out to enjoy the
+shade of the long avenue which leads to Scheveling, and proceeded to the
+village on the sea coast, which terminates the perspective. Almost every
+cottage door being open to catch the air, I had an opportunity of
+looking into their neat apartments. Tables, shelves, earthenware, all
+glisten with cleanliness; the country people were drinking<a name="page_vol_1_022" id="page_vol_1_022"></a> tea, after
+the fatigues of the day, and talking over its bargains and contrivances.</p>
+
+<p>I left them to walk on the beach, and was so charmed with the vast azure
+expanse of ocean, which opened suddenly upon me, that I remained there a
+full half hour. More than two hundred vessels of different sizes were in
+sight, the last sunbeam purpling their sails, and casting a path of
+innumerable brilliants athwart the waves. What would I not have given to
+follow this shining track! It might have conducted me straight to those
+fortunate western climates, those happy isles which you are so fond of
+painting, and I of dreaming about. But, unluckily, this passage was the
+only one my neighbours the Dutch were ignorant of. It is true they have
+islands rich in spices, and blessed with the sun’s particular attention,
+but which their government, I am apt to imagine, renders by no means
+fortunate.</p>
+
+<p>Abandoning therefore all hopes of this adventurous voyage, I returned
+towards the Hague, and looked into a country-house of the late Count
+Bentinck, with parterres and bosquets by no means resembling, one should
+conjecture, the gardens of the Hesperides. But, considering<a name="page_vol_1_023" id="page_vol_1_023"></a> that the
+whole group of trees, terraces, and verdure were in a manner created out
+of hills of sand, the place may claim some portion of merit. The walks
+and alleys have all the stiffness and formality which our ancestors
+admired; but the intermediate spaces, being dotted with clumps and
+sprinkled with flowers, are imagined in Holland to be in the English
+style. An Englishman ought certainly to behold it with partial eyes,
+since every possible attempt has been made to twist it into the taste of
+his country.</p>
+
+<p>I need not say how liberally I bestowed my encomiums on Count Bentinck’s
+tasteful intentions; nor how happy I was, when I had duly serpentized
+over his garden, to find myself once more in the grand avenue. All the
+way home, I reflected upon the unyielding perseverance of the Dutch, who
+raise gardens from heaps of sand, and cities out of the bosom of the
+waters. I had, almost at the same moment, a whimsical proof of the
+thrifty turn of this people; for just entering the town I met an
+unwieldy fellow&mdash;not ill clad&mdash;airing his carcase in a one-dog chair.
+The poor animal puffed and panted, Mynheer smoked, and gaped around him
+with the most blessed indifference.<a name="page_vol_1_024" id="page_vol_1_024"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_III-low" id="LETTER_III-low"></a>LETTER III.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The Prince of Orange’s cabinet of paintings.&mdash;Temptation of St.
+Anthony, by Breughel.&mdash;Exquisite pictures by Berghem and
+Wouvermans.&mdash;Mean garrets stored with inestimable productions of
+the Indies.&mdash;Enamelled flasks of oriental essences.&mdash;Vision of the
+wardrobe of Hecuba.&mdash;Disenchantment.&mdash;Cabinet of natural
+history.&mdash;A day dream.&mdash;A delicious morsel.&mdash;Dinner at Sir Joseph
+Yorke’s.&mdash;Two honourable boobies.&mdash;The Great Wood.&mdash;Parterres of
+the Greffier Fagel.&mdash;Air poisoned by the sluggish canals.&mdash;Fishy
+locality of Dutch banquetting rooms.&mdash;Derivation of the inhabitants
+of Holland.&mdash;Origin and use of enormous galligaskins.&mdash;Escape from
+damp alleys and lazy waters.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">30th June, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>DEDICATED</small> the morning to the Prince of Orange’s cabinet of paintings
+and curiosities both natural and artificial. Amongst the pictures which
+amused me the most is a temptation of the holy hermit St. Anthony, by
+Hell-fire Breughel, who has shown himself right worthy of the title; for
+a more diabolical variety of imps never entered the human imagination.
+Breughel has made his saint take refuge in a ditch filled with harpies<a name="page_vol_1_025" id="page_vol_1_025"></a>
+and creeping things innumerable, whose malice, one should think, would
+have lost Job himself the reputation of patience. Castles of steel and
+fiery turrets glare on every side, whence issue a band of junior devils.
+These seem highly entertained with pinking poor Anthony, and whispering,
+I warrant ye, filthy tales in his ear. Nothing can be more rueful than
+the patient’s countenance; more forlorn than his beard; more piteous
+than his eye, forming a strong contrast to the pert winks and insidious
+glances of his persecutors; some of whom, I need not mention, are
+evidently of the female kind.</p>
+
+<p>But really I am quite ashamed of having detained you in such bad company
+so long; and had I a moment to spare, you should be introduced to a
+better set in this gallery, where some of the most exquisite Berghems
+and Wouvermans I ever beheld would delight you for hours. I do not think
+you would look much at the Polembergs; there are but two, and one of
+them is very far from capital; in short, I am in a great hurry; so
+pardon me, Carlo Cignani! if I do not do justice to your merit; and
+forgive me, Potter! if I pass by your herds without leaving a tribute of
+admiration.<a name="page_vol_1_026" id="page_vol_1_026"></a></p>
+
+<p>Mynheer Van Something was as eager to precipitate my step as I was to
+get out of the damps and perplexities of Sorgvliet yesterday evening;
+so, mounting a creaking staircase, he led me to a suite of garretlike
+apartments; which, considering the meanness of their exterior, I was
+rather surprised to find stored with some of the most valuable
+productions of the Indies. Gold cups enriched with gems, models of
+Chinese palaces in ivory, glittering armour of Hindostan, and Japan
+caskets, filled every corner of this awkward treasury. The most pleasing
+of all its baubles in my estimation was a large coffer of most elaborate
+workmanship, containing enamelled flasks of oriental essences, enough to
+perfume a zennana. If disagreeable fumes, as I mentioned before,
+dissolve enchantments, such aromatic oils have doubtless the power of
+raising them; for, whilst I scented their fragrancy, I could have
+persuaded myself, I was in the wardrobe of Hecuba,&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">“Where treasured odours breathed a costly scent.”<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>I saw, or seemed to see, the arched apartments, the procession of
+matrons, the consecrated vestments: the very temple began to rise upon
+my sight, when a sweltering Dutch porpoise approaching<a name="page_vol_1_027" id="page_vol_1_027"></a> to make me a low
+bow, his complaisance proved full as notorious as Satan’s, when,
+according to Catholic legends, he took leave of Luther, that
+disputatious heresiarch. No spell can resist a fumigation of this
+nature; away fled palace, Hecuba, matrons, temple, &amp;c. I looked up, and
+lo! I was in a garret. As poetry is but too often connected with this
+lofty situation, you will not wonder much at my flight. Being a little
+recovered from it, I tottered down the staircase, entered the cabinets
+of natural history, and was soon restored to my sober senses. A grave
+hippopotamus contributed a good deal to their re-establishment.</p>
+
+<p>The butterflies, I must needs confess, were very near leading me another
+dance: I thought of their native hills and beloved flowers, on the
+summits of Haynang and Nan-Hoa;<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> but the jargon which was gabbling all
+around me prevented the excursion, and I summoned a decent share of
+attention for that ample chamber which has been appropriated to bottled
+snakes and pickled fœtuses.</p>
+
+<p>After having enjoyed the same spectacle in the British Museum, no very
+new or singular objects<a name="page_vol_1_028" id="page_vol_1_028"></a> can be selected in this. One of the rarest
+articles it contains is the representation in wax of a human head, most
+dexterously flayed indeed! Rapturous encomiums have been bestowed by
+amateurs on this performance. A German professor could hardly believe it
+artificial; and, prompted by the love of truth, set his teeth in this
+delicious morsel to be convinced of its reality. My faith was less
+hazardously established; and I moved off, under the conviction that art
+had never produced anything more horridly natural.</p>
+
+<p>It was one o’clock before I got through the mineral kingdom; and another
+hour passed before I could quit with decorum the regions of stuffed
+birds and marine productions. At length my departure was allowable; and
+I went to dine at Sir Joseph Yorke’s, with all nations and languages.
+Amongst the company were two honourable boobies and their governor, all
+from Ireland. The youngest, after plying me with a succession of
+innocent questions, wished to be informed where I proposed spending the
+carnival. “At Tunis,” was my answer. The questioner, not in the least
+surprised, then asked who was to sing there? To which I replied,
+“Farinelli.<a name="page_vol_1_029" id="page_vol_1_029"></a>”</p>
+
+<p>This settled the business to our mutual satisfaction; so after coffee I
+strayed to the Great Wood, which, considering that it almost touches the
+town with its boughs, is wonderfully forest-like. Not a branch being
+ever permitted to be lopped, the oaks and beeches retain their natural
+luxuriance. In some places their straight boles rise sixty feet without
+a bough; in others, they are bent fantastically over the alleys, which
+turn and wind about just as a painter would desire. I followed them with
+eagerness and curiosity; sometimes deviating from my path amongst tufts
+of fern and herbage.</p>
+
+<p>In these cool retreats I could not believe myself near canals and
+windmills; the Dutch formalities were all forgotten whilst contemplating
+the broad masses of foliage above, and the wild flowers and grasses
+below. Hares and rabbits scudded by me while I sat; and the birds were
+chirping their evening song. Their preservation does credit to the
+police of the country, which is so exact and well regulated as to suffer
+no outrage within the precincts of this extensive wood, the depth and
+thickness of which might otherwise seem calculated to favour half the
+sins of a capital.<a name="page_vol_1_030" id="page_vol_1_030"></a></p>
+
+<p>Relying upon this comfortable security, I lingered unmolested amongst
+the beeches till late in the evening; then taking the nearest path, I
+suffered myself, though not without regret, to be conducted out of this
+fresh sylvan scene to the dusty, pompous parterres of the Greffier
+Fagel. Every flower that wealth can purchase diffuses its perfume on one
+side; whilst every stench a canal can exhale poisons the air on the
+other. These sluggish puddles defy all the power of the United
+Provinces, and retain the freedom of stinking in spite of any endeavour
+to conquer their filthiness.</p>
+
+<p>But perhaps I am too bold in my assertion; for I have no authority to
+mention any attempts to purify these noxious pools. Who knows but their
+odour is congenial to a Dutch constitution? One should be inclined to
+this supposition by the numerous banquetting-rooms and pleasure-houses
+which hang directly above their surface, and seem calculated on purpose
+to enjoy them. If frogs were not excluded from the magistrature of their
+country (and I cannot but think it a little hard that they are), one
+should not wonder at this choice. Such burgomasters might erect their
+pavilions in such situations; but, after all, I am<a name="page_vol_1_031" id="page_vol_1_031"></a> not greatly
+surprised at the fishiness of their site, since very slight authority
+would persuade me there was a period when Holland was all water, and the
+ancestors of the present inhabitants fish. A certain oysterishness of
+eye and flabbiness of complexion, are almost proofs sufficient of this
+aquatic descent: and pray tell me for what purpose are such galligaskins
+as the Dutch burthen themselves with contrived, but to tuck up a
+flouncing tail, and thus cloak the deformity of a dolphinlike
+termination?</p>
+
+<p>Having done penance for some time in the damp alleys which line the
+borders of these lazy waters, I was led through corkscrew sand-walks to
+a vast flat, sparingly scattered over with vegetation. There was no
+temptation to puzzle myself in such a labyrinth; so taking advantage of
+the lateness of the hour, and muttering a few complimentary promises of
+returning at the first opportunity, I escaped the ennui of this endless
+scrubbery, and got home, with the determination of being wiser and less
+curious if ever my stars should bring me again to the Hague.<a name="page_vol_1_032" id="page_vol_1_032"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_IV-low" id="LETTER_IV-low"></a>LETTER IV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Leave the Hague.&mdash;Leyden.&mdash;Wood near Haerlem.&mdash;Waddling
+fishermen.&mdash;Enter the town.&mdash;The great fair.&mdash;Riot and
+uproar.&mdash;Confusion of tongues.&mdash;Mine hostess.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Haerlem, July 1st, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> sky was clear and blue when we left the Hague, and we travelled
+along a shady road for about an hour, when down sunk the carriage into a
+sand-bed, and we were dragged along so slowly that I fell into a
+profound repose. How long it lasted is not material; but when I awoke,
+we were rumbling through Leyden. There is no need to write a syllable in
+honour of this illustrious city: its praises have already been sung and
+said by fifty professors, who have declaimed in its university, and
+smoked in its gardens. Let us get out of it as fast as we can, and
+breathe the cool air of the wood near Haerlem.</p>
+
+<p>Here we arrived just as day declined: hay was making in the fields, and
+perfumed the<a name="page_vol_1_033" id="page_vol_1_033"></a> country far and wide with its reviving fragrance. I
+promised myself a sentimental saunter in the groves, took up Gesner, and
+began to have pretty pastoral ideas as I walked forward; but instead of
+nymphs dispersed over the meadows, I met a gang of waddling fishermen.
+Letting fall the garlands I had wreathed for the shepherdesses, I jumped
+into the carriage, and was driven off to the town. Every avenue to it
+swarmed with people, whose bustle and agitation seemed to announce that
+something extraordinary was going forward. Upon inquiry I found it was
+the great fair at Haerlem; and before we had advanced much farther, our
+carriage was surrounded by idlers and gingerbread-eaters of all
+denominations. Passing the gate, we came to a cluster of little
+illuminated booths beneath a grove, glittering with toys and
+looking-glasses. It was not without difficulty that we reached our inn,
+and then the plague was to procure chambers; at last we were
+accommodated, and the first moment I could call my own has been
+dedicated to you.</p>
+
+<p>You will not be surprised at the nonsense I have written, since I tell
+you the scene of the riot and uproar from whence it bears date. At<a name="page_vol_1_034" id="page_vol_1_034"></a> this
+very moment the confused murmur of voices and music stops all regular
+proceedings: old women and children tattling; apes, bears, and
+show-boxes under the windows; French rattling, English swearing,
+outrageous Italians, frisking minstrels; <i>tambours de basque</i> at every
+corner; myself distracted; a confounded squabble of cooks and haranguing
+German couriers just arrived, their masters following open-mouthed,
+nothing to eat, the steam of ham and flesh-pots all the while provoking
+their appetite; squeaking chamber-maids in the galleries above, and mine
+hostess below, half inclined to receive the golden solicitations of
+certain beauties for admittance, but positively refusing them the moment
+some creditable personage appears; eleven o’clock strikes; half the
+lights in the fair are extinguished; scruples grow faint; and mammon
+gains the victory.<a name="page_vol_1_035" id="page_vol_1_035"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_V-low" id="LETTER_V-low"></a>LETTER V.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Amsterdam.&mdash;The road to Utrecht.&mdash;Country-houses and gardens.&mdash;Neat
+enclosures.&mdash;Comfortable parties.&mdash;Ladies and Lapdogs.&mdash;Arrival at
+Utrecht.&mdash;Moravian establishment&mdash;The woods.&mdash;Shops.&mdash;Celestial
+love.&mdash;Musical Sempstresses.&mdash;Return to Utrecht.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Utrecht, 2d July, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>W<small>ELL</small>, thank Heaven! Amsterdam is behind us; how I got thither signifies
+not one farthing; it was all along a canal, as usual. The weather was
+hot enough to broil an inhabitant of Bengal; and the odours, exhaling
+from every quarter, sufficiently powerful to regale the nose of a
+Hottentot.</p>
+
+<p>Under these pungent circumstances we entered the great city. The
+Stadt-huys being the only cool place it contained, I repaired thither as
+fast as the heat permitted, and walked in a lofty marble hall,
+magnificently coved, till the dinner was ready at the inn. That
+despatched, we set off for Utrecht. Both sides of the way<a name="page_vol_1_036" id="page_vol_1_036"></a> are lined
+with the country-houses and gardens of opulent citizens, as fine as gilt
+statues and clipped hedges can make them. Their number is quite
+astonishing: from Amsterdam to Utrecht, full thirty miles, we beheld no
+other objects than endless avenues and stiff parterres scrawled and
+flourished in patterns like the embroidery of an old maid’s work-bag.
+Notwithstanding this formal taste, I could not help admiring the
+neatness and arrangement of every inclosure, enlivened by a profusion of
+flowers, and decked with arbours, beneath which a vast number of
+consequential personages were solacing themselves after the heat of the
+day. Each lusthuys we passed contained some comfortable party dozing
+over their pipes, or angling in the muddy fish-ponds below. Scarce an
+avenue but swarmed with female josses; little squat pug-dogs waddling at
+their sides, the attributes, I suppose, of these fair divinities.</p>
+
+<p>But let us leave them to loiter thus amiably in their Elysian groves,
+and arrive at Utrecht; which, as nothing very remarkable claimed my
+attention, I hastily quitted to visit a Moravian establishment at Ziest,
+in its neighbourhood. The chapel, a large house, late the habitation of<a name="page_vol_1_037" id="page_vol_1_037"></a>
+Count Zinzendorf, and a range of apartments filled with the holy
+fraternity, are totally wrapped in dark groves, overgrown with weeds,
+amongst which some damsels were straggling, under the immediate
+protection of their pious brethren.</p>
+
+<p>Traversing the woods, we found ourselves in a large court, built round
+with brick edifices, the grass-plats in a deplorable way, and one ragged
+goat, their only inhabitant, on a little expiatory scheme, perhaps, for
+the failings of the fraternity. I left this poor animal to ruminate in
+solitude, and followed my guide into a series of shops furnished with
+gew-gaws and trinkets said to be manufactured by the female part of the
+society. Much cannot be boasted of their handy-works: I expressed a wish
+to see some of these industrious fair ones; but, upon receiving no
+answer, found this was a subject of which there was no discourse.</p>
+
+<p>Consoling myself as well as I was able, I put myself under the guidance
+of another slovenly disciple, who showed me the chapel, and harangued
+very pathetically upon celestial love. In my way thither, I caught a
+glimpse of some pretty sempstresses, warbling melodious hymns<a name="page_vol_1_038" id="page_vol_1_038"></a> as they
+sat needling and thimbling at their windows above. I had a great
+inclination to approach this busy group, but the roll of a brother’s eye
+corrected me.</p>
+
+<p>Reflecting upon my unworthiness, I retired from the consecrated
+buildings, and was driven back to Utrecht, not a little amused with my
+expedition. If you are as well disposed to be pleased as I was, I shall
+esteem myself very lucky, and not repent sending you so hasty a
+narrative.<a name="page_vol_1_039" id="page_vol_1_039"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_VI-low" id="LETTER_VI-low"></a>LETTER VI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Arrival at Aix-la-Chapelle.&mdash;Glimpse of a dingy grove.&mdash;Melancholy
+saunterers.&mdash;Dusseldorf Gallery.&mdash;Nocturnal depredators.&mdash;Arrival
+at Cologne.&mdash;Shrine of the Three Wise Sovereigns.&mdash;Peregrinations
+of their beatified bones.&mdash;Road to Bonn.&mdash;Delights of
+Catholicism.&mdash;Azure mountains.&mdash;Visionary palaces.</p></div>
+
+<p>We arrived at Aix-la-Chapelle about ten at night, and saw the mouldering
+turrets of that once illustrious capital by the help of a candle and
+lantern. An old woman at the gate asked our names (for not a single
+soldier appeared); and after traversing a number of superannuated
+streets without perceiving the least trace of Charlemagne or his
+Paladins, we procured comfortable though not magnificent apartments, and
+slept most unheroically sound, till it was time to set forward for
+Dusseldorf.</p>
+
+<p>July 8th.&mdash;As we were driven out of the town, I caught a glimpse of a
+grove, hemmed in by<a name="page_vol_1_040" id="page_vol_1_040"></a> dingy buildings, where a few water-drinkers were
+sauntering along to the sound of some rueful French horns; the wan
+greenish light admitted through the foliage made them look like unhappy
+souls condemned to an eternal lounge for having trifled away their
+existence. It was not with much regret that I left such a party behind;
+and, after experiencing the vicissitudes of good roads and rumbling
+pavements, crossed the Rhine and travelled on to Dusseldorf.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing but the famous gallery of paintings could invite strangers to
+stay a moment within its walls; more crooked streets, more indifferent
+houses, one seldom meets with; except soldiers, not a living creature
+moving about them; and at night a complete regiment of bugs “marked me
+for their own.” Thus I lay, at once the seat of war and the conquest of
+these detestable animals, till early in the morning (Sunday, July 9th),
+when Morpheus, compassionating my sufferings, opened the ivory gates of
+his empire, and freed his votary from the most unconscionable vermin
+ever engendered. In humble prose, I fell fast asleep; and remained
+quiet, in defiance of my adversaries, till it was time to survey the
+cabinet.<a name="page_vol_1_041" id="page_vol_1_041"></a></p>
+
+<p>This collection is displayed in five large galleries, and contains some
+valuable productions of the Italian school; but the room most boasted of
+is that which Rubens has filled with no less than three enormous
+representations of the last day, where an innumerable host of sinners
+are exhibited as striving in vain to avoid the tangles of the devil’s
+tail. The woes of several fat luxurious souls are rendered in the
+highest gusto. Satan’s dispute with some brawny concubines, whom he is
+lugging off in spite of all their resistance, cannot be too much admired
+by those who approve this class of subjects, and think such strange
+embroglios in the least calculated to raise a sublime or a religious
+idea.</p>
+
+<p>For my own part, I turned from them with disgust, and hastened to
+contemplate a holy family by Camillo Procaccini, in another apartment.
+The brightest imagination can never conceive any figure more graceful
+than that of the young Jesus; and if ever I beheld an inspired
+countenance or celestial features, it was here: but to attempt conveying
+in words what the pencil alone can express, would be only reversing the
+absurdity of many a master in the gallery who aims to represent those
+ideas by the pencil<a name="page_vol_1_042" id="page_vol_1_042"></a> which language alone is able to describe. Should
+you admit this opinion, you will not be surprised at my passing such a
+multitude of renowned pictures unnoticed; nor at my bringing you out of
+the cabinet without deluging ten pages with criticisms in the style of
+the ingenious Lady Miller.</p>
+
+<p>As I had spent so much time in the gallery, the day was too far advanced
+to think of travelling to Cologne; I was therefore obliged to put myself
+once more under the dominion of the most inveterate bugs in the
+universe. This government, like many others, made but an indifferent use
+of its power, and the subject suffering accordingly was extremely
+rejoiced at flying from his persecutors to Cologne.</p>
+
+<p>July 10th.&mdash;Clouds of dust hindered my making any remarks on the
+exterior of this celebrated city; but if its appearance be not more
+beautiful from without than within, I defy the most courteous compiler
+of geographical dictionaries to launch forth very warmly in its praise.
+But of what avail are stately palaces, broad streets, or airy markets,
+to a town which can boast of such a treasure as the bodies of those
+three wise sovereigns who were star-led to<a name="page_vol_1_043" id="page_vol_1_043"></a> Bethlehem? Is not this
+circumstance enough to procure it every kind of respect? I really
+believe so, from the pious and dignified contentment of its inhabitants.
+They care not a hair of an ass’s ear whether their houses be gloomy and
+ill-contrived, their pavements overgrown with weeds, and their shops
+half choked up with filthiness, provided the carcasses of Gaspar,
+Melchior, and Balthazar might be preserved with proper decorum. Nothing,
+to be sure, can be richer than the shrine which contains these precious
+relics. I paid my devotions before it the moment I arrived; this step
+was inevitable: had I omitted it, not a soul in Cologne but would have
+cursed me for a Pagan.</p>
+
+<p>Do you not wonder at hearing of these venerable bodies so far from their
+native country? I thought them snug under some Arabian cupola ten feet
+deep in spice; but who can tell what is to become of one a few ages
+hence? Who knows but the Emperor of Morocco may be canonized some future
+day in Lapland? I asked, of course, how in the name of miracles they
+came hither? but found no story of a supernatural conveyance. It seems
+that great collectress of relics, the holy Empress Helena, first routed
+them out: then<a name="page_vol_1_044" id="page_vol_1_044"></a> they were packed off to Rome. King Alaric, having no
+grace, bundled them down to Milan; where they remained till it pleased
+Heaven to inspire an ancient archbishop with the fervent wish of
+depositing them at Cologne; there these skeletons were taken into the
+most especial consideration, crowned with jewels and filigreed with
+gold. Never were skulls more elegantly mounted; and I doubt whether
+Odin’s buffet could exhibit so fine an assortment. The chapel containing
+these beatified bones is placed in a dark extremity of the cathedral.
+Several golden lamps gleam along the polished marbles with which it is
+adorned, and afford just light enough to read the following monkish
+inscription:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="c">“CORPORA SANCTORUM RECUBANT HIC TERNA MAGORUM:<br />
+EX HIS SUBLATUM NIHIL EST ALIBIVE LOCATUM.”</p>
+
+<p>After I had satisfied my curiosity with respect to the peregrinations of
+the consecrated skeletons, I examined their shrine; and was rather
+surprised to find it not only enriched with barbaric gold and pearl, but
+covered with cameos and intaglios of the best antique sculpture. Many an
+impious emperor and gross Silenus, many a wanton nymph and frantic
+bacchanal, figure in the same range with the statues of<a name="page_vol_1_045" id="page_vol_1_045"></a> saints and
+evangelists. How St. Helena could tolerate such a mixed assembly (for
+the shrine, they say, was formed under her auspices) surpasses my
+comprehension. Perhaps you will say, it is no great matter; and give me
+a hint to move out of the chapel, lest the three kings and their star
+should lead me quite out of my way. Very well; I think I had better stop
+in time, to tell you, without further excursion, that we set off after
+dinner for Bonn.</p>
+
+<p>Our road-side was lined with beggarly children, high convent walls, and
+scarecrow crucifixes, lubberly monks, dejected peasants, and all the
+delights of Catholicism. Such scenery not engaging a share of my
+attention, I kept gazing at the azure irregular mountains which bounded
+our view, and in thought was already transported to their summits. Vast
+and wild were the prospects I surveyed from my imaginary exaltation, and
+innumerable the chimeras which trotted in my brain. Under their
+capricious influence my fancy built castles and capitols in the clouds
+with all the extravaganza of Piranesi. The magnificence and variety of
+my aërial structures hindered my thinking the way long. I was walking
+with a crowd of phantoms upon<a name="page_vol_1_046" id="page_vol_1_046"></a> their terraces, when the carriage made a
+halt. Immediately descending the innumerable flights of steps which
+divide such lofty edifices from the lower world, I entered the inn at
+Bonn, and was shown into an apartment which commands the chief front of
+the Elector’s residence. You may guess how contemptible it appeared to
+one just returned from palaces bedecked with all the pomp of visionary
+splendour. In other respects I saw it at a very favourable moment, for
+the twilight, shading the whole façade, concealed its plastered walls
+and painted columns.<a name="page_vol_1_047" id="page_vol_1_047"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_VII-low" id="LETTER_VII-low"></a>LETTER VII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Borders of the Rhine.&mdash;Richly picturesque road from Bonn to
+Andernach.&mdash;Scheme for a floating village.&mdash;Coblentz.&mdash;A winding
+valley.&mdash;The river Lahn.&mdash;Ems.&mdash;The planet.&mdash;A supposed
+Apparition.&mdash;A little sequestered Paradise.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">July 11, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>L<small>ET</small> those who delight in picturesque country repair to the borders of
+the Rhine, and follow the road from Bonn to Coblentz. In some places it
+is suspended like a cornice above the waters; in others, it winds behind
+lofty steeps and broken acclivities, shaded by woods and clothed with an
+endless variety of plants and flowers. Several green paths lead amongst
+this vegetation to the summits of the rocks, which often serve as the
+foundation of abbeys and castles, whose lofty roofs and spires, rising
+above the cliffs, impress passengers with ideas of their<a name="page_vol_1_048" id="page_vol_1_048"></a> grandeur, that
+might probably vanish upon a nearer approach. Not choosing to lose any
+prejudice in their favour, I kept a respectful distance whenever I left
+my carriage, and walked on the banks of the river.</p>
+
+<p>Just before we came to Andernach, an antiquated town with strange
+morisco-looking towers, I spied a raft, at least three hundred feet in
+length, on which ten or twelve cottages were erected, and a great many
+people employed in sawing wood. The women sat spinning at their doors,
+whilst their children played among the water-lilies that bloomed in
+abundance on the edge of the stream. A smoke, rising from one of these
+aquatic habitations, partially obscured the mountains beyond, and added
+not a little to their effect.</p>
+
+<p>Altogether, the scene was so novel and amusing, that I sat half an hour
+contemplating it from an eminence under the shade of some leafy walnuts;
+and should like extremely to build a moveable village, people it with my
+friends, and so go floating about from island to island, and from one
+woody coast of the Rhine to another. Would you dislike such a party?<a name="page_vol_1_049" id="page_vol_1_049"></a> I
+am much deceived, or you would be the first to explore the shady
+promontories beneath which we should be wafted along.</p>
+
+<p>But I do not think you would find Coblentz, where we were obliged to
+take up our night’s lodging, much to your taste. It is a mean, dirty
+assemblage of plastered houses, striped with paint, and set off with
+wooden galleries, in the delectable taste of old St. Giles’s. Above, on
+a rock, stands the palace of the Elector, which seems to be remarkable
+for nothing except situation. I did not bestow many looks on this
+structure whilst ascending the mountain across which our road to Mayence
+conducted us.</p>
+
+<p>July 12.&mdash;Having attained the summit, we discovered a vast, irregular
+range of country, and advancing, found ourselves amongst downs purpled
+with thyme and bounded by forests. This sort of prospect extending for
+several leagues, I walked on the turf, and inhaled with avidity the
+fresh gales that blew over its herbage, till I came to a steep slope
+overgrown with privet and a variety of luxuriant shrubs in blossom. A
+cloudless sky and bright sunshine made<a name="page_vol_1_050" id="page_vol_1_050"></a> me rather loth to move on; but
+the charms of the landscape, increasing every instant, drew me forward.</p>
+
+<p>I had not gone far, before a winding valley discovered itself, inclosed
+by rocks and mountains clothed to their very summits with the thickest
+woods. A broad river, flowing at the base of the cliffs, reflected the
+impending vegetation, and looked so calm and glassy that I was
+determined to be better acquainted with it. For this purpose we
+descended by a zigzag path into the vale, and making the best of our way
+on the banks of the Lahn (for so is the river called) came suddenly upon
+the town of Ems, famous in mineral story; where, finding very good
+lodgings, we took up our abode, and led an Indian life amongst the wilds
+and mountains.</p>
+
+<p>After supper I walked on a smooth lawn by the river, to observe the moon
+journeying through a world of silver clouds that lay dispersed over the
+face of the heavens. It was a mild genial evening; every mountain cast
+its broad shadow on the surface of the stream; lights twinkled afar off
+on the hills; they burnt<a name="page_vol_1_051" id="page_vol_1_051"></a> in silence. All were asleep, except a female
+figure in white, with glow-worms shining in her hair. She kept moving
+disconsolately about; sometimes I heard her sigh; and if apparitions
+sigh, this must have been an apparition.</p>
+
+<p>July 13.&mdash;The pure air of the morning invited me abroad at an early
+hour. Hiring a skiff, I rowed about a mile down the stream, and landed
+on a sloping meadow, level with the waters, and newly mown. Heaps of hay
+still lay dispersed under the copses which hemmed in on every side this
+little sequestered paradise. What a spot for a tent! I could encamp here
+for months, and never be tired. Not a day would pass by without
+discovering some untrodden pasture, some unsuspected vale, where I might
+remain among woods and precipices lost and forgotten. I would give you,
+and two or three more, the clue of my labyrinth: nobody else should be
+conscious even of its entrance. Full of such agreeable dreams, I rambled
+about the meads, scarcely aware which way I was going; sometimes a
+spangled fly led me astray, and, oftener, my own strange fancies.
+Between both, I was perfectly bewildered, and should never<a name="page_vol_1_052" id="page_vol_1_052"></a> have found
+my boat again, had not an old German naturalist, who was collecting
+fossils on the cliffs, directed me to it.</p>
+
+<p>When I got home it was growing late, and I now began to perceive that I
+had taken no refreshment, except the perfume of the hay and a few wood
+strawberries; airy diet, you will observe, for one not yet received into
+the realms of Ginnistan.<a name="page_vol_1_053" id="page_vol_1_053"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_VIII-low" id="LETTER_VIII-low"></a>LETTER VIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Inveterate Idlers.&mdash;The planet Orloff and his satellites.&mdash;A
+Storm&mdash;Scared women.&mdash;A dreary Forest.&mdash;Village of
+Wiesbaden.&mdash;Manheim.&mdash;Ulm.&mdash;The Danube&mdash;unlimited plains on its
+margin.&mdash;Augsburg.&mdash;Sketch of the Town.&mdash;Pomposities of the Town
+House.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Ems, July 14.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>HAVE</small> just made a discovery, that this place is as full of idlers and
+water-drinkers as their Highnesses of Orange and Hesse Darmstadt can
+desire; for to them accrue all the profits of its salubrious fountains.
+I protest, I knew nothing of all this yesterday, so entirely was I taken
+up with the rocks and meadows; and conceived no chance of meeting either
+card or billiard players in their solitudes. Both however abound at Ems,
+unconscious of the bold scenery in their neighbourhood, and totally
+insensible to its charms. They had no notion, not they, of admiring
+barren crags and precipices, where even<a name="page_vol_1_054" id="page_vol_1_054"></a> the Lord would lose his way, as
+a clumsy lubber decorated with stars and orders very ingeniously
+observed to me; nor could they form the least conception of any pleasure
+there was in climbing like a goat amongst the cliffs, and then diving
+into woods and recesses where the sun had never penetrated; where there
+were neither card-tables prepared nor sideboards garnished; no <i>jambon
+de Mayence</i> in waiting; no supply of pipes, nor any of the commonest
+delights, to be met with in the commonest taverns.</p>
+
+<p>To all this I acquiesced with most perfect submission, but immediately
+left the orator to entertain a circle of antiquated dames and
+weather-beaten officers who were gathering around him. Scarcely had I
+turned my back upon this polite assembly, when <i>Monsieur
+l’Administrateur des bains</i>, a fine pompous fellow, who had been <i>maitre
+d’hôtel</i> in a great German family, came forward purposely to acquaint
+me, I suppose, that their baths had the honour of possessing Prince
+Orloff, “<i>avec sa crande maidresse, son shamperlan, et guelgues tames
+donneur</i>:” moreover, that his Highness came hither to refresh himself
+after his laborious employments at the Court of St. Petersburgh, and
+expected (<i>grace aux<a name="page_vol_1_055" id="page_vol_1_055"></a> eaux</i>!) to return to the domains his august
+sovereign had lately bestowed upon him, perfectly regenerated.</p>
+
+<p>Wishing Monsieur d’Orloff all possible success, I should have left the
+company at a greater distance, had not a violent shower stopped my
+career, and obliged me to return to my apartment. The rain growing
+heavier, intercepted the prospect of the mountains, and spread such a
+gloom over the vale as sank my spirits fifty degrees; to which a close
+foggy atmosphere not a little contributed. Towards night the clouds
+assumed a more formidable aspect; thunder rolled along the distant
+cliffs, and torrents began to run down the steeps. At intervals a blue
+flash of lightning discovered the agitated surface of the stream, and
+two or three scared women rushing through the storm, and calling all the
+saints in Paradise to their assistance.</p>
+
+<p>Things were in this state, when the orator who had harangued so
+brilliantly on the folly of ascending mountains, bounced into the room,
+and regaled my ears with a woeful narration of murders which had
+happened the other day on the precise road I was to follow the next
+morning.<a name="page_vol_1_056" id="page_vol_1_056"></a></p>
+
+<p>“Sir,” said he, “your route is, to be sure, very perilous: on the left
+you have a chasm, down which, should your horses take the smallest
+alarm, you are infallibly precipitated; to the right hangs an impervious
+wood, and there, sir, I can assure you, are wolves enough to devour a
+regiment; a little farther on, you cross a desolate tract of forest
+land, the roads so deep and broken, that if you go ten paces in as many
+minutes you may think yourself fortunate. There lurk the most savage
+banditti in Europe, lately irritated by the Prince of Orange’s
+proscription; and so desperate, that if they make an attack, you can
+expect no mercy. Should you venture through this hazardous district
+to-morrow, you will, in all probability, meet a company of people who
+have just left the town to search for the mangled bodies of their
+relations; but, for Heaven’s sake, sir, if you value your life, do not
+suffer an idle curiosity to lead you over such dangerous regions,
+however picturesque their appearance.”</p>
+
+<p>It was almost nine o’clock before my kind adviser ceased inspiring me
+with terrors; then, finding myself at liberty, I retired to bed, not
+under the most agreeable impressions.<a name="page_vol_1_057" id="page_vol_1_057"></a></p>
+
+<p>Early in the morning we set forward; and proceeding along the edge of
+the precipices I had been forewarned of, journeyed through the forest
+which had so recently been the scene of murders and depredations. At
+length, after winding several hours amongst its dreary avenues, we
+emerged into open daylight. A few minutes more brought us safe to the
+village of Wiesbaden, where we slept in peace and tranquillity.</p>
+
+<p>July 16.&mdash;Our apprehensions being entirely dispersed, we rose much
+refreshed; and passing through Mayence, Oppenheim, and Worms, travelled
+gaily over the plain in which Manheim is situated. The sun set before we
+arrived there.</p>
+
+<p>Numbers of well-dressed people were amusing themselves with music and
+fireworks in the squares and open spaces; other groups appeared
+conversing in circles before their doors, and enjoying the serenity of
+the evening. Almost every window bloomed with carnations; and we could
+hardly cross a street without hearing the sound of music. A scene of
+such happiness and refinement formed a most agreeable contrast to the
+dismalities we had left behind. All<a name="page_vol_1_058" id="page_vol_1_058"></a> around was security and contentment
+in their most engaging attire.</p>
+
+<p>July 20.&mdash;After travelling a post or two, we came in sight of a green
+moor, of vast extent, with insulated woods and villages; here and there
+the Danube sweeping majestically along, and the city of Ulm rising upon
+its banks. The fields in the neighbourhood of the town were overspread
+with cloths bleaching in the sun, and waiting for barks, which convey
+them down the great river in twelve days to Vienna, and thence, through
+Hungary, into the midst of the Turkish empire.</p>
+
+<p>You never saw a brighter sky nor more glowing clouds than those which
+gilded our horizon. For ten miles we beheld no other objects than smooth
+unlimited levels interspersed with thickets of oak, beyond which
+appeared a long series of mountains. Such were the very spots for
+youthful games and exercises, open spaces for the race, and spreading
+shades to skreen the spectators.</p>
+
+<p>Father Lafiteau tells us, there are many such vast and flowery Savannahs
+in the interior of America, to which the roving tribes of Indians<a name="page_vol_1_059" id="page_vol_1_059"></a>
+repair once or twice in a century to settle the rights of the chase, and
+lead their solemn dances; and so deep an impression do these assemblies
+leave on the minds of the savages, that the highest ideas they entertain
+of future felicity consist in the perpetual enjoyment of songs and
+dances upon the green boundless lawns of their elysium. In the midst of
+these visionary plains rises the abode of Ateantsic, encircled by choirs
+of departed chieftains leaping in cadence to the sound of spears as they
+ring on the shell of the tortoise. Their favourite attendants, long
+separated from them while on earth, are restored again in this ethereal
+region, and skim freely over the vast level space; now, hailing one
+group of beloved friends; and now, another. Mortals newly ushered by
+death into this world of pure blue sky and boundless meads, see the
+long-lost objects of their affection advancing to meet them, whilst
+flights of familiar birds, the purveyors of many an earthly chase, once
+more attend their progress, and the shades of their faithful dogs seem
+coursing each other below. The whole region is filled with low murmurs
+and tinkling sounds, which increase in melody as its<a name="page_vol_1_060" id="page_vol_1_060"></a> new denizens
+proceed, who, at length, unable to resist the thrilling music, spring
+forward in ecstasies to join the eternal round.</p>
+
+<p>A share of this celestial transport seemed communicated to me whilst my
+eyes wandered over the plains, which imagination widened and extended in
+proportion as the twilight prevailed, and so fully abandoned was I to
+the illusion of the moment, that I did not for several minutes perceive
+our arrival at Günzburg; whence we proceeded the next morning (July 21)
+to Augsburg, and rambled about this renowned city till evening. The
+colossal paintings on the walls of almost every considerable building
+gave it a strange air, which pleases upon the score of novelty.</p>
+
+<p>Having passed a number of streets decorated in this exotic manner, we
+found ourselves suddenly before the public hall, by a noble statue of
+Augustus; which way soever we turned, our eyes met some remarkable
+edifice, or marble basin into which several groups of sculptured
+river-gods pour a profusion of waters. These stately fountains and
+bronze statues, the extraordinary size and loftiness of the buildings,
+the towers rising in perspective, and the Doric portal of the
+town-house, answered in some measure<a name="page_vol_1_061" id="page_vol_1_061"></a> the idea Montfaucon gives us of
+the scene of an ancient tragedy. Whenever a pompous Flemish painter
+attempts a representation of Troy or Babylon, and displays in his
+back-ground those streets of palaces described in the Iliad, Augsburg,
+or some such city, may easily be traced. Frequently a corner of Antwerp
+discovers itself; and sometimes, above a Corinthian portico, rises a
+Gothic spire: just such a jumble may be viewed from the statue of
+Augustus, under which I remained till the concierge came, who was to
+open the gates of the town-house and show me its magnificent hall.</p>
+
+<p>I wished for you exceedingly when ascending a flight of a hundred steps;
+I entered it through a portal, supported by tall pillars and crowned
+with a majestic pediment. Upon advancing, I discovered five more
+entrances equally grand, with golden figures of guardian genii leaning
+over the entablature; and saw, through a range of windows, each above
+thirty feet high, and nearly level with the marble pavement, the whole
+city, with all its roofs and spires, beneath my feet. The pillars,
+cornices, and panels of this striking apartment are uniformly tinged
+with brown and gold; and the ceiling, enriched with emblematical<a name="page_vol_1_062" id="page_vol_1_062"></a>
+paintings and innumerable canopies and pendents of carved work, casts a
+very magisterial shade. Upon the whole, I should not be surprised at a
+burgomaster assuming a formidable dignity in such a room.</p>
+
+<p>I must confess it had a somewhat similar effect upon me; and I descended
+the flight of steps with as much pomposity as if on the point of giving
+audience to the Queen of Sheba. It happened to be a high festival, and
+half the inhabitants of Augsburg were gathered together in the opening
+before their hall; the greatest numbers, especially the women, still
+exhibiting the very dresses which Hollar engraved. My lofty gait imposed
+upon this primitive assembly, which receded to give me passage with as
+much silent respect as if I had really been the wise sovereign of
+Israel. When I got home, an execrable sourcroutish supper was served up
+to my majesty; I scolded in an unroyal style, and soon convinced myself
+I was no longer Solomon.<a name="page_vol_1_063" id="page_vol_1_063"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_IX-low" id="LETTER_IX-low"></a>LETTER IX.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Extensive woods of fir in Bavaria.&mdash;Grand fair at Munich.&mdash;The
+Elector’s country palace.&mdash;Court
+Ladies.&mdash;Fountains.&mdash;Costume.&mdash;Garden and tea-room.&mdash;Hoydening
+festivities there.&mdash;The Palace and Chapel.&mdash;Gorgeous riches of the
+latter.&mdash;St. Peter’s thumb.&mdash;The Elector’s collection of
+pictures.&mdash;The Churches.&mdash;Hubbub and confusion of the Fair.&mdash;Wild
+tract of country.&mdash;Village of Wolfrathshausen.&mdash;Perpetual
+forests.&mdash;A Tempest.&mdash;A night at a cottage.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">July 22.</p>
+
+<p>J<small>OY</small> to the Electors of Bavaria! for preserving such extensive woods of
+fir in their dominions as shade over the chief part of the road from
+Augsburg to Munich. Near the last-mentioned city, I cannot boast of the
+scenery changing to advantage. Instead of flourishing woods and verdure,
+we beheld a parched dreary flat, diversified by fields of withering
+barley, and stunted avenues drawn formally across them; now and then a
+stagnant pool, and sometimes a dunghill, by way of regale. However, the
+wild rocks of<a name="page_vol_1_064" id="page_vol_1_064"></a> the Tyrol terminate the view, and to them imagination may
+fly, and ramble amidst springs and lilies of her own creation. I speak
+from authority, having had the delight of anticipating an evening in
+this romantic style.</p>
+
+<p>Tuesday next is the grand fair at Munich, with horse-races and
+junketings: a piece of news I was but too soon acquainted with; for the
+moment we entered the town, good-natured creatures from all quarters
+advised us to get out of it; since traders and harlequins had filled
+every corner of the place, and there was not a lodging to be procured.
+The inns, to be sure, were hives of industrious animals sorting their
+merchandise, and preparing their goods for sale. Yet, in spite of
+difficulties, we got possession of a quiet apartment.</p>
+
+<p>July 23.&mdash;We were driven in the evening to Nymphenburg, the Elector’s
+country palace, the bosquets, jets-d’eaux, and parterres of which are
+the pride of the Bavarians. The principal platform is all of a glitter
+with gilded Cupids and shining serpents spouting at every pore. Beds of
+poppies, hollyhocks, scarlet lychnis, and other flame-coloured flowers,
+border the edge of the walks, which extend till the perspective appears<a name="page_vol_1_065" id="page_vol_1_065"></a>
+to meet and swarm with ladies and gentlemen in party-coloured raiment.
+The queen of Golconda’s gardens in a French opera are scarcely more
+gaudy and artificial. Unluckily too, the evening was fine, and the sun
+so powerful that we were half roasted before we could cross the great
+avenue and enter the thickets, which barely conceal a very splendid
+hermitage, where we joined Mr. and Mrs. Trevor, and a party of
+fashionable Bavarians.</p>
+
+<p>Amongst the ladies was Madame la Comtesse, I forget who, a production of
+the venerable Haslang, with her daughter, Madame de Baumgarten, who has
+the honour of leading the Elector in her chains. These goddesses
+stepping into a car, vulgarly called a cariole, the mortals followed and
+explored alley after alley and pavilion after pavilion. Then, having
+viewed Pagodenburg, which is, as they told me, all Chinese; and
+Marienburg, which is most assuredly all tinsel; we paraded by a variety
+of fountains in full squirt, and though they certainly did their best
+(for many were set agoing on purpose) I cannot say I greatly admired
+them.</p>
+
+<p>The ladies were very gaily attired, and the gentlemen, as smart as
+swords, bags, and pretty<a name="page_vol_1_066" id="page_vol_1_066"></a> clothes could make them, looked exactly like
+the fine people one sees represented on Dresden porcelain. Thus we kept
+walking genteelly about the orangery, till the carriage drew up and
+conveyed us to Mr. Trevor’s.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately after supper, we drove once more out of town, to a garden
+and tea-room, where all degrees and ages dance jovially together till
+morning. Whilst one party wheel briskly away in the waltz, another amuse
+themselves in a corner with cold meat and rhenish. That despatched, out
+they whisk amongst the dancers, with an impetuosity and liveliness I
+little expected to have found in Bavaria. After turning round and round,
+with a rapidity that is quite astounding to an English dancer, the music
+changes to a slower movement, and then follows a succession of zig-zag
+minuets, performed by old and young, straight and crooked, noble and
+plebeian, all at once, from one end of the room to the other. Tallow
+candles snuffing and stinking, dishes changing at the risk of showering
+down upon you their savoury contents, heads scratching, and all sorts of
+performances going forward at the same moment; the flutes, oboes, and
+bassoons, snorting, grunting, and whining<a name="page_vol_1_067" id="page_vol_1_067"></a> with peculiar emphasis; now
+fast, now slow, just as Variety commands, who seems to rule the
+ceremonial of this motley assembly, where every distinction of rank and
+privilege is totally forgotten. Once a week, on Sundays that is to say,
+the rooms are open, and Monday is generally far advanced before they are
+deserted. If good humour and coarse merriment are all that people
+desire, here they are to be found in perfection.</p>
+
+<p>July 24.&mdash;Custom condemned us to visit the palace, which glares with
+looking-glass, gilding, and furbelowed flounces of cut velvet, most
+sumptuously fringed and spangled. The chapel, though small, is richer
+than anything Crœsus ever possessed, let them say what they will. Not
+a corner but shines with gold, diamonds, and scraps of martyrdom studded
+with jewels. I had the delight of treading amethysts and the richest
+gems under foot, which, if you recollect, Apuleius<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> thinks such
+supreme felicity. Alas! I was quite unworthy of the honour, and had much
+rather have trodden the turf of the mountains. Mammon would never have
+taken his eyes off the pavement; mine soon left the contemplation<a name="page_vol_1_068" id="page_vol_1_068"></a> of it
+and fixed on St. Peter’s thumb, enshrined with a degree of elegance, and
+adorned by some malapert enthusiast with several of the most delicate
+antique cameos I ever beheld; the subjects, Ledas and sleeping Venuses,
+are a little too pagan, one should think, for an apostle’s finger.</p>
+
+<p>From this precious repository we were conducted through the public
+garden to a large hall, where part of the Elector’s collection is piled
+up, till a gallery can be finished for its reception. It was matter of
+great favour to view, in this state, the pieces that compose it, a very
+imperfect one too, since some of the best were under operation. But I
+would not upon any account have missed the sight of Rubens’s Massacre of
+the Innocents. Such expressive horrors were never yet transferred to
+canvass. Moloch himself might have gazed at them with pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>After dinner we were led round the churches; and if you are as much
+tired with reading my voluminous descriptions, as I was with the
+continual repetition of altars and reliquaries, the Lord have mercy upon
+you! However, your delivery draws near. The post is going out, and
+to-morrow we shall begin to mount the cliffs<a name="page_vol_1_069" id="page_vol_1_069"></a> of the Tyrol; but, do not
+be afraid of any long-winded epistles from their summits: I shall be too
+well employed in ascending them.</p>
+
+<p>July 25.&mdash;The noise of the people thronging to the fair did not allow me
+to slumber very long in the morning. When I got up, every street was
+crowded with Jews and mountebanks, holding forth and driving their
+bargains in all the guttural hoarseness of the Bavarian dialect. Vast
+quantities of rich merchandise glittered in the shops as we passed to
+the gates. Heaps of fruit and sweetmeats set half the grandams and
+infants in the place cackling with felicity.</p>
+
+<p>Mighty glad was I to make my escape; and in about an hour or two, we
+entered a wild tract of country, not unlike the skirts of a princely
+park. A little farther on stands a cluster of cottages, where we stopped
+to give our horses some refreshment, and were pestered with swarms of
+flies, most probably journeying to Munich fair, there to feast upon
+sugared tarts and honied gingerbread.</p>
+
+<p>The next post brought us over hill and dale, grove and meadow, to a
+narrow plain, watered by rivulets and surrounded by cliffs, under which
+lies scattered the village of Wolfrathshausen, consisting<a name="page_vol_1_070" id="page_vol_1_070"></a> of several
+remarkably large cottages, built entirely of fir, with strange galleries
+projecting from them. Nothing can be neater than the carpentry of these
+complicated edifices, nor more solid than their construction; many of
+them looked as if they had braved the torrents which fell from the
+mountains a century ago; and, if one may judge from the hoary appearance
+of the inhabitants, here are patriarchs coeval with their mansions.
+Orchards of cherry-trees cover the steeps above the village, which to
+our certain knowledge produce most admirable fruit.</p>
+
+<p>Having refreshed ourselves with their cooling juice, we struck into a
+grove of pines, the tallest and most flourishing we had yet beheld.
+There seemed no end to these forests, except where little irregular
+spots of herbage, fed by cattle, intervened. Whenever we gained an
+eminence it was only to discover more ranges of dark wood, variegated
+with meadows and glittering streams. White clover and a profusion of
+sweet-scented flowers clothe their banks; above, waves the mountain-ash,
+glowing with scarlet berries: and beyond, rise hills, rocks and
+mountains, piled upon one another, and fringed with fir to their topmost
+acclivities. Perhaps<a name="page_vol_1_071" id="page_vol_1_071"></a> the Norwegian forests alone, equal these in
+grandeur and extent. Those which cover the Swiss highlands rarely convey
+such vast ideas. There, the woods climb only half way up their ascents,
+which then are circumscribed by snows: here no boundaries are set to
+their progress, and the mountains, from base to summit, display rich
+unbroken masses of vegetation.</p>
+
+<p>As we were surveying this prospect, a thick cloud, fraught with thunder,
+obscured the horizon, whilst flashes of lightning startled our horses,
+whose snorts and stampings resounded through the woods. The impending
+tempests gave additional gloom to the firs, and we travelled several
+miles almost in total darkness. One moment the clouds began to fleet,
+and a faint gleam promised serener intervals, but the next was all
+blackness and terror; presently a deluge of rain poured down upon the
+valley, and in a short time the torrents beginning to swell, raged with
+such violence as to be forded with difficulty. Twilight drew on, just as
+we had passed the most terrible; then ascending a mountain, whose pines
+and birches rustled with the storm, we saw a little lake below. A deep
+azure haze veiled its eastern shore, and lowering vapours concealed<a name="page_vol_1_072" id="page_vol_1_072"></a> the
+cliffs to the south; but over its western extremities hung a few
+transparent clouds; the rays of a struggling sunset streamed on the
+surface of the waters, tingeing the brow of a green promontory with
+tender pink.</p>
+
+<p>I could not help fixing myself on the banks of the lake for several
+minutes, till this apparition faded away. Looking round, I shuddered at
+a craggy mountain, clothed with forests and almost perpendicular, that
+was absolutely to be surmounted before we could arrive at Walchen-see.
+No house, not even a shed appearing, we were forced to ascend the peak,
+and penetrate these awful groves. At length, after some perils but no
+adventure, we saw lights gleam upon the shore of the Walchen lake, which
+served to direct us to a cottage, where we passed the night, and were
+soon lulled to sleep by the fall of distant waters.<a name="page_vol_1_073" id="page_vol_1_073"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_X-low" id="LETTER_X-low"></a>LETTER X.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Mittenwald.&mdash;Mountain chapels.&mdash;Saint Anna’s young and fair
+worshippers.&mdash;Road to Inspruck.&mdash;Maximilian’s tomb.&mdash;Vast range of
+prospects.&mdash;A mountain torrent.&mdash;Schönberg.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">July 26.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> sun rose many hours before me, and when I got up was spangling the
+surface of the lake, which spreads itself between steeps of wood,
+crowned by lofty crags and pinnacles. We had an opportunity of
+contemplating this bold assemblage as we travelled on the banks of the
+lake, where it forms a bay sheltered by impending forests; the water,
+tinged by their reflection with a deep cerulean, calm and tranquil.
+Mountains of pine and beech rising above, close every outlet; and, no
+village or spire peeping out of the foliage, impress an idea of more
+than European solitude.<a name="page_vol_1_074" id="page_vol_1_074"></a></p>
+
+<p>From the shore of Walchen-see, our road led us straight through arching
+groves, which the axe seems never to have violated, to the summit of a
+rock covered with daphnes of various species, and worn by the course of
+torrents into innumerable craggy forms. Beneath, lay extended a chaos of
+shattered cliffs, with tall pines springing from their crevices, and
+rapid streams hurrying between their intermingled trunks and branches.
+As yet, no hut appeared, no mill, no bridge, no trace of human
+existence.</p>
+
+<p>After a few hours’ journey through the wilderness, we began to discover
+a wreath of smoke; and presently the cottage from whence it arose,
+composed of planks, and reared on the very brink of a precipice. Piles
+of cloven fir were dispersed before the entrance, on a little spot of
+verdure browsed by goats; near them sat an aged man with hoary whiskers,
+his white locks tucked under a fur cap. Two or three beautiful children
+with hair neatly braided, played around him; and a young woman dressed
+in a short robe and Polish-looking bonnet, peeped out of a wicket
+window.</p>
+
+<p>I was so much struck with the appearance of this sequestered family,
+that, crossing a rivulet,<a name="page_vol_1_075" id="page_vol_1_075"></a> I clambered up to their cottage and sought
+some refreshment. Immediately there was a contention amongst the
+children, who should be the first to oblige me. A little black-eyed girl
+succeeded, and brought me an earthen jug full of milk, with crumbled
+bread, and a platter of strawberries fresh picked from the bank. I
+reclined in the midst of my smiling hosts, and spread my repast on the
+turf: never could I be waited upon with more hospitable grace. The only
+thing I wanted was language to express my gratitude; and it was this
+deficiency which made me quit them so soon. The old man seemed visibly
+concerned at my departure; and his children followed me a long way down
+the rocks, talking in a dialect which passes all understanding, and
+waving their hands to bid me adieu.</p>
+
+<p>I had hardly lost sight of them and regained my carriage before we
+entered a forest of pines, to all appearance without bounds, of every
+age and figure; some, feathered to the ground with flourishing branches;
+others, decayed into shapes like Lapland idols. Even at noonday, I
+thought we should never have found our way out.</p>
+
+<p>At last, having descended a long avenue, endless<a name="page_vol_1_076" id="page_vol_1_076"></a> perspectives opening
+on either side, we emerged into a valley bounded by hills, divided into
+irregular inclosures, where many herds were grazing. A rivulet flows
+along the pastures beneath; and after winding through the village of
+Walgau, loses itself in a narrow pass amongst the cliffs and precipices
+which rise above the cultivated slopes and frame in this happy pastoral
+region. All the plain was in sunshine, the sky blue, the heights
+illuminated, except one rugged peak with spires of rock, shaped not
+unlike the views I have seen of Sinai, and wrapped, like that sacred
+mount, in clouds and darkness. At the base of this tremendous mass lies
+the hamlet of Mittenwald, surrounded by thickets and banks of verdure,
+and watered by frequent springs, whose sight and murmurs were so
+reviving in the midst of a sultry day, that we could not think of
+leaving their vicinity, but remained at Mittenwald the whole evening.</p>
+
+<p>Our inn had long airy galleries, with pleasant balconies fronting the
+mountain; in one of these we dined upon trout fresh from the rills, and
+cherries just culled from the orchards that cover the slopes above. The
+clouds were dispersing, and the topmost peak half visible, before we<a name="page_vol_1_077" id="page_vol_1_077"></a>
+ended our repast, every moment discovering some inaccessible cliff or
+summit, shining through the mists, and tinted by the sun, with pale
+golden colours. These appearances filled me with such delight and with
+such a train of romantic associations, that I left the table and ran to
+an open field beyond the huts and gardens to gaze in solitude and catch
+the vision before it dissolved away. You, if any human being is able,
+may conceive true ideas of the glowing vapours sailing over the pointed
+rocks, and brightening them in their passage with amber light.</p>
+
+<p>When all was faded and lost in the blue ether, I had time to look around
+me and notice the mead in which I was standing. Here, clover covered its
+surface; there, crops of grain; further on, beds of herbs and the
+sweetest flowers. An amphitheatre of hills and rocks, broken into a
+variety of glens and precipices, open a course for several clear
+rivulets, which, after gurgling amidst loose stones and fragments, fall
+down the steeps, and are concealed and quieted in the herbage of the
+vale.</p>
+
+<p>A cottage or two peep out of the woods that hang over the waterfalls;
+and on the brow of<a name="page_vol_1_078" id="page_vol_1_078"></a> the hills above, appears a series of eleven little
+chapels, uniformly built. I followed the narrow path that leads to them,
+on the edge of the eminences, and met a troop of beautiful peasants, all
+of the name of Anna (for it was St. Anna’s day) going to pay their
+devotion, severally, at these neat white fanes. There were faces that
+Guercino would not have disdained copying, with braids of hair the
+softest and most luxuriant I ever beheld. Some had wreathed it simply
+with flowers, others with rolls of a thin linen (manufactured in the
+neighbourhood), and disposed it with a degree of elegance one should not
+have expected on the cliffs of the Tyrol.</p>
+
+<p>Being arrived, they knelt all together at the first chapel, on the
+steps, a minute or two, whispered a short prayer, and then dispersed
+each to her fane. Every little building had now its fair worshipper, and
+you may well conceive how much such figures, scattered about the
+landscape, increased its charms. Notwithstanding the fervour of their
+adorations (for at intervals they sighed and beat their white bosoms
+with energy), several bewitching profane glances were cast at me as I
+passed by. Do not be surprised, then, if I became a convert to idolatry
+in<a name="page_vol_1_079" id="page_vol_1_079"></a> so amiable a form, and worshipped Saint Anna on the score of her
+namesakes.</p>
+
+<p>When got beyond the last chapel, I began to hear the roar of a cascade
+in a thick wood of beech and chestnut that clothes the steeps of a wide
+fissure in the rock. My ear soon guided me to its entrance, which was
+marked by a shed encompassed with mossy fragments and almost concealed
+by bushes of rhododendron in full red bloom&mdash;amongst these I struggled,
+till reaching a goat-track, it conducted me, on the brink of the foaming
+waters, to the very depths of the cliff, whence issues a stream which,
+dashing impetuously down, strikes against a ledge of rocks, and
+sprinkles the impending thicket with dew. Big drops hung on every spray,
+and glittered on the leaves partially gilt by the rays of the declining
+sun, whose mellow hues softened the rugged summits, and diffused a
+repose, a divine calm, over this deep retirement, which inclined me to
+imagine it the extremity of the earth&mdash;the portal of some other region
+of existence,&mdash;some happy world beyond the dark groves of pine, the
+caves and awful mountains, where the river takes its source! Impressed
+with this romantic idea, I hung eagerly over the gulph, and fancied I
+could<a name="page_vol_1_080" id="page_vol_1_080"></a> distinguish a voice bubbling up with the waters; then looked into
+the abyss and strained my eyes to penetrate its gloom&mdash;but all was dark
+and unfathomable as futurity! Awakening from my reverie, I felt the
+damps of the water chill my forehead; and ran shivering out of the vale
+to avoid them. A warmer atmosphere, that reigned in the meads I had
+wandered across before, tempted me to remain a good while longer
+collecting dianthi freaked with beautifully varied colours, and a
+species of white thyme scented like myrrh. Whilst I was thus employed, a
+confused murmur struck my ear, and, on turning towards a cliff, backed
+by the woods from whence the sound seemed to proceed, forth issued a
+herd of goats, hundreds after hundreds, skipping down the steeps: then
+followed two shepherd boys, gamboling together as they drove their
+creatures along: soon after, the dog made his appearance, hunting a
+stray heifer which brought up the rear. I followed them with my eyes
+till lost in the windings of the valley, and heard the tinkling of their
+bells die gradually away. Now the last blush of crimson left the summit
+of <i>Sinai</i>, inferior mountains being long since cast in deep blue shade.
+The village was<a name="page_vol_1_081" id="page_vol_1_081"></a> already hushed when I regained it, and in a few moments
+I followed its example.</p>
+
+<p>July 27.&mdash;We pursued our journey to Inspruck, through the wildest scenes
+of wood and mountain, where the rocks were now beginning to assume a
+loftier and more majestic appearance, and to glisten with snows. I had
+proposed passing a day or two at Inspruck, visiting the castle of
+Embras, and examining Count Eysenberg’s cabinet, enriched with the
+rarest productions of the mineral kingdom, and a complete collection of
+the moths and flies peculiar to the Tyrol; but, upon my arrival, the
+azure of the skies and the brightness of the sunshine inspired me with
+an irresistible wish of hastening to Italy. I was now too near the
+object of my journey, to delay possession any longer than absolutely
+necessary, so, casting a transient look on Maximilian’s tomb, and the
+bronze statues of Tyrolese Counts, and worthies, solemnly ranged in the
+church of the Franciscans, set off immediately.</p>
+
+<p>We crossed a broad noble street, terminated by a triumphal arch, and
+were driven along the road to the foot of a mountain waving with fields
+of corn, and variegated with wood and<a name="page_vol_1_082" id="page_vol_1_082"></a> vineyards, encircling lawns of
+the finest verdure, scattered over with white houses. Upon ascending the
+mount, and beholding a vast range of prospects of a similar character, I
+almost repented my impatience, and looked down with regret upon the
+cupolas and steeples we were leaving behind. But the rapid succession of
+lovely and romantic scenes soon effaced the former from my memory.</p>
+
+<p>Our road, the smoothest in the world (though hewn in the bosom of rocks)
+by its sudden turns and windings, gave us, every instant, opportunities
+of discovering new villages, and forests rising beyond forests; green
+spots in the midst of wood, high above on the mountains, and cottages
+perched on the edge of promontories. Down, far below, in the chasm,
+amidst a confusion of pines and fragments of stone, rages the torrent
+Inn, which fills the country far and wide with a perpetual murmur.
+Sometimes we descended to its brink, and crossed over high bridges;
+sometimes mounted halfway up the cliffs, till its roar and agitation
+became, through distance, inconsiderable.</p>
+
+<p>After a long ascent we reached Schönberg,<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> a<a name="page_vol_1_083" id="page_vol_1_083"></a> village well worthy of
+its appellation: and then, twilight drawing over us, began to descend.
+We could now but faintly discover the opposite mountains, veined with
+silver rills, when we came once more to the banks of the Inn. This
+turbulent stream accompanied us all the way to Steinach, and broke by
+its continual roar the stillness of the night, half spent, before we
+retired to rest.<a name="page_vol_1_084" id="page_vol_1_084"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XI-low" id="LETTER_XI-low"></a>LETTER XI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Steinach.&mdash;Its torrent and gloomy strait.&mdash;Achievements of
+Industry.&mdash;A sleepy Region.&mdash;Beautiful country round Brixen.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">July 28.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>ROSE</small> early to enjoy the fragrance of the vegetation, bathed in a
+shower which had lately fallen, and looking around me, saw nothing but
+crags hanging over crags, and the rocky shores of the stream, still dark
+with the shade of the mountains. The small opening in which Steinach is
+situated, terminates in a gloomy strait, scarce leaving room for the
+road and the torrent, which does not understand being thwarted, and will
+force its way, let the pines grow ever so thick, or the rocks be ever so
+formidable.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the forbidding air of this narrow dell, Industry has
+contrived to enliven its steeps with habitations, to raise water by
+means of a wheel, and to cover the surface of<a name="page_vol_1_085" id="page_vol_1_085"></a> the rocks with soil. By
+this means large crops of oats and flax are produced, and most of the
+huts have gardens filled with poppies, which seem to thrive in this
+parched situation.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">“Urit enim lini campum seges, urit avenæ,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Urunt Lethæo perfusa papavera somno.”<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The farther we advanced in the dell, the larger were the plantations
+which discovered themselves. For what specific purpose these gaudy
+flowers meet with such encouragement, I had neither time nor language to
+enquire; the mountaineers stuttering a gibberish unintelligible even to
+Germans. Probably opium is extracted from them; or, perhaps, if you love
+a conjecture, Morpheus has transferred his abode from the Cimmerians to
+a cavern somewhere or other in the recesses of these endless mountains.
+Poppies, you know, in poetic travels, always denote the skirts of his
+soporific reign, and I do not remember a region better calculated for
+undisturbed repose than the narrow clefts and gullies which run up
+amongst these rocks, lost in vapours impervious to the sun, and
+moistened by rills and showers, whose continual trickling inspire a
+drowsiness not easily to be resisted. Add to these circumstances the
+waving of the pines,<a name="page_vol_1_086" id="page_vol_1_086"></a> and the hum of bees seeking their food in the
+crevices, and you will have as sleepy a region as that in which Spenser
+and Ariosto have placed the nodding deity.</p>
+
+<p>But we may as well keep our eyes open for the present, and look at the
+beautiful country round Brixen, where I arrived in the cool of the
+evening, and breathed the freshness of a garden immediately beneath my
+window. The thrushes, which nest amongst its shades, saluted me the
+moment I awoke next morning.<a name="page_vol_1_087" id="page_vol_1_087"></a></p>
+
+<h2><a name="ITALY" id="ITALY"></a>ITALY.<a name="page_vol_1_089" id="page_vol_1_089"></a><a name="page_vol_2_088" id="page_vol_2_088"></a></h2>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_I-italy" id="LETTER_I-italy"></a>LETTER I.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Bolsano.&mdash;Indications of approaching
+Italy.&mdash;Fire-flies.&mdash;Appearance of the Peasantry.&mdash;A forest
+Lake.&mdash;Arrive at Borgo di Volsugano.&mdash;Prospect of Hills in the
+Venetian State.&mdash;Gorgeous Flies.&mdash;Fortress of Covalo.&mdash;Leave the
+country of crags and precipices and enter the territory of the
+Bassanese.&mdash;Groves of olives and vines.&mdash;Classic appearance of
+Bassano.&mdash;Happy groups.&mdash;Pachierotti, the celebrated
+singer.&mdash;Anecdote of him.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">July 29, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>W<small>E</small> proceeded over fertile mountains to Bolsano. It was here first that I
+noticed the rocks cut into terraces, thick set with melons and Indian
+corn; fig-trees and pomegranates hanging over garden walls, clustered
+with fruit. In the evening we perceived several further indications of
+approaching Italy; and after sun-set the Adige, rolling its full tide
+between precipices, which looked terrific in the dusk. Myriads of
+fire-flies sparkled amongst the shrubs on<a name="page_vol_1_090" id="page_vol_1_090"></a> the bank. I traced the course
+of these exotic insects by their blue light, now rising to the summits
+of the trees, now sinking to the ground, and associating with vulgar
+glow-worms. We had opportunities enough to remark their progress, since
+we travelled all night; such being my impatience to reach the promised
+land!</p>
+
+<p>Morning dawned just as we saw Trent dimly before us. I slept a few
+hours, then set out again (July 30th), after the heats were in some
+measure abated, and leaving Bergine, where the peasants were feasting
+before their doors, in their holiday dresses, with red pinks stuck in
+their ears instead of rings, and their necks surrounded with coral of
+the same colour, we came through a woody valley to the banks of a lake,
+filled with the purest and most transparent water, which loses itself in
+shady creeks, amongst hills entirely covered with shrubs and verdure.</p>
+
+<p>The shores present one continual thicket, interspersed with knots of
+larches and slender almonds, starting from the underwood. A cornice of
+rock runs round the whole, except where the trees descend to the very
+brink, and dip their boughs in the water.</p>
+
+<p>It was six o’clock when I caught the sight of<a name="page_vol_1_091" id="page_vol_1_091"></a> this unsuspected lake,
+and the evening shadows stretched nearly across it. Gaining a very rapid
+ascent, we looked down upon its placid bosom, and saw several airy peaks
+rising above tufted foliage. I quitted the contemplation of them with
+regret, and, in a few hours, arrived at Borgo di Volsugano; the scene of
+the lake still present before the eye of my fancy.</p>
+
+<p>July 31st.&mdash;My heart beat quick when I saw some hills, not very distant,
+which I was told lay in the Venetian State, and I thought an age, at
+least, had elapsed before we were passing their base. The road was never
+formed to delight an impatient traveller; loose pebbles and rolling
+stones render it, in the highest degree, tedious and jolting. I should
+not have spared my execrations, had it not traversed a picturesque
+valley, overgrown with juniper, and strewed with fragments of rock,
+precipitated, long since, from the surrounding eminences, blooming with
+cyclamens.</p>
+
+<p>I clambered up several of these crags,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Fra gli odoriferi ginepri,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p class="nind">to gather the flowers I have just mentioned, and found them deliciously
+scented. Fratillarias,<a name="page_vol_1_092" id="page_vol_1_092"></a> and the most gorgeous flies, many of which I
+here noticed for the first time, were fluttering about and expanding
+their wings to the sun. There is no describing the numbers I beheld, nor
+their gaily varied colouring. I could not find in my heart to destroy
+their felicity; to scatter their bright plumage and snatch them for ever
+from the realms of light and flowers. Had I been less compassionate, I
+should have gained credit with that respectable corps, the torturers of
+butterflies; and might, perhaps, have enriched their cabinets with some
+unknown captives. However, I left them imbibing the dews of heaven, in
+free possession of their native rights; and having changed horses at
+Tremolano, entered at length my long-desired Italy.</p>
+
+<p>The pass is rocky and tremendous, guarded by the fortress of Covalo, in
+possession of the empress queen, and only fit, one should think, to be
+inhabited by her eagles. There is no attaining this exalted hold but by
+the means of a cord let down many fathoms by the soldiers, who live in
+dens and caverns, which serve also as arsenals, and magazines for
+powder; whose mysteries I declined prying into, their approach being a
+little too aërial for my earthly frame. A black<a name="page_vol_1_093" id="page_vol_1_093"></a> vapour, tinging their
+entrance, completed the romance of the prospect, which I never shall
+forget.</p>
+
+<p>For two or three leagues there was little variation in the scenery;
+cliffs, nearly perpendicular on both sides, and the Brenta foaming and
+thundering below. Beyond, the rocks began to be mantled with vines and
+gardens. Here and there a cottage shaded with mulberries, made its
+appearance, and we often discovered, on the banks of the river, ranges
+of white buildings, with courts and awnings, beneath which numbers of
+women and children were employed in manufacturing silk. As we advanced,
+the stream gradually widened, and the rocks receded; woods were more
+frequent and cottages thicker strown.</p>
+
+<p>About five in the evening we left the country of crags and precipices,
+of mists and cataracts, and were entering the fertile territory of the
+Bassanese. It was now I beheld groves of olives, and vines clustering
+the summits of the tallest elms; pomegranates in every garden, and vases
+of citron and orange before almost every door. The softness and
+transparency of the air soon told me I was arrived in happier climates;
+and I felt sensations of joy and novelty run through<a name="page_vol_1_094" id="page_vol_1_094"></a> my veins, upon
+beholding this smiling land of groves and verdure stretched out before
+me. A few hazy vapours, I can hardly call them clouds, rested upon the
+extremities of the landscape; and, through their medium, the sun cast an
+oblique and dewy ray. Peasants were returning home, singing as they
+went, and calling to each other over the hills; whilst the women were
+milking goats before the wickets of the cottage, and preparing their
+country fare.</p>
+
+<p>I left them enjoying it, and soon beheld the ancient ramparts and
+cypresses of Bassano; whose classic appearance recalled the memory of
+former times, and answered exactly the ideas I had pictured to myself of
+Italian edifices. Though encompassed by walls and turrets, neither
+soldiers nor custom-house officers start out from their concealment, to
+question and molest a weary traveller, for such is the happiness of the
+Venetian state, at least of the terra firma provinces, that it does not
+contain, I believe, above four regiments. Istria, Dalmatia, and the
+maritime frontiers, are more formidably guarded, as they touch, you
+know, the whiskers of the Turkish empire.</p>
+
+<p>Passing under a Doric gateway, we crossed the<a name="page_vol_1_095" id="page_vol_1_095"></a> chief part of the town in
+the way to our locanda, pleasantly situated, and commanding a level
+green, where people walk and take ices by moonlight. On the right, the
+Franciscan church, and convent, half hid in the religious gloom of pine
+and cypress; to the left, a perspective of walls and towers rising from
+the turf, and marking it, when I arrived, with long shadows, in front;
+where the lawn terminates, meadow, wood, and garden run quite to the
+base of the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>Twilight coming on, this beautiful spot swarmed with company, sitting in
+circles upon the grass, refreshing themselves with fruit and sherbets,
+or lounging upon the bank beneath the towers. They looked so free and
+happy that I longed to be acquainted with them; and, thanks to a
+warm-hearted old Venetian, (the Senator Querini,) was introduced to a
+group of the principal inhabitants. Our conversation ended in a promise
+to meet the next evening at the villa of La Contessa Roberti, about a
+league from Bassano, and then to return together and sing to the praise
+of Pachierotti, their idol, as well as mine.</p>
+
+<p>You can have no idea what pleasure we mutually found in being of the
+same faith, and believing in one singer; nor can you imagine what<a name="page_vol_1_096" id="page_vol_1_096"></a>
+effects that musical divinity produced at Padua, where he performed a
+few years ago, and threw his audience into such raptures, that it was
+some time before they recovered. One in particular, a lady of
+distinction, fainted away the instant she caught the pathetic accents of
+his voice, and was near dying a martyr to its melody. La Contessa, who
+sings in the truest taste, gave me a detail of the whole affair. “Egli
+ha fatto veramente un fanatismo a Padua,” was her expression. I assured
+her we were not without idolatry in England, upon his account; but that
+in this, as well as in other articles of belief, there were many
+abominable heretics.<a name="page_vol_1_097" id="page_vol_1_097"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_II-italy" id="LETTER_II-italy"></a>LETTER II.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Villa of Mosolente&mdash;The route to Venice.&mdash;First view of that
+city.&mdash;Striking prospect from the Leon Bianco.&mdash;Morning scene on
+the grand canal.&mdash;Church of Santa Maria della Salute.&mdash;Interesting
+group of stately buildings.&mdash;Convent of St. Giorgio Maggiore.&mdash;The
+Redentore.&mdash;Island of the Carthusians.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">August 1st, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> whole morning not a soul stirred who could avoid it. Those who were
+so active and lively the night before, were now stretched languidly upon
+their couches. Being to the full as idly disposed, I sat down and wrote
+some of this dreaming epistle; then feasted upon figs and melons; then
+got under the shade of the cypress, and slumbered till evening, only
+waking to dine, and take some ice.</p>
+
+<p>The sun declining apace, I hastened to my engagement at Mosolente (for
+so is the villa called) placed on a verdant hill encircled by others as<a name="page_vol_1_098" id="page_vol_1_098"></a>
+lovely, and consisting of three light pavilions connected by porticos;
+just such as we admire in the fairy scenes of an opera. A vast flight of
+steps leads to the summit, where Signora Roberti and her friends
+received me with a grace and politeness that can never want a place in
+my memory. We rambled over all the apartments of this agreeable edifice,
+characterised by airiness and simplicity. The pavement encrusted with a
+composition as cool and polished as marble; the windows, doors, and
+balconies adorned with silver iron work, commanding scenes of meads and
+woodlands that extend to the shores of the Adriatic; slender towers and
+cypresses rising above the levels; and the hazy mountains beyond Padua,
+diversifying the expanse, form altogether a landscape which the elegant
+imagination of Horizonti never exceeded.</p>
+
+<p>I gazed on this delightful view till it faded in the dusk; then
+returning to Bassano, repaired to an illuminated hall, and heard Signora
+Roberti sing the very air which had excited such transport at Padua. As
+soon as she had ended, a band of various instruments stationed in the
+open street began a lively symphony, which would have delighted me at
+any other time; but now, I wished<a name="page_vol_1_099" id="page_vol_1_099"></a> them a thousand leagues away, so
+pleasingly melancholy an impression did the air I had been listening to
+leave on my mind.</p>
+
+<p>At midnight I took leave of my obliging hosts, who were just setting out
+for Padua. They gave me a thousand kind invitations, and I hope some
+future day to accept them.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">August 2.</p>
+
+<p>O<small>UR</small> route to Venice lay winding about the variegated plains I had
+surveyed from Mosolente; and after dining at Treviso we came in two
+hours and a half to Mestre, between grand villas and gardens peopled
+with statues. Embarking our baggage at the last-mentioned place, we
+stepped into a gondola, whose even motion was very agreeable after the
+jolts of a chaise. We were soon out of the canal of Mestre, terminated
+by an isle which contains a cell dedicated to the Holy Virgin, peeping
+out of a thicket, whence spire up two tall cypresses. Its bells tingled
+as we passed along and dropped some paolis into a net tied at the end of
+a pole stretched out to us for that purpose.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as we had doubled the cape of this diminutive island, an expanse
+of sea opened to our view, the domes and towers of Venice rising<a name="page_vol_1_100" id="page_vol_1_100"></a> from
+its bosom. Now we began to distinguish Murano, St. Michele, St. Giorgio
+in Alga, and several other islands, detached from the grand cluster,
+which I hailed as old acquaintances; innumerable prints and drawings
+having long since made their shapes familiar. Still gliding forward, we
+every moment distinguished some new church or palace in the city,
+suffused with the rays of the setting sun, and reflected with all their
+glow of colouring from the surface of the waters.</p>
+
+<p>The air was calm; the sky cloudless; a faint wind just breathing upon
+the deep, lightly bore its surface against the steps of a chapel in the
+island of San Secondo, and waved the veil before its portal, as we rowed
+by and coasted the walls of its garden overhung with fig-trees and
+surmounted by spreading pines. The convent discovers itself through
+their branches, built in a style somewhat morisco, and level with the
+sea, except where the garden intervenes.</p>
+
+<p>We were now drawing very near the city, and a confused hum began to
+interrupt the evening stillness; gondolas were continually passing and
+repassing, and the entrance of the Canal Reggio, with all its stir and
+bustle, lay before us. Our gondoliers turned with much address through
+a<a name="page_vol_1_101" id="page_vol_1_101"></a> crowd of boats and barges that blocked up the way, and rowed smoothly
+by the side of a broad pavement, covered with people in all dresses and
+of all nations.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving the Palazzo Pesaro, a noble structure with two rows of arcades
+and a superb rustic, behind, we were soon landed before the Leon Bianco,
+which being situated in one of the broadest parts of the grand canal,
+commands a most striking assemblage of buildings. I have no terms to
+describe the variety of pillars, of pediments, of mouldings, and
+cornices, some Grecian, others Saracenic, that adorn these edifices, of
+which the pencil of Canaletti conveys so perfect an idea as to render
+all verbal description superfluous. At one end of this grand scene of
+perspective appears the Rialto; the sweep of the canal conceals the
+other.</p>
+
+<p>The rooms of our hotel are spacious and cheerful; a lofty hall, or
+rather gallery, painted with grotesque in a very good style, perfectly
+clean, floored with a marbled stucco, divides the house, and admits a
+refreshing current of air. Several windows near the ceiling look into
+this vast apartment, which serves in lieu of a court, and is rendered
+perfectly luminous by a glazed arcade,<a name="page_vol_1_102" id="page_vol_1_102"></a> thrown open to catch the
+breezes. Through it I passed to a balcony which impends over the canal,
+and is twined round with plants forming a green festoon springing from
+two large vases of orange trees placed at each end. Here I established
+myself to enjoy the cool, and observe, as well as the dusk would permit,
+the variety of figures shooting by in their gondolas.</p>
+
+<p>As night approached, innumerable tapers glimmered through the awnings
+before the windows. Every boat had its lantern, and the gondolas moving
+rapidly along were followed by tracks of light, which gleamed and played
+upon the waters. I was gazing at these dancing fires when the sounds of
+music were wafted along the canals, and as they grew louder and louder,
+an illuminated barge, filled with musicians, issued from the Rialto, and
+stopping under one of the palaces, began a serenade, which stilled every
+clamour and suspended all conversation in the galleries and porticos;
+till, rowing slowly away, it was heard no more. The gondoliers catching
+the air, imitated its cadences, and were answered by others at a
+distance, whose voices, echoed by the arch of the bridge, acquired a
+plaintive and interesting tone. I retired to rest, full of the<a name="page_vol_1_103" id="page_vol_1_103"></a> sound;
+and long after I was asleep, the melody seemed to vibrate in my ear.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">August 3.</p>
+
+<p>I<small>T</small> was not five o’clock before I was aroused by a loud din of voices and
+splashing of water under my balcony. Looking out, I beheld the grand
+canal so entirely covered with fruits and vegetables, on rafts and in
+barges, that I could scarcely distinguish a wave. Loads of grapes,
+peaches and melons arrived, and disappeared in an instant, for every
+vessel was in motion; and the crowds of purchasers hurrying from boat to
+boat, formed a very lively picture. Amongst the multitudes, I remarked a
+good many whose dress and carriage announced something above the common
+rank; and upon enquiry I found they were noble Venetians, just come from
+their casinos, and met to refresh themselves with fruit, before they
+retired to sleep for the day.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst I was observing them, the sun began to colour the balustrades of
+the palaces, and the pure exhilarating air of the morning drawing me
+abroad, I procured a gondola, laid in my provision of bread and grapes,
+and was rowed under the Rialto, down the grand canal to the marble steps
+of S. Maria della Salute, erected by the<a name="page_vol_1_104" id="page_vol_1_104"></a> Senate in performance of a vow
+to the Holy Virgin, who begged off a terrible pestilence in 1630. The
+great bronze portal opened whilst I was standing on the steps which lead
+to it, and discovered the interior of the dome, where I expatiated in
+solitude; no mortal appearing except an old priest who trimmed the lamps
+and muttered a prayer before the high altar, still wrapt in shadows. The
+sun-beams began to strike against the windows of the cupola, just as I
+left the church and was wafted across the waves to the spacious platform
+in front of St. Giorgio Maggiore, one of the most celebrated works of
+Palladio.</p>
+
+<p>When my first transport was a little subsided, and I had examined the
+graceful design of each particular ornament, and united the just
+proportion and grand effect of the whole in my mind, I planted my
+umbrella on the margin of the sea, and viewed at my leisure the vast
+range of palaces, of porticos, of towers, opening on every side and
+extending out of sight. The Doge’s palace and the tall columns at the
+entrance of the place of St. Mark, form, together with the arcades of
+the public library, the lofty Campanile and the cupolas of the ducal
+church, one of<a name="page_vol_1_105" id="page_vol_1_105"></a> the most striking groups of buildings that art can boast
+of. To behold at one glance these stately fabrics, so illustrious in the
+records of former ages, before which, in the flourishing times of the
+republic, so many valiant chiefs and princes have landed, loaded with
+oriental spoils, was a spectacle I had long and ardently desired. I
+thought of the days of Frederic Barbarossa, when looking up the piazza
+of St. Mark, along which he marched in solemn procession, to cast
+himself at the feet of Alexander the Third, and pay a tardy homage to
+St. Peter’s successor. Here were no longer those splendid fleets that
+attended his progress; one solitary galeass was all I beheld, anchored
+opposite the palace of the Doge and surrounded by crowds of gondolas,
+whose sable hues contrasted strongly with its vermilion oars and shining
+ornaments. A party-coloured multitude was continually shifting from one
+side of the piazza to the other; whilst senators and magistrates in long
+black robes were already arriving to fill their respective offices.</p>
+
+<p>I contemplated the busy scene from my peaceful platform, where nothing
+stirred but aged devotees creeping to their devotions, and, whilst I
+remained thus calm and tranquil, heard the<a name="page_vol_1_106" id="page_vol_1_106"></a> distant buzz of the town.
+Fortunately some length of waves rolled between me and its tumults; so
+that I ate my grapes, and read Metastasio, undisturbed by officiousness
+or curiosity. When the sun became too powerful, I entered the nave.</p>
+
+<p>After I had admired the masterly structure of the roof and the lightness
+of its arches, my eyes naturally directed themselves to the pavement of
+white and ruddy marble, polished, and reflecting like a mirror the
+columns which rise from it. Over this I walked to a door that admitted
+me into the principal quadrangle of the convent, surrounded by a
+cloister supported on Ionic pillars, beautifully proportioned. A flight
+of stairs opens into the court, adorned with balustrades and pedestals,
+sculptured with elegance truly Grecian. This brought me to the
+refectory, where the chef-d’œuvre of Paul Veronese, representing the
+marriage of Cana in Galilee, was the first object that presented itself.
+I never beheld so gorgeous a group of wedding-garments before; there is
+every variety of fold and plait that can possibly be imagined. The
+attitudes and countenances are more uniform, and the guests appear a
+very genteel, decent sort of people,<a name="page_vol_1_107" id="page_vol_1_107"></a> well used to the mode of their
+times and accustomed to miracles.</p>
+
+<p>Having examined this fictitious repast, I cast a look on a long range of
+tables covered with very excellent realities, which the monks were
+coming to devour with energy, if one might judge from their appearance.
+These sons of penitence and mortification possess one of the most
+spacious islands of the whole cluster, a princely habitation, with
+gardens and open porticos, that engross every breath of air; and, what
+adds not a little to the charms of their abode, is the facility of
+making excursions from it, whenever they have a mind.</p>
+
+<p>The republic, jealous of ecclesiastical influence, connives at these
+amusing rambles, and, by encouraging the liberty of monks and churchmen,
+prevents their appearing too sacred and important in the eyes of the
+people, who have frequent proofs of their being mere flesh and blood,
+and that of the frailest composition. Had the rest of Italy been of the
+same opinion, and profited as much by Fra Paolo’s maxims, some of its
+fairest fields would not, at this moment, lie uncultivated, and its
+ancient spirit might have revived. However, I can scarcely think the<a name="page_vol_1_108" id="page_vol_1_108"></a>
+moment far distant, when it will assert its natural prerogatives, and
+look back upon the tiara, with all its host of scaring phantoms, as the
+offspring of a feverish dream.</p>
+
+<p>Full of prophecies and bodings, I moved slowly out of the cloisters;
+and, gaining my gondola, arrived, I know not how, at the flights of
+steps which lead to the Redentore, a structure so simple and elegant,
+that I thought myself entering an antique temple, and looked about for
+the statue of the God of Delphi, or some other graceful divinity. A huge
+crucifix of bronze soon brought me to times present.</p>
+
+<p>The charm being thus dissolved, I began to perceive the shapes of rueful
+martyrs peeping out of the niches around, and the bushy beards of
+capuchin friars wagging before the altars. These good fathers had
+decorated the nave with orange and citron trees, placed between the
+pilasters of the arcades; and on grand festivals, it seems, they turn
+the whole church into a bower, strew the pavement with leaves, and
+festoon the dome with flowers.</p>
+
+<p>I left them occupied with their plants and their devotions. It was
+mid-day, and I begged to be rowed to some woody island, where<a name="page_vol_1_109" id="page_vol_1_109"></a> I might
+dine in shade and tranquillity. My gondoliers shot off in an instant;
+but, though they went at a very rapid rate, I wished to advance still
+faster, and getting into a bark with six oars, swept along the waters,
+soon left the Zecca and San Marco behind; and, launching into the plains
+of shining sea, saw turret after turret, and isle after isle, fleeting
+before me. A pale greenish light ran along the shores of the distant
+continent, whose mountains seemed to catch the motion of my boat, and to
+fly with equal celerity.</p>
+
+<p>I had not much time to contemplate the beautiful effects on the
+waters&mdash;the emerald and purple hues which gleamed along their surface.
+Our prow struck, foaming, against the walls of the Carthusian garden,
+before I recollected where I was, or could look attentively around me.
+Permission being obtained, I entered this cool retirement, and putting
+aside with my hands the boughs of figs and pomegranates, got under an
+ancient bay-tree on the summit of a little knoll, near which several
+tall pines lift themselves up to the breezes. I listened to the
+conversation they held, with a wind just flown from Greece, and charged,
+as well as I could<a name="page_vol_1_110" id="page_vol_1_110"></a> understand this airy language, with many
+affectionate remembrances from their relations on Mount Ida.</p>
+
+<p>I reposed amidst fragrant leaves, fanned by a constant air, till it
+pleased the fathers to send me some provisions, with a basket of fruit
+and wine. Two of them would wait upon me, and ask ten thousand questions
+about Lord George Gordon, and the American war. I, who was deeply
+engaged with the winds, and a thousand agreeable associations excited by
+my Grecian fancies, wished my interrogators in purgatory, and pleaded
+ignorance of the Italian language. This circumstance extricated me from
+my embarrassment, and procured me a long interval of repose.<a name="page_vol_1_111" id="page_vol_1_111"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_III-italy" id="LETTER_III-italy"></a>LETTER III.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Church of St. Mark.&mdash;The Piazza.&mdash;Magnificent festivals formerly
+celebrated there.&mdash;Stately architecture of Sansovino.&mdash;The
+Campanile.&mdash;The Loggetta.&mdash;The Ducal Palace.&mdash;Colossal
+Statues.&mdash;Giants’ Stairs.&mdash;Fit of enthusiasm.&mdash;Evening-scene in the
+great Square.&mdash;Venetian intrigue.&mdash;Confusion of languages.&mdash;Madame
+de Rosenberg.&mdash;Character of the Venetians.</p></div>
+
+<p>The rustling of the pines had the same effect as the murmurs of other
+old story-tellers, and I dozed undisturbed till the people without, in
+the boat, (who wondered not a little, I dare say, what was become of me
+within,) began a sort of chorus in parts, full of such plaintive
+modulation, that I still thought myself under the influence of a dream,
+and, half in this world and half in the other, believed, like the heroes
+of Fingal, that I had caught the music of the spirits of the hill.</p>
+
+<p>When I was thoroughly convinced of the reality of these sounds, I moved
+towards the shore whence they proceeded: a glassy sea lay<a name="page_vol_1_112" id="page_vol_1_112"></a> before me; no
+gale ruffled the expanse; every breath had subsided, and I beheld the
+sun go down in all its sacred calm. You have experienced the sensations
+this moment inspires; imagine what they must have been in such a scene,
+and accompanied with a melody so simple and pathetic. I stepped into my
+boat, and now instead of encouraging the speed of the gondoliers, begged
+them to abate their ardour, and row me lazily home. They complied, and
+we were near an hour reaching the platform in front of the ducal palace,
+thronged as usual with a variety of nations. I mixed a moment with the
+crowd; then directed my steps to the great mosque, I ought to say the
+church of St. Mark; but really its cupolas, slender pinnacles, and
+semicircular arches, have so oriental an appearance, as to excuse this
+appellation. I looked a moment at the four stately coursers of bronze
+and gold that adorn the chief portal, and then took in, at one glance,
+the whole extent of the piazza, with its towers and standards. A more
+noble assemblage was never exhibited by architecture. I envied the good
+fortune of Petrarch, who describes, in one of his letters, a tournament
+held in this princely opening.<a name="page_vol_1_113" id="page_vol_1_113"></a></p>
+
+<p>Many are the festivals which have been here celebrated. When Henry the
+Third left Poland to mount the throne of France, he passed through
+Venice, and found the Senate waiting to receive him in their famous
+square, which by means of an awning stretched from the balustrades of
+opposite palaces, was metamorphosed into a vast saloon, sparkling with
+artificial stars, and spread with the richest carpets of the East. What
+a magnificent idea! The ancient Romans, in the zenith of power and
+luxury, never conceived a greater. It is to them, however, the Venetians
+are indebted for the hint, since we read of the Coliseo and Pompey’s
+theatre being sometimes covered with transparent canvas, to defend the
+spectators from the heat or sudden rain, and to tint the scene with soft
+agreeable colours.</p>
+
+<p>Having enjoyed the general perspective of the piazza, I began to enter
+into particulars, and examine the bronze pedestals of the three
+standards before the great church, designed by Sansovino in the true
+spirit of the antique, and covered with relievos, at once bold and
+elegant. It is also to this celebrated architect we are indebted for the
+stately façade of the <i>Procuratie nuove</i>, which<a name="page_vol_1_114" id="page_vol_1_114"></a> forms one side of the
+square, and presents an uninterrupted series of arcades and marble
+columns exquisitely wrought. Opposite this magnificent range appears
+another line of palaces, whose architecture, though far removed from the
+Grecian elegance of Sansovino, impresses veneration, and completes the
+pomp of the view.</p>
+
+<p>There is something strange and singular in the Tower or Campanile, which
+rises distinct from the smooth pavement of the square, a little to the
+left as you stand before the chief entrance of St. Mark’s. The design is
+barbarous, and terminates in uncouth and heavy pyramids; yet in spite of
+these defects it struck me with awe. A beautiful building called the
+Loggetta, and which serves as a guard-house during the convocation of
+the Grand Council, decorates its base. Nothing can be more enriched,
+more finished than this structure; which, though far from diminutive, is
+in a manner lost at the foot of the Campanile. This enormous fabric
+seems to promise a long duration, and will probably exhibit Saint Mark
+and his Lion to the latest posterity. Both appear in great state towards
+its summit, and have nothing superior, but an archangel perched on the
+topmost pinnacle, and pointing to the<a name="page_vol_1_115" id="page_vol_1_115"></a> skies. The dusk prevented my
+remarking the various sculptures with which the Loggetta is crowded.</p>
+
+<p>Crossing the ample space between this graceful edifice and the ducal
+palace, I passed through a labyrinth of pillars and entered the
+principal court, of which nothing but the great outline was visible at
+so late an hour. Two reservoirs of bronze richly sculptured diversify
+the area. In front a magnificent flight of steps presents itself, by
+which the senators ascend through vast and solemn corridors, which lead
+to the interior of the edifice. The colossal statues of Mars and Neptune
+guard the entrance, and have given the appellation of <i>scala dei
+giganti</i> to the steps below, which I mounted not without respect; and,
+leaning against the balustrades, formed like the rest of the building of
+the rarest marbles, contemplated the tutelary divinities.</p>
+
+<p>My admiration was shortly interrupted by one of the sbirri, or officers
+of police, who take their stands after sunset before the avenues of the
+palace, and who told me the gates were upon the point of being closed.
+So, hurrying down the steps, I left a million of delicate sculptures
+unexplored; for every pilaster, every frieze, every<a name="page_vol_1_116" id="page_vol_1_116"></a> entablature, is
+encrusted with porphyry, verde antique, or some other precious marble,
+carved into as many grotesque wreaths of foliage as we admire in the
+loggie of Raphael. The various portals, the strange projections; in
+short, the striking irregularity of these stately piles, delighted me
+beyond idea; and I was sorry to be forced to abandon them so soon,
+especially as the twilight, which bats and owls love not better than I
+do, enlarged every portico, lengthened every colonnade, and increased
+the dimensions of the whole, just as imagination desired. This faculty
+would have had full scope had I but remained an hour longer. The moon
+would then have gleamed upon the gigantic forms of Mars and Neptune, and
+discovered the statues of ancient heroes emerging from the gloom of
+their niches.</p>
+
+<p>Such an interesting combination of objects, such regal scenery, with the
+reflection that many of their ornaments once contributed to the
+decoration of Athens, transported me beyond myself. The sbirri thought
+me distracted. True enough, I was stalking proudly about like an actor
+in an ancient Grecian tragedy, lifting up his hands<a name="page_vol_1_117" id="page_vol_1_117"></a> to the consecrated
+fanes and images around, expecting the reply of his attendant chorus,
+and declaiming the first verses of Œdipus Tyrannus.</p>
+
+<p>This fit of enthusiasm was hardly subsided, when I passed the gates of
+the palace into the great square, which received a faint gleam from its
+casinos and palaces, just beginning to be lighted up, and to become the
+resort of pleasure and dissipation. Numbers were walking in parties upon
+the pavement; some sought the convenient gloom of the porticoes with
+their favourites; others were earnestly engaged in conversation, and
+filled the gay illuminated apartments, where they resorted to drink
+coffee and sorbet, with laughter and merriment. A thoughtless giddy
+transport prevailed; for, at this hour, anything like restraint seems
+perfectly out of the question; and however solemn a magistrate or
+senator may appear in the day, at night he lays up wig and robe and
+gravity to sleep together, runs intriguing about in his gondola, takes
+the reigning sultana under his arm, and so rambles half over the town,
+which grows gayer and gayer as the day declines.<a name="page_vol_1_118" id="page_vol_1_118"></a></p>
+
+<p>Many of the noble Venetians have a little suite of apartments in some
+out-of-the-way corner, near the grand piazza, of which their families
+are totally ignorant. To these they skulk in the dusk, and revel
+undisturbed with the companions of their pleasures. Jealousy itself
+cannot discover the alleys, the winding passages, the unsuspected doors,
+by which these retreats are accessible. Many an unhappy lover, whose
+mistress disappears on a sudden with some fortunate rival, has searched
+for her haunts in vain. The gondoliers themselves, though the prime
+managers of intrigue, are often unacquainted with these interior
+cabinets. When a gallant has a mind to pursue his adventures with
+mystery, he rows to the piazza, orders his bark to wait, meets his
+goddess in the crowd, and vanishes from all beholders. Surely, Venice is
+the city in the universe best calculated for giving scope to the
+observations of a devil upon two sticks. What a variety of
+lurking-places would one stroke of his crutch uncover!</p>
+
+<p>Whilst the higher ranks were solacing themselves in their casinos, the
+rabble were gathered in knots round the strollers and mountebanks,<a name="page_vol_1_119" id="page_vol_1_119"></a>
+singing and scaramouching in the middle of the square. I observed a
+great number of Orientals amongst the crowd, and heard Turkish and
+Arabic muttering in every corner. Here the Sclavonian dialect
+predominated; there some Grecian jargon, almost unintelligible. Had
+Saint Mark’s church been the wondrous tower, and its piazza the chief
+square, of the city of Babylon, there could scarcely have been a greater
+confusion of languages.</p>
+
+<p>The novelty of the scene afforded me no small share of amusement, and I
+wandered about from group to group, and from one strange exotic to
+another, asking and being asked innumerable ridiculous questions, and
+settling the politics of London and Constantinople, almost in the same
+breath. This instant I found myself in a circle of grave Armenian
+priests and jewellers; the next amongst Greeks and Dalmatians, who
+accosted me with the smoothest compliments, and gave proof that their
+reputation for pliability and address was not ill-founded.</p>
+
+<p>I was entering into a grand harum-scarum discourse with some Russian
+counts or princes, or whatever you please, just landed with dwarfs,<a name="page_vol_1_120" id="page_vol_1_120"></a> and
+footmen, and governors, and staring like me, about them, when Madame de
+Rosenberg arrived, to whom I had the happiness of being recommended. She
+presented me to some of the most distinguished of the Venetian families
+at their great casino, which looks into the piazza, and consists of five
+or six rooms, fitted up in a gay flimsy taste, neither rich nor elegant,
+where were a great many lights, and a great many ladies negligently
+dressed, their hair falling very freely about them, and innumerable
+adventures written in their eyes. The gentlemen were lolling upon the
+sofas, or lounging about the apartments.</p>
+
+<p>The whole assembly seemed upon the verge of gaping, till coffee was
+carried round. This magic beverage diffused a temporary animation; and,
+for a moment or two, conversation moved on with a degree of pleasing
+extravagance; but the flash was soon dissipated, and nothing remained
+save cards and stupidity.</p>
+
+<p>In the intervals of shuffling and dealing, some talked over the affairs
+of the grand council with less reserve than I expected; and two or three
+of them asked some feeble questions about the late tumults in London. It
+was one o’clock<a name="page_vol_1_121" id="page_vol_1_121"></a> before all the company were assembled, and I left them
+at three, still dreaming over their coffee and card-tables. Trieze is
+their favourite game: <i>uno</i>, <i>due</i>, <i>tre</i>, <i>quatro</i>, <i>cinque</i>, <i>fante</i>,
+<i>cavallo re</i>, are eternally repeated; the apartments echoed no other
+sound.</p>
+
+<p>I wonder a lively people can endure such monotony, for I have been told
+the Venetians are remarkably spirited; and so eager in the pursuit of
+amusement as hardly to allow themselves any sleep. Some, for instance,
+after declaiming in the Senate, walking an hour in the square, and
+fidgeting about from one casino to another till morning dawns, will get
+into a gondola, row across the Lagunes, take the post to Mestre or
+Fusina, and jumble over craggy pavements to Treviso, breakfast in haste,
+and rattle back again as if the Devil were charioteer: by eleven the
+party is restored to Venice, resumes robe and periwig, and goes to
+council.</p>
+
+<p>This may be very true, and yet I will never cite the Venetians as
+examples of vivacity. Their nerves unstrung by early debaucheries, allow
+no natural flow of lively spirits, and at best but a few moments of a
+false and feverish activity. The<a name="page_vol_1_122" id="page_vol_1_122"></a> approaches of sleep, forced back by an
+immoderate use of coffee, render them weak and listless, and the
+facility of being wafted from place to place in a gondola, adds not a
+little to their indolence. In short, I can scarcely regard their Eastern
+neighbours in a more lazy light; who, thanks to their opium and their
+harems, pass their lives in one perpetual doze.<a name="page_vol_1_123" id="page_vol_1_123"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_IV-italy" id="LETTER_IV-italy"></a>LETTER IV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Excessive heat.&mdash;The Devil and Senegal.&mdash;A dreary shore.&mdash;Scene of
+the Doge’s nuptials with the sea.&mdash;Return to the Place of St.
+Mark.&mdash;Swarm of Lawyers.&mdash;Receptacles for anonymous
+accusations.&mdash;The Council of Ten.&mdash;Terrible punishments of its
+victims.&mdash;Statue of Neptune.&mdash;Fatal Waters.&mdash;Bridge of Sighs.&mdash;The
+Fondamenti Nuovi.&mdash;Conservatory of the Mendicanti.&mdash;An
+Oratorio.&mdash;Profound attention of the Audience.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">August 4th, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> heats were so excessive in the night, that I thought myself several
+times on the point of suffocation, tossed about like a wounded fish, and
+dreamt of the Devil and Senegal. Towards sunrise, a faint breeze
+restored me to life and reason. I slumbered till late in the day, and
+the moment I was fairly awake, ordered my gondolier to row out to the
+main ocean, that I might plunge into the waves, and hear and see nothing
+but waters around me.</p>
+
+<p>We shot off, wound amongst a number of sheds, shops, churches, casinos,
+and palaces,<a name="page_vol_1_124" id="page_vol_1_124"></a> growing immediately out of the canals, without any
+apparent foundation. No quay, no terrace, not even a slab is to be seen
+before the doors; one step brings you from the hall into the bark, and
+the vestibules of the stateliest structures lie open to the waters, and
+but just above their level. I observed several, as I glided along,
+supported by rows of well-proportioned columns, adorned with terms and
+vases, beyond which the eye generally discovers a grand court, and
+sometimes a garden.</p>
+
+<p>In about half an hour, we had left the thickest cluster of isles behind,
+and, coasting the Place of St. Mark opposite to San Giorgio Maggiore,
+whose elegant frontispiece was distinctly reflected by the calm waters,
+launched into the blue expanse of sea, from which rise the Carthusian
+and two or three other woody islands. I hailed the spot where I had
+passed such a happy visionary evening, and nodded to my friends the
+pines.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes more brought me to a dreary, sun-burnt shore, stalked over
+by a few Sclavonian soldiers, who inhabit a castle hard by, go regularly
+to an ugly unfinished church, and from thence, it is to be hoped, to
+paradise; as the air<a name="page_vol_1_125" id="page_vol_1_125"></a> of their barracks is abominable, and kills them
+like blasted sheep.</p>
+
+<p>Forlorn as this island appeared to me, I was told it was the scene of
+the Doge’s pageantry at the feast of the Ascension; and the very spot to
+which he sails in the Bucentaur, previously to wedding the sea. You have
+heard enough, and if ever you looked into a show-box, seen full
+sufficient of this gaudy spectacle, without my enlarging upon the topic.
+I shall only say, that I was obliged to pursue, partly, the same road as
+the nuptial procession, in order to reach the beach, and was broiled and
+dazzled accordingly.</p>
+
+<p>At last, after traversing some desert hillocks, all of a hop with toads
+and locusts (amongst which English heretics have the honour of being
+interred), I passed under an arch, and suddenly the boundless plains of
+ocean opened to my view. I ran to the smooth sands, extending on both
+sides out of sight, and dashed into the waves, which were coursing one
+another with a gentle motion, and breaking lightly on the shores. The
+tide rolled over me as I lay floating about, buoyed up by the water, and
+carried me wheresoever it listed. It might have borne me far out into
+the main before I had been aware, so totally<a name="page_vol_1_126" id="page_vol_1_126"></a> was I abandoned to the
+illusion of the moment. My ears were filled with murmuring undecided
+sounds; my limbs, stretched languidly on the surge, rose or sunk just as
+it swelled or subsided. In this passive state I remained, till the sun
+cast a less intolerable light, and the fishing-vessels, lying out in the
+bay at a great distance, spread their sails and were coming home.</p>
+
+<p>Hastening back over the desert of locusts, I threw myself into the
+gondola; and, no wind or wave opposing, was soon wafted across to those
+venerable columns, so conspicuous in the Place of St. Mark. Directing my
+course immediately to the ducal palace, I entered the grand court,
+ascending the giants’ stairs, and examined at my leisure its
+bas-reliefs. Then, taking the first guide that presented himself, I was
+shown along several cloisters and corridors, sustained by innumerable
+pillars, into the state apartments, which Tintoret and Paolo Veronese
+have covered with the triumphs of their country.</p>
+
+<p>A swarm of lawyers filled the Sala del Maggior Consiglio, and one of the
+first advocates in the republic was pleading with all his might, before
+a solemn row of senators. The eyes and ears of the assembly seemed
+equally affected.<a name="page_vol_1_127" id="page_vol_1_127"></a> Clouds of powder, and volleys of execrations issuing
+every instant from the disputants, I got out of their way; and was led
+from hall to hall, and from picture to picture, with exemplary
+resignation. To be sure, I was heartily tired, but behaved with decency,
+having never once expressed how much I wished the chefs-d’œuvre I had
+been contemplating, less smoky and numerous.</p>
+
+<p>At last, I reached once more the colonnades at the entrance, and caught
+the sea-breeze in the open porticoes which front San Giorgio Maggiore.
+The walls are covered in most places with grim visages sculptured in
+marble, whose mouths gape for accusations, and swallow every lie that
+malice and revenge can dictate. I wished for a few ears of the same
+kind, dispersed about the Doge’s residence, to which one might apply
+one’s own, and catch some account of the mysteries within; some little
+dialogue between the three Inquisitors, or debate in the Council of Ten.</p>
+
+<p>This is the tribunal which holds the wealthy nobility in continual awe;
+before which they appear with trembling and terror; and whose summons
+they dare not disobey. Sometimes, by way of clemency, it condemns its
+victims to<a name="page_vol_1_128" id="page_vol_1_128"></a> perpetual imprisonment, in close, stifling cells, between
+the leads and beams of the palace; or, unwilling to spill the blood of a
+fellow-citizen, generously sinks them into dungeons, deep under the
+canals which wash its foundations; so that, above and below, its majesty
+is contaminated by the abodes of punishment. What other sovereign could
+endure the idea of having his immediate residence polluted with tears?
+or revel in his halls, conscious that many of his species were consuming
+their hours in lamentations above his head, and that but a few beams
+separated him from the scene of their tortures? However gaily disposed,
+could one dance with pleasure on a pavement, beneath which lie damp and
+gloomy caverns, whose inhabitants waste away by painful degrees, and
+feel themselves whole years a-dying? Impressed by these terrible ideas,
+I could not regard the palace without horror, and wished for the
+strength of a thousand antediluvians, to level it with the sea, lay open
+the secret recesses of punishment, and admit free gales and sunshine
+into every den.</p>
+
+<p>When I had thus vented my indignation, I repaired to the statue of
+Neptune, whom twenty ages ago I should have invoked to second my<a name="page_vol_1_129" id="page_vol_1_129"></a>
+enterprise. Once upon a time no deity had a freer hand at razing cities.
+His execution was renowned throughout all antiquity, and the proudest
+monarchs deprecated the wrath of <span title="Greek: KREIÔN ENOSICHTHÔN">KΡΕΙΩΝ ΕΝΟΣΙΧΘΩΝ</span>. But, like
+the other mighty ones of ancient days, his reign is past and his trident
+disregarded. Formerly any wild spirit found favour in the eyes of
+fortune, and was led along the career of glory to the deliverance of
+captives and the extirpation of monsters; but, in our degenerate times,
+this easy road to fame is no longer open, and the means of producing
+such signal events are perplexed and difficult.</p>
+
+<p>Abandoning therefore the sad tenants of the Piombi to their fate, I left
+the courts, and stepping into my bark, was rowed down a canal
+overshadowed by the lofty walls of the palace. Beneath these fatal
+waters the dungeons I have also been speaking of are situated. There the
+wretches lie marking the sound of the oars, and counting the free
+passage of every gondola. Above, a marble bridge, of bold majestic
+architecture, joins the highest part of the prisons to the secret
+galleries of the palace; from whence criminals are conducted over the
+arch to a cruel and mysterious death. I shuddered whilst passing<a name="page_vol_1_130" id="page_vol_1_130"></a> below;
+and believe it is not without cause, this structure is named PONTE DEI
+SOSPIRI. Horrors and dismal prospects haunted my fancy upon my return. I
+could not dine in peace, so strongly was my imagination affected; but
+snatching my pencil, I drew chasms and subterraneous hollows, the domain
+of fear and torture, with chains, racks, wheels, and dreadful engines in
+the style of Piranesi. About sunset I went and refreshed myself with the
+cool air and cheerful scenery of the Fondamenti nuovi, a vast quay or
+terrace of white marble, which commands the whole series of isles, from
+San Michele to Torcello,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">“That rise and glitter o’er the ambient tide.”<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Nothing can be more picturesque than the groups of towers and cupolas
+which they present, mixed with flat roofs and low buildings, and now and
+then a pine or cypress. Afar off, a little woody isle, called Il
+Deserto, swells from the ocean and diversifies its expanse.</p>
+
+<p>When I had spent a delightful half-hour in viewing the distant isles, M.
+de Benincasa accompanied me to the Mendicanti, one of the four
+conservatorios, which give the best musical education conceivable to
+near one hundred young women. You may imagine how admirably those<a name="page_vol_1_131" id="page_vol_1_131"></a> of
+the Mendicanti in particular are taught, since their establishment is
+under the direction of Bertoni, who breathes around him the very soul of
+harmony. The chapel in which we sat to hear the oratorio was dark and
+solemn; a screen of lofty pillars, formed of black marble and highly
+polished, reflected the lamps which burn perpetually before the altar.
+Every tribune was thronged with people, whose profound silence showed
+them worthy auditors of this master’s music. Here were no cackling old
+women, or groaning Methodists, such as infest our English tabernacles,
+and scare one’s ears with hoarse coughs accompanied by the naso
+obligato. All were still and attentive, imbibing the plaintive notes of
+the voices with eagerness; and scarce a countenance but seemed deeply
+affected with David’s sorrows, the subject of the performance. I sat
+retired in a solitary tribune, and felt them as my own. Night came on
+before the last chorus was sung, and I still seem to hear its sacred
+melody.<a name="page_vol_1_132" id="page_vol_1_132"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_V-italy" id="LETTER_V-italy"></a>LETTER V.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">M. de Viloison and his attendant Laplander.&mdash;Drawings of ancient
+Venetian costume in one of the Gradanigo palaces.&mdash;Titian’s
+master-piece in the church of San Giovanni e Paolo.&mdash;The distant
+Euganean hills.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">August 18, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>I<small>T</small> rains; the air is refreshed and I have courage to resume my pen,
+which the sultry weather had forced to lie dormant so long. I like this
+odd town of Venice, and find every day some new amusement in rambling
+about its innumerable canals and alleys. Sometimes I pry about the great
+church of Saint Mark, and examine the variety of marbles and mazes of
+delicate sculpture with which it is covered. The cupola, glittering with
+gold, mosaic, and paintings of half the wonders in the Apocalypse, never
+fails to transport me to the period of the Eastern empire. I think
+myself in Constantinople, and expect Michael Paleologus with all his
+train.<a name="page_vol_1_133" id="page_vol_1_133"></a> One circumstance alone prevents my observing half the treasures
+of the place, and holds down my fancy just springing into the air: I
+mean the vile stench which exhales from every recess and corner of the
+edifice, and which all the incense of the altars cannot subdue.</p>
+
+<p>When no longer able to endure this noxious atmosphere, I run up the
+Campanile in the piazza, and seating myself amongst the pillars of the
+gallery, breathe the fresh gales which blow from the Adriatic; survey at
+my leisure all Venice beneath me, with its azure sea, white sails, and
+long tracks of islands shining in the sun. Having thus laid in a
+provision of wholesome breezes, I brave the vapours of the canals, and
+venture into the most curious and murky quarters of the city, in search
+of Turks and Infidels, that I may ask as many questions as I please
+about Cairo and Damascus.</p>
+
+<p>Asiatics find Venice very much to their taste, and all those I conversed
+with allowed its customs and style of living had a good deal of
+conformity to their own. The eternal lounging in coffee-houses and
+sipping of sorbets agree perfectly well with the inhabitants of the
+Ottoman empire, who stalk about here in their proper dresses, and smoke
+their own exotic pipes, without<a name="page_vol_1_134" id="page_vol_1_134"></a> being stared and wondered at as in most
+other European capitals. Some few of these Orientals are communicative
+and enlightened; but, generally speaking, they know nothing beyond the
+rule of three, and the commonest transactions of mercantile affairs.</p>
+
+<p>The Greeks are by far a more lively generation, still retaining their
+propensity to works of genius and imagination. Metastasio has been
+lately translated into their modern language, and some obliging papa or
+other has had the patience to put the long-winded romance of Clelia into
+a Grecian dress. I saw two or three of these volumes exposed on a stall,
+under the grand arcades of the public library, as I went one day to
+admire the antiques in its vestibules.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst I was intent upon my occupation, a little door, I never should
+have suspected, flew open, and out popped Monsieur de Viloison, from a
+place where nothing, I believe, but broomsticks and certain other
+utensils were ever before deposited. This gentleman, the most active
+investigator of Homer since the days of the good bishop of Thessalonica,
+bespatters you with more learning in a minute than others communicate in
+half a year; quotes Arabic,<a name="page_vol_1_135" id="page_vol_1_135"></a> Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, &amp;c. with formidable
+fluency; and drove me from one end of the room to the other with a storm
+of erudition. Syllables fell thicker than hail, and in an instant I
+found myself so weighed down and covered, that I prayed, for mercy’s
+sake, to be introduced, by way of respite, to a Laplander whom he leads
+about as a curiosity; a poor harmless good sort of a soul, calm and
+indifferent, who has acquired the words of several Oriental languages to
+perfection: ideas he has in none.</p>
+
+<p>We went all together to view a collection of medals in one of the
+Gradanigo palaces, and two or three inestimable volumes, filled with
+paintings that represent the dress of the ancient Venetians; so that I
+had an opportunity of observing to perfection all the Lapland
+nothingness of my companion. What a perfect void! Cold and silent as the
+polar regions, not one passion ever throbbed in his bosom; not one
+bright ray of fancy ever glittered in his mind; without love or anger,
+pleasure or pain, his days fleet smoothly along: all things considered,
+I must confess I envied such comfortable apathy.<a name="page_vol_1_136" id="page_vol_1_136"></a></p>
+
+<p>After having passed an instructive hour in examining the medals and
+drawings, M. de Viloison proposed conducting me to the Armenian convent,
+but I begged to be excused, and went to San Giovanni e Paolo, a church
+to be held most holy in the annals of painting, since it contains that
+masterpiece of Titian, the martyrdom of the hermits St. Paul and St.
+Peter.</p>
+
+<p>In the evening I rowed out as usual</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">“On the clear hyaline, the glassy sea,”<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p class="nind">to observe the effect of sunset on the tufted gardens of the Giudeca,
+and to contemplate the distant Euganean hills, once the happiest region
+of Italy; where wandering nations enjoyed the simplicity of a pastoral
+life, long before the arrival of Antenor. In these primeval days deep
+forests and extensive pastures covered the shores of the Adriatic, and
+innumerable flocks hung on the brow of the mountains. This golden period
+ended upon the incursion of the Trojans and Heneti; who, led by Antenor,
+drove away the unfortunate savages, and possessed themselves of their
+habitations.<a name="page_vol_1_137" id="page_vol_1_137"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_VI-italy" id="LETTER_VI-italy"></a>LETTER VI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Isles of Burano, Torcello, and Mazorbo.&mdash;The once populous city of
+Altina.&mdash;An excursion.&mdash;Effects of our music on the inhabitants of
+the Islands.&mdash;Solitary fields infested by serpents.&mdash;Remains of
+ancient sculpture.&mdash;Antique and fantastic ornaments of the
+Cathedral of Torcello.&mdash;San Lorenzo’s chair.&mdash;Dine in a
+Convent.&mdash;The Nuns.&mdash;Oratorio of Sisera.&mdash;Remarks on the
+music.&mdash;Singing of the Marchetti.&mdash;A female orchestra.</p></div>
+
+<p>I am just returned from visiting the isles of Burano, Torcello, and
+Mazorbo, distant about five miles from Venice. To these amphibious spots
+the Romans, inhabitants of eastern Lombardy, fled from the rapine of
+Attila; and, if we may believe Cassiodorus, there was a time when they
+presented a beautiful appearance. Beyond them, on the coast of the
+Lagunes, rose the once populous city of Altina, with its six stately
+gates, which Dandolo mentions. Its neighbourhood was scattered with
+innumerable villas and temples, composing altogether a prospect which
+Martial compares to Baiæ:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">“Æmula Baianis Altini littora villis.”<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><a name="page_vol_1_138" id="page_vol_1_138"></a></p>
+
+<p>But this agreeable scene, like so many others, is passed entirely away,
+and has left nothing, except heaps of stones and mis-shapen fragments,
+to vouch for its former magnificence. Two of the islands, Costanziaco
+and Amiano, that are imagined to have contained the bowers and gardens
+of the Altinatians, have sunk beneath the waters; those which remain are
+scarcely worthy to rise above their surface.</p>
+
+<p>Though I was persuaded little was left to be seen above ground, I could
+not deny myself the imaginary pleasure of treading a corner of the earth
+once so adorned and cultivated; and of walking over the roofs, perhaps,
+of undiscovered palaces. M. de R. to whom I communicated my ideas,
+entered at once into the scheme; hiring therefore a <i>peiotte</i>, we took
+some provisions and music (to us equally necessaries of life) and
+launched into the canal, between Saint Michael and Murano. Our
+instruments played several delightful airs, that called forth the
+inhabitants of every island, and held them in silence, as if
+spell-bound, on the edge of their quays and terraces, till we were out
+of hearing.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving Murano far behind, Venice and its<a name="page_vol_1_139" id="page_vol_1_139"></a> world of turrets began to
+sink on the horizon, and the low desert isles beyond Mazorbo to lie
+stretched out before us. Now we beheld vast wastes of purple flowers,
+and could distinguish the low hum of the insects which hover above them;
+such was the stillness of the place. Coasting these solitary fields, we
+wound amongst several serpentine canals, bordered by gardens of figs and
+pomegranates, with neat Indian-looking inclosures of cane and reed: an
+aromatic plant, which the people justly dignify with the title of marine
+incense, clothes the margin of the waters. It proved very serviceable in
+subduing a musky odour, which attacked us the moment we landed, and
+which proceeds from serpents that lurk in the hedges. These animals, say
+the gondoliers, defend immense treasures which lie buried under the
+ruins. Woe to those who attempt to invade them, or to pry too cautiously
+about!</p>
+
+<p>Not choosing to be devoured, we left many a mound of fragments
+unnoticed, and made the best of our way to a little green, bounded on
+one side by a miserable shed, decorated with the name of the Podesta’s
+residence, and on the other by a circular church. Some remains<a name="page_vol_1_140" id="page_vol_1_140"></a> of
+tolerable antique sculpture are enchased in the walls; and the dome,
+supported by pillars of a smooth Grecian marble, though uncouth and
+ill-proportioned, impresses a sort of veneration, and transports the
+fancy to the twilight glimmering period when it was raised.</p>
+
+<p>Having surveyed what little was visible, and given as much career to our
+imaginations as the scene inspired, we walked over a soil composed of
+crumbling bricks and cement to the cathedral; whose arches, in the
+ancient Roman style, convinced us that it dates at least as high as the
+sixth or seventh century.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing can well be more fantastic than the ornaments of this structure,
+formed from the ruins of the Pagan temples of Altina, and encrusted with
+a gilt mosaic, like that which covers our Edward the Confessor’s tomb.
+The pavement, composed of various precious marbles, is richer and more
+beautiful than one could have expected, in a place where every other
+object savours of the grossest barbarism. At the farther end, beyond the
+altar, appears a semicircular niche, with seats like the gradines of a
+diminutive amphitheatre; above rise the quaint forms of the apostles, in
+red, blue, green, and<a name="page_vol_1_141" id="page_vol_1_141"></a> black mosaic, and in the midst of the group a
+sort of marble chair, cool and penitential enough, where Saint Lorenzo
+Giustiniani sat to hold a provincial council, the Lord knows how long
+ago! The fount for holy water stands by the principal entrance, fronting
+this curious recess, and seems to have belonged to some place of Gentile
+worship. The figures of horned imps clinging round its sides, more
+devilish, more Egyptian, than any I ever beheld. The dragons on old
+china are not more whimsical; filled with bats’ blood it would have been
+an admirable present to the sabbath of witches, and have cut a capital
+figure in their orgies. The sculpture is not the most delicate, but I
+cannot say a great deal about it, as very little light reaches the spot
+where it is fixed: indeed, the whole church is far from luminous, its
+windows being narrow and near the roof, with shutters composed of blocks
+of marble, which nothing but the whirlwinds of the last day, one should
+think, would move from their hinges.</p>
+
+<p>By the time we had examined every nook and corner of this singular
+edifice, and tried to catch some small portion of sanctity by sitting in
+San Lorenzo’s chair, dinner was prepared in a neighbouring<a name="page_vol_1_142" id="page_vol_1_142"></a> convent, and
+the nuns, allured by the sound of our flutes and oboes, peeped out of
+their cells and showed themselves by dozens at the grate. Some few
+agreeable faces and interesting eyes enlivened the dark sisterhood; all
+seemed to catch a gleam of pleasure from the music; two or three of
+them, probably the last immured, let fall a tear, and suffered the
+recollection of the world and its profane joys to interrupt for a moment
+their sacred tranquillity.</p>
+
+<p>We stayed till the sun was low, on purpose that they might listen as
+long as possible to a harmony which seemed to issue, as the old abbess
+expressed herself, from the gates of paradise ajar. A thousand
+benedictions consecrated our departure; twilight came on just as we
+entered the bark and rowed out upon the waves, agitated by a fresh gale,
+but fearing nothing under the protection of Santa Margherita, whose good
+wishes our music had secured.</p>
+
+<p>In two hours we were safely landed at the Fondamenti nuovi, and went
+immediately to the Mendicanti, where they were performing the oratorio
+of Sisera. The composer, a young man, had displayed great fire and
+originality in this<a name="page_vol_1_143" id="page_vol_1_143"></a> performance; and a knowledge of character seldom
+found in the most celebrated masters. The supplication of the thirsty
+chieftain, and Jael’s insinuating arts and pious treachery, are
+admirably expressed; but the agitation and boding slumbers which precede
+his death, are imagined in the highest strain of genius. The terror and
+agony of his dreams made me start, more than once, from my seat; and all
+the horrors of his assassination seemed full before me.</p>
+
+<p>Too much applause cannot be given to the Marchetti, who sang the part of
+Sisera, and seconded the composer’s ideas by the most feeling and
+spirited execution. There are few things I shall regret more on leaving
+Venice, than this conservatorio. Whenever I am musically given, I fly to
+it, and hear the most striking finales in Paesiello’s and Anfossi’s
+operas, as long and often as I please.</p>
+
+<p>The sight of the orchestra still makes me smile. You know, I suppose, it
+is entirely of the feminine gender, and that nothing is more common than
+to see a delicate white hand journeying across an enormous double bass,
+or a pair of roseate cheeks puffing, with all their efforts, at a French
+horn. Some that are grown old and<a name="page_vol_1_144" id="page_vol_1_144"></a> Amazonian, who have abandoned their
+fiddles and their lovers, take vigorously to the kettle-drum; and one
+poor limping lady, who had been crossed in love, now makes an admirable
+figure on the bassoon.</p>
+
+<p>Good night! I am quite exhausted with composing a chorus for this
+angelic choir. The poetry I send you. The music takes up too much room
+to travel at present. One day or other, perhaps, we may hear it in some
+dark grove, when the moon is eclipsed and nature in alarm.</p>
+
+<p>This is not the last letter you would receive from Venice, were I not
+hurrying to Lucca, where Pacchierotti sings next week, in Bertoni’s
+opera of Quinto Fabio.<a name="page_vol_1_145" id="page_vol_1_145"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_VII-italy" id="LETTER_VII-italy"></a>LETTER VII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Coast of Fusina.&mdash;The Brenta.&mdash;A Village of
+Palaces.&mdash;Fiesso.&mdash;Exquisite singing of the Galuzzi.&mdash;Marietta
+Cornaro.&mdash;Scenes of enchantment and fascination.</p></div>
+
+<p>I was sorry to leave Venice, and regretted my peaceful excursions upon
+the Adriatic. No bright rays illuminated my departure, the sun was
+concealed in clouds; but the coolness and perfume of the air made ample
+amends for his absence.</p>
+
+<p>About an hour’s rowing from the isle of Saint Giorgio in Alga, brought
+us to the coast of Fusina, right opposite the opening where the Brenta
+mixes with the sea. This river flows calmly between banks of verdure,
+crowned by poplars, with vines twining round every stalk, and depending
+from tree to tree in beautiful festoons. Beds of mint and iris clothe
+the brink of the stream, except where interrupted by a tall<a name="page_vol_1_146" id="page_vol_1_146"></a> growth of
+reeds and osiers. The morning continued to lower as we advanced; scarce
+a wind ventured to breathe: all was still and placid as the surface of
+the river. No sound struck my ears except the bargemen hallooing to open
+the sluices, and deepen the water.</p>
+
+<p>As yet I had not perceived an habitation, nor any other objects than
+green inclosures and fields of Turkish corn, shaded with vines and
+poplars. It grew late before we glided along by the Mira, a village of
+palaces, whose courts and gardens, as magnificent as statues, terraces,
+and vases can make them, are far from composing a rural prospect.</p>
+
+<p>Such artificial scenery not engaging much of my attention, we stayed no
+longer than our dinner required, and reached the Dolo an hour before
+sunset. Passing the great sluices, whose gates opened with a thundering
+noise, we continued our course along the peaceful Brenta, winding its
+broad full stream through impenetrable copses. Day was about to close
+when we reached Fiesso; and it being a misty evening, I could scarcely
+distinguish the pompous façade of the Pisani palace. That of Cornaro,
+where we were engaged to sup, looks upon a broad mass of foliage<a name="page_vol_1_147" id="page_vol_1_147"></a> which
+I contemplated with pleasure as it sank in the dusk.</p>
+
+<p>We walked a long while under a pavilion stretched before the entrance,
+breathing the freshness of the wood after a shower which had lately
+fallen. The Galuzzi sang some of her father Ferandini’s compositions
+with surprising energy; her cheek was flushed, her eyes glistened; the
+whole tone of her countenance was that of a person rapt and inspired. I
+forgot both time and place while she was singing. The night stole
+imperceptibly away, before I awoke from my trance.</p>
+
+<p>I do not recollect ever to have passed an evening, which every
+circumstance conspired to render so full of charm. In general, my
+musical pleasures suffer terrible abatements from the phlegm and
+stupidity of my neighbourhood; but here, every one seemed to catch the
+flame, and to listen with reciprocal delight. Marietta Cornaro, whose
+lively talents are the boast of the Venetians, threw quick around her
+the glancing fires of genius.</p>
+
+<p>What with the song of the Galuzzi, and those intellectual meteors, I
+scarcely knew to what element I was transported, and doubted for
+several<a name="page_vol_1_148" id="page_vol_1_148"></a> moments, whether I was not fallen into a celestial dream: to
+wake was painful, and it was not without much lingering reluctance I
+left these scenes of enchantment and fascination, repeating with
+melancholy earnestness that pathetic sonnet of Petrarch’s&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">O giorno, o ora, o ultimo momento,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O stelle congiurate a’ impoverirme!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O fido sguardo, or che volei tu dirme,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Partend’ io, per non esser mai contento?<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><a name="page_vol_1_149" id="page_vol_1_149"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_VIII-italy" id="LETTER_VIII-italy"></a>LETTER VIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Reveries.&mdash;Walls of Padua.&mdash;Confused Pile dedicated to Saint
+Anthony.&mdash;Devotion at his Shrine.&mdash;Penitential
+Worshippers.&mdash;Magnificent Altar.&mdash;Sculpture of Sansovino.&mdash;Colossal
+Chamber like Noah’s Ark.</p></div>
+
+<p>The splendour of the rising sun, for once in my life, drew little of my
+attention. I was too deeply plunged in my reveries, to notice the
+landscape which lay before me; and the walls of Padua presented
+themselves some time ere I was aware. At any other moment, how sensibly
+should I have been affected with their appearance! How many ideas of
+Antenor and his Trojans, would have thronged into my memory! but now I
+regarded the scene with indifference, and passed many a palace, and many
+a woody garden, with my eyes riveted to the ground. The first object
+that appeared upon lifting them up, was a confused pile of spires and
+cupolas, dedicated to blessed Saint Anthony, one of whose most eloquent
+sermons the great Addison has<a name="page_vol_1_150" id="page_vol_1_150"></a> translated <i>con amore</i>, and in his very
+best manner.</p>
+
+<p>You are too well apprised of the veneration I have always entertained
+for this inspired preacher, to doubt that I immediately repaired to his
+shrine. Mine was a disturbed spirit, and required all the balm of Saint
+Anthony’s kindness to appease it. Perhaps you will say I had better have
+gone to bed, and applied myself to my sleepy friend, the pagan divinity.
+It is probable that you are in the right; but I could not retire to rest
+without first venting some portion of effervescence in sighs and
+supplications. The nave was filled with decrepit women and feeble
+children, kneeling by baskets of vegetables and other provisions; which,
+by good Anthony’s interposition, they hoped to sell advantageously in
+the course of the day. Beyond these, nearer the choir, and in a gloomier
+part of the edifice, knelt a row of rueful penitents, smiting their
+breasts, and lifting their eyes to heaven. Further on, in front of the
+dark recess, where the sacred relics are deposited, a few desperate,
+melancholy sinners lay prostrate.</p>
+
+<p>To these I joined myself. The sunbeams had not yet penetrated into this
+religious quarter;<a name="page_vol_1_151" id="page_vol_1_151"></a> and the only light it received proceeded from the
+golden lamps, which hang in clusters round the sanctuary. A lofty altar,
+decked with the most lavish magnificence, supports the shrine. Those who
+are profoundly touched with its sanctity, may approach, and walking
+round, look through the crevices of the tomb, which, it is observed,
+exude a balsamic odour. But supposing a traveller ever so heretical, I
+would advise him by no means to neglect this pilgrimage; since every
+part of the recess he visits is decorated with exquisite sculptures.
+Sansovino and other renowned artists have vied with each other in
+carving the alto relievos of the arcade, which, for design and
+execution, would do honour to the sculptors of antiquity.</p>
+
+<p>Having observed these objects with less exactness than they merited, I
+hastened to the inn, luckily hard by, and one of the best I am
+acquainted with. Here I soon fell asleep in defiance of sunshine. It is
+true my slumbers were not a little agitated. The saint had been deaf to
+my prayer, and I still found myself a frail, infatuated mortal.</p>
+
+<p>At five I got up; we dined, and afterwards scarcely knowing, nor much
+caring, what became<a name="page_vol_1_152" id="page_vol_1_152"></a> of us, we strolled to the great hall of the town;
+an enormous edifice, larger considerably than that of Westminster, but
+free from stalls, or shops, or nests of litigation. The roof, one
+spacious vault of brown timber, casts a solemn gloom, which was still
+increased by the lateness of the hour, and not diminished by the wan
+light, admitted through the windows of pale blue glass. The size and
+shape of this colossal chamber, the arching of the roof, with enormous
+rafters stretching across it, and, above all, the watery gleams that
+glanced through the dull casements, possessed my fancy with ideas of
+Noah’s ark, and almost persuaded me I beheld that extraordinary vessel.
+The representation one sees of it in many an old Dutch Bible, seems to
+be formed upon this very model, and for several moments I indulged the
+chimera of imagining myself confined within its precincts. Could I but
+choose my companions, I should have no great objection to encounter a
+deluge, and to float away a few months upon the waves!</p>
+
+<p>We remained till night walking to and fro in the ark; it was then full
+time to retire, as the guardian of the place was by no means formed to
+divine our diluvian ideas.<a name="page_vol_1_153" id="page_vol_1_153"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_IX-italy" id="LETTER_IX-italy"></a>LETTER IX.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Church of St. Justina.&mdash;Tombs of remote antiquity.&mdash;Ridiculous
+attitudes of rheumatic devotees.&mdash;Turini’s music.&mdash;Another
+excursion to Fiesso.&mdash;Journey to the Euganean hills.&mdash;Newly
+discovered ruins.&mdash;High Mass in the great Church of Saint
+Anthony.&mdash;A thunder-storm.&mdash;Palladio’s Theatre at
+Vicenza.&mdash;Verona.&mdash;An aërial chamber.&mdash;Striking prospect from
+it.&mdash;The Amphitheatre.&mdash;Its interior.&mdash;Leave Verona.&mdash;Country
+between that town and Mantua.&mdash;German soldiers.&mdash;Remains of the
+palace of the Gonzagas.&mdash;Paintings of Julio Romano.&mdash;A ruined
+garden.&mdash;Subterranean apartments.</p></div>
+
+<p>Immediately after breakfast we went to St. Justina’s. Both extremities
+of the cross aisles are terminated by altar-tombs of very remote
+antiquity, adorned with uncouth sculptures of the evangelists, supported
+by wreathed columns of alabaster, round which, to my no small
+astonishment, four or five gawky fellows were waddling on their knees,
+persuaded, it seems, that this strange devotion would cure the
+rheumatism, or any other aches with which they were afflicted. You can
+have no conception of the ridiculous<a name="page_vol_1_154" id="page_vol_1_154"></a> attitudes into which they threw
+themselves; nor the difficulty with which they squeezed along, between
+the middle column of the tomb and those which surround it. No criminal
+in the pillory ever exhibited a more rueful appearance, no swine ever
+scrubbed itself more fervently than these infatuated lubbers.</p>
+
+<p>I left them hard at work, taking more exercise than had been their lot
+for many a day; and, mounting into the organ gallery, listened to
+Turini’s<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> music with infinite satisfaction. The loud harmonious tones
+of the instrument filled the whole edifice; and, being repeated by the
+echoes of its lofty domes and arches, produced a wonderful effect.
+Turini, aware of this circumstance, adapts his compositions with great
+intelligence to the place. Nothing can be more original than his style.
+Deprived of sight by an unhappy accident, in the flower of his days, he
+gave up his entire soul to music, and can scarcely be said to exist, but
+from its mediums.</p>
+
+<p>When we came out of St. Justina’s, the azure of the sky and the softness
+of the air inclined us to think of some excursion. Where could I wish to
+go, but to the place in which I<a name="page_vol_1_155" id="page_vol_1_155"></a> had been so delighted? Besides, it was
+proper to make the Cornaro another visit, and proper to see the Pisani
+palace, which happily I had before neglected. All these proprieties
+considered, Madame de R. accompanied me to Fiesso.</p>
+
+<p>The sun was just sunk when we arrived. The whole ether in a glow, and
+the fragrance of the arched citron alleys delightful. Beneath them I
+walked in the cool, till the Galuzzi began once more her enchanting
+melody. She sang till the fineness of the weather tempted us to quit the
+palace for the banks of the Brenta. A profound calm reigned upon the
+woods and the waters, and moonlight added serenity to a scene naturally
+peaceful.</p>
+
+<p>We supped late: before the Galuzzi had repeated the airs which had most
+affected me, morning began to dawn.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">September 8th.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> want of sound repose, after my return home, had thrown me into a
+feverish and impatient mood. I had scarcely snatched some slight
+refreshment, before I flew to the great organ at St. Justina’s; but
+tried this time to compose myself, in vain.</p>
+
+<p>Madame de Rosenberg, finding my endeavours<a name="page_vol_1_156" id="page_vol_1_156"></a> unsuccessful, proposed, by
+way of diverting my attention, that we should set out immediately for
+one of the Euganean hills, about six or seven miles from Padua, at the
+foot of which some antique baths had been very lately discovered. I
+consented without hesitation, little concerned whither I went, or what
+happened to me, provided the scene was often shifted. The lanes and
+inclosures we passed, in our road to the hills, appeared in all the
+gaiety that verdure, flowers, and sunshine could give them. But my
+pleasures were overcast, and I beheld every object, however cheerful,
+through a dusky medium.</p>
+
+<p>Deeply engaged in conversation, distance made no impression, and I found
+myself entering the meadow, over which the ruins are scattered, whilst I
+imagined myself several miles distant. No scene could be more smiling
+than this which here presented itself, or answer, in a fuller degree,
+the ideas I had always formed of Italy.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving our carriage at the entrance of the meadow, we traversed its
+surface, and shortly perceived among the grass, an oblong basin,
+incrusted with pure white marble. Most of the slabs are large and
+perfect, apparently brought<a name="page_vol_1_157" id="page_vol_1_157"></a> from Greece, and still retaining their
+polished smoothness. The pipes to convey the waters are still perfectly
+discernible; in short, the whole ground-plan may be easily traced. Near
+the principal bath, we remarked the platforms of several circular
+apartments, paved with mosaic, in a neat simple taste, far from
+inelegant. Weeds have not yet sprung up amongst the crevices; and the
+freshness of the ruin everywhere shows that it has not long been
+exposed.</p>
+
+<p>Theodoric is the prince to whom these structures are attributed; and
+Cassiodorus, the prime chronicler of the country, is quoted to maintain
+the supposition. My spirit was too much engaged to make any learned
+parade, or to dispute upon a subject, which I abandon, with all its
+importance, to calmer and less impatient minds.</p>
+
+<p>Having taken a cursory view of the ruins, we ascended the hill just
+above them, and surveyed a prospect of the same nature, though in a more
+lovely and expanded style than that which I beheld from Mosolente. Padua
+crowns the landscape, with its towers and cupolas rising from a
+continued grove; and, from the drawings I have<a name="page_vol_1_158" id="page_vol_1_158"></a> seen, I should
+conjecture that Damascus presents somewhat of a similar appearance.</p>
+
+<p>Taking our eyes off this extensive prospect, we brought them home to the
+fragments beneath our feet. The walls exhibit the <i>opus reticulatum</i>, so
+common in the environs of Naples. A sort of terrace, with the remaining
+bases of columns which encircle the hill, leads me to imagine here were
+formerly arcades and porticos, constructed for enjoying the view; for on
+the summit I could trace no vestiges of any considerable edifice, and am
+therefore inclined to conclude, that nothing more than a colonnade
+surrounded the hill, leading perhaps to some slight fane, or pavilion,
+for the recreation of the bathers below.</p>
+
+<p>A profusion of aromatic flowers covered the slopes, and exhaled
+additional perfumes, as the sun declined, and the still hour approached,
+which was wont to spread over my mind a divine composure, and to restore
+the tranquillity I might have lost in the day. But now it diffused its
+reviving coolness in vain, and I remained, if possible, more sad and
+restless than before.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">September 9th.</p>
+
+<p>Y<small>OU</small> may imagine how I felt when the hour of leaving Padua drew near. It
+happened to<a name="page_vol_1_159" id="page_vol_1_159"></a> be a festival, and high mass was celebrated at the great
+church of Saint Anthony in all its splendour. The ceremony was about
+half over when such a peal of thunder reverberated through the vaults
+and cupolas, as I expected would have shaken them to their foundations.
+The principal dome appeared invested with a sheet of fire; and the
+effect of terror produced upon the majority of the congregation, by this
+sudden lighting up of the most gloomy recesses of the edifice, was so
+violent that they rushed out in the wildest confusion. Had my faith been
+less lively, I should have followed their example; but, absorbed in the
+thought of a separation from those to whom I felt fondly attached, I
+remained till the ceremony ended; then took leave of Madame de R. with
+heartfelt regret, and was driven away to Vicenza.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">September 10th.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> morning being overcast, I went to Palladio’s theatre. It is
+impossible to conceive a structure more truly classical, or to point out
+a single ornament which has not the best antique authority. I am not in
+the least surprised that the citizens of Vicenza enthusiastically gave
+in to this great architect’s plan,<a name="page_vol_1_160" id="page_vol_1_160"></a> and sacrificed large sums to erect
+so beautiful a model. When finished, they procured, at a vast expense,
+the representation of a Grecian tragedy, with its chorus and majestic
+decorations.</p>
+
+<p>After I had mused a long while in the most retired recess of the
+edifice, fancying I had penetrated into a real and perfect monument of
+antiquity, which till this moment had remained undiscovered, we set out
+for Verona. The situation is striking and picturesque. A long line of
+battlemented walls, flanked by venerable towers, mounts the hill in a
+grand irregular sweep, and incloses the city with many a woody garden,
+and grove of slender cypress. Beyond rises a group of mountains;
+opposite to which a plain presents itself, decked with all the variety
+of meads and thickets, olive-grounds and vineyards.</p>
+
+<p>Amongst these our road kept winding till we entered the city gate, and
+passed (the post knows how many streets and alleys in the way!) to the
+inn, a lofty handsome-looking building; but so full that we were obliged
+to take up with an apartment on its very summit, open to all the winds,
+like the magic chamber Apuleius mentions,<a name="page_vol_1_161" id="page_vol_1_161"></a> and commanding the roofs of
+half Verona. Here and there a pine shot up amongst them, and the shady
+hills, terminating the perspective of walls and turrets, formed a
+romantic scene.</p>
+
+<p>Placing our table in a balcony, to enjoy the prospect with greater
+freedom, we feasted upon fish from the Lago di Guarda, and the delicious
+fruits of the country. Thus did I remain, solacing myself, breathing the
+cool air, and remarking the tints of the mountains. Neither paintings
+nor antiques could tempt me from my aërial situation; I refused hunting
+out the famous works of Paul Veronese scattered over the town, and sat
+like the owl in the Georgics,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Solis et occasum servans de culmine summo.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Twilight drawing on, I left my haunt, and stealing down stairs, enquired
+for a guide to conduct me to the amphitheatre, perhaps the most entire
+monument of Roman days. The people of the house, instead of bringing me
+a quiet peasant, officiously delivered me up to a professed antiquary,
+one of those precise plausible young men, to whom, God help me! I have
+so capital an aversion. This sweet spark displayed all his little
+erudition, and flourished away upon cloacas and vomitoriums with
+eternal<a name="page_vol_1_162" id="page_vol_1_162"></a> fluency. He was very profound in the doctrine of conduits, and
+knew to admiration how the filthiness of all the amphitheatre was
+disposed of.</p>
+
+<p>But perceiving my inattention, and having just grace enough to remark
+that I chose one side of the street when he preferred the other, and
+sometimes trotted through despair in the kennel, he made me a pretty
+bow, I threw him half-a-crown, and seeing the ruins before me, traversed
+a gloomy arcade and emerged alone into the arena. A smooth turf covers
+its surface, from which a spacious sweep of gradines rises to a majestic
+elevation. Four arches, with their simple Doric ornament, alone remain
+of the grand circular arcade which once crowned the highest seats of the
+amphitheatre; and, had it not been for Gothic violence, this part of the
+structure would have equally resisted the ravages of time. Nothing can
+be more exact than the preservation of the gradines; not a block has
+sunk from its place, and whatever trifling injuries they may have
+received have been carefully repaired. The two chief entrances are
+rebuilt with solidity and closed by portals, no passage being permitted
+through the amphitheatre<a name="page_vol_1_163" id="page_vol_1_163"></a> except at public shows and representations,
+sometimes still given in the arena.</p>
+
+<p>When I paced slowly across it, silence reigned undisturbed, and nothing
+moved, except the weeds and grasses which skirt the walls and tremble
+with the faintest breeze. Throwing myself upon the grass in the middle
+of the arena, I enjoyed the freedom of my situation, its profound
+stillness and solitude. How long I remained shut in by endless gradines
+on every side, wrapped as it were in the recollections of perished ages,
+is not worth noting down; but when I passed from the amphitheatre to the
+opening before it, night was drawing on, and the grand outline of a
+terrific feudal fortress, once inhabited by the Scaligeri, alone dimly
+visible.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">September 11th.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>RAVERSING</small> once more the grand piazza, and casting a last glance upon
+the amphitheatre, we passed under a lofty arch which terminates the
+perspective, and left Verona by a wide, irregular, picturesque street,
+commanding, whenever you look back, a striking scene of towers, cypress,
+and mountains.</p>
+
+<p>The country, between this beautiful town and Mantua, presents one
+continued grove of<a name="page_vol_1_164" id="page_vol_1_164"></a> dwarfish mulberries, with here and there a knot of
+poplars, and sometimes a miserable shed. Mantua itself rises out of a
+morass formed by the Mincio, whose course, in most places, is so choked
+up with reeds as to be scarcely discernible. It requires a creative
+imagination to discover any charms in such a prospect, and a strong
+prepossession not to be disgusted with the scene where Virgil was born.</p>
+
+<p>The beating of drums, and sight of German whiskers, finished what
+croaking frogs and stagnant ditches had begun. Every classic idea being
+scared by such sounds and such objects, I dined in dudgeon, and refused
+stirring out till late in the evening.</p>
+
+<p>A few paces from the town stand the remains of the palace where the
+Gonzagas formerly resided. This I could not resist looking at, and was
+amply rewarded. Several of the apartments, adorned by the bold pencil of
+Julio Romano, merit the most exact attention; and the arabesques, with
+which the stucco ceilings are covered, equal those of the Vatican. Being
+painted in fresco upon damp neglected walls, each year diminishes their
+number, and every winter moulders some beautiful figure away.<a name="page_vol_1_165" id="page_vol_1_165"></a></p>
+
+<p>The subjects, mostly from antique fables, are treated with all the
+purity and gracefulness of Raphael; the story of Polypheme is very
+conspicuous. Acis appears, reclined with his beloved Galatea, on the
+shore of the ocean, whilst their gigantic enemy, seated above on the
+brow of Ætna, seems by the paleness and horrors of his countenance to
+meditate some terrible revenge.</p>
+
+<p>When it was too late to examine the paintings any longer, I walked into
+a sort of court, or rather garden, which had been decorated with
+fountains and antique statues. Their fragments still remain amongst
+weeds and beds of flowers, for every corner of the place is smothered
+with vegetation. Here nettles grow thick and rampant; there, tuberoses
+and jessamine spring from mounds of ruins, which during the elegant
+reign of the Gonzagas led to grottoes and subterranean apartments,
+concealed from vulgar eyes, and sacred to the most refined enjoyments.<a name="page_vol_1_166" id="page_vol_1_166"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_X-italy" id="LETTER_X-italy"></a>LETTER X.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Cross the Po.&mdash;A woody country.&mdash;The Vintage.&mdash;Reggio.&mdash;Ridge of
+the Apennines.&mdash;Romantic ideas connected with those
+mountains.&mdash;Arrive at Modena.&mdash;Road to Bologna.&mdash;Magnificent
+Convent of Madonna del Monte.&mdash;Natural and political commotions in
+Bologna.&mdash;Proceed towards the mountains.&mdash;Dreary prospects.&mdash;The
+scenery improves.&mdash;Herds of goats.&mdash;A run with them.&mdash;Return to the
+carriage.&mdash;Wretched hamlet.&mdash;Miserable repast.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">September 12th, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>A <small>SHOWER</small>, having fallen, the air was refreshed, and the drops still
+glittered upon the vines, through which our road conducted us. Three or
+four miles from Mantua the scene changed to extensive grounds of rice,
+and meads of the tenderest verdure watered by springs, whose frequent
+meanders gave to the whole prospect the appearance of a vast green
+carpet shot with silver. Further on we crossed the Po, and passing
+Guastalla, entered a woody country full of inclosures and villages;
+herds feeding in the meadows, and poultry parading before every wicket.<a name="page_vol_1_167" id="page_vol_1_167"></a></p>
+
+<p>The peasants were busied in winnowing their corn; or, mounted upon the
+elms and poplars, gathering the rich clusters from the vines that hang
+streaming in braids from one branch to another. I was surprised to find
+myself already in the midst of the vintage, and to see every road
+crowded with carts and baskets bringing it along; you cannot imagine a
+pleasanter scene.</p>
+
+<p>Round Reggio it grew still more lively, and on the other side of that
+sketch-inviting little city, I remarked many a cottage that Tityrus
+might have inhabited, with its garden and willow hedge in flower,
+swarming with bees. Our road, the smoothest conceivable, enabled us to
+pass too rapidly through so cheerful a landscape. I caught glimpses of
+fields and copses as we were driven along, that could have afforded me
+amusement for hours, and orchards on gentle acclivities, beneath which I
+could have walked till evening. The trees literally bent under their
+loads of fruit, and innumerable ruddy apples lay scattered upon the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond these rich masses of foliage, to which the sun lent additional
+splendour, at the utmost extremity of the pastures, rose the irregular
+ridge of the Apennines, whose deep blue presented a<a name="page_vol_1_168" id="page_vol_1_168"></a> striking contrast
+to the glowing colours of the foreground. I fixed my eyes on the chain
+of distant mountains, and indulged a thousand romantic conjectures of
+what was passing in their recesses&mdash;hermits absorbed in
+prayer&mdash;beautiful Contadine fetching water from springs, and banditti
+conveying their victims, perhaps at this very moment, to caves and
+fastnesses.</p>
+
+<p>Such were the dreams that filled my fancy, and kept it incessantly
+employed till it was dusk, and the moon began to show herself; the same
+moon which but a few nights ago had seen me so happy at Fiesso. I left
+the carriage, and running into the dim haze, abandoned myself to the
+recollections it excited....</p>
+
+<p>At length, having wandered where chance or the wildness of my fancy led,
+till the lateness of the evening alarmed me, I regained the chaise as
+fast as I could, and arrived between twelve and one at Modena, the place
+of my destination.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">September 13th.</p>
+
+<p>W<small>E</small> traversed a champagne country in our way to Bologna, whose richness
+and fertility encreased in proportion as we drew near that celebrated
+mart of lap-dogs and sausages. A chain<a name="page_vol_1_169" id="page_vol_1_169"></a> of hills commands the city,
+variegated with green inclosures and villas innumerable. On the highest
+acclivity of this range appears the magnificent convent of Madonna del
+Monte, embosomed in wood and joined to the town by a corridor a league
+in length. This vast portico ascending the steeps and winding amongst
+the thickets, sometimes concealed and sometimes visible, produces an
+effect wonderfully grand and singular. I longed to have mounted the
+height by so extraordinary a passage; and hope on some future day to be
+better acquainted with Santa Maria del Monte.</p>
+
+<p>At present I have very little indeed to say about Bologna (where I
+passed only two hours) except that it is sadly out of humour, an
+earthquake and Cardinal Buoncompagni having disarranged both land and
+people. For half-a-year the ground continued trembling; and for these
+last six months, the legate and senators have grumbled and scratched
+incessantly; so that, between natural and political commotions, the
+Bolognese must have passed an agreeable summer.</p>
+
+<p>Such a report of the situation of things, you may suppose, was not
+likely to retard my journey. I put off delivering my letters to another
+opportunity, and proceeded immediately after<a name="page_vol_1_170" id="page_vol_1_170"></a> dinner towards the
+mountains. We were soon in the midst of crags and stony channels, that
+stream with ten thousand rills in the winter season, but during the
+summer months reflect every sunbeam, and harbour half the scorpions in
+the country.</p>
+
+<p>For many a toilsome league our prospect consisted of nothing but dreary
+hillocks and intervening wastes, more barren and mournful than those to
+which Mary Magdalene retired. Sometimes a crucifix or chapel peeped out
+of the parched fern and grasses, with which these desolate fields are
+clothed; and now and then we met a goggle-eyed pilgrim trudging along,
+and staring about him as if he waited only for night and opportunity to
+have additional reasons for hurrying to Loretto.</p>
+
+<p>During three or four hours that we continued ascending, the scene
+increased in sterility and desolation; but, at the end of our second
+post, the landscape began to alter for the better: little green valleys
+at the base of tremendous steeps, discovered themselves, scattered over
+with oaks, and freshened with running waters, which the nakedness of the
+impending rocks set off to advantage. The sides of the cliffs in general
+consist of rude misshapen masses; but their summits are smooth and
+verdant, and continually browsed by herds<a name="page_vol_1_171" id="page_vol_1_171"></a> of white goats, which were
+gambolling on the edge of the precipices as we passed beneath.</p>
+
+<p>I joined one of these frisking assemblies, whose shadows were stretched
+by the setting sun along the level herbage. There I sat a few minutes
+whilst they shook their beards at me, and tried to scare me with all
+their horns. Being tired with skipping and butting at me in vain, the
+whole herd trotted away, and I after them. They led me a dance from crag
+to crag and from thicket to thicket.</p>
+
+<p>It was growing dusky apace, and wreaths of smoke began to ascend from
+the mysterious depths of the valleys. I was ignorant what monster
+inhabited such retirements, so gave over my pursuit lest some Polypheme
+or other might make me repent it. I looked around, the carriage was out
+of sight; but hearing the neighing of horses at a distance, I soon came
+up with them, and mounted another rapid ascent, from whence an extensive
+tract of cliff and forest land was discernible.</p>
+
+<p>A chill wind blew from the highest peak of the Apennines, and made a
+dismal rustle amongst the woods of chesnut that hung on the mountain’s
+side, through which we were forced to pass. Walking out of the sound of
+the carriage, I began interpreting<a name="page_vol_1_172" id="page_vol_1_172"></a> the language of the leaves, not
+greatly to my own advantage or that of any being in the universe. I was
+no prophet of good, and had I but commanded an oracle, as ancient
+visionaries were wont, I should have flung mischief about me.</p>
+
+<p>How long I continued in this strange temper I cannot pretend to say, but
+believe it was midnight before we emerged from the oracular forest, and
+saw faintly before us an assemblage of miserable huts, where we were to
+sleep. This wretched hamlet is suspended on the brow of a bleak
+mountain, and every gust that stirs, shakes the whole village to its
+foundations. At our approach two hags stalked forth with lanterns and
+invited us with a grin, which I shall always remember, to a dish of
+mustard and crows’ gizzards, a dish I was more than half afraid of
+tasting, lest it should change me to some bird of darkness, condemned to
+mope eternally on the black rafters of the cottage.</p>
+
+<p>After repeated supplications we procured a few eggs, and some faggots to
+make a fire. Pitching my bed in a warm corner I soon fell asleep, and
+forgot all my cares and inquietudes.<a name="page_vol_1_173" id="page_vol_1_173"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XI-italy" id="LETTER_XI-italy"></a>LETTER XI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">A sterile region.&mdash;Our descent into a milder landscape.&mdash;Distant
+view of Florence.&mdash;Moonlight effect.&mdash;Visit the Gallery.&mdash;Relics of
+ancient credulity.&mdash;Paintings.&mdash;A Medusa’s head by Leonardo da
+Vinci.&mdash;Curious picture by Polemberg.&mdash;The Venus de
+Medicis.&mdash;Exquisitely sculptured figure of Morpheus.&mdash;Vast
+Cathedral.&mdash;Garden of Boboli.&mdash;Views from different parts of
+it.&mdash;Its resemblance to an antique Roman garden.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">September 14th, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> sun had not been long above the horizon, before we set forward upon
+a craggy pavement hewn out of rough cliffs and precipices. Scarcely a
+tree was visible, and the few that presented themselves began already to
+shed their leaves. The raw nipping air of this desert with difficulty
+spares a blade of vegetation; and in the whole range of these extensive
+eminences I could not discover a single corn-field or pasture.
+Inhabitants, you may guess, there were none. I would defy even a Scotch
+highlander to find means of subsistence in so rude a soil.<a name="page_vol_1_174" id="page_vol_1_174"></a></p>
+
+<p>Towards mid-day, we had surmounted the dreariest part of our journey,
+and began to perceive a milder landscape. The climate improved as well
+as the prospect, and after a continual descent of several hours, we saw
+groves and villages in the dips of the hills, and met a string of mules
+and horses laden with fruit. I purchased some figs and peaches from this
+little caravan, and spread my repast upon a bank, in the midst of
+lavender bushes in full bloom.</p>
+
+<p>Continuing our route, we bade adieu to the realms of poverty and
+barrenness, and entered a cultivated vale, shaded by woody acclivities.
+Amongst these we wound along, between groves of poplar and cypress, till
+late in the evening. Upon winding a hill we discovered Florence at a
+distance surrounded with gardens and terraces rising one above another;
+the full moon seemed to shine with a peculiar charm upon this favoured
+region. Her serene light on the pale grey of the olive, gave a visionary
+and Elysian appearance to the landscape, and I was sorry when I found
+myself excluded from it by the gates of Florence.</p>
+
+<p>I slept as well as my impatience would allow, till it was time next
+morning (Sept. 15,) to visit the gallery, and worship the Venus de
+Medicis.<a name="page_vol_1_175" id="page_vol_1_175"></a> I felt, upon entering this world of refinement, as if I could
+have taken up my abode in it for ever, but, confused with the multitude
+of objects, I knew not on which first to bend my attention, and ran
+childishly by the ample ranks of sculptures, like a butterfly in a
+parterre, that skims before it fixes, over ten thousand flowers.</p>
+
+<p>Having taken my course down one side of the gallery, I turned the angle
+and discovered another long perspective, equally stored with
+master-pieces of bronze and marble. A minute brought me to the extremity
+of this range, vast as it was; then, flying down a third, adorned in the
+same delightful manner, I paused under the bust of Jupiter Olympius; and
+began to reflect a little more maturely upon the company in which I
+found myself. Opposite, appeared the majestic features of Minerva,
+breathing divinity: and Cybele, the mother of the gods.</p>
+
+<p>Having regarded these powers with due veneration, I next cast my eyes
+upon a black figure, whose attitude seemed to announce the deity of
+sleep. You know my fondness for this drowsy personage, and that it is
+not the first time I have quitted the most splendid society for him. I
+found him at present, of touchstone, with the<a name="page_vol_1_176" id="page_vol_1_176"></a> countenance of a towardly
+brat, sleeping ill through indigestion. The artist had not conceived
+very poetical ideas of the god, or else he never would have represented
+him with so little grace and dignity.</p>
+
+<p>Displeased at finding my favourite subject profaned, I perceived the
+transports of enthusiasm beginning to subside, and felt myself calm
+enough to follow the herd of guides and spectators from chamber to
+chamber, cabinet to cabinet, without falling into errors of rapture and
+admiration. We were led slowly and moderately through the large rooms,
+containing the portraits of painters, good, bad, and indifferent, from
+Raphael to Liotard; then into a museum of bronzes, which would afford
+both amusement and instruction for years.</p>
+
+<p>When I had rather alarmed than satisfied my curiosity by rapidly running
+over a multitude of candelabrums, urns, and sacred utensils, we entered
+a small luminous apartment, surrounded with cases richly decorated, and
+filled with the most exquisite models of workmanship in bronze and
+various metals, classed in exact order. Here are crowds of diminutive
+deities and tutelary lars, to whom the superstition of former days<a name="page_vol_1_177" id="page_vol_1_177"></a>
+attributed those midnight murmurs which were believed to presage the
+misfortunes of a family. Amongst these now neglected images are
+preserved a vast number of talismans, cabalistic amulets, and other
+grotesque relics of ancient credulity.</p>
+
+<p>In the centre of the room I remarked a table, beautifully formed of
+polished gems, and, near it, the statue of a genius with his familiar
+serpent, and all his attributes; the guardian of the treasured
+antiquities. From this chamber we were conducted into another, which
+opens to that part of the gallery where the busts of Adrian and Antinous
+are placed. Two pilasters, delicately carved in trophies and clusters of
+ancient armour, stand on each side of the entrance; within are several
+perfumed cabinets of miniatures, and a single column of oriental
+alabaster about ten feet in height,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Lucido e terso, e bianco, più che latte.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>I put my guide’s patience to the proof, by lingering to admire the
+column and cabinets. At last, the musk with which they are impregnated,
+obliged me to desist, and I moved on to a suite of saloons, with low
+arched roofs, glittering with arabesque, in azure and gold. Several<a name="page_vol_1_178" id="page_vol_1_178"></a>
+medallions appear amongst the wreaths of foliage, tolerably well
+painted, with representations of splendid feasts and tournaments for
+which Florence was once so famous.</p>
+
+<p>A vast collection of small pictures, most of them Flemish, covers the
+walls of these apartments. But nothing struck me more than a Medusa’s
+head by Leonardo da Vinci. It appears just severed from the body and
+cast on the damp pavement of a cavern: a deadly paleness covers the
+countenance, and the mouth exhales a pestilential vapour; the snakes,
+which fill almost the whole picture, beginning to untwist their folds;
+one or two seemed already crept away, and crawling up the rock in
+company with toads and other venomous reptiles.</p>
+
+<p>Here are a great many Polembergs: one in particular, the strangest I
+ever beheld. Instead of those soft scenes of woods and waterfalls he is
+in general so fond of representing, he has chosen for his subject Virgil
+ushering Dante into the regions of eternal punishment, amidst the ruins
+of flaming edifices that glare across the infernal waters. These
+mournful towers harbour innumerable shapes, all busy in preying upon the
+damned. One capital devil, in the form of<a name="page_vol_1_179" id="page_vol_1_179"></a> an enormous lobster, seems
+very strenuously employed in mumbling a miserable mortal, who sprawls,
+though in vain, to escape from his claws. This performance, whimsical as
+it is, retains all that softness of tint and delicacy of pencil for
+which Polemberg is so renowned.</p>
+
+<p>Had not the subject so palpably contradicted the painter’s choice, I
+should have passed over this picture, like a thousand more, and have
+brought you immediately to the tribune. Need I say I was spell-bound the
+moment I set my feet within it, and saw full before me the Venus de
+Medicis? The warm ivory hue of the original marble is a beauty no copy
+has ever imitated, and the softness of the limbs exceeded the liveliest
+idea I had formed to myself of their perfection.</p>
+
+<p>When I had taken my eyes reluctantly away from this beautiful object, I
+cast them upon a Morpheus of white marble, which lies slumbering at the
+feet of the goddess in the form of a graceful child. A dormant lion
+serves him for a pillow; two ample wings, carved with the utmost
+delicacy, are gathered under him; two others, budding from his temples,
+half-concealed by a flow of lovely ringlets. His languid hands scarcely<a name="page_vol_1_180" id="page_vol_1_180"></a>
+hold a bunch of poppies: near him creeps a lizard, just yielding to his
+influence. Nothing can be more just than the expression of sleep in the
+countenance of the little divinity. His lion too is perfectly lulled,
+and rests his muzzle upon his fore paws as quiet as a domestic spaniel.
+My ill-humour at seeing this deity so grossly sculptured in the gallery,
+was dissipated by the gracefulness of his appearance in the tribune. I
+was now contented, for the artist had realized my ideas; and, if I may
+venture my opinion, sculpture never arrived to higher perfection, and,
+at the same time, kept more justly within its province. Sleeping figures
+with me always produce the finest illusion; but when I see an archer in
+the very act of discharging his arrow, a dancer with one foot in the
+air, or a gladiator extending his fist to all eternity, I grow tired,
+and view such wearisome attitudes with infinitely more admiration than
+pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>The morning was gone before I could snatch myself from the tribune. In
+my way home, I looked into the cathedral, an enormous fabric, inlaid
+with the richest marbles, and covered with stars and chequered work,
+like an old-fashioned cabinet. The architect seems to have turned his
+building inside out; nothing in art being more<a name="page_vol_1_181" id="page_vol_1_181"></a> ornamented than the
+exterior, and few churches so simple within. The nave is vast and
+solemn, the dome amazingly spacious, with the high altar in its centre,
+inclosed by a circular arcade near two hundred feet in diameter. There
+is something imposing in this decoration, as it suggests the idea of a
+sanctuary, into which none but the holy ought to penetrate. However
+profane I might feel myself, I took the liberty of entering, and sat
+down in a niche. Not a ray of light reaches this sacred inclosure, but
+through the medium of narrow windows, high in the dome, and richly
+painted. A sort of yellow tint predominates, which gives additional
+solemnity to the altar, and paleness to the votary before it. I was
+sensible of the effect, and obtained at least the colour of sanctity.</p>
+
+<p>Having remained some time in this pious hue, I returned home and feasted
+upon grapes and ortolans with great edification; then walked to one of
+the bridges across the Arno, and from thence to the garden of Boboli,
+which lies behind the Grand Duke’s palace, stretched out on the side of
+a mountain. I ascended terrace after terrace, robed by a thick underwood
+of bay and myrtle, above which rise several nodding towers, and a long
+sweep of venerable wall, almost entirely<a name="page_vol_1_182" id="page_vol_1_182"></a> concealed by ivy. You would
+have been enraptured with the broad masses of shade and dusky alleys
+that opened as I advanced, with white statues of fauns and sylvans
+glimmering amongst them; some of which pour water into sarcophagi of the
+purest marble, covered with antique relievos. The capitals of columns
+and ancient friezes are scattered about as seats.</p>
+
+<p>On these I reposed myself, and looked up to the cypress groves which
+spring above the thickets; then, plunging into their retirements, I
+followed a winding path, which led me by a series of steep ascents to a
+green platform overlooking the whole extent of wood, with Florence deep
+beneath, and the tops of the hills which encircle it jagged with pines;
+here and there a convent, or villa, whitening in the sun. This scene
+extends as far as the eye can reach.</p>
+
+<p>Still ascending I attained the brow of the eminence, and had nothing but
+the fortress of Belvedere, and two or three open porticos above me. On
+this elevated situation, I found several walks of trellis-work, clothed
+with luxuriant vines. A colossal statue of Ceres, her hands extended in
+the act of scattering fertility over the country, crowns the summit.</p>
+
+<p>Descending alley after alley, and bank after<a name="page_vol_1_183" id="page_vol_1_183"></a> bank, I came to the
+orangery in front of the palace, disposed in a grand amphitheatre, with
+marble niches relieved by dark foliage, out of which spring cedars and
+tall aërial cypresses. This spot brought the scenery of an antique Roman
+garden so vividly into my mind, that, lost in the train of recollections
+this idea excited, I expected every instant to be called to the table of
+Lucullus hard by, in one of the porticos, and to stretch myself on his
+purple triclinias; but waiting in vain for a summons till the approach
+of night, I returned delighted with a ramble that had led my imagination
+so far into antiquity.</p>
+
+<p>Friday, Sept. 16.&mdash;My impatience to hear Pacchierotti called me up with
+the sun. I blessed a day which was to give me the greatest of musical
+pleasures, and travelled gaily towards Lucca, along a fertile plain,
+bounded by rocky hills, and scattered over with towns and villages. We
+passed Pistoia in haste, and about three in the afternoon entered the
+Lucchese territory, by a clean paved road, which runs through chestnut
+copses bordered with broom in blossom, and an immense variety of heaths;
+a red soil peeping forth from the vegetation, adds to the richness of
+the landscape, which swells all the way into<a name="page_vol_1_184" id="page_vol_1_184"></a> gentle acclivities: and at
+about seven or eight miles from the city spreads all round into
+mountains, green to their very summits, and diversified with gardens and
+palaces. More pleasing scenery can with difficulty be imagined: I was
+quite charmed with beholding it, as I knew very well that the opera
+would keep me a long while chained down in its neighbourhood.</p>
+
+<p>Happy for me that the environs of Lucca were so beautiful; since I defy
+almost any city to contain more ugliness within its walls. Narrow
+streets and dismal alleys; wide gutters and cracked pavements; everybody
+in black, according with the gloom of their habitations, which however
+are large and lofty enough of conscience; but having all grated windows,
+they convey none but dark and dungeon-like ideas. My spirits fell many
+degrees upon entering this sable capital; and when I found Friday was
+meagre day, in every sense of the word, with its inhabitants, and no
+opera to be performed, I grew wofully out of humour. Instead of a
+delightful symphony, I heard nothing for some time but the clatter of
+plates and the swearing of waiters.</p>
+
+<p>Amongst the number of my tormentors was a whole Genoese family of
+distinction; very fat and sleek, and terribly addicted to the violin.<a name="page_vol_1_185" id="page_vol_1_185"></a>
+Overhearing my sad complaint for want of music, they most generously
+determined I should have my fill of it, and, getting together a few
+scrapers, began such an academia as drove me to the further end of a
+very spacious apartment, whilst they possessed the other. The hopes and
+heir of the family&mdash;a chubby dolt of between eighteen and nineteen, his
+uncle, a thickset smiling personage, and a brace of innocent-looking
+younger brothers, plied their fiddles with a hearty good will, waggled
+their double chins, and played out of tune with the most happy
+unconsciousness, as amateurs are apt to do ninety-nine times in a
+hundred.</p>
+
+<p>Pacchierotti, whom they all worshipped in their heavy way, sat silent
+the while in a corner; the second soprano warbled, not absolutely ill,
+at the harpsichord; whilst the old lady, young lady, and attendant
+females, kept ogling him with great perseverance. Those who could not
+get in, squinted through the crevices of the door. Abbates and
+greyhounds were fidgetting continually without. In short, I was so
+persecuted with questions, criticisms, and concertos, that, pleading
+headache and indisposition, I escaped about ten o’clock, and shook
+myself when I got safe to my apartment like a worried spaniel.<a name="page_vol_1_186" id="page_vol_1_186"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XII-italy" id="LETTER_XII-italy"></a>LETTER XII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Rambles among the hills.&mdash;Excursions with Pacchierotti.&mdash;He catches
+cold in the mountains.&mdash;The whole Republic is in commotion, and
+send a deputation to remonstrate with the Singer on his
+imprudence.&mdash;The Conte Nobili.&mdash;Hill scenery.&mdash;Princely Castle and
+Gardens of the Garzoni Family.&mdash;Colossal Statue of Fame.&mdash;Grove of
+Ilex.&mdash;Endless bowers of Vines.&mdash;Delightful Wood of the Marchese
+Mansi.&mdash;Return to Lucca.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Lucca, Sept. 25, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>Y<small>OU</small> ask me how I pass my time. Generally upon the hills, in wild spots
+where the arbutus flourishes; from whence I may catch a glimpse of the
+distant sea; my horse tied to a cypress, and myself cast upon the grass,
+like Palmerin of Oliva, with a tablet and pencil in my hand, a basket of
+grapes by my side, and a crooked stick to shake down the chestnuts. I
+have bidden adieu, several days ago, to the visits, dinners,
+conversazioni, and glories of the town, and only go thither in an
+evening, just time enough for the grand march which precedes
+Pacchierotti in Quinto Fabio. Sometimes he accompanies me in my
+excursions, to the utter discontent of the Lucchese, who swear I shall
+ruin their Opera, by leading him such extravagant rambles amongst the
+mountains, and exposing him to the inclemency of winds and showers. One
+day they made a vehement remonstrance, but in vain; for the next, away
+we trotted over hill and dale, and stayed so late in the evening, that a
+cold and hoarseness were the consequence.</p>
+
+<p>The whole republic was thrown into commotion, and some of its prime
+ministers were deputed to harangue Pacchierotti upon the rides he had
+committed. Had the safety of their mighty state depended upon this
+imprudent excursion, they could not have vociferated with greater
+violence. You know I am rather energetic, and, to say truth, I had very
+nearly got into a scrape of importance, and drawn down the execrations
+of the Gonfalonier and all his council upon my head by openly declaring
+our intention of taking, next morning, another ride over the rocks, and
+absolutely losing ourselves in the clouds which veil their acclivities.
+These terrible threats were put into execution, and yesterday we made a
+tour of about thirty miles upon the high lands, and visited a variety
+of castles and palaces.</p>
+
+<p>The Conte Nobili, a noble Lucchese, born in Flanders and educated at
+Paris, was our conductor. He possesses great elegance of imagination,
+and a degree of sensibility rarely met with. The way did not appear
+tedious in such company. The sun was tempered by light clouds, and a
+soft autumnal haze rested upon the hills, covered with shrubs and
+olives. The distant plains and forests appeared tinted with so deep a
+blue, that I began to think the azure so prevalent in Velvet Breughel’s
+landscapes is hardly exaggerated.</p>
+
+<p>After riding for six or seven miles along the cultivated levels, we
+began to ascend a rough slope, overgrown with chestnuts; a great many
+loose fragments and stumps of ancient pomegranates perplexed our route,
+which continued, turning and winding through this wilderness, till it
+opened on a sudden to the side of a lofty mountain, covered with tufted
+groves, amongst which hangs the princely castle of the Garzoni, on the
+very side of a precipice.</p>
+
+<p>Alcina could not have chosen a more romantic situation. The garden lies
+extended beneath, gay with flowers, and glittering with compartments of
+spar, which, though in no great purity of taste, strikes for the first
+time with the effect of enchantment. Two large marble basins, with
+jets-d’eau, seventy feet in height, divide the parterres; from the
+extremity of which rises a rude cliff, shaded with cedar and ilex, and
+cut into terraces.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving our horses at the great gate of this magic enclosure, we passed
+through the spray of the fountains, and mounting an endless flight of
+steps, entered an alley of oranges, and gathered ripe fruit from the
+trees. Whilst we were thus employed, the sun broke from the clouds, and
+lighted up the green of the vegetation; at the same time spangling the
+waters, which pour copiously down a succession of rocky terraces, and
+sprinkle the impending citron-trees with perpetual dew. These streams
+issue from a chasm in the cliff, surrounded by cypresses, which conceal
+by their thick branches a pavilion with baths. Above arises a colossal
+statue of Fame, boldly carved, and in the very act of starting from the
+precipices. A narrow path leads up to the feet of the goddess, on which
+I reclined; whilst a vast column of water arching over my head, fell,
+without even wetting me with its spray, into the depths below.</p>
+
+<p>I could hardly prevail upon myself to abandon this cool recess; which
+the fragrance of bay and orange, maintained by constant showers,
+rendered uncommonly luxurious. At last I consented to move on, through a
+dark wall of ilex, which, to the credit of Signor Garzoni be it spoken,
+is suffered to grow as wild as it pleases. This grove is suspended on
+the mountain side, whose summit is clothed with a boundless wood of
+olives, and forms, by its willowy colour, a striking contrast with the
+deep verdure of its base.</p>
+
+<p>After resting a few moments in the shade, we proceeded to a long avenue,
+bordered by aloes in bloom, forming majestic pyramids of flowers thirty
+feet high. This led us to the palace, which was soon run over. Then,
+mounting our horses, we wound amongst sunny vales, and inclosures with
+myrtle hedges, till we came to a rapid steep. We felt the heat most
+powerfully in ascending it, and were glad to take refuge under a
+continued bower of vines, which runs for miles along its summit. These
+arbours afforded us both shade and refreshment; I fell upon the
+clusters which formed our ceiling, like a native of the north, unused to
+such luxuriance: one of those Goths, Gray so poetically describes, who</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Scent the new fragrance of the breathing rose,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And quaff the pendent vintage as it grows.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>I wish you had journeyed with us under this fruitful canopy, and
+observed the partial sunshine through its transparent leaves, and the
+glimpses of the blue sky it every now and then admitted. I say only
+every now and then, for in most places a sort of verdant gloom
+prevailed, exquisitely agreeable in so hot a day.</p>
+
+<p>But such luxury did not last, you may suppose, for ever. We were soon
+forced from our covert, and obliged to traverse a mountain exposed to
+the sun, which had dispersed every cloud, and shone with intolerable
+brightness. On the other side of this extensive eminence lies a pastoral
+hillock, surrounded by others, woody and irregular. Wide vineyards and
+fields of Indian corn lay between, across which the Conte Nobili
+conducted us to his house, where we found prepared a very comfortable
+dinner. We drank the growth of the spot, and defied the richest wines of
+Constantia to exceed it.</p>
+
+<p>Afterwards, retiring into a wood of the Marchese Mansi, with neat pebble
+walks and trickling rivulets, we took coffee and loitered till sunset.
+It was then time to return, as the mists were beginning to rise from the
+valleys. The calm and silence of evening threw us into our reveries. We
+went pacing along heedlessly, just as our horses pleased, without
+hearing any sound but their steps.</p>
+
+<p>Between nine and ten we entered the gates of Lucca. Pacchierotti
+coughed, and half its inhabitants wished us at the devil.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XIII-italy" id="LETTER_XIII-italy"></a>LETTER XIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Set out for Pisa.&mdash;The Duomo.&mdash;Interior of the Cathedral.&mdash;The
+Campo Santo.&mdash;Solitude of the streets at midday.&mdash;Proceed to
+Leghorn.&mdash;Beauty of the road.&mdash;Tower of the Fanale.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Leghorn, October 2nd, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HIS</small> morning we set out for Pisa. No sooner had we passed the highly
+cultivated garden-grounds about Lucca than we found ourselves in narrow
+roads, shut in by vines and grassy banks of canes and osiers, rising
+high above our carriage and waving their leaves in the air. Through the
+openings which sometimes intervened we discovered a variety of hillocks
+clothed with shrubs, ruined towers looking out of the bushes, not one
+without a romantic tale attending it.</p>
+
+<p>This sort of scenery lasted till, passing the baths, we beheld Pisa
+rising from an extensive plain, the most open we had as yet seen in
+Italy, crossed by an aqueduct. We were set down immediately before the
+Duomo, which stands insulated in a vast green area, and is perhaps the
+most curious edifice my eyes ever viewed. Do not ask of what shape or
+architecture; it is almost impossible to tell, so great is the confusion
+of ornaments. The dome gives the mass an oriental appearance, which
+helped to bewilder me; in short, I have dreamed of such buildings, but
+little thought they existed. On one side you survey the famous tower, as
+perfectly awry as I expected; on the other the baptistery, a circular
+edifice distinct from the church and right opposite its principal
+entrance, crowded with sculptures and topped by the strangest of
+cupolas.</p>
+
+<p>Having indulged our curiosity with this singular prospect for some
+moments, we entered the cathedral and admired the stately columns of
+porphyry and of the rarest marbles, supporting a roof which, like the
+rest of the building, shines with gold. A pavement of the brightest
+mosaic completes its magnificence: all around are sculptures by Michael
+Angelo Buonarotti, and paintings by the most distinguished artists. We
+examined them with due attention, and then walked down the nave and
+remarked the striking effect of the baptistery, seen in perspective
+through the bronze portals, which you know, I suppose, are covered with
+relievos of the finest workmanship. These noble valves were thrown wide
+open, and we passed between them to the baptistery, where stands an
+alabaster font, constructed after the primitive ritual and exquisitely
+wrought.</p>
+
+<p>Our next object was the Campo Santo, which forms one side of the area in
+which the cathedral is situated. The walls, and Gothic tabernacle above
+the entrance, rising from the level turf and preserving a neat straw
+colour, appear as fresh as if built within the present century. Our
+guide unlocking the gates, we entered a spacious cloister, forming an
+oblong quadrangle, which encloses the sacred earth of Jerusalem,
+conveyed hither about the period of the crusades, the days of Pisanese
+prosperity. The holy mould produces a rampant crop of weeds, but none
+are permitted to spring from the pavement, which is entirely composed of
+tombs with slabs, smoothly laid and covered with monumental
+inscriptions. Ranges of slender pillars, formed of the whitest marble
+and glistening in the sun, support the arcade of the cloister, which is
+carved with innumerable stars and roses, partly Gothic and partly
+Saracenial. Strange paintings of hell and the devil, mostly taken from
+Dante’s rhapsodies, cover the walls of these fantastic galleries,
+attributed to the venerable Giotto and Bufalmacco, whom Boccaccio
+mentions in his Decamerone.</p>
+
+<p>Beneath, along the base of the columns, are placed, to my no small
+surprise, rows of pagan sarcophagi; I could not have supposed the
+Pisanese sufficiently tolerant to admit profane sculptures within such
+consecrated precincts. However, there they are, as well as fifty other
+contradictory ornaments.</p>
+
+<p>I was quite seized by the strangeness of the place, and paced fifty
+times round and round the cloisters, discovering at every time some odd
+novelty. When tired, I seated myself on a fair slab of <i>giallo antico</i>,
+that looked a little cleaner than its neighbours (which I only mention
+to identify the precise point of view), and looking through the
+filigreed tracery of the arches observed the domes of the cathedral,
+cupola of the baptistery, and roof of the leaning tower rising above the
+leads, and forming the strangest assemblage of pinnacles perhaps in
+Europe. The place is neither sad nor solemn; the arches are airy, the
+pillars light, and there is so much caprice, such an exotic look in the
+whole scene, that without any violent effort of fancy one might imagine
+one’s self in fairy land. Every object is new, every ornament original;
+the mixture of antique sarcophagi with Gothic sepulchres, completes the
+vagaries of the prospect, to which, one day or other, I think of
+returning, to hear visionary music and commune with sprites, for I shall
+never find in the whole universe besides so whimsical a theatre.</p>
+
+<p>The heat was so powerful that all the inhabitants of Pisa showed their
+wisdom by keeping within doors. Not an animal appeared in the streets,
+except five camels laden with water, stalking along a range of garden
+walls and pompous mansions, with an awning before every door. We were
+obliged to follow their steps, at least a quarter of a mile, before we
+reached our inn. Ice was the first thing I sought after, and when I had
+swallowed an unreasonable portion, I began not to think quite so much of
+the deserts of Africa, as the heat and the camels had induced me to do a
+moment ago.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the afternoon, we proceeded to Leghorn through a wild tract of
+forest, somewhat in the style of our English parks. The trees in some
+places formed such shady arbours, that we could not resist the desire of
+walking beneath them, and were well rewarded; for after struggling
+through a rough thicket, we entered a lawn hemmed in by oaks and
+chesnuts, which extends several leagues along the coast and conceals the
+prospect of the ocean; but we heard its murmurs.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing could be smoother or more verdant than the herbage, which was
+sprinkled with daisies and purple crocuses as in the month of May. I
+felt all the genial sensations of Spring steal into my bosom, and was
+greatly delighted upon discovering vast bushes of myrtle in the fullest
+and most luxuriant bloom. The softness of the air, the sound of the
+distant surges, the evening gleams, and repose of the landscape, quieted
+the tumult of my spirits, and I experienced the calm of my infant hours.
+I lay down in the open turf-walks between the shrubberies, and during a
+few moments had forgotten every care; but when I began to enquire into
+my happiness, I found it vanish. I felt myself without those I love
+most, in situations they would have warmly admired, and without them
+these pleasant lawns and woodlands looked pleasant in vain.</p>
+
+<p>We had not left this woody region far behind, when the Fanale began to
+lift itself above the horizon&mdash;the very tower you have so often
+mentioned; the sky and ocean glowing with amber light, and the ships out
+at sea appearing in a golden haze, of which we have no conception in our
+northern climates. Such a prospect, together with the fresh gales from
+the Mediterranean, charmed me; I hurried immediately to the port and sat
+on a reef of rocks, listening to the waves that broke amongst them.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XIV-italy" id="LETTER_XIV-italy"></a>LETTER XIV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The Mole at Leghorn.&mdash;Coast scattered over with
+Watch-towers.&mdash;Branches of rare Coral unexpectedly acquired.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">October 3rd, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>WENT</small>, as you would have done, to walk on the mole as soon as the sun
+began to shine upon it. Its construction you are no stranger to;
+therefore I think I may spare myself the trouble of saying anything
+about it, except that the port which it embraces is no longer crowded.
+Instead of ten ranks of vessels there are only three, and those consist
+chiefly of Corsican galleys, that look as poor and tattered as their
+masters. Not much attention did I bestow upon such objects, but, taking
+my seat at the extremity of the quay, surveyed the smooth plains of
+ocean, the coast scattered over with watchtowers, and the rocky isle of
+Gorgona, emerging from the morning mists, which still lingered upon the
+horizon.<a name="page_vol_1_187" id="page_vol_1_187"></a></p>
+
+<p>Whilst I was musing upon the scene, and calling up all that train of
+ideas before my imagination, which pleased your own upon beholding it,
+an ancient figure, with a beard that would have suited a sea-god,
+stepped out of a boat, and tottering up the steps of the quay, presented
+himself before me with a basket in his hand. He stayed dripping a few
+moments before he pronounced a syllable, and when he began his
+discourse, I was in doubt whether I should not have moved off in a
+hurry, there was something so wan and singular in his countenance.
+Except this being, no other was visible for a quarter of a mile at
+least. I knew not what strange adventure I might be upon the point of
+commencing, or what message I was to expect from the submarine
+divinities. However, after all my conjectures, the figure turned out to
+be no other than an old fisherman, who having picked up a few branches
+of the rarest species of coral, offered them to sale. I eagerly made the
+purchase, and thought myself a favourite of Neptune, since he allowed me
+to acquire, with such facility, some of his most beautiful ornaments.</p>
+
+<p>My bargain thus expeditiously concluded, I ran along the quay with my
+basket of coral, and,<a name="page_vol_1_188" id="page_vol_1_188"></a> taking boat, was rowed back to the gate of the
+port. The carriage waited there; I shut myself up in the grateful shade
+of green blinds, and was driven away at a rate that favoured my
+impatience. We bowled smoothly over the lawns described in my last
+letter, amongst myrtles in flower, that would have done honour to the
+island of Juan Fernandez.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived at Pisa, I scarcely allowed myself a moment to revisit the Campo
+Santo, but hurried on to Lucca, and threw the whole idle town into a
+stare by my speedy return.<a name="page_vol_1_189" id="page_vol_1_189"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XV-italy" id="LETTER_XV-italy"></a>LETTER XV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Florence again.&mdash;Palazzo Vecchio.&mdash;View on the Arno.&mdash;Sculptures by
+Cellini and John of Bologna.&mdash;Contempt shown by the Austrians to
+the memory of the House of Medici.&mdash;Evening visit to the Garden of
+Boboli.&mdash;The Opera.&mdash;Miserable singing.&mdash;A Neapolitan Duchess.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Florence, October 5th, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>I<small>T</small> was not without regret that I forced myself from Lucca. We had all
+the same road to go over again, that brought us to this important
+republic, but we broke down by way of variety. The wind was chill, the
+atmosphere damp and clogged with unwholesome vapours, through which we
+were forced to walk for a league, whilst our chaise lagged after us.</p>
+
+<p>Taking shelter in a miserable cottage, we remained shivering and shaking
+till the carriage was in some sort of order, and then proceeded so
+slowly that we did not arrive at Florence till late in the evening, and
+took possession of an apartment<a name="page_vol_1_190" id="page_vol_1_190"></a> over the Arno, which being swollen with
+rains roared like a mountain torrent. Throwing open my windows, I viewed
+its agitated course by the light of the moon, half concealed in stormy
+clouds, which hung above the fortress of the Belvedere. I sat
+contemplating the effect of the shadows on the bridge, on the heights of
+Boboli, and the mountain covered with pale olive groves, amongst which a
+convent is situated, till the moon sank into the darkest quarter of the
+sky, and a bell began to toll. Its mournful sound filled me with gloomy
+recollections. I closed the casements, and read till midnight some
+dismal memoir of conspiracies and assassinations, Guelphs and
+Ghibelines, the black story of ancient Florence.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">October 6th.</p>
+
+<p>E<small>VERY</small> cloud was dispersed when I arose, and the purity and transparence
+of the æther added new charms to the picturesque eminences around. I
+felt quite revived by this exhilarating prospect, and walked in the
+splendour of sunshine to the porticos beneath the famous gallery, then
+to an antient castle, raised in the days of the Republic, which fronts
+the grand piazza. Colossal statues and trophies badly carved in the
+true<a name="page_vol_1_191" id="page_vol_1_191"></a> spirit of the antique, are placed before it. On one side a
+fountain, clung round with antick figures of bronze, by John of Bologna.
+On the other, three lofty pointed arches, and under one of them the
+Perseus of Benvenuto Cellini.</p>
+
+<p>Having examined some groups of sculptures by Baccio Bandinelli and other
+mighty artists, I entered the court of the castle, dark and deep, as if
+hewn out of a rock, surrounded by a vaulted arcade covered with
+arabesque ornaments and supported by pillars almost as uncouthly
+designed as those of Persepolis. In the midst appears a marble fount
+with an image of bronze, that looks quite strange and cabalistic. I
+leaned against it to look up to the summits of the walls, which rise to
+a vast height, from whence springs a slender tower. Above, in the
+apartments of the castle, are still preserved numbers of curious
+cabinets, tables of inlaid gems, and a thousand rarities, collected by
+the house of Medici, and not yet entirely frittered away and disposed of
+by public sale.</p>
+
+<p>It was not without indignation that I learnt this new mark of contempt
+which the Austrians bestow on the memory of those illustrious patrons of
+the Arts; whom, being unwilling to imitate,<a name="page_vol_1_192" id="page_vol_1_192"></a> they affect to despise as a
+race of merchants whose example it would be abasing their dignity to
+follow.</p>
+
+<p>I could have stayed much longer to enjoy the novelty and strangeness of
+the place; but it was right to pay some compliments of form. That duty
+over, I dined in peace and solitude, and repaired, as evening drew on,
+to the thickets of Boboli.</p>
+
+<p>What a serene sky! what mellowness in the tints of the mountains! A
+purple haze concealed the bases, whilst their summits were invested with
+saffron light, discovering every white cot and every copse that clothed
+their declivities. The prospect widened as I ascended the terraces of
+the garden.</p>
+
+<p>After traversing many long dusky alleys, I reached the opening on the
+brow of the hill, and seating myself under the statue of Ceres, took a
+sketch of the huge mountainous cupola of the Duomo, the adjoining lovely
+tower and one more massive in its neighbourhood, built not improbably in
+the style of ancient Etruria. Beyond this historic group of buildings a
+plain stretches itself far and wide, most richly studded with villas<a name="page_vol_1_193" id="page_vol_1_193"></a>
+and gardens, and groves of pine and olive, quite to the feet of the
+mountains.</p>
+
+<p>Having marked the sun’s going down and all the soothing effects cast by
+his declining rays on every object, I went through a plat of vines to a
+favourite haunt of mine:&mdash;a little garden of the most fragrant roses,
+with a spring under a rustic arch of grotto-work fringed with ivy.
+Thousands of fish inhabit here, of that beautiful glittering species
+which comes from China. This golden nation were leaping after insects as
+I stood gazing upon the deep clear water, listening to the drops that
+trickle from the cove. Opposite to which, at the end of a green alley,
+you discover an oval basin, and in the midst of it an antique statue
+full of that graceful languor so peculiarly Grecian.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst I was musing on the margin of the spring (for I returned to it
+after casting a look upon the sculpture), the moon rose above the tufted
+foliage of the terraces, which I descended by several flights of steps,
+with marble balustrades crowned by vases of aloes.</p>
+
+<p>It was now seven o’clock, and all the world <a name="page_vol_1_194" id="page_vol_1_194"></a>were going to my Lord T&mdash;&mdash;’s, who lives in a fine house all over blue and silver, with stuffed
+birds, alabaster cupids, and a thousand prettinesses more; but to say
+truth, neither he nor his abode are worth mentioning. I found a deal of
+slopping and sipping of tea going forward, and many dawdlers assembled.</p>
+
+<p>As I can say little good of the party, I had better shut the door, and
+conduct you to the Opera, which is really a striking spectacle. The
+first soprano put my patience to severe proof, during the few minutes I
+attended. You never beheld such a porpoise. If these animals were to
+sing, I should conjecture it would be in his style. You may suppose how
+often I invoked Pacchierotti, and regretted the lofty melody of Quinto
+Fabio. Everybody seemed as well contented as if there were no such thing
+as good singing in the world, except a Neapolitan duchess who delighted
+me by her vivacity. We took our fill of maledictions, and went home
+equally pleased with each other for having mutually execrated both
+singers and audience.<a name="page_vol_1_195" id="page_vol_1_195"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XVI-italy" id="LETTER_XVI-italy"></a>LETTER XVI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Detained at Florence by reports of the Malaria at Rome.&mdash;Ascend one
+of the hills celebrated by Dante.&mdash;View from its brow.&mdash;Chapel
+designed by Michael Angelo.&mdash;Birth of a Princess.&mdash;The
+christening.&mdash;Another evening visit in the woods of Boboli.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">October 22nd, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HEY</small> say the air is worse this year at Rome than ever, and that it would
+be madness to go thither during its malign influence. This was very bad
+news indeed to one heartily tired of Florence, at least of its society.
+Merciful powers! what a set harbour within its walls! * * * You may
+imagine I do not take vehement delight in this company, though very
+ingenious, praiseworthy, &amp;c. The woods of the Cascini shelter me every
+morning; and there grows an old crooked ilex at their entrance, twisting
+round a pine, upon whose branches I sit for hours.</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon I am irresistibly attracted to<a name="page_vol_1_196" id="page_vol_1_196"></a> the thickets of Boboli.
+The other evening, however, I varied my walks, and ascended one of those
+pleasant hills celebrated by Dante, which rise in the vicinity of the
+city, and command a variegated scene of towers, villas, cottages, and
+gardens. On the right, as you stand upon the brow, appears Fiesole with
+its turrets and white houses, covering a rocky mount to the left, the
+Val d’Arno lost in the haze of the horizon. A Franciscan convent stands
+on the summit of the eminence, wrapped up in antient cypresses, which
+hinder its holy inhabitants from seeing too much of so gay a view. The
+paved ascent leading up to their abode receives also a shade from the
+cypresses which border it. Beneath this venerable avenue, crosses with
+inscriptions are placed at certain distances, to mark the various
+moments of Christ’s passion; as when fainting under his burden he halted
+to repose himself, or when he met his afflicted mother.</p>
+
+<p>Above, at the end of the perspective, rises a chapel designed by M. A.
+Buonarotti; further on, an antient church, encrusted with white marble,
+porphyry, and verd antique. The interior presents a crowded assemblage
+of ornaments, elaborate mosaic pavements and inlaid work without<a name="page_vol_1_197" id="page_vol_1_197"></a> end.
+The high altar is placed in a semicircular recess, which, like the apsis
+of the church at Torcello, glitters with barbaric paintings on a gold
+ground, and receives a fervid glow of light from five windows, filled up
+with transparent marble clouded like tortoiseshell. A smooth polished
+staircase leads to this mysterious place: another brought me to a
+subterraneous chapel, supported by confused groups of variegated
+pillars, just visible by the glimmer of lamps.</p>
+
+<p>Passing on not unawed, I followed some flights of steps, which terminate
+in the neat cloisters of the convent, in perfect preservation, but
+totally deserted. Ranges of citron and aloes fill up the quadrangle,
+whose walls are hung with superstitious pictures most singularly
+fancied. The Jesuits were the last tenants of this retirement, and seem
+to have had great reason for their choice. Its peace and stillness
+delighted me.</p>
+
+<p>Next day I was engaged by a very opposite scene, though much against my
+will. Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess having produced a princess in
+the night, everybody put on grand gala in the morning, and I was
+carried, along with the glittering tide of courtiers, ministers, and
+ladies, to see the christening. After the<a name="page_vol_1_198" id="page_vol_1_198"></a> Grand Duke had talked
+politics for some time, the doors of a temporary chapel were thrown
+open. Trumpets flourished, processions marched, and the archbishop began
+the ceremony at an altar of massive gold, placed under a yellow silk
+pavilion, with pyramids of lights before it. Wax tapers, though it was
+noon-day, shone in every corner of the apartments. Two rows of pages,
+gorgeously accoutred, and holding enormous torches, stood on each side
+his Royal Highness, and made him the prettiest courtesies imaginable, to
+the sound of an indifferent band of music, though led by Nardini. The
+poor old archbishop, who looked very piteous and saint-like, led the Te
+Deum with a quavering voice, and the rest followed him with thoughtless
+expedition.</p>
+
+<p>The ceremony being despatched, (for his Royal Highness was in a mighty
+fidget to shrink back into his beloved obscurity,) the crowd dispersed,
+and I went, with a few others, to dine at my Lord T&mdash;&mdash;’s.</p>
+
+<p>Evening drawing on, I ran to throw myself once more into the woods of
+Boboli, and remained till it was night in their recesses. Really this
+garden is enough to bewilder an<a name="page_vol_1_199" id="page_vol_1_199"></a> enthusiastic spirit; there is something
+so solemn in its shades, its avenues, and spires of cypresses. When I
+had mused for many an interesting hour amongst them, I emerged into the
+orangery before the palace, which overlooks the largest district of the
+town, and beheld, as I slowly descended the road which leads up to it,
+certain bright lights glancing about the cupola of the Duomo and the
+points of the highest towers. At first I thought them meteors, or those
+illusive fires which often dance before the eye of my imagination; but
+soon I was convinced of their reality; for in a few minutes the lantern
+of the cathedral was lighted up by agents really invisible; whilst a
+stream of torches ran along the battlements of the old castle which I
+mentioned in a former letter.</p>
+
+<p>I enjoyed this prospect at a distance: when near, my pleasure was
+greatly diminished, for half the fish in the town were frying to rejoice
+the hearts of his Royal Highness’s loyal subjects, and bonfires blazing
+in every street and alley. Hubbubs and stinks of every denomination
+drove me quickly to the theatre; but that was all glitter and glare. No
+taste, no arrangement, paltry looking-glasses, and rat’s-tail candles.<a name="page_vol_1_200" id="page_vol_1_200"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XVII-italy" id="LETTER_XVII-italy"></a>LETTER XVII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Pilgrimage to Valombrosa.&mdash;Rocky Steeps.&mdash;Groves of Pine.&mdash;Vast
+Amphitheatre of Lawns and Meadows.&mdash;Reception at the Convent.&mdash;Wild
+Glens where the Hermit Gualbertus had his Cell.&mdash;Conversation with
+the holy Fathers.&mdash;Legendary Tales.&mdash;The consecrated Cleft.&mdash;The
+Romitorio.&mdash;Extensive View of the Val d’Arno.&mdash;Return to Florence.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">October 23rd, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>D<small>O</small> you recollect our evening rambles last year, in the valley at F&mdash;&mdash;,
+under the hill of pines? I remember we often fancied the scene like
+Valombrosa; and vowed, if ever an occasion offered, to visit its deep
+retirements. I had put off the execution of this pilgrimage from day to
+day till the warm weather was gone; and the Florentines declared I
+should be frozen if I attempted it. Everybody stared last night at the
+Opera when I told them I was going to bury myself in fallen leaves, and
+hear no music but their rustlings.<a name="page_vol_1_203" id="page_vol_1_203"></a></p>
+
+<p>Mr. &mdash;&mdash; was just as eager as myself to escape the chit-chat and
+nothingness of Florence; so we finally determined upon our expedition,
+and mounting our horses, set out this morning, happily without any
+company but the spirit which led us along. We had need of inspiration,
+since nothing else, I think, would have tempted us over such dreary,
+uninteresting hillocks as rise from the banks of the Arno. The hoary
+olive is their principal vegetation; so that Nature, in this part of the
+country, seems in a withering decrepit state, and may not unaptly be
+compared to “an old woman clothed in grey.” However, we did not suffer
+the prospect to damp our enthusiasm, which was the better preserved for
+Valombrosa.</p>
+
+<p>About half way, our palfreys thought proper to look out for some oats,
+and I to creep into a sort of granary in the midst of a barren waste,
+scattered over with white rocks, that reflected more heat than I cared
+for, although I had been told snow and ice were to be my portion.
+Seating myself on the floor between heaps of corn, I reached down a few
+purple clusters of Muscadine grapes, which hung to dry in the ceiling,
+and amused myself very pleasantly with them<a name="page_vol_1_204" id="page_vol_1_204"></a> till the horses had
+finished their meal and it was lawful to set forwards. We met with
+nothing but rocky steeps shattered into fragments, and such roads as
+half inclined us to repent our undertaking; but cold was not yet amongst
+the number of our evils.</p>
+
+<p>At last, after ascending a tedious while, we began to feel the wind blow
+sharply from the peaks of the mountains, and to hear the murmur of
+groves of pine. A paved path leads across them, quite darkened by
+boughs, which meeting over our heads cast a gloom and a chilness below
+that would have stopped the proceedings of reasonable mortals, and sent
+them to bask in the plain; but, being not so easily discomfited, we
+threw ourselves boldly into the forest. It presented that boundless
+confusion of tall straight stems I am so fond of, and exhaled a fresh
+aromatic odour that revived my spirits.</p>
+
+<p>The cold to be sure was piercing; but setting that at defiance, we
+galloped on, and entered a vast amphitheatre of lawns and meadows
+surrounded by thick woods beautifully green. The steep cliffs and
+mountains which guard this retired valley are clothed with beech to
+their very summits; and on their slopes, whose smoothness<a name="page_vol_1_205" id="page_vol_1_205"></a> and verdure
+equal our English pastures, were dispersed large flocks of sheep. The
+herbage, moistened by streams which fall from the eminences, has never
+been known to fade; thus, whilst the chief part of Tuscany is parched by
+the heats of summer, these upland meadows retain the freshness of
+spring. I regretted not having visited them sooner, as autumn had
+already made great havock amongst the foliage. Showers of leaves blew
+full in our faces as we rode towards the convent, placed at an extremity
+of the vale and sheltered by firs and chesnuts towering one above
+another.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst we were alighting before the entrance, two fathers came out and
+received us into the peace of their retirement. We found a blazing fire,
+and tables spread very comfortably before it, round which five or six
+overgrown friars were lounging, who seemed by the sleekness and rosy hue
+of their countenances not totally to have despised this mortal
+existence.</p>
+
+<p>My letters of recommendation soon brought the heads of the order about
+me, fair round figures, such as a Chinese would have placed in his
+pagoda. I could willingly have dispensed with their attention; yet to
+avoid this was<a name="page_vol_1_206" id="page_vol_1_206"></a> scarcely within the circle of possibility. All dinner,
+therefore, we endured an infinity of nonsensical questions; but as soon
+as that was over, I lost no time in repairing to the lawns and forests.
+The fathers made a shift to waddle after, as fast and as complaisantly
+as they were able, but were soon distanced.</p>
+
+<p>Now I found myself at liberty, and pursued a narrow path overhung by
+rock, with bushy chesnuts starting from the crevices. This led me into
+wild glens of beech trees, mostly decayed and covered with moss: several
+were fallen. It was amongst these the holy hermit Gualbertus had his
+cell. I rested a moment upon one of their huge branches, listening to
+the roar of a waterfall which the wood concealed. The dry leaves chased
+each other down the steeps on the edge of the torrents with hollow
+rustlings, whilst the solemn wave of the forests above most perfectly
+answered the idea I had formed of Valombrosa,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&mdash;&mdash;where the Etrurian shades<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">High overarch’d embower.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p class="nind">The scene was beginning to take effect, and the genius of Milton to move
+across his favourite<a name="page_vol_1_207" id="page_vol_1_207"></a> valley, when the fathers arrived puffing and
+blowing, by an easier ascent than I knew of.</p>
+
+<p>“You have missed the way,” cried the youngest; “the hermitage, with the
+fine picture by Andrèa del Sarto, which all the English admire, is on
+the opposite side of the wood: there! don’t you see it on the point of
+the cliff?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, yes,” said I a little peevishly; “I wonder the devil has not
+pushed it down long ago; it seems to invite his kick.”</p>
+
+<p>“Satan,” answered the old Pagod very dryly, “is full of malice; but
+whoever drinks of a spring which the Lord causeth to flow near the
+hermitage is freed from his illusions.”</p>
+
+<p>“Are they so?” replied I with a sanctified accent, “then I pray thee
+conduct me thither, for I have great need of such salutary waters.”</p>
+
+<p>The youngest father shook his head, as much as to say, “This is nothing
+more than a heretic’s whim.”</p>
+
+<p>The senior set forwards with greater piety, and began some legendary
+tales of the kind which my soul loveth. He pointed to a chasm in the
+cliff, round which we were winding by a spiral path, where Gualbertus
+used to sleep,<a name="page_vol_1_208" id="page_vol_1_208"></a> and, turning himself towards the west, see a long
+succession of saints and martyrs sweeping athwart the sky, and gilding
+the clouds with far brighter splendours than the setting sun. Here he
+rested till his last hour, when the bells of the convent beneath (which
+till that moment would have made dogs howl had there been any within its
+precincts) struck out such harmonious jingling that all the country
+around was ravished, and began lifting up their eyes with singular
+devotion, when, behold! light dawned, cherubim appeared, and birds
+chirped although it was midnight. “Alas! alas! what would I not give to
+witness such a spectacle, and read my prayer-book by the effulgence of
+opening heaven!”</p>
+
+<p>However, willing to see something at least, I crept into the consecrated
+cleft and extended myself on its rugged surface. A very penitential
+couch! but commanding glorious prospects of the world below, which lay
+this evening in deep blue shade; the sun looking red and angry through
+misty vapours, which prevented our discovering the Tuscan sea.</p>
+
+<p>Finding the rock as damp as might be expected, I soon shifted my
+quarters, and followed<a name="page_vol_1_209" id="page_vol_1_209"></a> the youngest father up to the Romitorio, a snug
+little hermitage, with a neat chapel, and altar-piece by Andrèa del
+Sarto, which I should have examined more minutely had not the wild and
+mountainous forest scenery possessed my whole attention. I just stayed
+to taste the holy fountain; and then, escaping from my conductors, ran
+eagerly down the path, leaping over the springs that crossed it, and
+entered a lawn of the smoothest turf grazed by sheep. Beyond this
+opening rises a second, hemmed in with thickets; and still higher, a
+third, whence a forest of young pines spires up into a lofty theatre
+terminated by peaks, half concealed by a thick mantle of beech tinged
+with ruddy brown. Pausing in the midst of the lawns, and looking upward
+to the sweeps of wood which surrounded me, I addressed my orisons to the
+genius of the place, and prayed that I might once more return into its
+bosom, and be permitted to bring you along with me, for surely such
+meads, such groves, were formed for our enjoyment!</p>
+
+<p>This little rite performed, I walked on quite to the extremity of the
+pastures, traversed a thicket, and found myself on the edge of
+precipices,<a name="page_vol_1_210" id="page_vol_1_210"></a> beneath whose base the whole Val d’Arno lies expanded. I
+listened to distant murmurings in the plain, saw wreaths of smoke rising
+from the cottages, and viewed a vast tract of grey barren country, which
+evening rendered still more desolate, bounded by the black mountain of
+Radicofani. Then, turning round, I beheld the whole extent of rock and
+forest, the groves of beech, and wilds above the convent, glowing with
+fiery red, for the sun, making a last effort to pierce the vapours,
+produced this effect; which was the more striking, as the sky was
+gloomy, and the rest of the prospect of a melancholy blue.</p>
+
+<p>Returning slowly homeward, I marked the warm glow deserting the
+eminences, and heard the sullen toll of a bell. The young boys of the
+seminary were moving in a body to their dark enclosure, all dressed in
+black. Many of them looked pale and wan. I wished to ask them whether
+the solitude of Valombrosa suited their age and vivacity; but a tall
+spectre of a priest drove them along like a herd, and presently, the
+gates opening, I saw them no more.</p>
+
+<p>The night was growing chill, the winds boisterous, and in the intervals
+of the gusts I had<a name="page_vol_1_211" id="page_vol_1_211"></a> the addition of a lamentable screech owl to depress
+my spirits. Upon the whole, I was not at all concerned to meet the
+fathers, who came out to show me to my room, and entertain me with
+various gossipings, both sacred and profane, till supper appeared.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning, the Padre Decano gave us chocolate in his apartment; and
+afterwards led us round the convent, insisting most unmercifully upon
+our viewing every cell and every dormitory. However, I was determined to
+make a full stop at the organ, one of the most harmonious I ever played
+upon; but placed in a deep recess, feebly lighted by lamps, not
+calculated to inspire triumphant voluntaries. The monks, who had all
+crowded into the loft in expectation of brisk jigs and lively overtures,
+soon retired upon hearing a strain ten times more sorrowful than that to
+which they were accustomed. I did not lament their departure, but played
+on till our horses came to the gate. We mounted, wound back through the
+grove of pines which protect Valombrosa from intrusion, descended the
+steeps, and, gaining the plains, galloped in a few hours to Florence.<a name="page_vol_1_212" id="page_vol_1_212"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XVIII-italy" id="LETTER_XVIII-italy"></a>LETTER XVIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Cathedral at Sienna.&mdash;A vaulted Chamber.&mdash;Leave Sienna.&mdash;Mountains
+round Radicofani.&mdash;Hunting Palace of the Grand Dukes.&mdash;A grim
+fraternity of Cats.&mdash;Dreary Apartment.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Sienna, October 27th, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>H<small>ERE</small> my duty of course was to see the cathedral, and I got up much
+earlier than I wished, in order to perform it. I wonder that our holy
+ancestors did not choose a mountain at once, scrape it into tabernacles,
+and chisel it into scripture stories. It would have cost them almost as
+little trouble as the building in question, which, by many of the
+Italian devotees to a purer style of architecture, is esteemed a
+masterpiece of ridiculous taste and elaborate absurdity. The front,
+encrusted with alabaster, is worked into a million of fretted arches and
+puzzling ornaments. There are statues without number, and relievos
+without end or meaning.</p>
+
+<p>The church within is all of black and white marble alternately; the roof
+blue and gold, with a profusion of silken banners hanging from it;<a name="page_vol_1_213" id="page_vol_1_213"></a> and
+a cornice running above the principal arcade, composed entirely of
+bustos representing the whole series of sovereign pontiffs, from the
+first Bishop of Rome to Adrian the Fourth. Pope Joan they say figured
+amongst them, between Leo the Fourth and Benedict the Third, till the
+year 1600, when some authors have asserted she was turned out, at the
+instance of Clement the Eighth, to make room for Zacharias the First.</p>
+
+<p>I hardly knew which was the nave, or which the cross aisle, of this
+singular edifice, so perfect is the confusion of its parts. The pavement
+demands attention, being inlaid so curiously as to represent variety of
+histories taken from Holy Writ, and designed somewhat in the style of
+that hobgoblin tapestry which used to bestare the walls of our
+ancestors. Near the high altar stands the strangest of pulpits,
+supported by polished pillars of granite, rising from lions’ backs,
+which serve as pedestals. In every corner of the place some glittering
+chapel or other offends or astonishes you. That, however, of the Chigi
+family, it must be allowed, has infinite merit with respect to design
+and execution; but it wants effect, as seeming out of place in this
+chaos of caprice and finery.<a name="page_vol_1_214" id="page_vol_1_214"></a></p>
+
+<p>From the church I entered a vaulted chamber, erected by the
+Piccoliminis, filled with missals most exquisitely illuminated. The
+paintings in fresco on the walls are rather barbarous, though executed
+after the designs of the mighty Raphael; but then we must remember, he
+had but just escaped from Pietro Perugino.</p>
+
+<p>Not staying long in the Duomo, we left Sienna in good time; and, after
+being shaken and tumbled in the worst roads that ever pretended to be
+made use of, found ourselves beneath the rough mountains round
+Radicofani, about seven o’clock on a cold and dismal evening. Up we
+toiled a steep craggy ascent, and reached at length the inn upon its
+summit. My heart sank when I entered a vast range of apartments, with
+high black raftered roofs, once intended for a hunting palace of the
+Grand Dukes, but now desolate and forlorn. The wind having risen, every
+door began to shake, and every board substituted for a window to
+clatter, as if the severe power who dwells on the topmost peak of
+Radicofani, according to its village mythologists, was about to visit
+his abode.</p>
+
+<p>My only spell to keep him at a distance was kindling an enormous fire,
+whose charitable<a name="page_vol_1_215" id="page_vol_1_215"></a> gleams cheered my spirits, and gave them a quicker
+flow. Yet, for some minutes, I never ceased looking, now to the right,
+now to the left, up at the dark beams, and down the long passages, where
+the pavement, broken up in several places, and earth newly strewn about,
+seemed to indicate that something horrid was concealed below.</p>
+
+<p>A grim fraternity of cats kept whisking backwards and forwards in these
+dreary avenues, which I am apt to imagine is the very identical scene of
+a sabbath of witches at certain periods. Not venturing to explore them,
+I fastened my door, pitched my bed opposite the hearth which glowed with
+embers, and crept under the coverlids, hardly venturing to go to sleep
+lest I should be suddenly roused from it by I know not what terrible
+initiation into the mysteries of the place.</p>
+
+<p>Scarce was I settled, before two or three of the brotherhood just
+mentioned stalked in at a little opening under the door. I insisted upon
+their moving off faster than they had entered, and was surprised, when
+midnight came, to hear nothing more than their doleful mewings echoed by
+the hollow walls and arches.<a name="page_vol_1_216" id="page_vol_1_216"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XIX-italy" id="LETTER_XIX-italy"></a>LETTER XIX.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Leave the gloomy precincts of Radicofani and enter the Papal
+territory.&mdash;Country near Aquapendente.&mdash;Shores of the Lake of
+Bolsena.&mdash;Forest of Oaks.&mdash;Ascend Monte Fiascone.&mdash;Inhabited
+Caverns.&mdash;Viterbo.&mdash;Anticipations of Rome.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Radicofani, October 28th, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>BEGIN</small> to despair of magical adventures, since none happened at
+Radicofani, which Nature seems wholly to have abandoned. Not a tree, not
+an acre of soil, has she bestowed upon its inhabitants, who would have
+more excuse for practising the gloomy art than the rest of mankind. I
+was very glad to leave their black hills and stony wilderness behind,
+and, entering the Papal territory, to see some shrubs and cornfields at
+a distance.</p>
+
+<p>Near Aquapendente, which is situated on a ledge of cliffs mantled with
+chesnut copses and tufted ilex, the country grew varied and picturesque.
+St. Lorenzo, the next post, built upon a hill, overlooks the lake of
+Bolsena, whose<a name="page_vol_1_217" id="page_vol_1_217"></a> woody shores conceal many ruined buildings. We passed
+some of them in a retired vale, with arches from rock to rock, and
+grottos beneath half lost in thickets, from which rise craggy pinnacles
+crowned by mouldering towers; just such scenery as Polemberg and
+Bamboche introduce in their paintings.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond these truly Italian prospects, which a mellow evening tint
+rendered still more interesting, a forest of oaks presents itself upon
+the brows of hills, which extends almost the whole way to Monte
+Fiascone. It was late before we ascended it. The whole country seems
+full of inhabited caverns, that began as night drew on to shine with
+fires. We saw many dark shapes glancing before them, and perhaps a
+subterraneous people like the Cimmerians lurk in their recesses. As we
+drew near Viterbo, the lights in the fields grew less and less frequent;
+and when we entered the town, all was total darkness.</p>
+
+<p>To-morrow I hope to pay my vows before the high altar of St. Peter, and
+tread the Vatican. Why are you not here to usher me into the imperial
+city: to watch my first glance of the Coliseo: and lead me up the stairs
+of the Capitol? I shall rise before the sun, that I may see him set from
+Monte Cavallo.<a name="page_vol_1_218" id="page_vol_1_218"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XX-italy" id="LETTER_XX-italy"></a>LETTER XX.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Set out in the dark.&mdash;The Lago di Vico.&mdash;View of the spacious
+plains where the Romans reared their seat of empire.&mdash;Ancient
+splendour.&mdash;Present silence and desolation.&mdash;Shepherds’
+huts.&mdash;Wretched policy of the Papal Government.&mdash;Distant view of
+Rome.&mdash;Sensations on entering the City.&mdash;The Pope returning from
+Vespers.&mdash;St Peter’s Colonnade.&mdash;Interior of the
+Church.&mdash;Reveries.&mdash;A visionary scheme.&mdash;The Pantheon.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Rome, October 29th, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>W<small>E</small> set out in the dark. Morning dawned over the Lago di Vico; its waters
+of a deep ultramarine blue, and its surrounding forests catching the
+rays of the rising sun. It was in vain I looked for the cupola of St.
+Peter’s upon descending the mountains beyond Viterbo. Nothing but a sea
+of vapours was visible.</p>
+
+<p>At length they rolled away, and the spacious plains began to show
+themselves, in which the most warlike of nations reared their seat of
+empire. On the left, afar off, rises the rugged chain of Apennines, and
+on the other side, a shining<a name="page_vol_1_219" id="page_vol_1_219"></a> expanse of ocean terminates the view. It
+was upon this vast surface so many illustrious actions were performed,
+and I know not where a mighty people could have chosen a grander
+theatre. Here was space for the march of armies, and verge enough for
+encampments: levels for martial games, and room for that variety of
+roads and causeways that led from the capital to Ostia. How many
+triumphant legions have trodden these pavements! how many captive kings!
+What throngs of cars and chariots once glittered on their surface!
+savage animals dragged from the interior of Africa; and the ambassadors
+of Indian princes, followed by their exotic train, hastening to implore
+the favour of the senate!</p>
+
+<p>During many ages, this eminence commanded almost every day such
+illustrious scenes; but all are vanished: the splendid tumult is passed
+away: silence and desolation remain. Dreary flats thinly scattered over
+with ilex, and barren hillocks crowned by solitary towers, were the only
+objects we perceived for several miles. Now and then we passed a few
+black ill-favoured sheep straggling by the way’s side, near a ruined
+sepulchre, just such animals as an ancient would<a name="page_vol_1_220" id="page_vol_1_220"></a> have sacrificed to the
+Manes. Sometimes we crossed a brook, whose ripplings were the only
+sounds which broke the general stillness, and observed the shepherds’
+huts on its banks, propped up with broken pedestals and marble friezes.
+I entered one of them, whose owner was abroad tending his herds, and
+began writing upon the sand and murmuring a melancholy song. Perhaps the
+dead listened to me from their narrow cells. The living I can answer
+for: they were far enough removed.</p>
+
+<p>You will not be surprised at the dark tone of my musings in so sad a
+scene, especially as the weather lowered; and you are well acquainted
+how greatly I depend upon skies and sunshine. To-day I had no blue
+firmament to revive my spirits; no genial gales, no aromatic plants to
+irritate my nerves and lend at least a momentary animation. Heath and a
+greyish kind of moss are the sole vegetation which covers this endless
+wilderness. Every slope is strewed with the relics of a happier period;
+trunks of trees, shattered columns, cedar beams, helmets of bronze,
+skulls and coins, are frequently dug up together.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot boast of having made any discoveries, nor of sending you any
+novel intelligence. You<a name="page_vol_1_221" id="page_vol_1_221"></a> knew before how perfectly the environs of Rome
+were desolate, and how completely the Papal government contrives to make
+its subjects miserable. But who knows that they were not just as
+wretched in those boasted times we are so fond of celebrating? All is
+doubt and conjecture in this frail existence; and I might as well
+attempt proving to whom belonged the mouldering bones which lay
+dispersed around me, as venture to affirm that one age is more fortunate
+than another. Very likely the poor cottager, under whose roof I reposed,
+is happier than the luxurious Roman upon the remains of whose palace,
+perhaps, his shed is raised: and yet that Roman flourished in the purple
+days of the empire, when all was wealth and splendour, triumph and
+exultation.</p>
+
+<p>I could have spent the whole day by the rivulet, lost in dreams and
+meditations; but recollecting my vow, I ran back to the carriage and
+drove on. The road not having been mended, I believe, since the days of
+the Cæsars, would not allow our motions to be very precipitate. “When
+you gain the summit of yonder hill, you will discover Rome,” said one of
+the postilions: up we dragged; no city appeared. “From the next,<a name="page_vol_1_222" id="page_vol_1_222"></a>” cried
+out a second; and so on from height to height did they amuse my
+expectations. I thought Rome fled before us, such was my impatience,
+till at last we perceived a cluster of hills with green pastures on
+their summits, inclosed by thickets and shaded by flourishing ilex. Here
+and there a white house, built in the antique style, with open porticos,
+that received a faint gleam of the evening sun, just emerged from the
+clouds and tinting the meads below. Now domes and towers began to
+discover themselves in the valley, and St. Peter’s to rise above the
+magnificent roofs of the Vatican. Every step we advanced the scene
+extended, till, winding suddenly round the hill, all Rome opened to our
+view.</p>
+
+<p>Shall I ever forget the sensations I experienced upon slowly descending
+the hills, and crossing the bridge over the Tiber; when I entered an
+avenue between terraces and ornamented gates of villas, which leads to
+the Porto del Popolo, and beheld the square, the domes, the obelisk, the
+long perspective of streets and palaces opening beyond, all glowing with
+the vivid red of sunset? You can imagine how I enjoyed my beloved tint,
+my favourite hour, surrounded<a name="page_vol_1_223" id="page_vol_1_223"></a> by such objects. You can fancy me
+ascending Monte Cavallo, leaning against the pedestal which supports
+Bucephalus; then, spite of time and distance, hurrying to St. Peter’s in
+performance of my vow.</p>
+
+<p>I met the Holy Father in all his pomp returning from vespers. Trumpets
+flourishing, and a troop of guards drawn out upon Ponte St. Angelo.
+Casting a respectful glance upon the Moles Adriani, I moved on till the
+full sweep of St. Peter’s colonnade opened upon me. The edifice appears
+to have been raised within the year, such is its freshness and
+preservation. I could hardly take my eyes from off the beautiful
+symmetry of its front, contrasted with the magnificent, though irregular
+courts of the Vatican towering over the colonnade, till, the sun sinking
+behind the dome, I ran up the steps and entered the grand portal, which
+was on the very point of being closed.</p>
+
+<p>I knew not where I was, or to what scene transported. A sacred twilight
+concealing the extremities of the structure, I could not distinguish any
+particular ornament, but enjoyed the effect of the whole. No damp air or
+fœtid exhalation offended me. The perfume of incense was<a name="page_vol_1_224" id="page_vol_1_224"></a> not yet
+entirely dissipated. No human being stirred. I heard a door close with
+the sound of thunder, and thought I distinguished some faint
+whisperings, but am ignorant whence they came. Several hundred lamps
+twinkled round the high altar, quite lost in the immensity of the pile.
+No other light disturbed my reveries but the dying glow still visible
+through the western windows. Imagine how I felt upon finding myself
+alone in this vast temple at so late an hour. Do you think I quitted it
+without some revelation?</p>
+
+<p>It was almost eight o’clock before I issued forth, and, pausing a few
+minutes under the porticos, listened to the rush of the fountains: then
+traversing half the town, I believe, in my way to the Villa Medici,
+under which I am lodged, fell into a profound repose, which my zeal and
+exercise may be allowed, I think, to have merited.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">October 30th.</p>
+
+<p>I<small>MMEDIATELY</small> after breakfast I repaired again to St. Peter’s, which even
+exceeded the height of my expectations. I could hardly quit it. I wish
+his Holiness would allow me to erect a little tabernacle within this
+glorious temple. I should desire no other prospect during the winter; no
+other sky than the vast arches glowing with<a name="page_vol_1_225" id="page_vol_1_225"></a> golden ornaments, so lofty
+as to lose all glitter or gaudiness. But I cannot say I should be
+perfectly contented, unless I could obtain another tabernacle for you.
+Thus established, we would take our evening walks on the field of
+marble; for is not the pavement vast enough for the extravagance of the
+appellation? Sometimes, instead of climbing a mountain, we should ascend
+the cupola, and look down on our little encampment below. At night I
+should wish for a constellation of lamps dispersed about in clusters,
+and so contrived as to diffuse a mild and equal light. Music should not
+be wanting: at one time to breathe in the subterraneous chapels, at
+another to echo through the dome.</p>
+
+<p>The doors should be closed, and not a mortal admitted. No priests, no
+cardinals: God forbid! We would have all the space to ourselves, and to
+beings of our own visionary persuasion.</p>
+
+<p>I was so absorbed in my imaginary palace, and exhausted with contriving
+plans for its embellishment, as scarcely to have spirits left for the
+Pantheon, which I visited late in the evening, and entered with a
+reverence approaching to superstition. The whiteness of the dome
+offended me, for, alas! this venerable temple has been whitewashed.<a name="page_vol_1_226" id="page_vol_1_226"></a> I
+slunk into one of the recesses, closed my eyes, transported myself into
+antiquity; then opened them again, tried to persuade myself the Pagan
+gods were in their niches, and the saints out of the question; was vexed
+at coming to my senses, and finding them all there, St. Andrew with his
+cross, and St. Agnes with her lamb, &amp;c. Then I paced disconsolately into
+the portico, which shows the name of Agrippa on its pediment. Fixed for
+a few minutes against a Corinthian column, I lamented that no pontiff
+arrived with victims and aruspices, of whom I might enquire, what, in
+the name of birds and garbage, put me so terribly out of humour! for you
+must know I was very near being disappointed, and began to think
+Piranesi and Paolo Panini had been a great deal too colossal in their
+representations of this venerable structure. I left the column, walked
+to the centre of the temple, and there remained motionless as a statue.
+Some architects have celebrated the effect of light from the opening
+above, and pretended it to be distributed in such a manner as to give
+those, who walk beneath, the appearance of mystic beings streaming with
+radiance. If that were the case! I appeared, to be sure, a luminous<a name="page_vol_1_227" id="page_vol_1_227"></a>
+figure, and never stood I more in need of something to enliven me.</p>
+
+<p>My spirits were not mended upon returning home. I had expected a heap of
+Venetian letters, but could not discover one. I had received no
+intelligence from England for many a tedious day; and for aught I can
+tell to the contrary, you may have been dead these three weeks. I think
+I shall wander soon in the Catacombs, which I try lustily to persuade
+myself communicate with the lower world; and perhaps I may find some
+letter there from you lying upon a broken sarcophagus, dated from the
+realms of Night, and giving an account of your descent into her bosom.
+Yet, I pray continually, notwithstanding my curiosity to learn what
+passes in the dark regions beyond the tomb, that you will remain a few
+years longer on our planet; for what would become of me should I lose
+sight of you for ever? Stay, therefore, as long as you can, and let us
+have the delight of dozing a little more of this poor existence away
+together, and steeping ourselves in pleasant dreams.<a name="page_vol_1_228" id="page_vol_1_228"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXI-italy" id="LETTER_XXI-italy"></a>LETTER XXI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Leave Rome for Naples.&mdash;Scenery in the vicinity of
+Rome.&mdash;Albano.&mdash;Malaria.&mdash;Veletri.&mdash;Classical associations.&mdash;The
+Circean Promontory.&mdash;Terracina.&mdash;Ruined Palace.&mdash;Mountain
+Groves.&mdash;Rock of Circe.&mdash;The Appian Way.&mdash;Arrive at Mola di
+Gaieta.&mdash;Beautiful prospect.&mdash;A Deluge.&mdash;Enter Naples by night,
+during a fearful Storm.&mdash;Clear Morning.&mdash;View from my
+window.&mdash;Courtly Mob at the Palace.&mdash;The Presence Chamber.&mdash;The
+King and his Courtiers.&mdash;Party at the House of Sir W. H.&mdash;Grand
+Illumination at the Theatre of St. Carlo.&mdash;Marchesi.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">November 1st, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HOUGH</small> you find I am not yet snatched away from the earth, according to
+my last night’s bodings, I was far too restless and dispirited to
+deliver my recommendatory letters. St. Carlos, a mighty day of gala at
+Naples, was an excellent excuse for leaving Rome, and indulging my
+roving disposition. After spending my morning at St. Peter’s, we set off
+about four o’clock, and drove by the Coliseo and a Capuchin convent,
+whose monks were all busied in preparing the<a name="page_vol_1_229" id="page_vol_1_229"></a> skeletons of their order,
+to figure by torch-light in the evening. St. John’s of Lateran
+astonished me. I could not help walking several times round the obelisk,
+and admiring the noble space in which the palace is erected, and the
+extensive scene of towers and aqueducts discovered from the platform in
+front.</p>
+
+<p>We went out at the Porta Appia, and began to perceive the plains which
+surround the city opening on every side. Long reaches of walls and
+arches, seldom interrupted, stretch across them. Sometimes, indeed, a
+withered pine, lifting itself up to the mercy of every blast that sweeps
+the champagne, breaks their uniformity. Between the aqueducts to the
+left, nothing but wastes of fern, or tracts of ploughed lands, dark and
+desolate, are visible, the corn not being yet sprung up. On the right,
+several groups of ruined fanes and sepulchres diversify the levels, with
+here and there a garden or woody enclosure. Such objects are scattered
+over the landscape, which towards the horizon bulges into gentle
+ascents, and, rising by degrees, swells at length into a chain of
+mountains, which received the pale gleams of the sun setting in watery
+clouds.<a name="page_vol_1_230" id="page_vol_1_230"></a></p>
+
+<p>By this uncertain light we discovered the white buildings of Albano,
+sprinkled about the steeps. We had not many moments to contemplate them,
+for it was night when we passed the Torre di mezza via, and began
+breathing a close pestilential vapour. Half suffocated, and recollecting
+a variety of terrifying tales about the malaria, we advanced, not
+without fear, to Veletri, and hardly ventured to fall asleep when
+arrived there.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">November 2nd.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>AROSE</small> at day-break, and, forgetting fevers and mortalities, ran into a
+level meadow without the town, whilst the horses were putting to the
+carriage. Why should I calumniate the pearly transparent air? it seemed
+at least purer than any I had before inhaled. Being perfectly alone, and
+not discovering any trace of the neighbouring city, I fancied myself
+existing in the ancient days of Hesperia, and hoped to meet Picus in his
+woods before the evening. But, instead of those shrill clamours which
+used to echo through the thickets when Pan joined with mortals in the
+chase, I heard the rumbling of our carriage, and the cursing of
+postilions. Mounting a horse I flew before them, and seemed to catch<a name="page_vol_1_231" id="page_vol_1_231"></a>
+inspiration from the breezes. Now I turned my eyes to the ridge of
+precipices, in whose grots and caverns Saturn and his people passed
+their life; then to the distant ocean. Afar off rose the cliff, so
+famous for Circe’s incantations, and the whole line of coasts, which was
+once covered with her forests.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst I was advancing with full speed, the sun-beams began to shoot
+athwart the mountains, the plains to light up by degrees, and their
+shrubberies of myrtle to glisten with dew-drops. The sea brightened, and
+the Circean promontory soon glowed with purple. All day we kept winding
+through this enchanted country. Towards evening Terracina appeared
+before us, in a bold romantic scite; house above house, and turret
+looking over turret, on the steeps of a mountain, enclosed with
+mouldering walls, and crowned by the ruined terraces of a palace; one of
+those, perhaps, which the luxurious Romans inhabited during the summer,
+when so free and lofty an exposition (the sea below, with its gales and
+murmurs) must have been delightful. Groves of orange and citron hang on
+the declivity, rough with the Indian fig, whose bright red flowers,
+illuminated by the sun,<a name="page_vol_1_232" id="page_vol_1_232"></a> had a magic splendour. A palm-tree, growing on
+the highest crag, adds not a little to its singular appearance. Being
+the largest I had yet seen, and clustered with fruit, I climbed up the
+rocks to take a sketch of it; and looking down upon the beach and glassy
+plains of ocean, exclaimed with Martial:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">O nemus! O fontes! solidumque madentis arenæ<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Littus, et æquoreis splendidus Anxur aquis!<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Glancing my eyes athwart the sea, I fixed them on the rock of Circe,
+which lies right opposite to Terracina, joined to the continent by a
+very narrow strip of land, and appearing like an island. The roar of the
+waves lashing the base of the precipices, might still be thought the
+howl of savage monsters; but where are those woods which shaded the dome
+of the goddess? Scarce a tree appears. A few thickets, and but a few,
+are the sole remains of this once impenetrable vegetation; yet even
+these I longed to visit, such was my predilection for the spot.</p>
+
+<p>Descending the cliff, and pursuing our route to Mola along the shore, by
+a grand road formed on the ruins of the Appian Way, we drove under an
+enormous perpendicular rock, standing detached, like a watch tower, and
+cut into arsenals<a name="page_vol_1_233" id="page_vol_1_233"></a> and magazines. Day closed just as we got beyond it,
+and a new moon gleamed faintly on the waters. We saw fires afar off in
+the bay; some twinkling on the coast, others upon the waves, and heard
+the murmur of voices; for the night was still and solemn, like that of
+Cajetas’s funeral. I looked anxiously on a sea, where the heroes of the
+Odyssey and Æneid had sailed to fulfil their mystic destinies.</p>
+
+<p>Nine struck when we arrived at Mola di Gaeta. The boats were just coming
+in (whose lights we had seen out upon the main), and brought such fish
+as Neptune, I dare say, would have grudged Æneas and Ulysses.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">November 3rd.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> morning was soft, but hazy. I walked in a grove of orange trees,
+white with blossoms, and at the same time glowing with fruit. The spot
+sloped pleasantly toward the sea, and here I loitered till the horses
+were ready, then set off on the Appian, between hedges of myrtle and
+aloes. We observed a variety of towns, with battlemented walls and
+ancient turrets, crowning the pinnacles of rocky steeps, surrounded by
+wilds, and rude uncultivated mountains. The Liris, now Garigliano, winds
+its peaceful course<a name="page_vol_1_234" id="page_vol_1_234"></a> through wide extensive meadows, scattered over with
+the remains of aqueducts, and waters the base of the rocks I have just
+mentioned. Such a prospect could not fail of bringing Virgil’s panegyric
+of Italy into my mind:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Tot congesta manu præruptis oppida saxis<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fluminaque antiquos subterlabentia muros.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>As soon as we arrived in sight of Capua, the sky darkened, clouds
+covered the horizon, and presently poured down such deluges of rain as
+floated the whole country. The gloom was general; Vesuvius disappeared
+just after we had discovered it. At four o’clock darkness universally
+prevailed, except when a livid glare of lightning presented momentary
+glimpses of the bay and mountains. We lighted torches, and forded
+several torrents almost at the hazard of our lives. The plains of Aversa
+were filled with herds, lowing most piteously, and yet not half so much
+scared as their masters, who ran about raving and ranting like Indians
+during the eclipse of the moon. I knew Vesuvius had often put their
+courage to proof, but little thought of an inundation occasioning such
+commotions.</p>
+
+<p>For three hours the storm increased in violence,<a name="page_vol_1_235" id="page_vol_1_235"></a> and instead of
+entering Naples on a calm evening, and viewing its delightful shores by
+moonlight&mdash;instead of finding the squares and terraces thronged with
+people and animated by music, we advanced with fear and terror through
+dark streets totally deserted, every creature being shut up in their
+houses, and we heard nothing but driving rain, rushing torrents, and the
+fall of fragments beaten down by their violence. Our inn, like every
+other habitation, was in great disorder, and we waited a long while
+before we could settle in our apartments with any comfort. All night the
+waves roared round the rocky foundations of a fortress beneath my
+windows, and the lightning played clear in my eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">November 4th.</p>
+
+<p>P<small>EACE</small> was restored to nature in the morning, but every mouth was full of
+the dreadful accidents which had happened in the night. The sky was
+cloudless when I awoke, and such was the transparence of the atmosphere
+that I could clearly discern the rocks, and even some white buildings on
+the island of Caprea, though at the distance of thirty miles. A large
+window fronts my bed, and its casements being thrown<a name="page_vol_1_236" id="page_vol_1_236"></a> open, gives me a
+vast prospect of ocean uninterrupted, except by the peaks of Caprea and
+the Cape of Sorento. I lay half an hour gazing on the smooth level
+waters, and listening to the confused voices of the fishermen, passing
+and repassing in light skiffs, which came and disappeared in an instant.</p>
+
+<p>Running to the balcony the moment my eyes were fairly open (for till
+then I saw objects, I know not how, as one does in dreams,) I leaned
+over its rails and viewed Vesuvius rising distinct into the blue æther,
+with all that world of gardens and casinos which are scattered about its
+base; then looked down into the street, deep below, thronged with people
+in holiday garments, and carriages, and soldiers in full parade. The
+shrubby, variegated shore of Posilipo drew my attention to the opposite
+side of the bay. It was on those very rocks, under those tall pines,
+Sannazaro was wont to sit by moonlight, or at peep of dawn, composing
+his marine eclogues. It is there he still sleeps; and I wished to have
+gone immediately and strewed coral over his tomb, but I was obliged to
+check my impatience and hurry to the palace in form and gala.<a name="page_vol_1_237" id="page_vol_1_237"></a></p>
+
+<p>A courtly mob had got thither upon the same errand, daubed over with
+lace and most notably be-periwigged. Nothing but bows and salutations
+were going forward on the staircase, one of the largest I ever beheld,
+and which a multitude of prelates and friars were ascending with awkward
+pomposity. I jostled along to the presence chamber, where his Majesty
+was dining alone in a circular enclosure of fine clothes and smirking
+faces. The moment he had finished, twenty long necks were poked forth,
+and it was a glorious struggle amongst some of the most decorated who
+first should kiss his hand, the great business of the day. Everybody
+pressed forward to the best of their abilities. His Majesty seemed to
+eye nothing but the end of his nose, which is doubtless a capital
+object.</p>
+
+<p>Though people have imagined him a weak monarch, I beg leave to differ in
+opinion, since he has the boldness to prolong his childhood and be
+happy, in spite of years and conviction. Give him a boar to stab, and a
+pigeon to shoot at, a battledore or an angling rod, and he is better
+contented than Solomon in all his glory, and will never discover, like
+that sapient sovereign, that all is vanity and vexation of spirit.<a name="page_vol_1_238" id="page_vol_1_238"></a></p>
+
+<p>His courtiers in general have rather a barbaric appearance, and differ
+little in the character of their physiognomies from the most savage
+nations. I should have taken them for Calmucks or Samoieds, had it not
+been for their dresses and European finery.</p>
+
+<p>You may suppose I was not sorry, after my presentation was over, to
+return to Sir W. H.’s, where an interesting group of lovely women,
+literati, and artists, were assembled&mdash;Gagliani and Cyrillo, Aprile,
+Milico, and Deamicis&mdash;the determined Santo Marco, and the more
+nymph-like modest-looking, though not less dangerous, Belmonte. Gagliani
+happened to be in full story, and vied with his countryman Polichinello,
+not only in gesticulation and loquacity, but in the excessive
+licentiousness of his narrations. He was proceeding beyond all bounds of
+decency and decorum, at least according to English notions, when Lady
+H.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> sat down to the pianoforte. Her plaintive modulations breathed a
+far different<a name="page_vol_1_239" id="page_vol_1_239"></a> language. No performer that ever I heard produced such
+soothing effects; they seemed the emanations of a pure, uncontaminated
+mind, at peace with itself and benevolently desirous of diffusing that
+happy tranquillity around it; these were modes a Grecian legislature
+would have encouraged to further the triumph over vice of the most
+amiable virtue.</p>
+
+<p>The evening was passing swiftly away, and I had almost forgotten there
+was a grand illumination at the theatre of St. Carlo. After traversing a
+number of dark streets, we suddenly entered this enormous edifice, whose
+seven rows of boxes one above the other blazed with tapers. I never
+beheld such lofty walls of light, nor so pompous a decoration as covered
+the stage. Marchesi was singing in the midst of all these splendours
+some of the poorest music imaginable, with the clearest and most
+triumphant voice, perhaps, in the universe.</p>
+
+<p>It was some time before I could look to any purpose around me, or
+discover what animals inhabited this glittering world: such was its size
+and glare. At last I perceived vast numbers of swarthy ill-favoured
+beings, in gold and silver raiment, peeping out of their boxes. The
+court<a name="page_vol_1_240" id="page_vol_1_240"></a> being present, a tolerable silence was maintained, but the moment
+his Majesty withdrew (which great event took place at the beginning of
+the second act) every tongue broke loose, and nothing but buzz and
+hubbub filled up the rest of the entertainment.<a name="page_vol_1_241" id="page_vol_1_241"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXII-italy" id="LETTER_XXII-italy"></a>LETTER XXII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">View of the coast of Posilipo.&mdash;Virgil’s tomb.&mdash;Superstition of the
+Neapolitans with respect to Virgil.&mdash;Aërial situation.&mdash;A grand
+scene.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">November 6th, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>ILL</small> to-day we have had nothing but rains; the sea covered with mists,
+and Caprea invisible. Would you believe it? I have not yet been able to
+mount to St. Elmo and the Capo di Monte, in order to take a general view
+of the town.</p>
+
+<p>At length a bright gleam of sunshine summoned me to the broad terrace of
+Chiaja, which commands the whole coast of Posilipo. Insensibly I drew
+towards it, and (you know the pace I run when out upon discoveries) soon
+reached the entrance of the grotto, which lay in dark shades, whilst the
+crags that lower over it were brightly illumined. Shrubs and vines grow
+luxuriantly in the crevices of the rock; and its fresh yellow colours,
+variegated with ivy, have a beautiful effect.<a name="page_vol_1_242" id="page_vol_1_242"></a> To the right, a grove of
+pines spring from the highest pinnacles: on the left, bay and chesnut
+conceal the tomb of Virgil placed on the summit of a cliff which impends
+over the opening of the grotto, and is fringed with vegetation. Beneath
+are several wide apertures hollowed in the solid stone, which lead to
+caverns sixty or seventy feet in depth, where a number of peasants, who
+were employed in quarrying, made a strange but not absolutely
+unharmonious din with their tools and their voices.</p>
+
+<p>Walking out of the sunshine, I seated myself on a loose stone
+immediately beneath the first gloomy arch of the grotto, and looking
+down the long and solemn perspective terminated by a speck of gray
+uncertain light, venerated a work which some old chroniclers have
+imagined as ancient as the Trojan war. It was here the mysterious race
+of the Cimmerians performed their infernal rites, and it was this
+excavation perhaps which led to their abode.</p>
+
+<p>The Neapolitans attribute a more modern, though full as problematical an
+origin to their famous cavern, and most piously believe it to have been
+formed by the enchantments of Virgil, who, as Addison very justly
+observes, is better<a name="page_vol_1_243" id="page_vol_1_243"></a> known at Naples in his magical character than as
+the author of the Æneid. This strange infatuation most probably arose
+from the vicinity of the tomb in which his ashes are supposed to have
+been deposited; and which, according to popular tradition, was guarded
+by those very spirits who assisted in constructing the cave. But
+whatever may have given rise to these ideas, certain it is they were not
+confined to the lower ranks alone. King Robert,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> a wise though far
+from poetical monarch, conducted his friend Petrarch with great
+solemnity to the spot; and, pointing to the entrance of the grotto, very
+gravely asked him, whether he did not adopt the general belief, and
+conclude this stupendous passage derived its origin from Virgil’s
+powerful incantations? The answer, I think, may easily be conjectured.</p>
+
+<p>When I had sat for some time, contemplating this dusky avenue, and
+trying to persuade myself that it was hewn by the Cimmerians, I
+retreated without proceeding any farther, and followed a narrow path
+which led me, after some windings and turnings, along the brink of the
+precipice, across a vineyard, to that retired nook of the rocks which
+shelters Virgil’s tomb, most venerably<a name="page_vol_1_244" id="page_vol_1_244"></a> mossed over and more than half
+concealed by bushes and vegetation. The clown who conducted me remained
+aloof at awful distance, whilst I sat commercing with the manes of my
+beloved poet, or straggled about the shrubbery which hangs directly
+above the mouth of the grot.</p>
+
+<p>Advancing to the edge of the rock, I saw crowds of people and carriages,
+diminished by distance, issuing from the bosom of the mountain and
+disappearing almost as soon as discovered in the windings of its road.
+Clambering high above the cavern, I hazarded my neck on the top of one
+of the pines, and looked contemptuously down on the race of pigmies that
+were so busily moving to and fro. The sun was fiercer than I could have
+wished, but the sea-breezes fanned me in my aërial situation, which
+commanded the grand sweep of the bay, varied by convents, palaces, and
+gardens mixed with huge masses of rock and crowned by the stately
+buildings of the Carthusians and fortress of St. Elmo. Add a glittering
+blue sea to this perspective, with Caprea rising from its bosom and
+Vesuvius breathing forth a white column of smoke into the æther, and you
+will then have a scene<a name="page_vol_1_245" id="page_vol_1_245"></a> upon which I gazed with delight, for more than
+an hour, almost forgetting that I was perched upon the head of a pine
+with nothing but a frail branch to uphold me. However, I descended
+alive, as Virgil’s genii, I am resolved to believe, were my protectors.<a name="page_vol_1_246" id="page_vol_1_246"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXIII-italy" id="LETTER_XXIII-italy"></a>LETTER XXIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">A ramble on the shore of Baii.&mdash;Local traditions.&mdash;Cross the
+bay.&mdash;Fragments of a temple dedicated to Hercules.&mdash;Wondrous
+reservoir constructed for the fleet of Nero.&mdash;The Dead Lake.&mdash;Wild
+scene.&mdash;Beautiful meadow. Uncouth rocks.&mdash;An unfathomable
+gulph.&mdash;Sadness induced by the wild appearance of the
+place.&mdash;Conversation with a recluse.&mdash;Her fearful
+narration.&mdash;Melancholy evening.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">November 8th, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HIS</small> morning I awoke in the glow of sunshine&mdash;the air blew fresh and
+fragrant&mdash;never did I feel more elastic and enlivened. A brisker flow of
+spirits than I had for many a day experienced, animated me with a desire
+of rambling about the shore of Baii, and creeping into caverns and
+subterraneous chambers. Off I set along the Chiaja, and up strange paths
+which impend over the grotto of Posilipo, amongst the thickets mentioned
+a letter or two ago; for in my present buoyant humour I disdained
+ordinary roads, and<a name="page_vol_1_247" id="page_vol_1_247"></a> would take paths and ways of my own. A society of
+kids did not understand what I meant by intruding upon their precipices;
+and scrambling away, scattered sand and fragments upon the good people
+that were trudging along the pavement below.</p>
+
+<p>I went on from pine to pine and thicket to thicket, upon the brink of
+rapid declivities. My conductor, a shrewd savage, whom Sir William had
+recommended to me, cheered our route with stories that had passed in the
+neighbourhood, and traditions about the grot over which we were
+travelling. I wish you had been of the party, and sat down by us on
+little smooth spots of sward, where I reclined, scarcely knowing which
+way caprice had led me. My mind was full of the tales of the place, and
+glowed with a vehement desire of exploring the world beyond the grot. I
+longed to ascend the promontory of Misenus, and follow the same dusky
+route down which the Sibyl conducted Æneas.</p>
+
+<p>With these dispositions I proceeded; and soon the cliffs and copses
+opened to views of the Baian sea with the little isles of Niscita and
+Lazaretto, lifting themselves out of the waters.<a name="page_vol_1_248" id="page_vol_1_248"></a> Procita and Ischia
+appeared at a distance invested with that purple bloom so inexpressibly
+beautiful, and peculiar to this fortunate climate. I hailed the
+prospect, and blessed the transparent air that gave me life and vigour
+to run down the rocks, and hie as fast as my savage across the plain to
+Pozzuoli. There we took bark and rowed out into the blue ocean, by the
+remains of a sturdy mole: many such, I imagine, adorned the bay in Roman
+ages, crowned by vast lengths of slender pillars; pavilions at their
+extremities and taper cypresses spiring above their balustrades: this
+character of villa occurs very frequently in the paintings of
+Herculaneum.</p>
+
+<p>We had soon crossed the bay, and landing on a bushy coast near some
+fragments of a temple which they say was raised to Hercules, advanced
+into the country by narrow tracks covered with moss and strewed with
+shining pebbles; to the right and left, broad masses of luxuriant
+foliage, chesnut, bay and ilex, that shelter the ruins of sepulchral
+chambers. No parties of smart Englishmen and connoisseurs were about. I
+had all the land to myself, and mounted its steeps and penetrated into
+its recesses, with the importance of a discoverer. What a variety of
+narrow paths,<a name="page_vol_1_249" id="page_vol_1_249"></a> between banks and shades, did I wildly follow! my savage
+laughing loud at my odd gestures and useless activity. He wondered I did
+not scrape the ground for medals, and pocket little bits of plaster,
+like other inquisitive young travellers that had gone before me.</p>
+
+<p>After ascending some time, I followed him into the wondrous<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>
+reservoir which Nero constructed to supply his fleet, when anchored in
+the neighbouring bay. A noise of trickling waters prevailed throughout
+this grand labyrinth of solid vaults and arches, that had almost lulled
+me to sleep as I rested myself on the celandine which carpets the floor;
+but curiosity urging me forward, I gained the upper air; walked amongst
+woods a few minutes, and then into grots and dismal excavations (prisons
+they call them) which began to weary me.</p>
+
+<p>After having gone up and down in this manner for some time, we at last
+reached an eminence that commanded the Mare Morto, and Elysian fields
+trembling with reeds and poplars. The Dead Lake, a faithful emblem of
+eternal tranquillity, looked deep and solemn. A few peasants seemed
+fixed on its margin, their shadows<a name="page_vol_1_250" id="page_vol_1_250"></a> reflected on the water. Turning from
+the lake I espied a rock at about a league distant, whose summit was
+clad with verdure, and finding this to be the promontory of Misenus, I
+immediately set my face to that quarter.</p>
+
+<p>We passed several dirty villages, inhabited by an ill-favoured
+generation, infamous for depredations and murders. Their gardens,
+however, discover some marks of industry; the fields are separated by
+neat hedges of cane, and a variety of herbs and pulses and Indian corn
+seemed to flourish in the inclosures. Insensibly we began to leave the
+cultivated lands behind us, and to lose ourselves in shady wilds, which,
+to all appearance, no mortal had ever trodden. Here were no paths, no
+inclosures; a primeval rudeness characterized the whole scene.</p>
+
+<p>After forcing our way about a mile, through glades of shrubs and briars,
+we entered a lawn-like opening at the base of the cliff which takes its
+name from Misenus. The poets of the Augustan age would have celebrated
+such a meadow with the warmest raptures, and peopled its green expanse
+with all the sylvan demi-gods of their beautiful mythology. Here were
+springs issuing<a name="page_vol_1_251" id="page_vol_1_251"></a> from rocks of pumice, and grassy hillocks partially
+concealed by thickets of bay.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Et circum irriguo surgebant lilia prato<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Candida purpureis mista papaveribus.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>But as it is not the lot of human animals to be contented, instead of
+reposing in the vale, I scaled the rock, and was three parts dissolved
+in attaining its summit. The sun darted upon my head, I wished to avoid
+its immediate influence; no tree was near; the pleasant valley lay below
+at a considerable depth, and it was a long way to descend to it. Looking
+round and round, I spied something like a hut, under a crag on the edge
+of a dark fissure. Might I avail myself of its covert? My conductor
+answered in the affirmative, and added that it was inhabited by a good
+old woman, who never refused a cup of milk, or slice of bread, to
+refresh a weary traveller.</p>
+
+<p>Thirst and fatigue urged me speedily down an intervening slope of
+stunted myrtle. Though oppressed with heat, I could not help deviating a
+few steps from the direct path to notice the uncouth rocks which rose
+frowning on every quarter. Above the hut, their appearance was truly
+formidable, bristled over with sharp-spired<a name="page_vol_1_252" id="page_vol_1_252"></a> dwarf aloes, such as
+Lucifer himself might be supposed to have sown. Indeed I knew not
+whether I was not approaching some gate that leads to his abode, as I
+drew near a gulph (the fissure lately mentioned) and heard the deep
+hollow murmurs of the gusts which were imprisoned below. The savage, my
+guide, shuddered as he passed by to apprise the old woman of my coming.
+I felt strangely, and stared around me, and but half liked my situation.</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of my doubts, forth tottered the old woman. “You are
+welcome,” said she, in a feeble voice, but a better dialect than I had
+heard in the neighbourhood. Her look was more humane, and she seemed of
+a superior race to the inhabitants of the surrounding valleys. My savage
+treated her with peculiar deference. She had just given him some bread,
+with which he retired to a respectful distance bowing to the earth. I
+caught the mode, and was very obsequious, thinking myself on the point
+of experiencing a witch’s influence, and gaining, perhaps, some insight
+into the volume of futurity. She smiled at my agitation and kept
+beckoning me into the cottage.<a name="page_vol_1_253" id="page_vol_1_253"></a></p>
+
+<p>“Now,” thought I to myself, “I am upon the verge of an adventure.” I saw
+nothing, however, but clay walls, a straw bed, some glazed earthen
+bowls, and a wooden crucifix. My shoes were loaded with sand: this my
+hostess perceived, and immediately kindling a fire in an inner part of
+the hovel, brought out some warm water to refresh my feet, and set some
+milk and chesnuts before me. This patriarchal attention was by no means
+indifferent after my tiresome ramble. I sat down opposite to the door
+which fronted the unfathomable gulph; beyond appeared the sea, of a deep
+cerulean, foaming with waves. The sky also was darkening apace with
+storms. Sadness came over me like a cloud, and I looked up to the old
+woman for consolation.</p>
+
+<p>“And you too are sorrowful, young stranger,” said she, “that come from
+the gay world! how must I feel, who pass year after year in these lonely
+mountains?” I answered that the weather affected me, and my spirits were
+exhausted by the walk.</p>
+
+<p>All the while I spoke she looked at me with such a melancholy
+earnestness that I asked the<a name="page_vol_1_254" id="page_vol_1_254"></a> cause, and began again to imagine myself
+in some fatal habitation,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Where more is meant than meets the ear.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>“Your features,” said she, “are wonderfully like those of an unfortunate
+young person, who, in this retirement....” The tears began to fall as
+she pronounced these words; my curiosity was fired. “Tell me,” continued
+I, “what you mean; who was this youth for whom you are so interested?
+and why did he seclude himself in this wild region? Your kindness to him
+might no doubt have alleviated, in some measure, the horrors of the
+place; but may God defend me from passing the night near such a gulph! I
+would not trust myself in a despairing moment.”</p>
+
+<p>“It is,” said she, “a place of horrors. I tremble to relate what has
+happened on this very spot; but your manner interests me, and though I
+am little given to narrations, for once I will unlock my lips concerning
+the secrets of yonder fatal chasm.</p>
+
+<p>“I was born in a distant part of Italy, and have known better days. In
+my youth fortune smiled upon my family, but in a few years they withered
+away; no matter by what accident. I am not going to talk much of
+myself.<a name="page_vol_1_255" id="page_vol_1_255"></a> Have patience a few moments! A series of unfortunate events
+reduced me to indigence, and drove me to this desert, where, from
+rearing goats and making their milk into cheese, by a different method
+than is common in the Neapolitan state, I have, for about thirty years,
+prolonged a sorrowful existence. My silent grief and constant retirement
+had made me appear to some a saint, and to others a sorceress. The
+slight knowledge I have of plants has been exaggerated, and, some years
+back, the hours I gave up to prayer, and the recollection of former
+friends, lost to me for ever! were cruelly intruded upon by the idle and
+the ignorant. But soon I sank into obscurity: my little recipes were
+disregarded, and you are the first stranger who, for these twelve months
+past, has visited my abode. Ah, would to God its solitude had ever
+remained inviolate!</p>
+
+<p>“It is now three-and-twenty years,” and she looked upon some characters
+cut on the planks of the cottage, “since I was sitting by moonlight,
+under that cliff you view to the right, my eyes fixed on the ocean, my
+mind lost in the memory of my misfortunes, when I heard a step, and
+starting up, a figure stood before<a name="page_vol_1_256" id="page_vol_1_256"></a> me. It was a young man, in a rich
+habit, with streaming hair, and looks that bespoke the utmost terror. I
+knew not what to think of this sudden apparition. ‘Mother,’ said he with
+faltering accents, ‘let me rest under your roof; and deliver me not up
+to those who thirst after my blood. Take this gold; take all, all!’</p>
+
+<p>“Surprise held me speechless; the purse fell to the ground; the youth
+stared wildly on every side: I heard many voices beyond the rocks; the
+wind bore them distinctly, but presently they died away. I took courage,
+and assured the youth my cot should shelter him. ‘Oh! thank you, thank
+you!’ answered he, and pressed my hand. He shared my scanty provision.</p>
+
+<p>“Overcome with toil (for I had worked hard in the day) sleep closed my
+eyes for a short interval. When I awoke the moon was set, but I heard my
+unhappy guest sobbing in darkness. I disturbed him not. Morning dawned,
+and he was fallen into a slumber. The tears bubbled out of his closed
+eyelids, and coursed one another down his wan cheeks. I had been too
+wretched myself not to respect the sorrows of another: neglecting
+therefore my accustomed occupations, I drove away the flies that buzzed<a name="page_vol_1_257" id="page_vol_1_257"></a>
+around his temples. His breast heaved high with sighs, and he cried
+loudly in his sleep for mercy.</p>
+
+<p>“The beams of the sun dispelling his dream, he started up like one that
+had heard the voice of an avenging angel, and hid his face with his
+hands. I poured some milk down his parched throat. ‘Oh, mother!’ he
+exclaimed, ‘I am a wretch unworthy of compassion; the cause of
+innumerable sufferings; a murderer! a parricide!’ My blood curdled to
+hear a stripling utter such dreadful words, and behold such agonising
+sighs swell in so young a bosom; for I marked the sting of conscience
+urging him to disclose what I am going to relate.</p>
+
+<p>“It seems he was of high extraction, nursed in the pomps and luxuries of
+Naples, the pride and darling of his parents, adorned with a thousand
+lively talents, which the keenest sensibility conspired to improve.
+Unable to fix any bounds to whatever became the object of his desires,
+he passed his first years in roving from one extravagance to another,
+but as yet there was no crime in his caprices.</p>
+
+<p>“At length it pleased Heaven to visit his family, and make their idol
+the slave of an unbridled<a name="page_vol_1_258" id="page_vol_1_258"></a> passion. He had a friend, who from his birth
+had been devoted to his interest, and placed all his confidence in him.
+This friend loved to distraction a young creature, the most graceful of
+her sex (as I can witness), and she returned his affection. In the
+exultation of his heart he showed her to the wretch whose tale I am
+about to tell. He sickened at her sight. She too caught fire at his
+glances. They languished&mdash;they consumed away&mdash;they conversed, and his
+persuasive language finished what his guilty glances had begun.</p>
+
+<p>“Their flame was soon discovered, for he disdained to conceal a thought,
+however dishonourable. The parents warned the youth in the tenderest
+manner; but advice and prudent counsels were to him so loathsome, that
+unable to contain his rage, and infatuated with love, he menaced the
+life of his friend as the obstacle of his enjoyment. Coolness and
+moderation were opposed to violence and frenzy, and he found himself
+treated with a contemptuous gentleness. Stricken to the heart, he
+wandered about for some time like one entranced. Meanwhile the nuptials
+were preparing, and the lovely girl he had perverted found ways to<a name="page_vol_1_259" id="page_vol_1_259"></a> let
+him know she was about to be torn from his embraces.</p>
+
+<p>“He raved like a demoniac, and rousing his dire spirit, applied to a
+malignant wretch who sold the most inveterate poisons. These he infused
+into a cup of pure iced water and presented to his friend, and to his
+own too fond confiding father, who soon after they had drunk the fatal
+potion began evidently to pine away. He marked the progress of their
+dissolution with a horrid firmness, he let the moment pass beyond which
+all antidotes were vain. His friend expired; and the young criminal,
+though he beheld the dews of death hang on his parent’s forehead, yet
+stretched not forth his hand. In a short space the miserable father
+breathed his last, whilst his son was sitting aloof in the same chamber.</p>
+
+<p>“The sight overcame him. He felt, for the first time, the pangs of
+remorse. His agitations passed not unnoticed. He was watched: suspicions
+beginning to unfold he took alarm, and one evening escaped; but not
+without previously informing the partner of his crimes which way he
+intended to flee. Several pursued; but the inscrutable will of
+Providence blinded their search,<a name="page_vol_1_260" id="page_vol_1_260"></a> and I was doomed to behold the effects
+of celestial vengeance.</p>
+
+<p>“Such are the chief circumstances of the tale I gathered from the youth.
+I swooned whilst he related it, and could take no sustenance. One whole
+day afterwards did I pray the Lord, that I might die rather than be near
+an incarnate demon. With what indignation did I now survey that slender
+form and those flowing tresses, which had interested me before so much
+in his behalf!</p>
+
+<p>“No sooner did he perceive the change in my countenance, than sullenly
+retiring to yonder rock he sat careless of the sun and scorching winds;
+for it was now the summer solstice. He was equally heedless of the
+unwholesome dews. When midnight came my horrors were augmented; and I
+meditated several times to abandon my hovel and fly to the next village;
+but a power more than human chained me to the spot and fortified my
+mind.</p>
+
+<p>“I slept, and it was late next morning when some one called at the
+wicket of the little fold, where my goats are penned. I arose, and saw a
+peasant of my acquaintance leading a female strangely muffled up, and
+casting her eyes on the<a name="page_vol_1_261" id="page_vol_1_261"></a> ground. My heart misgave me. I thought this was
+the very maid who had been the cause of such atrocious wickedness. Nor
+were my conjectures ill-founded. Regardless of the clown who stood by in
+stupid astonishment, she fell to the earth and bathed my hand with
+tears. Her trembling lips with difficulty enquired after the youth; and,
+as she spoke, a glow of conscious guilt lightened up her pale
+countenance.</p>
+
+<p>“The full recollection of her lover’s crimes shot through my memory. I
+was incensed, and would have spurned her away; but, she clung to my
+garments and seemed to implore my pity with a look so full of misery,
+that, relenting, I led her in silence to the extremity of the cliff
+where the youth was seated, his feet dangling above the sea. His eye was
+rolling wildly around, but it soon fixed upon the object for whose sake
+he had doomed himself to perdition.</p>
+
+<p>“Far be it from me to describe their ecstasies, or the eagerness with
+which they sought each other’s embraces. I indignantly turned my head
+away; and, driving my goats to a recess amongst the rocks, sat revolving
+in my mind these strange events. I neglected procuring any provision for
+my unwelcome guests; and about midnight returned<a name="page_vol_1_262" id="page_vol_1_262"></a> homewards by the light
+of the moon which shone serenely in the heavens. Almost the first object
+her beams discovered was the guilty maid sustaining the head of her
+lover, who had fainted through weakness and want of nourishment. I
+fetched some dry bread, and dipping it in milk laid it before them.
+Having performed this duty I set open the door of my hut, and retiring
+to a neighbouring cavity, there stretched myself on a heap of leaves and
+offered my prayers to Heaven.</p>
+
+<p>“A thousand fears, till this moment unknown, thronged into my fancy. The
+shadow of leaves that chequered the entrance to the grot, seemed to
+assume in my distempered imagination the form of ugly reptiles, and I
+repeatedly shook my garments. The flow of the distant surges was
+deepened by my apprehensions into distant groans: in a word, I could not
+rest; but issuing from the cavern as hastily as my trembling knees would
+allow, paced along the edge of the precipice. An unaccountable impulse
+would have hurried my steps, yet such was my terror and shivering, that
+unable to advance to my hut or retreat to the cavern, I was about to
+shield myself from the night in a sandy crevice, when a loud<a name="page_vol_1_263" id="page_vol_1_263"></a> shriek
+pierced my ear. My fears had confused me; I was in fact near my hovel
+and scarcely three paces from the brink of the cavern: it was thence the
+cries proceeded.</p>
+
+<p>“Advancing in a cold shudder to its edge, part of which was newly
+crumbled in, I discovered the form of the young man suspended by one
+foot to a branch of juniper that grew several feet down: thus dreadfully
+did he hang over the gulph from the branch bending with his weight. His
+features were distorted, his eye-balls glared with agony, and his
+screams became so shrill and terrible that I lost all power of affording
+assistance. Fixed, I stood with my eyes riveted upon the criminal, who
+incessantly cried out, ‘O God! O Father! save me if there be yet mercy!
+save me, or I sink into the abyss!’</p>
+
+<p>“I am convinced he did not see me; for not once did he implore my help.
+His voice grew faint, and as I gazed intent upon him, the loose thong of
+leather, which had entangled itself in the branches by which he hung
+suspended, gave way, and he fell into utter darkness. I sank to the
+earth in a trance; during which a sound like the rush of pennons
+assaulted my ear: methought the evil spirit was bearing off his soul;
+but when<a name="page_vol_1_264" id="page_vol_1_264"></a> I lifted up my eyes nothing stirred; the stillness that
+prevailed was awful.</p>
+
+<p>“The moon hanging low over the waves afforded a sickly light, by which I
+perceived some one coming down that white cliff you see before you; and
+I soon heard the voice of the young woman calling aloud on her guilty
+lover. She stopped. She repeated again and again her exclamation; but
+there was no reply. Alarmed and frantic she hurried along the path, and
+now I saw her on the promontory, and now by yonder pine, devouring with
+her glances every crevice in the rock. At length perceiving me, she flew
+to where I stood, by the fatal precipice, and having noticed the
+fragments fresh crumbled in, pored importunately on my countenance. I
+continued pointing to the chasm; she trembled not; her tears could not
+flow; but she divined the meaning. ‘He is lost!’ said she; ‘the earth
+has swallowed him! but, as I have shared with him the highest joy, so
+will I partake his torments. I will follow: dare not to hinder me.’</p>
+
+<p>“Like the phantoms I have seen in dreams, she glanced beside me; and,
+clasping her hands above her head, lifted a steadfast look on the
+hemisphere, and viewed the moon with an anxiousness<a name="page_vol_1_265" id="page_vol_1_265"></a> that told me she
+was bidding it farewell for ever. Observing a silken handkerchief on the
+ground, with which she had but an hour ago bound her lover’s temples,
+she snatched it up, and imprinting it with burning kisses, thrust it
+into her bosom. Once more, expanding her arms in the last act of despair
+and miserable passion, she threw herself, with a furious leap, into the
+gulph.</p>
+
+<p>“To its margin I crawled on my knees, and there did I remain in the most
+dreadful darkness; for now the moon was sunk, the sky obscured with
+storms, and a tempestuous blast ranging the ocean. Showers poured thick
+upon me, and the lightning, in clear and frequent flashes, gave me
+terrifying glimpses of yonder accursed chasm.</p>
+
+<p>“Stranger, dost thou believe in our Redeemer? in his most holy mother?
+in the tenets of our faith?” I answered with reverence, but said her
+faith and mine were different. “Then,” continued the aged woman, “I will
+not declare before a heretic what were the visions of that night of
+vengeance!” She paused; I was silent.</p>
+
+<p>After a short interval, with deep and frequent<a name="page_vol_1_266" id="page_vol_1_266"></a> sighs, she resumed her
+narrative. “Daylight began to dawn as if with difficulty, and it was
+late before its radiance had tinged the watery and tempestuous clouds. I
+was still kneeling by the gulph in prayer when the cliffs began to
+brighten, and the beams of the morning sun to strike against me. Then
+did I rejoice. Then no longer did I think myself of all human beings the
+most abject and miserable. How different did I feel myself from those,
+fresh plunged into the abodes of torment, and driven for ever from the
+morning!</p>
+
+<p>“Three days elapsed in total solitude: on the fourth, some grave and
+ancient persons arrived from Naples, who questioned me, repeatedly,
+about the wretched lovers, and to whom I related their fate with every
+dreadful particular. Soon after I learned that all discourse concerning
+them was expressly stopped, and that no prayers were offered up for
+their souls.”</p>
+
+<p>With these words, as well as I recollect, the old woman ended her
+singular narration. My blood thrilled as I walked by the gulph to call
+my guide, who stood aloof under the cliffs. He seemed to think, from the
+paleness of my countenance, that I had heard some gloomy prediction,<a name="page_vol_1_267" id="page_vol_1_267"></a>
+and shook his head, when I turned round to bid my old hostess adieu! It
+was a melancholy evening, and I could not refrain from tears, whilst,
+winding through the defiles of the rocks, the sad scenes which had
+passed amongst them recurred to my memory.</p>
+
+<p>Traversing a wild thicket, we soon regained the shore, where I rambled a
+few minutes whilst the peasant went for the boatmen. The last streaks of
+light were quivering on the waters when I stepped into the bark, and
+wrapping myself up in an awning, slept till we reached Puzzoli, some of
+whose inhabitants came forth with torches to light us home.<a name="page_vol_1_268" id="page_vol_1_268"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXIV-italy" id="LETTER_XXIV-italy"></a>LETTER XXIV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The Tyrol Mountains.&mdash;Intense cold.&mdash;Delight on beholding human
+habitations.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Augsburg, 20th January, 1781.</p>
+
+<p>F<small>OR</small> these ten days past have I been traversing Lapland: winds whistling
+in my ears, and cones showering down upon my head from the wilds of pine
+through which our route conducted us. We were often obliged to travel by
+moonlight, and I leave you to imagine the awful aspect of the Tyrol
+mountains buried in snow.</p>
+
+<p>I scarcely ventured to utter an exclamation of surprise, though prompted
+by some of the most striking scenes in nature, lest I should interrupt
+the sacred silence that prevails, during winter, in these boundless
+solitudes. The streams are frozen, and mankind petrified, for aught I
+know to the contrary, since whole days have we journeyed on without
+perceiving the slightest hint of their existence.<a name="page_vol_1_269" id="page_vol_1_269"></a></p>
+
+<p>I never before felt so much pleasure by discovering a smoke rising from
+a cottage, or hearing a heifer lowing in its stall; and could not have
+supposed there was so much satisfaction in perceiving two or three fur
+caps, with faces under them, peeping out of their concealments. I wish
+you had been with me, exploring this savage region: wrapped up in our
+bear-skins, we should have followed its secret avenues, and penetrated,
+perhaps, into some enchanted cave lined with sables, where, like the
+heroes of northern romances, we should have been waited upon by dwarfs,
+and sung drowsily to repose. I think it no bad scheme to sleep away five
+or six years to come, since every hour affairs are growing more and more
+turbulent. Well, let them! provided we may enjoy, in security, the
+shades of our thickets.<a name="page_vol_1_271" id="page_vol_1_271"></a><a name="page_vol_2_270" id="page_vol_2_270"></a></p>
+
+<h2><a name="SECOND_VISIT_TO_ITALY" id="SECOND_VISIT_TO_ITALY"></a>SECOND VISIT TO ITALY.<a name="page_vol_1_272" id="page_vol_1_272"></a></h2>
+
+<div class="notte">
+<p>T<small>HE</small> following letters, written during a second excursion, are added, on
+account of their affinity to some of the preceding.
+<a name="page_vol_1_273" id="page_vol_1_273"></a></p>
+</div>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_I-italy2" id="LETTER_I-italy2"></a>LETTER I.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">First day of Summer.&mdash;A dismal Plain.&mdash;Gloomy entrance to
+Cologne.&mdash;Labyrinth of hideous edifices.&mdash;Hotel of Der Heilige
+Geist.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Cologne, 28th May, 1782.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HIS</small> is the first day of summer; the oak leaves expand, the roses blow,
+butterflies are on the wing, and I have spirits enough to write to you.
+We have had clouded skies this fortnight past, and roads like the slough
+of Despond. Last Wednesday we were benighted on a dismal plain,
+apparently boundless. The moon cast a sickly gleam, and now and then a
+blue meteor glided along the morass which lay before us.</p>
+
+<p>After much difficulty we gained an avenue, and in an hour’s time
+discovered something like a gateway, shaded by crooked elms and crowned
+by a cluster of turrets. Here we paused and<a name="page_vol_1_274" id="page_vol_1_274"></a> knocked; no one answered.
+We repeated our knocks; the gate returned a hollow sound; the horses
+coughed, their riders blew their horns. At length the bars fell, and we
+entered&mdash;by what means I am ignorant, for no human being appeared.</p>
+
+<p>A labyrinth of narrow winding streets, dark as the vaults of a
+cathedral, opened to our view. We kept wandering along, at least twenty
+minutes, between lofty mansions with grated windows and strange
+galleries projecting one over another, from which depended innumerable
+uncouth figures and crosses, in iron-work, swinging to and fro with the
+wind. At the end of this gloomy maze we found a long street, not fifteen
+feet wide, I am certain; the houses still loftier than those just
+mentioned, the windows thicker barred, and the gibbets (for I know not
+what else to call them) more frequent. Here and there we saw lights
+glimmering in the highest stories, and arches on the right and left,
+which seemed to lead into retired courts and deeper darkness.</p>
+
+<p>Along one of these recesses we were jumbled, over such pavement as I
+hope you may never tread upon; and, after parading round it, went<a name="page_vol_1_275" id="page_vol_1_275"></a> out
+at the same arch through which we had entered. This procession seemed at
+first very mystical, but it was too soon accounted for by our
+postilions, who confessed they had lost their way. A council was held
+amongst them in form, and then we struck into another labyrinth of
+hideous edifices, habitations I will not venture to call them, as not a
+creature stirred; though the rumbling of our carriages was echoed by all
+the vaults and arches.</p>
+
+<p>Towards midnight we rested a few minutes, and a head poking out of a
+casement directed us to the hotel of Der Heilige Geist, where an
+apartment, thirty feet square, was prepared for our reception.<a name="page_vol_1_276" id="page_vol_1_276"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_II-italy2" id="LETTER_II-italy2"></a>LETTER II.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Enter the Tyrol.&mdash;Picturesque scenery.&mdash;Village of
+Nasseriet.&mdash;World of boughs.&mdash;Forest huts.&mdash;Floral abundance.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Inspruck, June 4, 1782.</p>
+
+<p>N<small>O</small> sooner had we passed Fuessen than we entered the Tyrol, a country of
+picturesque wonders. Those lofty peaks, those steeps of wood I delight
+in, lay before us. Innumerable clear springs gushed out on every side,
+overhung by luxuriant shrubs in blossom. The day was mild, though
+overcast, and a soft blue vapour rested upon the hills, above which rise
+mountains that bear plains of snow into the clouds.</p>
+
+<p>At night we lay at Nasseriet, a village buried amongst savage
+promontories. The next morning we advanced, in bright sunshine, into
+smooth lawns on the slopes of mountains, scattered over with larches,
+whose delicate foliage formed a light green veil to the azure sky.
+Flights of<a name="page_vol_1_277" id="page_vol_1_277"></a> birds were merrily travelling from spray to spray. I ran
+delighted into this world of boughs, whilst Cozens sat down to draw the
+huts which are scattered about for the shelter of herds, and discover
+themselves amongst the groves in the most picturesque manner.</p>
+
+<p>These little edifices are uncommonly neat, and excite those ideas of
+pastoral life to which I am so fondly attached. The turf from whence
+they rise is enamelled, in the strict sense of the word, with flowers.
+Gentians predominated, brighter than ultramarine; here and there
+auriculas looked out of the moss, and I often reposed upon tufts of
+ranunculus. Bushes of phillyrea were very frequent, the sun shining full
+on their glossy leaves. An hour passed away swiftly in these pleasant
+groves, where I lay supine under a lofty fir, a tower of leaves and
+branches.<a name="page_vol_1_278" id="page_vol_1_278"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_III-italy2" id="LETTER_III-italy2"></a>LETTER III.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Rapidity of our drive along the causeways of the Brenta.&mdash;Shore of
+Fusina.&mdash;A stormy sky.&mdash;Draw near to Venice.&mdash;Its deserted
+appearance.&mdash;Visit to Madame de R.&mdash;Cesarotti.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Padua, June 14th, 1782.</p>
+
+<p>O<small>NCE</small> more, said I to myself, I shall have the delight of beholding
+Venice; so got into an open chaise, the strangest curricle that ever man
+was jolted in, and drove furiously along the causeways by the Brenta,
+into whose deep waters it is a mercy, methinks, I was not precipitated.
+Fiesso, the Dolo, the Mira, with all their gardens, statues, and
+palaces, seemed flying after each other, so rapid was our motion.</p>
+
+<p>After a few hours’ confinement between close steeps, the scene opened to
+the wide shore of Fusina. I looked up (for I had scarcely time to look
+before) and beheld a troubled sky, shot with vivid red, the Lagunes
+tinted like the opal,<a name="page_vol_1_279" id="page_vol_1_279"></a> and the islands of a glowing flame-colour. The
+mountains of the distant continent appeared of a deep melancholy grey,
+and innumerable gondolas were passing to and fro in all their blackness.
+The sun, after a long struggle, was swallowed up in the tempestuous
+clouds.</p>
+
+<p>In an hour we drew near to Venice, and saw its world of domes rising out
+of the waters. A fresh breeze bore the toll of innumerable bells to my
+ear. Sadness came over me as I entered the great canal, and recognised
+those solemn palaces, with their lofty arcades and gloomy arches,
+beneath which I had so often sat, the scene of many a strange adventure.</p>
+
+<p>The Venetians being mostly at their villas on the Brenta, the town
+appeared deserted. I visited, however, all my old haunts in the Place of
+St. Mark, ran up the Campanile, and rowed backwards and forwards,
+opposite the Ducal Palace, by moon-light. They are building a spacious
+quay, near the street of the Sclavonians, fronting the island of San
+Giorgio Maggiore, where I remained alone at least an hour, following the
+wanderings of the moon amongst mountainous clouds, and listening to the
+waters dashing against marble steps.<a name="page_vol_1_280" id="page_vol_1_280"></a></p>
+
+<p>I closed my evening at my friend Madame de Rosenberg’s, where I met
+Cesarotti, who read to us some of the most affecting passages in his
+Fingal, with all the intensity of a poet, thoroughly persuaded that into
+his own bosom the very soul of Ossian had been transfused.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning the wind was uncommonly violent for the mild season of
+June, and the canals much ruffled; but I was determined to visit the
+Lido once more, and bathe on my accustomed beach. The pines in the
+garden of the Carthusians were nodding as I passed by in my gondola,
+which was very poetically buffeted by the waves.</p>
+
+<p>Traversing the desert of locusts,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> I hailed the Adriatic, and plunged
+into its agitated waters. The sea, delightfully cool, refreshed me to
+such a degree, that, upon my return to Venice, I found myself able to
+thread its labyrinths of streets, canals, and alleys, in search of amber
+and oriental curiosities. The variety of exotic merchandise, the perfume
+of coffee, the shade of awnings, and the sight of Greeks and Asiatics
+sitting cross-legged under them, made me think myself in the bazaars of
+Constantinople.<a name="page_vol_1_281" id="page_vol_1_281"></a></p>
+
+<p>It is certain my beloved town of Venice ever recalls a series of eastern
+ideas and adventures. I cannot help thinking St. Mark’s a mosque, and
+the neighbouring palace some vast seraglio, full of arabesque saloons,
+embroidered sofas, and voluptuous Circassians.<a name="page_vol_1_282" id="page_vol_1_282"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_IV-italy2" id="LETTER_IV-italy2"></a>LETTER IV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Excursion to Mirabello.&mdash;Beauty of the road thither.&mdash;Madame de
+R.’s wild-looking niece.&mdash;A comfortable Monk’s nest.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Padua, June 19th, 1782.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> morning was delightful, and St. Anthony’s bells in full chime. A
+shower which had fallen in the night rendered the air so cool and
+grateful, that Madame de R. and myself determined to seize the
+opportunity and go to Mirabello, a country house, which Algarotti had
+inhabited, situate amongst the Euganean hills, eight or nine miles from
+Padua.</p>
+
+<p>Our road lay between poplar alleys and fields of yellow corn, overhung
+by garlands of vine, most beautifully green. I soon found myself in the
+midst of my favourite hills, upon slopes covered with clover, and shaded
+by cherry-trees. Bending down their boughs I gathered the fruit, and
+grew cooler and happier every instant.<a name="page_vol_1_283" id="page_vol_1_283"></a></p>
+
+<p>We dined very comfortably in a strange hall, where my friend’s little
+wild-looking niece pitched her pianoforte, and sang the voluptuous airs
+of Bertoni’s Armida. That enchantress might have raised her palace in
+this situation; and, had I been Rinaldo, I certainly should not very
+soon have abandoned it.</p>
+
+<p>After dinner we drank coffee under some branching lemons, which sprang
+from a terrace, commanding a boundless scene of towers and villas; tall
+cypresses and shrubby hillocks rising, like islands, out of a sea of
+corn and vine.</p>
+
+<p>Evening drawing on, and the breeze blowing fresh from the distant
+Adriatic, I reclined on a slope, and turned my eyes anxiously towards
+Venice; then upon some little fields hemmed in by chesnuts, where the
+peasants were making their hay, and, from thence, to a mountain, crowned
+by a circular grove of fir and cypress.</p>
+
+<p>In the centre of these shades some monks have a comfortable nest;
+perennial springs, a garden of delicious vegetables, and, I dare say, a
+thousand luxuries besides, which the poor mortals below never dream of.<a name="page_vol_1_284" id="page_vol_1_284"></a></p>
+
+<p>Had it not been late, I should certainly have climbed up to the grove,
+and asked admittance into its recesses; but having no mind to pass the
+night in this eyrie, I contented myself with the distant prospect.<a name="page_vol_1_285" id="page_vol_1_285"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_V-italy2" id="LETTER_V-italy2"></a>LETTER V.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Rome.&mdash;Stroll to the Coliseo and the Palatine Mount.&mdash;A grand
+Rinfresco.&mdash;The Egyptian Lionesses.&mdash;Illuminations.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Rome, 29th June 1782.</p>
+
+<p>I<small>T</small> is needless for me to say I wish you with me: you know I do; you know
+how delightfully we should ramble about Rome together. This evening,
+instead of parading the Corso with the puppets in blue and silver coats,
+and green and gold coaches, instead of bowing to Cardinal this, and
+dotting my head to Abbè t’other, I strolled to the Coliseo and scrambled
+amongst its arches. Then bending my course to the Palatine Mount, I
+passed under the Arch of Titus, and gained the Capitol, which was quite
+deserted, the world, thank Heaven, being all slip-slopping in
+coffee-houses, or staring at a few painted boards, patched up before the
+Colonna palace, where, by the by, to-night is a grand <i>rinfresco</i> for
+all the<a name="page_vol_1_286" id="page_vol_1_286"></a> dolls and doll-fanciers of Rome. I heard their buzz at a
+distance; that was enough for me!</p>
+
+<p>Soothed by the rippling of waters, I descended the Capitoline stairs,
+and leaned several minutes against one of the Egyptian lionesses. This
+animal has no knack at oracles, or else it would have murmured out to me
+the situation of that secret cave, where the wolf suckled Romulus and
+his brother.</p>
+
+<p>About nine, I returned home, and am now writing to you like a prophet on
+the housetop. Behind me rustle the thickets of the Villa Medici; before,
+lies roof beyond roof, and dome beyond dome: these are dimly discovered;
+but do not you see the great cupola of cupolas, twinkling with
+illuminations? The town is real, I am certain; but, surely, that
+structure of fire must be visionary.<a name="page_vol_1_287" id="page_vol_1_287"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_VI-italy2" id="LETTER_VI-italy2"></a>LETTER VI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The Negroni Garden.&mdash;Its solitary and antique appearance.&mdash;Stately
+Porticos of the Lateran.&mdash;Dreary Scene.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Rome, 30th June 1782.</p>
+
+<p>A<small>S</small> soon as the sun declined I strolled into the Villa Medici; but
+finding it haunted by pompous people, nay, even by the Spanish
+Ambassador, and several red-legged Cardinals, I moved off to the Negroni
+garden. There I found what my soul desired, thickets of jasmine, and
+wild spots overgrown with bay; long alleys of cypress totally neglected,
+and almost impassable through the luxuriance of the vegetation; on every
+side antique fragments, vases, sarcophagi, and altars sacred to the
+Manes, in deep, shady recesses, which I am certain the Manes must love.
+The air was filled with the murmurs of water, trickling<a name="page_vol_1_288" id="page_vol_1_288"></a> down basins of
+porphyry, and losing itself amongst overgrown weeds and grasses.</p>
+
+<p>Above the wood and between its boughs appeared several domes, and a
+strange lofty tower. I will not say they belong to St. Maria Maggiore;
+no, they are fanes and porticos dedicated to Cybele, who delights in
+sylvan situations. The forlorn air of this garden, with its high and
+reverend shades, make me imagine it as old as the baths of Dioclesian,
+which peep over one of its walls.</p>
+
+<p>At the close of day, I repaired to the platform before the stately
+porticos of the Lateran. There I sat, folded up in myself. Some priests
+jarred the iron gates behind me. I looked over my shoulder through the
+portals, into the portico. Night began to fill it with darkness. Upon
+turning round, the melancholy waste of the Campagna met my eyes, and I
+wished to go home, but had scarcely the power. A pressure, like that I
+have felt in horrid dreams, seemed to fix me to the pavement.</p>
+
+<p>I was thus in a manner forced to dwell upon the dreary scene, the long
+line of aqueducts and lonesome towers. Perhaps the unwholesome<a name="page_vol_1_289" id="page_vol_1_289"></a> vapours,
+rising like blue mists from the plains, had affected me. I know not how
+it was; but I never experienced such strange, such chilling terrors.
+About ten o’clock, thank God, the spell dissolved, I found my limbs at
+liberty, and returned home.<a name="page_vol_1_290" id="page_vol_1_290"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_VII-italy2" id="LETTER_VII-italy2"></a>LETTER VII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Naples.&mdash;Portici.&mdash;The King’s Pagliaro and Garden.&mdash;Description of
+that pleasant spot.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Naples, July 8th, 1782.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> sea-breezes restore me to life. I set the heat of mid-day at
+defiance, and do not believe in the horrors of the sirocco. I passed
+yesterday at Portici, with Lady H. The morning, refreshing and pleasant,
+invited us at an early hour into the open air. We drove, in an uncovered
+chaise, to the royal Bosquetto: no other unroyal carriage except Sir
+W.’s being allowed to enter its alleys, we breathed a fresh air,
+untainted by dust or garlick. Every now and then, amidst wild bushes of
+ilex and myrtle, one finds a graceful antique statue, sometimes a
+fountain, and often a rude knoll, where the rabbits sit undisturbed,
+contemplating the blue glittering bay.<a name="page_vol_1_291" id="page_vol_1_291"></a></p>
+
+<p>The walls of this shady inclosure are lined with Peruvian aloes, whose
+white blossoms, scented like those of the magnolia, form the most
+magnificent clusters. They are plants to salute respectfully as one
+passes by; such is their size and dignity. In the midst of the thickets
+stands the King’s Pagliaro, in a small garden, with hedges of luxuriant
+jasmine, whose branches are suffered to flaunt as much as nature
+pleases.</p>
+
+<p>The morning sun darted his first rays on their flowers just as I entered
+this pleasant spot. The hut looks as if erected in the days of fairy
+pastoral life; its neatness is quite delightful. Bright tiles compose
+the floor; straw, nicely platted, covers the walls. In the middle of the
+room you see a table spread with a beautiful Persian carpet; at one end,
+four niches with mattresses of silk, where the King and his favourites
+repose after dinner; at the other, a white marble basin. Mount a little
+staircase, and you find yourself in another apartment, formed by the
+roof, which being entirely composed of glistening straw, casts that
+comfortable yellow glow I admire. From the windows you look into the
+garden, not flourished over with parterres, but divided into<a name="page_vol_1_292" id="page_vol_1_292"></a> plats of
+fragrant herbs and flowers, with here and there a little marble table,
+or basin of the purest water.</p>
+
+<p>These sequestered inclosures are cultivated with the greatest care, and
+so frequently watered, that I observed lettuces, and a variety of other
+vegetables, as fresh as in our green England.<a name="page_vol_1_293" id="page_vol_1_293"></a></p>
+
+<h2><a name="GRANDE_CHARTREUSE" id="GRANDE_CHARTREUSE"></a>GRANDE CHARTREUSE.<a name="page_vol_1_295" id="page_vol_1_295"></a><a name="page_vol_2_294" id="page_vol_2_294"></a></h2>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_I-grch" id="LETTER_I-grch"></a>LETTER I.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Determination to visit the Grande Chartreuse.&mdash;Reach the Village of
+Les Echelles.&mdash;Gloomy region.&mdash;The Torrent.&mdash;Entrance of the
+Desert.&mdash;Portal of the consecrated Enclosure.&mdash;Dark Woods and
+Caverns.&mdash;Crosses.&mdash;Inscriptions.</p></div>
+
+<p>Gray’s sublime Ode on the Grande Chartreuse had sunk so deeply into my
+spirit that I could not rest in peace on the banks of the Leman Lake
+till I had visited the scene from whence he caught inspiration. I longed
+to penetrate these sacred precincts, to hear the language of their
+falling waters, and throw myself into the gloom of their forests: no
+object of a worldly nature did I allow to divert my thoughts, neither
+the baths of Aix, nor the habitation of the too indulgent Madame de
+Warens (held so holy by Rousseau’s worshippers), nor the magnificent
+road cut by<a name="page_vol_1_296" id="page_vol_1_296"></a> Charles Emanuel of Savoy through the heart of a rocky
+mountain. All these points of attraction, so interesting to general
+travellers, were lost upon me, so totally was I absorbed in the
+anticipation of the pilgrimage I had undertaken.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Lettice, who shared all my sentiments of admiration for Gray, and
+eagerness to explore the region he had described in his short and
+masterly letters with such energy, felt the same indifference as myself
+to commonplace scenery.</p>
+
+<p>The twilight was beginning to prevail when we reached Les Echelles, a
+miserable village, with but few of its chimneys smoking, situated at the
+base of a mountain, round which had gathered a concourse of red and
+greyish clouds. I was heartily glad to leave these forlorn and wretched
+quarters at the first dawn of the next day. We were now obliged to
+abandon our coach; and taking horse, proceeded towards the mountains,
+which, with the valleys between them, form what is called the Desert of
+the Carthusians.</p>
+
+<p>In an hour’s time we were drawing near, and could discern the opening of
+a narrow valley overhung by shaggy precipices, above which rose lofty
+peaks, covered to their very summits with wood. We could now distinguish
+the roar<a name="page_vol_1_297" id="page_vol_1_297"></a> of torrents, and a confusion of strange sounds, issuing from
+dark forests of pine. I confess at this moment I was somewhat startled.
+I experienced some disagreeable sensations, and it was not without a
+degree of unwillingness that I left the gay pastures and enlivening
+sunshine, to throw myself into this gloomy and disturbed region. How
+dreadful, thought I, must be the despair of those, who enter it, never
+to return!</p>
+
+<p>But after the first impression was worn away all my curiosity redoubled;
+and desiring our guide to put forward with greater speed, we made such
+good haste, that the meadows and cottages of the plain were soon left
+far behind, and we found ourselves on the banks of the torrent, whose
+agitation answered the ideas which its sounds had inspired. Into the
+midst of these troubled waters we were obliged to plunge with our
+horses, and, when landed on the opposite shore, were by no means
+displeased to have passed them.</p>
+
+<p>We had now closed with the forests, over which the impending rocks
+diffused an additional gloom. The day grew obscured by clouds, and the
+sun no longer enlightened the distant plains, when we began to ascend
+towards the entrance<a name="page_vol_1_298" id="page_vol_1_298"></a> of the desert, marked by two pinnacles of rock far
+above us, beyond which a melancholy twilight prevailed. Every moment we
+approached nearer and nearer to the sounds which had alarmed us; and,
+suddenly emerging from the woods, we discovered several mills and
+forges, with many complicated machines of iron, hanging over the
+torrent, that threw itself headlong from a cleft in the precipices; on
+one side of which I perceived our road winding along, till it was
+stopped by a venerable gateway. A rock above one of the forges was
+hollowed into the shape of a round tower, of no great size, but
+resembling very much an altar in figure; and, what added greatly to the
+grandeur of the object, was a livid flame continually palpitating upon
+it, which the gloom of the valley rendered perfectly discernible.</p>
+
+<p>The road, at a small distance from this remarkable scene, was become so
+narrow, that, had my horse started, I should have been but too well
+acquainted with the torrent that raged beneath; dismounting, therefore,
+I walked towards the edge of the great fell, and there, leaning on a
+fragment of cliff, looked down into the foaming gulph, where the waters
+were hurled along over<a name="page_vol_1_299" id="page_vol_1_299"></a> broken pines, pointed rocks, and stakes of iron.
+Then, lifting up my eyes, I took in the vast extent of the forests,
+frowning on the brows of the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>It was here first I felt myself seized by the genius of the place, and
+penetrated with veneration of its religious gloom; and, I believe,
+uttered many extravagant exclamations; but, such was the dashing of the
+wheels, and the rushing of the waters at the bottom of the forges, that
+what I said was luckily undistinguishable.</p>
+
+<p>I was not yet, however, within the consecrated enclosure, and therefore
+not perfectly contented; so, leaving my fragment, I paced in silence up
+the path, which led to the great portal. When we arrived before it, I
+rested a moment, and looking against the stout oaken gate, which closed
+up the entrance to this unknown region, felt at my heart a certain awe,
+that brought to my mind the sacred terror of those, in ancient days
+going to be admitted into the Eleusinian mysteries.</p>
+
+<p>My guide gave two knocks; after a solemn pause, the gate was slowly
+opened, and all our horses having passed through it, was again carefully
+closed.<a name="page_vol_1_300" id="page_vol_1_300"></a></p>
+
+<p>I now found myself in a narrow dell, surrounded on every side by peaks
+of the mountains, rising almost beyond my sight, and shelving downwards
+till their bases were hidden by the foam and spray of the water, over
+which hung a thousand withered and distorted trees. The rocks seemed
+crowding upon me, and, by their particular situation, threatened to
+obstruct every ray of light; but, notwithstanding the menacing
+appearance of the prospect, I still kept following my guide, up a craggy
+ascent, partly hewn through a rock, and bordered by the trunks of
+ancient fir-trees, which formed a fantastic barrier, till we came to a
+dreary and exposed promontory, impending directly over the dell.</p>
+
+<p>The woods are here clouded with darkness, and the torrents rushing with
+additional violence are lost in the gloom of the caverns below; every
+object, as I looked downwards from my path, that hung midway between the
+base and the summit of the cliff, was horrid and woeful. The channel of
+the torrent sunk deep amidst frightful crags, and the pale willows and
+wreathed roots spreading over it, answered my ideas of those dismal
+abodes, where, according to the druidical mythology, the ghosts of
+conquered<a name="page_vol_1_301" id="page_vol_1_301"></a> warriors were bound. I shivered whilst I was regarding these
+regions of desolation, and, quickly lifting up my eyes to vary the
+scene, I perceived a range of whitish cliffs glistening with the light
+of the sun, to emerge from these melancholy forests.</p>
+
+<p>On a fragment that projected over the chasm, and concealed for a moment
+its terrors, I saw a cross, on which was written <small>VIA COELI</small>. The cliffs
+being the heaven to which I now aspired, we deserted the edge of the
+precipice, and ascending, came to a retired nook of the rocks, in which
+several copious rills had worn irregular grottoes. Here we reposed an
+instant, and were enlivened with a few sunbeams, piercing the thickets
+and gilding the waters that bubbled from the rock, over which hung
+another cross, inscribed with this short sentence, which the situation
+rendered wonderfully pathetic, <span class="smcap">O SPES UNICA!</span> the fervent exclamation of
+some wretch disgusted with the world whose only consolation was found in
+this retirement.<a name="page_vol_1_302" id="page_vol_1_302"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_II-grch" id="LETTER_II-grch"></a>LETTER II.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Thick forest of beech trees.&mdash;Fearful glimpses of the
+torrent.&mdash;Throne of Moses.&mdash;Lofty bridge.&mdash;Distant view of the
+Convent.&mdash;Profound calm.&mdash;Enter the convent gate.&mdash;Arched
+aisle.&mdash;Welcomed by the father Coadjutor.&mdash;The Secretary and
+Procurator.&mdash;Conversation with them.&mdash;A walk amongst the cloisters
+and galleries.&mdash;Pictures of different Convents of the order.&mdash;Grand
+Hall adorned with historical paintings of St. Bruno’s life.</p></div>
+
+<p>We quitted this solitary cross to enter a thick forest of beech trees,
+that screened in some measure the precipices on which they grew,
+catching however every instant terrifying glimpses of the torrent below.
+Streams gushed from every crevice in the cliffs, and falling over the
+mossy roots and branches of the beech, hastened to join the great
+torrent, athwart which I every now and then remarked certain tottering
+bridges, and sometimes could distinguish a Carthusian crossing over to
+his hermitage,<a name="page_vol_1_303" id="page_vol_1_303"></a> that just peeped above the woody labyrinths on the
+opposite shore.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst I was proceeding amongst the innumerable trunks of the beech
+trees, my guide pointed out to me a peak, rising above the others, which
+he called the Throne of Moses. If that prophet had received his
+revelations in this desert, no voice need have declared it holy ground,
+for every part of it is stamped with such a sublimity of character as
+would alone be sufficient to impress the idea.</p>
+
+<p>Having left these woods behind, and crossing a bridge of many lofty
+arches, I shuddered once more at the impetuosity of the torrent; and,
+mounting still higher, came at length to a kind of platform before two
+cliffs, joined by an arch of rock, under which we were to pursue our
+road. Below we beheld again innumerable streams, turbulently
+precipitating themselves from the woods and lashing the base of the
+mountains, mossed over with a dark sea green.</p>
+
+<p>In this deep hollow such mists and vapours prevailed as hindered my
+prying into its recesses; besides, such was the dampness of the air,
+that I hastened gladly from its neighbourhood, and passing under the
+second portal beheld<a name="page_vol_1_304" id="page_vol_1_304"></a> with pleasure the sunbeams gilding the throne of
+Moses.</p>
+
+<p>It was now about ten o’clock, and my guide assured me I should soon
+discover the convent. Upon this information I took new courage, and
+continued my route on the edge of the rocks, till we struck into another
+gloomy grove. After turning about it for some time, we entered again
+into the glare of daylight, and saw a green valley skirted by ridges of
+cliffs and sweeps of wood before us. Towards the farther end of this
+inclosure, on a gentle acclivity, rose the revered turrets of the
+Carthusians, which extend in a long line on the brow of the hill; beyond
+them a woody amphitheatre majestically presents itself, terminated by
+spires of rock and promontories lost amongst the clouds.</p>
+
+<p>The roar of the torrent was now but faintly distinguishable, and all the
+scenes of horror and confusion I had passed were succeeded by a sacred
+and profound calm. I traversed the valley with a thousand sensations I
+despair of describing, and stood before the gate of the convent with as
+much awe as some novice or candidate newly arrived to solicit the holy
+retirement of the order.<a name="page_vol_1_305" id="page_vol_1_305"></a></p>
+
+<p>As admittance is more readily granted to the English than to almost any
+other nation, it was not long before the gates opened, and whilst the
+porter ordered our horses to the stable, we entered a court watered by
+two fountains and built round with lofty edifices, characterized by a
+noble simplicity.</p>
+
+<p>The interior portal opening discovered an arched aisle, extending till
+the perspective nearly met, along which windows, but scantily
+distributed between the pilasters, admitted a pale solemn light, just
+sufficient to distinguish the objects with a picturesque uncertainty. We
+had scarcely set our feet on the pavement when the monks began to issue
+from an arch, about half way down, and passing in a long succession from
+their chapel, bowed reverently with much humility and meekness, and
+dispersed in silence, leaving one of their body alone in the aisle.</p>
+
+<p>The father Coadjutor (for he only remained) advanced towards us with
+great courtesy, and welcomed us in a manner which gave me far more
+pleasure than all the frivolous salutations and affected greetings so
+common in the world beneath. After asking us a few indifferent
+questions, he called one of the lay brothers,<a name="page_vol_1_306" id="page_vol_1_306"></a> who live in the convent
+under less severe restrictions than the fathers, whom they serve, and
+ordering him to prepare our apartment, conducted us to a large square
+hall with casement windows, and, what was more comfortable, an enormous
+chimney, whose hospitable hearth blazed with a fire of dry aromatic fir,
+on each side of which were two doors that communicated with the neat
+little cells destined for our bed-chambers.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst he was placing us round the fire, a ceremony by no means
+unimportant in the cold climate of these upper regions, a bell rang
+which summoned him to prayers. After charging the lay brother to set
+before us the best fare their desert afforded, he retired, and left us
+at full liberty to examine our chambers.</p>
+
+<p>The weather lowered, and the casements permitted very little light to
+enter the apartment: but on the other side it was amply enlivened by the
+gleams of the fire, that spread all over a certain comfortable air,
+which even sunshine but rarely diffuses. Whilst the showers descended
+with great violence, the lay brother and another of his companions were
+placing an oval table, very neatly carved and covered with the finest<a name="page_vol_1_307" id="page_vol_1_307"></a>
+linen, in the middle of the hall; and, before we had examined a number
+of portraits which were hung in all the panels of the wainscot, they
+called us to a dinner widely different from what might have been
+expected in so dreary a situation. Our attendant friar was helping us to
+some Burgundy, of the happiest growth and vintage, when the coadjutor
+returned, accompanied by two other fathers, the secretary and
+procurator, whom he presented to us. You would have been both charmed
+and surprised with the cheerful resignation that appeared in their
+countenances, and with the easy turn of their conversation.</p>
+
+<p>The coadjutor, though equally kind, was as yet more reserved: his
+countenance, however, spoke for him without the aid of words, and there
+was in his manner a mixture of dignity and humility, which could not
+fail to interest. There were moments when the recollection of some past
+event seemed to shade his countenance with a melancholy that rendered it
+still more affecting. I should suspect he formerly possessed a great
+share of natural vivacity (something of it being still, indeed, apparent
+in his more unguarded moments); but this spirit is almost<a name="page_vol_1_308" id="page_vol_1_308"></a> entirely
+subdued by the penitence and mortification of the order.</p>
+
+<p>The secretary displayed a very considerable share of knowledge in the
+political state of Europe, furnished probably by the extensive
+correspondence these fathers preserve with the three hundred and sixty
+subordinate convents, dispersed throughout all those countries where the
+court of Rome still maintains its influence.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of our conversation they asked me innumerable questions
+about England, where formerly, they said, many monasteries had belonged
+to their order; and principally that of Witham, which they had learnt to
+be now in my possession.</p>
+
+<p>The secretary, almost with tears in his eyes, beseeched me to revere
+these consecrated edifices, and to preserve their remains, for the sake
+of St. Hugo, their canonized prior. I replied greatly to his
+satisfaction, and then declaimed so much in favour of St. Bruno, and the
+holy prior of Witham, that the good fathers grew exceedingly delighted
+with the conversation, and made me promise to remain some days with
+them. I readily complied with their request, and, continuing in the same
+strain, that had so agreeably<a name="page_vol_1_309" id="page_vol_1_309"></a> affected their ears, was soon presented
+with the works of St. Bruno, whom I so zealously admired.</p>
+
+<p>After we had sat extolling them, and talking upon much the same sort of
+subjects for about an hour, the coadjutor proposed a walk amongst the
+cloisters and galleries, as the weather would not admit of any longer
+excursion. He leading the way, we ascended a flight of steps, which
+brought us to a gallery, on each side of which a vast number of
+pictures, representing the dependent convents, were ranged; for I was
+now in the capital of the order, where the general resides, and from
+whence he issues forth his commands to his numerous subjects; who depute
+the superiors of their respective convents, whether situated in the
+wilds of Calabria, the forests of Poland, or in the remotest districts
+of Portugal and Spain, to assist at the grand chapter, held annually
+under him, a week or two after Easter.</p>
+
+<p>This reverend father died about ten days before our arrival: a week ago
+they elected the prior of the Carthusian convent at Paris in his room,
+and two fathers were now on their route to apprise him of their choice,
+and to salute him General of the Carthusians. During this interregnum<a name="page_vol_1_310" id="page_vol_1_310"></a>
+the coadjutor holds the first rank in the temporal, and the grand
+vicaire in the spiritual affairs of the order; both of which are very
+extensive.</p>
+
+<p>If I may judge from the representation of the different convents, which
+adorn this gallery, there are many highly worthy of notice, for the
+singularity of their situations, and the wild beauties of the landscapes
+which surround them. The Venetian Chartreuse, placed in a woody island;
+and that of Rome, rising from amongst groups of majestic ruins, struck
+me as peculiarly pleasing. Views of the English monasteries hung
+formerly in such a gallery, but had been destroyed by fire, together
+with the old convent. The list only remains, with but a very few written
+particulars concerning them.</p>
+
+<p>Having amused myself for some time with the pictures, and the
+descriptions the coadjutor gave me of them, we quitted the gallery and
+entered a kind of chapel, in which were two altars with lamps burning
+before them, on each side of a lofty portal. This opened into a grand
+coved hall, adorned with historical paintings of St. Bruno’s life, and
+the portraits of the generals of the order, since the year of the great
+founder<a name="page_vol_1_311" id="page_vol_1_311"></a>’s death (1085) to the present time. Under these portraits are
+the stalls for the superiors, who assist at the grand convocation. In
+front, appears the general’s throne; above, hangs a representation of
+the canonized Bruno, crowned with stars.<a name="page_vol_1_312" id="page_vol_1_312"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_III-grch" id="LETTER_III-grch"></a>LETTER III.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Cloisters of extraordinary dimensions.&mdash;Cells of the
+Monks.&mdash;Severity of the order.&mdash;Death-like calm.&mdash;The great
+Chapel.&mdash;Its interior.&mdash;Marvellous events relating to St.
+Bruno.&mdash;Retire to my cell.&mdash;Strange writings of St. Bruno.&mdash;Sketch
+of his Life.&mdash;Appalling occurrence.&mdash;Vision of the Bishop of
+Grenoble.&mdash;First institution of the Carthusian order.&mdash;Death of St.
+Bruno.&mdash;His translation.</p></div>
+
+<p>The coadjutor seemed charmed with the respect with which I looked round
+on these holy objects; and if the hour of vespers had not been drawing
+near, we should have spent more time in the contemplation of Bruno’s
+miracles, pourtrayed on the lower panels of the hall. We left that room
+to enter a winding passage (lighted by windows in the roof) that brought
+us to a cloister six hundred feet in length, from which branched off two
+others, joining a fourth of the same most extraordinary dimensions. Vast
+ranges of slender pillars extend round the different courts of<a name="page_vol_1_313" id="page_vol_1_313"></a> the
+edifice, many of which are thrown into gardens belonging to particular
+cells.</p>
+
+<p>We entered one of them: its inhabitant received us with much civility,
+walked before us through a little corridor that looked on his garden,
+showed us his narrow dwelling, and, having obtained leave of the
+coadjutor to speak, gave us his benediction, and beheld us depart with
+concern. Nature has given this poor monk very considerable talents for
+painting. He has drawn the portrait of the late General, in a manner
+that discovers great facility of execution; but he is not allowed to
+exercise his pencil on any other subject, lest he should be amused; and
+amusement in this severe order is a crime. He had so subdued, so
+mortified an appearance, that I was not sorry to hear the bell, which
+summoned the coadjutor to prayers, and prevented my entering any more of
+the cells. We continued straying from cloister to cloister, and
+wandering along the winding passages and intricate galleries of this
+immense edifice, whilst the coadjutor was assisting at vespers.</p>
+
+<p>In every part of the structure reigned the most death-like calm: no
+sound reached my ears but the “minute drops from off the eaves.” I<a name="page_vol_1_314" id="page_vol_1_314"></a> sat
+down in a niche of the cloister, and fell into a profound reverie, from
+which I was recalled by the return of our conductor; who, I believe, was
+almost tempted to imagine, from the cast of my countenance, that I was
+deliberating whether I should not remain with them for ever.</p>
+
+<p>But I soon roused myself, and testified some impatience to see the great
+chapel, at which we at length arrived after traversing another labyrinth
+of cloisters. The gallery immediately before its entrance appeared quite
+gay, in comparison with the others I had passed, and owes its
+cheerfulness to a large window (ornamented with slabs of polished
+marble) that admits the view of a lovely wood, and allows a full blaze
+of light to dart on the chapel door; which is also adorned with marble,
+in a plain but noble style of architecture.</p>
+
+<p>The father sacristan stood ready on the steps of the portal to grant us
+admittance; and, throwing open the valves, we entered the chapel and
+were struck by the justness of its proportions, the simple majesty of
+the arched roof, and the mild solemn light equally diffused over every
+part of the edifice. No tawdry ornaments, no glaring pictures disgraced
+the sanctity of the<a name="page_vol_1_315" id="page_vol_1_315"></a> place. The high altar, standing distinct from the
+walls, which were hung with a rich velvet, was the only object on which
+many ornaments were lavished; and, it being a high festival, was
+clustered with statues of gold, shrines, and candelabra of the
+stateliest shape and most delicate execution. Four of the latter, of a
+gigantic size, were placed on the steps; which, together with part of
+the inlaid floor within the choir, were spread with beautiful carpets.</p>
+
+<p>The illumination of so many tapers striking on the shrines, censers, and
+pillars of polished jasper, sustaining the canopy of the altar, produced
+a wonderful effect; and, as the rest of the chapel was visible only by
+the feint external light admitted from above, the splendour and dignity
+of the altar was enhanced by contrast. I retired a moment from it, and
+seating myself in one of the furthermost stalls of the choir, looked
+towards it, and fancied the whole structure had risen by “subtle magic,”
+like an exhalation.</p>
+
+<p>Here I remained several minutes breathing nothing but incense, and
+should not have quitted my station soon, had I not been apprehensive of
+disturbing the devotions of two aged fathers who had just entered, and
+were prostrating themselves<a name="page_vol_1_316" id="page_vol_1_316"></a> before the steps of the altar. These
+venerable figures added greatly to the solemnity of the scene; which as
+the day declined increased every moment in splendour; for the sparkling
+of several lamps of chased silver that hung from the roofs, and the
+gleaming of nine huge tapers which I had not before noticed, began to be
+visible just as I left the chapel.</p>
+
+<p>Passing through the sacristy, where lay several piles of rich
+embroidered vestments, purposely displayed for our inspection, we
+regained the cloister which led to our apartment, where the supper was
+ready prepared. We had scarcely finished it, when the coadjutor, and the
+fathers who had accompanied us before, returned, and ranging themselves
+round the fire, resumed the conversation about St. Bruno.</p>
+
+<p>Finding me disposed by the wonders I had seen in the day to listen to
+things of a miraculous nature, they began to relate the inspirations
+they had received from him, and his mysterious apparitions. I was all
+attention, respect, and credulity. The old secretary worked himself up
+to such a pitch of enthusiasm, that I am very much inclined to imagine
+he believed in these moments all the marvellous events he related.<a name="page_vol_1_317" id="page_vol_1_317"></a> The
+coadjutor being less violent in his pretensions to St. Bruno’s modern
+miracles, contented himself with enumerating the noble works he had done
+in the days of his fathers, and in the old time before them.</p>
+
+<p>It grew rather late before my kind hosts had finished their narrations,
+and I was not sorry, after all the exercise I had taken, to return to my
+cell, where everything invited to repose. I was charmed with the
+neatness and oddity of my little apartment; its cabin-like bed, oratory,
+and ebony crucifix; in short, every thing it contained; not forgetting
+the aromatic odour of the pine, with which it was roofed, floored, and
+wainscoted. The night was luckily dark. Had the moon appeared, I could
+not have prevailed upon myself to have quitted her till very late; but,
+as it happened, I crept into my cabin, and was by “whispering winds soon
+lulled asleep.”</p>
+
+<p>Eight o’clock struck next morning before I awoke; when, to my great
+sorrow, I found the peaks, which rose above the convent, veiled in
+vapours, and the rain descending with violence.</p>
+
+<p>After we had breakfasted by the light of our fire (for the casements
+admitted but a very feeble<a name="page_vol_1_318" id="page_vol_1_318"></a> gleam), I sat down to the works of St.
+Bruno; of all medleys one of the strangest. Allegories without end; a
+theologico-natural history of birds, beasts, and fishes; several
+chapters on paradise; the delights of solitude; the glory of Solomon’s
+temple; the new Jerusalem; and numberless other wonderful subjects, full
+of the loftiest enthusiasm. The revered author of this strangely
+abstruse and mystic volume was certainly a being of no common order, nor
+do we find in the wide circle of legendary traditions an event recorded,
+better calculated to inspire the utmost degree of religious terror than
+that which determined him to the monastic state.</p>
+
+<p>St. Bruno was of noble descent, and possessed considerable wealth. Not
+less remarkable for the qualities of his mind, their assiduous
+cultivation obtained for him the chair of master of the great sciences
+in the University of Rheims, where he contracted an intimate friendship
+with Odo, afterwards Pope Urban II. Though it appears that a very
+cheering degree of public approbation, and all the blandishments of a
+society highly polished for the period, contributed, not unprofitably
+one should think, to fill up his time, always singular,<a name="page_vol_1_319" id="page_vol_1_319"></a> always
+visionary, he began early in life to loathe the world, and sigh after
+retirement.</p>
+
+<p>But a most appalling occurrence converted these sighs into the deepest
+groans. A man, who had borne the highest character for the exercise of
+every virtue, died, and was being carried to the grave. The procession,
+of which Bruno formed a part, was moving slowly on, when a low, mournful
+sound issued from the bier. The corpse was distinctly seen to lift up
+its ghastly countenance, and as distinctly heard to articulate these
+words&mdash;“<i>I am summoned to trial.</i>” After an agonizing pause, the same
+terrific voice declared&mdash;“<i>I stand before the tribunal.</i>” Some further
+moments of amazement and horror having elapsed, the dead body lifted
+itself up a third time, and moving its livid lips uttered forth this
+dreadful sentence&mdash;“<i>I am condemned by the just judgment of God.</i>”
+“Alas! alas!” exclaimed Bruno&mdash;“of how little avail are apparent good
+works, or the favourable opinion of mankind!</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Ubi fugiam nisi ad te?&mdash;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p class="nind">Thy mercies alone can save, and it is not in the frivolous and seductive
+intercourse of a worldly life those mercies can be obtained.<a name="page_vol_1_320" id="page_vol_1_320"></a>”</p>
+
+<p>Stricken to the heart by these reflections, he hurried in a fever of
+terror and alarm (the sepulchral voice still ringing in his ears) to
+Grenoble, of which see one of his dearest friends, the venerable Hugo,
+had lately been appointed bishop.</p>
+
+<p>This saintly prelate soothed the dreadful agitation of his spirits by
+relating to him a revelation he had just received in a dream.</p>
+
+<p>“As I slept,” said Hugo, “methought the desert mountains beyond Grenoble
+became suddenly visible in the dead of night by the streaming of seven
+lucid stars which hung directly over them. Whilst I remained absorbed in
+the contemplation of this wonder, an awful voice seemed to break the
+nocturnal silence, declaring their dreary solitudes thy future abode, O
+Bruno!&mdash;by thee to be consecrated as a retirement for holy men desirous
+of holding converse with their God. No shepherd’s pipe shall be heard
+within these precincts; no huntsman’s profane feet ever invade their
+fastnesses; nor shall woman ascend this mountain, or violate by her
+allurements the sacred repose of its inhabitants.”</p>
+
+<p>Such were the first institutions of the order as the inspired Bishop of
+Grenoble delivered them<a name="page_vol_1_321" id="page_vol_1_321"></a> to Bruno, who selecting a few persons that,
+like himself, contemned the splendours of the world and the charms of
+society, repaired with them to this spot; and, in the darkest parts of
+the forests which shade the most gloomy recesses of the mountains,
+founded the first convent of Carthusians, long since destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>Several years passed away, whilst Bruno was employed in actions of the
+most exalted piety; and, the fame of his exemplary conduct reaching
+Rome, (where his friend had been lately invested with the papal tiara,)
+the whole conclave was desirous of seeing him, and entreated Urban to
+invite him to Rome. The request of Christ’s vicegerent was not to be
+refused; and Bruno quitted his beloved solitude, leaving some of his
+disciples behind, who propagated his doctrines, and tended zealously the
+infant order.</p>
+
+<p>The pomp of the Roman court soon disgusted the rigid Bruno, who had
+weaned himself entirely from worldly affections.</p>
+
+<p>Being wholly intent on futurity, the bustle and tumults of a busy
+metropolis became so irksome that he supplicated Urban for leave to
+retire; and, having obtained it, left Rome, and immediately seeking the
+wilds of Calabria,<a name="page_vol_1_322" id="page_vol_1_322"></a> there sequestered himself in a lonely hermitage,
+calmly expecting his last moments.</p>
+
+<p>In his death there was no bitterness. A celestial radiance shone around
+him even before he closed his eyes upon this frail existence, and many a
+venerable witness has testified that the voices of angelic beings were
+heard calling him to come and receive his reward; but as the different
+accounts of his translation are not essentially varied, it would be
+tedious to recite them.<a name="page_vol_1_323" id="page_vol_1_323"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_IV-grch" id="LETTER_IV-grch"></a>LETTER IV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Mystic discourse.&mdash;A mountain ramble.&mdash;A benevolent Hermit.&mdash;Red
+light in the northern sky.&mdash;Lose my way in the solitary
+hills.&mdash;Approach of night.</p></div>
+
+<p>I had scarcely finished taking extracts from the writings of this holy
+and highly-gifted personage when the dinner appeared, consisting of
+everything most delicate which a strict adherence to the rules of meagre
+could allow. The good fathers returned as usual before our repast was
+half over, and resumed as usual their mystic discourse, looking all the
+time rather earnestly into my countenance to observe the sort of effect
+their most marvellous narrations produced upon it.</p>
+
+<p>Our conversation, which was beginning to take a gloomy and serious turn,
+was interrupted, I thought very agreeably, by the sudden intrusion of
+the sun, which, escaping from the clouds, shone in full splendour above
+the highest peak of the<a name="page_vol_1_324" id="page_vol_1_324"></a> mountains, and the vapours fleeting by degrees
+discovered the woods in all the freshness of their verdure. The pleasure
+I received from seeing this new creation rising to view was very lively,
+and, as the fathers assured me the humidity of their walks did not often
+continue longer than the showers, I left my hall.</p>
+
+<p>Crossing the court, I hastened out of the gates, and running swiftly
+along a winding path on the side of the meadow, bordered by the forests,
+enjoyed the charms of the prospect inhaled the perfume of the woodlands,
+and now turning towards the summits of the precipices that encircled
+this sacred inclosure, admired the glowing colours they borrowed from
+the sun, contrasted by the dark hues of the forest. Now, casting my eyes
+below, I suffered them to roam from valley to valley, and from one
+stream (beset with tall pines and tufted beech trees) to another. The
+purity of the air in these exalted regions, and the lightness of my own
+spirits, almost seized me with the idea of treading in that element.</p>
+
+<p>Not content with the distant beauties of the hanging rocks and falling
+waters, I still kept running wildly along, with an eagerness and<a name="page_vol_1_325" id="page_vol_1_325"></a>
+rapidity that, to a sober spectator, would have given me the appearance
+of one possessed, and with reason, for I was affected with the scene to
+a degree I despair of expressing.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst I was continuing my course, pursued by a thousand strange ideas,
+a father, who was returning from some distant hermitage, stopped my
+career, and made signs for me to repose myself on a bench erected under
+a neighbouring shed; and, perceiving my agitation and disordered looks,
+fancied, I believe, that one of the bears that lurk near the snows of
+the mountains had alarmed me by his sudden appearance.</p>
+
+<p>The good old man, expressing by his gestures that he wished me to
+recover myself in quiet on the bench, hastened, with as much alacrity as
+his age permitted, to a cottage adjoining the shed, and returning in a
+few moments, presented me some water in a wooden bowl, into which he let
+fall several drops of an elixir composed of innumerable herbs, and
+having performed this deed of charity, signified to me by a look, in
+which benevolence, compassion, and perhaps some little remains of
+curiosity were strongly painted, how sorry he was to<a name="page_vol_1_326" id="page_vol_1_326"></a> be restrained by
+his vow of silence from enquiring into the cause of my agitation, and
+giving me farther assistance. I answered also by signs, on purpose to
+carry on the adventure, and suffered him to depart with all his
+conjectures unsatisfied.</p>
+
+<p>No sooner had I lost sight of the benevolent hermit than I started up,
+and pursued my path with my former agility, till I came to the edge of a
+woody dell, that divided the meadow on which I was running from the
+opposite promontory. Here I paused, and looking up at the cliffs, now
+but faintly illumined by the sun, which had been some time sinking on
+our narrow horizon, reflected that it would be madness to bewilder
+myself, at so late an hour, in the mazes of the forest. Being thus
+determined, I abandoned with regret the idea of penetrating into the
+lovely region before me, and contented myself for some moments with
+marking the pale tints of the evening gradually overspreading the
+cliffs, so lately flushed with the gleams of the setting sun.</p>
+
+<p>But my eyes were soon diverted from contemplating these objects by a red
+light streaming over the northern sky, which attracted my<a name="page_vol_1_327" id="page_vol_1_327"></a> notice as I
+sat on the brow of a sloping hill, looking down what appeared to be a
+fathomless ravine blackened by the shade of impervious forests, above
+which rose majestically the varied peaks and promontories of the
+mountains.</p>
+
+<p>The upland lawns, which hang at immense heights above the vale, next
+caught my attention. I was gazing alternately at them and the valley,
+when a long succession of light misty clouds, of strange fantastic
+shapes, issuing from a narrow gully between the rocks, passed on, like a
+solemn procession, over the hollow dale, midway between the stream that
+watered it below, and the summits of the cliffs on high.</p>
+
+<p>The tranquillity of the region, the verdure of the lawn, environed by
+girdles of flourishing wood, and the lowing of the distant herds, filled
+me with the most pleasing sensations. But when I lifted up my eyes to
+the towering cliffs, and beheld the northern sky streaming with ruddy
+light, and the long succession of misty forms hovering over the space
+beneath, they became sublime and awful. The dews which began to descend,
+and the vapours which were rising from every dell, reminded me of the
+lateness of the hour; and it was with great reluctance that I turned<a name="page_vol_1_328" id="page_vol_1_328"></a>
+from the scene which had so long engaged my contemplation, and traversed
+slowly and silently the solitary meadows, over which I had hurried with
+such eagerness an hour ago.</p>
+
+<p>Hill appeared after hill, and hillock succeeded hillock, which I had
+passed unnoticed before. Sometimes I imagined myself following a
+different path from that which had brought me to the edge of the deep
+valley. Another moment, descending into the hollows between the hillocks
+that concealed the distant prospects from my sight, I fancied I had
+entirely mistaken my route, and expected every moment to be lost amongst
+the rude brakes and tangled thickets that skirted the eminences around.</p>
+
+<p>As the darkness increased, my situation became still more and more
+forlorn. I had almost abandoned the idea of reaching the convent; and
+whenever I gained any swelling ground, looked above, below, and on every
+side of me, in hopes of discovering some glimmering lamp which might
+indicate a hermitage, whose charitable possessor, I flattered myself,
+would direct me to the monastery.</p>
+
+<p>At length, after a tedious wandering along the hills, I found myself,
+unexpectedly, under<a name="page_vol_1_329" id="page_vol_1_329"></a> the convent walls; and, as I was looking for the
+gate, the attendant lay-brothers came out with lights, in order to
+search for me; scarcely had I joined them, when the Coadjutor and the
+Secretary came forward, with the kindest anxiety expressed their
+uneasiness at my long absence, and conducted me to my apartment, where
+Mr. Lettice was waiting, with no small degree of impatience; but I found
+not a word had been mentioned of my adventure with the hermit; so that,
+I believe, he strictly kept his vow till the day when the Carthusians
+are allowed to speak, and which happened after my departure.<a name="page_vol_1_330" id="page_vol_1_330"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_V-grch" id="LETTER_V-grch"></a>LETTER V.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Pastoral Scenery of Valombré.&mdash;Ascent of the highest Peak in the
+Desert.&mdash;Grand amphitheatre of Mountains.&mdash;Farewell benediction of
+the Fathers.</p></div>
+
+<p>We had hardly supped before the gates of the convent were shut, a
+circumstance which disconcerted me not a little, as the full moon
+gleamed through the casements, and the stars sparkling above the forests
+of pines, invited me to leave my apartment again, and to give myself up
+entirely to the spectacle they offered.</p>
+
+<p>The coadjutor, perceiving that I was often looking earnestly through the
+windows, guessed my wishes, and calling a lay-brother, ordered him to
+open the gates, and wait at them till my return. It was not long before
+I took advantage of this permission, and escaping from the courts and
+cloisters of the monastery, all hushed in death-like stillness, ascended
+a green knoll,<a name="page_vol_1_331" id="page_vol_1_331"></a> which several ancient pines strongly marked with their
+shadows: there, leaning against one of their trunks, I lifted up my eyes
+to the awful barrier of surrounding mountains, discovered by the
+trembling silver light of the moon shooting directly on the woods which
+fringed their acclivities.</p>
+
+<p>The lawns, the vast woods, the steep descents, the precipices, the
+torrents, lay all extended beneath, softened by a pale blueish haze,
+that alleviated, in some measure, the stern prospect of the rocky
+promontories above, wrapped in dark shadows. The sky was of the deepest
+azure, innumerable stars were distinguished with unusual clearness from
+this elevation, many of which twinkled behind the fir-trees edging the
+promontories. White, grey, and darkish clouds came marching towards the
+moon, that shone full against a range of cliffs, which lift themselves
+far above the others. The hoarse murmur of the torrent, throwing itself
+from the distant wildernesses into the gloomy vales, was mingled with
+the blast that blew from the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>It increased. The forests began to wave, black clouds rose from the
+north, and, as they<a name="page_vol_1_332" id="page_vol_1_332"></a> fleeted along, approached the moon, whose light
+they shortly extinguished. A moment of darkness succeeded; the gust was
+chill and melancholy; it swept along the desert, and then subsiding, the
+vapours began to pass away, and the moon returned; the grandeur of the
+scene was renewed, and its imposing solemnity was increased by her
+presence. Inspiration was in every wind.</p>
+
+<p>I followed some impulse which drove me to the summit of the mountains
+before me; and there, casting a look on the whole extent of wild woods
+and romantic precipices, thought of the days of St. Bruno. I eagerly
+contemplated every rock that formerly might have met his eyes; drank of
+the spring which tradition says he was wont to drink of; and ran to
+every pine, whose withered appearance bespoke the most remote antiquity,
+and beneath which, perhaps, the saint had reposed himself, when worn
+with vigils, or possessed with the sacred spirit of his institutions. It
+was midnight before I returned to the convent and retired to my quiet
+chamber, but my imagination was too much disturbed, and my spirits far
+too active, to allow me any rest for some time.<a name="page_vol_1_333" id="page_vol_1_333"></a></p>
+
+<p>I had scarcely fallen asleep, when I was suddenly awakened by a furious
+blast, which drove open my casement, for it was a troubled and
+tempestuous night, and let in the roar of the tempest. In the intervals
+of the storm, in those moments when the winds seemed to pause, the faint
+sounds of the choir stole upon my ear; but were swallowed up the next
+instant by the redoubled fury of the gust, which was still increased by
+the roar of the waters.</p>
+
+<p>I started from my bed, closed the casement, and composed myself as well
+as I was able; but no sooner had the sunbeams entered my window, than I
+arose, and gladly leaving my cell, hastened to the same knoll, where I
+had stood the night before. The storm was dissipated, and the pure
+morning air delightfully refreshing: every tree, every shrub, glistened
+with dew. A gentle wind breathed upon the woods, and waved the fir-trees
+on the cliffs, which, free from clouds, rose distinctly into the clear
+blue sky. I strayed from the knoll into the valley between the steeps of
+wood and the turrets of the convent, and passed the different buildings,
+destined for the manufacture of the articles necessary to the fathers;
+for nothing is<a name="page_vol_1_334" id="page_vol_1_334"></a> worn or used within this inclosure, which comes from the
+profane world.</p>
+
+<p>Traversing the meadows and a succession of little dells, where I was so
+lately bewildered, I came to a bridge thrown over the torrent, which I
+crossed; and here followed a slight path that brought me to an eminence,
+covered with a hanging wood of beech-trees feathered to the ground, from
+whence I looked down the narrow pass towards Grenoble. Perceiving a
+smoke to arise from the groves which nodded over the eminence, I climbed
+up a rocky steep, and, after struggling through a thicket of shrubs,
+entered a smooth, sloping lawn, framed in by woody precipices; at one
+extremity of which I discovered the cottage, whose smoke had directed me
+to this sequestered spot; and, at the other, a numerous group of cattle,
+lying under the shade of some beech-trees, whilst several friars, with
+long beards and russet garments, were employed in milking them.</p>
+
+<p>The luxuriant foliage of the woods, clinging round the steeps that
+skirted the lawn; its gay, sunny exposition; the groups of sleek,
+dappled cows, and the odd employment of the friars, so little consonant
+with their venerable beards,<a name="page_vol_1_335" id="page_vol_1_335"></a> formed a picturesque and certainly very
+singular spectacle. I, who had been accustomed to behold “milk-maids
+singing blithe,” and tripping lightly along with their pails, was not a
+little surprised at the silent gravity with which these figures shifted
+their trivets from cow to cow; and it was curious to see with what
+adroitness they performed their functions, managing their long beards
+with a facility and cleanliness equally admirable.</p>
+
+<p>I watched all their movements for some time, concealed by the trees,
+before I made myself visible; but no sooner did I appear on the lawn,
+than one of the friars quitted his trivet, very methodically set down
+his pail, and coming towards me with an open, smiling countenance,
+desired me to refresh myself with some bread and milk. A second,
+observing what was going forward, was resolved not to be exceeded in an
+hospitable act, and, quitting his pail too, hastened into the woods,
+from whence he returned in a few minutes with some strawberries, very
+neatly enveloped in fresh leaves. These hospitable, milking fathers,
+next invited me to the cottage, whither I declined going, as I preferred
+the shade of the beeches; so, throwing myself on the dry aromatic<a name="page_vol_1_336" id="page_vol_1_336"></a>
+herbage, I enjoyed the pastoral character of the scene with all possible
+glee.</p>
+
+<p>Not a cloud darkened the heavens; every object smiled; innumerable gaudy
+flies glanced in the sunbeams that played in a clear spring by the
+cottage; I saw with pleasure the sultry glow of the distant cliffs and
+forests, whilst indolently reclined in the shade, listening to the
+summer hum; one hour passed after another neglected away, during my
+repose in this most delightful of valleys.</p>
+
+<p>When I returned unwillingly to the convent, the only topic on which I
+could converse was the charms of Valombré, for so is this beautifully
+wooded region most appropriately called. Notwithstanding the
+indifference with which I now regarded the prospects that surrounded the
+monastery, I could not disdain an offer made by one of the friars, of
+conducting me to the summit of the highest peak in the desert.</p>
+
+<p>Pretty late in the afternoon I set out with my guide, and, following his
+steps through many forests of pine, and wild apertures among them,
+strewed with fragments, arrived at a chapel, built on a mossy rock, and
+dedicated to St. Bruno.<a name="page_vol_1_337" id="page_vol_1_337"></a></p>
+
+<p>Having once more drunk of the spring that issues from the rock on which
+this edifice is raised, I moved forward, keeping my eyes fixed on a
+lofty green mountain, from whence rises a vast cliff, spiring up to a
+surprising elevation; and which (owing to the sun’s reflection on a
+transparent mist hovering around it) was tinged with a pale visionary
+light. This object was the goal to which I aspired; and redoubling my
+activity, I made the best of my way over rude ledges of rocks, and
+crumbled fragments of the mountain interspersed with firs, till I came
+to the green steeps I had surveyed at a distance.</p>
+
+<p>These I ascended with some difficulty, and, leaving a few scattered
+beech-trees behind, in full leaf, shortly bade adieu to summer, and
+entered the regions of spring; for, as I approached that part of the
+mountain next the summit, the trees, which I found there rooted in the
+crevices, were but just beginning to unfold their leaves, and every spot
+of the greensward was covered with cowslips and violets.</p>
+
+<p>After taking a few moments’ repose, my guide prepared to clamber amongst
+the rocks, and I followed him with as much alertness as I was able, till
+laying hold of the trunk of a withered<a name="page_vol_1_338" id="page_vol_1_338"></a> pine, we sprang upon a small
+level space, where I seated myself, and beheld far beneath me the vast
+desert and dreary solitudes, amongst which appeared, thinly scattered,
+the green meadows and hanging lawns. The eye next overlooking the
+barrier of mountains, ranged through immense tracts of distant
+countries; the plains where Lyons is situated; the woodlands and lakes
+of Savoy; amongst which that of Bourget was near enough to discover its
+beauties, all glowing with the warm haze of the setting sun.</p>
+
+<p>My situation was too dizzy to allow a long survey, so turning my eyes
+from the terrific precipice, I gladly beheld an opening in the rocks,
+through which we passed into a little irregular glen of the smoothest
+greensward, closed in on one side by the great peak, and on the others
+by a ridge of sharp pinnacles, which crown the range of white cliffs I
+had so much admired the night before, when brightened by the moon.</p>
+
+<p>The singular situation of this romantic spot invited me to remain in it
+till the sun was about to sink on the horizon: during which time I
+visited every little cave delved in the ridges of rock, and gathered
+large sprigs of the mezereon and rhododendron in full bloom, which with
+a<a name="page_vol_1_339" id="page_vol_1_339"></a> surprising variety of other plants carpeted this lovely glen. A
+luxuriant vegetation,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">That on the green turf suck’d the honey’d showers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And purpled all the ground with vernal flowers.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>My guide, perceiving I was ready to mount still higher, told me it would
+be in vain, as the beds of snow that lie eternally in some fissures of
+the mountain, must necessarily impede my progress; but, finding I was
+very unwilling to abandon the enterprise, he showed me a few notches in
+the peak, by which we might ascend, though not without danger. This
+prospect rather abated my courage, and the wind rising, drove several
+thick clouds round the bottom of the peak, which increasing every
+minute, shortly skreened the green mountain and all the forest from our
+sight. A sea of vapours soon undulated beneath my feet, and lightning
+began to flash from a dark angry cloud that hung over the valleys and
+deluged them with storms, whilst I was securely standing under the clear
+expanse of æther.</p>
+
+<p>But the hour did not admit of my remaining long in this proud station;
+so descending, I was soon obliged to pass through the vapours, and,
+carefully following my guide (for a false step<a name="page_vol_1_340" id="page_vol_1_340"></a> might have caused my
+destruction) wound amongst the declivities, till we left the peak
+behind, and just as we reached the green mountain which was moistened
+with the late storm, the clouds fleeted and the evening recovered its
+serenity.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving the chapel of St. Bruno on the right, we entered the woods, and
+soon emerged from them into a large pasture, under the grand
+amphitheatre of mountains, having a gentle ascent before us, beyond
+which appeared the neat blue roofs and glittering spires of the convent,
+where we arrived as the moon was beginning to assume her empire.</p>
+
+<p>I need not say I rested well after the interesting fatigues of the day.
+The next morning early, I quitted my kind hosts with great reluctance.
+The coadjutor and two other fathers accompanied me to the outward gate,
+and there within the solemn circle of the desert bestowed on me their
+benediction.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed indeed to come from their hearts, nor would they leave me till
+I was an hundred paces from the convent; and then, laying their hands on
+their breasts, declared that if ever I was disgusted with the world,
+here was an asylum.<a name="page_vol_1_341" id="page_vol_1_341"></a></p>
+
+<p>I was in a melancholy mood when I traced back all the windings of my
+road, and when I found myself beyond the last gate in the midst of the
+wide world again, it increased.</p>
+
+<p>We returned to Les Echelles; from thence to Chambery, and, instead of
+going through Aix, passed by Annecy; but nothing in all the route
+engaged my attention, nor had I any pleasing sensations till I beheld
+the glassy lake of Geneva, and its lovely environs.</p>
+
+<p>I rejoiced then because I knew of a retirement on its banks where I
+could sit and think of Valombré.<a name="page_vol_1_343" id="page_vol_1_343"></a><a name="page_vol_2_342" id="page_vol_2_342"></a></p>
+
+<h2><a name="SALEVE" id="SALEVE"></a>SALEVE.<a name="page_vol_1_345" id="page_vol_1_345"></a><a name="page_vol_2_344" id="page_vol_2_344"></a></h2>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_I-sal" id="LETTER_I-sal"></a>LETTER I.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Revisit the trees on the summit of Saleve.&mdash;Pas
+d’Echelle.&mdash;Moneti.&mdash;Bird’s-eye prospects.&mdash;Alpine
+flowers.&mdash;Extensive view from the summit of Saleve.&mdash;Youthful
+enthusiasm.&mdash;Sad realities.</p></div>
+
+<p>I had long wished to revisit the holt of trees so conspicuous on the
+summit of Saleve, and set forth this morning to accomplish that purpose.
+Brandoin an artist, once the delight of our travelling lords and ladies,
+accompanied me. We rode pleasantly and sketchingly along through Carouge
+to the base of the mountain, taking views every now and then of
+picturesque stumps and cottages.</p>
+
+<p>At length, after a good deal of lackadaisical loitering on the banks of
+the Arve, we reached a sort of goats’ path, leading to some steps cut<a name="page_vol_1_346" id="page_vol_1_346"></a>
+in the rock, and justly called the Pas d’Echelle. I need not say we were
+obliged to dismount and toil up this ladder, beyond which rise steeps of
+verdure shaded by walnuts.</p>
+
+<p>These brought us to Moneti, a rude straggling village, with its church
+tower embosomed in gigantic limes. We availed ourselves of their deep
+cool shade to dine as comfortably as a whole posse of withered hags, who
+seemed to have been just alighted from their broomsticks, would allow
+us.</p>
+
+<p>About half past three, a sledge drawn by four oxen was got ready to drag
+us up to the holt of trees, the goal to which we were tending:
+stretching ourselves on the straw spread over our vehicle, we set off
+along a rugged path, conducted aslant the steep slope of the mountain,
+vast prospects opening as we ascended; to our right the crags of the
+little Saleve&mdash;the variegated plains of Gex and Chablais, separated by
+the lake; below, Moneti, almost concealed in wood; behind, the mole,
+lifting up its pyramidical summit amidst the wild amphitheatre of
+glaciers, which lay this evening in dismal shadow, the sun being
+overcast, the Jura<a name="page_vol_1_347" id="page_vol_1_347"></a> half lost in rainy mists, and a heavy storm
+darkening the Fort de l’Ecluse. Except a sickly gleam cast on the snows
+of the Buet, not a ray of sunshine enlivened our landscape.</p>
+
+<p>This sorrowful colouring agreed but too well with the dejection of my
+spirits. I suffered melancholy recollections to take full possession of
+me, and glancing my eyes over the vast map below, sought out those spots
+where I had lived so happy with my lovely Margaret. On them did I
+eagerly gaze&mdash;absorbed in the consciousness of a fatal, irreparable
+loss, I little noticed the transports expressed by my companion at the
+grand effects of light and shade, which obeyed the movements of the
+clouds; nor was I more attentive to the route of our oxen, which,
+perfectly familiarized with precipices, preferred their edge to the bank
+on the other side, and by this choice gave us an opportunity of looking
+down more than a thousand feet perpendicularly on the wild shrubberies
+and shattered rocks deep below, at the base of the mountain. In general
+I shrink back from such bird’s-eye prospects with my head in a whirl,
+and yet, by<a name="page_vol_1_348" id="page_vol_1_348"></a> a most unaccountable fascination, feel a feverish impulse
+to throw myself into the very gulph I abhor; but to-day I lay in passive
+indifference, listlessly extended on our moving bed.</p>
+
+<p>Its progress being extremely deliberate, we had leisure to observe, as
+we crept along, a profusion of Alpine flowers; but none of those
+gorgeous insects mentioned by Saussure as abounding on Saleve were
+fluttering about them. This was no favourable day for butterfly
+excursions; the flowers laden with heavy drops, the forerunners of still
+heavier rain, hung down their heads. We passed several chalets, formed
+of mud and stone, instead of the neat timber, with which those on the
+Swiss mountains are constructed. Meagre peasants, whose sallow
+countenances looked quite of a piece with the sandy hue of their
+habitations, kept staring at us from crevices and hollow places: the
+fresh roses of a garden are not more different from the rank weeds of an
+unhealthy swamp, than these wretched objects from the ruddy inhabitants
+of Switzerland.</p>
+
+<p>My heart sank as we were driven alongside of one of these squalid
+groups, huddled together<a name="page_vol_1_349" id="page_vol_1_349"></a> under a blasted beech in expectation of a
+storm. The wind drove the smoke and sparks of a fire just kindled at the
+root of the tree, full in the face of an infant, whose mother had
+abandoned it to implore our charity with outstretched withered hands.
+The poor helpless being filled the air with waitings, and being tightly
+swaddled lip in yellow rags, according to Savoyarde custom, exhibited an
+appearance in form and colour not unlike that of an overgrown pumpkin
+thrown on the ground out of the way. How should I have enjoyed setting
+its limbs at liberty, and transporting it to the swelling bosom of a
+Bernese peasant! such as I have seen in untaxed garments, red, blue and
+green, with hair falling in braids mixed with flowers and silver
+trinkets, hurrying along to some wake or wedding, with that firm step
+and smiling hilarity which the consciousness of freedom inspires.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes dragging beyond the tree just mentioned, we reached the
+bold verdant slopes of delicate short herbage which crown the crags of
+the mountain. We now moved smoothly along the turf, brushing it with our
+hands to<a name="page_vol_1_350" id="page_vol_1_350"></a> extract its aromatic fragrance, and having no longer rough
+stones to encounter, our conveyance became so agreeable that we
+regretted our arrival before a chalet, under a clump of weather-beaten
+beach. These are the identical trees, so far and widely discovered, on
+the summit of Saleve, and the point to which we had been tending.</p>
+
+<p>Seating ourselves on the very edge of a rocky cornice, we surveyed the
+busy crowded territory of Geneva, the vast reach of the lake, its coast,
+thickset with castles, towns, and villages, and the long line of the
+Jura protecting these richly cultivated possessions. Turning round, we
+traced the course of the Arve up to its awful sanctuary, the Alps of
+Savoy, above which rose the Mont-Blanc in deadly paleness, backed by a
+gloomy sky; nothing could form a stronger contrast to the populous and
+fertile plains in front of the mountain than this chaos of snowy peaks
+and melancholy deserts, the loftiest in the old world, held up in the
+air, and beaten, in spite of summer, with wintry storms.</p>
+
+<p>I know not how long we should have remained examining the prospect had
+the weather been<a name="page_vol_1_351" id="page_vol_1_351"></a> favourable, and had we enjoyed one of those serene
+evenings to be expected in the month of July. Many such have I passed in
+my careless childish days, stretched out on the brow of this very
+mountain, contemplating the heavenly azure of the lake, the innumerable
+windows of the villas below blazing in the setting sun, and the glaciers
+suffused by its last ray with a blushing pink. How often, giving way to
+youthful enthusiasm, have I peopled these singularly varied peaks with
+gnomes and fairies, the distributors of gold and crystal to those who
+adventurously scaled their lofty abode.</p>
+
+<p>This evening my fancy was led to no such gay aërial excursions; sad
+realities chained it to the earth, and to the scene before my eyes,
+which, in lowering, sombre hue, corresponded with my interior gloom. A
+rude blast driving us off the margin of the precipices, we returned to
+the shelter of the beech. There we found some disappointed butterfly
+catchers, probably of the watch-making tribe, and a silly boy gaping
+after them with a lank net and empty boxes. This being Monday, I thought
+the Saleve had been delivered from such intruders; but it seems that<a name="page_vol_1_352" id="page_vol_1_352"></a>
+the rage for natural history has so victoriously pervaded all ranks of
+people in the republic, that almost every day in the week sends forth
+some of its journeymen to ransack the neighbouring cliffs, and transfix
+unhappy butterflies.</p>
+
+<p>Silversmiths and toymen, possessed by the spirit of De Luc and De
+Saussure’s lucubrations, throw away the light implements of their trade,
+and sally forth with hammer and pickaxe to pound pebbles and knock at
+the door of every mountain for information. Instead of furbishing up
+teaspoons and sorting watch-chains, they talk of nothing but quartz and
+feldspath. One flourishes away on the durability of granite, whilst
+another treats calcareous rocks with contempt; but as human pleasures
+are seldom perfect and permanent, acrimonious disputes too frequently
+interrupt the calm of the philosophic excursion. Squabbles arise about
+the genus of a coralite, or concerning that element which has borne the
+greatest part in the convulsion of nature. The advocate of water too
+often sneaks home to his wife with a tattered collar, whilst the
+partisan of fire and volcanoes lies vanquished in a puddle, or winding
+up the clue of his argument in a solitary<a name="page_vol_1_353" id="page_vol_1_353"></a> ditch. I cannot help thinking
+so diffused a taste for fossils and petrifactions of no very particular
+benefit to the artisans of Geneva, and that watches would go as well,
+though their makers were less enlightened.<a name="page_vol_1_354" id="page_vol_1_354"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_II-sal" id="LETTER_II-sal"></a>LETTER II.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Chalet under the Beech-trees.&mdash;A mountain Bridge.&mdash;Solemnity of the
+Night.&mdash;The Comedie.&mdash;Relaxation of Genevese Morality.</p></div>
+
+<p>It began to rain just as we entered the chalet under the beech-trees,
+and one of the dirtiest I ever crept into&mdash;it would have been
+uncharitable not to have regretted the absence of swine, for here was
+mud and filth enough to have insured their felicity. A woman, whose
+teeth of a shining whiteness were the only clean objects I could
+discover, brought us foaming bowls of cream and milk, with which we
+regaled ourselves, and then got into our vehicle. We but too soon left
+the smooth herbage behind, and passed about an hour in rambling down the
+mountain pelted by the showers, from which we took shelter under the
+limes at Moneti.</p>
+
+<p>Here we should have drunk our tea in peace<a name="page_vol_1_355" id="page_vol_1_355"></a> and quietness, had it not
+been for the incursion of a gang of bandylegged watchmakers, smoking
+their pipes, and scraping their fiddles, and snapping their fingers,
+with all that insolent vulgarity so characteristic of the Rue-basse
+portion of the Genevese community. We got out of their way, you may
+easily imagine, as fast as we were able, and descending a rough road,
+most abominably strewn with rolling pebbles, arrived at the bridge
+d’Etrombieres just as it fell dark. The mouldering planks with which the
+bridge is awkwardly put together, sounded suspiciously hollow under the
+feet of our horses, and had it not been for the friendly light of a pine
+torch which a peasant brought forth, we might have been tumbled into the
+Arve.</p>
+
+<p>It was a mild summer night, the rainy clouds were dissolving away with a
+murmur of distant thunder so faint as to be scarcely heard. From time to
+time a flash of summer lightning discovered the lonely tower of Moneti
+on the edge of the lesser Saleve. The ghostly tales, which the old curè
+of the mountains had told me at a period when I hungered and thirsted
+after supernatural narrations, recurred to my memory, in all<a name="page_vol_1_356" id="page_vol_1_356"></a> their
+variety of horrors, and kept it fully employed till I found myself under
+the walls of Geneva. The gates were shut, but I knew they were to be
+opened again at ten o’clock for the convenience of those returning from
+the <i>Comedie</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Comedie</i> is become of wonderful importance; but a few years ago the
+very name of a play was held in such abhorrence by the spiritual
+consistory of Geneva and its obsequious servants, which then included
+the best part of the republic, that the partakers and abettors of such
+diversions were esteemed on the high road to eternal perdition. Though,
+God knows, I am unconscious of any extreme partiality for Calvin, I
+cannot help thinking his severe discipline wisely adapted to the moral
+constitution of this starch bit of a republic which he took to his grim
+embraces. But these days of rigidity and plainness are completely gone
+by; the soft spirit of toleration, so eloquently insinuated by Voltaire,
+has removed all thorny fences, familiarized his numerous admirers with
+every innovation, and laughed scruples of every nature to scorn.
+Voltaire, indeed, may justly be styled the architect of that gay
+well-ornamented bridge, by which<a name="page_vol_1_357" id="page_vol_1_357"></a> freethinking and immorality have been
+smuggled into the republic under the mask of philosophy and liberality
+and sentiment. These monsters, like the Sin and Death of Milton, have
+made speedy and irreparable havoc. To facilitate their operations, rose
+the genius of “Rentes Viagères” at his bidding, tawdry villas with their
+little pert groves of poplar and horse-chesnut start up&mdash;his power
+enables Madame C. D. the bookseller’s lady to amuse the D. of G. with
+assemblies, sets Parisian cabriolets and English phaetons rolling from
+one faro table to another, and launches innumerable pleasure parties
+with banners and popguns on the lake, drumming and trumpeting away their
+time from morn till evening. I recollect, not many years past, how
+seldom the echoes of the mountains were profaned by such noises, and how
+rarely the drones of Geneva, if any there were in that once industrious
+city, had opportunities of displaying their idleness; but now
+Dissipation reigns triumphant, and to pay the tribute she exacts, every
+fool runs headlong to throw his scrapings into the voracious whirlpool
+of annuities; little caring, provided he feeds high and lolls in his
+carriage, what becomes<a name="page_vol_1_358" id="page_vol_1_358"></a> of his posterity. I had ample time to make these
+reflections, as the <i>Comedie</i> lasted longer than usual.</p>
+
+<p>Luckily the night improved, the storms had rolled away, and the moon
+rising from behind the crags of the lesser Saleve cast a pleasant gleam
+on the smooth turf of plain-palais, where we walked to and fro above
+half an hour. We had this extensive level almost entirely to ourselves,
+no light glimmered in any window, no sound broke the general stillness,
+except a low murmur proceeding from a group of chesnut trees. There,
+snug under a garden wall on a sequestered bench, sat two or three
+Genevois of the old stamp, chewing the cud of sober sermons&mdash;men who
+receive not more than seven or eight per cent. for their money; there
+sat they waiting for their young ones, who had been seduced to the
+theatre.</p>
+
+<p>A loud hubbub and glare of flambeaus proclaiming the end of the play, we
+left these good folks to their rumination, and regaining our carriage
+rattled furiously through the streets of Geneva, once so quiet, so
+silent at these hours, to the no small terror and annoyance of those
+whom Rentes Viagères had not yet provided<a name="page_vol_1_359" id="page_vol_1_359"></a> with a speedier conveyance
+than their own legs, or a brighter satellite than an old cook-maid with
+a candle and lantern.</p>
+
+<p>It was eleven o’clock before we reached home, and near two before I
+retired to rest, having sat down immediately to write this letter whilst
+the impressions of the day were fresh in my memory.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="c"><small>END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.</small><br /><br /><br />
+<small>LONDON:<br />
+PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,<br />
+Dorset Street, Fleet Street.</small></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h1>ITALY;<br />
+<small>WITH SKETCHES OF</small><br /><br />
+SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.<br />&nbsp;</h1>
+
+<p class="cb">BY THE AUTHOR OF “VATHEK.”<br /><br /><br />
+THIRD EDITION.<br /><br />
+IN TWO VOLUMES.<br /><br />
+VOL. II.<br /><br /><br /><br />
+LONDON:<br />
+RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,<br />
+<span class="eng">Publisher in Ordinary to His Majesty.</span><br />
+1835.</p>
+
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS-2" id="CONTENTS-2"></a>
+CONTENTS<br />
+<br />
+OF<br />
+<br />
+THE SECOND VOLUME.</h2>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""
+style="border:none;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;max-width:30em;">
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><big><a href="#PORTUGAL">PORTUGAL.</a></big></th></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_I-port">LETTER I.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Detained at Falmouth.&mdash;Navigation at a stop.&mdash;An evening
+ramble.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>Page&nbsp;5</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_II-port">LETTER II.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Mines in the parish of Gwynnap.&mdash;Piety and gin.&mdash;Rapid
+progress of Methodism.&mdash;Freaks of fortune.&mdash;Pernicious
+extravagance.&mdash;Minerals.&mdash;Mr. Beauchamp’s mansion.&mdash;Beautiful
+lake.&mdash;The wind still contrary.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>8</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_III-port">LETTER III.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>A lovely morning.&mdash;Antiquated mansion.&mdash;Its lady.&mdash;Ancestral
+effigies.&mdash;Collection of animals.&mdash;Serene evening.&mdash;Owls.&mdash;Expected
+dreams.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>12</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_IV-port">LETTER IV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>A blustering night.&mdash;Tedium of the language of the
+compass.&mdash;Another excursion to Trefusis.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>16</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_V-port">LETTER V.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Regrets produced by contrasts.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>19</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_VI-port">LETTER VI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Still no prospect of embarkation.&mdash;Pen-dennis Castle.&mdash;Luxuriant
+vegetation.&mdash;A serene day.&mdash;Anticipations of
+the voyage.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>21</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_VII-port">LETTER VII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Portugal.&mdash;Excursion to Pagliavam.&mdash;The villa.&mdash;Dismal
+labyrinths in the Dutch style.&mdash;Roses.&mdash;Anglo-Portuguese
+Master of the Horse.&mdash;Interior of the Palace.&mdash;Furniture
+in petticoats.&mdash;Force of education.&mdash;Royalty without power.&mdash;Return
+from the Palace.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>23</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_VIII-port">LETTER VIII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Glare of the climate in Portugal.&mdash;Apish luxury.&mdash;Botanic
+Gardens.&mdash;Açafatas.&mdash;Description of the Gardens and
+Terraces.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>29</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_IX-port">LETTER IX.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Consecration of the Bishop of Algarve.&mdash;Pathetic Music.&mdash;Valley
+of Alcantara.&mdash;Enormous Aqueduct.&mdash;Visit to the
+Marialva Palace.&mdash;Its much revered Masters.&mdash;Collection of
+rarities.&mdash;The Viceroy of Algarve.&mdash;Polyglottery.&mdash;A
+night-scene.&mdash;Modinhas.&mdash;Extraordinary Procession.&mdash;Blessings
+of Patriarchal Government.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>34</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_X-port">LETTER X.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Festival of the Corpo de Deos.&mdash;Striking decoration of the
+streets.&mdash;The Patriarchal Cathedral.&mdash;Coming forth of the
+Sacrament in awful state.&mdash;Gorgeous procession.&mdash;Bewildering
+confusion of sounds.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>47</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XI-port">LETTER XI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Dinner at the country-house of Mr. S&mdash;&mdash;.&mdash;His Brazilian
+wife.&mdash;Magnificent Repast.&mdash;A tragic damsel.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>51</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XII-port">LETTER XII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Pass the day at Belem.&mdash;Visit the neighbouring Monastery.&mdash;Habitation
+of King Emanuel.&mdash;A gold Custodium of
+exquisite workmanship.&mdash;The Church.&mdash;Bonfires on the
+edge of the Tagus.&mdash;Fire-works.&mdash;Images of the Holy
+One of Lisbon.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>55</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XIII-port">LETTER XIII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>The New Church of St. Anthony.&mdash;Sprightly Music.&mdash;Enthusiastic
+Sermon.&mdash;The good Prior of Avia.&mdash;Visit to
+the Carthusian Convent of Cachiez.&mdash;Spectres of the Order.&mdash;Striking
+effigy of the Saviour.&mdash;A young and melancholy
+Carthusian.&mdash;The Cemetery.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>59</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XIV-port">LETTER XIV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Curious succession of visiters.&mdash;A Seraphic Doctor.&mdash;Monsenhor
+Aguilar.&mdash;Mob of old hags, children, and ragamuffins.&mdash;Visit
+to the Theatre in the Rua d’os Condes.&mdash;The
+Archbishop Confessor.&mdash;Brazilian Modinhas.&mdash;Bewitching
+nature of that music.&mdash;Nocturnal processions.&mdash;Enthusiasm
+of the young Conde de Villanova.&mdash;No accounting for
+fancies.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>68</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XV-port">LETTER XV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Excessive sultriness of Lisbon.&mdash;Night-sounds of the city.&mdash;Public
+gala in the garden of the Conde de Villa Nova.&mdash;Visit
+to the Anjeja Palace.&mdash;The heir of the family.&mdash;Marvellous
+narrations of a young priest.&mdash;Convent of
+Savoyard nuns.&mdash;Father Theodore’s chickens.&mdash;Sequestered
+group of beauties.&mdash;Singing of the Scarlati.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>77</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XVI-port">LETTER XVI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Ups-and-downs of Lisbon.&mdash;Negro Beldames.&mdash;Quinta of
+Marvilla.&mdash;Moonlight view of Lisbon.&mdash;Illuminated windows
+of the Palace.&mdash;The old Marquis of Penalva.&mdash;Padre
+Duarte, a famous Jesuit.&mdash;Conversation between him and a
+conceited Physician.&mdash;Their ludicrous blunders.&mdash;Toad-eaters.&mdash;Sonatas.&mdash;Portuguese
+minuets.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>88</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XVII-port">LETTER XVII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Dog-howlings.&mdash;Visit to the Convent of San Josè di Ribamar.&mdash;Breakfast
+at the Marquis of Penalvas.&mdash;Magnificent
+and hospitable reception.&mdash;Whispering in the shade of
+mysterious chambers.&mdash;The Bishop of Algarve.&mdash;Evening
+scene in the garden of Marvilla.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>96</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XVIII-port">LETTER XVIII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Excursion to Cintra.&mdash;Villa of Ramalhaô.&mdash;The Garden.&mdash;Collares.&mdash;Pavilion
+designed by Pillement.&mdash;A convulsive
+gallop.&mdash;Cold weather in July.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>104</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XIX-port">LETTER XIX.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Sympathy between Toads and Old Women.&mdash;Palace of
+Cintra.&mdash;Reservoir of Gold and Silver Fish.&mdash;Parterre on
+the summit of a lofty terrace.&mdash;Place of confinement of
+Alphonso the Sixth.&mdash;The Chapel.&mdash;Barbaric profusion
+of Gold.&mdash;Altar at which Don Sebastian knelt when he
+received a supernatural warning.&mdash;Rooms in preparation
+for the Queen and the Infantas.&mdash;Return to Ramalhaô.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>110</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XX-port">LETTER XX.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Grand gala at Court.&mdash;Festival in honour of the birthday
+of Guildermeester.&mdash;Mad freaks of a Frenchman.&mdash;Unwelcome
+lights of Truth.&mdash;Invective against the English.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>117</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXI-port">LETTER XXI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>The Queen of Portugal’s Chapel.&mdash;The Orchestra.&mdash;Rehearsal
+of a Council.&mdash;Proposal to visit Mafra.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>123</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXII-port">LETTER XXII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Road to Mafra.&mdash;Distant view of the Convent.&mdash;Its vast
+fronts.&mdash;General magnificence of the Edifice.&mdash;The
+Church.&mdash;The High Altar.&mdash;Eve of the Festival of St.
+Augustine.&mdash;The collateral Chapels.&mdash;The Sacristy.&mdash;The
+Abbot of the Convent.&mdash;The Library.&mdash;View from
+the Convent-roof.&mdash;Chime of Bells.&mdash;House of the Capitan
+Mor.&mdash;Dinner.&mdash;Vespers.&mdash;Awful sound of the Organs.&mdash;The
+Palace.&mdash;Return to the Convent.&mdash;Inquisitive crowd.&mdash;The
+Garden.&mdash;Matins.&mdash;A Procession.&mdash;The Hall de
+Profundis.&mdash;Solemn Repast.&mdash;Supper at the Capitan
+Mor’s.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>127</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXIII-port">LETTER XXIII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>High mass.&mdash;Garden of the Viscount Ponte de Lima.&mdash;Leave
+Mafra.&mdash;An accident.&mdash;Return to Cintra.&mdash;My saloon.&mdash;Beautiful
+view from it.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>143</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXIV-port">LETTER XXIV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>A saloon in the highest style of oriental decoration.&mdash;Amusing
+stories of King John the Fifth and his recluses.&mdash;Cheerful
+funeral.&mdash;Refreshing ramble to the heights of
+Penha Verde.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>147</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXV-port">LETTER XXV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Anecdotes of the Conde de San Lorenzo.&mdash;Visit to Mrs.
+Guildermeester.&mdash;Toads active, and toads passive.&mdash;The
+old Consul and his tray of jewels.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>157</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXVI-port">LETTER XXVI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Expected arrival at Cintra of the Queen and suite.&mdash;Duke
+d’Alafoens.&mdash;Excursion to a rustic Fair.&mdash;Revels of
+the Peasantry.&mdash;Night-scene at the Marialva Villa.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>163</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXVII-port">LETTER XXVII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Curious scene in the interior of the palace of Cintra.&mdash;Singular
+invitation.&mdash;Dinner with the Archbishop Confessor.&mdash;Hilarity
+and shrewd remarks of that extraordinary
+personage.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>169</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXVIII-port">LETTER XXVIII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Explore the Cintra Mountains.&mdash;Convent of Nossa Senhora
+da Penha.&mdash;Moorish Ruins.&mdash;The Cork Convent.&mdash;The
+Rock of Lisbon.&mdash;Marine Scenery.&mdash;Susceptible imagination
+of the Ancients exemplified.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>179</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXIX-port">LETTER XXIX.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Excursion to Penha Verde.&mdash;Resemblance of that Villa
+to the edifices in Caspar Poussin’s landscapes.&mdash;The ancient
+pine-trees, said to have been planted by Don John de
+Castro.&mdash;The old forests displaced by gaudy terraces.&mdash;Influx
+of visitors.&mdash;A celebrated Prior’s erudition and
+strange anachronisms.&mdash;The Beast in the Apocalypse.&mdash;Œcolampadius.&mdash;Bevy
+of Palace damsels.&mdash;Fête at the
+Marialva Villa.&mdash;The Queen and the Royal Family.&mdash;A
+favourite dwarf Negress.&mdash;Dignified manner of the
+Queen.&mdash;Profound respect inspired by her presence.&mdash;Rigorous
+etiquette.&mdash;Grand display of Fireworks.&mdash;The
+young Countess of Lumieres.&mdash;Affecting resemblance.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>189</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXX-port">LETTER XXX.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Cathedral of Lisbon.&mdash;Trace of St. Anthony’s fingers.&mdash;The
+Holy Crows.&mdash;Party formed to visit them.&mdash;A Portuguese
+poet.&mdash;Comfortable establishment of the Holy
+Crows.&mdash;Singular tradition connected with them.&mdash;Illuminations
+in honour of the Infanta’s accouchement.&mdash;Public
+harangues.&mdash;Policarpio’s singing, and anecdotes
+of the <i>haute noblesse</i>.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>201</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXXI-port">LETTER XXXI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Rambles in the Valley of Collates.&mdash;Elysian scenery.&mdash;Song
+of a young female peasant.&mdash;Rustic hospitality.&mdash;Interview
+with the Prince of Brazil in the plains of Cascais.&mdash;Conversation
+with His Royal Highness.&mdash;Return to
+Ramalhaô.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>212</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXXII-port">LETTER XXXII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Convent of Boa Morte.&mdash;Emaciated priests.&mdash;Austerity of
+the Order.&mdash;Contrite personages.&mdash;A <i>nouveau riche</i>.&mdash;His
+house.&mdash;Walk on the veranda of the palace at Belem.&mdash;Train
+of attendants at dinner.&mdash;Portuguese gluttony.&mdash;Black
+dose of legendary superstition.&mdash;Terrible denunciations.&mdash;A
+dreary evening.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>229</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXXIII-port">LETTER XXXIII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Rehearsal of Seguidillas.&mdash;Evening scene.&mdash;Crowds of
+beggars.&mdash;Royal charity misplaced.&mdash;Mendicant flattery.&mdash;Frightful
+countenances.&mdash;Performance at the Salitri theatre.&mdash;Countess
+of Pombeiro and her dwarf negresses.&mdash;A
+strange ballet.&mdash;Return to the Palace.&mdash;Supper at the Camareira
+Mor’s.&mdash;Filial affection.&mdash;Last interview with the
+Archbishop.&mdash;Fatal tide of events.&mdash;Heart-felt regret on
+leaving Portugal.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>235</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XXXIV-port">LETTER XXXIV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Dead mass at the church of Martyrs.&mdash;Awful music by
+Perez and Jomelli.&mdash;Marialva’s affecting address.&mdash;My
+sorrow and anxiety.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>253</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><th align="center" colspan="2"><big><a href="#SPAIN">SPAIN.</a></big></th></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_I-spn">LETTER I.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Embark on the Tagus.&mdash;Aldea Gallega.&mdash;A poetical postmaster.&mdash;The
+church.&mdash;Leave Aldea Gallega.&mdash;Scenery on
+the road.&mdash;Palace built by John the Fifth.&mdash;Ruins at Montemor.&mdash;Reach
+Arroyolos.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>259</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_II-spn">LETTER II.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>A wild tract of forest-land.&mdash;Arrival at Estremoz.&mdash;A fair.&mdash;An
+outrageous sermon.&mdash;Boundless wastes of gum-cistus.&mdash;Elvas.&mdash;Our
+reception there.&mdash;My visiters.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>268</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_III-spn">LETTER III.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Pass the rivulet which separates Spain and Portugal.&mdash;A
+muleteer’s enthusiasm.&mdash;Badajoz.&mdash;The cathedral.&mdash;Journey
+resumed.&mdash;A vast plain.&mdash;Village of Lubaon.&mdash;Withered
+hags.&mdash;Names and characters of our mules.&mdash;Posada at
+Merida.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>275</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_IV-spn">LETTER IV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Arrival at Miaxada.&mdash;Monotonous singing.&mdash;Dismal
+country.&mdash;Truxillo.&mdash;A rainy morning.&mdash;Resume our journey.&mdash;Immense
+wood of cork-trees.&mdash;Almaraz.&mdash;Reception by the
+escrivano.&mdash;A terrific volume.&mdash;Village of Laval de Moral.&mdash;Range
+of lofty mountains.&mdash;Calzada.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>282</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_V-spn">LETTER V.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Sierra de los Gregos.&mdash;Mass.&mdash;Oropeza.&mdash;Talavera.&mdash;Drawling
+tirannas.&mdash;Talavera de la Reyna.&mdash;Reception at
+Santa Olaya.&mdash;The lady of the house and her dogs and
+dancers.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>289</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_VI-spn">LETTER VI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Dismal plains.&mdash;Santa Cruz.&mdash;Val de Carneiro.&mdash;A most
+determined musical amateur.&mdash;The Alcayde Mayor.&mdash;Approach
+to Madrid.&mdash;Aspect of the city.&mdash;The Calle d’Alcala.&mdash;The
+Prado.&mdash;The Ave-Maria bell.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>296</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_VII-spn">LETTER VII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>The Duchess of Berwick in all her nonchalance.&mdash;Her
+apartment described.&mdash;Her passion for music.&mdash;Her señoros
+de honor.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>301</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_VIII-spn">LETTER VIII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>The Chevalier de Roxas.&mdash;Excursion to the palace and
+gardens of the Buen Retiro.&mdash;The Turkish Ambassador and
+his numerous train.&mdash;Farinelli’s apartments.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>305</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_IX-spn">LETTER IX.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>The Museum and Academy of Arts.&mdash;Scene on the Prado.&mdash;The
+Portuguese Ambassador and his comforters.&mdash;The
+Theatre.&mdash;A highly popular dancer.&mdash;Seguidillas in all their
+glory.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>310</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_X-spn">LETTER X.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Visit to the Escurial.&mdash;Imposing site of that regal convent.&mdash;Reception
+by the Mystagogue of the place.&mdash;Magnificence
+of the choir.&mdash;Charles the Fifth’s organ.&mdash;Crucifix
+by Cellini.&mdash;Gorgeous ceiling painted by Lucca Giordano.&mdash;Extent
+and intricacy of the stupendous edifice.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>314</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XI-spn">LETTER XI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Mysterious cabinets.&mdash;Relics of Martyrs.&mdash;A feather from
+the Archangel Gabriel’s wing.&mdash;Labyrinth of gloomy cloisters.&mdash;Sepulchral
+cave.&mdash;River of death.&mdash;The regal sarcophagi.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>323</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XII-spn">LETTER XII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>A concert and ball at Senhor Pacheco’s.&mdash;Curious assemblage
+in his long pompous gallery.&mdash;Deplorable ditty by an
+eastern dilettante.&mdash;A bolero in the most rapturous style.&mdash;Boccharini
+in despair.&mdash;Solecisms in dancing.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>329</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XIII-spn">LETTER XIII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Palace of Madrid.&mdash;Masterly productions of the great
+Italian, Spanish, and Flemish painters.&mdash;The King’s sleeping
+apartment.&mdash;Musical clocks.&mdash;Feathered favourites.&mdash;Picture
+of the Madonna del Spasimo.&mdash;Interview with Don
+Gabriel and the Infanta.&mdash;Her Royal Highness’s affecting
+recollections of home.&mdash;Head-quarters of Masserano.&mdash;Exhibition
+of national manners there.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>339</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XIV-spn">LETTER XIV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>A German Visionary.&mdash;Remarkable conversation with
+him.&mdash;History of a Ghost-seer.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>349</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XV-spn">LETTER XV.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Madame Bendicho.&mdash;Unsuccessful search on the Prado.&mdash;Kauffman,
+an infidel in the German style.&mdash;Mass in the
+chapel of the Virgin.&mdash;The Duchess of Alba’s villa.&mdash;Destruction
+by a young French artist of the paintings of Rubens.&mdash;French
+ambassador’s ball.&mdash;Heir-apparent of the
+house of Medina Celi.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>354</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XVI-spn">LETTER XVI.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Visit from the Turkish Ambassador.&mdash;Stroll to the gardens
+of the Buen Retiro.&mdash;Troop of ostriches.&mdash;Madame
+d’Aranda.&mdash;State of Cortejo-ism.&mdash;Powers of drapery.&mdash;Madame
+d’Aranda’s toilet.&mdash;Assembly at the house of Madame
+Badaan.&mdash;Cortejos off duty.&mdash;Blaze of beauty.&mdash;A
+curious group.&mdash;A dance.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>358</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XVII-spn">LETTER XVII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Valley of Aranjuez.&mdash;The island garden.&mdash;The palace.&mdash;Strange
+medley of pictures.&mdash;Oratories of the King and the
+Queen.&mdash;Destruction of a grand apartment painted in fresco
+by Mengs.&mdash;Boundless freedom of conduct in the present
+reign.&mdash;Decoration of the Duchess of Ossuna’s house.&mdash;Apathy
+pervading the whole Iberian peninsula.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>365</p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="#LETTER_XVIII-spn">LETTER XVIII.</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><p>Explore the extremities of the Calle de la Reyna.&mdash;Destructive
+rage for improvement.&mdash;Loveliness of the valley
+of Aranjuez.&mdash;Undisturbed happiness of the animals there.&mdash;Degeneration
+of the race of grandees.&mdash;A royal cook.</p></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><p>376</p></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<h2><a name="PORTUGAL" id="PORTUGAL"></a>PORTUGAL.<a name="page_vol_2_2002" id="page_vol_2_2002"></a></h2>
+
+<p class="cb">PREFACE<br /><br />
+TO<br /><br />
+PORTUGUESE LETTERS.</p>
+
+<div class="notte">
+<p>Portugal attracting much attention in her present convulsed and
+declining state, it might not perhaps be uninteresting to the public to
+cast back a glance by way of contrast to the happier times when she
+enjoyed, under the mild and beneficent reign of Donna Maria the First, a
+great share of courtly and commercial prosperity.</p>
+
+<p>March 1, 1834.<a name="page_vol_2_2005" id="page_vol_2_2005"></a><a name="page_vol_2_2004" id="page_vol_2_2004"></a></p>
+</div>
+
+<h2>PORTUGAL.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_I-port" id="LETTER_I-port"></a>LETTER I.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Detained at Falmouth.&mdash;Navigation at a stop.&mdash;An evening ramble.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Falmouth, March 6, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> glass is sinking; the west wind gently breathing upon the water, the
+smoke softly descending into the room, and sailors yawning dismally at
+the door of every ale-house.</p>
+
+<p>Navigation seems at a full stop. The captains lounging about with their
+hands in their pockets, and passengers idling at billiards. Dr. V&mdash;&mdash;
+has scraped acquaintance with a quaker, and went last night to one of
+their assemblies, where he kept jingling his fine Genevan watch-chains
+to their sober and silent dismay.</p>
+
+<p>In the intervals of the mild showers with which we are blessed, I ramble
+about some<a name="page_vol_2_2006" id="page_vol_2_2006"></a> fields already springing with fresh herbage, which slope
+down to the harbour: the immediate environs of Falmouth are not
+unpleasant upon better acquaintance. Just out of the town, in a
+sheltered recess of the bay, lies a grove of tall elms, forming several
+avenues carpeted with turf. In the central point rises a stone pyramid
+about thirty feet high, well designed and constructed, but quite plain
+without any inscription; between the stems of the trees one discovers a
+low white house, built in and out in a very capricious manner, with
+oriel windows and porches, shaded by bushes of prosperous bay. Several
+rose-coloured cabbages, with leaves as crisped and curled as those of
+the acanthus, decorate a little grass-plat, neatly swept, before the
+door. Over the roof of this snug habitation I spied the skeleton of a
+gothic mansion, so completely robed with thick ivy, as to appear like
+one of those castles of clipped box I have often seen in a Dutch garden.</p>
+
+<p>Yesterday evening, the winds being still, and the sun gleaming warm for
+a moment or two, I visited this spot to examine the ruin, hear birds
+chirp, and scent wall-flowers.<a name="page_vol_2_2007" id="page_vol_2_2007"></a></p>
+
+<p>Two young girls, beautifully shaped, and dressed with a sort of romantic
+provincial elegance, were walking up and down the grove by the pyramid.
+There was something so love-lorn in their gestures, that I have no doubt
+they were sighing out their souls to each other. As a decided amateur of
+this sort of <i>confidential promenade</i>, I would have given my ears to
+have heard their <i>confessions</i>.<a name="page_vol_2_2008" id="page_vol_2_2008"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_II-port" id="LETTER_II-port"></a>LETTER II.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Mines in the parish of Gwynnap.&mdash;Piety and gin.&mdash;Rapid progress of
+Methodism.&mdash;Freaks of fortune.&mdash;Pernicious
+extravagance.&mdash;Minerals.&mdash;Mr. Beauchamp’s mansion.&mdash;Beautiful
+lake.&mdash;The wind still contrary.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Falmouth, March 7, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>S<small>COTT</small> came this morning and took me to see the consolidated mines in the
+parish of Gwynnap; they are situated in a bleak desert, rendered still
+more doleful by the unhealthy appearance of its inhabitants. At every
+step one stumbles upon ladders that lead into utter darkness, or funnels
+that exhale warm copperous vapours. All around these openings the ore is
+piled up in heaps waiting for purchasers. I saw it drawn reeking out of
+the mine by the help of a machine called a whim, put in motion by mules,
+which in their turn are stimulated by impish children hanging over the
+poor brutes, and flogging them round without respite. This dismal scene
+of <i>whims</i>, suffering mules, and<a name="page_vol_2_2009" id="page_vol_2_2009"></a> hillocks of cinders, extends for
+miles. Huge iron engines creaking and groaning, invented by Watt, and
+tall chimneys smoking and flaming, that seem to belong to old Nicholas’s
+abode, diversify the prospect.</p>
+
+<p>Two strange-looking Cornish beings, dressed in ghostly white, conducted
+me about, and very kindly proposed a descent into the bowels of the
+earth, but I declined initiation. These mystagogues occupy a tolerable
+house, with fair sash windows, where the inspectors of the mine hold
+their meetings, and regale upon beef, pudding, and brandy.</p>
+
+<p>While I was standing at the door of this habitation, several woful
+figures in tattered garments, with pickaxes on their shoulders, crawled
+out of a dark fissure and repaired to a hovel, which I learnt was a
+gin-shop. There they pass the few hours allotted them above ground, and
+drink, it is to be hoped, an oblivion of their subterraneous existence.
+Piety as well as gin helps to fill up their leisure moments, and I was
+told that Wesley, who came apostolising into Cornwall a few years ago,
+preached on this very spot to above seven thousand followers.<a name="page_vol_2_2010" id="page_vol_2_2010"></a></p>
+
+<p>Since this period Methodism has made a very rapid progress, and has been
+of no trifling service in diverting the attention of these sons of
+darkness from then present condition to the glories of the life to come.
+However, some people inform me their actual state is not so much to be
+lamented, and that, notwithstanding their pale looks and tattered
+raiment, they are far from being poor or unhealthy. Fortune often throws
+a considerable sum into their laps when they least expect it, and many a
+common miner has been known to gain a hundred pounds in the space of a
+month or two. Like sailors in the first effusion of prize-money, they
+have no notion of turning their good-luck to advantage; but squander the
+fruits of their toil in the silliest species of extravagance. Their
+wives are dressed out in tawdry silks, and flaunt away in ale-houses
+between rows of obedient fiddlers. The money spent, down they sink again
+into damps and darkness.</p>
+
+<p>Having passed about an hour in collecting minerals, stopping engines
+with my finger, and performing all the functions of a diligent young man
+desirous of information, I turned<a name="page_vol_2_2011" id="page_vol_2_2011"></a> my back on smokes, flames, and
+coal-holes, with great pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>Not above a mile-and-a-half from this black bustling scene, in a
+sheltered valley, lies the mansion of Mr. Beauchamp, wrapped up in
+shrubberies of laurel and laurustine. Copses of hazel and holly
+terminate the prospect on almost every side, and in the midst of the
+glen a broad clear stream reflects the impending vegetation. This
+transparent water, after performing the part of a mirror before the
+house, forms a succession of waterfalls which glitter between slopes of
+the smoothest turf, sprinkled with daffodils: numerous flights of
+widgeon and Muscovy ducks, were sprucing themselves on the edge of the
+stream, and two grave swans seemed highly to approve of its woody
+retired banks for the education of their progeny.</p>
+
+<p>Very glad was I to disport on its “margent green,” after crushing
+cinders at every step all the morning; had not the sun hid himself, and
+the air grown chill, I might have fooled away three or four hours with
+the swans and the widgeons, and lost my dinner. Upon my return home, I
+found the wind as contrary as ever, and all thoughts of sailing
+abandoned.<a name="page_vol_2_2012" id="page_vol_2_2012"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_III-port" id="LETTER_III-port"></a>LETTER III.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">A lovely morning.&mdash;Antiquated mansion.&mdash;Its lady.&mdash;Ancestral
+effigies.&mdash;Collection of animals.&mdash;Serene evening.&mdash;Owls.&mdash;Expected
+dreams.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Falmouth, March 8, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>W<small>HAT</small> a lovely morning! how glassy the sea, how busy the fishing-boats,
+and how fast asleep the wind in its old quarter! Towards evening,
+however, it freshened, and I took a toss in a boat with Mr. Trefusis,
+whose territories extend half round the bay. His green hanging downs
+spotted with sheep, and intersected by rocky gullies, shaded by tall
+straight oaks and ashes, form a romantic prospect, very much in the
+style of Mount Edgcumbe.</p>
+
+<p>We drank tea at the capital of these dominions, an antiquated mansion,
+which is placed in a hollow on the summit of a lofty hill, and contains
+many ruinous halls and never-ending passages: they cannot, however, be
+said<a name="page_vol_2_2013" id="page_vol_2_2013"></a> to lead to nothing, like those celebrated by Gray in his Long
+Story, for Mrs. Trefusis terminated the perspective. She is a native of
+Lausanne, and was quite happy to see her countryman Verdeil.</p>
+
+<p>We should have very much enjoyed her conversation, but the moment tea
+was over, the squire could not resist leading us round his improvements
+in kennel, stable, and oxstall: though it was pitch-dark, and we were
+obliged to be escorted by grooms and groomlings with candles and
+lanterns; a very necessary precaution, as the winds blew not more
+violently without the house than within.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of our peregrination through halls, pantries, and
+antechambers, we passed a staircase with heavy walnut-railing, lined
+from top to bottom with effigies of ancestors that looked quite
+formidable by the horny glow of our lanterns; which illumination, dull
+as it was, occasioned much alarm amongst a collection of animals, both
+furred and feathered, the delight of Mr. Trefusis’s existence.</p>
+
+<p>Every corner of his house contains some strange and stinking inhabitant;
+one can hardly move without stumbling over a basket of<a name="page_vol_2_2014" id="page_vol_2_2014"></a> puppies, or
+rolling along a mealy tub, with ferrets in the bottom of it; rap went my
+head against a wire cage, and behold a squirrel twirled out of its sleep
+in sad confusion: a little further on, I was very near being the
+destruction of some new-born dormice&mdash;their feeble squeak haunts my ears
+at this moment!</p>
+
+<p>Beyond this nursery, a door opened and admitted us into a large saloon,
+in the days of Mr. Trefusis’s father very splendidly decorated, but at
+present exhibiting nothing, save damp plastered walls, mouldering
+floors, and cracked windows. A well-known perfume issuing from this
+apartment, proclaimed the neighbourhood of those fragrant animals, which
+you perfectly recollect were the joy of my infancy, and presently three
+or four couple of spanking yellow rabbits made their appearance. A
+racoon poked his head out of a coop, whilst an owl lifted up the gloom
+of his countenance, and gave us his malediction.</p>
+
+<p>My nose having lost all relish for <i>rabbitish</i> odours, took refuge in my
+handkerchief; there did I keep it snug till it pleased our conductors to
+light us through two or three closets, all of a flutter with Virginia
+nightingales, goldfinches,<a name="page_vol_2_2015" id="page_vol_2_2015"></a> and canary-birds, into the stable. Several
+game-cocks fell a crowing with most triumphant shrillness upon our
+approach; and a monkey&mdash;the image of poor Brandoin&mdash;expanded his jaws in
+so woful a manner, that I grew melancholy, and paid the hunters not half
+the attention they merited.</p>
+
+<p>At length we got into the open air again, made our bows and departed.
+The evening was become serene and pleasant, the moon beamed brilliantly
+on the sea; but the owls, who are never to be pleased, hooted most
+ruefully.</p>
+
+<p>Good night: I expect to dream of <i>closed-up doors</i>,<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> and haunted
+passages; rats, puppies, racoons, game-cocks, rabbits, and dormice.<a name="page_vol_2_2016" id="page_vol_2_2016"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_IV-port" id="LETTER_IV-port"></a>LETTER IV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">A blustering night.&mdash;Tedium of the language of the
+compass.&mdash;Another excursion to Trefusis.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Falmouth, March 10, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>THOUGHT</small> last night our thin pasteboard habitation would have been
+blown into the sea, for never in my life did I hear such dreadful
+blusterings. Perhaps the winds are celebrating the approach of the
+equinox, or some high festival in Æolus’s calendar, with which we poor
+mortals are unacquainted. How tired I am of the language of the compass,
+of wind shifting to this point and veering to the other; of gales
+springing up, and breezes freshening; of rough seas, clear berths, ships
+driving, and anchors lifting. Oh! that I was rooted like a tree, in some
+sheltered corner of an inland valley, where I might never hear more of
+saltwater or sailing.</p>
+
+<p>You cannot wonder at my becoming impatient,<a name="page_vol_2_2017" id="page_vol_2_2017"></a> after eleven days’
+captivity, nor at my wishing myself anywhere but where I am: I should
+almost prefer a quarantine party at the new elegant Lazaretto off
+Marseilles, to this smoky residence; at least, I might there learn some
+curious particulars of the Levant, enjoy bright sunshine, and perfect
+myself in Arabic. But what can a being of my turn do at Falmouth? I have
+little taste for the explanation of fire-engines, Mr. Scott; the pursuit
+of hares under the auspices of young Trefusis; or the gliding of
+billiard-balls in the society of Barbadoes Creoles and packet-boat
+captains. The Lord have mercy upon me! now, indeed, do I perform
+penance.</p>
+
+<p>Our dinner yesterday went off tolerably well. We had <i>on</i> the table a
+savoury pig, right worthy of Otaheite, and some of the finest poultry I
+ever tasted; and <i>round</i> the table two or three brace of odd Cornish
+gentlefolks, not deficient in humour and originality.</p>
+
+<p>About eight in the evening, six game-cocks were ushered into the
+eating-room by two limber lads in scarlet jackets; and, after a flourish
+of crowing, the noble birds set-to with surprising keenness. Tufts of
+brilliant feathers<a name="page_vol_2_2018" id="page_vol_2_2018"></a> soon flew about the apartment; but the carpet was
+not stained with the blood of the combatants: for, to do Trefusis
+justice, he has a generous heart, and takes no pleasure in cruelty. The
+cocks were unarmed, had their spurs cut short, and may live to fight
+fifty such harmless battles.<a name="page_vol_2_2019" id="page_vol_2_2019"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_V-port" id="LETTER_V-port"></a>LETTER V.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="c">Regrets produced by Contrasts.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Falmouth, March 11, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>W<small>HAT</small> a fool was I to leave my beloved retirement at Evian! Instead of
+viewing innumerable transparent rills falling over the amber-coloured
+rocks of Melierie, I am chained down to contemplate an oozy beach,
+deserted by the sea, and becrawled with worms tracking their way in the
+slime that harbours them. Instead of the cheerful crackling of a
+wood-fire in the old baron’s great hall, I hear the bellowing of winds
+in narrow chimneys. You must allow the aromatic fragrance of fir-cones,
+such heaps of which I used to burn in Savoy, is greatly preferable to
+the exhalations of Welsh coal, and that to a person wrapped up in
+musical devotion, high mass must be a good deal superior to the hummings
+and hawings of a Quaker assembly. Colett swears<a name="page_vol_2_2020" id="page_vol_2_2020"></a> he had rather be
+boarded at the Inquisition than remain at the mercy of the confounded
+keeper of this hotel, the worst and the dearest in Christendom. We are
+all tired to death, and know not what to do with ourselves.</p>
+
+<p>As I look upon ennui to be very catching, I shall break off before I
+give you a share of it.<a name="page_vol_2_2021" id="page_vol_2_2021"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_VI-port" id="LETTER_VI-port"></a>LETTER VI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Still no prospect of embarkation.&mdash;Pen-dennis Castle.&mdash;Luxuriant
+vegetation.&mdash;A serene day.&mdash;Anticipations of the voyage.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Falmouth, March 13, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>N<small>O</small> prospect of launching this day upon the ocean. Every breeze is
+subsided, and a profound calm established. I walk up and down the path
+which leads to Pen-dennis Castle with folded arms, in a most listless
+desponding mood. Vast brakes of furze, much stouter and loftier than any
+with which I am acquainted, scent the air with the perfume of apricots.
+Primroses, violets, and fresh herbs innumerable expand on every bank.
+Larks, poised in the soft blue sky, warble delightfully. The sea, far
+and wide, is covered with fishing-boats; and such a stillness prevails,
+that I hear the voices of the fishermen.</p>
+
+<p>You will be rambling in sheltered alleys, whilst winds and currents
+drive me furiously<a name="page_vol_2_2022" id="page_vol_2_2022"></a> along craggy shores, under the scowl of a
+tempestuous sky. You will be angling for perch, whilst sharks are
+whetting their teeth at me. Methinks I hear the voracious gluttons
+disputing the first snap, and pointing upwards their cold slimy noses.
+Out upon them! I have no desire to invade their element, or (using
+poetical language) to plough those plains of waves which brings them
+rich harvests of carcasses, and had much rather cling fast to the green
+banks of Pen-dennis. I even prefer mining to sailing; and of the two,
+had rather be swallowed up by the earth than the ocean.</p>
+
+<p>I wish some “swart fairy of the mine” would snatch me to her
+concealments. Rather than pass a month in the qualms of sea-sickness, I
+would consent to live three by candlelight, in the deepest den you could
+discover, stuck close to a foul midnight hag as mouldy as a rotten
+apple.</p>
+
+<p>This, you will tell me, is being very energetic in my aversions, that I
+allow; but such, you know, is my trim, and I cannot help it.<a name="page_vol_2_2023" id="page_vol_2_2023"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_VII-port" id="LETTER_VII-port"></a>LETTER VII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Portugal.&mdash;Excursion to Pagliavam.&mdash;The villa.&mdash;Dismal labyrinths
+in the Dutch style.&mdash;Roses.&mdash;Anglo-Portuguese Master of the
+Horse.&mdash;Interior of the Palace.&mdash;Furniture in petticoats.&mdash;Force of
+education.&mdash;Royalty without power.&mdash;Return from the Palace.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">30th May, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>H<small>ORNE</small> persuaded me much against my will to accompany him in his
+Portuguese chaise to Pagliavam, the residence of John the Fifth’s
+bastards, instead of following my usual track along the sea-shore. The
+roads to this stately garden are abominable, and more infested by
+beggars, dogs, flies, and musquitoes, than any I am acquainted with. The
+villa itself, which belongs to the Marquis of Lourical, is placed in a
+hollow, and the tufted groves which surround it admit not a breath of
+air; so I was half suffocated the moment I entered their shade.</p>
+
+<p>A great flat space before the garden-front<a name="page_vol_2_2024" id="page_vol_2_2024"></a> of the villa is laid out in
+dismal labyrinths of clipped myrtle, with lofty pyramids rising from
+them, in the style of that vile Dutch maze planted by King William at
+Kensington, and rooted up some years ago by King George the Third.
+Beyond this puzzling ground are several long alleys of stiff dark
+verdure, called <i>ruas</i>, <i>i. e.</i> literally streets, with great propriety,
+being more close, more formal, and not less dusty than High-Holborn. I
+deviated from them into plats of well-watered vegetables and aromatic
+herbs, enclosed by neat fences of cane, covered with an embroidery of
+the freshest and most perfect roses, quite free from insects and
+cankers, worthy to have strewn the couches and graced the bosom of Lais,
+Aspasia, or Lady&mdash;&mdash;. You know how warmly every mortal of taste delights
+in these lovely flowers; how frequently, and in what harmonious numbers,
+Ariosto has celebrated them. Has not Lady &mdash;&mdash; a whole apartment painted
+over with roses? Does she not fill her bath with their leaves, and deck
+her idols with garlands of no other flowers? and is she not quite in the
+right of it?</p>
+
+<p>Whilst I was poetically engaged with the<a name="page_vol_2_2025" id="page_vol_2_2025"></a> roses, Horne entered into
+conversation with a sort of Anglo-Portuguese Master of the Horse to
+their bastard highnesses. He had a snug well-powdered wig, a bright
+silver-hilted sword, a crimson full-dress suit, and a gently bulging
+paunch. With one hand in his bosom and the other in the act of taking
+snuff, he harangued emphatically upon the holiness, temperance, and
+chastity of his august masters, who live sequestered from the world in
+dingy silent state, abhor profane company, and never cast a look upon
+females.</p>
+
+<p>Being curious to see the abode of these semi-royal sober personages, I
+entered the palace. Not an insect stirred, not a whisper was audible.
+The principal apartments consist in a suite of lofty-coved saloons,
+nobly proportioned, and uniformly hung with damask of the deepest
+crimson. The upper end of each room is doubly shaded by a ponderous
+canopy of cut velvet. To the right and left appear rows of huge
+elbow-chairs of the same materials. No glasses, no pictures, no gilding,
+no decoration, but heavy drapery; even the tables are concealed by cut
+velvet flounces, in the style of those with which our dowagers used<a name="page_vol_2_2026" id="page_vol_2_2026"></a>
+formerly to array their toilets. The very sight of such close tables is
+enough to make one perspire; and I cannot imagine what demon prompted
+the Portuguese to invent such a fusty fashion.</p>
+
+<p>This taste for putting commodes and tables into petticoats is pretty
+general here, at least in royal apartments. At Queluz, not a card or
+dining-table has escaped; and many an old court-dress, I should suspect,
+has been cut up to furnish these accoutrements, which are of all
+colours, plain and flowered, pastorally sprigged or gorgeously
+embroidered. Not so at Pagliavam. Crimson alone prevails, and casts its
+royal gloom unrivalled on every object. Stuck fast to the wall, between
+two of the aforementioned tables, are two fauteuils for their
+highnesses; and opposite, a rank of chairs for those reverend fathers in
+God who from time to time are honoured with admittance.</p>
+
+<p>How mighty is the force of Education!&mdash;What pains it must require on the
+part of nurses, equerries, and chamberlains, to stifle every lively and
+generous sensation in the princelings they educate,&mdash;to break a human
+being into the habits of impotent royalty!<a name="page_vol_2_2027" id="page_vol_2_2027"></a> Dignity without command is
+one of the heaviest of burthens. A sovereign may employ himself; he has
+the choice of good or evil; but princes, like those of Pagliavam,
+without power or influence, who have nothing to feed on but imaginary
+greatness, must yawn their souls out, and become in process of time as
+formal and inanimate as the pyramids of stunted myrtle in their gardens.
+Happier were those babies King John did not think proper to recognize,
+and they are not few in number, for that pious monarch,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6">“Wide as his command,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">“Scattered his Maker’s image through the land.”<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>They, perhaps, whilst their brothers are gaping under rusty canopies,
+tinkle their guitars in careless moonlight rambles, wriggle in gay
+fandangos, or enjoy sound sleep, rural fare, and merriment, in the
+character of jolly village curates.</p>
+
+<p>I was glad to get out of the palace; its stillness and gloom depressed
+my spirits, and a confined atmosphere, impregnated with the smell of
+burnt lavender, almost overcame me. I am just returned gasping for air.
+No wonder; one might as well be in bed with a warming-pan as<a name="page_vol_2_2028" id="page_vol_2_2028"></a> in a
+Portuguese cariole with the portly Horne, who carries a noble
+protuberance, set off in this season with a satin waistcoat richly
+spangled.</p>
+
+<p>I must go to Cintra, or I shall expire!<a name="page_vol_2_2029" id="page_vol_2_2029"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_VIII-port" id="LETTER_VIII-port"></a>LETTER VIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Glare of the climate in Portugal.&mdash;Apish luxury.&mdash;Botanic
+Gardens.&mdash;Açafatas.&mdash;Description of the Gardens and Terraces.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">May 31, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>I<small>T</small> is in vain I call upon clouds to cover me and fogs to wrap me up. You
+can form no adequate idea of the continual glare of this renowned
+climate. Lisbon is the place in the world best calculated to make one
+cry out</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">“Hide me from day’s garish eye;”<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p class="nind">but where to hide is not so easy. Here are no thickets of pine as in the
+classic Italian villas, none of those quivering poplars and leafy
+chestnuts which cover the plains of Lombardy. The groves in the
+immediate environs of this capital are composed of&mdash;with, alas! but few
+exceptions&mdash;dwarfish orange-trees and cinder-coloured olives. Under
+their branches repose neither shepherds nor shepherdesses, but
+whitening<a name="page_vol_2_2030" id="page_vol_2_2030"></a> bones, scraps of leather, broken pantiles, and passengers not
+unfrequently attended by monkeys, who, I have been told, are let out for
+the purpose of picking up a livelihood. Those who cannot afford this
+apish luxury, have their bushy poles untenanted by affectionate
+relations, for yesterday just under my window I saw two blessed babies
+rendering this good office to their aged parent.</p>
+
+<p>I had determined not to have stirred beyond the shade of my awning;
+however, towards eve, the extreme fervour of the sun being a little
+abated, old Horne (who has yet a colt’s-tooth) prevailed upon me to walk
+in the Botanic Gardens, where not unfrequently are to be found certain
+youthful animals of the female gender called Açafatas, in Portuguese; a
+species between a bedchamber woman and a maid of honour. The Queen has
+kindly taken the ugliest with her to the Caldas: those who remain have
+large black eyes sparkling with the true spirit of adventure, an
+exuberant flow of dark hair, and pouting lips of the colour and size of
+full-blown roses.</p>
+
+<p>All this, you will tell me, does not compose a perfect beauty. I never
+meant to convey such<a name="page_vol_2_2031" id="page_vol_2_2031"></a> a notion: I only wish you to understand that the
+nymphs we have just quitted are the flowers of the Queen’s flock, and
+that she has, at least, four or five dozen more in attendance upon her
+sacred person, with larger mouths, smaller eyes, and swarthier
+complexions.</p>
+
+<p>Not being in sufficient spirits to flourish away in Portuguese, my
+conversation was chiefly addressed to a lovely blue-eyed Irish girl of
+fifteen or sixteen, lately married to an officer of her Majesty’s
+customs. Spouse goes a pilgrimaging to Nossa Senhora do Cabo&mdash;little
+madam whisks about the Botanic Garden with the ladies of the palace and
+a troop of sopranos, who teach her to warble and speak Italian. She is
+well worth teaching everything in their power. Her hair of the loveliest
+auburn, her straight Grecian eyebrows and fair complexion, form a
+striking contrast to the gipsy-coloured skins and jetty tresses of her
+companions. She looked like a visionary being skimming along the alleys,
+and leaving the pot-bellied sopranos and dowdy Açafatas far behind,
+wondering at her agility.</p>
+
+<p>The garden is pleasant enough, situated upon an eminence, planted with
+light flowering<a name="page_vol_2_2032" id="page_vol_2_2032"></a> trees clustered with blossoms. Above their topmost
+branches rises a broad majestic terrace, with marble balustrades of
+shining whiteness and strange Oriental pattern. They design
+indifferently in this country, but execute with great neatness and
+precision. I never saw balustrades better hewn or chiseled than those
+bordering the steps which lead up to the grand terrace. Its ample
+surface is laid out in oblong compartments of marble, containing no very
+great variety of heliotropes, aloes, geraniums, china-roses, and the
+commonest plants of our green-houses. Such ponderous divisions have a
+dismal effect; they reminded one of a place of interment, and it struck
+me as if the deceased inhabitants of the adjoining palace were sprouting
+up in the shape of prickly-pears, Indian-figs, gaudy holly-oaks, and
+peppery capsicums.</p>
+
+<p>The terrace is about fifteen hundred paces in length. Three copious
+fountains give it an air of coolness, much increased by the waving of
+tall acacias, exposed by their lofty situation to every breeze which
+blows from the entrance of the Tagus, whose lovely azure appears to
+great advantage between the quivering foliage.<a name="page_vol_2_2033" id="page_vol_2_2033"></a></p>
+
+<p>The Irish girl and your faithful correspondent coursed each other like
+children along the terrace, and when tired reposed under a group of
+gigantic Brazilian aloes by one of the fountains. The swarthy party
+detached its principal guardian, a gawky young priest, to observe all
+the wanderings and riposos of us white people.</p>
+
+<p>It was late, and the sun had set several minutes before I took my
+departure. Black eyes and blue eyes seem horridly jealous of each other.
+I fear my youthful and lively companion will suffer for having more
+alertness than the Açafatas: she will be pinched, if I am not mistaken,
+as the party return through the dark and intricate passages which join
+the palace of the Ajuda to the gardens. Sad thought, the leaving such a
+fair little being in the hands of fiery, despotic females, so greatly
+her inferiors in complexion and delicacy.</p>
+
+<p>They will take especial care, I warrant them, to fill the husband’s head
+with suspicions less charitable than those inspired by Nossa Senhora do
+Cabo.<a name="page_vol_2_2034" id="page_vol_2_2034"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_IX-port" id="LETTER_IX-port"></a>LETTER IX.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Consecration of the Bishop of Algarve.&mdash;Pathetic Music.&mdash;Valley of
+Alcantara.&mdash;Enormous Aqueduct.&mdash;Visit to the Marialva Palace.&mdash;Its
+much revered Masters.&mdash;Collection of Rarities.&mdash;The Viceroy of
+Algarve.&mdash;Polyglottery.&mdash;A Night-scene.&mdash;Modinhas.&mdash;Extraordinary
+Procession.&mdash;Blessings of Patriarchal Government.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">3 June, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>W<small>E</small> went by special invitation to the royal Convent of the Necessidades,
+belonging to the Oratorians, to see the ceremony of consecrating a
+father of that order Bishop of Algarve, and were placed fronting the
+altar in a gallery crowded with important personages in shining raiment,
+the relations of the new prelate. The floor being spread with rich
+Persian carpets and velvet cushions, it was pretty good kneeling; but,
+notwithstanding this comfortable accommodation, I thought the ceremony
+would never finish. There was a mighty glitter of crosses, censers,
+mitres, and crosiers, continually in motion,<a name="page_vol_2_2035" id="page_vol_2_2035"></a> as several bishops
+assisted in all their pomp.</p>
+
+<p>The music, which was extremely simple and pathetic, appeared to affect
+the grandees in my neighbourhood very profoundly, for they put on woful
+contrite countenances, thumped their breasts, and seemed to think
+themselves, as most of them are, miserable sinners. Feeling oppressed by
+the heat and the sermon, I made my retreat slyly and silently from the
+splendid gallery, and passed through some narrow corridors, as warm as
+flues, into the garden.</p>
+
+<p>But this was only exchanging one scene of formality and closeness for
+another. I panted after air, and to obtain that blessing escaped through
+a little narrow door into the wild free valley of Alcantara. Here all
+was solitude and humming of bees, and fresh gales blowing from the
+entrance of the Tagus over the tufted tops of orange gardens. The
+refreshing sound of water-wheels seemed to give me new life.</p>
+
+<p>I set the sun at defiance, and advanced towards that part of the valley
+across which stretches the enormous aqueduct you have heard so often
+mentioned as the most colossal<a name="page_vol_2_2036" id="page_vol_2_2036"></a> edifice of its kind in Europe. It has
+only one row of pointed openings, and the principal arch, which crosses
+a rapid brook, measures above two hundred and fifty feet in height. The
+Pont de Garde and Caserta have several rows of arches one above the
+other, which, by dividing the attention, take off from the size of the
+whole. There is a vastness in this single range that strikes with
+astonishment. I sat down on a fragment of rock, under the great arch,
+and looked up to the vaulted stone-work so high above me with a
+sensation of awe not unallied to fear; as if the building I gazed upon
+was the performance of some immeasurable being endued with gigantic
+strength, who might perhaps take a fancy to saunter about his works this
+morning, and, in mere awkwardness, crush me to atoms.</p>
+
+<p>Hard by the spot where I sat are several inclosures filled with canes,
+eleven or twelve feet high: their fresh green leaves, agitated by the
+feeblest wind, form a perpetual murmur. I am fond of this rustling, and
+suffered myself to be lulled by it into a state of very necessary repose
+after the fatigues of scrambling over crags and precipices.<a name="page_vol_2_2037" id="page_vol_2_2037"></a></p>
+
+<p>As soon as I returned from my walk, Horne took me to dine with him, and
+afterwards to the Marialva Palace to pay the Grand Prior a visit. The
+court-yard, filled with shabby two-wheeled chaises, put me in mind of
+the entrance of a French post-house; a recollection not weakened by the
+sight of several ample heaps of manure, between which we made the best
+of our way up the great staircase, and had near tumbled over a swingeing
+sow and her numerous progeny, which escaped from under our legs with
+bitter squeakings.</p>
+
+<p>This hubbub announced our arrival, so out came the Grand Prior, his
+nephew, the old Abade, and a troop of domestics. All great Portuguese
+families are infested with herds of these, in general, ill-favoured
+dependants; and none more than the Marialvas, who dole out every day
+three hundred portions, at least, of rice and other eatables to as many
+greedy devourers.</p>
+
+<p>The Grand Prior had shed his pontifical garments and did the honours of
+the house, and conducted us with much agility all over the apartments,
+and through the <i>manège</i>, where the old Marquis, his brother, though at
+a very<a name="page_vol_2_2038" id="page_vol_2_2038"></a> advanced age, displays feats of the most consummate
+horsemanship. He seems to have a decided taste for clocks, compasses,
+and time-keepers. I counted no less than ten in his bedchamber; four or
+five in full swing, making a loud hissing: they were chiming and
+striking away (for it was exactly six) when I followed my conductor up
+and down half-a-dozen staircases into a saloon hung with rusty damask.</p>
+
+<p>A table in the centre of this antiquated apartment was covered with
+rarities brought forth for our inspection; curious shell-work, ivory
+crucifixes, models of ships, housings embroidered with feathers, and the
+Lord knows what besides, stinking of camphor enough to knock one down.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst we were staring with all our eyes and holding our handkerchiefs
+to our noses, the Count of V&mdash;&mdash;, Viceroy of Algarve, made his
+appearance, in grand pea-green and pink and silver gala, straddling and
+making wry faces as if some disagreeable accident had befallen him. He
+was, however, in a most gracious mood, and received our eulogiums upon
+his relation, the new bishop, with much complacency. Our conversation
+was limpingly<a name="page_vol_2_2039" id="page_vol_2_2039"></a> carried on in a great variety of broken languages.
+Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, and English, had each their turn
+in rapid succession. The subject of all this polyglottery was the
+glories and piety of John the Fifth, regret for the extinction of the
+Jesuits, and the reverse for the death of Pombal, whose memory he holds
+in something not distantly removed from execration. This flow of
+eloquence was accompanied by the strangest, most buffoonical grimaces
+and slobberings I ever beheld, for the Viceroy having a perennial
+moistness of mouth, drivels at every syllable.</p>
+
+<p>One must not, however, decide too hastily upon outward appearances. This
+slobbering, canting personage, is a distinguished statesman and good
+officer, pre-eminent amongst the few who have seen service and given
+proofs of prowess and capacity.</p>
+
+<p>To escape the long-winded narrations which were pouring warm into my
+ear, I took refuge near a harpsichord, where Policarpio, one of the
+first tenors in the Queen’s chapel, was singing and accompanying
+himself. The curtains of the door of an adjoining dark apartment being
+<a name="page_vol_2_2040" id="page_vol_2_2040"></a>half drawn, gave me a transient glimpse of Donna Henriquetta de L&mdash;&mdash;,
+Don Pedro’s sister, advancing one moment and retiring the next, eager to
+approach and examine us exotic beings, but not venturing to enter the
+saloon during her mother’s absence. She appeared to me a most
+interesting girl, with eyes full of bewitching languor;&mdash;but of what do
+I talk? I only saw her pale and evanescent, as one fancies one sees
+objects in a dream. A group of lovely children (her sisters, I believe)
+sat at her feet upon the ground, resembling genii partially concealed by
+folds of drapery in some grand allegorical picture by Rubens or Paul
+Veronese.</p>
+
+<p>Night approaching, lights glimmered on the turrets, terraces, and every
+part of the strange huddle of buildings of which this morisco-looking
+palace is composed; half the family were engaged in reciting the
+litanies of saints, the other in freaks and frolics, perhaps of no very
+edifying nature: the monotonous staccato of the guitar, accompanied by
+the low soothing murmur of female voices singing modinhas, formed
+altogether a strange though not unpleasant combination of sounds.</p>
+
+<p>I was listening to them with avidity, when a<a name="page_vol_2_2041" id="page_vol_2_2041"></a> glare of flambeaus, and
+the noise of a splashing and dashing of water, called us out upon the
+verandas, in time to witness a procession scarcely equalled since the
+days of Noah. I doubt whether his ark contained a more heterogeneous
+collection of animals than issued from a scalera with fifty oars, which
+had just landed the old Marquis of M. and his son Don Josè, attended by
+a swarm of musicians, poets, bullfighters, grooms, monks, dwarfs, and
+children of both sexes, fantastically dressed.</p>
+
+<p>The whole party, it seems, were returned from a pilgrimage to some
+saint’s nest or other on the opposite shore of the Tagus. First jumped
+out a hump-backed dwarf, blowing a little squeaking trumpet three or
+four inches long; then a pair of led captains, apparently commanded by a
+strange, old, swaggering fellow in a showy uniform, who, I was told, had
+acted the part of a sort of brigadier-general in some sort of an island.
+Had it been Barataria, Sancho would soon have sent him about his
+business, for, if we believe the scandalous chronicle of Lisbon, a more
+impudent buffoon, parasite, and pilferer seldom existed.</p>
+
+<p>Close at his heels stalked a savage-looking<a name="page_vol_2_2042" id="page_vol_2_2042"></a> monk, as tall as Samson,
+and two Capuchin friars, heavily laden, but with what sort of provision
+I am ignorant; next came a very slim and sallow-faced apothecary, in
+deep sables, completely answering in gait and costume the figure one
+fancies to one’s self of Senhor Apuntador, in Gil Blas, followed by a
+half-crazed improvisatore, spouting verses at us as he passed under the
+balustrades against which we were leaning.</p>
+
+<p>He was hardly out of hearing before a confused rabble of watermen and
+servants with bird-cages, lanterns, baskets of fruit, and chaplets of
+flowers, came gamboling along to the great delight of a bevy of
+children; who, to look more like the inhabitants of Heaven than even
+Nature designed, had light fluttering wings attached to their
+rose-coloured shoulders. Some of these little theatrical angels were
+extremely beautiful, and had their hair most coquettishly arranged in
+ringlets.</p>
+
+<p>The old Marquis is doatingly fond of them; night and day they remain
+with him, imparting all the advantages that can possibly be derived from
+fresh and innocent breath to a declining constitution. The patriarch of
+the<a name="page_vol_2_2043" id="page_vol_2_2043"></a> Marialvas has followed this regimen many years, and also some
+others which are scarcely credible. Having a more than Roman facility of
+swallowing an immense profusion of dainties, and making room continually
+for a fresh supply, he dines alone every day between two silver canteens
+of extraordinary magnitude. Nobody in England would believe me if I
+detailed the enormous repast I saw spread out for him; but let your
+imagination loose upon all that was ever conceived in the way of
+gormandizing, and it will not in this case exceed the reality.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the contents, animal and vegetable, of the principal scalera,
+and three or four other barges in its train, had been deposited in their
+respective holes, corners, and roosting-places, I received an invitation
+from the old Marquis to partake of a collation in his apartment. Not
+less, I am certain, than fifty servants were in waiting, and exclusive
+of half-a-dozen wax-torches, which were borne in state before us, above
+a hundred tapers of different sizes were lighted up in the range of
+rooms, intermingled with silver braziers and cassolettes diffusing a
+very pleasant perfume.<a name="page_vol_2_2044" id="page_vol_2_2044"></a> I found the master of all this magnificence most
+courteous, affable, and engaging. There is an urbanity and good-humour
+in his looks, gestures, and tone of voice, that prepossesses
+instantaneously in his favour, and justifies the universal popularity he
+enjoys, and the affectionate name of Father, by which the Queen and
+Royal Family often address him. All the favours of the crown have been
+heaped upon him by the present and preceding sovereigns, a tide of
+prosperity uninterrupted even during the grand vizariat of Pombal. “Act
+as you judge wisest with the rest of my nobility,” used to say the King
+Don Joseph to this redoubted minister; “but beware how you interfere
+with the Marquis of Marialva.”</p>
+
+<p>In consequence of this decided predilection, the Marialva Palace became
+in many cases a sort of rallying point, an asylum for the oppressed; and
+its master, in more than one instance, a shield against the thunderbolts
+of a too powerful minister. The recollections of these times seem still
+to be kept alive; for the heart-felt respect, the filial adoration, I
+saw paid the old Marquis, was indeed most remarkable; his slightest
+glances were obeyed, and the person<a name="page_vol_2_2045" id="page_vol_2_2045"></a> on whom they fell seemed gratified
+and animated; his sons, the Marquis of Tancos and Don Josè de Meneses,
+never approached to offer him anything without bending the knee; and the
+Conde de Villaverde, the heir of the great house of Anjeja, as well as
+the Viceroy of Algarve, stood in the circle which was formed around him,
+receiving a kind or gracious word with the same thankful earnestness as
+courtiers who hang upon the smiles and favour of their sovereign. I
+shall long remember the grateful sensations with which this scene of
+reciprocal kindness filled me; it appeared an interchange of amiable
+sentiments; beneficence diffused without guile or affectation, and
+protection received without sullen or abject servility.</p>
+
+<p>How preferable is patriarchal government of this nature to the cold
+theories pedantic sophists would establish, and which, should success
+attend their selfish atheistical ravings, bid fair to undermine the best
+and surest props of society! When parents cease to be honoured by their
+children, and the feelings of grateful subordination in those of
+helpless age or condition are unknown, kings will soon cease<a name="page_vol_2_2046" id="page_vol_2_2046"></a> to reign,
+and republics to be governed by the councils of experience; anarchy,
+rapine, and massacre will walk the earth, and the abode of dæmons be
+transferred from hell to our unfortunate planet.<a name="page_vol_2_2047" id="page_vol_2_2047"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_X-port" id="LETTER_X-port"></a>LETTER X.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Festival of the Corpo de Deos.&mdash;Striking decoration of the
+streets.&mdash;The Patriarchal Cathedral.&mdash;Coming forth of the Sacrament
+in awful state.&mdash;Gorgeous Procession.&mdash;Bewildering confusion of
+sounds.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">7th June.</p>
+
+<p>A <small>MOST</small> sonorous peal of bells, an alarming rattle of drums, and a
+piercing flourish of trumpets, roused me at daybreak. You are too
+piously disposed to be ignorant that this day is the festival of the
+Corpo de Deos. I had half a mind to have stayed at home, turning over a
+curious collection of Portuguese chronicles the Prior of Avis has just
+sent to me; but I was told such wonders of the expected procession that
+I could not refuse giving myself a little trouble in order to witness
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Everybody was gone before I set out, and the streets of the suburb I
+inhabit, as well as those in the city through which I passed in my way
+to the patriarchal cathedral, were entirely<a name="page_vol_2_2048" id="page_vol_2_2048"></a> deserted. A pestilence
+seemed to have swept the Great Square and the busy environs of the
+Exchange and India House; for even vagrants, scavengers, and beggars, in
+the last state of decrepitude, had all hobbled away to the scene of
+action. A few miserable curs sniffing at offals alone remained in the
+deserted streets, and I saw no human being at any of the windows, except
+half-a-dozen scabby children blubbering at being kept at home.</p>
+
+<p>The murmur of the crowds, assembled round the <i>patriarchale</i>, reached us
+a long while before we got into the midst of them, for we advanced with
+difficulty between rows of soldiers drawn up in battle array. Upon
+turning a dark angle, overshadowed by the high buildings of the seminary
+adjoining the patriarchale, we discovered houses, shops, and palaces,
+all metamorphosed into tents, and hung from top to bottom with red
+damask, tapestry, satin coverlids, and fringed counterpanes glittering
+with gold. I thought myself in the midst of the Mogul’s encampment, so
+pompously described by Bernier.</p>
+
+<p>The front of the Great Church in particular was most magnificently
+curtained; it rises from a vast flight of steps, which were covered
+to-day<a name="page_vol_2_2049" id="page_vol_2_2049"></a> with the yeomen of the Queen’s guard in their rich
+party-coloured velvet dresses, and a multitude of priests bearing a
+gorgeous variety of painted and silken banners; flocks of sallow monks,
+white, brown, and black, kept pouring in continually, like turkeys
+driving to market.</p>
+
+<p>This part of the holy display lasting a tiresome while, I grew weary,
+and left the balcony, where we were placed most advantageously, and got
+into the church. High mass was performing with awful pomp, incense
+ascending in clouds, and the light of innumerable tapers blazing on the
+diamonds of the ostensory, just elevated by the patriarch with trembling
+devout hands to receive the mysterious wafer.</p>
+
+<p>Before the close of the ceremony, I regained my window, to have a full
+view of the coming forth of the Sacrament. All was expectation and
+silence in the people. The guards had ranged them on each side of the
+steps before the entrance of the church. At length a shower of aromatic
+herbs and flowers announced the approach of the patriarch, bearing the
+host under a regal canopy, surrounded by grandees, and preceded by a
+long train of mitred figures, their hands joined in prayer, their
+scarlet<a name="page_vol_2_2050" id="page_vol_2_2050"></a> and purple vestments sweeping the ground, their attendants
+bearing croziers, crosses, and other insignia of pontifical grandeur.</p>
+
+<p>The procession slowly descending the flights of stairs to the sound of
+choirs and the distant thunder of artillery, lost itself in a winding
+street decorated with embroidered hangings, and left me with my senses
+in a whirl, and my eyes dazzled, as if awakened from a vision of
+celestial splendour.... My head swims at this moment, and my ears tingle
+with a confusion of sounds, bells, voices, and the echoes of cannon,
+prolonged by mountains and wafted over waters.<a name="page_vol_2_2051" id="page_vol_2_2051"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XI-port" id="LETTER_XI-port"></a>LETTER XI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Dinner at the country-house of Mr. S&mdash;&mdash;.&mdash;His Brazilian
+wife.&mdash;Magnificent repast.&mdash;A tragic damsel.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">11th June, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>O-DAY</small> we were engaged to dine in the country at a villa belonging to a
+gentleman, whose volley of names, when pronounced with the true
+Portuguese twang, sounds like an expectoration&mdash;Josè Street-Arriaga-Brum
+da Silveira. Our hospitable host is of Irish extraction, boasts a
+stature of six feet, proportionable breadth, a ruddy countenance,
+herculean legs, and all the exterior attributes, at least, of that
+enterprising race, who often have the luck of marrying great fortunes.
+About a year or two ago he bore off a wealthy Brazilian heiress, and is
+now master of a large estate and a fubsical, squat wife, with a head not
+unlike that of Holofernes in old tapestry, and shoulders that act the
+part of<a name="page_vol_2_2052" id="page_vol_2_2052"></a> a platter with rather too much exactitude. Poor soul! to be
+sure, she is neither a Venus nor a Hebe, has a rough lip, and a manly
+voice, and I fear is somewhat inclined to be dropsical; but her smiles
+are frequent and fondling, and she cleaves to her husband with great
+perseverance.</p>
+
+<p>He is an odd character, will accept of no employment, civil or military,
+and affects a bullying frankness, that I should think must displease
+very much in this country, where independence either in fortune or
+sentiment is a crime seldom if ever tolerated.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. S&mdash;&mdash; likes a display, and the repast he gave us was magnificent;
+sixty dishes at least, eight smoking roasts, and every ragout, French,
+English, and Portuguese, that could be thought of. The dessert appeared
+like the model of a fortification. The principal cake-tower measured, I
+dare say, three feet perpendicular in height. The company was not equal
+either in number or consequence to the splendour of the entertainment.</p>
+
+<p>Had not Miss Sill and Bezerra been luckily in my neighbourhood, I should
+have perished with <i>ennui</i>. One stately damsel, with portentous<a name="page_vol_2_2053" id="page_vol_2_2053"></a>
+eyebrows, and looks that reproached the male part of the assembly with
+inattention, was the only lady of the palace Mr. S&mdash;&mdash; had invited.</p>
+
+<p>I expected to have met the whole troop of my Botanic Garden
+acquaintance, and to have escorted them about the vineyards and
+citron-orchards which surround this villa; but, alas! I was not destined
+to any such amusing excursion. The tragic damsel, who I am told has been
+unhappy in her tender attachments, took my arm, and never quitted it
+during a long walk through Mr. S&mdash;&mdash;’s ample possessions. We conversed
+in Italian, and paid the birds that were singing, and the rills that
+were murmuring, many fine compliments in a sort of prose run mad,
+borrowed from operas and serenatas, the Aminto of Tasso, and the Adone
+of Marini.</p>
+
+<p>The sun was just diffusing his last rays over the distant rocks of
+Cintra, the air balsamic, and the paths amongst the vines springing with
+fresh herbage and a thousand flowers revived by last night’s rain.
+Giving up the narrow tract which leads through these rural regions to
+the signora, I stalked by her side in a furrow well garnished with
+nettles, acanthus,<a name="page_vol_2_2054" id="page_vol_2_2054"></a> and dwarf aloes, stinging and scratching myself at
+every step. This penance, and the disappointment I was feeling most
+acutely, put me not a little out of humour; I regretted so delicious an
+evening should pass away in such forlorn company, and lacerating my legs
+to so little purpose. How should I have enjoyed rambling with the young
+Irish girl about these pleasant clover paths, between festoons of
+luxuriant leaves and tendrils, not fastened to stiff poles and stumpy
+stakes as in France and Switzerland, but climbing up light canes eight
+or ten feet in height!</p>
+
+<p>Pinioned as I was, you may imagine I felt no inclination to prolong a
+walk which already had been prolonged unconscionably. I escaped tea and
+playing at voltarete, made a solemn bow to the solemn damsel, and got
+home before it was quite dark.<a name="page_vol_2_2055" id="page_vol_2_2055"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XII-port" id="LETTER_XII-port"></a>LETTER XII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Pass the day at Belem.&mdash;Visit the neighbouring
+Monastery.&mdash;Habitation of King Emanuel.&mdash;A gold Custodium of
+exquisite workmanship.&mdash;The Church.&mdash;Bonfires on the edge of the
+Tagus.&mdash;Fire-works.&mdash;Images of the Holy One of Lisbon.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">June 12th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>W<small>E</small> passed the day quite <i>en famille</i> at Belem with a whole legion of
+Marialvas. Some reverend fathers, of I know not what community, had sent
+them immense messes of soup, very thick, slab, and oily; a portion
+which, it seems, the faithful are accustomed to swallow on the eve of
+St. Anthony’s festival.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as I decently could, after a collation which was served under an
+awning stretched over one of the terraces, I stole out of the circle of
+lords, ladies, dwarfs, monks, buffoons, bullies, and almoners, to visit
+the neighbouring monastery. I ascended the great stairs, constructed at
+the expense of the Infanta Catherine, King<a name="page_vol_2_2056" id="page_vol_2_2056"></a> Charles the Second’s
+dowager, and after walking in the cloisters of Emanuel, looked into the
+library, which is far from being in the cleanest or best ordered
+condition. The spacious and lofty cloisters present a striking spread of
+arches, which, though not in the purest style, attract the eye by their
+delicately-carved arabesque ornament, and the warm reddish hue of the
+marble. The corridor, into which open an almost endless range of cells,
+is full five hundred feet in length. Each window has a commodious
+resting-place, where the monks loll at their ease and enjoy the view of
+the river.</p>
+
+<p>In a little dark treasury communicating by winding-stairs with that part
+of the edifice tradition points out as the habitation of King Emanuel,
+when at certain holy seasons he retired within these precincts, I was
+shown by candlelight some extremely curious plate, particularly a
+custodium, made in the year 1506, of the pure gold of Quiloa. Nothing
+can be more beautiful as a specimen of elaborate gothic sculpture, than
+this complicated enamelled mass of flying buttresses and fretted
+pinnacles, with the twelve Apostles in their<a name="page_vol_2_2057" id="page_vol_2_2057"></a> niches, under canopies
+formed of ten thousand wreaths and ramifications.</p>
+
+<p>From this gloomy recess, I was conducted to the church, one of the
+largest in Portugal, vast, solemn, and fantastic, like the interior of
+the Temple of Jerusalem, as I have seen it figured in some old German
+Bibles. There was little, however, in the altars or monuments worth any
+very minute investigation.</p>
+
+<p>It fell dark before I went out at the great porch, and found the wide
+space before it beginning to catch a vivid gleam from a line of bonfires
+on the edge of the Tagus. I could hardly reach my carriage without being
+singed by squibs and crackers, and wished myself out the moment I got
+into it, a rocket having shot up just under the noses of my mules and
+scared them terribly.</p>
+
+<p>Unless St. Anthony lulls me asleep by a miracle, I must expect no rest
+to-night, there is such a whizzing of fireworks, blazing of bonfires and
+flourishing of French horns in honour of to-morrow, the five hundred and
+fifty-fifth anniversary of that memorable day, when the Holy One of
+Lisbon<a name="page_vol_2_2058" id="page_vol_2_2058"></a> passed by a soft transition to the joys of Paradise. I saw his
+image at the door of almost every house and even hovel of this populous
+capital, placed on an altar, and decked with a profusion of wax-lights
+and flowers.<a name="page_vol_2_2059" id="page_vol_2_2059"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XIII-port" id="LETTER_XIII-port"></a>LETTER XIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The New Church of St. Anthony.&mdash;Sprightly Music.&mdash;Enthusiastic
+Sermon.&mdash;The good Prior of Avis.&mdash;Visit to the Carthusian Convent
+of Cachiez.&mdash;Spectres of the Order.&mdash;Striking effigy of the
+Saviour.&mdash;A young and melancholy Carthusian.&mdash;The Cemetery.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">June 13th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>SLEPT</small> better than I expected: the Saint was propitious, and during the
+night cooled the ardour of his votaries and the flames of their bonfires
+by a vernal shower, which pattered agreeably this morning amongst the
+vineleaves of my garden. The clouds dispersed about eight o’clock, and
+at nine, just as I ascended the steps of the new church built over the
+identical house where St. Anthony was born, the sun shone out in all its
+splendour.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot say this edifice recalled to my mind the magnificent sanctuary
+of Padua, which five years ago on this very day impressed my imagination
+so forcibly. Here are no constellations<a name="page_vol_2_2060" id="page_vol_2_2060"></a> of golden lamps depending by
+glittering chains from a mysterious vaulted ceiling, no arcades of
+alabaster, no sculptured marbles. The church is supported by two rows of
+pillars neatly carved in stone, but wretchedly proportioned. Over the
+high altar, where stands the revered image in the midst of a bright
+illumination, was stretched a canopy of flowered velvet. This drapery,
+richly fringed and tasseled, marks out the spot formerly occupied by the
+chamber of the saint, and receives an amber-light from a row of tall
+casement windows, the woodwork gleaming with burnished gold.</p>
+
+<p>A great many broad English faces burst forth from amongst the crowd of
+profane vulgar at the portal of the church, and all their eyes were
+directed to their enthusiastic countryman, but he was not to be stared
+out of a decent countenance.</p>
+
+<p>The ceremony was extremely pompous. A prelate of the first rank, with a
+considerable detachment of priests from the royal chapel, officiated to
+the sounds of lively jigs and ranting minuets, better calculated to set
+a parcel of water-drinkers a dancing in a pump-room, than<a name="page_vol_2_2061" id="page_vol_2_2061"></a> to direct the
+movements of a pontiff and his assistants.</p>
+
+<p>After much indifferent music, vocal and instrumental, performed full
+gallop in the most rapid allegro, Frè Joaô Jacinto, a famous preacher,
+mounted the pulpit, lifted up hands and eyes, and poured forth a torrent
+of sounding phrases in honour of St. Anthony. What would I not give for
+such a voice?&mdash;it would almost have reached from Dan unto Beersheba!</p>
+
+<p>The Father has undoubtedly great powers of elocution, and none of that
+canting, nasal whine so common in the delivery of monkish sermons. He
+treated kings, tetrarchs, and conquerors, the heroes and sages of
+antiquity, with ineffable contempt; reduced their palaces and
+fortifications to dust, their armies to pismires, their imperial
+vestments to cobwebs, and impressed all his audience, except the
+heretical squinters at the door, with the most thorough conviction of
+St. Anthony’s superiority over these objects of an erring and impious
+admiration.</p>
+
+<p>“Happy,” exclaimed the preacher, “were those gothic ages, falsely called
+ages of barbarism and ignorance, when the hearts of men,<a name="page_vol_2_2062" id="page_vol_2_2062"></a> uncorrupted by
+the delusive beverage of philosophy, were open to the words of truth
+falling like honey from the mouths of saints and confessors, such words
+as distilled from the lips of Anthony, yet a suckling hanging at the
+breast in this very spot. It was here the spirit of the Most High
+descended upon him, here that he conceived the sublime intention of
+penetrating into the most turbulent parts of Europe, setting the
+inclemency of seasons and the malice of men at defiance, and sprinkling
+amongst lawless nations the seeds of grace and repentance. There, my
+brethren, is the door out of which he issued. Do you not see him in the
+habit of a Menino de Coro, smiling with all the graces of innocence, and
+dispensing with his infant hands to a group of squalid children the
+portion of nourishment he has just received from his mother?</p>
+
+<p>“But Anthony, from the first dawn of his existence, lived for others,
+and not for himself: he forewent even the luxury of meditation, and
+instead of retiring into a peaceful cell, rushed into the world,
+helpless and unprotected, lifting high the banner of the Cross amidst
+perils and uproar, appeasing wars, settling differences both<a name="page_vol_2_2063" id="page_vol_2_2063"></a> public and
+domestic, exhorting at the risk of his life ruffians and plunderers to
+make restitution, and armed misers, guarding their coffers with bloody
+swords, to open their hearts and their hands to the distresses of the
+widow and the fatherless.</p>
+
+<p>“Anthony ever sighed after the crown of martyrdom, and had long
+entertained an ardent desire of passing over into Morocco, and exposing
+himself to the fury of its bigoted and cruel sovereign; but the commands
+of his superior retain him on the point of embarkation; he makes a
+sacrifice of even this most laudable and glorious ambition; he traverses
+Spain, repairs to Assisi, embraces the rigid order of the great St.
+Francis, and continues to his last hour administering consolation to the
+dejected, fortifying their hopes of heaven, and confirming the faith of
+such as were wavering or deluded by a succession of prodigies. The dead
+are raised, the sick are healed, the sea is calmed by a glance of St
+Anthony; even the lowest ranks of the creation are attracted by
+eloquence more than human, and give marks of sensibility. Fish swim in
+shoals to hear the word of the Lord; and to convince the obdurate and<a name="page_vol_2_2064" id="page_vol_2_2064"></a>
+those accursed whose hearts the false reasoning of the world had
+hardened, mules and animals the most perversely obstinate humble
+themselves to the earth when Anthony holds forth the Sacrament, and
+acknowledge the presence of the Divinity.”</p>
+
+<p>The sermon ended, fiddling began anew with redoubled vigour, and I,
+disgusted with such unseasonable levity, retired home in dudgeon. This
+little cloud of peevishness was soon dissipated by the cheering presence
+of the good Prior of Avis, than whom there exists not, perhaps, in this
+world a more benign, evangelical character; one who gives glory to God
+with less ostentation, or bears a more unaffected goodwill towards men.
+This excellent prelate had been passing his morning, not in attending
+pompous ceremonies, but in consoling the sick and relieving the
+indigent; climbing up to their miserable chambers to afford assistance
+in the name of the saint whose festival was celebrating, and whose fame,
+for every charitable beneficent act, had been handed down by the
+inhabitants of Lisbon from father to child, through a long series of
+generations.</p>
+
+<p>Our discourse was not of a nature to incline<a name="page_vol_2_2065" id="page_vol_2_2065"></a> me to relish pomps and
+vanities. I waved seeing the procession which was expected to pass
+through the principal streets of the city, and, accompanied by my
+reverend friend, enjoyed the serenity of the evening on the shore of
+Belem. We stopped as we passed by the Marialva palace, and took up Don
+Pedro and his nursing father, the old Abade, who proposed a visit to the
+Carthusian convent of Cachiez.</p>
+
+<p>In about half an hour we were set down before the church, which fronts
+the royal gardens, and were ushered into a solemn, silent quadrangle.
+Several spectres of the order were gliding about the cloisters, which
+branch off from this court. In the middle is a marble fountain, shaded
+by pyramids of clipped box; around are seven or eight small chapels; one
+of which contains a coloured image of the Saviour in the last dreadful
+agonies of his passion, covered with livid bruises and corrupted gore.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst we were examining this too faithful effigy, some of the monks, by
+leave of their superior, gathered around us; one of them, a tall
+interesting figure, attracted my attention by the deep melancholy which
+sat upon his<a name="page_vol_2_2066" id="page_vol_2_2066"></a> features. Upon inquiry, I learned he was only
+two-and-twenty years of age, of illustrious parentage, and lively
+talents; but the immediate cause of his having sought these mansions of
+stillness and mortification, the Grand Prior seemed loth to communicate.</p>
+
+<p>I could not help observing, as this young victim stood before me, and I
+contemplated the evening light thrown on the arcades of the quadrangle,
+how many setting suns he was likely to behold wasting their gleams upon
+these walls, and what a wearisome succession of years he had in all
+probability devoted himself to consume within their precincts. The eyes
+of the good prior filled with tears, Verdeil shuddered, and the Abade,
+forgetting the superstitious part he generally acts in religious places,
+exclaimed loudly against the toleration of human sacrifices, and the
+folly of permitting those to renounce the world, whose youth
+incapacitates them from making a due estimate of its sorrows or
+advantages. As for Don Pedro, his serious disposition received
+additional gloom from the objects with which we were environed.</p>
+
+<p>The chill gust that blew from an arched<a name="page_vol_2_2067" id="page_vol_2_2067"></a> hall where the fathers are
+interred, and whose pavement returned a hollow sound as we walked over
+it, struck him with horror. It was the first time of his entering a
+Carthusian convent, and, to my surprise, he appeared ignorant of the
+severities of the order.</p>
+
+<p>The sun set before we regained our carriage, and our conversation the
+whole way home partook of the impression which the scenery we had been
+contemplating inspired.<a name="page_vol_2_2068" id="page_vol_2_2068"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XIV-port" id="LETTER_XIV-port"></a>LETTER XIV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Curious succession of visiters.&mdash;A Seraphic Doctor.&mdash;Monsenhor
+Aguilar.&mdash;Mob of old hags, children, and ragamuffins.&mdash;Visit to the
+Theatre in the Rua d’os Condes.&mdash;The Archbishop
+Confessor.&mdash;Brazilian Modinhas.&mdash;Bewitching nature of that
+music.&mdash;Nocturnal processions.&mdash;Enthusiasm of the young Conde de
+Villanova.&mdash;No accounting for fancies.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">14th June, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>I<small>T</small> was my lot this afternoon to receive a curious succession of
+visitors. First came Pombal, who looked worn down with gay living and
+late hours; but there is an ease and fashion in his address not common
+in this country. Though he possesses one of the largest landed estates
+in the kingdom, (about one hundred and twenty thousand crowns a-year,)
+he wished me to understand that his dread father, the scourge and terror
+of the noblest houses in Portugal, the sole dispenser during so many
+years of the royal treasure, died, notwithstanding, in distressed
+circumstances, loaded with<a name="page_vol_2_2069" id="page_vol_2_2069"></a> debts contracted in supporting the dignity
+of his post.</p>
+
+<p>The next who did me the honour of a visit was the Judge Conservator of
+the English factory, Joaô Telles, a relation, legitimate or illegitimate
+(I know not exactly which), of the Penalvas. This man, who has risen to
+one of the highest posts of the law by the sole strength of his
+abilities, has a nervous, original style of expression, which put me in
+mind of Lord Thurlow; but to all this vigour of character and diction,
+he joins the pliability and subtleness of a serpent; and those he cannot
+take by storm, he is sure of overcoming by every soothing art of
+flattery and insinuation.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as he was departed, entered a pair of monks with a basket of
+sweetmeats in cut paper, from a good lady abbess, beseeching me to
+portion out two sweet virgins as God’s spouses in some neighbouring
+monastery.</p>
+
+<p>They were scarcely dismissed, before Father Theodore d’Almeida and
+another of his brethren were ushered in. The whites of their eyes alone
+were visible, nor could Whitfield himself, the original Doctor Squintum
+of Foote, have squinted more scientifically.<a name="page_vol_2_2070" id="page_vol_2_2070"></a></p>
+
+<p>I was all attention to Father Theodore’s seraphic discourse; so
+excellent an opportunity of hearing a first-rate specimen of
+hypocritical cant was not to be neglected. No sooner had the fathers
+been conducted to the stairshead with due ceremony, than Monsenhor
+Aguilar, one of the prelates of the Patriarchal Cathedral, was
+announced. He confirmed me in the opinion I entertained of Father
+Theodore. No person can accuse Aguilar of being a hypocrite. He lays
+himself but too much open, and treats the church from which he derives a
+handsome maintenance, not as a patroness, but as an humble companion;
+the constant butt and object of his sarcasms. In Portugal, even in the
+year 1787, such conduct is madness, and I fear will expose him one day
+or other to severe persecution.</p>
+
+<p>We were roused from a peaceful dish of tea by a loud hubbub in the
+street, and running to the balcony, found a beastly mob of old hags,
+children, and ragamuffins assembled, headed by half-a-dozen drummers,
+and as many negroes in scarlet jackets, blowing French-horns with
+unusual vehemence, and pointing them directly at the house. I was
+wondering at this<a name="page_vol_2_2071" id="page_vol_2_2071"></a> Jericho fashion of besieging one’s door, and drawing
+back to avoid being singed by a rocket which whizzed along within an
+inch of my nose, when one of the servants entered with a crucifix on a
+silver salver, and a mighty kind message from the nuns of the Convent of
+the Sacrament, who had sent their musicians with trimbrels and
+fireworks, to invite us to some grand doings at their convent, in honour
+of the Festival of the Heart of Jesus. Really, these church parties
+begin to lose in my eyes great part of the charm which novelty gave
+them. I have had pretty nearly my fill of motets, and Kyrie eleisons,
+and incense, and sweetmeats, and sermons.</p>
+
+<p>That heretic Verdeil, who would almost as soon be in hell at once as in
+such a cloying heaven, would not let me rest till I went with him to the
+theatre in the Rua d’os Condes, in order to dissipate by a little
+profane air the fumes of so much holiness. The play afforded me more
+disgust than amusement; the theatre is low and narrow, and the actors,
+for there are no actresses, below criticism. Her Majesty’s absolute
+commands having swept females off the stage, their parts are acted by
+calvish<a name="page_vol_2_2072" id="page_vol_2_2072"></a> young fellows. Judge what a pleasing effect this metamorphosis
+must produce, especially in the dancers, where one sees a stout
+shepherdess in virgin white, with a soft blue beard, and a prominent
+collar-bone, clenching a nosegay in a fist that would almost have
+knocked down Goliah, and a train of milk-maids attending her enormous
+foot-steps, tossing their petticoats over their heads at every step.
+Such sprawling, jerking, and ogling I never saw before, and hope never
+to see again.</p>
+
+<p>We were heartily sick of the performance before it was half finished,
+and the night being serene and pleasant, were tempted to take a ramble
+in the Great Square, which received a faint gleam from the lights in the
+apartments of the palace, every window being thrown open to catch the
+breeze. The Archbishop Confessor displayed his goodly person at one of
+the balconies; from a clown, this now most important personage became a
+common soldier, from a common soldier a corporal, from a corporal a
+monk, in which station he gave so many proofs of toleration and
+good-humour, that Pombal, who happened to stumble upon him by one of
+those chances which set all calculation<a name="page_vol_2_2073" id="page_vol_2_2073"></a> at defiance, judged him
+sufficiently shrewd, jovial, and ignorant, to make a very harmless and
+comfortable confessor to her Majesty, then Princess of Brazil: since her
+accession to the throne, he is become Archbishop, <i>in partibus</i>, Grand
+Inquisitor, and the first spring in the present Government of Portugal.
+I never saw a sturdier fellow. He seems to anoint himself with the oil
+of gladness, to laugh and grow fat in spite of the critical situation of
+affairs in this kingdom, and the just fears all its true patriots
+entertain of seeing it once more relapse into a Spanish province.</p>
+
+<p>At a window immediately over his right reverence’s shining forehead, we
+spied out the Lacerdas, two handsome sisters, maids of honour to the
+Queen, waving their hands to us very invitingly. This was encouragement
+enough for us to run up a vast many flights of stairs to their
+apartment, which was crowded with nephews and nieces and cousins
+clustering round two very elegant young women, who, accompanied by their
+singing-master, a little square friar, with greenish eyes, were warbling
+Brazilian modinhas.<a name="page_vol_2_2074" id="page_vol_2_2074"></a></p>
+
+<p>Those who have never heard this original sort of music, must and will
+remain ignorant of the most bewitching melodies that ever existed since
+the days of the Sybarites. They consist of languid interrupted measures,
+as if the breath was gone with excess of rapture, and the soul panting
+to meet the kindred soul of some beloved object. With a childish
+carelessness they steal into the heart, before it has time to arm itself
+against their enervating influence; you fancy you are swallowing milk,
+and are admitting the poison of voluptuousness into the closest recesses
+of your existence. At least, such beings as feel the power of harmonious
+sounds are doing so; I won’t answer for hard-eared, phlegmatic northern
+animals.</p>
+
+<p>An hour or two passed away almost imperceptibly in the pleasing delirium
+these syren notes inspired, and it was not without regret I saw the
+company disperse and the spell dissolve. The ladies of the apartment
+having received a summons to attend her Majesty’s supper, curtsied us
+off very gracefully, and vanished.</p>
+
+<p>In our way home we met the Sacrament, enveloped in a glare of light,
+marching in state<a name="page_vol_2_2075" id="page_vol_2_2075"></a> to pay some sick person a farewell visit; and that
+hopeful young nobleman, the Conde de Villa Nova,<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> preceding the
+canopy in a scarlet mantle, and tinkling a silver bell. He is always in
+close attendance upon the Host, and passes the flower of his days in
+this singular species of danglement. No lover was ever more jealous of
+his mistress than this ingenuous youth of his bell. He cannot endure any
+other person should give it vibration. The parish officers of the
+extensive and populous district in which his palace is situated, from
+respect to his birth and opulence, indulge him in this caprice, and
+indeed a more perseverant bell-bearer they could not have chosen. At all
+hours and in all weathers he is ready to perform this holy office. In
+the dead of the night, or in the most intense heat of the day, out he
+issues and down he dives, or up he climbs, to any dungeon or garret
+where spiritual assistance of this nature is demanded.</p>
+
+<p>It has been again and again observed, that there is no accounting for
+fancies. Every person has his own, which he follows to the best of his
+means and abilities. The old Marialva<a name="page_vol_2_2076" id="page_vol_2_2076"></a>’s delights are centered between
+his two silver recipiendaries; the Marquis his son in dancing attendance
+with the Queen; and Villa Nova, in announcing with his bell to all true
+believers the approach of celestial majesty. The present rage of the
+scribbler of all these extravagances is modinhas, and under its
+prevalence he feels half-tempted to set sail for the Brazils, the native
+land of these enchanting compositions, to live in tents, such as the
+Chevalier de Parny describes in his agreeable little voyage, and swing
+in hammocks, or glide over smooth mats surrounded by bands of youthful
+minstrels, diffusing at every step the perfume of jasmine and roses.<a name="page_vol_2_2077" id="page_vol_2_2077"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XV-port" id="LETTER_XV-port"></a>LETTER XV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Excessive sultriness of Lisbon.&mdash;Night sounds of the city.&mdash;Public
+gala in the garden of the Conde de Villa Nova.&mdash;Visit to the Anjeja
+Palace.&mdash;The heir of the family.&mdash;Marvellous narrations of a young
+priest.&mdash;Convent of Savoyard nuns.&mdash;Father Theodore’s
+chickens.&mdash;Sequestered group of beauties.&mdash;Singing of the Scarlati.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">29th June, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> bright sunshine which has lately been our portion, glorious as it
+is, begins to tire me. Twenty times a day I cannot help wishing myself
+extended at full-length upon the fresh herbage of some shady English
+valley, where fairies gambol in the twilights of Midsummer, whispering
+in the ears of their sleeping favourites the good or evil fortunes which
+await them. It is too hot for these oracular little elvish beings in
+Portugal, one must not here expect their inspirations; but would to
+Heaven some revelation of this or any other nature had warned me off in
+time, from the<a name="page_vol_2_2078" id="page_vol_2_2078"></a> blinding dust and excessive sultriness of Lisbon and its
+neighbourhood. How silly, when one is well and cool, to gad abroad, in
+the vain hope of making what is really best, better. Depend upon it,
+there is more vernal delight and joy in our green hills and copses, than
+in all these stunted olive fields and sun-burnt promontories.</p>
+
+<p>We have a homely saying, that what is poison to one man is meat to
+another, and true enough; for these days and nights of glowing
+temperature, which oppress me beyond endurance, are the delight and
+boast of the inhabitants of this capital. The heat seems not only to
+have new venomed the stings of the fleas and the musquitoes, but to have
+drawn out, the whole night long, all the human ephemera of Lisbon. They
+frisk, and dance, and tinkle their guitars from sunset to sunrise. The
+dogs, too, keep yelping and howling without intermission; and what with
+the bellowing of litanies by parochial processions, the whizzing of
+fireworks, which devotees are perpetually letting off in honour of some
+member or other of the celestial hierarchy, and the squabbles of
+bullying rake-hells, who scour the<a name="page_vol_2_2079" id="page_vol_2_2079"></a> streets in search of adventures,
+there is no getting a wink of sleep, even if the heat would allow it.</p>
+
+<p>As to those quiet nocturnal parties, where ingenuous youths rest their
+heads, not on the lap of earth, but on that of their mistresses, who are
+soothingly employed in delivering the jetty locks of their lovers from
+too abundant a population, I have nothing to say against them, nor am I
+much disturbed by the dashing sound of a few downfalls<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> from the
+windows; but these dog-howlings exceed every annoyance of the kind I
+ever endured, and give no slight foretaste of the infernal regions.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing but amusement and racket being thought of here at this season
+(when to celebrate St. Peter’s festival with all the noise and
+extravagance in your power, is not more a profane inclination than a
+pious duty,) that simpleton, the Conde de Villa Nova, opened his<a name="page_vol_2_2080" id="page_vol_2_2080"></a> garden
+last night to the nob and mob-ility of Lisbon. There was a dull
+illumination of paper lanterns, and a sort of pavilion awkwardly
+constructed for dancing, beneath which the prettiest French and English
+mantua-makers, milliners, and abigails of the metropolis, figured away
+in cotillons with the Duke of Cadaval and some other young men of the
+first distinction, who, like many as hopeful in our own capital, are
+never at their ease but in low company. Two or three of my servants
+accompanied my tailor to the fête, and returned enraptured with the
+affable pleasing manners of the foreign milliners and native nobility.</p>
+
+<p>I should have been most happy to remain at home, in the shade of my
+green blinds, giving ear, through mere laziness, to any nonsense that
+anybody chose to say to me; but we had been long engaged to dine with
+Don Diego de Noronha, at the Anjeja Palace.</p>
+
+<p>When we arrived at our destination, we found the heir of the family
+surrounded by priests and tutors, learning to look out at the window,
+the chief employment of Portuguese fidalgo life. Oh what a precious
+collection of stories did I hear at this attic banquet! There<a name="page_vol_2_2081" id="page_vol_2_2081"></a> happened
+to be amongst the company a young oaf of a priest, from I forget what
+university (I hope not Coimbra), who kept on during the whole dinner
+favouring us with marvellous narrations, such as the late Queen’s
+pounding a pearl of inestimable value, to swallow in medical potions;
+and that one of the nuns of the Convent of the Sacrament, having
+intrigued with old Beelzebub <i>in propria persona</i>, had been sent to the
+Inquisition, and the window through which his infernal majesty had
+entered upon this gallant exploit, walled up and painted over with red
+crosses. The same precautionary decoration, continued he, has been
+bestowed upon every opening in the façade, so that no demon, however
+sharp-set, can get in again. He would fain also have made us believe,
+that a woman very fair and plump to the eye, with an overflowing breast
+of milk, who took in sucklings to nurse cheaper than anybody else,
+regularly made away with them, and was now in the dungeons of the holy
+office, accused of having minced up above a score of innocents!</p>
+
+<p>Heaven forbid I should detail any further<a name="page_vol_2_2082" id="page_vol_2_2082"></a> particulars of our
+table-talk; if I did, you would be finely surfeited.</p>
+
+<p>After dinner the company dispersed, some to their couches, some to hear
+a sonata on the dulcimer, accompanied on the jew’s harp by a couple of
+dwarfs; the heir-apparent to his beloved window; and Verdeil and I to a
+convent of Savoyard nuns, at Belem, the coolest, cleanest retirement in
+the whole neighbourhood, and blessed into the bargain by the especial
+patronage and inspection of Father Theodore d’Almeida. His reverence, it
+seems, had been the principal instrument, under Providence, of
+transplanting these blessed sprouts of holiness from the Convent of the
+Visitation at Annecy to the glowing climate of Portugal.</p>
+
+<p>As I had just received a sugary epistle from this paragon of piety,
+recommending his favourite establishment in several pages of ardent
+panegyric, he could do no less than come forth from his interior nest,
+and bid us welcome with a countenance arrayed in the sweetest smiles,
+though I dare say he wished us at old scratch for our intrusion.</p>
+
+<p>“Poor things,” said he, speaking of the chickens under education in this
+coop, “we do<a name="page_vol_2_2083" id="page_vol_2_2083"></a> all we can to improve their tender minds and their
+guileless tongues in foreign languages. Sister Theresa has an admirable
+knack for teaching arithmetic; our venerable mother is remarkably
+well-bottomed in grammar, and Sister Francisca Salesia, whom I had the
+happiness to bring over from Lyons, is not only a most pure and
+persuasive moralist, but is acknowledged to be one of the first needles
+in Christendom, so we do tolerably well in embroidery. In music we are
+no great proficients. We allow of no modinhas, no opera airs; a plain
+hymn is all you must expect here; in short, we are ill-fitted to receive
+such distinguished visiters, and have nothing the world would call
+interesting to recommend us; but then, I, their unworthy confessor, must
+allow that such sweet, clean consciences as I meet with in this asylum
+are treasures beyond all that the Indies can furnish.”</p>
+
+<p>Both Verdeil and myself, conscious of our own extreme unworthiness, were
+quite abashed by this sublime declamation, poured forth with hands
+crossed on the bosom, and eyes turned up to the ceiling, like some
+images one has seen of St. Ignatius or St. Francis Xavier.<a name="page_vol_2_2084" id="page_vol_2_2084"></a></p>
+
+<p>It was a minute at least before his reverence relaxed from this
+attitude, and, drawing a curtain, condescended to admit us into a
+spacious parlour, delightfully cool, perfumed with jasmine, and filled
+with little Brazilian doves, parroquets, and canary birds. Such a cooing
+and chirping was never heard in greater perfection, except in Mahomet’s
+Paradise; nor were the houries wanting, for in a deep recess, behind a
+tolerably wide lattice, sat a row of the loveliest young creatures I
+ever beheld. A daughter of my friend Don Josè de Brito was amongst the
+number, and her eyes, of the most bewitching softness, seemed to acquire
+new fascination in this mysterious sort of twilight, beaming from behind
+a double grating of iron.</p>
+
+<p>Every now and then the birds, not in the least intimidated by the
+predatory glances of Father Theodore, violated the sanctuary, and
+pitched upon ivory necks, and were received with ten thousand
+endearments by the angels of this little sequestered heaven, which
+looked so refreshing, and formed by its sacred calm so inviting a
+contrast to the turbulent world without, and its glaring atmosphere,
+that I could not resist exclaiming, “O that I had wings like<a name="page_vol_2_2085" id="page_vol_2_2085"></a> a dove,
+that I might fly through those bars and be at rest!”</p>
+
+<p>I need not tell you we passed half-an-hour most delightfully in talking
+of music, gardens, roses, and devotion, with the meninas, and had almost
+forgotten we were engaged to hear the Scarlati sing. Her father, an old
+captain of horse, of Italian extraction, lives not far from the Convent
+of the Visitation, so we had not much time during our transit to
+experience the woful difference between the cool parlour of the nuns and
+the suffocating exterior air.</p>
+
+<p>A numerous group of the young ladies’ kindred stood ready at the
+street-door, with all that hospitable courtesy for which the Portuguese
+are so remarkably distinguished, to usher the strangers up-stairs into a
+gallery hung with arras and sconces, not unlike the great room of an
+Italian inn, once the palace of a nobleman. To keep up these post-house
+ideas, we scented a strong effluvia of the stable, and heard certain
+stampings and neighings, as if a party of hounnyms had arrived to
+partake of the concert.</p>
+
+<p>Many strange, aboriginal figures of both sexes were assembled, an
+uncouth collection enough, I am apt to conjecture; however, I<a name="page_vol_2_2086" id="page_vol_2_2086"></a> soon
+ceased giving them any notice. The young lady of the house charmed me at
+first sight by her graceful, modest manner; but when she sang some airs,
+composed by the famous Perez, I was not less delighted than surprised.
+Her voice modulates with unaffected carelessness into the most pathetic
+tones.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> Though she has adopted the masterly and scientific style of
+Ferracuti, one of the first singers in the Queen’s service, she gives a
+simplicity of expression to the most difficult passages, that makes them
+appear the effusions of a young romantic girl warbling to herself in the
+secret recesses of a forest.</p>
+
+<p>I sat in a dark corner, unconscious of every thing that passed in the
+apartment, of the singular<a name="page_vol_2_2087" id="page_vol_2_2087"></a> figures that entered, or those that went
+away; the starings, whisperings, and fan-flirtings of the assembly were
+lost upon me: I could not utter a syllable, and was vexed when an
+arbitrary old aunt insisted upon no more singing, and proposed a
+faro-table and a dance.</p>
+
+<p>Most eagerly did I wish all the kindred and their friends petrified for
+the time being by some obliging necromancer, and would have done any
+thing, short of engaging my own dear self to the devil, to have obtained
+an uninterrupted audience of the syren till morning.<a name="page_vol_2_2088" id="page_vol_2_2088"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XVI-port" id="LETTER_XVI-port"></a>LETTER XVI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Ups-and-downs of Lisbon.&mdash;Negro Beldames.&mdash;Quinta of
+Marvilla.&mdash;Moonlight view of Lisbon.&mdash;Illuminated windows of the
+Palace.&mdash;The old Marquis of Penalva.&mdash;Padre Duarte, a famous
+Jesuit.&mdash;Conversation between him and a conceited Physician.&mdash;Their
+ludicrous blunders.&mdash;Toad-eaters.&mdash;Sonatas.&mdash;Portuguese minuets.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">30th June, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>...W<small>E</small> sallied out after dinner to pay visits. Never did I behold such
+cursed ups-and-downs, such shelving descents and sudden rises, as occur
+at every step one takes in going about Lisbon. I thought myself fifty
+times on the point of being overturned into the Tagus, or tumbled into
+sandy ditches, among rotten shoes, dead cats, and negro beldames, who
+retire into such dens and burrows for the purpose of telling fortunes
+and selling charms for the ague.</p>
+
+<p>The Inquisition too often lays hold of these wretched sibyls, and works
+them confoundedly.<a name="page_vol_2_2089" id="page_vol_2_2089"></a> I saw one dragging into light as I passed by the
+ruins of a palace thrown down by the earthquake. Whether a familiar of
+the Inquisition was griping her in his clutches, or whether she was
+being taken to account by some disappointed votary, I will not pretend
+to answer. Be that as it may, I was happy to be driven out of sight of
+this hideous object, whose contortions and howlings were truly horrible.</p>
+
+<p>The more one is acquainted with Lisbon, the less it answers the
+expectations raised by its magnificent appearance from the river. Could
+a traveller be suddenly transported without preparation or prejudice to
+many parts of this city, he would reasonably conclude himself traversing
+a succession of villages awkwardly tacked together, and overpowered by
+massive convents. The churches in general are in a woful taste of
+architecture, the taste of Borromini, with crinkled pediments,
+furbelowed cornices and turrets, somewhat in the style of old-fashioned
+French clock-cases, such as Boucher designed with many a scrawl and
+flourish to adorn the apartments of Madame de Pompadour.</p>
+
+<p>We traversed the city this evening in all its<a name="page_vol_2_2090" id="page_vol_2_2090"></a> extent in our way to the
+Duke d’Alafoens’s villa, and gave vast numbers of her most faithful
+Majesty’s subjects an opportunity of staring at the height of the
+coach-box, the short jacket of the postilion, and other Anglicisms of
+the equipage. The Duke had been summoned to a council of state; but we
+found the Marquis of Marialva, who went with us round the apartments of
+the villa, which have nothing remarkable except one or two large saloons
+of excellent and striking proportions.</p>
+
+<p>He afterwards proposed accompanying us about half-a-mile farther to the
+quinta of Marvilla, which belongs to his father. This spot has great
+picturesque beauties. The trees are old and fantastic, bending over
+ruined fountains and mutilated statues of heroes in armour, variegated
+by the lapse of years with innumerable tints of purple, green, and
+yellow. In the centre of almost impenetrable thickets of bay and myrtle,
+rise strange pyramids of rock-work surrounded by marble lions, that have
+a magic, symbolical appearance. M&mdash;&mdash; has feeling enough to respect
+these uncouth monuments of an age when his ancestors performed so<a name="page_vol_2_2091" id="page_vol_2_2091"></a> many
+heroic achievements, and readily promised me never to sacrifice them and
+the venerable shades in which they are embowered, to the pert, gaudy
+taste of modern Portuguese gardening.</p>
+
+<p>We walked part of the way home by the serene light of the full moon
+rising from behind the mountains on the opposite shore of the Tagus, at
+this extremity of the metropolis above nine miles broad. Lisbon, which
+appeared to me so uninteresting a few hours ago, assumed a very
+different aspect by these soft gleams. The flights of steps, terraces,
+chapels, and porticos of several convents and palaces on the brink of
+the river, shone forth like edifices of white marble, whilst the rough
+cliffs and miserable sheds rising above them were lost in dark shadows.
+The great square through which we passed was filled with idlers of all
+sorts and sexes, staring up at the illuminated windows of the palace in
+hopes of catching a glimpse of her Majesty, the Prince, the Infantas,
+the Confessor, or Maids of Honour, whisking about from one apartment to
+the other, and giving ample scope to amusing conjectures.<a name="page_vol_2_2092" id="page_vol_2_2092"></a> I am told the
+Confessor, though somewhat advanced in his career, is far from being
+insensible to the allurements of beauty, and pursues the young nymphs of
+the palace from window to window with juvenile alacrity.</p>
+
+<p>It was nine before we got home, and I had not been long reposing myself
+after my walk, and arranging some plants I had gathered in the thickets
+of Marvilla, before three distinct ringings of the bell at my door
+announced the arrival of some distinguished personage; nor was I
+disappointed, for in came the old Marquis of Penalva and his son, who
+till a year ago, when the Queen granted him the same title as his
+father, was called Conde de Tarouca.</p>
+
+<p>You must have heard frequently of that name. A grandfather of the old
+Marquis rendered it very illustrious by several important and successful
+embassies: the splendid entertainments he gave at the Congress of
+Utrecht, are amply described in Madame du Noyers and several other books
+of memoirs.</p>
+
+<p>The Penalvas brought this evening in their suite a famous Jesuit, Padre
+Duarte, whom Pombal thought of sufficient consequence to be imprisoned
+for eighteen years, and a tall,<a name="page_vol_2_2093" id="page_vol_2_2093"></a> knock-kneed, rhubarb-faced physician,
+in a gorgeous suit of glistening satin, one of the most ungain,
+conceited professors of the art of murdering I ever met with. Between
+the Jesuit and the doctor I had enough to do to keep my temper or
+countenance. They prated incessantly, pretended to have the most
+implicit admiration for everything that came from England, either in the
+way of furniture or poetry, and confounding dates, names, and subjects
+in one strange jumble, asked whether Sir Peter Lely was not the actual
+President of our Royal Academy, and launched forth into a warm encomium
+of my countryman Hans Holbein. I begged leave to assure these
+complaisant sages, that the last-mentioned artist was born at Basle, and
+that Sir Peter Lely had been dead a century. They stared a little at
+this information, but continued, nevertheless, in full song, playing off
+a sounding peal of compliments upon our national proficiency in
+painting, watch-making, the stocking-manufactory, &amp;c. when General
+Forbes came in and made a diversion in my favour. We had some
+conversation upon the present state of Portugal, and the risks it runs
+of being swallowed up by<a name="page_vol_2_2094" id="page_vol_2_2094"></a> the negotiations, not by the arms of Spain,
+ere many years are elapsed....</p>
+
+<p>Our discourse was interrupted by the arrival of a fiddler, a priest, and
+an Italian musician, humble servants and toad-eaters to my illustrious
+guests. They fell a thumping my poor piano-forte, and playing sonatas
+whether I would or not. You are aware I am no great friend to sonatas,
+and that certain chromatic, squeaking tones of a fiddle, when the
+performer turns up the whites of his eyes, waggles a greasy chin, and
+affects ecstasies, set my teeth on edge. The griping countenance of the
+doctor was enough to produce that effect already, without the assistance
+of his fellow parasites, the priest and musician. Padre Duarte seemed to
+like them no better than myself; General Forbes had wisely withdrawn;
+and the old Marquis, inspired by a pathetic adagio, glided suddenly
+across the room in a step which I took for the beginning of a ballet
+heroique, but which turned out a minuet in the Portuguese style, with
+all its kicks and flourishes, in which Miss S&mdash;&mdash;, who had come in to
+tea, was persuaded to join much against her inclination. It was no
+sooner ended, than the doctor displayed his rueful<a name="page_vol_2_2095" id="page_vol_2_2095"></a> length of person in
+such a twitching angular minuet, as I want words to describe; so,
+between the sister-arts of music and dancing, I passed a delectable
+evening. This set shan’t catch me at home again in a hurry.<a name="page_vol_2_2096" id="page_vol_2_2096"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XVII-port" id="LETTER_XVII-port"></a>LETTER XVII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Dog-howlings.&mdash;Visit to the Convent of San Josè di
+Ribamar.&mdash;Breakfast at the Marquis of Penalvas.&mdash;Magnificent and
+hospitable reception.&mdash;Whispering in the shade of mysterious
+chambers.&mdash;The Bishop of Algarve.&mdash;Evening scene in the garden of
+Marvilla.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">July 2nd, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>WAS</small> awakened in the night by a horrid cry of dogs; not that infernal
+pack which Dryden tells us in his divine tale of Theodore and Honoria
+went regularly a ghost-hunting every Friday, howled half so dreadfully:
+Lisbon is more infested than any other capital I ever inhabited by herds
+of these half-famished animals, making themselves of use and importance
+by ridding the streets of some part, at least, of their unsavoury
+incumbrances.</p>
+
+<p>Verdeil, who could not sleep any more than myself, on account of a
+furious and long protracted battle between two parties of these
+hell-hounds, persuaded me to rise with the<a name="page_vol_2_2097" id="page_vol_2_2097"></a> sun, and proceed on
+horseback along the shore of Belem, which appeared in all its morning
+glory; the sky diversified by streaming clouds of purple edged with
+gold, and the sea by innumerable vessels of different sizes shooting
+along in various directions, whilst the waves at the entrance of the
+harbour were in violent agitation, all froth and foam.</p>
+
+<p>To vary our excursion a little, we struck out of the common track, and
+visited the convent of San Josè di Ribamar. The building is irregular
+and picturesque, rising from a craggy eminence, and backed by a thicket
+of elm, bay, and arbor judæ. We were shown by simple, smiling friars,
+into a small court with cloisters, supported by low Tuscan columns. A
+fountain playing in the middle and sprinkling a profusion of flowers,
+gave an oriental air to this little court that pleased me exceedingly.
+The monks seem sensible of its merits, for they keep it tolerably clean,
+which is more than I will say for their garden. Bindweed and dwarf-aloes
+almost prevented our crossing it in our way to the thicket; a delicious
+retreat, the refuge and comfort of half the birds in the country. Thanks
+to monkish laziness, the<a name="page_vol_2_2098" id="page_vol_2_2098"></a> underwood remains unclipped, and intrudes
+wherever it pleases upon the alleys, which hang over the sea, in a bold
+romantic manner.</p>
+
+<p>The fathers would show me their flower-garden, and a very pleasant
+terrace it is; neatly paved with chequered tiles, and interspersed with
+knots of carnations, in a style as ancient, I should conjecture, as the
+dominion of the Moors in Portugal. Espaliers of citron and orange cover
+the walls, and have almost gotten the better of some glaring shell-work,
+with which a reverend father encrusted them ten or twelve years ago.
+Shining beads, china plates and saucers turned inside out, compose the
+chief ornaments of this decoration; I observed the same propensity to
+shell-work and broken china in a Mr. de Visme, whose quinta at Bemfica
+eclipses our Clapham and Islington villas in all the attractions of
+leaden statues, Chinese temples, serpentine rivers, and dusty
+hermitages.</p>
+
+<p>We returned home before the heat grew quite intolerable, and just in
+time to go to a breakfast at the Marquis of Penalva’s, to which we had
+been invited the day before yesterday. When once a Portuguese of the
+first class determines to admit a stranger into the penetralia<a name="page_vol_2_2099" id="page_vol_2_2099"></a> of his
+family, he spares no pains to set off all he possesses to the most
+striking advantage, and offer it to his guest with the most liberal
+hospitality; you appear to command him, and he everything. Our
+reception, therefore, was most sumptuous and most cordial.</p>
+
+<p>If we had wished for a concert, the best musicians of the royal chapel
+were in waiting to perform it; if to examine early editions of the
+classics or scarce Portuguese authors, the library was open, and the
+librarian ready to hand and explain to us any article that happened to
+attract our attention; if to see pictures, the walls of several
+apartments displayed an interesting collection, both of the Italian and
+Flemish schools; if conversation, almost every person of literary note
+in this capital, academicians and artists, were assembled. Supposing the
+rarest botanical specimens and flowers had been our peculiar taste, some
+of the most perfect I ever beheld were presented to us; and that nothing
+in any line might be wanting, the rich grated folding-doors of a chapel
+were expanded, and an altar splendidly lighted up, seemed to invite
+those who felt spiritual calls, to indulge themselves.<a name="page_vol_2_2100" id="page_vol_2_2100"></a></p>
+
+<p>For my part, the sea breezes having sharpened my temporal appetite, I
+sat down with great alacrity to breakfast. It was magnificent and well
+served. I could not help noticing the extreme fineness of the linen,
+curiously embroidered with arms and flowers, red on a white ground.
+Superb embossed gilt salvers supported plates of iced fruit,
+particularly scarlet strawberries, which are uncommon in Portugal, and
+filled the apartment with fragrance; the more grateful, as it excited,
+by the strong power of associated ideas, recollections of home and of
+England.</p>
+
+<p>Much whispering and giggling was going forward in the cool shade of
+several mysterious chambers, which opened into the saloon where we were
+at table. These sounds proceeded from the ladies of the family, who, had
+they been natives of Bagdad or Constantinople, could hardly have
+remained in a more Asiatic state of seclusion. I was allowed, however,
+to make my bow to them in their harem itself, which, I was given to
+understand, I ought to look upon as a most flattering mark of
+distinction. Who should I find in the midst of the group of senhoras,
+and seated<a name="page_vol_2_2101" id="page_vol_2_2101"></a> like them upon the ground <i>à la façon de Barbarie</i>, but the
+newly-consecrated, and very young-looking Bishop of Algarve, whose
+small, black, sleek, schoolboyish head and sallow countenance, was
+overshadowed by an enormous pair of green spectacles. Truth obliges me
+to confess that the expression which beamed from the eyes under these
+formidable glasses, did not absolutely partake of the most decent, mild,
+or apostolic character. In process of time, perhaps, he may acquire that
+varnish, without which the least holy intentions often miss their aim,
+the varnish of hypocrisy. I wonder he has not already attained a more
+conspicuous degree of perfection in this style, having studied under a
+complete <i>tartuffe</i> and Jansenistical bigot as ever existed, one of the
+cock-birds of a nest of imaginary philosophers, who are working hard to
+undo what little good has been done in this country, and laying a mine
+of ten thousand intrigues to blow up, if they can but contrive it, all
+genuine sentiments of religion and morality.</p>
+
+<p>The old Marquis of Penalva pressed us to stay dinner, which was set out
+in high order, in a pleasant, shady apartment. Verdeil could<a name="page_vol_2_2102" id="page_vol_2_2102"></a> not resist
+the temptation; but I was fatigued with the howlings of the night, and
+the sultriness and bustle of the day, and went home to a quieter party
+with the Grand Prior and Don Pedro.</p>
+
+<p>In the evening we drove to Marvilla, the neglected garden I have before
+mentioned, and which commands the broadest expanse of the Tagus, a
+prospect which recalled to my mind the lake of Geneva, and all that
+befel me on its banks. You may imagine, then, it tended much more to
+depress than exhilarate my spirits. I consented, however, to accompany
+the Grand Prior about the alleys and terraces of this romantic
+enclosure, the scene of his childhood, and of which he is peculiarly
+fond. The palace, courts, and fountains are almost in ruins, the
+parterres of myrtle have shot up into wild bushes covered with blossoms,
+and the statues are half concealed by jasmine.</p>
+
+<p>Here is a small theatre for operas, and a chapel, not unlike a mosque in
+shape, and arabesque ornaments, darkly shadowed by Spanish banners, the
+trophies of the battle of Elvas, gained by an ancestor of the Marialvas.</p>
+
+<p>A long bower of vines, supported by marble<a name="page_vol_2_2103" id="page_vol_2_2103"></a> pillars, leads from the
+palace to the chapel. There is something majestic in this verdant
+gallery, and the glow of sun-set piercing its foliage, lighted up the
+wan features of several superannuated servants of the family, who
+crawled out of their decayed chambers and threw themselves on their
+knees before the Grand Prior and Don Pedro.</p>
+
+<p>We wandered about this forlorn, abandoned garden, whose stillness
+equalled that of a Carthusian convent, till dusk, when a refreshing wind
+having risen, waved the cypresses and scattered the white jasmine
+flowers over the parterres of myrtle in clouds like snow. Don Pedro
+filled the carriage with flowery sprays pulled from mutilated statues,
+and we were all half intoxicated before we reached my habitation with
+the delicious but overcoming perfume.<a name="page_vol_2_2104" id="page_vol_2_2104"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XVIII-port" id="LETTER_XVIII-port"></a>LETTER XVIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Excursion to Cintra.&mdash;Villa of Ramalhaô.&mdash;The
+Garden.&mdash;Collares.&mdash;Pavilion designed by Pillement.&mdash;A convulsive
+gallop.&mdash;Cold weather in July.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">July 9th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>WAS</small> at the Marialva Palace by nine, and set off from thence with the
+Marquis for Cintra. Having the command of the Queen’s stables, in which
+are four thousand mules and two thousand horses, he orders as many
+relays as he pleases, and we changed mules four times in the space of an
+hour.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes after ten we were landed at Ramalhaô, a villa, under the
+pyramidical rocks of Cintra, Signor S. Arriaga was so kind as to lend me
+a month or two ago, and which I have not had time to visit till to-day.
+The suite of apartments are spacious and airy, and the views they
+command of sea and arid country boundless; but unless the heat becomes
+more violent,<a name="page_vol_2_2105" id="page_vol_2_2105"></a> I shall be cooler than I wish in them, as they contain
+not a chimney except in the kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>I found the garden in excellent order, and flourishing crops of
+vegetables springing up between rows of orange and citron. Such is the
+power of the climate, that the gardenias and Cape plants I brought with
+me from England, mere stumps, are covered with beautiful blossoms. The
+curled mallows, and some varieties of Indian-corn, sown by my English
+gardener, have shot up to a strange elevation, and begin already to form
+shady avenues and fairy forests, where children might play in perfection
+at landscape-gardening.</p>
+
+<p>After I had passed half-an-hour in looking about me, the Marquis and I
+got into our chair and drove to his own villa; a new creation, which has
+cost him a great many thousand pounds sterling. Five years ago it was a
+wild hill bestrewn with flints and rocky fragments. At present you find
+a gay pavilion designed by Pillement, and elegantly decorated; a
+parterre with statues and fountains, thick alleys of laurel, bay, and
+laurustine, cascades, arbours, clipped box-trees, and every ornament the
+Portuguese taste in gardening renders desirable.<a name="page_vol_2_2106" id="page_vol_2_2106"></a></p>
+
+<p>We dined at a clean snug inn, situated towards the middle of the village
+of Cintra. The Queen has lately bestowed this house and a large tract of
+ground adjoining it, upon the Marquis. From its windows and loggias you
+look down deep ravines and bold slopes of woods and copses, variegated
+with mossy stones and ancient decayed chesnuts.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the sun grew low we went to Collares, and walked on a terrace
+belonging to M. la Roche, a French merchant, who has shown some
+glimmering of taste in the laying out of his villa. The groves of pine
+and chesnut starting from the crevices of rock, and rising one above
+another to a considerable elevation, give Collares the air of an Alpine
+village. Innumerable rills, overhung by cork-trees and branching lemons,
+burst out of ruined walls by the wayside, and dash into marble basins. A
+favourite attendant of the late king’s, who has a very large property in
+these environs, invited us with much civility and obsequiousness into
+his garden. I thought myself entering the orchards of Alcinous. The
+boughs literally bent under loads of fruit; the slightest<a name="page_vol_2_2107" id="page_vol_2_2107"></a> shake strewed
+the ground with plums, oranges, and apricots.</p>
+
+<p>This villa boasts a grand artificial cascade, with tritons and dolphins
+vomiting torrents of water; but I paid it not half the attention its
+proprietor expected, and retiring under the shade of the fruit-trees,
+feasted on the golden apples and purple plums that were rolling about me
+in such profusion. The Marquis, who shares with most of the Portuguese a
+remarkable predilection for flowers, filled his carriage with carnations
+and jasmine. I never saw plants more conspicuous for size and vigour
+than those which have the luck of being sown in this fortunate soil. The
+exposition likewise is singularly happy; skreened by sloping hills, and
+defended from the sea-airs by several miles of thickets and orchards. I
+felt unwilling to quit a spot so favoured by nature, and M&mdash;&mdash; flatters
+himself I shall be tempted to purchase it.</p>
+
+<p>The wind became troublesome as we ascended the hill, crowned by the
+Marialva villa. The sky was clear and the sun set fiery. The distant
+convent of Mafra, glowing with ruddy<a name="page_vol_2_2108" id="page_vol_2_2108"></a> light, looked like the enchanted
+palace of a giant, and the surrounding country bleak and barren as if
+the monster had eaten it desolate. To repose ourselves a little after
+our rapid excursion we entered the pavilion I told you just now
+Pillement had designed. It represents a bower of fantastic Indian trees
+mingling their branches, and discovering between them peeps of a summer
+sky. From the mouth of a flying dragon depends a magnificent lustre for
+fifty lights, hung with festoons of brilliant glass, that twinkle like
+strings of diamonds.</p>
+
+<p>We loitered in this saloon till it was pitch-dark. The pages riding full
+speed before us with flaming torches, and the wind driving back sparks
+and smoke full in our faces, I was stunned and bewildered, and
+experienced, perhaps, the sensations of a novice in sorcery, mounted for
+the first time behind a witch on a broomstick. In less than an hour we
+had rattled over twelve miles of rough, disjoined pavement, going up and
+down the steepest hills in a convulsive gallop, so that I expected every
+instant to be thrown flat on my nose; but, happily, the mules were
+picked from perhaps a<a name="page_vol_2_2109" id="page_vol_2_2109"></a> hundred, and never stumbled. I found the air on
+the heights above the Ajueda very keen and piercing.</p>
+
+<p>It sounds strange to be complaining of cold at Lisbon on the ninth of
+July.<a name="page_vol_2_2110" id="page_vol_2_2110"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XIX-port" id="LETTER_XIX-port"></a>LETTER XIX.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Sympathy between Toads and Old Women.&mdash;Palace of Cintra.&mdash;Reservoir
+of Gold and Silver Fish.&mdash;Parterre on the summit of a lofty
+terrace.&mdash;Place of confinement of Alphonso the Sixth.&mdash;The
+Chapel.&mdash;Barbaric profusion of Gold.&mdash;Altar at which Don Sebastian
+knelt when he received a supernatural warning.&mdash;Rooms in
+preparation for the Queen and the Infantas.&mdash;Return to Ramalhaô.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">July 24th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HERE</small> exists, I am convinced, a decided sympathy between toads and
+witch-like old women. Mother Morgan<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> descended this morning, not into
+the infernal regions, but into the cellar, and immediately five or six
+spanking reptiles of this mysterious species waddled around her. She
+rewarded the confidence the poor things placed in her rather scurvily,
+and laid three of the fattest sprawling. I saw them lying breathless in
+the court as I got on horseback; the largest measured seven inches in<a name="page_vol_2_2111" id="page_vol_2_2111"></a>
+diameter. Portuguese toads may be more distinguished for size, but are
+not half so amiably speckled as those we have the happiness to harbour
+in England.</p>
+
+<p>I was some time hesitating which way I should turn my horse’s steps,
+whether to the Pedra d’os Ovos, or on the other side of the rock to the
+Peninha, a cell belonging to the Hieronimites, and dependent upon their
+principal eyry, Nossa Senhora da Penha. Marialva, whom I met with all
+his train of equerries and picadors coming forth from his villa, decided
+me not to take a clambering ride, but to accompany him to the palace,
+the interior of which I had not yet visited.</p>
+
+<p>The Alhambra itself is scarcely more morisco in point of architecture
+than this confused pile, which seems to grow out of the summit of a
+rocky eminence, and is broken into a variety of picturesque recesses and
+projections. It is a thousand pities that they have whitened its
+venerable walls, stopped up a range of bold arcades, and sliced out one
+end of the great hall into two or three mean apartments like the
+dressing-rooms of a theatre. From the windows, which are all in a
+fantastic oriental style,<a name="page_vol_2_2112" id="page_vol_2_2112"></a> crinkled and crankled, and supported by
+twisted pillars of smooth marble, striking, romantic views of the cliffs
+and village of Cintra are commanded. Several irregular courts and
+loggias, formed by the angles of square towers, are enlivened by
+fountains of marble and gilt bronze, continually pouring forth abundant
+streams of the purest water.</p>
+
+<p>A sort of reservoir, almost long enough to be styled a canal, is
+continued the whole length of the great hall, and serves as a paradise
+for shoals of the largest and most brilliant gold and silver fish I ever
+set eyes upon. The murmur of the jets-d’eau which rise from this canal,
+the ripple of the water undulating against steps and slabs of polished
+marble, the glancing and gleaming of the fish, and the striking contrast
+of light and shade produced by the intricate labyrinth of arches and
+columns, combine altogether to form a scene of enchantment such as we
+sometimes dream of, but hardly suppose is ever realized. There is a
+sobriety in the hues of the marble, a mysteriousness in the dark
+recesses seen in perspective, and a solemnity in the deep colour,
+approaching to blackness, of the water in that part of the reservoir
+which is<a name="page_vol_2_2113" id="page_vol_2_2113"></a> overshadowed by lofty buildings, I cannot help thinking
+superior to all the flutter and glitter of the most famous Moorish
+edifices at Granada or Seville.</p>
+
+<p>The flat summit of one of the loftiest terraces, not less than one
+hundred and fifty feet from the ground, is laid out as a neat parterre,
+which is spread like an embroidered carpet before the entrance of a huge
+square tower, almost entirely occupied by a hall encrusted with
+glistening tiles, and crowned by a most singularly-shaped dome. Amidst
+the scrolls of arabesque foliage which adorn it, appear the arms of the
+principal Portuguese nobility. The achievement of the unfortunate house
+of Tavora is blotted out, and the panel it occupied left bare.</p>
+
+<p>We had climbed up to this terrace and tower by one of those steep,
+cork-screw staircases, of which there are numbers in the palace, and
+which connect with vaulted passages in a secret and suspicious manner.
+The Marquis pointed out to me the mosaic pavement of a small chamber,
+fretted and worn away in several places by the steps of Alphonso the
+Sixth, who<a name="page_vol_2_2114" id="page_vol_2_2114"></a> was confined to this narrow space a long series of years.</p>
+
+<p>Descending from it, we looked into the chapel, not less singular in form
+and construction than the rest of the edifice. The low flat cupola, as
+well as the intersections of the arches, are much in the style of a
+mosque; but the barbaric profusion of gold, and still more barbaric
+paintings with which every soffite and panel are covered, might almost
+be supposed the work of Cingalese or Hindostanee artists, and reminded
+me of those subterraneous pagodas where his Satanic Majesty receives
+homage under the form of Gumputy or of Boodh.</p>
+
+<p>The original glare of all this strange scenery is greatly subdued by the
+smoke of lamps, which have been burning for ages before the altar: a
+mysterious pile of carved work and imagery, in perfect consonance, as to
+gloom and uncouthness, with every other object in the place. It was
+whilst kneeling before this very altar that the young, the ardent, the
+chivalrous Don Sebastian is said to have received a supernatural warning
+to renounce that fatal African expedition which cost him his crown and<a name="page_vol_2_2115" id="page_vol_2_2115"></a>
+his life, and what an heroic mind holds in far higher estimation, that
+immortal fame which follows successful achievements.</p>
+
+<p>A something I can hardly describe, an oppressive gloom, seemed to hang
+over this chapel, which remains very nearly, I should imagine, in the
+same style it was left by the ill-fated Sebastian. The want of a free
+circulation of air, and a heavy cloud of incense, affected the nerves of
+my head so disagreeably that I was glad to move on, and follow the
+Marquis into the rooms preparing for the Queen and the Infantas. These
+are airy and well ventilated; but instead of hanging them with rich
+arras, representing the adventures of knights and worthies, her
+Majesty’s upholsterers are hard at work covering the stout walls with
+bright silks and satins of the palest and most delicate colours. I saw
+no furniture worth notice, not a picture or a cabinet: our stay,
+therefore, as we had nothing to see, was not protracted.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the Marquis had given some orders, with which his royal
+mistress had charged him, we returned to Ramalhaô, where Horne and
+Guildermeester, the Dutch Consul, were<a name="page_vol_2_2116" id="page_vol_2_2116"></a> waiting our arrival, and
+squabbling about insurances, percentages, commissions, and other
+commercial speculations.</p>
+
+<p>I have been persuading the Marquis to accompany me to-morrow to
+Guildermeester’s: it is the old man’s birthday, and he opens his new
+house with dancing and suppering. We shall have a pretty sample of the
+factory misses, clerks, and apprentices, some underlings of the <i>corps
+diplomatique</i>, and God knows how many thousand pound weight of Dutch and
+Hambro merchants.<a name="page_vol_2_2117" id="page_vol_2_2117"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XX-port" id="LETTER_XX-port"></a>LETTER XX.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Grand gala at Court.&mdash;Festival in honour of the birthday of
+Guildermeester.&mdash;Mad freaks of a Frenchman.&mdash;Unwelcome lights of
+Truth.&mdash;Invective against the English.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">July 25th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>G<small>RAND</small> gala at Court, and the Marquis gone to attend it; for this blessed
+day not only gave birth to Guildermeester, but to the Princess of
+Brazil. We went to dine with the Marchioness. A band of regimental
+music, on their march to Guildermeester, began playing in the court, and
+drew forth one of those curious swarms of all sexes, ages, and colours,
+which this beneficent family are so fond of harbouring. Donna
+Henriquetta was seated on the steps, which lead up to the great
+pavilion, whispering to some of her favourite attendants, who, like the
+chorus in an ancient Greek tragedy, were continually giving their
+opinion of whatever was going forward.<a name="page_vol_2_2118" id="page_vol_2_2118"></a></p>
+
+<p>Just as Don Pedro and I were preparing to set off together for the ball
+at the old consul’s, we were agreeably surprised by the arrival of the
+Marquis, who had escaped from the palace much earlier than he expected.
+I carried him in my chaise to Horne’s, where we drank tea on his
+terrace, which commands the most romantic view in Cintra; vast sweeps of
+varied foliage, banks with twisted roots, and trunks of enormous
+chesnuts, mingled with weeping-willows of the freshest verdure, and
+citrons clustered with fruit. Above this sylvan scene tower three
+shattered pinnacles of rock, the middle one diversified by the turrets
+and walls of Nossa Senhora da Penha, a convent of Jeronimites,
+frequently concealed in clouds. I leaned against a cork-tree, which
+spreads its branches almost entirely over the veranda, enjoying the
+view, and staring idly at the grotesque figures, Dutch, English, and
+Portuguese, passing along to Guildermeester’s; a series sufficiently
+diversified to have amused me for some time, had not M&mdash;&mdash; grown
+impatient and uneasy. His brother-in-law, S&mdash;&mdash; V&mdash;&mdash;, to whom he has a
+mortal aversion, having made his appearance, the powers of light and
+darkness, if personified,<a name="page_vol_2_2119" id="page_vol_2_2119"></a> could not exhibit a stronger contrast than
+these two personages; M&mdash;&mdash; looking all benignity, and S&mdash;&mdash; V&mdash;&mdash; all
+malevolence. Indeed, if one half of the atrocities<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> public report
+attributes to this notorious nobleman be true, I should not wonder at
+the blackness of revenge and tyranny being so deeply marked in every
+line of his countenance.</p>
+
+<p>Moving off the first opportunity, we passed through dark and gloomy
+lanes, admirably calculated for such exploits as I have just alluded to,
+and were near being jerked into a ditch as we drove to the old consul’s
+door. The space before this new building is in sad disorder. The house
+has little more than bare walls, and was not very splendidly lighted up.</p>
+
+<p>As for the company, they turned out just what I expected. Madame G&mdash;&mdash;,
+who is a woman of spirit and discernment, did the honours with the
+greatest ease, and paid her principal guests the most marked attentions.
+There is a something pointedly original in all her observations, which
+pleased me very much. She is not, however, of the merciful tribe, and<a name="page_vol_2_2120" id="page_vol_2_2120"></a>
+joined forces with Verdeil (no foe to a little slashing conversation) in
+cutting up the factory. M&mdash;&mdash; handed her in to supper. This part of the
+entertainment was magnificent. There was a bright illumination, an
+immense profusion of plate, a striking breadth of table, every delicacy
+that could be procured, and a dessert-frame, fifty or sixty feet in
+length, gleaming with burnished figures and vases of silver flowers. I
+felt no inclination to dance after supper; the music was not inspiring,
+and the company thrown into the utmost confusion by the mad freaks of a
+Frenchman, upon whom one of the principal ladies present is supposed for
+two or three years past to have placed her affections. A <i>coup de
+soleil</i> and a quarrel with his ambassador, Monsieur de Bombelles, it
+seems had turned the poor fellow’s brain: there was no preventing his
+rushing from room to room with the sputter and eccentricity of a
+fire-work, now abusing one person, now another, confessing publicly the
+universal kindness he had received from the lady above hinted at, and
+the many marks of tender affection a certain Miss W&mdash;&mdash; had bestowed on
+him. “Why,” said he to the two<a name="page_vol_2_2121" id="page_vol_2_2121"></a> heroines, who I am told are not upon the
+best terms imaginable, “should you squabble and scratch? You are both
+equally indulgent, and have both rendered me in your turns the happiest
+mortal in the universe.”</p>
+
+<p>Whilst the light of truth was shining upon the bystanders in this very
+singular manner, I leave you to imagine the awkward surprise of the
+worthy old husband, and the angry blushes of his spouse and her fair
+associate. I never beheld a more capital scene. In some of our
+pantomimes, if I recollect rightly, harlequin applies a touchstone to
+his adversaries, and by its magic influence draws truth from their
+mouths in spite of propriety or interest. The lawyer confesses having
+fingered a bribe, the soldier his flight in the day of battle, and the
+whining methodistical dowager her frequent recourse to the bottle of
+inspiration. This wondrous effect seems to have been here realized, and
+some malicious demon to have possessed the talkative Frenchman, and to
+have compelled him to disclose the mysteries to which he owes his
+subsistence. Amongst the harsh truths poured out by this flow of
+sincerity was a vehement apostrophe to the English<a name="page_vol_2_2122" id="page_vol_2_2122"></a> canaille, as he
+styled them, upon their rank intolerance of all customs except their
+own, and their ten thousand starch uncharitable prejudices. Mrs.&mdash;&mdash;,
+become dauntless through despair, took up the cudgels in this cause most
+vigorously, compared the chief part of the company to a swarm of
+venomous insects, unworthy to crawl upon the hem of her really pure,
+though calumniated garments, and fit to be shaken off with a vengeance
+the first opportunity.</p>
+
+<p>The Marquis, Don Pedro, and I enjoyed the scene so much, that we stayed
+later than we intended.<a name="page_vol_2_2123" id="page_vol_2_2123"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXI-port" id="LETTER_XXI-port"></a>LETTER XXI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The Queen of Portugal’s Chapel.&mdash;The Orchestra.&mdash;Rehearsal of a
+Council.&mdash;Proposal to visit Mafra.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Ramalhaô, near Cintra, 26th August, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> Queen of Portugal’s chapel is still the first in Europe; in point of
+vocal and instrumental excellence, no other establishment of the kind,
+the papal not excepted, can boast such an assemblage of admirable
+musicians. Wherever her Majesty moves they follow; when she goes a
+hawking to Salvaterra, or a health-hunting to the baths of the Caldas.
+Even in the midst of these wild rocks and mountains, she is surrounded
+by a bevy of delicate warblers, as plump as quails, and as gurgling and
+melodious as nightingales. The violins and violoncellos at her Majesty’s
+beck are all of the first order, and in oboe and flute-players her
+musical menagerie is unrivalled.</p>
+
+<p><a name="page_vol_2_2124" id="page_vol_2_2124"></a>The Marquis of M&mdash;&mdash;, as first Lord of the Bedchamber, Master of the
+Horse, and, as it were, hereditary prime favourite, enjoys a decided
+influence over this empire of sweet sounds; and having been so friendly
+as to impart a share of these musical blessings to me, I have been
+permitted to avail myself, whenever I please, of a selection from this
+wonderful band of performers. This very morning, to my shame be it
+recorded, I remained hour after hour in my newly-arranged pavilion,
+without reading a word, writing a line, or entering into any
+conversation. All my faculties were absorbed by the harmony of the wind
+instruments, stationed at a distance in a thicket of orange and bay
+trees. It was to no purpose that I tried several times to retire out of
+the sound&mdash;I was as often drawn back as I attempted to snatch myself
+away. Did I consult the health of my mind, I should dismiss these
+musicians; their plaintive affecting tones are sure to awaken in my
+bosom a long train of mournful recollections, and by the force of
+associated ideas to plunge me into a state of languor and gloom.</p>
+
+<p class="cb">*
+&nbsp; &nbsp; *
+&nbsp; &nbsp; *
+&nbsp; &nbsp; *
+&nbsp; &nbsp; *
+&nbsp; &nbsp; *</p>
+
+<p>My excellent friend, the Prior of Aviz, performed<a name="page_vol_2_2125" id="page_vol_2_2125"></a> a real act of
+friendship, by breaking in almost by force upon my seclusion, and
+rousing me from my reveries. He insisted upon my accompanying him to the
+Archbishop’s, where the rehearsal of a council to be held in the Queen’s
+presence was going forward, and all the ministers with their assistant
+under-secretaries assembled. Such congregations are new to the good old
+Confessor, who has been just pressed into the supreme direction, I might
+say control, of the Cabinet, much against his will. He knows too well
+the value of ease and tranquillity not to regret so violent an inroad
+upon his usual habits of life. We found him, therefore, as might be
+expected, in a state of turmoil and irritation, flushed up to the very
+forehead with a ruddy tint, which was highly contrasted by his flowing
+white flannel garments. These garments he frequently shook and crumpled,
+and more than once did he strike with vehemence against his portly
+paunch, which, though he declared it had waited an hour longer than
+customary for its wonted replenishment, sounded by no means so hollow as
+an empty tub. The old saying, that “<i>fat paunches make lean pates</i>,”
+could not,<a name="page_vol_2_2126" id="page_vol_2_2126"></a> however, be applied to him; he was so gracious and
+confidential as to give me a summary of what had been represented to him
+from the different departments of state, with great perspicuity and
+acuteness.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the interest this singular communication ought to have
+excited, I paid it not half the attention it deserved. The impression I
+had received in the morning, from the music of Haydn and Jomelli, still
+lingered about me. The Grand Prior, finding politics could not shake
+them off, consulted with his nephew, who happened to be just by in the
+Queen’s apartment, and returned with a proposal, that as I had long
+expressed a wish to see Mafra, we should put this scheme in execution
+to-morrow. It was settled, therefore, that to-morrow we should set off.<a name="page_vol_2_2127" id="page_vol_2_2127"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXII-port" id="LETTER_XXII-port"></a>LETTER XXII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Road to Mafra.&mdash;Distant view of the Convent.&mdash;Its vast
+fronts.&mdash;General magnificence of the Edifice.&mdash;The Church.&mdash;The
+High Altar.&mdash;Eve of the Festival of St. Augustine.&mdash;The collateral
+Chapels.&mdash;The Sacristy.&mdash;The Abbot of the Convent.&mdash;The
+Library.&mdash;View from the Convent-roof.&mdash;Chime of Bells.&mdash;House of
+the Capitan Mor.&mdash;Dinner.&mdash;Vespers.&mdash;Awful sound of the
+Organs.&mdash;The Palace.&mdash;Return to the Convent.&mdash;Inquisitive
+crowd.&mdash;The Garden.&mdash;Matins.&mdash;A Procession.&mdash;The Hall de
+Profundis.&mdash;Solemn Repast.&mdash;Supper at the Capitan Mor’s.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">August 27th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>W<small>E</small> got into the carriage at nine, in spite of the wind, which blew full
+in our faces. The distance from the villa I inhabit to this stupendous
+convent is about fourteen English miles, and the road, which by
+good-luck has been lately mended, conducted across a parched, open
+country, thinly scattered with windmills and villages. The retrospect on
+the woody slopes and pointed rocks of Cintra is pleasant<a name="page_vol_2_2128" id="page_vol_2_2128"></a> enough; but
+when you look forward, nothing can be more bleak or barren than the
+prospect. Thanks to relays of mules, we advanced, full speed, and in
+less than an hour and a quarter found ourselves under a strong wall
+which winds boldly across the hills, and incloses the park of Mafra.</p>
+
+<p>We now caught a glimpse of the marble towers and dome of the convent,
+relieved by an azure expanse of ocean, rising above the brow of heathy
+eminences, diversified here and there by the bushy heads of Italian
+pines and the tall spires of cypress. The roofs of the edifice were not
+yet visible, and we continued some time winding about the undulating
+acclivities in the park before they were discovered. A detachment of
+lay-brothers were waiting to open the gates of the royal inclosure,
+sadly blackened by a fire, which about a month ago consumed a great part
+of its wood and verdure. Our approach spread a terrible alarm among the
+herds of deer, which were peacefully browsing on a slope rather greener
+than those in its neighbourhood. Off they scudded and took refuge in a
+thicket of half-burnt pines.<a name="page_vol_2_2129" id="page_vol_2_2129"></a></p>
+
+<p>After coasting the wall of the great garden, we turned suddenly the
+corner, and discovered one of the vast fronts of the convent, appearing
+like a street of palaces. I cannot pretend that the style of the
+building is such as a lover of pure Grecian architecture would approve;
+the windows and doors are many of them fantastically shaped, but at
+least well proportioned.</p>
+
+<p>I was admiring their ample range as we drove rapidly along, when, upon
+wheeling round the lofty square pavilion which flanks the edifice, the
+grand façade, extending above eight hundred feet, opened to my view. The
+centre is formed by the porticos of the church richly adorned with
+columns, niches, and bass-reliefs of marble. On each side two towers,
+somewhat resembling those of St. Paul’s in London, rise to the height of
+near two hundred feet, and, joining on to the enormous <i>corps de logis</i>,
+the palace terminates to the right and left by its stately pavilions.
+These towers are light, airy, and clustered with pillars, remarkably
+beautiful; but their form in general borders too much on a sort of
+pagoda-ish style, and wants solemnity. They contain many<a name="page_vol_2_2130" id="page_vol_2_2130"></a> bells of the
+largest dimensions, and a famous chime which cost several hundred
+thousand crusadoes, and which was set playing the moment our arrival was
+notified. The platform and flight of steps before the columned entrance
+of the church is strikingly grand; and the dome, which lifts itself up
+so proudly above the pediment of the portico, merits praise for its
+lightness and elegance.</p>
+
+<p>My eyes ranged along the vast extent of palace on each side till they
+were tired, and I was glad to turn them from the glare of marble and
+confusion of sculptured ornaments to the blue expanse of the distant
+ocean. Before the front of this colossal structure a wide level of space
+extends itself, at the extremity of which several white houses lie
+dispersed. Though these buildings are by no means inconsiderable, they
+appear, when contrasted with the immense pile in the neighbourhood, like
+the booths of workmen, for such I took them upon my first survey, and
+upon a nearer approach was quite surprised at their real dimensions.</p>
+
+<p>Few objects render the prospect from the platform of Mafra, interesting.
+You look over<a name="page_vol_2_2131" id="page_vol_2_2131"></a> the roofs of an indifferent village and the summits of
+sandy acclivities, backed by a boundless stretch of sea. On the left,
+your view is terminated by the craggy mountains of Cintra; to the right,
+a forest of pines in the Viscount of Ponte de Lima’s extensive garden,
+affords the eye some small refreshment.</p>
+
+<p>To skreen ourselves from the sun, which darted powerfully on our heads,
+we entered the church, passing through its magnificent portico, which
+reminded me not a little of the entrance of St. Peter’s; and is crowded
+with the statues of saints and martyrs, carved with infinite delicacy.</p>
+
+<p>The first <i>coup-d’œil</i> of the church is very imposing. The high
+altar, adorned with two majestic columns of reddish variegated marble,
+each, a single block, above thirty feet in height, immediately fixes the
+eye. Trevisani has painted the altar-piece in a masterly manner. It
+represents St. Anthony in the ecstasy of beholding the infant Jesus
+descending into his cell amidst an effulgence of glory.</p>
+
+<p>To-morrow being the festival of St. Augustine, whose followers are the
+actual possessors of this monastery, all the golden candelabra<a name="page_vol_2_2132" id="page_vol_2_2132"></a> were
+displayed, and tapers lighted. After pausing a few minutes in the midst
+of this bright illumination, we visited the collateral chapels, each
+enriched with highly finished bassi-relievi and stately portals of black
+and yellow marble, richly veined, and so highly polished as to reflect
+objects like a mirror. Never did I behold such an assemblage of
+beautiful marble as gleamed above, below, and around us. The pavement,
+the vaulted ceiling, the dome, and even the topmost lantern, is
+encrusted with the same costly and durable materials. Roses of white
+marble and wreaths of palm-branches, most exquisitely sculptured, enrich
+every part of the edifice. I never saw Corinthian capitals better
+modelled, or executed with more precision and sharpness, than those of
+the columns which support the nave.</p>
+
+<p>Having satisfied our curiosity by examining the various ornaments of the
+altars, we followed our conductor through a long coved gallery into the
+sacristy, a magnificent vaulted hall, panelled with some beautiful
+varieties of alabaster and porphyry, and carpeted, as well as a chapel
+adjoining it, in a style of the utmost magnificence.<a name="page_vol_2_2133" id="page_vol_2_2133"></a> We traversed
+several more halls and chapels, adorned with equal splendour, till we
+were fatigued and bewildered like errant knights in the mazes of an
+enchanted palace.</p>
+
+<p>I began to think there was no end to these spacious apartments. The monk
+who preceded us, a good-natured, slobbering greybeard, taking for
+granted that I could not understand a syllable of his language,
+attempted to explain the objects which presented themselves by signs,
+and would hardly believe his ears, when I asked him in good Portuguese
+when we should have done with chapels and sacristies. The old fellow
+seemed vastly delighted with the Meninos, as he called Don Pedro and me;
+and to give our young legs an opportunity of stretching themselves,
+trotted along with such expedition that the Marquis and Verdeil wished
+him in purgatory. To be sure, we advanced at a most rapid rate, striding
+from one end to the other of a dormitory, six hundred feet in length, in
+a minute or two. These vast corridors, and the cells with which they
+communicate, three hundred in number, are all arched in the most
+sumptuous and solid manner. Every cell, or rather chamber, for they are
+sufficiently spacious,<a name="page_vol_2_2134" id="page_vol_2_2134"></a> lofty, and well lighted, to merit that
+appellation, is furnished with tables and cabinets of Brazil-wood.</p>
+
+<p>Just as we entered the library, the Abbot of the convent, dressed in his
+ceremonial habit, advanced to bid us welcome, and invite us to dine with
+him to-morrow, St. Augustine’s day, in the refectory; which it seems is
+a mighty compliment. We thought proper, however, to decline the honour,
+being aware that, to enjoy it, we must sacrifice at least two hours of
+our time, and be half parboiled by the steam of huge roasted calves,
+turkeys, and gruntlings, which had long been fattening, no doubt, for
+this solemn occasion.</p>
+
+<p>The library is of a prodigious length, not less than three hundred feet;
+the arched roof of a pleasing form, beautifully stuccoed, and the
+pavement of red and white marble. Much cannot be said in praise of the
+cases in which the books are to be arranged. They are clumsily designed,
+coarsely executed, and darkened by a gallery which projects into the
+room in a very awkward manner. The collection, which consists of above
+sixty thousand volumes, is locked up at present in a suite of apartments
+which<a name="page_vol_2_2135" id="page_vol_2_2135"></a> opens into the library. Several well preserved and richly
+illuminated first editions of the Greek and Roman classics were handed
+to me by the father librarian; but my nimble conductor would not allow
+me much time to examine them. He set off full speed, and, ascending a
+winding staircase, led us out upon the roof of the convent and palace,
+which form a broad, smooth terrace, bounded by a magnificent balustrade,
+unincumbered by chimneys, and commanding a bird’s-eye view of the courts
+and garden.</p>
+
+<p>From this elevation the whole plan of the edifice may be comprehended at
+a glance. In the centre rises the dome, like a beautiful temple from the
+spacious walks of a royal garden. It is infinitely superior, in point of
+design, to the rest of the edifice, and may certainly be reckoned among
+the lightest and best proportioned in Europe. Don Pedro and Monsieur
+Verdeil proposed scaling a ladder which leads up to the lantern, but I
+begged to be excused accompanying them, and amused myself during their
+absence with ranging about the extensive loggias, now and then venturing
+a look down on the courts and parterres so far below; but<a name="page_vol_2_2136" id="page_vol_2_2136"></a> oftener
+enjoying the prospect of the towers shining bright in the sunbeams, and
+the azure bloom of the distant sea. A fresh balsamic air wafted from the
+orchards of citron and orange, fanned me as I rested on the steps of the
+dome, and tempered the warmth of the glowing æther.</p>
+
+<p>But I was soon driven from this cloudless, peaceful situation, by a
+confounded jingle of all the bells; then followed a most complicated
+sonata, banged off on the chimes by a great proficient. The Marquis, who
+had climbed up on purpose to enjoy this cataract of what some persons
+call melodious sounds at its fountainhead, would have me approach to
+examine the mechanism, and I was half stunned. I know very little indeed
+about chimes and clocks, and am quite at a loss for amusement in a
+belfry. My friend, who inherits a mechanical turn from his father, the
+renowned patron of clocks and time-pieces, investigated every wheel with
+minute attention.</p>
+
+<p>His survey finished, we descended innumerable stairs, and retired to the
+Capitan Mor’s, whose jurisdiction extends over the park and district of
+Mafra. He has seven or eight<a name="page_vol_2_2137" id="page_vol_2_2137"></a> thousand crusadoes a year, and his
+habitation wears every appearance of comfort and opulence. The floors
+are covered with mats of the finest texture, the doors hung with red
+damask curtains, and our beds, quite new for the occasion, spread with
+satin coverlids richly embroidered and fringed. We had a most luxurious
+repast, and a better dessert than even the monks could have given
+us&mdash;the Capitan Mor taking the dishes from his long train of servants,
+and placing them himself on the table, quite in the feudal style.</p>
+
+<p>After coffee we hurried to vespers in the great church of the convent,
+and advancing between the range of illuminated chapels, took our places
+in the royal tribune. We were no sooner seated than the monks entered in
+procession, preceding their abbot, who ascended his throne, having a row
+of sacristans at his feet and canons on his right hand, in their cloth
+of gold embroidered vestments. The service was chaunted with the most
+imposing solemnity to the awful sound of organs, for there are no fewer
+than six in the church, all of an enormous size.</p>
+
+<p>When it was ended, being once more laid<a name="page_vol_2_2138" id="page_vol_2_2138"></a> hold of by the nimble
+lay-brother, we were conducted up a magnificent staircase into the
+palace. The suite extends seven or eight hundred feet, and the almost
+endless succession of lofty doors seen in perspective, strikes with
+astonishment; but we were soon weary of being merely astonished, and
+agreed to pronounce the apartments the dullest and most comfortless we
+had ever beheld; there is no variety in their shape, and little in their
+dimensions. The furniture being all locked up at Lisbon, a naked
+sameness universally prevails; not a niche, not a cornice, not a curved
+moulding breaks the tedious uniformity of dead white walls.</p>
+
+<p>I was glad to return to the convent and refresh my eyes with the sight
+of marble pillars, and my feet by treading on Persian carpets. We were
+followed wherever we moved, into every cell, chapel, hall, passage, or
+sacristy, by a strange medley of inquisitive monks, sacristans,
+lay-brothers, corregidors, village-curates, and country beaux with long
+rapiers and pigtails. If I happened to ask a question, half-a-dozen all
+at once poked their necks out to answer it, like turkey-polts when
+addressed in their native<a name="page_vol_2_2139" id="page_vol_2_2139"></a> hobble-gobble dialect. The Marquis was quite
+sick of being trotted after in this tumultuous manner, and tried several
+times to leave the crowd behind him, by taking sudden turns; but
+sticking close to our heels, it baffled all his endeavours, and
+increased to such a degree, that we seemed to have swept the whole
+convent and village of their inhabitants, and to draw them after us by
+one of those supernatural attractions we read of in tales and romances.</p>
+
+<p>At length, perceiving a large door open into the garden, we bolted out,
+and striking into a labyrinth of myrtles and laurels, got rid of our
+pursuers. The garden, which is about a mile and a half in circumference,
+contains, besides wild thickets of pine and bay-trees, several orchards
+of lemon and orange, and two or three parterres more filled with weeds
+than flowers. I was much disgusted at finding this beautiful inclosure
+so wretchedly neglected, and its luxuriant plants withering away for
+want of being properly watered.</p>
+
+<p>You may suppose, that after adding a walk in the principal alleys of the
+garden to our other peregrinations, we began to find ourselves<a name="page_vol_2_2140" id="page_vol_2_2140"></a> somewhat
+fatigued, and were not sorry to repose ourselves in the Abbot’s
+apartment till we were summoned once more to our tribune to hear matins
+performed. It was growing dark, and the innumerable tapers burning
+before the altars and in every part of the church, began to diffuse a
+mysterious light. The organs joined again in full accord, the long
+series of monks and novices entered with slow and solemn steps, and the
+Abbot resumed his throne with the same pomp as at vespers. The Marquis
+began muttering his orisons, the Grand Prior to recite his breviary, and
+I to fall into a profound reverie, which lasted as long as the service,
+that is to say above two hours. Verdeil, ready to expire with ennui,
+could not help leaving the tribune and the cloud of incense which filled
+the choir, to breathe a freer air in the body of the church and its
+adjoining chapels.</p>
+
+<p>It was almost nine when the monks, after chaunting a most solemn and
+sonorous hymn in praise of their venerable father, Saint Augustine,
+quitted the choir. We followed their procession through lofty chapels
+and arched cloisters, which by a glimmering light appeared<a name="page_vol_2_2141" id="page_vol_2_2141"></a> to have
+neither roof nor termination, till it entered an octagon forty feet in
+diameter, with fountains in the four principal angles. The monks, after
+dispersing to wash their hands at the several fountains, again resumed
+their order, and passed two-and-two under a portal thirty feet high into
+a vast hall, communicating with their refectory by another portal of the
+same lofty dimensions. Here the procession made a pause, for this
+chamber is consecrated to the remembrance of the departed, and styled
+the Hall de Profundis. Before every repast, the monks standing round it
+in solemn ranks, silently revolve in their minds the precariousness of
+our frail existence, and offer up prayers for the salvation of their
+predecessors. I could not help being struck with awe when I beheld by
+the glow of flaming lamps, so many venerable figures in their black and
+white habits bending their eyes on the pavement, and absorbed in the
+most interesting and gloomy of meditations.</p>
+
+<p>The moment allotted to this solemn supplication being passed, every one
+took his place at the long tables in the refectory, which are made of
+Brazil-wood, and covered with the<a name="page_vol_2_2142" id="page_vol_2_2142"></a> whitest linen. Each monk had his
+glass caraffe of water and wine, his plate of apples and salad set
+before him; neither fish nor flesh were served up, the vigil of St.
+Augustine’s day being observed as a fast with the utmost strictness.</p>
+
+<p>To enjoy at a glance this singular and majestic spectacle, we retreated
+to a vestibule preceding the octagon, and from thence looked through all
+the portals down the long row of lamps into the refectory, which, owing
+to its vast length of full two hundred feet, seemed ending in a point.
+After remaining a few minutes to enjoy this perspective, four monks
+advanced with torches to light us out of the convent, and bid us
+good-night with many bows and genuflections.</p>
+
+<p>Our supper at the Capitan Mor’s was very cheerful. We sat up late,
+notwithstanding our fatigue, talking over the variety of objects that
+had passed before our eyes in so short a space of time, the crowd of
+grotesque figures which had stuck to our heels so long and so closely,
+and the awkward vivacity of the lay-brother.<a name="page_vol_2_2143" id="page_vol_2_2143"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXIII-port" id="LETTER_XXIII-port"></a>LETTER XXIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">High mass.&mdash;Garden of the Viscount Ponte de Lima.&mdash;Leave Mafra.&mdash;An
+accident.&mdash;Return to Cintra.&mdash;My saloon.&mdash;Beautiful view from it.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">August 28th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>WAS</small> half asleep, half awake, when the sonorous bells of the convent
+struck my ears. The Marquis and Don Pedro’s voices in earnest
+conversation with the Capitan Mor in the adjoining chamber, completely
+roused me. We swallowed our coffee in haste; the Grand Prior reluctantly
+left his pillow, and accompanied us to high mass. The monks once more
+exerted their efforts to prevail on us to dine with them; but we
+remained inflexible, and to avoid their importunities hastened away, as
+soon as mass was ended, to the Viscount Ponte de Lima’s gardens, where
+the deep shade of the bay and ilex skreened us from the excessive heat
+of the sun.</p>
+
+<p>The Marquis, seating himself by me near one<a name="page_vol_2_2144" id="page_vol_2_2144"></a> of those clear and copious
+fountains with which this magnificent Italian-looking garden is
+refreshed and enlivened, entered into a most serious and semi-official
+discourse about my stay in Portugal, and the means which were projecting
+in a very high quarter to render it not only pleasant to myself, but of
+some importance to many others.</p>
+
+<p class="cb">*
+&nbsp; &nbsp; *
+&nbsp; &nbsp; *
+&nbsp; &nbsp; *
+&nbsp; &nbsp; *
+&nbsp; &nbsp; *</p>
+
+<p>I felt relieved when the appearance of Don Pedro and his uncle, who had
+been walking to the end of an immensely long avenue of pines, warded off
+a conversation that began to press hard upon me. We returned altogether
+to the Capitan Mor’s, and found dinner ready.</p>
+
+<p>Both Don Pedro and myself were sorry to leave Mafra, and should have had
+no objection to another race along the cloisters and dormitories with
+the lay-brother. The evening was bright and clear, and the azure tints
+of the distant sea inexpressibly lovely. We drove with a tumultuous
+rapidity over the rough-paved roads, that the Marquis and I could hardly
+hear a word we said to each other. Don Pedro had mounted his horse.
+Verdeil, who preceded us in the carinho, seemed to<a name="page_vol_2_2145" id="page_vol_2_2145"></a> outstrip the winds.
+His mule, one of the most fiery and gigantic of her species, excited by
+repeated floggings and the shout of a hulking Portuguese postilion,
+perched up behind the carriage, galloped at an ungovernable rate; and at
+about a league from the rocks of Cintra, thought proper to jerk out its
+drivers into the midst of some bushes at the foot of a lofty bank,
+nearly perpendicular, where they still remained sprawling when we passed
+by.</p>
+
+<p>Verdeil hobbled up to us, and pointed to the carinho in the ditch below.
+Except a slight contusion in the knee, he had received no hurt. I
+exclaimed immediately, that his escape was miraculous, and that,
+doubtless, St. Anthony had some hand in it. My friend, who has always
+the horrors of heresy before his eyes, whispered me that the devil had
+saved him this time, but might not be so favourably disposed another.</p>
+
+<p>It was not half-past five, when we reached Cintra. The Marchioness, the
+Abade, and the children, were waiting our arrival.</p>
+
+<p>Feeling my head in a whirl, and my ideas as much jolted and jumbled as
+my body, I returned home just before it fell dark, to<a name="page_vol_2_2146" id="page_vol_2_2146"></a> enjoy a few hours
+of uninterrupted calm. The scenery of my ample saloon, its air of
+seclusion, its silence, seemed to breathe a momentary tranquillity over
+my spirits. The mat smoothly laid down, and formed of the finest and
+most glossy straw, assumed by candlelight a delightful, soft, and
+harmonious colour. It looked so cool and glistening that I stretched
+myself upon it. There did I lie supine, contemplating the serene
+summer-sky, and the moon rising slowly from behind the brow of a shrubby
+hill. A faint breeze blowing aside the curtains, discovered the summit
+of the woods in the garden, and beyond, a wide expanse of country,
+terminated by plains of sea and hazy promontories.<a name="page_vol_2_2147" id="page_vol_2_2147"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXIV-port" id="LETTER_XXIV-port"></a>LETTER XXIV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">A saloon in the highest style of oriental decoration.&mdash;Amusing
+stories of King John the Fifth and his recluses.&mdash;Cheerful
+funeral.&mdash;Refreshing ramble to the heights of Penha Verde.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">August 29th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>I<small>T</small> was furiously hot, and I trifled away the whole morning in my
+pavilion, surrounded by fidalgos in flowered bed-gowns, and musicians in
+violet-coloured accoutrements, with broad straw-hats, like bonzes or
+talapoins, looking as sunburnt, vacant, and listless, as the inhabitants
+of Ormus or Bengal; so that my company as well as my apartment wore the
+most decided oriental appearance: the divan raised a few inches above
+the floor, the gilt trellis-work of the windows, and the pellucid
+streams of water rising from a tank immediately beneath them, supplied
+in endless succession by springs from the native rock.<a name="page_vol_2_2148" id="page_vol_2_2148"></a></p>
+
+<p>An agreeable variety prevails in my Asiatic saloon; half its curtains
+admit no light, and display the richest folds; the other half are
+transparent, and cast a mild glow on the mat and sofas. Large clear
+mirrors multiply this profusion of drapery, and several of my guests
+seemed never tired of running from corner to corner, to view the
+different groups of objects reflected on all sides in the most
+unexpected directions, as if they fancied themselves admitted by
+enchantment to peep into a labyrinth of magic chambers.</p>
+
+<p>One of the party, a very shrewd old Italian priest, who had left his
+native land before the too-famous earthquake shook more than the half of
+Lisbon to its foundations, told me he remembered an apartment a good
+deal in this style, that is to say, bedecked with mirrors and curtains,
+in a sort of fairy palace communicating with the Nunnery of Odivellas,
+so famous for the pious retirement of that paragon of splendour and
+holiness, King John the Fifth. These were delightful days for the
+monarch and the fair companions of his devotions.</p>
+
+<p>“Oh!” said the old priest very judiciously, “of what avail is the finest
+cage without birds<a name="page_vol_2_2149" id="page_vol_2_2149"></a> to enliven it? Had you but heard the celestial
+harmony of King John’s recluses, you would never have sat down contented
+in your fine tent with the squalling of sopranos and the grumbling of
+bass-viols. The silver, virgin tones I allude to, proceeding from the
+holy recess into which no other male mortal except the monarch was ever
+allowed to penetrate, had an effect I still remember with ecstasy,
+though at the distance of so many years. Four of our finest singers, two
+from Venice and two from Naples, attracted by a truly regal munificence,
+added all that the most consummate taste and science could give to the
+best voices in Portugal; the result was perfection.”</p>
+
+<p>Aguilar, who came to dine with us, and whose mother, when in the bloom
+of youth and beauty, had been not unfrequently invited to act the part
+of perhaps more than audience at these edifying parties, confirmed all
+the wonders the old Italian narrated, and added not a few of the same
+gold and ruby colour in a strain so extravagantly enthusiastic, that
+were I to repeat even half the glittering anecdotes he favoured me with,
+upon the subject of Don John the Fifth’s unbounded fervour and
+magnificence,<a name="page_vol_2_2150" id="page_vol_2_2150"></a> your imagination would be completely dazzled.</p>
+
+<p>Just as we had removed from the dinner to the dessert-table, which was
+spread out upon a terrace fronting the principal alley of the gardens,
+entered the abade Xavier, in full cry, with a rapturous story of the
+conversion of an old consumptive Englishwoman, who, it seems, finding
+herself upon the eve of departure, had called for a priest, to whom she
+might confess, and abjure her errors of every description. Happening to
+lodge at the Cintra inn, kept by a most flaming Irish Catholic, her
+commendable desires were speedily complied with, and Mascarenhas and
+Acciaoli, and two or three other priests and monsignors, summoned to
+further the good work.</p>
+
+<p>“Great,” said the abade, “are our rejoicings upon the occasion. This
+very evening the aged innocent is to be buried in triumph: Marialva, San
+Lorenzo, Asseca, and several more of the principal nobility are already
+assembled to grace the festival; suppose you were to come with me and
+join the procession?”</p>
+
+<p>“With all my heart,” did I reply; “although I have no great taste for
+funerals, so<a name="page_vol_2_2151" id="page_vol_2_2151"></a> gay a one as this you talk of may form an exception.”</p>
+
+<p>Off we set, driving as fast as most excellent mules could carry us, lest
+we should come too late for the entertainment. A great mob was assembled
+before the door. At one of the windows stood the grand prior, looking as
+if he wished himself a thousand leagues away, and reciting his breviary.
+I went up-stairs, and was immediately surrounded by the old Conde de San
+Lorenzo and other believers, overflowing with congratulations.
+Mascarenhas, one of the soundest limbs of the patriarchal establishment,
+a capital devotee and seraphic doctor, was introduced to me. Acciaoli,
+whom I was before acquainted with, skipped about the room, rubbing his
+hands for joy, with a cunning leer on his jovial countenance, and
+snapping his fingers at Satan, as much as to say, “I don’t care a d&mdash;&mdash;
+n for you. We have got one at least safe out of your clutches, and clear
+at this very moment of the smoke of your cauldron.”</p>
+
+<p>There was such a bustle in the interior apartment where the wretched
+corpse was deposited, such a chaunting and praying, for not a<a name="page_vol_2_2152" id="page_vol_2_2152"></a> tongue
+was idle, that my head swam round, and I took refuge by the grand prior.
+He by no means relished the party, and kept shrugging up his shoulders,
+and saying that it was very edifying&mdash;very edifying indeed, and that
+Acciaoli had been extremely alert, extremely active, and deserved great
+commendation, but that so much fuss might as well have been spared.</p>
+
+<p>By some hints that dropped, I won’t say from whom, I discovered the
+innocent now on the high road to eternal felicity by no means to have
+suffered the cup of joy to pass by untasted in this existence, and to
+have lived many years on a very easy footing, not only with a stout
+English bachelor, but with several others, married and unmarried, of his
+particular acquaintance. However, she had taken a sudden tack upon
+finding herself driven apace down the tide of a rapid consumption, and
+had been fairly towed into port by the joint efforts of the Irish
+hostess and the monsignori Mascarenhas and Acciaoli.</p>
+
+<p>“Thrice happy Englishwoman,” exclaimed M&mdash;a, “what luck is thine! In
+the next world immediate admission to paradise, and in this<a name="page_vol_2_2153" id="page_vol_2_2153"></a> thy body
+will have the proud distinction of being borne to the grave by men of
+the highest rank.&mdash;Was there ever such felicity?”</p>
+
+<p>The arrival of a band of priests and sacristans, with tapers lighted and
+cross erected, called us to the scene of action. The procession being
+marshalled, the corpse, dressed in virgin-white, lying snug in a sort of
+rose-coloured bandbox with six silvered handles, was brought forth.
+M&mdash;&mdash;, who abhors the sight of a dead body, reddened up to his ears, and
+would have given a good sum to make an honourable retreat; but no
+retreat could now have been made consistent with piety: he was obliged
+to conquer his disgust and take a handle of the bier. Another was placed
+in the murderous gripe of the notorious San Vicente; another fell to the
+poor old snuffling Conde de San Lorenzo; a fourth to the Viscount
+d’Asseca, a mighty simple-looking young gentleman; the fifth and sixth
+were allotted to the Capitaô Mor of Cintra, and to the judge, a gaunt
+fellow with a hang-dog countenance.</p>
+
+<p>No sooner did the grand prior catch sight of the ghastly visage of the
+dead body as it was being conveyed down-stairs in the manner<a name="page_vol_2_2154" id="page_vol_2_2154"></a> I have
+recited, than he made an attempt to move on, and precede instead of
+following the procession; but Acciaoli, who acted as master of the
+ceremonies, would not let him off so easily: he allotted him the post of
+honour immediately at the head of the corpse, and placed himself at his
+left hand, giving the right to Mascarenhas. All the bells of Cintra
+struck up a cheerful peal, and to their merry jinglings we hurried along
+through a dense cloud of dust, a rabble of children frolicking on either
+side, and their grandmothers hobbling after, telling their beads, and
+grinning from ear to ear at this triumph over the prince of darkness.</p>
+
+<p>Happily the way to the church was not long, or the dust would have
+choked us. The grand prior kept his mouth close not to admit a particle
+of it, but Acciaoli and his colleague were too full of their fortunate
+exploit not to chatter incessantly. Poor old San Lorenzo, who is fat,
+squat, and pursy, gasping for breath, stopped several times to rest on
+his journey. Marialva, whom disgust rendered heartily fatigued with his
+burthen, was very glad likewise to make a pause or two.</p>
+
+<p>We found all the altars in the church blazing<a name="page_vol_2_2155" id="page_vol_2_2155"></a> with lights, the grave
+gaping for its immaculate inhabitant, and a numerous detachment of
+priests and choristers waiting to receive the procession. The moment it
+entered, the same hymn which is sung at the interment of babes and
+sucklings burst forth from a hundred youthful voices, incense arose in
+clouds, and joy and gladness shone in the eyes of the whole
+congregation.</p>
+
+<p>A murmur of applause and congratulation went round anew, those whom it
+most concerned receiving with great affability and meekness the
+compliments of the occasion. Old San Lorenzo, waddling up to the grand
+prior, hugged him in his arms, and strewing him all over with snuff, set
+him violently a-sneezing. San Vicente, as soon as the innocent was
+safely deposited, retired in a sort of dudgeon, being never rightly at
+ease in the presence of his brother-in-law Marialva. As for the latter
+warm-hearted nobleman, exultation and triumph carried him beyond all
+bounds of decorum. He scoffed bitterly at heretics, represented in their
+true colours the actual happiness of the convert, and just as we left
+the church, cried out loud enough for all those<a name="page_vol_2_2156" id="page_vol_2_2156"></a> who were near to have
+heard him, “<i>Elle se f&mdash;&mdash;iche de nous tous à présent.</i>”</p>
+
+<p>Their pious toil being ended, Mascarenhas and Acciaoli accompanied us to
+the heights of Penha Verde, to breathe a fresh air under the odoriferous
+pines: then, returning in our company to Ramalhaô, partook of a nice
+collation of iced fruit and sweetmeats, and concluded the evening with
+much gratifying discourse about the lively scene we had just witnessed.<a name="page_vol_2_2157" id="page_vol_2_2157"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXV-port" id="LETTER_XXV-port"></a>LETTER XXV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Anecdotes of the Conde de San Lorenzo.&mdash;Visit to Mrs.
+Guildermeester.&mdash;Toads active, and toads passive.&mdash;The old Consul
+and his tray of jewels.</p></div>
+
+<p>The principal personages who had so piously distinguished themselves
+yesterday dined with me this blessed afternoon. Old San Lorenzo has a
+prodigious memory and a warm imagination, rendered still more glowing by
+a slight touch of madness. He appears perfectly well acquainted with the
+general politics of Europe, and though never beyond the limits of
+Portugal, gave so circumstantial and plausible a detail of what
+occurred, and of the part he himself acted at the congress of
+Aix-la-Chapelle, that I was completely his dupe, and believed, until I
+was let into the secret, that he had actually witnessed what he only
+dreamt of. Notwithstanding the high favour he enjoyed with the infante
+Don Pedro, Pombal cast<a name="page_vol_2_2158" id="page_vol_2_2158"></a> him into a dungeon with the other victims of the
+Aveiro conspiracy, and for eighteen most melancholy years was his active
+mind reduced to prey upon itself for sustenance.</p>
+
+<p>Upon the present queen’s accession he was released, and found his
+intimate friend the Infante sharing the throne; but thinking himself
+somewhat coolly received and shabbily neglected, he threw the key of
+chamberlain which was sent him into a place of less dignity than
+convenience, and retired to the convent of the Necessidades. No means, I
+have been assured, were left untried by the king to soothe and flatter
+him; but they all proved fruitless. Since this period, though he quitted
+the convent, he has never appeared at court, and has refused all
+employment. Devotion now absorbs his entire soul. Except when the chord
+of imprisonment and Pombal is touched upon, he is calm and reasonable. I
+found him extremely so to-day, and full of the most instructive and
+amusing anecdote.</p>
+
+<p>Coffee over, my company having stretched themselves out at full-length
+most comfortably, some on the mat, and some on the sofas, to recruit
+their spirits I suppose, after the pious<a name="page_vol_2_2159" id="page_vol_2_2159"></a> toils and enthusiastic
+procession of the day before, I prevailed upon Marialva to escort me to
+Mrs. Guildermeester’s, whom we found in a vast but dingy saloon, her
+toads squatting around her. She gave us some excellent tea, and a plain
+sensible loaf of brown bread, accompanied by delicious butter, just
+fresh from a genuine Dutch dairy, conducted upon the most immaculate
+Dutch principles. Donna Genuefa, the toad-passive in waiting, is a
+little jossish old woman, with a head as round as a humming-top, and a
+large placid lip, very smiling and good-natured. Miss Coster, the
+toad-active, has been rather pretty a few years ago, makes tea with
+decorum, shuts doors and opens windows with judgment, and has a good
+deal to say for herself when allowed to sit still on her chair.</p>
+
+<p>We had scarcely begun complimenting the mistress of the house upon the
+complete success of her cow-establishment, when the old consul her
+spouse entered, with many bows and salutations, bearing a huge japan
+tray, upon which was spread out in glittering profusion an ample
+treasure, both of rough and well-lapidated brilliants, the fruits of his
+famous and most lucrative<a name="page_vol_2_2160" id="page_vol_2_2160"></a> contract in the days of Pombal. Some of the
+largest diamonds, in superb though heavy Dutch or German settings, he
+eagerly desired Marialva would recommend to the attention of the queen,
+and whispered in my ear that he hoped I also would speak a good word for
+him. I remained as deaf as an adder, and the Marquis as blind as a
+beetle, to the splendour of the display; so he returned once more to his
+interior cabinet, with all his hopes out of blossom, and we moved off.</p>
+
+<p>Evening was drawing on, and a drizzling mist overspreading the crags of
+Cintra. It did not, however, prevent us from going to Mr. Horne’s. We
+passed under arching elms and chesnuts, whose moistened foliage exhaled
+a fresh woody odour. High above the vapours, which were rolling away
+just as we emerged from the shady avenue, appeared the turret of the
+convent of the Penha, faintly tinted by the last rays of the sun, and
+looking down, like the ark on Mount Ararat, on a sea of undulating
+clouds.</p>
+
+<p>At Horne’s, Aguilar, Bezerra, and the usual set were assembled. The
+Marquis, as soon as he had made his condescending bows to the right<a name="page_vol_2_2161" id="page_vol_2_2161"></a> and
+left, retired to his villa, and I took Horne in my chaise to Mrs.
+Staits, a little slender-waisted, wild-eyed woman, by no means
+unpleasing or flinty-hearted. It was her birthday, and she had
+congregated most of the English at Cintra, in a damp garden about
+seventy feet long by thirty-two, illuminated by thirty or forty
+lanterns. Mrs. Guildermeester was there, covered with diamonds, and
+sparkling like a star in the midst of this murky atmosphere. We had a
+cold funereal supper, under a low tent in imitation of a grotto.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Staits’ well-disposed, easy-tempered husband placed me next Mrs.
+Guildermeester, who amused herself tolerably well at the expense of the
+entertainment. The dingy, subterraneous appearance of the booth, the wan
+light of the lanterns sparingly scattered along it, and the fragrance of
+a dish of rather mature prawns placed under my nose, seized me with the
+idea of being dead and buried. “Alas!” said I to my fair neighbour, “it
+is all over with us now, and this our first banquet in the infernal
+regions; we are all equal and jumbled together. There sits the pious
+presbyterian Mrs. Fussock, with that bridling miss her<a name="page_vol_2_2162" id="page_vol_2_2162"></a> daughter, and
+close to them those adulterous doves, Mr. &mdash;&mdash; and his sultana. Here am
+I, miserable sinner, right opposite your righteous and much enduring
+spouse; a little lower our kind host, that pattern of conjugal meekness
+and resignation. Hark! don’t you hear a lumbering noise? They are
+letting down a cargo of heavy bodies into a neighbouring tomb.”</p>
+
+<p>In this strain did we continue till the subject was exhausted, and it
+was time to take our departure.<a name="page_vol_2_2163" id="page_vol_2_2163"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXVI-port" id="LETTER_XXVI-port"></a>LETTER XXVI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Expected arrival at Cintra of the Queen and suite.&mdash;Duke
+d’Alafoins.&mdash;Excursion to a rustic Fair.&mdash;Revels of the
+Peasantry.&mdash;Night-scene at the Marialva Villa.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Sept. 10th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>A<small>DIEU</small> to the tranquillity of Cintra, we shall soon have nothing but
+hubbub and confusion. The queen is on the point of arriving with all her
+maids of honour, secretaries of state, dwarfs, negresses and horses,
+white, black, and pie-bald. Half the quintas around will be dried up,
+military possession having been taken of the aqueducts, and their waters
+diverted into new channels for the use of an encampment.</p>
+
+<p>I was walking in a long arched bower of citron-trees, when M&mdash;&mdash;
+appeared at the end of the avenue, accompanied by the duke d’Alafoins.
+This is the identical personage well-known in every part of Europe by
+the appellation<a name="page_vol_2_2164" id="page_vol_2_2164"></a> of Duke of Braganza. He has no right however, to wear
+that illustrious title, which is merged in the crown. Were he called
+Duchess Dowager, of anything you please, I think nobody would dispute
+the propriety of his style, he being so like an old lady of the
+bed-chamber, so fiddle-faddle and so coquettish. He had put on rouge and
+patches, and though he has seen seventy winters, contrived to turn on
+his heel and glide about with juvenile agility.</p>
+
+<p>I was much surprised at the ease of his motions, having been told that
+he was a martyr to the gout. After lisping French with a most refined
+accent, complaining of the sun, and the roads, and the state of
+architecture, he departed, (thank heaven!) to mark out a spot for the
+encampment of the cavalry, which are to guard the queen’s sacred person
+during her residence in these mountains. M&mdash;&mdash; was in duty bound to
+accompany him; but left his son and his nephews, the heirs of the House
+of Tancos, to dine with me.</p>
+
+<p>In the evening, Verdeil, tired with sauntering about the verandas,
+proposed a ride to a neighbouring village, where there was a fair.<a name="page_vol_2_2165" id="page_vol_2_2165"></a> He
+and Don Pedro mounted their horses, and preceded the young Tancos and me
+in a garden-chair, drawn by a most resolute mule. The roads are
+abominable, and lay partly along the sloping base of the Cintra
+mountains, which in the spring, no doubt, are clothed with a tolerable
+verdure, but at this season every blade of grass is parched and
+withered. Our carriage-wheels, as we drove sideling along these slippery
+declivities, pressed forth the odour of innumerable aromatic herbs, half
+pulverized. Thicknesse perhaps would have said, in his original quaint
+style, that nature was treating us with a pinch of her best cephalic. No
+snuff, indeed, ever threw me into a more violent fit of sneezing.</p>
+
+<p>I could hardly keep up my head when we arrived at the fair, which is
+held on a pleasant lawn, bounded on one side by the picturesque
+buildings of a convent of Hieronimites, and on the other by rocky hills,
+shattered into a variety of uncouth romantic forms; one cliff in
+particular, called the Pedra d’os Ovos, terminated by a cross, crowns
+the assemblage, and exhibits a very grotesque appearance. Behind the
+convent a thick shrubbery of olives, ilex,<a name="page_vol_2_2166" id="page_vol_2_2166"></a> and citron, fills up a small
+valley refreshed by fountains, whose clear waters are conducted through
+several cloisters and gardens, surrounded by low marble columns,
+supporting fretted arches in the morisco style.</p>
+
+<p>The peasants assembled at the fair were scattered over the lawn; some
+conversing with the monks, others half intoxicated, sliding off their
+donkeys and sprawling upon the ground; others bargaining for silk-nets
+and spangled rings, to bestow on their mistresses. The monks, who were
+busily employed in administering all sorts of consolations, spiritual
+and temporal, according to their respective ages and vocations, happily
+paid us no kind of attention, so we escaped being stuffed with
+sweetmeats, and worried with compliments.</p>
+
+<p>At sunset we returned to Ramalhaô, and drank tea in its lantern-like
+saloon, in which are no less than eleven glazed doors and windows of
+large dimensions. The winds were still; the air balsamic; and the sky of
+so soft an azure that we could not remain with patience under any other
+canopy, but stept once more into our curricles and drove as far as the<a name="page_vol_2_2167" id="page_vol_2_2167"></a>
+Dutch consul’s new building, by the mingled light of innumerable stars.</p>
+
+<p>It was after ten when we got back to the Marialva villa, and long before
+we reached it, we heard the plaintive tones of voices and wind
+instruments issuing from the thickets. On the margin of the principal
+basin sat the marchioness and Donna Henriquetta, and a numerous group of
+their female attendants, many of them most graceful figures, and
+listening with all their hearts and souls to the rehearsal of some very
+delightful music with which her majesty is to be serenaded a few
+evenings hence.</p>
+
+<p>It was one of those serene and genial nights when music acquires a
+double charm, and opens the heart to tender, though melancholy
+impressions. Not a leaf rustled, not a breath of wind disturbed the
+clear flame of the lights which had been placed near the fountains, and
+which just served to make them visible. The waters, flowing in rills
+round the roots of the lemon-trees, formed a rippling murmur; and in the
+pauses of the concert, no other sound except some very faint whisperings
+was to be<a name="page_vol_2_2168" id="page_vol_2_2168"></a> distinguished, so that the enchantment of climate, music, and
+mystery, all contributed to throw my mind into a sort of trance from
+which I was not roused again without a degree of painful reluctance.<a name="page_vol_2_2169" id="page_vol_2_2169"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXVII-port" id="LETTER_XXVII-port"></a>LETTER XXVII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Curious scene in the interior of the palace of Cintra.&mdash;Singular
+invitation.&mdash;Dinner with the Archbishop Confessor.&mdash;Hilarity and
+shrewd remarks of that extraordinary personage.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">September 12th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>WAS</small> hardly up before the grand prior and Mr. Street were announced:
+the latter abusing kings, queens, and princes, with all his might, and
+roaring after liberty and independence; the former complaining of fogs
+and damps.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the advocate for republicanism had taken his departure, we
+went by appointment to the archbishop confessor’s, and were immediately
+admitted into his <i>sanctum sanctorum</i>, a snug apartment communicating by
+a winding staircase with that of the queen, and hung with bright, lively
+tapestry. A lay-brother, fat, round, buffoonical, and to the full<a name="page_vol_2_2170" id="page_vol_2_2170"></a> as
+coarse and vulgar as any carter or muleteer in christendom, entertained
+us with some very amusing, though not the most decent, palace stories,
+till his patron came forth.</p>
+
+<p>Those who expect to see the Grand Inquisitor of Portugal, a doleful,
+meagre figure, with eyes of reproof and malediction, would be
+disappointed. A pleasanter or more honest countenance than that kind
+heaven has blessed him with, one has seldom the comfort of looking upon.
+He received me in the most open, cordial manner, and I have reason to
+think I am in mighty favour.</p>
+
+<p>We talked about archbishops in England being married. “Pray,” said the
+prelate, “are not your archbishops strange fellows? consecrated in
+ale-houses, and good bottle companions? I have been told that mad-cap
+Lord Tyrawley was an archbishop at home.” You may imagine how much I
+laughed at this inconceivable nonsense; and though I cannot say,
+speaking of his right reverence, that “truths divine came mended from
+his tongue,” it may be allowed, that nonsense itself became more
+conspicuously nonsensical, flowing from so revered a source.<a name="page_vol_2_2171" id="page_vol_2_2171"></a></p>
+
+<p>Whilst we sat in the windows of the saloon, listening to a band of
+regimental music, we saw Joaô Antonio de Castro, the ingenious
+mechanician, who invented the present method of lighting Lisbon, two or
+three solemn dominicans, and a famous court fool<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> in a tawdry
+gala-suit, bedizened with mock orders, coming up the steps which lead to
+the great audience-chamber, all together. “Ay, ay,” said the
+lay-brother, who is a shrewd, comical fellow, “behold a true picture of
+our customers. Three sorts of persons find their way most readily into
+this palace; men of superior abilities, buffoons, and saints; the first
+soon lose what cleverness they possessed, the saints become martyrs, and
+the buffoons alone prosper.”</p>
+
+<p>To all this the Archbishop gave his hearty assent by a very significant
+nod of the head; and being, as I have already told you, in a most
+gracious, communicative disposition, would not permit me to go away,
+when I rose up to take leave of him.</p>
+
+<p>“No, no,” said he, “don’t think of quitting me yet awhile. Let us repair
+to the hall of Swans, where all the court are waiting for me,<a name="page_vol_2_2172" id="page_vol_2_2172"></a> and pray
+tell me then what you think of our great fidalgos.”</p>
+
+<p>Taking me by the tip of the fingers he led me along through a number of
+shady rooms and dark passages to a private door, which opened from the
+queen’s presence-chamber, into a vast saloon, crowded, I really believe,
+by half the dignitaries of the kingdom; here were bishops, heads of
+orders, secretaries of state, generals, lords of the bedchamber, and
+courtiers of all denominations, as fine and as conspicuous as
+embroidered uniforms, stars, crosses, and gold keys could make them.</p>
+
+<p>The astonishment of this group at our sudden apparition was truly
+laughable, and indeed, no wonder; we must have appeared on the point of
+beginning a minuet&mdash;the portly archbishop in his monastic, flowing white
+drapery, spreading himself out like a turkey in full pride, and myself
+bowing and advancing in a sort of <i>pas-grave</i>, blinking all the while
+like an owl in sunshine, thanks to my rapid transition from darkness to
+the most glaring daylight.</p>
+
+<p>Down went half the party upon their knees,<a name="page_vol_2_2173" id="page_vol_2_2173"></a> some with petitions and some
+with memorials; those begging for places and promotions, and these for
+benedictions, of which my revered conductor was by no means prodigal. He
+seemed to treat all these eager demonstrations of fawning servility with
+the most contemptuous composure, and pushing through the crowd which
+divided respectfully to give us passage, beckoned the Viscount Ponte de
+Lima, the Marquis of Lavradio, the Count d’Obidos, and two or three of
+the lords in waiting, into a mean little room, not above twenty by
+fourteen.</p>
+
+<p>After a deal of adulatory complimentation in a most subdued tone from
+the circle of courtiers, for which they had got nothing in return but
+rebuffs and gruntling, the Archbishop drew his chair close to mine, and
+said with a very distinct and audible pronunciation, “My dear
+Englishman, these are all a parcel of flattering scoundrels, do not
+believe one word they say to you. Though they glitter like gold, mud is
+not meaner&mdash;I know them well. Here,” continued he, holding up the flap
+of my coat, “is a proof of English prudence, this little button to
+secure the pocket is a precious contrivance,<a name="page_vol_2_2174" id="page_vol_2_2174"></a> especially in grand
+company, do not leave it off, do not adopt any of our fashions, or you
+will repent it.”</p>
+
+<p>This sally of wit was received with the most resigned complacency by
+those who had inspired it, and, staring with all my eyes, and listening
+with all my ears, I could hardly credit either upon seeing the most
+complaisant gesticulations, and hearing the most abject protestations of
+devoted attachment to his right reverence’s sacred person from all the
+company.</p>
+
+<p>There is no saying how long this tide of adulation would have continued
+pouring on, if it had not been interrupted by a message from the queen,
+commanding the confessor’s immediate attendance. Giving his garments a
+hearty shake, he trudged off bawling out to me over his shoulder, “I
+shall be back in half-an-hour, and you must dine with me.“&mdash;“Dine with
+him!” exclaimed the company in chorus: “such an honour never befel any
+one of us; how fortunate! how distinguished you are!”</p>
+
+<p>Now, I must confess, I was by no means enchanted with this most peculiar
+invitation; I had a much pleasanter engagement at Penha-Verde, one of
+the coolest and most romantic<a name="page_vol_2_2175" id="page_vol_2_2175"></a> spots in all this poetic district, and
+felt no vocation to be cooped up in a close bandboxical apartment,
+smelling of paint and varnish enough to give the head-ache; however,
+there was no getting off. I was told that I must obey, for everybody in
+these regions, high or low, the royal family themselves not excepted,
+obeyed the archbishop, and that I ought to esteem myself too happy in so
+agreeable an opportunity.</p>
+
+<p>It would be only repeating what is known to every one, who knows any
+thing of courts and courtiers, were I to add the flowery speeches, the
+warm encomiums, I received from the finest feathered birds of this covey
+upon my own transcendant perfections, and those of my host that was to
+be. The half-hour, which, by-the-by, was more than three-quarters,
+scarcely sufficed for half those very people had to say in my
+commendation, who, a few days ago, were all reserve and indifference, if
+I happened to approach them. My summons to this envied repast was
+conveyed to me by no less a personage than the Marquis of M&mdash;&mdash;, who,
+with gladsome surprise in all his gestures, whispered me, “I am to be of
+the<a name="page_vol_2_2176" id="page_vol_2_2176"></a> party too, the first time in my life I can assure you; not a
+creature besides is to be admitted; for my uncle is gone home tired of
+waiting for you.”</p>
+
+<p>We knocked at the private door, which was immediately opened, and
+following the same passages through which I had been before conducted,
+emerged into an ante-chamber looking into a very neat little kitchen,
+where the lay-brother, with his sleeves tucked up to his shoulders, was
+making hospitable preparation. A table with three covers was prepared in
+the tapestry-room, and upon a sofa, in the corner of it, sat the
+omnipotent prelate wrapped up in an old snuff-coloured great coat, sadly
+patched and tattered.</p>
+
+<p>“Come,” said he, clapping his hands after the oriental fashion, “serve
+up and let us be merry&mdash;oh, these women, these women, above stairs, what
+a plague it is to settle their differences! Who knows better than you,
+Marquis, what enigmas they are to unriddle? I dare say the Englishman’s
+archbishops have not half such puzzles to get over as I have: well, let
+us see what we have got for you.”</p>
+
+<p>Entered the lay-brother with three <a name="page_vol_2_2177" id="page_vol_2_2177"></a>roasting-pigs, on a huge tray of
+massive silver, and an enormous pillau, as admirable in quality as in
+size; and so it had need to have been, for in these two dishes consisted
+our whole dinner. I am told the fare at the Archbishop’s table never
+varies, and roasting-pigs succeed roasting-pigs, and pillaus pillaus,
+throughout all the vicissitudes of the seasons, except on certain
+peculiar fast-days of supreme meagre.</p>
+
+<p>The simplicity of this part of our entertainment was made up by the
+profusion and splendour of our dessert, which exceeded in variety of
+fruits and sweetmeats any one of which I had ever partaken. As to the
+wines, they were admirable, the tribute of every part of the Portuguese
+dominions offered up at this holy shrine. The Port Company, who are just
+soliciting the renewal of their charter, had contributed the choicest
+produce of their happiest vintages, and as I happened to commend its
+peculiar excellence, my hospitable entertainer, whose good-humour seemed
+to acquire every instant a livelier glow, insisted upon my accepting
+several pipes of it, which were punctually sent me the next morning. The
+Archbishop became quite jovial, and supposing I was not more insensible<a name="page_vol_2_2178" id="page_vol_2_2178"></a>
+to the joys of convivial potations than many of my countrymen, plied me
+as often and as waggishly as if I had been one of his imaginary
+archbishops, or Lord Tyrawley himself, returned from those cold
+precincts where no dinners are given or bottle circulated.</p>
+
+<p>The lay-brother was such a fountain of anecdote, the Archbishop in such
+glee, and Marialva in such jubilation at being admitted to this
+confidential party, that it is impossible to say how long it would have
+lasted, had not the hour of her Majesty’s evening excursion approached,
+and the Archbishop been called to accompany her. As Master of the Horse,
+the Marquis could not dispense with his attendance, so I was left under
+the guidance of the lay-brother, who, leading me through another
+labyrinth of passages, opened a kind of wicket door, and let me out with
+as little ceremony as he would have turned a goose adrift on a common.<a name="page_vol_2_2179" id="page_vol_2_2179"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXVIII-port" id="LETTER_XXVIII-port"></a>LETTER XXVIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Explore the Cintra Mountains.&mdash;Convent of Nossa Senhora da
+Penha.&mdash;Moorish Ruins.&mdash;The Cork Convent.&mdash;The Rock of
+Lisbon.&mdash;Marine Scenery.&mdash;Susceptible imagination of the Ancients
+exemplified.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Sept. 19th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>N<small>EVER</small> did I behold so fine a day, or a sky of such lovely azure. The
+M&mdash;&mdash; were with me by half-past six, and we rode over wild hills, which
+command a great extent of apparently desert country; for the villages,
+if there are any, are concealed in ravines and hollows.</p>
+
+<p>Intending to explore the Cintra mountains from one extremity to the
+other of the range, we placed relays at different stations. Our first
+object was the Convent of Nossa Senhora da Penha, the little romantic
+pile of white buildings I had seen glittering from afar when I first
+sailed by the coast of Lisbon. From this pyramidical elevation the view
+is boundless: you<a name="page_vol_2_2180" id="page_vol_2_2180"></a> look immediately down upon an immense expanse of sea,
+the vast, unlimited Atlantic. A long series of detached clouds of a
+dazzling whiteness, suspended low over the waves, had a magic effect,
+and in pagan times might have appeared, without any great stretch of
+fancy, the cars of marine divinities just risen from the bosom of their
+element.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing very interesting in the objects immediately around us.
+The Moorish remains in the neighbourhood of the convent are scarcely
+worth notice, and indeed seem never to have made part of any
+considerable edifice. They were probably built up with the dilapidations
+of a Roman temple, whose constructors had perhaps in their turn availed
+themselves of the fragments of a Punic or Tyrian fane raised on this
+high place, and blackened with the smoke of some horrible sacrifice.</p>
+
+<p>Amidst the crevices of the mouldering walls, and particularly in the
+vault of a cistern, which seems to have served both as a reservoir and a
+bath, I noticed some capillaries and polypodiums of infinite delicacy;
+and on a little flat space before the convent a numerous tribe of
+pinks,<a name="page_vol_2_2181" id="page_vol_2_2181"></a> gentians, and other alpine plants, fanned and invigorated by the
+pure mountain air. These refreshing breezes, impregnated with the
+perfume of innumerable aromatic herbs and flowers, seemed to infuse new
+life into my veins, and, with it, an almost irresistible impulse to fall
+down and worship in this vast temple of Nature the source and cause of
+existence.</p>
+
+<p>As we had a very extensive ride in contemplation, I could not remain
+half so long as I wished on this aërial and secluded summit. Descending
+by a tolerably easy road, which wound amongst the rocks in many an
+irregular curve, we followed for several miles a narrow tract over the
+brow of savage and desolate eminences, to the Cork convent, which
+answered exactly, at the first glance we caught of it, the picture one
+represents to one’s self of the settlement of Robinson Crusoe. Before
+the entrance, formed of two ledges of ponderous rock, extends a smooth
+level of greensward, browsed by cattle, whose tinkling bells filled me
+with recollections of early days passed amongst wild and alpine scenery.
+The Hermitage,<a name="page_vol_2_2182" id="page_vol_2_2182"></a> its cells, chapel, and refectory, are all scooped out of
+the native marble, and lined with the bark of the cork-tree. Several of
+the passages about it are not only roofed, but floored with the same
+material, extremely soft and pleasant to the feet. The shrubberies and
+garden plats, dispersed amongst the mossy rocks which lie about in the
+wildest confusion, are delightful, and I took great pleasure in
+exploring their nooks and corners, following the course of a
+transparent, gurgling rill, which is conducted through a rustic
+water-shoot, between bushes of lavender and rosemary of the tenderest
+green.</p>
+
+<p>The Prior of this romantic retirement is appointed by the Marialvas, and
+this very day his installation takes place, so we were pressed to dine
+with him upon the occasion, and could not refuse; but as it was still
+very early, we galloped on, intending to visit a famous cliff, the Pedra
+d’Alvidrar, which composes one of the most striking features of that
+renowned promontory the Rock of Lisbon.</p>
+
+<p>Our road led us through the skirts of the woods which surround the
+delightful village of Collares, to another range of barren eminences<a name="page_vol_2_2183" id="page_vol_2_2183"></a>
+extending along the sea-shore. I advanced to the very margin of the
+cliff, which is of great height, and nearly perpendicular. A rabble of
+boys followed at the heels of our horses, and five stout lads, detached
+from this posse, descended with the most perfect unconcern the dreadful
+precipice. One in particular walked down with his arms expanded, like a
+being of a superior order. The coast is truly picturesque, and consists
+of bold projections, intermixed with pyramidical rocks succeeding each
+other in theatrical perspective, the most distant crowned by a lofty
+tower, which serves as a lighthouse.</p>
+
+<p>No words can convey an adequate idea of the bloom of the atmosphere, and
+the silvery light reflected from the sea. From the edge of the abyss,
+where I had remained several minutes like one spell-bound, we descended
+a winding path, about half a mile, to the beach. Here we found ourselves
+nearly shut in by shattered cliffs and grottos, a fantastic
+amphitheatre, the best calculated that can possibly be imagined to
+invite the sports of sea nymphs. Such coves, such deep and broken
+recesses, such a play of outline I never beheld, nor did<a name="page_vol_2_2184" id="page_vol_2_2184"></a> I ever hear so
+powerful a roar of rushing waters upon any other coast. No wonder the
+warm and susceptible imagination of the ancients, inflamed by the
+scenery of the place, led them to believe they distinguished the conchs
+of tritons sounding in these retired caverns; nay, some grave
+Lusitanians positively declared they had not only heard, but seen them,
+and despatched a messenger to the Emperor Tiberius to announce the
+event, and congratulate him upon so evident and auspicious a
+manifestation of divinity.</p>
+
+<p>The tide was beginning to ebb, and allowed us, not without some risk
+however, to pass into a cavern of surprising loftiness, the sides of
+which were incrusted with beautiful limpets, and a variety of small
+shells grouped together. Against some rude and porous fragments, not far
+from the aperture through which we had crept, the waves swell with
+violence, rush into the air, form instantaneous canopies of foam, then
+fall down in a thousand trickling rills of silver. The flickering gleams
+of light thrown upon irregular arches admitting into darker and more
+retired grottos, the mysterious, watery gloom, the echoing murmurs and<a name="page_vol_2_2185" id="page_vol_2_2185"></a>
+almost musical sounds, occasioned by the conflict of winds and waters,
+the strong odour of an atmosphere composed of saline particles, produced
+altogether such a bewildering effect upon the senses, that I can easily
+conceive a mind, poetically given, might be thrown into that kind of
+tone which inclines to the belief of supernatural appearances. I am not
+surprised, therefore, at the credulity of the ancients, and only wonder
+my own imagination did not deceive me in a similar manner.</p>
+
+<p>If solitude could have induced the Nereids to have vouchsafed me an
+apparition, it was not wanting, for all my company had separated upon
+different pursuits, and had left me entirely to myself. During the full
+half-hour I remained shut out from the breathing world, one solitary
+corvo marino was the only living creature I caught sight of, perched
+upon an insulated rock, about fifty paces from the opening of the
+cavern.</p>
+
+<p>I was so stunned with the complicated sounds and murmurs which filled my
+ears, that it was some moments before I could distinguish the voices of
+Verdeil and Don Pedro, who were just returned from a hunt after
+seaweeds<a name="page_vol_2_2186" id="page_vol_2_2186"></a> and madrapores, calling me loudly to mount on horseback, and
+make the best of our way to rejoin the Marquis and his attendants, all
+gone to mass at the Cork convent. Happily, the little detached clouds we
+had seen from the high point of Nossa Senhora da Penha, instead of
+melting into the blue sky, had been gathering together, and skreened us
+from the sun. We had therefore a delightful ride, and upon alighting
+from our palfreys found the old abade just arrived with Luis de Miranda,
+the colonel of the Cascais regiment, surrounded by a whole synod of
+monks, as picturesque as bald pates and venerable beards could make
+them.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the Marquis came forth from his devotions, dinner was served
+up exactly in the style one might have expected at Mequinez or
+Morocco&mdash;pillaus of different kinds, delicious quails, and pyramids of
+rice tinged with saffron. Our dessert, in point of fruits and
+sweetmeats, was most luxurious, nor would Pomona herself have been
+ashamed of carrying in her lap such peaches and nectarines as rolled in
+profusion about the table.</p>
+
+<p>The abade seemed animated after dinner by the spirit of contradiction,
+and would not<a name="page_vol_2_2187" id="page_vol_2_2187"></a> allow the Marquis or Luis de Miranda to know more about
+the court of John the Fifth, than of that of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.</p>
+
+<p>To avoid being stunned by the clamours of the dispute, in which two or
+three monks with stentorian voices began to take part most vehemently,
+Don Pedro, Verdeil, and I climbed up amongst the hanging shrubberies of
+arbutus, bay, and myrtle, to a little platform carpeted with delicate
+herbage, exhaling a fresh, aromatic perfume upon the slightest pressure.
+There we sat, lulled by the murmur of distant waves, breaking over the
+craggy shore we had visited in the morning. The clouds came slowly
+sailing over the hills. My companions pounded the cones of the pines,
+and gave me the kernels, which have an agreeable almond taste.</p>
+
+<p>The evening was far advanced before we abandoned our peaceful,
+sequestered situation, and joined the Marquis, who had not been yet able
+to appease the abade. The vociferous old man made so many appeals to the
+father-guardian of the convent in defence of his opinions, that I
+thought we never should have got away. At length we departed, and after<a name="page_vol_2_2188" id="page_vol_2_2188"></a>
+wandering about in clouds and darkness for two hours, reached Cintra
+exactly at ten. The Marchioness and the children had been much alarmed
+at our long absence, and rated the abade severely for having occasioned
+it.<a name="page_vol_2_2189" id="page_vol_2_2189"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXIX-port" id="LETTER_XXIX-port"></a>LETTER XXIX.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Excursion to Penha Verde.&mdash;Resemblance of that Villa to the
+edifices in Gaspar Poussin’s landscapes.&mdash;The ancient pine-trees,
+said to have been planted by Don John de Castro.&mdash;The old forests
+displaced by gaudy terraces.&mdash;Influx of Visiters.&mdash;A celebrated
+Prior’s erudition and strange anachronisms.&mdash;The Beast in the
+Apocalypse.&mdash;Œcolampadius.&mdash;Bevy of Palace damsels.&mdash;Fête at the
+Marialva Villa.&mdash;The Queen and the Royal Family.&mdash;A favourite dwarf
+Negress.&mdash;Dignified manner of the Queen.&mdash;Profound respect inspired
+by her presence.&mdash;Rigorous etiquette.&mdash;Grand display of
+Fireworks.&mdash;The young Countess of Lumiares.&mdash;Affecting resemblance.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">September 22nd, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>W<small>HEN</small> I got up, the mists were stealing off the hills, and the distant
+sea discovering itself in all its azure bloom. Though I had been led to
+expect many visiters of importance from Lisbon, the morning was so
+inviting that I could not resist riding out after breakfast, even at the
+risk of not being present at their arrival.<a name="page_vol_2_2190" id="page_vol_2_2190"></a></p>
+
+<p>I took the road to Collares, and found the air delightfully soft and
+fragrant. Some rain which had lately fallen, had refreshed the whole
+face of the country, and tinged the steeps beyond Penha Verde with
+purple and green; for the numerous tribe of heaths had started into
+blossom, and the little irregular lawns, overhung by crooked cork-trees,
+which occur so frequently by the way-side, are now covered with large
+white lilies streaked with pink.</p>
+
+<p>Penha Verde itself is a lovely spot. The villa, with its low, flat
+roofs, and a loggia projecting at one end, exactly resembles the
+edifices in Gaspar Poussin’s landscapes. Before one of the fronts is a
+square parterre with a fountain in the middle, and niches in the walls
+with antique busts. Above these walls a variety of trees and shrubs rise
+to a great elevation, and compose a mass of the richest foliage. The
+pines, which, by their bright-green colour, have given the epithet of
+verdant to this rocky point (Penha Verde), are as picturesque as those I
+used to admire so warmly in the Negroni garden at Rome, and full as
+ancient, perhaps more so: tradition assures us they were planted by the
+far-famed Don John de Castro,<a name="page_vol_2_2191" id="page_vol_2_2191"></a> whose heart reposes in a small marble
+chapel beneath their shade.</p>
+
+<p>How often must that heroic heart, whilst it still beat in one of the
+best and most magnanimous of human bosoms, have yearned after this calm
+retirement! Here, at least, did it promise itself that rest so cruelly
+denied him by the blind perversities of his ungrateful countrymen: for
+his had been an arduous contest, a long and agonizing struggle, not only
+in the field under a burning sun, and in the face of peril and death,
+but in sustaining the glory and good fame of Portugal against court
+intrigues, and the vile cabals of envious, domestic enemies.</p>
+
+<p>These scenes, though still enchanting, have most probably undergone
+great changes since his days. The deep forests we read of have
+disappeared, and with them many a spring they fostered. Architectural
+fountains, gaudy terraces, and regular stripes of orange-gardens, have
+usurped the place of those wild orchards and gushing rivulets he may be
+supposed to have often visited in his dreams, when removed some thousand
+leagues from his native country. All these are changed; but mankind are
+the<a name="page_vol_2_2192" id="page_vol_2_2192"></a> same as in his time, equally insensible to the warning voice of
+genuine patriotism, equally disposed to crouch under the rod of corrupt
+tyranny. And thus, by the neglect of wise and virtuous men, and a mean
+subserviency to knavish fools, eras which might become of gold, are
+transmuted by an accursed alchymy into iron rusted with blood.</p>
+
+<p>Impressed with all the recollections this most interesting spot could
+not fail to inspire, I could hardly tear myself away from it. Again and
+again did I follow the mossy steps, which wind up amongst shady rocks to
+the little platform, terminated by the sepulchral chapel&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">“&mdash;&mdash;densis quam pinus opacat<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frondibus et nulla lucos agitante procella<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stridula coniferis modulatur carmina ramis.”<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>You must not wonder then, that I was haunted the whole way home by these
+mysterious whisperings, nor that, in such a tone of mind, I saw with no
+great pleasure a procession of two-wheeled chaises, the lord knows how
+many out-riders, and a caravan of bouras, marching up to the gate of my
+villa. I had, indeed, been prepared to expect a very considerable influx
+of visiters; but this was a deluge.<a name="page_vol_2_2193" id="page_vol_2_2193"></a></p>
+
+<p>Do not let me send you a catalogue of the company, lest you should be as
+much annoyed with the detail, as I was with such a formidable arrival
+<i>en masse</i>. Let it suffice to name two of the principal characters, the
+old pious Conde de San Lorenzo, and the prior of San Juliaô, one of the
+archbishop’s prime favourites, and a person of great worship. Mortier’s
+Dutch bible happening to lie upon the table, they began tumbling over
+the leaves in an egregiously awkward manner. I, who abhor seeing books
+thumbed, and prints demonstrated by the close application of a greasy
+fore-finger, snapped at the old Conde, and cast an evil look at the
+prior, who was leaning his whole priestly weight on the volume, and
+creasing its corners.</p>
+
+<p>My musicians were in full song, and Pedro Grua, a capital violoncello,
+exerted his abilities in his best style; but San Lorenzo was too
+pathetically engaged in deploring the massacre of the Innocents to pay
+him any attention, and his reverend companion had entered into a
+long-winded dissertation upon parables, miracles, and martyrdom, from
+which I prayed in vain the Lord to deliver me. Verdeil, scenting<a name="page_vol_2_2194" id="page_vol_2_2194"></a> from
+afar the saintly flavour of the discourse, stole off.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot say much in praise of the prior’s erudition, even in holy
+matters, for he positively affirmed that it was Henry the Eighth
+himself, who knocked St. Thomas à Becket’s brains out, and that by the
+beast in the Apocalypse, Luther was positively indicated. I hate
+wrangles, and had it not been for the soiling of my prints, should never
+have contradicted his reverence; but as I was a little out of humour, I
+lowered him somewhat in the Conde’s opinion, by stating the real period
+of St. Thomas’s murder, and by tolerably specious arguments, shoving the
+beast’s horns off Luther, and clapping them tight upon&mdash;whom do you
+think?&mdash;Œcolampadius! So grand a name, which very probably they had
+never heard pronounced in their lives, carried all before it, (adding
+another instance of the triumph of sound over sense,) and settled our
+bickerings.</p>
+
+<p>We sat down, I believe, full thirty to dinner, and had hardly got
+through the dessert, when Berti came in to tell me that Madame Ariaga,
+and a bevy of the palace damsels, were prancing about the quinta on
+palfreys and bouras. I<a name="page_vol_2_2195" id="page_vol_2_2195"></a> hastened to join them. There was Donna Maria do
+Carmo, and Donna Maria da Penha, with her hair flowing about her
+shoulders, and her large beautiful eyes looking as wild and roving as
+those of an antelope. I called for my horse, and galloped through alleys
+and citron bushes, brushing off leaves, fruit, and blossoms. Every
+breeze wafted to us the sound of French horns and oboes. The ladies
+seemed to enjoy the freedom and novelty of this scamper prodigiously,
+and to regret the short time it was doomed to last; for at seven they
+are obliged to return to strict attendance on the Queen, and had some
+strange fairy-tale metamorphosis into a pumpkin or a cucumber been the
+penalty of disobedience, they could not have shown more alarm or anxiety
+when the fatal hour of seven drew near. Luckily, they had not far to go,
+for her Majesty and the Royal Family were all assembled at the Marialva
+villa, to partake of a splendid merenda and see fireworks.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as it fell dark Verdeil and I set forth to catch a glimpse of
+the royal party. The Grand Prior and Don Pedro conducted us mysteriously
+into a snug boudoir which looks into the great pavilion, whose gay,
+fantastic<a name="page_vol_2_2196" id="page_vol_2_2196"></a> scenery appeared to infinite advantage by the light of
+innumerable tapers reflected on all sides from lustres of glittering
+crystal. The little Infanta Donna Carlotta was perched on a sofa in
+conversation with the Marchioness and Donna Henriquetta, who, in the
+true oriental fashion, had placed themselves cross-legged on the floor.
+A troop of maids of honour, commanded by the Countess of Lumieres, sat
+in the same posture at a little distance. Donna Rosa, the favourite
+dwarf negress, dressed out in a flaming scarlet riding-habit, not so
+frolicsome as the last time I had the pleasure of seeing her in this
+fairy bower, was more sentimental, and leaned against the door, ogling
+and flirting with a handsome Moor belonging to the Marquis.</p>
+
+<p>Presently the Queen, followed by her sister and daughter-in-law, the
+Princess of Brazil, came forth from her merenda, and seated herself in
+front of the latticed-window, behind which I was placed. Her manner
+struck me as being peculiarly dignified and conciliating. She looks born
+to command; but at the same time to make that high authority as much<a name="page_vol_2_2197" id="page_vol_2_2197"></a>
+beloved as respected. Justice and clemency, the motto so glaringly
+misapplied on the banner of the abhorred Inquisition, might be
+transferred with the strictest truth to this good princess. During the
+fatal contest betwixt England and its colonies, the wise neutrality she
+persevered in maintaining was of the most vital benefit to her
+dominions, and hitherto, the native commerce of Portugal has attained
+under her mild auspices an unprecedented degree of prosperity.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing could exceed the profound respect, the courtly decorum her
+presence appeared to inspire. The Conde de Sampayo and the Viscount
+Ponte de Lima knelt by the august personages with not much less
+veneration, I should be tempted to imagine, than Moslems before the tomb
+of their prophet, or Tartars in the presence of the Dalai Lama. Marialva
+alone, who took his station opposite her Majesty, seemed to preserve his
+ease and cheerfulness. The Prince of Brazil and Don Joaô looked not a
+little ennuied; for they kept stalking about with their hands in their
+pockets, their mouths in a perpetual yawn, and<a name="page_vol_2_2198" id="page_vol_2_2198"></a> their eyes wandering
+from object to object, with a stare of royal vacancy.</p>
+
+<p>A most rigorous etiquette confining the Infants of Portugal within their
+palaces, they are seldom known to mix even incognito with the crowd; so
+that their flattering smiles or confidential yawns are not lavished upon
+common observers. This sort of embalming princes alive, after all, is no
+bad policy; it keeps them sacred; it concentrates their royal essence,
+too apt, alas! to evaporate by exposure. What is so liberally paid for
+by the willing tribute of the people as a rarity of exquisite relish,
+should not be suffered to turn mundungus. However the individual may
+dislike this severe regimen, state pageants might have the goodness to
+recollect for what purpose they are bedecked and beworshipped.</p>
+
+<p>The Conde de Sampayo, lord in waiting, handed the tea to the Queen, and
+fell down on both knees to present it. This ceremony over, for every
+thing is ceremony at this stately court, the fireworks were announced,
+and the royal sufferers, followed by their sufferees, adjourned to a
+neighbouring apartment. The Marchioness, her daughters, and the
+Countess<a name="page_vol_2_2199" id="page_vol_2_2199"></a> of Lumieres, mounted up to the boudoir where I was sitting,
+and took possession of the windows. Seven or eight wheels, and as many
+tourbillons began whirling and whizzing, whilst a profusion of admirable
+line-rockets darted along in various directions, to the infinite delight
+of the Countess of Lumieres, who, though hardly sixteen, has been
+married four years. Her youthful cheerfulness, light hair, and fair
+complexion, put me so much in mind of my Margaret, that I could not help
+looking at her with a melancholy tenderness: her being with child
+increased the resemblance, and as she sat in the recess of the window,
+discovered at intervals by the blue light of rockets bursting high in
+the air, I felt my blood thrill as if I beheld a phantom, and my eyes
+were filled with tears.</p>
+
+<p>The last firework being played off, the Queen and the Infantas departed.
+The Marchioness and the other ladies descended into the pavilion, where
+we partook of a magnificent and truly royal collation. Donna Maria and
+her little sister, animated by the dazzling illumination, tripped about
+in their light muslin dresses, with all the sportiveness<a name="page_vol_2_2200" id="page_vol_2_2200"></a> of fairy
+beings, such as might be supposed to have dropped down from the floating
+clouds, which Pillement has so well represented on the ceiling.<a name="page_vol_2_2201" id="page_vol_2_2201"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXX-port" id="LETTER_XXX-port"></a>LETTER XXX.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Cathedral of Lisbon.&mdash;Trace of St. Anthony’s fingers.&mdash;The Holy
+Crows.&mdash;Party formed to visit them.&mdash;A Portuguese
+poet.&mdash;Comfortable establishment of the Holy Crows.&mdash;Singular
+tradition connected with them.&mdash;Illuminations in honour of the
+Infanta’s accouchement.&mdash;Public harangues.&mdash;Policarpio’s singing,
+and anecdotes of the <i>haute noblesse</i>.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">November 8th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>V<small>ERDEIL</small> and I rattled over cracked pavements this morning in my rough
+travelling-coach, for the sake of exercise. The pretext for our
+excursion was to see a remarkable chapel, inlaid with jasper and
+lapis-lazuli, in the church of St. Roch; but when we arrived, three or
+four masses were celebrating, and not a creature sufficiently disengaged
+to draw the curtain which veils the altar, so we went out as wise as we
+came in.</p>
+
+<p>Not having yet seen the cathedral, or See-church, as it is called at
+Lisbon, we directed our course to that quarter. It is a building of no<a name="page_vol_2_2202" id="page_vol_2_2202"></a>
+striking dimensions, narrow and gloomy, without being awful. The
+earthquake crumbled its glories to dust, if ever it had any, and so
+dreadfully shattered the chapels, with which it is clustered, that very
+slight traces of their having made part of a mosque are discernible.</p>
+
+<p>Though I had not been led to expect great things, even from descriptions
+in travels and topographical works, which, like peerage-books and
+pedigrees, are tenderly inclined to make something of what is next to
+nothing at all: I hunted away, as became a diligent traveller, after
+altar-pieces and tombs, but can boast of no discoveries. To be sure, we
+had not much time to look about us: the priests and sacristans, who
+fastened upon us, insisted upon our revisiting the corner of a bye
+staircase, where are to be kissed and worshipped the traces of St.
+Anthony’s fingers. The saint, it seems, being closely pursued by the
+father of lies and parent of evil, alias Old Scratch, (I really could
+not clearly learn upon what occasion,) indented the sign of the cross
+into a wall of the hardest marble, and stopped his proceedings. A very
+pleasing little picture hangs up near the miraculous cross, and records
+the tradition.<a name="page_vol_2_2203" id="page_vol_2_2203"></a></p>
+
+<p>All this was admirable; but nothing in comparison with some stories
+about certain holy crows. “The very birds are in being,” said a
+sacristan. “What!” answered I, “the individual<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> crows who attended
+St. Vincent?”&mdash;“Not exactly,” was the reply, (in a whisper, intended for
+my private ear); “but their immediate descendants.”&mdash;“Mighty well; this
+very evening, please God, I will pay my respects to them, and in good
+company, so adieu for the present.”</p>
+
+<p>Our next point was the Theatine convent. We looked into the library,
+which lies in the same confusion in which it was left by the earthquake;
+half the books out of their shelves, tumbled one over the other in dusty
+heaps. A shrewd, active monk, who, I am told, has written a history of
+the House of Braganza, not yet printed, guided our steps through this
+chaos of literature; and after searching half-an-hour for some curious
+voyages he wished to display to us, led us into his cell, and pressed
+our attention to a cabinet of medals he had been at some pains and
+expense in collecting.<a name="page_vol_2_2204" id="page_vol_2_2204"></a></p>
+
+<p>Not feeling any particular vocation for numismatic researches, I left
+Verdeil with the monk, puzzling out some very questionable inscriptions,
+and went to beat up for recruits to accompany me in the evening to the
+holy crows. First, I found the Abade Xavier, and secondly, the famous
+missionary preacher from Boa Morte, and then the Grand Prior, and
+lastly, the Marquis of Marialva; Don Pedro begged not to be left out, so
+we formed a coach full, and I drove my whole cargo home to dinner.
+Verdeil was already returned with his reverend medallist, and had also
+collected the governor of Goa, Don Frederic de Sousa Cagliariz, his
+constant attendant a bullying Savoyard, or Piedmontese Count, by name
+Lucatelli; and a pale, limber, odd-looking young man, Senhor Manuel
+Maria, the queerest, but, perhaps, the most original of God’s poetical
+creatures. He happened to be in one of those eccentric, lively moods,
+which, like sunshine in the depth of winter, come on when least
+expected. A thousand quaint conceits, a thousand flashes of wild
+merriment, a thousand satirical darts shot from him, and we were all
+convulsed with laughter; but when he began<a name="page_vol_2_2205" id="page_vol_2_2205"></a> reciting some of his
+compositions, in which great depth of thought is blended with the most
+pathetic touches, I felt myself thrilled and agitated. Indeed, this
+strange and versatile character may be said to possess the true wand of
+enchantment, which, at the will of its master, either animates or
+petrifies.</p>
+
+<p>Perceiving how much I was attracted towards him, he said to me, “I did
+not expect an Englishman would have condescended to pay a young,
+obscure, modern versifier, any attention. You think we have no bard but
+Camoens, and that Camoens has written nothing worth notice, but the
+Lusiad. Here is a sonnet worth half the Lusiad.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6">CXCII.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">‘A fermosura desta fresca serra,<br /></span>
+<span class="ist">E a sombra dos verdes castanheiros,<br /></span>
+<span class="ist">O manso caminhar destes ribeiros,<br /></span>
+<span class="ist">Donde toda a tristeza se desterra;<br /></span>
+<span class="ist">O rouco som do mar, a estranha terra,<br /></span>
+<span class="ist">O esconder do Sol pellos outeiros,<br /></span>
+<span class="ist">O recolher dos gados derradeiros,<br /></span>
+<span class="ist">Das nuvens pello ar a branda guerra:<br /></span>
+<span class="ist">Em fim tudo o que a rara natureza<br /></span>
+<span class="ist">Com tanta variedade nos ofrece,<br /></span>
+<span class="ist">Me està (se não te vejo) magoando:<br /></span>
+<span class="ist">Sem ti tudo me enoja, e me aborrece,<a name="page_vol_2_2206" id="page_vol_2_2206"></a><br /></span>
+<span class="ist">Sem ti perpetuamente estou passando<br /></span>
+<span class="ist">Nas mòres alegrias, mòr tristeza!’<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p class="nind">Not an image of rural beauty has escaped our divine poet; and how
+feelingly are they applied from the landscape to the heart! What a
+fascinating languor, like the last beams of an evening sun, is thrown
+over the whole composition! If I am any thing, this sonnet has made me
+what I am; but what am I, compared to Monteiro? Judge,” continued he,
+putting into my hand some manuscript verses of this author, to whom the
+Portuguese are vehemently partial. Though they were striking and
+sonorous, I must confess the sonnet of Camoens, and many of Senhor
+Manuel Maria’s own verses, pleased me infinitely more; but in fact, I
+was not sufficiently initiated into the force and idiom of the
+Portuguese language to be a competent judge; and it was only in fancying
+me one, that this powerful genius discovered any want of penetration.</p>
+
+<p>Our dinner was lively and convivial. At the dessert the Abadè produced
+an immense tray of dried fruits and sweetmeats, which one of his hundred
+and fifty <i>protégés</i> had sent him from, I forget what exotic region.
+These good<a name="page_vol_2_2207" id="page_vol_2_2207"></a> things he kept handing to us, and almost cramming down our
+throats, as if we had been turkeys and he a poulterer, whose livelihood
+depended upon our fattening. “There,” said he, “did you ever behold such
+admirable productions? Our Queen has thousands and thousands of miles
+with fruit-groves over your head, and rocks of gold and diamonds beneath
+your feet. The riches and fertility of her possessions have no bounds,
+but the sea, and the sea itself might belong to us if we pleased; for we
+have such means of ship-building, masts two hundred feet high,
+incorruptible timbers, courageous seamen. Don Frederic can tell you what
+some of our heroes achieved not long ago against the gentiles at Goa.
+Your Joaô Bulles are not half so smart, half so valorous.”</p>
+
+<p>Thus he went on, bouncing and roaring us deaf. For patriotic
+rodomontades and flourishes, no nation excels the Portuguese, and no
+Portuguese the Abadè!</p>
+
+<p>At length, however, all this tasting and praising having been gone
+through with, we set forth on the wings of holiness, to pay our devoirs
+to the holy crows. A certain sum having been allotted time immemorial
+for the<a name="page_vol_2_2208" id="page_vol_2_2208"></a> maintenance of two birds of this species, we found them very
+comfortably established in a recess of a cloister adjoining the
+cathedral, well fed and certainly most devoutly venerated.</p>
+
+<p>The origin of this singular custom dates as high as the days of St.
+Vincent, who was martyrized near the Cape, which bears his name, and
+whose mangled body was conveyed to Lisbon in a boat, attended by crows.
+These disinterested birds, after seeing it decently interred, pursued
+his murderers with dreadful screams and tore their eyes out. The boat
+and the crows are painted or sculptured in every corner of the
+cathedral, and upon several tablets appear emblazoned an endless record
+of their penetration in the discovery of criminals.</p>
+
+<p>It was growing late when we arrived, and their feathered sanctities were
+gone quietly to roost; but the sacristans in waiting, the moment they
+saw us approach, officiously roused them. O, how plump and sleek, and
+glossy they are! My admiration of their size, their plumage, and their
+deep-toned croakings carried me, I fear, beyond the bounds of saintly
+decorum. I was just stretching out my hand<a name="page_vol_2_2209" id="page_vol_2_2209"></a> to stroke their feathers,
+when the missionary checked me with a solemn forbidding look. The rest
+of the company, aware of the proper ceremonial, kept a respectful
+distance, whilst the sacristan and a toothless priest, almost bent
+double with age, communicated a long string of miraculous anecdotes
+concerning the present holy crows, their immediate predecessors, and
+other holy crows in the old time before them.</p>
+
+<p>To all these super-marvellous narrations, the missionary appeared to
+listen with implicit faith, and never opened his lips during the time we
+remained in the cloister, except to enforce our veneration, and exclaim
+with pious composure, “<i>honrado corvo</i>.” I really believe we should have
+stayed till midnight, had not a page arrived from her Majesty to summon
+the Marquis of M&mdash;&mdash; and his almoner away.</p>
+
+<p>My curiosity being fully satisfied upon the subject of the holy crows, I
+was easily persuaded by the Grand Prior to move off, and drive through
+the principal streets to see the illuminations in honour of the Infanta,
+consort to Don Gabriel of Spain, who had produced<a name="page_vol_2_2210" id="page_vol_2_2210"></a> a prince. A great
+many idlers being abroad upon the same errand, we proceeded with
+difficulty, and were very near having the wheels of our carriage
+dislocated in attempting to pass an old-fashioned, preposterous coach,
+belonging to one of the dignitaries of the patriarchal cathedral. I
+cannot launch forth in praise of the illuminations; but some rockets
+which were let off in the Terreiro do Paco, surprised me by the vast
+height to which they rose, and the unusual number of clear blue stars
+into which they burst. The Portuguese excel in fireworks; the late poor,
+drivelling, saintly king having expended large sums in bringing this art
+to perfection.</p>
+
+<p>From the Terreiro do Paco we drove to the great square, in which the
+palace of the Inquisition is situated. There we found a vast mob, to
+whom three or four Capuchin preachers were holding forth upon the
+glories and illuminations of a better world. I should have listened not
+uninterested to their harangues, which appeared, from the specimen I
+caught of them, to be full of fire and frenzy, had not the Grand Prior,
+in perpetual awe of the rheumatism, complained of the<a name="page_vol_2_2211" id="page_vol_2_2211"></a> night, so we
+drove home. Every apartment of the house was filled with the thick
+vapour of wax-torches, which had been set most loyally a blazing. I
+fumed and fretted and threw open the windows. Away went the Grand Prior,
+and in came Policarpio, the famous tenor singer, who entertained us with
+several bravura airs of glib and surprising volubility, before supper
+and during it, in a style equally professional, with many private
+anecdotes of the <i>haute noblesse</i>, his principal employers, not
+infinitely to their advantage.</p>
+
+<p>I longed, in return, to have enlarged a little upon the adventures of
+the holy crows, but prudently repressed my inclination. It would
+ill-become a person so well treated as I had been by the crow-fanciers,
+to handle such subjects with any degree of levity.<a name="page_vol_2_2212" id="page_vol_2_2212"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXXI-port" id="LETTER_XXXI-port"></a>LETTER XXXI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Rambles in the Valley of Collares.&mdash;Elysian scenery. Song of a
+young female peasant.&mdash;Rustic hospitality.&mdash;Interview with the
+Prince of Brazil<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> in the plains of Cascais.&mdash;Conversation with
+His Royal Highness.&mdash;Return to Ramalhaô.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Oct. 19th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>M<small>Y</small> health improves every day. The clear exhilarating weather we now
+enjoy calls forth the liveliest sense of existence. I ride, walk, and
+climb, as long as I please, without fatiguing myself. The valley of
+Collares affords me a source of perpetual amusement. I have discovered a
+variety of paths which lead through chesnut copses and orchards to
+irregular green spots, where self-sown bays and citron-bushes hang wild
+over the rocky margin of a little river, and drop their fruit and
+blossoms into the stream. You may ride for miles along the bank of this
+delightful water, catching endless<a name="page_vol_2_2213" id="page_vol_2_2213"></a> perspectives of flowery thickets,
+between the stems of poplar and walnut. The scenery is truly elysian,
+and exactly such as poets assign for the resort of happy spirits.</p>
+
+<p>The mossy fragments of rock, grotesque pollards, and rustic bridges you
+meet with at every step, recall Savoy and Switzerland to the
+imagination; but the exotic cast of the vegetation, the vivid green of
+the citron, the golden fruitage of the orange, the blossoming myrtle,
+and the rich fragrance of a turf, embroidered with the
+brightest-coloured and most aromatic flowers, allow me without a violent
+stretch of fancy to believe myself in the garden of the Hesperides, and
+to expect the dragon under every tree. I by no means like the thoughts
+of abandoning these smiling regions, and have been twenty times on the
+point this very day of revoking the orders I have given for my journey.
+Whatever objections I may have had to Portugal seem to vanish, since I
+have determined to leave it; for such is the perversity of human nature,
+that objects appear the most estimable precisely at the moment when we
+are going to lose them.</p>
+
+<p>There was this morning a mild radiance in<a name="page_vol_2_2214" id="page_vol_2_2214"></a> the sunbeams, and a balsamic
+serenity in the air, which infused that voluptuous listlessness, that
+desire of remaining imparadised in one delightful spot, which, in
+classical fictions, was supposed to render those who had tasted the
+lotos forgetful of country, of friends, and of every tie. My feelings
+were not dissimilar, I loathed the idea of moving away.</p>
+
+<p>Though I had entered these beautiful orchards soon after sunrise, the
+clocks of some distant conventual churches had chimed hour after hour
+before I could prevail upon myself to quit the spreading odoriferous
+bay-trees under which I had been lying. If shades so cool and fragrant
+invited to repose, I must observe that never were paths better
+calculated to tempt the laziest of beings to a walk, than those which
+opened on all sides, and are formed of a smooth dry sand, bound firmly
+together, composing a surface as hard as gravel.</p>
+
+<p>These level paths wind about amongst a labyrinth of light and elegant
+fruit-trees; almond, plum, and cherry, something like the groves of
+Tonga-taboo, as represented in Cook’s voyages; and to increase the
+resemblance, neat cane fences and low open sheds, thatched with<a name="page_vol_2_2215" id="page_vol_2_2215"></a> reeds,
+appear at intervals, breaking the horizontal lines of the perspective.</p>
+
+<p>I had now lingered and loitered away pretty nearly the whole morning,
+and though, as far as scenery could authorize and climate inspire, I
+might fancy myself an inhabitant of elysium, I could not pretend to be
+sufficiently ethereal to exist without nourishment. In plain English, I
+was extremely hungry. The pears, quinces, and oranges which dangled
+above my head, although fair to the eye, were neither so juicy nor
+gratifying to the palate, as might have been expected from their
+promising appearance.</p>
+
+<p>Being considerably</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">More than a mile immersed within the wood,<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p class="nind">and not recollecting by which clue of a path I could get out of it, I
+remained at least half-an-hour deliberating which way to turn myself.
+The sheds and enclosures I have mentioned were put together with care
+and even nicety, it is true, but seemed to have no other inhabitants
+than flocks of bantams, strutting about and destroying the eggs and
+hopes of many an insect family. These glistening fowls, like<a name="page_vol_2_2216" id="page_vol_2_2216"></a> their
+brethren described in Anson’s voyages, as animating the profound
+solitudes of the island of Tinian, appeared to have no master.</p>
+
+<p>At length, just as I was beginning to wish myself very heartily in a
+less romantic region, I heard the loud, though not unmusical, tones of a
+powerful female voice, echoing through the arched green avenues;
+presently, a stout ruddy young peasant, very picturesquely attired in
+brown and scarlet, came hoydening along, driving a mule before her,
+laden with two enormous panniers of grapes. To ask for a share of this
+luxuriant load, and to compliment the fair driver, was instantaneous on
+my part, but to no purpose. I was answered by a sly wink, “We all belong
+to Senhor Josè Dias, whose corral, or farm-yard, is half a league
+distant. There, Senhor, if you follow that road, and don’t puzzle
+yourself by straying to the right or left, you will soon reach it, and
+the bailiff, I dare say, will be proud to give you as many grapes as you
+please. Good morning, happy days to you! I must mind my business.”</p>
+
+<p>Seating herself between the tantalizing panniers, she was gone in an
+instant, and I had the<a name="page_vol_2_2217" id="page_vol_2_2217"></a> good luck to arrive straight at the wicket of a
+rude, dry wall, winding up and down several bushy slopes in a wild
+irregular manner. If the outside of this enclosure was rough and
+unpromising, the interior presented a most cheering scene of rural
+opulence. Droves of cows and goats milking; ovens, out of which huge
+cakes of savoury bread had just been taken; ranges of beehives, and long
+pillared sheds, entirely tapestried with purple and yellow muscadine
+grapes, half candied, which were hung up to dry. A very good-natured,
+classical-look-magister pecorum, followed by two well-disciplined,
+though savage-eyed dogs, whom the least glance of their master prevented
+from barking, gave me a hearty welcome, and with genuine hospitality not
+only allowed me the free range of his domain, but set whatever it
+produced in the greatest perfection before me. A contest took place
+between two or three curly-haired, chubby-faced children, who should be
+first to bring me walnuts fresh from the shell, bowls of milk, and
+cream-cheeses, made after the best of fashions, that of the province of
+Alemtejo.</p>
+
+<p>I found myself so abstracted from the world<a name="page_vol_2_2218" id="page_vol_2_2218"></a> in this retirement, so
+perfectly transported back some centuries into primitive patriarchal
+times, that I don’t recollect having ever enjoyed a few hours of more
+delightful calm. “Here,” did I say to myself, “am I out of the way of
+courts and ceremonies, and commonplace visitations, or salutations, or
+gossip.” But, alas! how vain is all one thinks or says to one’s self
+nineteen times out of twenty.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst I was blessing my stars for this truce to the irksome bustle of
+the life I had led ever since her Majesty’s arrival at Cintra, a loud
+hallooing, the cracking of whips, and the tramping of horses, made me
+start up from the snug corner in which I had established myself, and
+dispelled all my soothing visions. Luis de Miranda, the colonel of the
+Cascais regiment, an intimate confidant and favourite of the Prince of
+Brazil, broke in upon me with a thousand (as he thought) obliging
+reproaches, for having deserted Ramalhaô the very morning he had come on
+purpose to dine with me, and to propose a ride after dinner to a
+particular point of the Cintra mountains, which commands, he assured me,
+such a prospect as I had not yet been blessed with in Portugal. “It is
+not even<a name="page_vol_2_2219" id="page_vol_2_2219"></a> now,” said he, “too late. I have brought your horses along
+with me, whom I found fretting and stamping under a great tree at the
+entrance of these foolish lanes. Come, get into your stirrups for God’s
+sake, and I will answer for your thinking yourself well repaid by the
+scene I shall disclose to you.”</p>
+
+<p>As I was doomed to be disturbed and talked out of the elysium in which I
+had been lapped for these last seven or eight hours, it was no matter in
+what position, whether on foot or on horseback; I therefore complied,
+and away we galloped. The horses were remarkably sure-footed, or else, I
+think, we must have rolled down the precipices; for our road,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">“If road it could be call’d where road was none,”<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p class="nind">led us by zigzags and short cuts over steeps and acclivities about three
+or four leagues, till reaching a heathy desert, where a solitary cross
+staring out of a few weather-beaten bushes, marked the highest point of
+this wild eminence, one of the most expansive prospects of sea, and
+plain, and distant mountains, I ever beheld, burst suddenly upon me,
+rendered still more vast, aërial, and indefinite, by the visionary,
+magic vapour of the evening sun.<a name="page_vol_2_2220" id="page_vol_2_2220"></a></p>
+
+<p>After enjoying a moment or two the general effect, I began tracing out
+the principal objects in the view, as far, that is to say, as they could
+be traced, through the medium of the intense glowing haze. I followed
+the course of the Tagus, from its entrance till it was lost in the low
+estuaries beyond Lisbon. Cascais appeared with its long reaches of wall
+and bomb-proof casemates like a Moorish town, and by the help of a glass
+I distinguished a tall palm lifting itself above a cluster of white
+buildings.</p>
+
+<p>“Well,” said I, to my conductor, “this prospect has certainly charms
+worth seeing; but not sufficient to make me forget that it is high time
+to get home and refresh ourselves.” “Not so fast,” was the answer, “we
+have still a great deal more to see.”</p>
+
+<p>Having acquired, I can hardly tell why or wherefore, a sheep-like habit
+of following wherever he led, I spurred after him down a rough
+declivity, thick strewn with rolling stones and pebbles. At the bottom
+of this descent, a dreary sun-burnt plain extended itself far and wide.
+Whilst we dismounted and halted a few minutes to give our horses breath,
+I could not help observing, that the view we<a name="page_vol_2_2221" id="page_vol_2_2221"></a> were now contemplating but
+ill-rewarded the risk of breaking our necks in riding down such rapid
+declivities. He smiled, and asked me whether I saw nothing at all
+interesting in the prospect. “Yes,” said I, “a sort of caravan I
+perceive, about a quarter of a mile off, is by no means uninteresting;
+that confused group of people in scarlet, with gleaming arms and
+sumpter-mules, and those striped awnings stretched from ruined walls,
+present exactly that kind of scenery I should expect to meet with in the
+neighbourhood of Grand Cairo.” “Come then,” said he, “it is time to
+clear up this mystery, and tell you for what purpose we have taken such
+a long and fatiguing ride. The caravan which strikes you as being so
+very picturesque, is composed of the attendants of the Prince of Brazil,
+who has been passing the whole day upon a shooting-party, and is just at
+this moment taking a little repose beneath yonder awnings. It was by his
+desire I brought you here, for I have his commands to express his wishes
+of having half-an-hour’s conversation with you, unobserved, and in
+perfect incognito. Walk on as if you were collecting plants or taking
+sketches, I will apprize his<a name="page_vol_2_2222" id="page_vol_2_2222"></a> royal highness, and you will meet as it
+were by chance, and without any form. No one shall be near enough to
+hear a word you say to each other, for I will take my station at the
+distance of at least one hundred paces, and keep off all spies and
+intruders.”</p>
+
+<p>I did as I was directed. A little door in the ruined wall, against which
+an awning was fixed, opened, and there appeared a young man of rather a
+prepossessing figure, fairer and ruddier than most of his countrymen,
+who advanced towards me with a very pleasant engaging countenance, moved
+his hat in a dignified graceful manner, and after insisting upon my
+being covered, began addressing himself to me with great precipitation,
+in a most fluent lingua-franca, half Italian and half Portuguese. This
+jargon is very prevalent at the Ajuda<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a><a name="page_vol_2_2223" id="page_vol_2_2223"></a> palace, where Italian singers
+are in much higher request and fashion than persons of deeper tone and
+intellect.</p>
+
+<p>The first question his royal highness honoured me with was, whether I
+had visited his cabinet of instruments. Upon my answering in the
+affirmative, and that the apparatus appeared to me extremely perfect,
+and in admirable order, he observed, “The arrangement is certainly good,
+for one of my particular friends, a very learned man, has made it; but
+notwithstanding the high price I have paid, your Ramsdens and Dollonds
+have treated themselves more generously than me. I believe,” continued
+his royal highness, “according to what the Duke d’Alafoens has
+repeatedly assured me, I am conversing with a person who has no weak,
+blind prejudices, in favour of his country, and who sees things as they
+are, not as they have been, or as they ought to be. That commercial
+greediness the English display in every transaction has cost us dear in
+more than one particular.”</p>
+
+<p>He then ran over the ground Pombal had so often trodden bare, both in
+his state papers and in various publications which had been promulgated<a name="page_vol_2_2224" id="page_vol_2_2224"></a>
+during his administration, and I soon perceived of what school his royal
+highness was a disciple.</p>
+
+<p>“We deserve all this,” continued he, “and worse, for our tame
+acquiescence in every measure your cabinet dictates; but no wonder,
+oppressed and debased as we are, by ponderous, useless institutions.
+When there are so many drones in a hive, it is in vain to look for
+honey. Were you not surprised, were you not shocked, at finding us so
+many centuries behind the rest of Europe?”</p>
+
+<p>I bowed, and smiled. This spark of approbation induced, I believe, his
+royal highness to blaze forth into a flaming encomium upon certain
+reforms and purifications which were carrying on in Brabant, under the
+auspices of his most sacred apostolic Majesty Joseph the Second. “I have
+the happiness,” continued the Prince, “to correspond not unfrequently
+with this enlightened sovereign. The Duke d’Alafoens, who has likewise
+the advantage of communicating with him, never fails to give me the
+detail of these salutary proceedings. When shall we have sufficient
+manliness to imitate them!<a name="page_vol_2_2225" id="page_vol_2_2225"></a>”</p>
+
+<p>Though I bowed and smiled again, I could not resist taking the liberty
+of observing that such very rapid and vigorous measures as those his
+imperial Majesty had resorted to, were more to be admired than imitated;
+that people who had been so long in darkness, if too suddenly broken in
+upon by a stream of effulgence, were more likely to be blinded than
+enlightened; and that blows given at random by persons whose eyes were
+closed were dangerous, and might fall heaviest perhaps in directions
+very opposite to those for which they were intended. This was rather
+bold, and did not seem to please the novice in boldness.</p>
+
+<p>After a short pause, which allowed him, at least, an opportunity of
+taking breath, he looked steadily at me, and perceiving my countenance
+arrayed in the best expression of admiration I could throw into it,
+resumed the thread of his philosophical discourse, and even condescended
+to detail some very singular and, as they struck me, most perilous
+projects. Continuing to talk on with an increased impetus (like those
+whose steps are accelerated by running down hill) he dropped some vague
+hints of measures that filled me not only with surprise,<a name="page_vol_2_2226" id="page_vol_2_2226"></a> but with a
+sensation approaching to horror. I bowed, but I could not smile. My
+imagination, which had caught the alarm at the extraordinary nature of
+the topics he was discoursing upon, conjured up a train of appalling
+images, and I asked myself more than once whether I was not under the
+influence of a distempered dream.</p>
+
+<p>Being too much engaged in listening to himself to notice my confusion,
+he worked as hard as a pioneer in clearing away the rubbish of ages,
+entered minutely and not unlearnedly into the ancient jurisprudence and
+maxims of his country, its relations with foreign powers, and the rank
+from whence it had fallen in modern times, to be attributed in a great
+measure, he observed, to a blind and mistaken reliance upon the selfish
+politics of our predominant island. Although he did not spare my
+country, he certainly appeared not over partial to his own. He painted
+its military defects and priest-ridden policy in vivid colours. In
+short, this part of our discourse was a “<i>deploratio Lusitanicæ
+Gentis</i>,” full as vehement as that which the celebrated Damien a Goes,
+to show his fine Latin and fine humanity,<a name="page_vol_2_2227" id="page_vol_2_2227"></a> poured forth some centuries
+ago over the poor wretched Laplanders.</p>
+
+<p>Not approving in any degree the tendency of all this display, I most
+heartily prayed it might end. Above an hour had passed since it began,
+and flattered as I was by the protraction of so condescending a
+conference, I could not help thinking that these fountains of honour are
+fountains of talk and not of mercy; they flow over, if once set a going,
+without pity or moderation. Persons in supreme stations, whom no one
+ventures to contradict, run on at a furious rate. You frequently flatter
+yourself they are exhausted; but you flatter yourself in vain. Sometimes
+indeed, by way of variety, they contradict themselves, and then the
+debate is carried on between self and self, to the desperation of their
+subject auditors, who, without being guilty of a word in reply, are
+involved in the same penalty us the most captious disputant. This was my
+case. I scarcely uttered a syllable after my first unsuccessful essay;
+but thousands of words were nevertheless lavished upon me, and
+innumerable questions proposed and answered by the questioner with equal
+rapidity.<a name="page_vol_2_2228" id="page_vol_2_2228"></a></p>
+
+<p>In return for the honour of being admitted to this monological dialogue,
+I kept bowing and nodding; and towards the close of the conference,
+contrived to smile again pretty decently. His royal highness, I learned
+afterwards, was satisfied with my looks and gestures, and even bestowed
+a brevet upon me of a great deal more erudition than I possessed or
+pretended to.</p>
+
+<p>The sun set, the dews fell, the Prince retired, Louis de Miranda
+followed him, and I remounted my horse with an indigestion of sounding
+phrases, and the most confirmed belief that “<i>the church was in
+danger</i>.”</p>
+
+<p>Tired and exhausted, I threw myself on my sofa the moment I reached
+Ramalhaô; but the agitation of my spirits would not allow me any repose.
+I swallowed some tea with avidity, and driving to the palace, evocated
+the archbishop confessor, who had been locked up above half-an-hour in
+his interior cabinet. To him I related all that had passed at this
+unsought, unexpected interview. The consequences in time developed
+themselves.<a name="page_vol_2_2229" id="page_vol_2_2229"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXXII-port" id="LETTER_XXXII-port"></a>LETTER XXXII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Convent of Boa Morte.&mdash;Emaciated priests.&mdash;Austerity of the
+Order.&mdash;Contrite personages.&mdash;A <i>nouveau riche</i>.&mdash;His house.&mdash;Walk
+on the veranda of the palace at Belem.&mdash;Train of attendants at
+dinner.&mdash;Portuguese gluttony.&mdash;Black dose of legendary
+superstition.&mdash;Terrible denunciations.&mdash;A dreary evening.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Nov. 9th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>M&mdash;&mdash; and his principal almoner, a renowned missionary, and one of the
+most eloquent preachers in her Majesty’s dominions, were at my door by
+ten, waiting to take me with them to the convent of Boa Morte. This is a
+true Golgotha, a place of many skulls, for its inhabitants, though they
+live, move, and have a sort of being, are little better than skeletons.
+The priest who officiated appeared so emaciated and cadaverous, that I
+could hardly have supposed he would have had strength sufficient to
+elevate the chalice. It did not, however, fall from his hands, and
+having<a name="page_vol_2_2230" id="page_vol_2_2230"></a> finished his mass, a second phantom tottered forth and began
+another. From the pictures and images of more than ordinary ghastliness
+which cover the chapels and cloisters, and from the deep contrition
+apparent in the tears, gestures, and ejaculations of the faithful who
+resort to them, I fancy no convent in Lisbon can be compared with this
+for austerity and devotion.</p>
+
+<p>M&mdash;&mdash; shook all over with piety, and so did his companion, whose knees
+are become horny with frequent kneelings, and who, if one is to believe
+Verdeil, will end his days in a hermitage, or go mad, or perhaps both.
+He pretends, too, that it is this grey-beard that has added new fuel to
+the flame of M&mdash;&mdash;’s devotion, and that by mutually encouraging each
+other, they will soon produce fruits worthy of Bedlam, if not of
+Paradise. To be sure, this father may boast a conspicuously devout turn,
+and a most resolute manner of thumping himself; but he must not be too
+vain. In Lisbon there are at least fifty or sixty thousand good souls,
+who, without having travelled so far, thump full as sonorously as he.
+This morning, at Boa Morte, one shrivelled sinner remained<a name="page_vol_2_2231" id="page_vol_2_2231"></a> the whole
+time the masses lasted with outstretched arms, in the shape and with all
+the inflexible stiffness of an old-fashioned branched candlestick.
+Another contrite personage was so affected at the moment of
+consecration, that he flattened his nose on the pavement, and licked the
+dirt and dust with which it was thickly encrusted.</p>
+
+<p>I must confess that, notwithstanding this very superior display of
+sanctity, I was not sorry to escape from the dingy cloisters of the
+convent, and breathe the pure air, and look up at the blue exhilarating
+sky. The weather being delightful, we drove to several distant parts of
+the town, to which I was yet a stranger. Returning back by the Bairro
+Alto, we looked into a new house, just finished building at an enormous
+expense, by Joaô Ferreira, who, from an humble retailer of leather, has
+risen, by the archbishop’s favour, to the possession of some of the most
+lucrative contracts in Portugal. Uglier-shaped apartments than those the
+poor shoe-man had contrived for himself I never beheld. The hangings are
+of satin of the deepest blue, and the fiercest and most sulphureous
+yellow. Every ceiling is daubed<a name="page_vol_2_2232" id="page_vol_2_2232"></a> over with allegorical paintings, most
+indifferently executed, and loaded with gilt ornaments, in the style of
+those splendid sign-posts which some years past were the glory of
+High-Holborn and St. Giles’s.</p>
+
+<p>We were soon tired of all this finery, and as it was growing late, made
+the best of our way to Belem. Whilst M&mdash;&mdash; was writing letters, I walked
+out with Don Pedro on the verandas of the palace, which are washed by
+the Tagus, and flanked with turrets. The views are enchanting, and the
+day being warm and serene, I enjoyed them in all their beauty. Several
+large vessels passed by as we were leaning over the balustrades, and
+almost touched us with their streamers. Even frigates and ships of the
+first rate approach within a quarter of a mile of the palace.</p>
+
+<p>There was a greater crowd of attendants than usual round our table at
+dinner to-day, and the huge massy dishes were brought up by a long train
+of gentlemen and chaplains, several of them decorated with the orders of
+Avis and Christ. This attendance had quite a feudal air, and transported
+the imagination to the days of chivalry, when great chieftains were
+waited upon like kings, by noble vassals.<a name="page_vol_2_2233" id="page_vol_2_2233"></a></p>
+
+<p>The Portuguese had need have the stomachs of ostriches to digest the
+loads of savoury viands with which they cram themselves. Their
+vegetables, their rice, their poultry, are all stewed in the essence of
+ham, and so strongly seasoned with pepper and spices, that a spoonful of
+peas, or a quarter of an onion, is sufficient to set one’s mouth in a
+flame. With such a diet, and the continual swallowing of sweetmeats, I
+am not surprised at their complaining so often of head-aches and
+vapours.</p>
+
+<p>Several of the old Marquis of M&mdash;&mdash;’s confidants and buffoons crept
+forth to have a peep at the stranger, and hear the famous missionary
+descant upon martyrdom and miracles. The scenery of Boa Morte being
+fresh in his thoughts, his descriptions were gloomy and appalling: Don
+Pedro, his sisters, and his cousin, the young Conde d’Atalaya,<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a>
+gathered round him with all the trembling eagerness of children who
+hunger and thirst after hobgoblin stories. You may be sure he sent them
+not empty away. A blacker dose of legendary superstition was never
+administered. The Marchioness seemed to swallow these terrific
+narrations with nearly as much avidity as her<a name="page_vol_2_2234" id="page_vol_2_2234"></a> children, and the old
+Abade, dropping his chin in a woful manner, produced an enormous rosary,
+and kept thumbing his beads and mumbling orisons.</p>
+
+<p>M&mdash;&mdash; had luckily been summoned to the palace by a special mandate from
+his royal mistress. Had he been of the party, I fear Verdeil’s prophecy
+would have been accomplished, for never did mortal hold forth with so
+much scaring energy as this enthusiastic preacher. The most terrible
+denunciations of divine wrath which ever were thundered forth by ancient
+or modern writers of sermons and homilies recurred to his memory, and he
+dealt them about him with a vengeance. The last half hour of the
+discourse we were all in total darkness,&mdash;nobody had thought of calling
+for lights: the children were huddled together, scarce venturing to move
+or breathe. It was a most singular scene.</p>
+
+<p>Full of the ghastly images the good father had conjured up in my
+imagination, I returned home alone in my carriage, shivering and
+shuddering. My friends were out, and nothing could be more dreary than
+the appearance of my fireless apartments.<a name="page_vol_2_2235" id="page_vol_2_2235"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXXIII-port" id="LETTER_XXXIII-port"></a>LETTER XXXIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Rehearsal of Seguidillas.&mdash;Evening scene.&mdash;Crowds of
+beggars.&mdash;Royal charity misplaced.&mdash;Mendicant flattery.&mdash;Frightful
+countenances.&mdash;Performance at the Salitri theatre.&mdash;Countess of
+Pombeiro and her dwarf negresses.&mdash;A strange ballet.&mdash;Return to the
+Palace.&mdash;Supper at the Camareira Mor’s.&mdash;Filial affection.&mdash;Last
+interview with the Archbishop.&mdash;Fatal tide of events.&mdash;Heart-felt
+regret on leaving Portugal.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Sunday, November 25th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>W<small>HAT</small> a morning for the 25th of November! The sun shining most
+brilliantly, insects fluttering about, and flowers expanding&mdash;the late
+rains having called forth a second spring, and tinted the hills round
+Almada, on the opposite shore of the Tagus, with a lively green.</p>
+
+<p>I breakfasted alone, Verdeil being gone to St. Roch’s, to see the
+ceremony of publishing the bull of the Crusade, which allows good
+Christians to eat eggs and butter during Lent, upon paying his holiness
+a few shillings. I stayed at home, hearing a rehearsal of Seguidillas,<a name="page_vol_2_2236" id="page_vol_2_2236"></a>
+in preparation for a new intermez at the Salitri theatre, till the hour
+of mass was over, then getting into the Portuguese chaise, drove
+headlong to the palace in the Placa do Commercio, and hastened to the
+Marquis of M&mdash;&mdash;’s apartments. All his family were assembled to dine
+with him.</p>
+
+<p>Had it not been for the thoughts of my approaching departure, I should
+have felt more comfort and happiness than has fallen to my lot for a
+long interval. M&mdash;&mdash;, whose attendance on the Queen may be too justly
+termed a state of downright slavery, had hardly taken his place at
+table, before he was called away. The Marchioness, Donna Henriquetta,
+and her little sister, soon retreated to the Camareira-Mor’s apartments,
+and I was left alone with Pedro and Duarte. They seized fast hold, each
+of a hand, and running like greyhounds through long corridors, took me
+to a balcony which commands one of the greatest thoroughfares in Lisbon.</p>
+
+<p>The evening was delightful, and vast crowds of people moving about, of
+all degrees and nations, old and young, active and crippled, monks and
+officers. Shoals of beggars kept<a name="page_vol_2_2237" id="page_vol_2_2237"></a> pouring in from every quarter to take
+their stands at the gates of the palace and watch the Queen’s going out;
+for her Majesty is a most indulgent mother to these sturdy sons of
+idleness, and scarcely ever steps into her carriage without distributing
+considerable alms amongst them. By this misplaced charity, hundreds of
+stout fellows are taught the management of a crutch instead of a musket,
+and the art of manufacturing sores, ulcers, and scabby pates, in the
+most loathsome perfection. Duarte, who is all life and gaiety, vaulted
+upon the railing of the balcony, and hung for a moment or two suspended
+in a manner that would have frightened mothers and nurses into
+convulsions. The beggars, who had nothing to do till her Majesty should
+be forthcoming, seemed to be vastly entertained with these feats of
+agility.</p>
+
+<p>They soon spied me out, and two brawny lubbers, whom an unfortunate
+combination of smallpox and king’s-evil had deprived of eye-sight,
+informed, no doubt, by their comrades of what was going forward, began a
+curious dialogue with voices still deeper and harsher than those of the
+holy crows:&mdash;“Heaven prosper their noble excellencies, Don Duarte Manoel
+and<a name="page_vol_2_2238" id="page_vol_2_2238"></a> Don Pedro, and all the Marialvas&mdash;sweet dear youths, long may they
+be blessed with the use of their eyes and of all their limbs! Is that
+the charitable Englishman in their sweet company?”&mdash;“Yes, my comrade,”
+answered the second blind.&mdash;“What!” said the first, “that generous
+favourite of the most glorious Lord St. Anthony? (O gloriosissimo Senhor
+Sant-Antonio!)”&mdash;“Yes, my comrade.”&mdash;“O that I had but my precious eyes,
+that I might enjoy the sight of his countenance!” exclaimed both
+together.</p>
+
+<p>By the time the duet was thus far advanced, the halt, the maimed, and
+the scabby, having tied some greasy nightcaps to the end of long poles,
+poked them up through the very railing, bawling and roaring out charity,
+“charity for the sake of the holy one of Lisbon.” Never was I looked up
+to by a more distorted or frightful collection of countenances. I made
+haste to throw down a plentiful shower of small copper money, or else
+Duarte would have twitched away both poles and nightcaps, a frolic by no
+means to be encouraged, as it might have marred our fame for the
+readiest<a name="page_vol_2_2239" id="page_vol_2_2239"></a> and most polite attention to every demand in the name of St.
+Anthony.</p>
+
+<p>Just as the orators were receiving their portion of pence and farthings,
+a cry of “There’s the Queen, there’s the Princess!” carried the whole
+hideous crowd away to another scene of action, and left me at full
+liberty to be amused in my turn with the squirrel-like gambols of my
+lively companion; he is really a fine enterprising boy, bold, alert, and
+sprightly; quite different from most of his illustrious young relations.</p>
+
+<p>Don Pedro by no means approved my English partiality to such active
+feats, and after scolding his cousin for skipping about in so hazardous
+a style, entreated me to take them to the Salitri theatre, where a box
+had been prepared for us by his father’s orders. Upon the whole, I was
+better entertained than I expected, though the performance lasted above
+four hours and a half, from seven to near twelve. It consisted of a
+ranting prose tragedy, in three acts, called Sesostris, two ballets, a
+pastoral, and a farce. The decorations were not amiss, and the dresses
+showy. A shambling, blear-eyed boy, bundled out in weeds of the deepest
+sable,<a name="page_vol_2_2240" id="page_vol_2_2240"></a> squeaked and bellowed alternately the part of a widowed
+princess. Another hob-e-di-hoy, tottering on high-heeled shoes,
+represented her Egyptian majesty, and warbled two airs with all the
+nauseous sweetness of a fluted falsetto. Though I could have boxed his
+ears for surfeiting mine so filthily, the audience were of a very
+different opinion, and were quite enthusiastic in their applause.</p>
+
+<p>In the stage-box I observed the mincing Countess of Pombeiro, whose
+light hair and waxen complexion was finely contrasted by the ebon hue of
+two little negro attendants perched on each side of her. It is the high
+tone at present in this court to be surrounded by African implings, the
+more hideous, the more prized, and to bedizen them in the most expensive
+manner. The Queen has set the example, and the royal family vie with
+each other in spoiling and caressing Donna Rosa, her Majesty’s
+black-skinned, blubber-lipped, flat-nosed favourite.</p>
+
+<p>One of the ballets was admirably got up; upon the rising of the curtain,
+a strange cabalistic apartment is discovered, where an astrologer
+appears very busy at a table covered<a name="page_vol_2_2241" id="page_vol_2_2241"></a> with spheres and astrolabes,
+arranging certain mysterious images, and pinking their eyes with a
+gigantic pair of black compasses. A sort of Pierrot announces some
+inquisitive travellers, who enter with many bows and scrapings. One of
+them, the chief of the party, an old dapper beau in pink and silver,
+reminded me very much of the Duke d’Alafoens, and sidled along and
+tossed his cane about, and seemed to ask questions without waiting for
+answers, with as good a grace as that janty general. The astrologer,
+after explaining the wonders of his apartment with many pantomimical
+contortions, invites his company to follow him, and the scene changes to
+a long gallery, illuminated with a profusion of lights in gilt branches.
+The perspective ends in a flight of steps, upon each of which stands a
+row of figures, pantaloons, harlequins, sultans, sultanas, Indian
+chiefs, devils, and savages, to all appearance motionless. Pierrot
+brings in a machine like a hand-organ, and his master begins to grind,
+the music accompanying. At the first chord, down drop the arms of all
+the figures; at the second, each rank descends a step, and so on, till
+gaining the level of the stage, and the<a name="page_vol_2_2242" id="page_vol_2_2242"></a> astrologer grinding faster and
+faster, the supposed clock-work-assembly begin a general dance.</p>
+
+<p>Their ballet ended, the same accords are repeated, and all hop up in the
+same stiff manner they hopped down. The travellers, highly pleased with
+the show, depart; Pierrot, who longs to be grinding, persuades his
+master to take a walk, and leave him in possession of the gallery. He
+consents; but enjoins the gaping oaf upon no account to meddle with the
+machine, or set the figures in motion. Vain are his directions! no
+sooner has he turned his back than Pierrot goes to work with all his
+strength; the figures fall a shaking as if on the point of disjoining
+themselves; creak, crack, grinds the machine with horrid harshness;
+legs, arms, and noddles are thrown into convulsions, three steps are
+jumped at once. Pierrot, frightened out of his senses at the goggle-eyed
+crowd advancing upon him, clings close to the machine and gives the
+handle no respite. The music, too, degenerates into the most jarring,
+screaking sounds, and the figures knocking against each other, and
+whirling round and round in utter<a name="page_vol_2_2243" id="page_vol_2_2243"></a> confusion, fall flat upon the stage.
+Pierrot runs from group to group in rueful despair, tries in vain to
+reanimate them, and at length losing all patience, throws one over the
+other, and heaps sultanas upon savages, and shepherds upon devilkins.
+Most of these personages being represented by boys of twelve or thirteen
+were easily wielded. After Pierrot has finished tossing and tumbling, he
+drops down exhausted and lies as dead as his neighbours, hoping to
+escape unnoticed amongst them. But this subterfuge avails him not; in
+comes the astrologer armed with his compasses; back he starts at sight
+of the confounded jumble. Pierrot pays for it all, is soon drawn forth
+from his lurking-place, and the astrologer grinding in a moderate and
+scientific manner, the figures lift themselves up, and returning all in
+<i>status quo</i>, the ballet finishes.</p>
+
+<p>Shall I confess that this nonsense amused me pretty nearly as much as it
+did my companions, whose raptures were only exceeded by those of madame
+de Pombeiro’s implings. They, sweet, sooty innocents, kept gibbering and
+pointing at the man with the black compasses in a manner so completely
+African and<a name="page_vol_2_2244" id="page_vol_2_2244"></a> ludicrous, that I thought their contortions the best part
+of the entertainment.</p>
+
+<p>The play ended, we hastened back to the palace, and traversing a number
+of dark vestibules and guard-chambers, (all of a snore with jaded
+equerries,) were almost blinded with a blaze of light from the room in
+which supper was served up. There we found in addition to all the
+Marialvas, the old marquis only excepted, the Camareira-mor, and five or
+six other hags of supreme quality, feeding like cormorants upon a
+variety of high-coloured and high-seasoned dishes. I suppose the keen
+air from the Tagus, which blows right into the palace-windows, operates
+as a powerful whet, for I never beheld eaters or eateresses, no not even
+our old acquaintance madame la Présidente at Paris, lay about them with
+greater intrepidity. To be sure, it was a splendid repast, quite a
+banquet. We had manjar branco and manjar real, and among other good
+things a certain preparation of rice and chicken, which suited me
+exactly, and no wonder, for this excellent mess had been just tossed up
+by Donna Isabel de Castro with her own illustrious hands, in a nice
+little<a name="page_vol_2_2245" id="page_vol_2_2245"></a> kitchen adjoining the queen’s apartment, in which all the
+utensils are of solid silver.</p>
+
+<p>The number of lights upon the table, and of attendants and pages in rich
+uniforms around it, was prodigious; but what interested me far more than
+all this parade, was the sportive good-humour and frankness of the
+company. How it happened that the presence of a stranger failed to
+inspire any reserve, is one of those odd circumstances I can hardly
+account for; especially as the higher orders of the Portuguese are the
+farthest removed of all persons from admitting any but their nearest
+relations to these family parties; but so it was, and I felt both
+flattered and gratified at being permitted to witness the ease and
+hilarity which prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>The dutiful, affectionate attention of the younger part of the company
+to their parents was truly amiable; nor do I believe that, at this day
+in any other realm in Europe, the sacred precept of honouring your
+father and your mother is so cordially observed as in Portugal. Happy
+if, in our intercourse with that nation, we had profited in that respect
+by their example; the peace of so many of<a name="page_vol_2_2246" id="page_vol_2_2246"></a> our noblest families would
+not have been disturbed by the lowest connexions, nor their best blood
+contaminated by matches of the most immoral, degrading tendency. We
+should not have seen one year a performer acting the part of lady this
+or lady t’other upon the stage, and the next in the drawing-room; nor,
+upon entering some of our principal houses, have been tempted to cry
+out&mdash;“Bless me! that lovely countenance is the same I recollect adoring
+by moonlight on the fine broad flagstones of Bond Street or Portland
+Place!”<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p>
+
+<p>It was now after two in the morning, and I must own, notwithstanding the
+good cheer of which I had participated, and the kind entertainment I had
+received, I began to feel a little tired. The children were in such
+spirits, so full of frolic, and her sublimity, the Camareira-mor, so
+unusually tolerant and condescending,<a name="page_vol_2_2247" id="page_vol_2_2247"></a> that there was no knowing when
+the party would break up. Taking, therefore, my leave in due form, I
+made my retreat escorted by half-a-dozen torch-bearers.</p>
+
+<p>Just as I had gotten about half-way on my journey through what appeared
+to me interminable passages, I was arrested in my progress by a pair of
+dominicans, father Rocha, and his scarecrow satellite frè Josè do
+Rosario. A person less accustomed than I had lately been to such
+apparitions would have been startled; especially, too, if he had found
+himself like me between the most formidable living pillars of the holy
+inquisition.</p>
+
+<p>“What are you doing here so very late,” I could not help exclaiming, “my
+reverend fathers? What’s the matter?”</p>
+
+<p>“The matter is,” answered Rocha, with a voice of terrific hoarseness,
+“that we have caught cold waiting for you in these confounded corridors.
+The archbishop, above half-an-hour ago, commanded us to bring you to him
+dead or alive; but a rascally jackanapes in waiting upon her excellency
+the Camareira-mor would not let us in to deliver our message,<a name="page_vol_2_2248" id="page_vol_2_2248"></a> so we
+have been airing ourselves hitherto to no purpose.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you know,” said Rocha, taking me into a little room where a lamp was
+still burning, “that affairs do not go on so smoothly as they ought? The
+archbishop seems to have lost both time and temper since he has been
+pressed into the cabinet; and, as for the Prince of Brazil and his
+consort, God forgive me for wishing their advisers and all their
+intrigues in the lowest abyss of perdition. How can you be scheming a
+journey to Madrid at this season? The floods are out, and the robbers
+also, and I tell you what, as the archbishop says twenty times a day, if
+you do go you deserve to be drowned and murdered.”</p>
+
+<p>“The die is cast,” I replied, “and I must take my chance; but really I
+wish you would have the goodness to bid the archbishop a very good night
+in my name, and let me put off asking his benediction till to-morrow,
+for I am quite jaded.”</p>
+
+<p>“Jaded or not,” answered the monk, “you must come with me; the wind is
+up in the archbishop’s brain just at this moment, and by the least
+contradiction more would become a hurricane.<a name="page_vol_2_2249" id="page_vol_2_2249"></a>”</p>
+
+<p>Finding resistance vain, I suffered myself to be conducted through two
+or three open courts, very refreshing at this hour you may suppose, and
+up a little staircase into the archbishop’s interior cabinet. All was
+still as death&mdash;no lay-brother bustling about&mdash;no sound audible but a
+low breathing, which now and then swelled into a half suppressed groan,
+from the agitated prelate, whom we found knee-deep in papers, immersed
+in thought.</p>
+
+<p>“So,” said he, “there you are at last. What have you been doing all this
+while? Who but a brute of an Englishman would have kept me waiting. Ay,
+ay, you told me how it would be, and you are right. They plague my soul
+out. We have twenty rascals pulling as many ways. Your people too are
+not what they used to be, though Mello would make us believe to the
+contrary. One thing I know for certain, some infernal mischief is
+afloat, and unless God’s grace is speedily manifested, I see no end to
+confusion, and wish myself anywhere but where I am. These
+smooth-tongued, Frenchified, Italian, Voltaireists and encyclopedians
+have poisoned all sound doctrine. Ay,” continued he, rising up, with an
+expression of indignation and anger I<a name="page_vol_2_2250" id="page_vol_2_2250"></a> never saw before on his
+countenance, “somebody’s ears<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> are poisoned whom I could name.... But
+where is the use of talking to you? You are determined to leave us, be
+it so. God’s providence is above all. He knows what is best for you, and
+for me, and for these kingdoms. There is your passport, countersigned by
+your friend Mello; and here is a letter for Lorenzana, and another for
+his catholic majesty’s confessor, in which I tell him what an amazing
+fool you are, and unless you continue one without any remission, we
+shall soon have you back again. Tell Marialva,” he added, addressing
+himself to Rocha (for the other father had not been admitted), “tell
+Marialva and all his friends that<a name="page_vol_2_2251" id="page_vol_2_2251"></a> I have dried up my tongue almost more
+times than one, in attempting to argue a thousand silly whimsies and
+crotchets out of his harum-scarum English brain; but come,” said he,
+extending his arms, “I bear no malice, I pity, I do not condemn. Let me
+give you an embrace, and pray God it may not be the last you will
+receive from me.”</p>
+
+<p>It was, alas! the last I ever received from him, poor, honest-hearted,
+kind old man! A sort of melancholy foreboding which seemed to pervade
+all he said in this interview was too soon realized. The fatal tide of
+events flowing on as it were with redoubled, tremendous velocity, swept
+away in the course of a few short months from this period the Prince of
+Brazil, the lovely and amiable infanta his sister, her husband Don
+Gabriel of Spain, and the good old King Charles the Third. Not long
+after, the archbishop-confessor himself was called from the plenitude of
+power and the enjoyment of unrivalled influence to the presence of that
+Being in whose sight “no man living shall be justified;” but as in many
+trying and peculiar instances he had shown the tenderest mercy, it may
+tremblingly be hoped that mercy has been shown to him. Notwithstanding<a name="page_vol_2_2252" id="page_vol_2_2252"></a>
+the bluntness of his manner, the kindness of his heart, so apparent in
+his good-humoured, benevolent eye, found its way, almost imperceptibly
+to himself, to the hearts of others, and tempered the despotic roughness
+he sometimes assumed both in voice and gesture.</p>
+
+<p>I still seem to behold the last, earnest, solemn look he gave me when,
+the door closing, he retired to the cares of state, and I with my escort
+of torch-bearers and dominicans hastened forth to breathe the open air,
+of which I stood greatly in need. Many things I had heard, and many
+others I conjectured, above all, the reluctance I felt at the bottom of
+my heart to leave a country in which I had received such uncommon marks
+of friendship, bore heavily upon me. When I got home, scarcely two hours
+before daybreak, and tried to compose myself to sleep, I was neither
+refreshed nor recruited, but experienced the agitation of feverish and
+broken slumbers.<a name="page_vol_2_2253" id="page_vol_2_2253"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XXXIV-port" id="LETTER_XXXIV-port"></a>LETTER XXXIV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Dead mass at the church of Martyrs.&mdash;Awful music by Perez and
+Jomelli.&mdash;Marialva’s affecting address.&mdash;My sorrow and anxiety.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">26th Nov. 1787.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>WENT</small> to the church of the Martyrs to hear the matins of Perez and the
+dead mass of Jomelli performed by all the principal musicians of the
+royal chapel for the repose of the souls of their deceased predecessors.
+Such august, such affecting music I never heard, and perhaps may never
+hear again; for the flame of devout enthusiasm burns dim in almost every
+part of Europe, and threatens total extinction in a very few years. As
+yet it glows at Lisbon, and produced this day the most striking musical
+effect.</p>
+
+<p>Every individual present seemed penetrated with the spirit of those
+awful words which Perez and Jomelli have set with tremendous<a name="page_vol_2_2254" id="page_vol_2_2254"></a> sublimity.
+Not only the music, but the serious demeanour of the performers, of the
+officiating priests, and indeed of the whole congregation, was
+calculated to impress a solemn, pious terror of the world beyond the
+grave. The splendid decoration of the church was changed into mourning,
+the tribunes hung with black, and a veil of gold and purple thrown over
+the high altar. In the midst of the choir stood a catafalque surrounded
+with tapers in lofty candelabra, a row of priests motionless on each
+side. There was an awful silence for several minutes, and then began the
+solemn service of the dead. The singers turned pale as they sang, “Timor
+mortis me conturbat.”</p>
+
+<p>After the requiem, the high mass of Jomelli, in commemoration of the
+deceased, was performed; that famous composition which begins with a
+movement imitative of the tolling of bells,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">“Swinging slow with sullen roar.”<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p class="nind">These deep, majestic sounds, mingled with others like the cries for
+mercy of unhappy beings, around whom the shadows of death and the pains
+of hell were gathering, shook<a name="page_vol_2_2255" id="page_vol_2_2255"></a> every nerve in my frame, and called up in
+my recollection so many affecting images, that I could not refrain from
+tears.</p>
+
+<p>I scarcely knew how I was conveyed to the palace, where Marialva
+expected my coming with the utmost impatience. Our conversation took a
+most serious turn. He entreated me not to forget Portugal, to meditate
+upon the awful service I had been hearing, and to remember he should not
+die in peace unless I was present to close his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>In the actual tone of my mind I was doubly touched by this melancholy,
+affectionate address. It seemed to cut through my soul, and I execrated
+Verdeil and all those who had been instrumental in persuading me to
+abandon such a friend. The grand prior wept bitterly at seeing my
+agitation. Marialva went to the queen, and the grand prior home with me.
+We dined alone; my heart was full of heaviness, and I could not eat. At
+night we returned to the palace, and there all my sorrow and anxiety was
+renewed.<a name="page_vol_2_2256" id="page_vol_2_2256"></a></p>
+
+<p><a name="page_vol_2_2257" id="page_vol_2_2257"></a></p>
+
+<p><a name="page_vol_2_2258" id="page_vol_2_2258"></a></p>
+
+<h2><a name="SPAIN" id="SPAIN"></a>SPAIN.</h2>
+
+<p><a name="page_vol_2_2259" id="page_vol_2_2259"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_I-spn" id="LETTER_I-spn"></a>LETTER I.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Embark on the Tagus.&mdash;Aldea Gallega.&mdash;A poetical postmaster.&mdash;The
+church.&mdash;Leave Aldea Gallega.&mdash;Scenery on the road.&mdash;Palace built
+by John the Fifth.&mdash;Ruins at Montemor.&mdash;Reach Arroyolos.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Wednesday, Nov. 28th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> winds are reposing themselves, and the surface of the Tagus has all
+the smoothness of a mirror. The clouds are dispersing, for it rained
+heavily in the night, and the sun tinging the distant mountains of
+Palmella. Charming weather for crossing to Aldea Gallega, that self-same
+village in whose praises Baretti launches out with so much luxuriance.
+Horne and his nephew accompanied me to the stairs of Pampulha, where the
+old marquis’s scalera<a name="page_vol_2_2260" id="page_vol_2_2260"></a> was waiting for me, with eight-and-twenty rowers
+in their bright scarlet accoutrements.</p>
+
+<p>Beggars innumerable, blind, dumb, and scabby, followed me almost into
+the water. No beggars equal those of Portugal for strength of lungs,
+luxuriance of sores, profusion of vermin, variety and arrangement of
+tatters, and dauntless perseverance. Several clocks were striking one
+when we pushed off from the shore, and in a few minutes less than two
+hours we found ourselves at Aldea Gallega, four leagues from Lisbon.
+Vast numbers of boats and skiffs passed us in the course of our
+navigation, which I should have thought highly agreeable in other
+circumstances; but I felt oppressed and melancholy; the thoughts of my
+separation from the Marialvas bearing heavily on my mind. Nor could the
+grand prospects of the river, and its shores, crowded with convents,
+towers, and palaces, remove this dead cold weight a single instant.</p>
+
+<p>The sun having sunk into watery clouds, the expanse of the Tagus wore a
+dismal, leaden-coloured aspect. Lisbon was cast into shade, and the huge
+mass of the convent of San Vicente, crowning an eminence, looked dark
+and<a name="page_vol_2_2261" id="page_vol_2_2261"></a> solemn. The low shores of Aldea Gallega are pleasant and woody;
+many varieties of the tulip, the iris, and other bulbous roots, already
+springing up under the protection of spreading pines.</p>
+
+<p>Instead of going to a swinish, stinking estellagem, my courier, Martinho
+de mello’s prime favourite, and the one he employs upon the most
+confidential negociations, conducted me to the postmaster’s; a neat,
+snug habitation, where I found very tolerable accommodations, and dined
+in the midst of a vapour of burnt lavender, that was near depriving us
+of all appetite.</p>
+
+<p>Before I sat down to table, I wrote to M&mdash;&mdash;, and sent my letter by the
+return of the scalera. It was not without difficulty I wrote then, or
+write at present, for my kind host, the postmaster, has not only the
+same age, but equal glibness of tongue as the abade. They were
+cotemporary at Coimbra, and their tongues have kept pace with each other
+these eighty years. The postmaster is blessed with a most tenacious
+memory, and having been a mighty reader of operas, serenatas, sonnets,
+and romances, seemed to sweat verses at every pore. For three hours he
+gave neither himself nor us any respite, but spouted whole volleys of<a name="page_vol_2_2262" id="page_vol_2_2262"></a>
+Metastasio, till he was black in the face. Having washed down the heroic
+sentiments of Megacle, Artaserse, and Demetrio with a dish of tea, he
+fell to quoting Spanish and Latin authors, Ovid, Seneca, Lopez de Vega,
+Calderon, with the same volubility.</p>
+
+<p>As millers sleep sound to the click of their mill, so I, at the end of
+the two hours’ gabbling, was perfectly well-seasoned, and let him run on
+with the most resigned composure, writing and reading as unconcernedly
+as if in a convent of Carthusians.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">Thursday, November 29th.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HERE</small> was a continual racket in the house and about the street-door all
+night. At four o’clock the baggage-carts set forth, with a tremendous
+jingling of bells. The morning was so soft and vernal, that we drank our
+chocolate on the veranda, which commands a wild rural view of shrubby
+fields and scattered pines, terminated by a long range of blue hills,
+most picturesquely varied in form, if not in colour.</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast I went to the church, which Colmenar pretends is
+magnificently gilt and ornamented; but which, in fact, can boast no<a name="page_vol_2_2263" id="page_vol_2_2263"></a>
+other decoration than a few shabby altars, displaying the images of
+Nossa Senhora, and the patron saint, in tinselled garments of faded
+taffeta. I knelt on a mouldy pavement, and felt a chill wind issuing
+from between the crevices of loose grave-stones, that returned a hollow
+sound when I rose up and walked over them. A priest, who was saying
+mass, officiated with uncommon slowness and solemnity. It was hardly
+light in the recesses of the chapels.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after eight o’clock we left Aldea Gallega, and ploughed through
+deep furrows of sand at the sober rate of two miles and a half in an
+hour. On both sides of the heavy road the eye ranges uninterrupted,
+except by the stems of starveling pines, through a boundless extent of
+barren country, overgrown with stunted ilex and gum-cistus. The same
+scenery lasted without any variation full five leagues, to the venta de
+Pegoens, where I am now writing, in a long dismal room, with plastered
+walls, a damp brick-floor, and cracked window-shutters. A pack of
+half-famished dogs are leaping around me, their eyes ready to start out
+of their sockets and their ribs out of their skin.</p>
+
+<p>After dining upon the provisions we brought<a name="page_vol_2_2264" id="page_vol_2_2264"></a> with us, of which the
+yelping generation enjoyed no inconsiderable share, we proceeded through
+sandy wilds diversified alone by pines. Not a single habitation
+occurred, till by a glimmering dubious starlight, for it was now
+half-past seven, we discovered the extensive front of a palace, built in
+the year 1729, by John the fifth, for the accommodation of the infanta
+of Spain, who married his son, the late king D. Josè. Here we were to
+lodge, and I was rather surprised, upon entering a long suite of
+well-proportioned apartments, to find doors and windows still capable of
+being shut and opened, large chimneys guiltless of smoking out of their
+right channel, and painted ceilings without cracks or crevices.</p>
+
+<p>A young priest, neither deficient in manners nor erudition, the keeper
+of this solitary palace, did his utmost to make our stay in it
+agreeable. By his attention, we had some chairs and tables placed by a
+blazing fire, which I worshipped with all the fervour of an ancient
+Persian. I had need of this consolation, being much disordered by the
+tiresome dragging of our heavy coach through heaps of sand, and
+depressed with feverish shiverings.<a name="page_vol_2_2265" id="page_vol_2_2265"></a></p>
+
+<p class="rht">Friday, November 30th.</p>
+
+<p>I<small>T</small> was a long while last night before I composed myself to sleep, and
+being called at the first dawn, I rose, if possible, more indisposed
+than when I lay down; I could scarcely swallow any refreshment, and kept
+walking disconsolately through the vast range of naked apartments, till
+the rays of the rising sun entered the windows. The horizon glowed with
+ruddy clouds. The vast desert levels, discovered from the balconies of
+the palace, gleamed with dewy verdure. I hastened out to breathe the
+fresh morning air, impregnated with the perfume of a thousand aromatic
+shrubs and opening flowers. I could not believe it was the last day of
+November, but fancied I had slept away the winter, and was just awakened
+in the month of May.</p>
+
+<p>To enjoy these fragrant breezes in full liberty, I left our carriage to
+drag along as slowly as the mules pleased, and the muleteers to smoke
+their cigarros as deliberately as they thought proper; and mounting my
+horse, rode the best part of the way to Montemor; which is built on the
+acclivity of a mountain, and surrounded on every side by groves of
+olives.<a name="page_vol_2_2266" id="page_vol_2_2266"></a> The whole face of the country is covered by the same
+vegetation, and, of course, presents no very cheerful appearance.</p>
+
+<p>About a mile from Montemor we crossed a clear river, whose banks are
+thick-set with poplars, and a light, airy species of broom, intermixed
+with indian-fig, and laurustine in full blossom. The bees were swarming
+amongst the flowers, and filling the air with their hum.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst our dinner was preparing we climbed up the green slopes of a
+lofty hill, to some ruins on its summit; and passing under a narrow arch
+discovered a broad flight of steps, which lead to a very ancient church
+of gothic uncouth architecture: the pavement almost entirely composed of
+sepulchral slabs and brasses. As we walked on a platform before the
+entrance, the sun shone so fiercely that we were glad to descend the
+eminence on its shadiest side, and take refuge in a cavern-like
+apartment of the estallagem, very damp and dingy; but in which, however,
+an excellent dinner awaited our arrival.</p>
+
+<p>We set out at two in a blaze of sunshine, so cheerful and reviving, that
+I got once more on horseback, and never dismounted till I reached<a name="page_vol_2_2267" id="page_vol_2_2267"></a>
+Arroyolos. Just as we came in sight of this ugly old town, which, like
+Montemor, crowns the summit of a rocky eminence, it fell totally dark;
+but the postmaster coming forth with torches, lighted us through several
+winding alleys to his house. I found some pleasant apartments amply
+furnished, and richly carpeted, and had the comfort of settling myself
+by a crackling fire, writing to the whole circle of the Marialvas, and
+drinking tea without being attacked by quotations of Virgil and
+Metastasio.<a name="page_vol_2_2268" id="page_vol_2_2268"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_II-spn" id="LETTER_II-spn"></a>LETTER II.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">A wild tract of forest-land.&mdash;Arrival at Estremoz.&mdash;A fair.&mdash;An
+outrageous sermon.&mdash;Boundless wastes of gum-cistus.&mdash;Elvas.&mdash;Our
+reception there.&mdash;My visiters.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Saturday, December 1st, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>H<small>ITHERTO</small> I have had no reason to complain of my accommodations in
+travelling through Portugal. A mandate from the governor procured me
+milk this morning for my breakfast, much against the will of the
+proprietor, who had a great inclination to keep all to himself. The idea
+of its being squeezed out by force, persuaded me that it had a very sour
+taste, and I hardly touched it.</p>
+
+<p>I laid in a stock of carpets for my journey, of strange grotesque
+patterns and glaring colours, the produce of a manufactory in this town,
+which employs about three hundred persons. Methinks I begin to write as
+dully as<a name="page_vol_2_2269" id="page_vol_2_2269"></a> Major W. Dalrymple, whose dry journal of travels through a
+part of Spain I had the misfortune of reading in the coach this morning,
+as we jogged and jolted along the dreary road between Arroyolos and
+Venta do Duque.</p>
+
+<p>We passed a wild tract of forest-land, and saw numerous herds of swine
+luxuriously scratching themselves against the rugged bark of cork-trees,
+and routing up the moss at their roots in search of acorns. Venta do
+Duque is a sty right worthy of being the capital of hoggish dominions.
+It can boast, however, of a chimney, which, giving us the opportunity of
+making a fire, rendered our stay in it less intolerable.</p>
+
+<p>The evening turned out cloudy and cold. Before we arrived at Estremoz,
+another city on a hill, better and farther seen than it merits, it began
+to rain with a vengeance. I hear it splashing and driving this moment in
+the puddles which lie in the vast, forlorn market-place, at one end of
+which our posada is situated. For Portugal, this posada is by no means
+indifferent; the walls and ceilings have been neatly whitewashed, and
+here are chairs and tables. My carpets are of essential service in<a name="page_vol_2_2270" id="page_vol_2_2270"></a>
+protecting my feet from the damp brick-floors. I have spread them all
+round my bed, and they make a flaming exotic appearance.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">Sunday, December 2nd.</p>
+
+<p>W<small>HEN</small> I opened my eyes about seven in the morning, the sky was still
+dismal and lowering; and a crowd of human figures, enveloped in dark
+capotes, were just issuing from several dens and lurking-places on each
+side the entrance of the posada. A fair, which was held to-day, had
+drawn them together, and they were lamenting in chorus the rainy
+weather, which prevented the display of their rural finery. Most of
+these good people had passed the night in the stables of the posada. As
+I came down stairs, I saw several of their companions of both sexes
+lying about like the killed and wounded on a field of battle; or, to use
+a less fatal comparison, like the dead-drunk during a contested election
+in England.</p>
+
+<p>From the windows of the posada I looked down on a vast opening a
+thousand feet in breadth, surrounded by irregular buildings; amongst
+which I could not discover any of<a name="page_vol_2_2271" id="page_vol_2_2271"></a> those handsome edifices adorned with
+marble columns, some travelling scribblers mention in terms of the
+highest commendation. The marble tower, too, they describe, built by Don
+Deniz, has totally lost its polish, if true it is it ever had any.</p>
+
+<p>Hard by the posada is a little chapel, to which I repaired as soon as I
+had breakfasted, and heard an outrageous sermon preached by a
+grey-headed, fiery-eyed capuchin, to a troop of blubbering females.</p>
+
+<p>As it did not positively rain, but only drizzled, after the fashion of
+my own dear native country, I rode part of the way to Elvas, and
+traversed boundless wastes of gum-cistus, whose dark-green casts a
+melancholy shade over the face of the country. A mile or two from Elvas,
+the scene changes to a forest of olives, with fountains by the wayside,
+and avenues of poplars, which were not yet deprived of their foliage.
+Above their summits tower the arches of an aqueduct, supported by strong
+buttresses, and presenting, when seen in perspective, an appearance, in
+some points of view, not unlike that of a ruined gothic cathedral. The
+ramparts<a name="page_vol_2_2272" id="page_vol_2_2272"></a> of Elvas are laid out and planted much in the style of our
+English gardens, and form very delightful walks.</p>
+
+<p>Upon entering the town, which seems populous and thriving, we were
+conducted to a very clean neat house, prepared for our reception by
+order of the governor, Monsieur de Vallarè. A dignified sort of a page,
+or groom of the chambers, in a blue coat richly laced, and the order of
+St. Jago dangling at his buttonhole, stood ready at the door to show us
+up stairs, and, according to the Portuguese system of politeness, never
+quitted our elbows a single moment.</p>
+
+<p>I had hardly reconnoitred my new apartments, before Monsieur de Vallarè
+was announced. He brought with him the Abade Correa, one of the
+luminaries of modern Portuguese literature, whose conversation afforded
+me great amusement. We sallied out together to visit the fortifications,
+the stables for the cavalry, and barracks for the soldiers, which are
+all in admirable order; thanks to the governor, who is indefatigable in
+his exertions, and retains at a very experienced age the agility of
+five-and-twenty. I was delighted with his<a name="page_vol_2_2273" id="page_vol_2_2273"></a> cheerful, military frankness,
+and unaffected attentions. He told me, he had stood the fire of our
+formidable column at Fontenoy, and never enjoyed himself so much in his
+life, as in the smoke and havoc of that furious engagement.</p>
+
+<p>From one of the bastions to which he conducted us, we had a distinct
+view of the fort de la Lippe, erected at an enormous expense on the
+summit of a woody mountain. Had the weather been fine, it might have
+tempted me to climb up to it; but showers beginning to descend, I
+preferred taking shelter in a snug apartment of the maréchal, enlivened
+by a blazing pile of aromatic woods, raised up on a grate in a
+christian-like manner. The abade and I drawing close to this hospitable
+hearth, talked over Lisbon and its inhabitants; whilst Verdeil amused
+himself with scrutinizing some minerals the maréchal had collected, and
+which lay scattered about his room.</p>
+
+<p>In these occupations the time passed till supper. We had pork delicately
+flavoured, exquisite quails, and salads, prepared in different manners,
+the most delicious I ever tasted.<a name="page_vol_2_2274" id="page_vol_2_2274"></a> Our conversation was lively and
+unrestrained; Correa has an originality of genius and freedom of
+sentiment, which the terrors of the inquisition have not yet
+extinguished.<a name="page_vol_2_2275" id="page_vol_2_2275"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_III-spn" id="LETTER_III-spn"></a>LETTER III.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Pass the rivulet which separates Spain and Portugal.&mdash;A muleteer’s
+enthusiasm.&mdash;Badajoz.&mdash;The cathedral.&mdash;Journey resumed.&mdash;A vast
+plain.&mdash;Village of Lubaon.&mdash;Withered hags.&mdash;Names and characters of
+our mules.&mdash;Posada at Merida.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Monday, Dec. 3rd, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> maréchal and the abade breakfasted with me, but the rain prevented
+my taking another walk about the fortifications, and seeing the troops
+go through their exercise. At ten we set off, well escorted, traversed a
+dismal plain, and passed a rivulet which separates the two kingdoms. No
+sooner had one of our muleteers passed this boundary, than cutting a
+cross in the turf with his knife, he fell prostrate and kissed the
+ground with a transport of devotion.</p>
+
+<p>Upon ascending the bank of the rivulet we came in sight of Badajoz and
+its long narrow bridge over the Guadiana. The custom-house was all
+mildness and moderation. Its harpies<a name="page_vol_2_2276" id="page_vol_2_2276"></a> have neither flown away with my
+books, as Bezerra predicted, nor set their talons in my coffers. At
+sight of my passport, such a one, I believe, as is not very frequently
+granted, all difficulties gave way, and I was permitted to enter the
+lonely, melancholy streets of Badajoz, without being stopped an instant,
+or having my baggage ransacked.</p>
+
+<p>This circumstance, no wonder, gave me greater satisfaction than the
+aspect of the town and its inhabitants, which is decidedly gloomy. Every
+house almost has grated-windows, and the few human creatures that stared
+at us from them, were muffled up to their noses in heavy mantles of the
+darkest colours.</p>
+
+<p>We continued winding half an hour in slow and solemn procession through
+narrow streets and alleys, whose gutters were full to the brim, before
+we reached the large dingy mansion their excellencies, the governor and
+intendant, had been so gracious as to allot for my reception. Both these
+personages were, providentially, laid up with agues, or else, it seems,
+I should have been honoured with their company the whole evening.</p>
+
+<p>A mob of eyes and mantles, for neither<a name="page_vol_2_2277" id="page_vol_2_2277"></a> mouths, arms, nor scarcely legs
+were discernible, assembled round the carriages the moment they halted,
+and had the patience to remain in the street, silently smoking their
+cigarros, the whole time I was at dinner.</p>
+
+<p>It was night before I rose from table, crept down stairs, and, though it
+continued raining at frequent intervals, waded to the cathedral, through
+much mire, and between several societies of hogs, which lay sweetly
+sleeping to the murmur of dropping eaves, in the midst of gutters and
+kennels.</p>
+
+<p>The cathedral is formed by three aisles of equal breadth, supported by
+pillars and arches, in a tolerably good pointed style. Several lofty
+chapels open into them, with solemn gates of iron. In the centre of the
+middle aisle some bungling architect has awkwardly stuck the choir, not
+many paces from the principal entrance, and by so doing has shut out the
+view of the high altar: no great loss, however, the high altar looking
+little better than a huge mass of rock-work, gilt and burnished. Under
+the choir is a staircase leading down to the grated entrance of a vault.
+Lamps were burning before many of the altars, and they distributed<a name="page_vol_2_2278" id="page_vol_2_2278"></a> a
+faint light throughout the whole edifice.</p>
+
+<p>I paced silently to and fro in the aisles, whilst the canons were
+chaunting vespers. The choristers still retain the same dress in which
+St. Anthony is represented, in the picture which hung by the miraculous
+cross he indented when flying the persecutions of Satan. There was a
+solemnity in the glimmer of the lamps, the gloomy, indefinite depth of
+the chapels, and the darkness of the vault beneath the choir, that
+affected me. I passed a very uncomfortable evening, and a worse night.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">Tuesday, Dec. 4.</p>
+
+<p>N<small>OT</small> a wink of sleep did the musquitos allow me. I was glad to call for
+lights at four, and was still happier to step into the coach at five;
+from that hour to half-past-eight I contrived to slumber in a feverish,
+agitated manner, that did me little good.</p>
+
+<p>When I opened my eyes, I found myself traversing a vast plain as level
+as the ocean. In summer, this waste must convey none but ideas of
+sterility and desolation; at present, a fresh verdure, browsed by
+numerous flocks, rendered<a name="page_vol_2_2279" id="page_vol_2_2279"></a> its appearance tolerable. The sheep, which
+are large and thriving, have fleeces as long and as silky as the hair of
+a barbet, combed every day by the hands of its mistress. I observed
+numbers of lambs of the most shining whiteness, with black ears and
+noses; just such neat little animals as those I remember to have seen in
+the era of Dresden china, at the feet of smirking shepherdesses.</p>
+
+<p>We dined at a village of mud cottages, called Lubaon, situated on some
+rising ground, about eighteen miles from Badajoz, whose inhabitants seem
+to have attained the last stage of poverty and wretchedness. Two or
+three withered hags, that even in the prophet Habakkuk’s resurrection of
+dry bones, would have attracted attention, laid hold of me the moment I
+got out of the carriage. I thought the cold hand of the weird sisters
+was giving me a gripe; and trembled lest, whether I would or not, I
+might hear some fatal prediction. To get out of their way I flew to the
+church, an old gothic building, placed on the edge of a steep, which
+shelves almost perpendicularly down to the banks of the Guadiana, and
+took sanctuary in its porch. There I remained till<a name="page_vol_2_2280" id="page_vol_2_2280"></a> summoned to dinner,
+listening to the murmur of the distant river flowing round sandy
+islands.</p>
+
+<p>I won the hearts of my muleteers by caressing their mules, and inquiring
+with a respectful earnestness their names and characters. Capitana may
+be depended upon in cases of labour and difficulty; Valerosa is skittish
+and enterprising; Pelerina rather sluggish and cowardly; but la
+Commissaria unites every mulish perfection; is tractable, steady, and
+sure-footed, and at the same time (to use the identical expression of my
+calasero) the greatest driver of dirt before her in the universe. She is
+certainly an animal of uncommon resolution; and when tired to death by
+the slow paces of her companions, how often have I wished myself
+abandoned to her guidance in a light two-wheeled chaise.</p>
+
+<p>We left Lubaon at half-past two, and, as I had the happiness of sleeping
+almost the whole way to Merida, can give little account of the country.</p>
+
+<p>I was hardly awake, when we entered the posada at Merida, and started
+back, dazzled with an illumination of wax-lights, solemnly<a name="page_vol_2_2281" id="page_vol_2_2281"></a> stuck in
+sconces all round a lofty room, with glaring white walls, as if I had
+been expected to lie in state. In the middle of the apartment stood a
+large brasier, full of glowing embers, exhaling so strong a perfume of
+rosemary and lavender, that my head swam, and I reeled like a drunkard.
+But as soon as this vile machine was removed, I sat down to write in
+peace and comfort.<a name="page_vol_2_2282" id="page_vol_2_2282"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_IV-spn" id="LETTER_IV-spn"></a>LETTER IV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Arrival at Miaxadas.&mdash;Monotonous singing.&mdash;Dismal
+country.&mdash;Truxillo.&mdash;A rainy morning.&mdash;Resume our journey.&mdash;Immense
+wood of cork-trees.&mdash;Almaraz.&mdash;Reception by the escrivano.&mdash;A
+terrific volume.&mdash;Village of Laval de Moral.&mdash;Range of lofty
+mountains.&mdash;Calzada.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Wednesday, Dec. 5th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>A<small>BOUT</small> five leagues from Merida we stopped at a hovel too wretched to
+afford shelter even to our mules. The situation, amidst green hills
+scattered over with picturesque ilex, is not unpleasant; and such was
+the mildness of the day, that we spread our table on a knoll, and dined
+in the open air, surrounded by geese and asses, to whom I distributed
+ample slices of water-melons. From this spot three short leagues brought
+us to Miaxadas, where we arrived at night. Its inhabitants were gathered
+in clusters at their doors, each holding a lamp, and crying, “Biva!
+Biva!”</p>
+
+<p>Instead of entering a dirty posada, my courier<a name="page_vol_2_2283" id="page_vol_2_2283"></a> ushered me into a sort
+of gallery, with a handsome arched roof, matted all over, and set round
+with gilt chairs. The donna de la casa made very low obeisances, not
+without great primness, and her maids sang tirannas with a wailful
+monotony that wore my very soul out.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">Thursday, Dec. 6th.</p>
+
+<p>S<small>OAKING</small> rain and dismal country, thick strewn with fragments of rock.
+Mountains wrapped in mists,&mdash;here and there a few green spots studded
+with mushrooms. We went seven leagues without stopping, and reached
+Truxillo by four. It was this gloomy city, situated on a black eminence,
+that gave birth to the ruthless Pizarro, the scourge of the Peruvians,
+and the murderer of Atabaliba. We were lodged in a very tolerable
+posada, unmolested by speech-makers, and heard no noise but the
+trickling of showers.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">Friday, Dec. 7th.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>WAS</small> awakened at five: the gutters were pouring, and all the
+water-spouts of Truxillo streaming with rain. An hour and a half did<a name="page_vol_2_2284" id="page_vol_2_2284"></a> I
+pass in a ghostly twilight, my candles being packed up, and all the oil
+of the house expended. It required great exertion on the part of my
+vigilant courier to prevail on our hulky muleteers to expose themselves
+to the bad weather.</p>
+
+<p>At length, with much ado, we rumbled out of Truxillo, and after
+traversing for the space of two leagues the nakedest and most dreary
+region I ever beheld, a faint gleam of sunshine melted the deadly white
+of the thick clouds which hung over us, and the horizon brightening up,
+we discovered a wood of cork-trees interspersed with lawns extending as
+far as the eye could stretch itself. These green spots continued to
+occur our whole way to Saraseços. There we halted, dined in haste at not
+half so wretched a posada as I had been taught to expect, and continuing
+our route, the sky clearing, ascended a mountain, from whose brow we
+looked down on a valley variegated with patches of ploughed land, wild
+shrubberies, and wandering rivulets.</p>
+
+<p>We had not much time to feast our eyes with this pastoral prospect; the
+clouds soon rolled over it, and we found ourselves in a<a name="page_vol_2_2285" id="page_vol_2_2285"></a> damp fog. The
+rest of our journey to Almaraz was a total blank; we saw nothing and
+heard nothing, and arrived at the place of our destination in perfect
+health and stupidity.</p>
+
+<p>The escrivano, who is the judge and jury of the village, was so kind as
+to accommodate us with his house, and so polite as not to incommode us
+with his presence. He is a holy man, and a strenuous advocate for the
+immaculate conception, no less than three large folios upon that
+mysterious subject lying about in his apartment.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">Saturday, Dec. 8th.</p>
+
+<p>W<small>HILST</small> the muleteers were harnessing their beasts together with rotten
+cords, I took up a little old book of my pious host’s, full of the most
+dismal superstitions, entitled <i>Espeio de Cristal fino, y Antorcha que
+aviva el alma</i>, and read in it till I was benumbed with horror. Many
+pages are engrossed with a description of the state into which the
+author imagines we are plunged immediately after death. The body he
+supposes conscious of all that befalls it in the grave, of exchanging
+its warm, comfortable habitation for the cold, pestilential soil<a name="page_vol_2_2286" id="page_vol_2_2286"></a> of a
+churchyard, conscious that its friends have abandoned it for ever, and
+of its inability to call them back; to be sensible of the approaches and
+progress of the most loathsome corruption, and to hear the voice of an
+accusing angel, recapitulating its offences, and summoning it to the
+judgment of God. The book ends with a vehement exhortation to repent
+while there is yet time, and to procure by fervent prayer, and ample
+donations to religious communities, the intercession of the host of
+martyrs and of Nuestra Señora. I can easily conceive these scarecrow
+publications of infinite use in frightening three parts of mankind out
+of their senses, prolonging the reign, and swelling the coffers of the
+clergy.</p>
+
+<p>The horrid images I had seen in this (Espeio) mirror haunted my fancy
+for several hours. To dissipate them I mounted my horse, and eagerly
+inhaled the fresh breezes that blew over springing herbage, and wastes
+of lavender. The birds were singing, the clouds dividing, and
+discovering long tracts of soft blue sky. I galloped gaily along a level
+country, interspersed with woods of ilex, to the village of Laval de
+Moral, where the inhabitants were<a name="page_vol_2_2287" id="page_vol_2_2287"></a> most devoutly employed in their
+churches conciliating the favour of the madonna by keeping holy the
+festival of the immaculate conception. There the coach coming up with
+me, I got in; and the mules dragging it along at a rate which in the
+days of my fire and fury would have made me thump out its bottom with
+impatience, I fell into a resigned slumber, and am ignorant of every
+object between Laval de Moral and Calzada, in sight of which town I
+awoke near five in the evening.</p>
+
+<p>The sun was setting in a sea of molten gold, and tinging the snows of a
+range of lofty mountains, which I discovered for the first time bounding
+our horizon. I might have seen them before most probably, had they not
+remained till this evening wrapped up in rainy vapours.</p>
+
+<p>It is at their base the Escurial is situated. I had the consolation of
+stepping out of the coach at Calzada into a house with cheerful, neat
+apartments, with an open gallery, where I walked contemplating the red
+streams of light, and brilliant skirted clouds of the western sky, till
+dinner came upon table. Though the doors and windows were all wide open,
+I suffered no<a name="page_vol_2_2288" id="page_vol_2_2288"></a> inconvenience worth mentioning from cold. The master of
+the house, a portly, pompous barber-surgeon, most firm in his belief of
+the supremacy of Spain over every country in the universe, confessed,
+however, the weather was uncommonly warm, and that so mild a month of
+December was rather extraordinary.<a name="page_vol_2_2289" id="page_vol_2_2289"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_V-spn" id="LETTER_V-spn"></a>LETTER V.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Sierra de los Gregos.&mdash;Mass.&mdash;Oropeza.&mdash;Talavera&mdash;Drawling
+tirannas.&mdash;Talavera de la Reyna.&mdash;Reception at Santa Olaya.&mdash;The
+lady of the house, and her dogs and dancers.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Sunday, December 9th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> mountains I saw yesterday are called the Sierra de los Gregos, and
+the winds that blow over their summits begin to chill the atmosphere;
+but the sun is shining gloriously, and not a cloud obscures his
+effulgence. The stars were still twinkling in the firmament, when I was
+attracted to mass in the large gloomy church of a nunnery, by the voices
+of the Lord’s spouses issuing from a sepulchral grate bristled with
+spikes of iron. These tremulous, plaintive sounds filled me with such
+sadness, and so many recollections of interesting hours departed never
+to return, that I felt relieved when I found myself out of sight of<a name="page_vol_2_2290" id="page_vol_2_2290"></a> the
+convent, on a cheerful road thronged with passengers.</p>
+
+<p>We passed Oropeza, a picturesque, Italian-looking town, on the brow of a
+mountain; dined at a venda, in the midst of a savage tract of
+forest-land, infamous till within this year or two for robberies and
+assassinations; and reached Talavera de la Reyna by sunset.</p>
+
+<p>More, I believe, has been said in praise of this town than it deserves.
+Its appearance is far from cheerful or elegant; and the heavy
+brick-fronts of the convents and churches as ill designed as executed.
+The streets, however, are crowded with people, who seem to be moving
+about with rather more activity than falls to the lot of Spaniards in
+general. I am told the silk-manufactories at Talavera are in a
+flourishing state, and have taken a good many hands out of the folds of
+their mantles.</p>
+
+<p>Colmenar is perpetually leading me into errors, and causing me
+disappointments. He pretends that the inhabitants of this place are
+nearly as skilful as those of Pekin and Macao in the manufacturing of
+lacquered wares, and that their pottery is unrivalled; but, upon
+inquiry, I found the Talaverans no particular<a name="page_vol_2_2291" id="page_vol_2_2291"></a> proficients in varnish,
+and that they had neither a cup nor basin to produce in the least
+preferable to those of other villages.</p>
+
+<p>In one art they are indefatigable, I can answer to my sorrow; that is,
+singing drawling tirannas to the monotonous accompaniment of a sort of
+hum-strum or hurdy-gurdy, or the devil knows best what sort of
+instruments, for such as I hear at this moment under my windows are only
+fit to be played in his dominions. I am quite at the mercy of these
+untoward minstrels; if they cease not, I must defer sleeping to another
+opportunity. Am I then come into Spain to hear hum-strums and
+hurdy-gurdies? Where are the rapturous seguidillas, of which I have been
+told such wonders? Do they exist, or, like the japanned wares of the
+Talaverans, are they only to be found in books of travels and
+geographical dictionaries?</p>
+
+<p class="rht">Monday, December 10th.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>BEG</small> Talavera de la Reyna a thousand pardons; it is not quite so
+frightful as it appeared in the twilight of yesterday evening. Many of
+the houses have a palace-like appearance, and the interior of the old
+gothic cathedral, though<a name="page_vol_2_2292" id="page_vol_2_2292"></a> not remarkably spacious, has an air of
+magnificence; the stalls of the choir are elaborately carved, and on
+each side the high altar, curtains of the richest crimson damask fall
+from the roof in ample folds, and cast a ruddy glow on the pavement.</p>
+
+<p>If Talavera has nothing within its walls to be much boasted of, there
+are many objects in its environs that merit praise. No sooner had we
+left its dark crooked streets behind us, than we discovered a thick wood
+of elms skirting an extensive lawn, beautifully green and level, from
+which rises the convent of Nuestra Señora del Prayo, crowned by an
+octangular cupola. This edifice is built of brick encrusted with stone
+ornaments, and choked up by ranges of arcades and heavy galleries. I
+have seen several structures which resembled it in the neighbourhood of
+Antwerp and Brussels; but whether the Spaniards carried this clumsy
+style of architecture into the Low Countries, or borrowed from thence,
+is scarcely worth while to determine.</p>
+
+<p>Not far from Nuestra Señora del Prayo we crossed the Tagus, and
+continued dragging through heavy sands for five tedious hours,<a name="page_vol_2_2293" id="page_vol_2_2293"></a> without
+perceiving a habitation, or meeting any animal, biped or quadruped,
+except herds of swine, in which, I believe, consist the principal riches
+of this part of the Spanish dominions. I doubt whether the royal sty of
+Ithaca was half so well garnished, as many private ones in New Castile
+and Estremadura.</p>
+
+<p>Having nothing to look at except a dreary plain bounded by barren,
+uninteresting mountains, I was reduced to tumble over the trashy
+collection of books, with which I happen in this journey to be provided;
+poor fiddle-faddle Derrick’s Letters from Cork, Chester, and Tunbridge;
+John Buncle, Esquire’s, life, holy rhapsodies, and peregrinations;
+Shenstone’s, Mr. Whistler’s, and the good Duchess of Somerset’s
+Correspondence; Bray’s tour, right worthy of an ass; Heley’s fulsome
+description of the Leasowes and Hagley; Clarke’s ponderous account of
+Spain; and Major Dalrymple’s dry, tiresome, and splenetic excursion.
+There’s a set, equal it if you can. I hope to get a better at Madrid,
+and throw my old stock into the Mançanares.</p>
+
+<p>We dined at a village called Brabo, not in the least worth mentioning,
+and arrived in due<a name="page_vol_2_2294" id="page_vol_2_2294"></a> tiresome course, about six in the evening, at Santa
+Olaya, where my courier had procured us an admirable lodging in the
+house of a veteran colonel. The principal apartment, in which I pitched
+my bed, was a lofty gallery, with large folding glazed doors, gilt and
+varnished, its white walls almost covered with saintly pictures and
+small mirrors, stuck near the ceiling, beyond the reach of mortal sight,
+as if their proprietor was afraid they would wear out by being looked
+into. On low tables, to the right and left of the door, stood
+glass-cases, filled with relics and artificial flowers. Stools covered
+with velvet, and raised not above a foot from the floor, were stationed
+all round the room. On one of these I squatted like an oriental, warming
+my hands over a brasier of coals.</p>
+
+<p>The old lady of the house, followed by a train of curtseying handmaids
+and snifling lapdogs, favoured me with her company the best part of the
+evening. Her spouse, the colonel, being indisposed, did not make his
+appearance. Whilst she was entertaining me with a most flourishing
+detail of the excellent qualities and wonderful acquisitions of the<a name="page_vol_2_2295" id="page_vol_2_2295"></a>
+infant Don Louis, who died about two years ago at his villa in this
+neighbourhood, some very grotesque figures entered the antechamber, and
+tinkling their guitars, struck up a seguidilla, that in a minute or two
+set all the feet in the house in motion. Amongst the dancers, two young
+girls, whose jetty locks were braided with some degree of elegance,
+shone forth in a fandango, beating the ground and snapping their fingers
+with rapturous agility.</p>
+
+<p>This sport lasted a full hour, before they showed the least sign of
+being tired; then succeeded some languorous tirannas, by no means so
+delightful as I expected. I was not sorry when the ball ceased, and my
+kind hostess, moving off with all her dogs and dancers, left me to sup
+and sleep in tranquillity.<a name="page_vol_2_2296" id="page_vol_2_2296"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_VI-spn" id="LETTER_VI-spn"></a>LETTER VI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Dismal plains.&mdash;Santa Cruz.&mdash;Val de Carneiro.&mdash;A most determined
+musical amateur.&mdash;The Alcayde Mayor.&mdash;Approach to Madrid.&mdash;Aspect
+of the city.&mdash;The Calle d’Alcala.&mdash;The Prado.&mdash;The Ave-Maria bell.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Tuesday, Dec. 11th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>D<small>ISMAL</small> plains and still more dismal mountains; no indication as yet of
+the approach to a capital; dined at Santa Cruz; thought we should have
+been flayed alive by its greedy inhabitants; arrived in the dark at Val
+de Carneiro; lodged in the house of a certain Don Bernardo, passionately
+fond of music. The apartment allotted to me contained no less than two
+harpsichords: one of them, in a fine gilt case, very pompous and sullen,
+I could scarcely prevail upon the keys to move; next it stood a very
+sweet-toned modest little spinet, that responded to my touch right
+willingly,<a name="page_vol_2_2297" id="page_vol_2_2297"></a> and as I happened to play some Brazilian ditties Don
+Bernardo never heard before, he was so good as to be in raptures.</p>
+
+<p>These were becoming every minute more enthusiastic, when the arrival of
+the alcayde mayor, followed by a priest or two with enormous spectacles
+on their thin snipish noses, interrupted our harmonious proceedings.
+This personage came expressly to pay me a visit, and to ask questions
+about England and her unnatural offspring, the revolted provinces of
+North America; a country which he had heard was colder and darker than
+the grave, and spread all over with animals, whether biped or quadruped
+he could not tell, called <i>koakeres</i>, living like beavers, in strange
+huts or tabernacles of their own construction.</p>
+
+<p class="rht">Wednesday, Dec. 12th.</p>
+
+<p>D<small>ON</small> B<small>ERNARDO</small> showed me his cellars, in which are several casks capable
+of holding thirty or forty hogsheads, and ranges of jars in the shape of
+the antique amphoræ, ten feet high, and not less than six in diameter.
+For the first time in my life I tasted the genuine Spanish<a name="page_vol_2_2298" id="page_vol_2_2298"></a> chocolate,
+spiced and cinnamoned beyond all endurance. It has put my mouth in a
+flame, and I do nothing but spit and sputter.</p>
+
+<p>The weather was so damp and foggy that we could hardly see ten yards
+before us: I cannot, therefore, in conscience abuse the approach to
+Madrid so much, I believe, as it deserves. About one o’clock, the
+vapours beginning to dissipate, a huge mass of building, and a confused
+jumble of steeples, domes, and towers, started on a sudden from the
+mist. The large building I soon recognized to be the new palace. It is a
+good deal in the style of Caserta, but being raised on a considerable
+eminence, produces a more striking effect. At its base flows the pitiful
+river Mançanares, whose banks were all of a flutter with linen hanging
+out to dry.</p>
+
+<p>We passed through this rag-fair, between crowds of mahogany-coloured
+hags, who left off thumping their linen to stare at us, and, crossing a
+broad bridge over a narrow streamlet, entered Madrid by a gateway of
+very indifferent architecture. The neat pavement of the streets, the
+loftiness of the houses, and<a name="page_vol_2_2299" id="page_vol_2_2299"></a> the cheerful showy appearance of many of
+the shops, far surpassed my expectation.</p>
+
+<p>Upon entering the Calle d’Alcala, a noble street, much wider than any in
+London, I was still more surprised. Several magnificent palaces and
+convents adorn it on both sides. At one extremity, you perceive the
+trees and fountains of the Prado, and, at the other, the lofty domes of
+a series of churches. We have got apartments at the Cruz de Malta,
+which, though very indifferently furnished, have at least the advantage
+of commanding this prospect. I passed half-an-hour after dinner in one
+of the balconies, gazing upon the variety of equipages which were
+rattling along. The street sloping gradually down, and being paved with
+remarkable smoothness, they drove at a furious rate, the high fashion at
+Madrid; where to hurry along at the risk of laming your mules, and
+cracking their skulls, is to follow the example of his Majesty, than
+whom no monarch drives with greater vehemence.</p>
+
+<p>I strolled to the Prado, and was much struck by the spaciousness of the
+principal walk, the length of the avenues, and the stateliness of<a name="page_vol_2_2300" id="page_vol_2_2300"></a> the
+fountains. Though the evening was damp and gloomy, a great many people
+were rambling about, and a long line of carriages parading. The dress of
+the ladies, the cut of their servants’ liveries, the bags of the
+coachmen, and the painting of the coaches, were so perfectly Parisian,
+that I fancied myself on the Boulevards, and looked in vain for those
+ponderous equipages, surrounded by pages and escudeiros, one reads of in
+Spanish romances. A total change has taken place, and the original
+national customs are almost obliterated.</p>
+
+<p>Devotion, however, is not yet banished from the Prado; at the ringing of
+the Ave-Maria bell, the coaches stopped, the servants took off their
+hats, the ladies crossed themselves, and the foot passengers stood
+motionless, muttering their orisons. There is both opera and play
+to-night, I believe, but I am in no mood to go to either.<a name="page_vol_2_2301" id="page_vol_2_2301"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_VII-spn" id="LETTER_VII-spn"></a>LETTER VII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The Duchess of Berwick in all her nonchalance.&mdash;Her apartment
+described.&mdash;Her passion for music.&mdash;Her señoras de honor.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Thursday, Dec. 13th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>I<small>T</small> was a heavy damp morning, and I could hardly prevail upon myself to
+quit my fireside and deliver the archbishop’s most confidential
+despatches to the Portuguese ambassador Don Diogo de Noronha.</p>
+
+<p>The ambassador being gone to the palace, I drove to the Duchess of
+Berwick’s, my old acquaintance, with whom I passed so much of my time at
+Paris eight years ago. Her dear spouse, so well known at Spa, Brussels,
+Aix-la-Chapelle, and all the gaming-places of Europe, by the name,
+style, and title of marquis of Jamaica, has been departed these five or
+six months; and she is now mistress of the most splendid palace in
+Madrid, of one of the first fortunes, and of the affairs of her only
+son, the<a name="page_vol_2_2302" id="page_vol_2_2302"></a> present Duke of Berwick, to whom she is guardian.</p>
+
+<p>The façade of the palace, and the spacious court before it, pleased me
+extremely. It is in the best style of modern Parisian architecture,
+simple and graceful. I was conducted up a majestic staircase, adorned
+with corinthian columns, and through a long suite of apartments, at the
+extremity of which, in a saloon hung with embroidered India satin, sat
+reclined madame la duchesse, in all her accustomed nonchalance. She
+seemed never to have moved from her sofa since I last had the pleasure
+of seeing her, and is exactly the same good-natured, indolent being,
+free from malice or uncharitableness; I wish the world was fuller of
+this harmless, quiet species.</p>
+
+<p>The morning passed most rapidly away in talking over rose-coloured
+times; I returned home to dine, and as soon as it was dark went back
+again to madame de Berwick’s, who was waiting tea for me. I like her
+apartment very much, the angles are taken off by low semicircular sofas,
+and the space between them and the hangings filled up with slabs of
+Granadian marble, on which are placed<a name="page_vol_2_2303" id="page_vol_2_2303"></a> most beautiful porcelain vases
+with mignonette and rose-trees in full bloom. The fire burnt cheerfully,
+the table was drawn close to it; the duchess’s little girl, Donna
+Ferdinanda, sat playing and smiling upon a dog, which she held in her
+lap, and had swaddled up like an infant.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after tea, the young duke of Berwick and a French abbé, his
+preceptor, came in and stayed with us the remainder of the evening. The
+duke is only fourteen and some months, but he is taller than I am, and
+as plump as the plumpest of partridges. His manners are French, and his
+address as prematurely formed as his figure. Few, if any, fortunes in
+Europe equal that which he enjoys, and of which he has expectations;
+being heir to the house of Alba, seventy thousand a-year at least, and
+in possession of the Veragua and Liria estates. These immense properties
+are of course underlet, and wretchedly cultivated. If able exertions
+were made in their management, his income might be doubled.</p>
+
+<p>Madame de Berwick has not lost her passion for music; operas and sonatas
+lie scattered all over her apartment; not only singing-books<a name="page_vol_2_2304" id="page_vol_2_2304"></a> were lying
+on the carpet, but singers themselves; three of her musical attendants,
+a page, and two pretty little señoras de honor, having cast themselves
+carelessly at her feet in the true Spanish, or rather morisco, fashion,
+ready to warble forth the moment she gave the signal, which was not long
+delayed, and never did I hear more soothing voices. The inspiration they
+gave rise to drove me to the piano-forte, where I played and sang those
+airs Madame de Berwick was so fond of in the dawn of our acquaintance;
+when, thanks to her cherished indolence, she had the resignation to
+listen day after day, and hour after hour, to my romantic rhapsodies.
+How fervid and ecstatic was I in those days; the toy of every impulse,
+the willing dupe of every gay illusion. The duchess tells me, she thinks
+from the tone of our conversation in the morning, that I am now a little
+sobered, and may possibly get through this thorny world without losing
+my wits on its briars.<a name="page_vol_2_2305" id="page_vol_2_2305"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_VIII-spn" id="LETTER_VIII-spn"></a>LETTER VIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The Chevalier de Roxas.&mdash;Excursion to the palace and gardens of the
+Buen Retiro.&mdash;The Turkish Ambassador and his numerous
+train.&mdash;Farinelli’s apartments.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Dec. 14th, 1785.</p>
+
+<p>O<small>NE</small> of the best informed and pleasantest of Spaniards, the Chevalier de
+Roxas, who had been very intimate both with Verdeil and me at Lausanne,
+came in a violent hurry this morning to give us a cordial embrace. He
+seems to have set his heart upon showing us about Madrid, and rendering
+our stay here as lively as he could make it. Fifty schemes did he
+propose in half a minute, of visiting museums, churches, and public
+buildings; of goings to balls, theatres, and tertullias.</p>
+
+<p>I took alarm at this busy prospect, drew back into my shell, and began
+wishing myself in the most perfect incognito; but, alas! to no purpose,
+it was all in vain.<a name="page_vol_2_2306" id="page_vol_2_2306"></a></p>
+
+<p>Roxas, most eager to enter upon his office of cicerone, fidgeted to the
+window, observed we had still an hour or two of daylight, and proposed
+an excursion to the palace and gardens of the Buen Retiro. Upon entering
+the court of the palace, which is surrounded by low buildings, with
+plastered fronts, sadly battered by wind and weather, I espied some
+venerable figures in caftans and turbans, leaning against a doorway.</p>
+
+<p>My sparks of orientalism instantly burst into a flame at such a sight:
+“Who are those picturesque animals?” said I to our conductor. “Is it
+lawful to approach them?” “As often as you please,” answered Roxas.
+“They belong to the Turkish ambassador, who is lodged, with all his
+train, at the Buen Retiro, in the identical apartments once occupied by
+Farinelli; where he held his state levees and opera rehearsals; drilling
+ministers one day, and tenors and soprani the other: if you have a mind,
+we will go up-stairs and examine the whole menagerie.”</p>
+
+<p>No sooner said, no sooner done. I cleared four steps at a leap, to the
+great delight of his sublime excellency’s pages and attendants, and<a name="page_vol_2_2307" id="page_vol_2_2307"></a>
+entered a saloon spread with the most sumptuous carpets, and perfumed
+with the fragrance of the wood of aloes. In a corner of this magnificent
+chamber sat the ambassador, Achmet Vassif Effendi, wrapped up in a
+pelisse of the most precious sables, playing with a light cane he had in
+his hand, and every now and then passing it under the noses of some
+tall, handsome slaves, who were standing in a row before him. These
+figures, fixed as statues, and to all appearance equally insensible,
+neither moved hand nor eye. As I advanced to make my salam to the grand
+seignor’s representative, who received me with a most gracious nod of
+the head; his interpreter announced to what nation I belonged, and my
+own individual warm partiality for the Sublime Porte.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as I had taken my seat in a ponderous fauteuil of figured
+velvet, coffee was carried round in cups of most delicate china, with
+gold enamelled saucers. Notwithstanding my predilection for the east and
+its customs, I could hardly get this beverage down, it was so thick and
+bitter; whilst I was making a few wry faces in consequence, a low
+murmuring sound, like that of flutes and dulcimers, accompanied<a name="page_vol_2_2308" id="page_vol_2_2308"></a> by a
+sort of tabor, issued from behind a curtain which separated us from
+another apartment. There was a melancholy wildness in the melody, and a
+continual repetition of the same plaintive cadences, that soothed and
+affected me.</p>
+
+<p>The ambassador kept poring upon my countenance, and appeared much
+delighted with the effect his music seemed to produce upon it. He is a
+man of considerable talent, deeply skilled in Turkish literature; a
+native of Bagdad; rich, munificent, and nobly born, being descended from
+the house of Barmek; gracious in his address, smooth and plausible in
+his elocution; but not without something like a spark of despotism in a
+corner of his eye. Now and then I fancied that the recollection of
+having recommended the bow-string, and certain doubts whether he might
+not one day or other be complimented with it in his turn, passed across
+his venerable and interesting physiognomy.</p>
+
+<p>My eager questions about Bagdad, the tomb of Zobeida, the vestiges of
+the Dhar al Khalifat, or palace of the Abbassides, seemed to excite a
+thousand remembrances which gave him<a name="page_vol_2_2309" id="page_vol_2_2309"></a> pleasure; and when I added a few
+quotations from some of his favourite authors, particularly Mesihi, he
+became so flowingly communicative, that a shrewd dapper Greek, called
+Timoni, who acted as his most confidential interpreter, could hardly
+keep pace with him.</p>
+
+<p>Had not the hour of prayer arrived, our conversation might have lasted
+till midnight. Rising up with much stateliness, he extended his arms to
+bid me a good evening, and was assisted along by two good-looking
+Georgian pages, to an adjoining chamber, where his secretaries,
+dragoman, and attendants, were all assembled to perform their devotions,
+each on his little carpet, as if in a mosque; and it was not unedifying
+to witness the solemnity and abstractedness with which these devotions
+were performed.<a name="page_vol_2_2310" id="page_vol_2_2310"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_IX-spn" id="LETTER_IX-spn"></a>LETTER IX.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The Museum and Academy of Arts.&mdash;Scene on the Prado.&mdash;The
+Portuguese Ambassador and his comforters.&mdash;The Theatre.&mdash;A highly
+popular dancer.&mdash;Seguidillas in all their glory.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Sunday, Dec. 16th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>T<small>HE</small> kind, indefatigable Roxas came to conduct us to the Museum and
+Academy of Arts. It consists of seven or eight apartments, with cases
+all around them, in a plain, good style; the objects clearly arranged,
+and exposed to view in a very intelligible manner. There is a vast
+collection of minerals, corals, madrepores, and stalactites, from all
+the grottoes in the universe; and curious specimens of virgin-gold and
+silver. Amongst the latter, a lump weighing seventy pounds, which was
+shivered off an enormous mass by a master miner, who, after dining on
+it, with twelve or thirteen persons, hacked it to pieces, and
+distributed the fragments amongst his guests.<a name="page_vol_2_2311" id="page_vol_2_2311"></a></p>
+
+<p>What pleased me most was a collection of Peruvian vases; a polished
+stone, which served the Incas for a mirror; and a linen mantle, which
+formerly adorned their copper-coloured shoulders, as finely woven as a
+shawl, and flowered in very nearly a similar manner, the colours as
+fresh and vivid as if new.</p>
+
+<p>In the apartments of the academy is a most valuable collection of casts
+after the serene and graceful antique, and several fierce, obtrusive
+daubings by modern Spanish artists.</p>
+
+<p>I found our acute, intelligent chargé-d’affaires’<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> card lying on my
+table when I got home, and a great many more, of equal whiteness; such a
+sight chills me like a fall of snow, for I think of the cold idleness of
+going about day after day dropping little bits of pasteboard in return.
+Verdeil and I dined tête-à-tête, planning schemes how to escape formal
+fussifications. No easy matter, I suspect, if I may judge from
+appearances.</p>
+
+<p>Our repast and our council over, we hurried to the Prado, where a
+brilliant string of equipages was moving along in two files. In the<a name="page_vol_2_2312" id="page_vol_2_2312"></a>
+middle paraded the state coaches of the royal family, containing their
+own precious selves, and their wonted accompaniment of bedchamber lords
+and ladies, duly bedizened. It was a gay spectacle; the music of the
+Swiss guards playing, and the evening sun shining bright on their showy
+uniforms. The botanic garden is separated from the walk by magnificent
+railings and pilasters, placed at regular distances, crowned with vases
+of aloes and yuccas. The verdure and fountains of this vast enclosure,
+terminated by a range of columned conservatories, with an entrance of
+very majestic architecture, has a delightful and striking effect.</p>
+
+<p>From the Prado I drove to the Portuguese ambassador’s, who is laid up
+with a sore toe. Three diplomatic animals, two males and one female,
+were nursing and comforting him. He is most supremely dull, and so are
+his comforters. One of them in particular, who shall be nameless, quite
+asinine.</p>
+
+<p>The little sympathy I feel for creatures of this genus, made me shorten
+my visit as much as I decently could, and return home to take up Roxas,
+who was waiting to accompany us to the Spanish theatre. They were acting
+the<a name="page_vol_2_2313" id="page_vol_2_2313"></a> Barber of Seville, with Paesiello’s music, and singing better than
+at the opera. The entertainment ended with a sort of intermez, very
+characteristic of Spanish manners in low life; in which were introduced
+seguidillas. One of the dancers, a young fellow, smartly dressed as a
+maxo, so enraptured the audience, that they made him repeat his dance
+four times over; a French dancing-master would have absolutely shuddered
+at the manner in which he turned in his knees. The women sit by
+themselves in a gallery as dingy as limbo, wrapped up in their white
+mantillas, and looking like spectres. I never heard anything like the
+vociferation with which the pit called out for the seguidillas, nor the
+frantic, deafening applause they bestowed on their favourite dancer.</p>
+
+<p>The play ended at eight, and we came back to tea by our fireside.<a name="page_vol_2_2314" id="page_vol_2_2314"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_X-spn" id="LETTER_X-spn"></a>LETTER X.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Visit to the Escurial.&mdash;Imposing site of that regal
+convent.&mdash;Reception by the Mystagogue of the place.&mdash;Magnificence
+of the choir.&mdash;Charles the Fifth’s organ.&mdash;Crucifix by
+Cellini.&mdash;Gorgeous ceiling painted by Luca Giordano.&mdash;Extent and
+intricacy of the stupendous edifice.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Thursday, Dec. 19th, 1787.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>HATE</small> being roused out of bed by candlelight on a sharp wintry morning;
+but as I had fixed to-day for visiting the Escurial, and had stationed
+three relays on the road, in order to perform the journey expeditiously,
+I thought myself obliged to carry my plan into execution.</p>
+
+<p>The weather was cold and threatening, the sky red and deeply coloured.
+Roxas was to be of our party, so we drove to his brother, the Marquis of
+Villanueva’s, to take him up. He is one of the best-natured and most
+friendly of human beings, and I would not have gone<a name="page_vol_2_2315" id="page_vol_2_2315"></a> without him upon
+any account; though in general I abhor turning and twisting about a town
+in search of any body, let its soul be never so transcendent.</p>
+
+<p>It was past eight before we issued out of the gates of Madrid, and
+rattled along an avenue on the banks of the Mançanares full gallop,
+which brought us to the Casa del Campo, one of the king’s palaces,
+wrapped up in groves and thickets. We continued a mile or two by the
+wall of this enclosure, and leaving La Sarsuela, another royal villa,
+surrounded by shrubby hillocks, on the right, traversed three or four
+leagues of a wild, naked country, and, after ascending several
+considerable eminences, the sun broke out, the clouds partially rolled
+away, and we discovered the white buildings of this far-famed monastery,
+with its dome and towers detaching themselves from the bold back-ground
+of a lofty, irregular mountain.</p>
+
+<p>We were now about a league off: the country wore a better aspect than
+near Madrid. To the right and left of the road, which is of a noble
+width, and perfectly well made, lie extensive parks of greensward,
+scattered over with fragments of rock and stumps of oak and<a name="page_vol_2_2316" id="page_vol_2_2316"></a> ash-trees.
+Numerous herds of deer were standing stock-still, quietly lifting up
+their innocent noses, and looking us full in the face with their
+beautiful eyes, secure of remaining unmolested, for the King never
+permits a gun to be discharged in these enclosures.</p>
+
+<p>The Escurial, though overhung by melancholy mountains, is placed itself
+on a very considerable eminence, up which we were full half an hour
+toiling, the late rains having washed this part of the road into utter
+confusion. There is something most severely impressive in the façade of
+this regal convent, which, like the palace of Persepolis, is
+overshadowed by the adjoining mountain; nor did I pass through a vaulted
+cloister into the court before the church, solid as if hewn out of a
+rock, without experiencing a sort of shudder, to which no doubt the
+vivid recollection of the black and blood-stained days of our gloomy
+queen Mary’s husband not slightly contributed. The sun being again
+overcast, the porches of the church, surmounted by grim statues,
+appeared so dark and cavern-like, that I thought myself about to enter a
+subterraneous temple set apart for the service of some mysterious and
+terrible<a name="page_vol_2_2317" id="page_vol_2_2317"></a> religion. And when I saw the high altar, in all its pomp of
+jasper-steps, ranks of columns one above the other, and paintings
+filling up every interstice, full before me, I felt completely awed.</p>
+
+<p>The sides of the recess, in which this imposing pile is placed, are
+formed by lofty chapels, almost entirely occupied by catafalques of gilt
+enamelled bronze. Here, with their crowns and sceptres humbly prostrate
+at their feet, bare-headed and unhelmed, kneel the figures, large as
+life, of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, and his imperious son, the
+second Philip, accompanied by those of their unhappy consorts and
+ill-fated children. My sensations of dread and dreariness were not
+diminished upon finding myself alone in such company; for Roxas had left
+me to deliver some letters to his right reverence the prior, which were
+to open to us all the arcana of this terrific edifice, at once a temple,
+a palace, a convent, and a tomb.</p>
+
+<p>Presently my amiable friend returned, and with him a tall old monk, with
+an ash-coloured forbidding countenance, and staring eyes, the expression
+of which was the farthest removed possible from anything like
+cordiality.<a name="page_vol_2_2318" id="page_vol_2_2318"></a> This was the mystagogue of the place&mdash;the prior <i>in propria
+persona</i>, the representative of St. Jerome, as far as this monastery and
+its domain was concerned, and a disciplinarian of celebrated rigidness.
+He began examining me from head to foot, and, after what I thought
+rather a strange scrutiny, asked me in broad Spanish what I wished
+particularly to see. Then turning to Roxas, said loud enough for me to
+hear him, “He is very young; does he understand what I say to him? But,
+as I am peremptorily commanded to show him about, I suppose I must
+comply, though I am quite unused to the office of explaining our
+curiosities. However, if it must be, it must; so let us begin, and not
+dally. I have no time to spare, you well know, and have quite enough to
+do in the choir and the convent.”</p>
+
+<p>After this not very gracious exordium, we set forth on our tour. First
+we visited some apartments with vaulted roofs, painted in arabesque, in
+the finest style of the sixteenth century; and then a vast hall, which
+had been used for the celebration of mass, whilst the great church was
+building, where I saw the Perla in all its purity, the most
+delicately-finished<a name="page_vol_2_2319" id="page_vol_2_2319"></a> work of Raphael, the Pesce, with its divine angel,
+graceful infant; and devout young Tobit, breathing the very soul of
+pious, unaffected simplicity. My attention was next attracted by that
+most profoundly pathetic of pictures, Jacob weeping over the bloody
+garment of his son; the loftiest proof in existence of the extraordinary
+powers of Velasquez in the noblest work of art.</p>
+
+<p>These three pictures so absorbed my admiration, that I had little left
+for a host of glorious performances by Titian and the highest masters,
+which cover the plain, massive walls of these conventual rooms with a
+paradise of glowing colours; so I passed along almost as rapidly as my
+grumbling cicerone could desire, and followed him up several flights of
+stairs, and through many and many an arched passage and vestibule, all
+of the sternest doric, into the choir, which is placed over the grand
+western entrance, right opposite, at the distance of more than two
+hundred feet, to the high altar and its solemn accompaniments. No regal
+chamber I ever beheld can be compared, in point of sober harmonious
+majesty, to this apartment, which looks more as if it belonged to a
+palace than<a name="page_vol_2_2320" id="page_vol_2_2320"></a> to a church. The series of stalls, designed in a severer
+taste than was common in the sixteenth century, are carved out of the
+most precious woods the Indies could furnish. At the extremity of this
+striking perspective of onyx-coloured seats, columns, and canopies,
+appears suspended upon a black velvet pall that revered image of the
+crucified Saviour, formed of the purest ivory, which Cellini seems to
+have sculptured in moments of devout rapture and inspiration. It is by
+far his finest work; his Perseus, at Florence, is tame and laboured in
+comparison.</p>
+
+<p>In a long narrow corridor which runs behind the stalls, panelled all
+over like an inlaid cabinet, I was shown a beautiful little organ, in a
+richly chased silver case, which accompanied Charles the Fifth in his
+African expedition, and must often have gently beguiled the cares of
+empire, for he played on it, tradition says, almost every evening. That
+it is worth playing upon even now I can safely vouch, for I never
+touched any instrument with a tone of more delicious sweetness; and
+touch it I did, though my austere conductor, the sour-visaged<a name="page_vol_2_2321" id="page_vol_2_2321"></a> prior,
+looked doubly forbidding on the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>The stalls I have just mentioned are much less ornamented than those I
+have seen in Pavia, and many other monasteries; the ceiling of this
+noblest of choirs, displays the utmost exuberance of decoration&mdash;the
+richest and most gorgeous of spectacles, the heavens and all the powers
+therein. Imagination can scarcely conceive the pomp and prodigality of
+pencil with which Luca Giordano has treated this subject, and filled
+every corner of the vast space it covers with well-rounded forms, that
+seem actually starting from the glowing clouds with which they are
+environed.</p>
+
+<p>“Is not this fine?” said the monk; “you can have nothing like it in your
+country. And now be pleased to move forward, for the day is wasting, and
+you will have little time left to examine our inestimable relics, and
+the jewelled shrines in which they are deposited.”</p>
+
+<p>We went down from the choir, I can scarcely tell whither, such is the
+extent and intricacy of this stupendous edifice. We passed, I believe,
+through some of the lateral chapels at<a name="page_vol_2_2322" id="page_vol_2_2322"></a> the great church, into several
+quadrangles, one in particular, with a fountain under a cupola in the
+centre, surrounded by doric arcades, equal in justness of proportion and
+architectural terseness to Palladio’s court in the convent of S. Giorgio
+Maggiore.<a name="page_vol_2_2323" id="page_vol_2_2323"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XI-spn" id="LETTER_XI-spn"></a>LETTER XI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Mysterious cabinets.&mdash;Relics of Martyrs.&mdash;A feather from the
+Archangel Gabriel’s wing.&mdash;Labyrinth of gloomy
+cloisters.&mdash;Sepulchral cave.&mdash;River of death.&mdash;The regal
+sarcophagi.</p></div>
+
+<p>My lord the prior, not favouring a prolonged survey, I reluctantly left
+this beautiful court, and was led into a low gallery, roofed and
+wainscoted with cedar, lined on both sides by ranges of small doors of
+different-coloured Brazil-wood, looking in appearance, at least, as
+solid as marble. Four sacristans, and as many lay-brothers, with large
+lighted flambeaux of yellow wax in their hands, and who, by the by,
+never quitted us more the remainder of our peregrinations, stood silent
+as death, ready to unlock those mysterious entrances.</p>
+
+<p>The first they opened exhibited a buffet, or <i>credence</i>, three stories
+high, set out with many<a name="page_vol_2_2324" id="page_vol_2_2324"></a> a row of grinning skulls, looking as pretty as
+gold and diamonds could make them; the second, every possible and
+impossible variety of odds and ends, culled from the carcasses of
+martyrs; the third, enormous ebony presses, the secrets of which I
+begged for pity’s sake might not be intruded upon for my recreation, as
+I began to be heartily wearied of sightseeing; but when my conductors
+opened the fourth mysterious door, I absolutely shrank back, almost
+sickened by a perfume of musk and ambergris.</p>
+
+<p>A spacious vault was now disclosed to me&mdash;one noble arch, richly
+panelled: had the pavement of this strange-looking chamber been strewn
+with saffron, I should have thought myself transported to the enchanted
+courser’s forbidden stable we read of in the tale of the Three
+Calenders.</p>
+
+<p>The prior, who is not easily pleased, seemed to have suspicions that the
+seriousness of my demeanour was not entirely orthodox; I overheard him
+saying to Roxas, “Shall I show him the Angel’s feather? you know we do
+not display this our most-valued, incomparable relic to everybody, nor
+unless upon special<a name="page_vol_2_2325" id="page_vol_2_2325"></a> occasions.”&mdash;“The occasion is sufficiently
+special,” answered my partial friend; “the letters I brought to you are
+your warrant, and I beseech your reverence to let us look at this gift
+of heaven, which I am extremely anxious myself to adore and venerate.”</p>
+
+<p>Forth stalked the prior, and drawing out from a remarkably large cabinet
+an equally capacious sliding shelf&mdash;(the source, I conjecture, of the
+potent odour I complained of)&mdash;displayed lying stretched out upon a
+quilted silken mattress, the most glorious specimen of plumage ever
+beheld in terrestrial regions&mdash;a feather from the wing of the Archangel
+Gabriel, full three feet long, and of a blushing hue more soft and
+delicate than that of the loveliest rose. I longed to ask at what
+precise moment this treasure beyond price had been dropped&mdash;whether from
+the air&mdash;on the open ground, or within the walls of the humble tenement
+at Nazareth; but I repressed all questions of an indiscreet
+tendency&mdash;the why and wherefore, the when and how, for what and to whom
+such a palpable manifestation of archangelic beauty and wingedness had
+been vouchsafed.<a name="page_vol_2_2326" id="page_vol_2_2326"></a></p>
+
+<p>We all knelt in silence, and when we rose up after the holy feather had
+been again deposited in its perfumed lurking-place, I fancied the prior
+looked doubly suspicious, and uttered a sort of <i>humph</i> very doggedly;
+nor did his ill-humour evaporate upon my desiring to be conducted to the
+library. “It is too late for you to see the precious books and
+miniatures by daylight,” replied the crusty old monk, “and you would not
+surely have me run the risk of dropping wax upon them. No, no, another
+time, another time, when you come earlier. For the present, let us visit
+the tomb of the catholic kings; there, our flambeaux will be of service
+without doing injury.”</p>
+
+<p>He led the way through a labyrinth of cloisters, gloomy as the grave;
+till ordering a grated door to be thrown open, the light of our
+flambeaux fell upon a flight of most beautiful marble steps, polished as
+a mirror, leading down between walls of the rarest jaspers to a portal
+of no great size, but enriched with balusters of rich bronze, sculptured
+architraves, and tablets of inscriptions, in a style of the greatest
+magnificence.<a name="page_vol_2_2327" id="page_vol_2_2327"></a></p>
+
+<p>As I descended the steps, a gurgling sound, like that of a rivulet,
+caught my ear. “What means this?” said I. “It means,” answered the monk,
+“that the sepulchral cave on the left of the stairs, where repose the
+bodies of many of our queens and infantas, is properly ventilated,
+running water being excellent for that purpose.” I went on, not lulled
+by these rippling murmurs, but chilled when I reflected through what
+precincts flows this river of death.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived at the bottom of the stairs, we passed through the portal just
+mentioned, and entered a circular saloon, not more than five-and-thirty
+feet in diameter, characterized by extreme elegance, not stern
+solemnity. The regal sarcophagi, rich in golden ornaments, ranged one
+above the other, forming panels of the most decorative kind; the lustre
+of exquisitely sculptured bronze, the pavement of mottled alabaster; in
+short, this graceful dome, covered with scrolls of the most delicate
+foliage, appeared to the eye of my imagination more like a subterranean
+boudoir, prepared by some gallant young magician for the reception of an
+enchanted and enchanting<a name="page_vol_2_2328" id="page_vol_2_2328"></a> princess, than a temple consecrated to the
+king of terrors.</p>
+
+<p>My conductor’s visage growing longer and longer every minute, and
+looking pretty nearly as grim as that of the last-mentioned sovereign, I
+whispered Roxas it was full time to take our leave; which we did
+immediately after my intimating that express desire, to the no small
+satisfaction, I am perfectly convinced, of my lord the prior.</p>
+
+<p>Cold and hungry, for we had not been offered a morsel of refreshment, we
+repaired to a warm opulent-looking habitation belonging to one of my
+kind companion’s most particular friends, a much favoured attendant of
+his catholic Majesty’s; here we were received with open arms and
+generous hospitality; and it grew pitch dark before we quitted this
+comfortable shelter from the piercing winds, which blow almost
+perpetually over the Escurial, and returned to Madrid.<a name="page_vol_2_2329" id="page_vol_2_2329"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XII-spn" id="LETTER_XII-spn"></a>LETTER XII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">A concert and ball at Senhor Pacheco’s.&mdash;Curious assemblage in his
+long pompous gallery.&mdash;Deplorable ditty by an eastern
+dilettante.&mdash;A bolero in the most rapturous style.&mdash;Boccharini in
+despair.&mdash;Solecisms in dancing.</p></div>
+
+<p>The mules galloped back at so rapid a rate, and their conductors bawled
+and screamed so lustily to encourage their exertions, that half my
+recollections of the Escurial were whirled out of my head before I
+reached my old quarters at the Cruz de Malta. I had quite forgotten,
+amongst other things, that I had actually accepted a most pressing
+invitation to a concert and ball at Pacheco’s this very evening.</p>
+
+<p>Pacheco is an old Portuguese, immensely rich, and who had been immensely
+favoured<a name="page_vol_2_2330" id="page_vol_2_2330"></a> in the days of his youth by his august countrywoman, Queen
+Barbara, the consort of Ferdinand the sixth, and the patroness of
+Farinelli. He is uncle to madame Arriaga, her most Faithful Majesty’s
+most faithful and favourite attendant, and a person of such worship,
+that courtiers, ministers, and prelates, are too happy to congregate at
+his house, whenever he takes it into his head to allow them an
+opportunity.</p>
+
+<p>Though I had been half petrified by my cold ramble through the Escurial,
+under the prior’s still more chilling auspices, I had quite life enough
+left to obey Pacheco’s summons with alacrity; and as I expected to dance
+a great deal, I put on my dancing-dress, that of a maxo, with ties and
+tags, and trimmings and buttons, redecilla and all.</p>
+
+<p>I must confess, however, that I felt rather abashed and disappointed,
+upon entering Pacheco’s long pompous gallery, to find myself in the
+midst of diplomatic and ministerial personages, assembled in stiff gala
+to do honour to Achmet Vassif, whose musicians were seated on the carpet
+howling forth a deplorable ditty,<a name="page_vol_2_2331" id="page_vol_2_2331"></a> composed, as the Armenian interpreter
+informed me, by one of the most impassioned and lovesick dilettantes of
+the east; no strain I ever heard was half so lugubrious, not even that
+of a dog baying the moon, or owls making their complaints to it.</p>
+
+<p>I could not help telling the ambassador, without the smallest
+circumlocution, that his tabor and pipe people I heard the other day
+accompanying a dulcimer, were far more worthy of praise than his vocal
+attendants; but this truth, like most others, did not exactly please;
+and I fear my reputation for musical connoisseurship was completely
+forfeited in his excellency’s estimation, for he looked a little glum
+upon the occasion. What surprised me most, after all, was the patience
+with which the whole assembly listened for full three-quarters of an
+hour to these languorous wailings.</p>
+
+<p>Amongst the audience, none bore the severe infliction with a greater
+degree of evangelical resignation than the grand inquisitor and the
+archbishop of Toledo; both these prelates have not only the look, but
+the character of beneficence, which promises a truce to the faggot<a name="page_vol_2_2332" id="page_vol_2_2332"></a> and
+pitch-barrel; the expression of the archbishop’s countenance in
+particular is most engagingly mild and pleasing. He came up to me
+without the least reserve or formality, and taking me by the hand, said
+with a cheerful smile, “I see you are equipped for a dance, and have
+adopted our fashion; we all long to judge whether an Englishman can
+enter (as I hear you can) into the extravagant spirit of our national
+dances. I will speak to Pacheco, and desire him to form a diversion in
+your favour, by calling off these doleful minstrels to the rinfresco
+prepared for them.” And so he did, and there was an end of the concert,
+to my infinite joy, and the no less delight of the villa mayors and
+sabbatinis, with whom, without a moment’s farther delay, I sprang forth
+in a bolero.</p>
+
+<p>Down came all the Spanish musicians from their formal orchestra, too
+happy to escape its trammels; away went the foreign regulars, taking
+vehement pinches of snuff, with the most unequivocal expressions of
+anger and indignation. A circle was soon formed, a host of guitars put
+in immediate requisition, and<a name="page_vol_2_2333" id="page_vol_2_2333"></a> never did I hear such wild, extravagant,
+passionate modulations.</p>
+
+<p>Boccharini, who led and presided over the Duchess of Ossuna’s concerts,
+and who had been lent to Pacheco as a special favour, witnessed these
+most original deviations from all established musical rule with the
+utmost contempt and dismay. He said to me in a loud whisper, “If <i>you</i>
+dance and <i>they</i> play in this ridiculous manner, I shall never be able
+to introduce a decent style into our musical world here, which I
+flattered myself I was on the very point of doing. What possesses you?
+Is it the devil? Who could suppose that a reasonable being, an
+Englishman of all others, would have encouraged these inveterate
+barbarians in such absurdities. There’s a chromatic scream! there’s a
+passage! We have heard of robbing time; this is murdering it. What!
+again! Why, this is worse than a convulsive hiccup, or the last rattle
+in the throat of a dying malefactor. Give me the Turkish howlings in
+preference; they are not so obtrusive and impudent.”</p>
+
+<p>So saying, he moved off with a semi-seria stride, and we danced on with
+redoubled delight<a name="page_vol_2_2334" id="page_vol_2_2334"></a> and joy. The quicker we moved, the more intrepidly we
+stamped with our feet, the more sonorously we snapped our fingers, the
+better reconciled the sublime Effendi appeared to be with me. He forgot
+my critiques upon his vocal performers: he rose up from his snug
+cushion, and nodded his turbaned head, and expressed his delight, not
+only by word and gesture, but in a most comfortable orientalish sort of
+chuckling. As to the rest of the company, the Spanish part at least,
+they were so much animated, that not less than twenty voices accompanied
+the bolero with its appropriate words in full chorus, and with a glow of
+enthusiasm that inspired my lovely partners and myself with such energy,
+that we outdid all our former outdancings.</p>
+
+<p>“Is it possible,” exclaimed an old fandango-fancier of great
+notoriety&mdash;“is it possible, that a son of the cold north can have learnt
+all our rapturous flings and stampings?”&mdash;“The French never <i>could</i>, or
+rather never <i>would</i>,” observed a Monsieur Gaudin, one of the Duke de la
+<a name="page_vol_2_2335" id="page_vol_2_2335"></a>V&mdash;&mdash;’s secretaries, who was standing by perfectly astounded.</p>
+
+<p>Who persecute like renegades? who are so virulent against their former
+sect as fresh converts to another? This was partly my case; though my
+dancing and musical education had been strictly orthodox, according to
+the precepts of Mozart and Sacchini, of Vestris and Gardel, I declared
+loudly there was no music but Spanish, no dancing but Spanish, no
+salvation in either art out of the Spanish pale, and that, compared with
+such rapturous melodies, such inspired movements, the rest of Europe
+afforded only examples of dullness and insipidity. I would not allow my
+former instructors a spark of merit; and at the very moment I was
+committing solecisms in good dancing at every step, and stamping and
+piaffing like a courser but half-broken in at a manège, I felt and
+looked as firmly persuaded of the truth of my impudent assertions as the
+greatest bigot of his nonsense in some untried new-fangled superstition.
+Success, founded or unfounded, is everything in this world. We too well
+know the sad fate of merit. I am more than apt to conjecture we were but
+very slightly entitled to any applause; yet the<a name="page_vol_2_2336" id="page_vol_2_2336"></a> transports we called
+forth were as fervid as those the famous Le Pique excited at Naples in
+the zenith of his popularity.</p>
+
+<p>The British and American ministers, who were standing by the whole time,
+enjoyed this amusing proof of Spanish fanaticism, in its profane mood,
+with all the zest of intelligent and shrewd observers. Pisani, the
+Venetian ambassador, inclined decidedly to the southern side of the
+question. He was bound, heart and soul, by a variety of silken ties to
+the Spanish interest, and had almost forgotten the fascinations of
+Venice in those of Andalusia. Consequently I had his vote in my favour.
+Not so that of the Duchess of Ossuna, Boccharini’s patroness. She said
+to me in the plainest language, “You are making the greatest fool of
+yourself I ever beheld; and as to those riotous self-taught hoydens,
+your partners, I tell you what, they are scarcely worthy to figure in
+the third rank at a second-rate theatre. Come along with me, and I will
+present you to my mother, the Countess of Benevente, who gives a very
+different sort of education to the charming young women she admits to
+her court.”</p>
+
+<p>I had heard of this court and its delectabilities,<a name="page_vol_2_2337" id="page_vol_2_2337"></a> and at the same time
+been informed that its throne was a faro-table, to which the initiated
+were imperatively expected to become tributaries. The sovereign, old
+Benevente, is the most determined hag of her rout-giving, card-playing
+species in Europe, of the highest birth, the highest consequence, and
+the principal disposer, by long habit and old cortejo-ship, of Florida
+Blanca’s good graces.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the severe regulations against gambling societies, most
+severely enforced at Madrid; notwithstanding the prime minister’s
+morality, and the still higher morality of his royal master, this great
+lady’s aberrations of every kind are most complaisantly winked at; she
+is allowed not only to set up under her own princely roof a refuge for
+the desolate, in the most delicate style of Spanish refinement, for the
+kind purpose of enchanting all persons sufficiently favoured by fortune
+to merit admission to her parties, by every blandishment and
+languishment the most seductive eyes of Seville and Cadiz she had
+collected together could throw around them; but so sure as the hour of
+midnight arrived, and Florida Blanca (who never fails paying his devoirs
+to the<a name="page_vol_2_2338" id="page_vol_2_2338"></a> countess every evening) had made his retiring bow, so sure a
+confidential party of illuminati, of unsleeping partners in the
+gambling-line, made their appearance, heavily laden with well-stored
+caskets.</p>
+
+<p>Now came the tug of play, and hope, and fear in all their thrilling and
+throbbing alternations; but, to say truth, I was so completely jaded and
+worn-out that I partook of neither, and was too happy, after losing
+almost unconsciously a few dobras, to be allowed to retire; old
+Benevente calling out to me, with the croak of a vulture scenting its
+prey from afar, <i>Cavallero Inglez, a mañana a la misma hora</i>.<a name="page_vol_2_2339" id="page_vol_2_2339"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XIII-spn" id="LETTER_XIII-spn"></a>LETTER XIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Palace of Madrid.&mdash;Masterly productions of the great Italian,
+Spanish, and Flemish painters.&mdash;The King’s sleeping
+apartment.&mdash;Musical clocks.&mdash;Feathered favourites.&mdash;Picture of the
+Madonna del Spasimo.&mdash;Interview with Don Gabriel and the
+Infanta.&mdash;Her Royal Highness’s affecting recollections of
+home.&mdash;Head-quarters of Masserano.&mdash;Exhibition of national manners
+there.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Monday, 24th Dec. 1787.</p>
+
+<p>I <small>SHALL</small> have the megrims for want of exercise, like my friend Achmet
+Vassif, if I don’t alter my way of life. This morning I only took a
+listless saunter in the Prado, and returned early to dinner, with a very
+slight provision of fresh air in my lungs. Roxas was with me, hurrying
+me out of all appetite that I might see the palace by daylight; and so
+to the palace we went, and it was luckily a bright ruddy afternoon, the
+sun gilding a grand confusion of mountainous clouds, and chequering the
+wild extent of country between Madrid<a name="page_vol_2_2340" id="page_vol_2_2340"></a> and the Escurial with powerful
+effects of light and shade.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot praise the front of the palace very warmly. In the centre of
+the edifice starts up a whimsical sort of turret, with gilt bells, the
+vilest ornament that could possibly have been imagined. The interior
+court is of pure and classic architecture, and the great staircase so
+spacious and well-contrived that you arrive almost imperceptibly at the
+portal of the guard-chamber. Every door-case and window recess of this
+magnificent edifice gleams with the richest polished marbles: the
+immense and fortress-like thickness of the walls, and double panes of
+the strongest glass, exclude the keen blasts which range almost
+uninterrupted over the wide plains of Castile, and preserve an admirable
+temperature throughout the whole extent of these royal rooms, the
+grandeur, and at the same time comfort, of which cannot possibly be
+exceeded.</p>
+
+<p>The king, the prince of Asturias, and the chief part of their
+attendants, were all absent hunting in the park of the Escurial; but the
+reposteros, or curtain-drawers of the palace, having received particular
+orders for my admittance,<a name="page_vol_2_2341" id="page_vol_2_2341"></a> I enjoyed the entire liberty of wandering
+about unrestrained and unmolested. Roxas having left me to join a gay
+party of the royal body-guard in Masserano’s apartments, I remained in
+total solitude, surrounded by the pure unsullied works of the great
+Italian, Spanish, and Flemish painters, fresh as the flowers of a
+parterre in early morning, and many of them as beautiful in point of
+hues.</p>
+
+<p>Not a door being closed, I penetrated through the chamber of the throne
+even into the old king’s sleeping-apartment, which, unlike the dormitory
+of most of his subjects, is remarkable for extreme neatness. A book of
+pious orisons, with engravings by Spanish artists, and containing,
+amongst other prayers in different languages, one adapted to the
+exclusive use of majesty, <i>Regi solo proprius</i>, was lying on his
+praying-desk; and at the head of the richly-canopied, but uncurtained
+bed, I noticed with much delight an enamelled tablet by Mengs,
+representing the infant Saviour appearing to Saint Anthony of Padua.</p>
+
+<p>In this room, as in all the others I passed through, without any
+exception, stood cages of gilded wire, of different forms and sizes,<a name="page_vol_2_2342" id="page_vol_2_2342"></a>
+and in every cage a curious exotic bird, in full song, each trying to
+out-sing his neighbour. Mingled with these warblings was heard at
+certain intervals the low chime of musical clocks, stealing upon the ear
+like the tones of harmonic glasses. No other sound broke in any degree
+the general stillness, except, indeed, the almost inaudible footsteps of
+several aged domestics, in court-dresses of the cut and fashion
+prevalent in the days of the king’s mother, Elizabeth Farnese, gliding
+along quietly and cautiously to open the cages, and offer their inmates
+such dainties as highly-educated birds are taught to relish. Much
+fluttering and cowering down ensued in consequence of these attentions,
+and much rubbing of bills and scratching of poles on my part, as well as
+on that of the smiling old gentlemen.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the ceremony of pampering these feathered favourites had been
+most affectionately performed, I availed myself of the light reflected
+from a clear sun-set to examine the pictures, chiefly of a religious
+cast, with which these stately apartments are tapestried; particularly
+the Madonna del Spasimo, that vivid representation of the blessed
+Virgin’s maternal<a name="page_vol_2_2343" id="page_vol_2_2343"></a> agony, when her divine son, fainting under the
+burthen of the cross, approached to ascend the mount of torture, and
+complete the awful mystery of redemption. Raphael never attained in any
+other of his works such solemn depth of colour, such majesty of
+character, as in this triumph of his art. “Never was sorrow like unto
+the sorrow” he has depicted in the Virgin’s countenance and attitude;
+never was the expression of a sublime and God-like calm in the midst of
+acute suffering conveyed more closely home to the human heart than in
+the face of Christ.</p>
+
+<p>I stood fixed in the contemplation of this holy vision&mdash;for such I
+almost fancied it to be&mdash;till the approaching shadows of night had
+overspread every recess of these vast apartments: still I kept intensely
+gazing upon the picture. I knew it was time to retire,&mdash;still I gazed
+on. I was aware that Roxas had been long expecting me in Masserano’s
+apartments,&mdash;still I could not snatch myself away; the Virgin mother
+with her outstretched arms still haunted me. The song of the birds had
+ceased, as well as the soft diapason of the self-playing organs;&mdash;all
+was hushed, all tranquil. I departed at length with the languid
+unwillingness<a name="page_vol_2_2344" id="page_vol_2_2344"></a> of an enthusiast exhausted by the intensity of his
+feelings and loth to arouse himself from the bosom of grateful
+illusions.</p>
+
+<p>Just as I reached the portal of the great stairs, whom should I meet but
+Noronha advancing towards me with a hurried step. “Where are you going
+so fast?” said he to me, “and where have you been staying so long? I
+have been sending repeatedly after you to no purpose; you must come with
+me immediately to the Infanta and Don Gabriel, they want to ask you a
+thousand questions about the Ajuda: the letters you brought them from
+Marialva, and the archbishop in particular, have, I suppose, inspired
+that wish; and as royal wishes, you know, cannot be too speedily
+gratified, you must kiss their hands this very evening. I am to be your
+introductor.”&mdash;“What!” said I, “in this unceremonious dress?”&mdash;“Yes,”
+said the ambassador, “I have heard that you are not a pattern of
+correctness in these matters.” I wished to have been one in this
+instance. At this particular moment I was in no trim exteriorly or
+interiorly for courtly introductions. I thought of nothing but birds and
+pictures, and had much rather have been presented to<a name="page_vol_2_2345" id="page_vol_2_2345"></a> a cockatoo than to
+the greatest monarch in Christendom.</p>
+
+<p>However, I put on the best face I was able, and we proceeded together
+very placidly to that part of the palace assigned to Don Gabriel and his
+blooming bride. The doors of a coved ante-chamber flew open, and after
+passing through an enfilade of saloons peopled with ladies-in-waiting
+and pages, (some mere children,) we entered a lofty chamber hung with
+white satin, formed into compartments by a rich embroidery of gold and
+colours, and illuminated by a lustre of rock crystal.</p>
+
+<p>At the farther extremity of the apartment, stood the Infant Don Gabriel,
+leaning against a table covered with velvet, on which I observed a case
+of large golden antique medals he was in the very act of contemplating:
+the Infanta was seated near. She rose up most graciously to hold out a
+beautiful hand, which I kissed with unfeigned fervour: her countenance
+is most prepossessing; the same florid complexion, handsome features,
+and open exhilarating smile which distinguishes her brother the Prince
+of Brazil.</p>
+
+<p>“Ah,” said her royal highness with great<a name="page_vol_2_2346" id="page_vol_2_2346"></a> earnestness, “you have then
+lately seen my dear mother, and walked perhaps in the little garden I
+was so fond of; did you notice the fine flowers that grow there?
+particularly the blue carnation; we have not such flowers at Madrid;
+this climate is not like that of Portugal, nor are our views so
+pleasant; I miss the azure Tagus, and your ships continually sailing up
+it; but when you write to your friend Marialva and the archbishop, tell
+them, I possess what no other prospect upon earth can equal, the smiles
+of an adored husband.”</p>
+
+<p>The Infant now approached towards me with a look of courteous benignity
+that reminded me strongly of the Bourbons, nor could I trace in his
+frank kindly manner the least leaven of Austrian hauteur or Spanish
+starchness. After inquiring somewhat facetiously how the Duke d’Alafoens
+and the Portuguese academicians proceeded on their road to the temple of
+fame, he asked me whether our universities continued to be the favoured
+abode of classical attainments, and if the books they printed were as
+correct and as handsome now as in the days of the Stuarts; adding that
+his private collection contained some copies which had formerly
+belonged<a name="page_vol_2_2347" id="page_vol_2_2347"></a> to the celebrated Count of Oxford. This was far too good an
+opportunity of putting in a word to the praise and glory of his own
+famous translation of Sallust, to be neglected; so I expressed
+everything he could have wished to hear upon the subject.</p>
+
+<p>“You are very good,” observed his royal highness; “but to tell you the
+truth, it was hard work for me. I began it, and so I went on, and lost
+many a day’s wholesome exercise in our parks and forests: however, such
+as it is, I performed my task without any assistance, though you may
+perhaps have heard the contrary.”</p>
+
+<p>It was now Noronha’s turn to begin complimenting, which he did with all
+the high court mellifluence of an accredited family ambassador: whether,
+indeed, the Infant received as gospel all the fine things that were said
+to him I won’t answer, but he looked even kinder and more gracious than
+at our first entrance. The Infanta recurred again and again to the
+subject of the Ajuda, and appeared so visibly affected that she awakened
+all my sympathies; for I, too, had left those behind me on the banks of
+the Tagus for whom I felt a fond and indelible<a name="page_vol_2_2348" id="page_vol_2_2348"></a> regard. As we were
+making our retiring bows, I saw tears gathering in her eyes, whilst she
+kept gracefully waving her hand to bid us a happy night.</p>
+
+<p>The impressions I received from this interview were not of a nature to
+allow my enjoying with much vivaciousness the next scene to which I was
+transported&mdash;the head-quarters of Masserano, whom I found in unusually
+high spirits surrounded by a train of gay young officers, rapping out
+the rankest Castilian oaths, quaffing their flowing cups of champagne
+and val de peñas, and playing off upon each other, not exactly the most
+decorous specimens of practical wit.</p>
+
+<p>Roxas looked rather abashed at so unrefined an exhibition of national
+manners: Noronha had taken good care to keep aloof, and I regretted not
+having followed his example.<a name="page_vol_2_2349" id="page_vol_2_2349"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XIV-spn" id="LETTER_XIV-spn"></a>LETTER XIV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">A German Visionary.&mdash;Remarkable conversation with him.&mdash;History of
+a Ghost-seer.</p></div>
+
+<p>It is not at every corner of life that we stumble upon an intrinsically
+singular character: to-day however, at Noronha’s, I fell in with a Saxon
+count,<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> who justly answers to that description. This man is not only
+thoroughly imbued with the theoretical mysticism of the German school,
+but has most firmly persuaded himself, and hundreds besides, that he
+holds converse with the souls of the departed. Though most impressive
+and even extravagant upon this subject, when started, he proves himself
+a man of singular<a name="page_vol_2_2350" id="page_vol_2_2350"></a> judgment upon most others, is a good geometrician, an
+able chymist, a mineralogist of no ordinary proficiency, and has made
+discoveries in the art of smelting metals, which have been turned
+already to useful purpose. Yet nothing can beat out of this cool
+reflective head, that magical operations may be performed to evident
+effect, and the devil most positively evocated.</p>
+
+<p>I thought, at first sight, there was a something uncouth and ghostly in
+his appearance, that promised strange communications; he has a careworn
+look, a countenance often convulsed with apparently painful twitches,
+and a lofty skull, set off with bristling hair, powdered as white as
+Caucasus.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding I by no means courted his acquaintance, he was resolved
+to make up to me, and dissipate by the smoothest address he could
+assume, any prejudices his uncommon cast of features might have
+inspired. Drawing his chair close to mine, whilst Noronha and his party
+were busily engaged at voltarete, he tried to allure my attention by
+throwing out hints of the wonders within reach of a person born under
+the smile of certain constellations:<a name="page_vol_2_2351" id="page_vol_2_2351"></a> that I was the person he meant to
+insinuate, I have little doubt. Having heard that fortune had conferred
+upon me some few of her golden gifts, he thought, perhaps, that I might
+be <i>fused</i> to advantage, like any other lump of the precious metals. Be
+his motives what they may, he certainly took as many pains to wind
+himself into my good opinion as if I had actually been the prime
+favourite of a planet, or a distant cousin by some diabolical
+intermarriage, in the style of one of the Plantagenet matches, of old
+Beelzebub himself.</p>
+
+<p>After a good deal of conversation upon different subjects, chiefly of a
+sombrous nature, happening to ask him if he had known Schröffer, the
+most renowned ghost-seer in all Germany,&mdash;“Intimately well,” was his
+reply; “a bold young man, not so free, alas! from sensual taint as the
+awful career he had engaged in demanded,&mdash;he rushed upon danger
+unprepared, at an unhallowed moment&mdash;his fate was terrible. I passed a
+week with him not six months before he disappeared in the frightful
+manner you have heard of; it was a week of mental toil and suffering, of
+fasts<a name="page_vol_2_2352" id="page_vol_2_2352"></a> and privations of various natures, and of sights sufficiently
+appalling to drive back the whole current of the blood from the heart.
+It was at this period that, returning one dark and stormy night from
+trying experiments upon living animals, more excruciating than any the
+keenest anatomist ever perpetrated, I found lying upon my chair, coiled
+up in a circle like the symbol of eternity, an enormous snake of a
+deadly lead colour; it neither hissed nor moved for several minutes:
+during this pause, whilst I remained aghast looking full upon it, a
+voice more like the whisper of trees than any sound of human utterance,
+articulated certain words, which I have retained, and used to powerful
+effect in moments of peril and extreme urgency.”</p>
+
+<p>I shall not easily forget the strange inquisitive look he gave me whilst
+making this still stranger communication; he saw my curiosity was
+excited, and flattered himself he had made upon me the impression he
+meditated; but when I asked, with the tone of careless levity, what
+became of the snake on the cushion, after the voice had ceased, he shook
+his white locks somewhat angrily, and croaked forth with<a name="page_vol_2_2353" id="page_vol_2_2353"></a> a formidable
+German accent, “Ask no more&mdash;ask no more&mdash;you are not in a disposition
+at present sufficiently pure and serious to comprehend what I <i>might</i>
+disclose. Ask no more.”&mdash;For this time at least I most implicitly obeyed
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Promising to call upon me and continue our conversation any day or hour
+I might choose to appoint, he glided off so imperceptibly, that had I
+been a little more persuaded of the possibility of supernatural
+occurrences, I might have believed he had actually vanished. “A good
+riddance,” said Noronha; “I don’t half like that man, nor can I make out
+why Florida Blanca is so gracious to him.”&mdash;“I rather suspect he is a
+spy upon us all,” observed the Sardinian ambassadress, who made one of
+the voltarete party; “and though he guessed right about the winning card
+last night at the Countess of Benevente’s, I am determined not to invite
+him to dinner again in a hurry.<a name="page_vol_2_2354" id="page_vol_2_2354"></a>”</p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XV-spn" id="LETTER_XV-spn"></a>LETTER XV.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Madame Bendicho.&mdash;Unsuccessful search on the Prado.&mdash;Kauffman, an
+infidel in the German style.&mdash;Mass in the chapel of the
+Virgin.&mdash;The Duchess of Alba’s villa.&mdash;Destruction by a young
+French artist of the paintings of Rubens.&mdash;French ambassador’s
+ball.&mdash;Heir-apparent of the house of Medina Celi.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Sunday, Jan. 13th.</p>
+
+<p>K<small>AUFFMAN</small><a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> accompanied me to the Prado this morning, where we met
+Madame Bendicho and her faithful Expilly, (a famous tactician in war or
+peace,) who told me that somebody I thought particularly interesting was
+not far off. This intelligence imparted to me such animation, that
+Kauffman was obliged to take long strides to equal my pace. I traversed
+the whole Prado without meeting the object of my pursuit, and found
+myself almost unconsciously in the court before the ugly front of the
+church of Atocha. A tide of devotees carried us into<a name="page_vol_2_2355" id="page_vol_2_2355"></a> the chapel of the
+Virgin, which is hung round with trophies, and ex-voto’s, legs, arms,
+and fingers, in wax and plaster.</p>
+
+<p>Kauffman is three parts an infidel in the German style, but I advised
+him to kneel with something like Castilian solemnity, and hear out a
+mass which was none of the shortest, the priest being old, and much
+given to the wiping and adjusting of spectacles, a pair of which,
+uncommonly large and lustrous, I thought he would never have succeeded
+in fitting to his nose.</p>
+
+<p>We happened to kneel under the shade of some banners which the British
+lion was simple enough to let slip out of his paws during the last war.
+The colours of fort St. Philip dangled immediately above my head.
+Amongst the crowd of Our Lady’s worshippers I espied one of the gayest
+of my ball-room acquaintances, the young Duke of Arion, looking like a
+strayed sheep, and smiting his breast most piteously.</p>
+
+<p>A tiresome salve regina being ended, I measured back my steps to the
+Prado, and at length discovered the person of all others I wished most
+to see, strictly guarded by mamma.<a name="page_vol_2_2356" id="page_vol_2_2356"></a> I accompanied them to their door,
+and returned loiteringly and lingeringly home, where I found Infantado,
+who had been waiting for me above half an hour. With him I rode out on
+the Toledo road to see a pompous bridge, or rather viaduct; for the
+river it spans, even in this season, is scarcely copious enough to turn
+the model of a mill-wheel, much less the reality.</p>
+
+<p>From this spot we went to a villa lately purchased by the Duchess of
+Alba, and which, I was told, Rubens had once inhabited. True enough, we
+found a conceited young French artist in the arabesque and cupid line,
+busily employed in pouncing out the last memorials in this spot of that
+great painter; reminiscences of favourite pictures he had thrown off in
+fresco, upon what appeared a rich crimson damask ground. Yes, I
+witnessed this vandalish operation, and saw large flakes of stucco
+imprinted with the touches of Rubens fall upon the floor, and heard the
+wretch who was perpetrating the irreparable act sing, “Veillons mes
+sœurs, veillons encorrre,” with a strong Parisian accent, all the
+while he was slashing away.</p>
+
+<p>My sweet temper was so much ruffled by this spectacle, that I begged to
+be excused any<a name="page_vol_2_2357" id="page_vol_2_2357"></a> further excursion, and returned home to dress and
+compose myself, while Infantado went back to his palace. I soon joined
+him, having been invited to dine with his right virtuous and estimable
+papa. Thank heaven the rage for Frenchified decoration has not yet
+reached this plain but princely abode, which remains in noble Castilian
+simplicity, with all its famed pictures untouched and uncontaminated.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the old duke had retired to his evening’s devotions, we
+hurried to the French ambassador’s ball, where I met fewer saints than
+sinners, and saw nothing particularly edifying, except the semi-royal
+race of the Medina Celis dancing “high and disposedly.” Cogolhudo, the
+heir-apparent of this great house, is a good-natured, busy personage,
+but his illustrious consort, who has been recently appointed to the
+important office of Camerara mayor, or mistress of the robes to the
+image of Our Lady of La Soledad, is a great deal less kindly and
+affable.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a><a name="page_vol_2_2358" id="page_vol_2_2358"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XVI-spn" id="LETTER_XVI-spn"></a>LETTER XVI.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Visit from the Turkish Ambassador.&mdash;Stroll to the gardens of the
+Buen Retiro.&mdash;Troop of ostriches.&mdash;Madame d’Aranda.&mdash;State of
+Cortejo-ism.&mdash;Powers of drapery.&mdash;Madame d’Aranda’s
+toilet.&mdash;Assembly at the house of Madame Badaan.&mdash;Cortejos off
+duty.&mdash;Blaze of beauty.&mdash;A curious group.&mdash;A dance.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Sunday, 23rd.</p>
+
+<p>E<small>VERY</small> morning I have the pleasure of supplying the Grand Signior’s
+representative with rolls and brioche, baked at home for my breakfast;
+and this very day he came himself in one of the king’s lumbering state
+coaches, with some of his special favourites, to thank me for these
+piping hot attentions. We had a great deal of conversation about the
+marvels of London, though he seemed stoutly convinced that in every
+respect Islembul exceeded it ten times over.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as he moved off, I strolled to the<a name="page_vol_2_2359" id="page_vol_2_2359"></a> gardens of the Buen Retiro,
+which contains neither statues nor fountains worth describing. They
+cover a vast extent of sandy ground, in which there is no prevailing
+upon anything vegetable or animal to thrive, except ostriches, a troop
+of which were striding about in high spirits, apparently as much at home
+as in their own native parched-up deserts.</p>
+
+<p>Roxas dined with us, and we went together in the evening to the French
+ambassador’s, the Duke de la V****. His daughter, a fine young woman of
+eighteen or nineteen, is married to the Prince de L****, a smart
+stripling, who has scarcely entered his fifteenth year; the ambassador
+is no trifling proficient in political intrigue, no common-place twister
+and turner in the paths of diplomacy, looks about him with calm and
+polished indifference, though full of hazardous schemes and projects;
+ever in secret ferment, and a Jesuit to the heart’s core. I could not
+help noticing his quiet, observing eye&mdash;the still eye of a serpent lying
+perdue in a cave. In his address and manners he is quite a model of
+high-bred ease, without the slightest tincture of pedantry or
+affectation.<a name="page_vol_2_2360" id="page_vol_2_2360"></a></p>
+
+<p>Madame la Duchesse is a great deal fonder of fine phrases, which she
+does not always reserve for grand occasions. Their son, the Prince de
+C***, amused me beyond bounds with his lightning-like flashes of wit and
+merriment, at the expense of Madrid and its tertullias. Upon the whole,
+I like this family very much, and ardently wish they may like me.</p>
+
+<p>I could not stay with them so long as I desired, Roxas having promised
+to present me to Madame d’Aranda, whose devoted friend and <i>cortejo</i> he
+has the consummate pleasure to be. Happy the man who has the good
+fortune of being attached by such delicious, though not quite strictly
+sacred ties, to so charming a little creature; but in general the state
+of cortejo-ism is far from enviable. You are the sworn victim of all the
+lady’s caprices, and can never move out of the rustle of her black silk
+petticoats, or beyond the wave of her fan, without especial permission,
+less frequently granted with complacence than refused with asperity. I
+imagine she has very good-naturedly given him leave of absence to show
+me about this royal village, or else I should<a name="page_vol_2_2361" id="page_vol_2_2361"></a> think he would hardly
+venture to spare me so much of his company.</p>
+
+<p>We found her sitting <i>en famille</i> with her sister, and two young boys
+her brothers, over a silver brazier in a snug interior apartment hung
+with a bright valencia satin. She showed me the most pleasing marks of
+civility and attention, and ordered her own apartments to be lighted up,
+that I might see its magnificent furniture to advantage. The bed, of the
+richest blue velvet trimmed with point lace, is beautifully shaped, and
+placed in a spacious and deep recess hung round with an immense
+profusion of ample curtains.</p>
+
+<p>I wonder architects and fitters up of apartments do not avail themselves
+more frequently of the powers of drapery. Nothing produces so grand and
+at the same time so comfortable an effect. The moment I have an
+opportunity I will set about constructing a tabernacle, larger than the
+one I arranged at Ramalhaô, and indulge myself in every variety of plait
+and fold that can possibly be invented.</p>
+
+<p>Madame d’Aranda’s toilet, designed by Moite the sculptor and executed by
+Auguste, is by far the most exquisite <i>chef-d’œuvre</i> of the<a name="page_vol_2_2362" id="page_vol_2_2362"></a> kind I
+ever saw. Poor thing! she has every exterior delight the pomps and
+vanities of the world can give; but she is married to a man old enough
+to be her grandfather, and looks as pale and drooping as a narcissus or
+lily of the valley would appear if stuck in Abraham’s bosom, and
+continually breathed upon by that venerable patriarch.</p>
+
+<p>After passing a delightful hour in what appeared to me an ethereal sort
+of fairy-land, we went to a far more earthly abode, that of a Madame
+Badaan, who is so obliging as to give immense assemblies once or twice a
+week, in rather confined apartments. This small, but convenient
+habitation, is no idle or unimportant resort for cortejos off duty, or
+in search of novel adventures. Several of these disbanded worthies were
+lounging about in the mean time, quite lackadaisically. There was a
+blaze of beauty in every corner of the room, sufficient to enchant those
+the least given to being enchanted; and there frisked the two little
+Sabatinis, half Spanish, half Italian, sporting their neatly turned
+ankles; and there sat Madame de Villamayor in all her pride, and her
+daughters so full of promise; and the Marchioness<a name="page_vol_2_2363" id="page_vol_2_2363"></a> of Santa Cruz, with
+her dark hair and blue eyes, in all her loveliness. How delighted my
+friend, the Effendi, must have been upon entering such a paradise, which
+he soon did after we arrived there, followed by his Armenian
+interpreter, whom I like better than the Greek, Timoni, with his prying,
+squirrelish look, and malicious propensities.</p>
+
+<p>The ambassador found me out almost immediately, and taking me to an
+angle of the apartment, where a well-cushioned divan had been prepared
+for his lollification, made me sit down by him whether I would or not.
+We were just settled, when a bevy of young tits dressed out in a
+fantastic, blowzy style, with sparkling eyes and streaming ribbons, drew
+their chairs round us, and began talking a strange lingua-franca,
+composed of three or four different languages. We must have formed a
+curious group; I was declaiming and gesticulating with all my might,
+reciting scraps of Hafiz and Mesihi, whilst the ladies, none of the
+tallest, who were seated on low chairs, kept perking up their pretty
+little inquisitive faces in the very beard of the stately Moslem, whose
+solemn<a name="page_vol_2_2364" id="page_vol_2_2364"></a> demeanour formed an amusing contrast to their giddy vivacity.</p>
+
+<p>Madame Badaan and her spouse, the very best people in the world, and the
+readiest to afford their company all possible varieties of
+accommodation, sent for the most famous band of musicians Madrid could
+boast of, and proposed a dance for the entertainment of his bearded
+excellency. Accordingly, thirteen or fourteen couples started, and
+boleroed and fandangoed away upon a thick carpet for an hour or two,
+without intermission. There are scarcely any boarded floors in Madrid,
+so the custom of dancing upon rugs is universally established.<a name="page_vol_2_2365" id="page_vol_2_2365"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XVII-spn" id="LETTER_XVII-spn"></a>LETTER XVII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Valley of Aranjuez.&mdash;The island garden.&mdash;The palace.&mdash;Strange
+medley of pictures.&mdash;Oratories of the King and the
+Queen.&mdash;Destruction of a grand apartment painted in fresco by
+Mengs.&mdash;Boundless freedom of conduct in the present
+reign.&mdash;Decoration of the Duchess of Ossuna’s house.&mdash;Apathy
+pervading the whole Iberian peninsula.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Tuesday, December 1st, 1795.</p>
+
+<p>I<small>T</small> was on a clear bright morning (scarce any frost) that we left a
+wretched place called Villatoba, falling into ruins like almost all the
+towns and villages I have seen in Spain. The sky was so transparent, so
+pearly, and the sunbeams so fresh and reviving, that the country
+appeared pleasant in spite of its flatness and aridity. Every tree has
+been cut down, and all chance of their being replaced precluded by the
+wandering flocks of sheep, goats and swine, which rout, and grout, and
+nibble uncontrolled and unmolested.<a name="page_vol_2_2366" id="page_vol_2_2366"></a></p>
+
+<p>At length, after a tedious drive through vast tracts of desolate
+country, scarce a house, scarce a shrub, scarce a human being to meet
+with, we descended a rapid declivity, and I once more found myself in
+the valley of Aranjuez. The avenues of poplar and plane have shot up to
+a striking elevation since I saw them last. The planes on the banks of
+the Tagus incline most respectfully towards its waters; they are
+vigorously luxuriant, although planted only seven years ago, as the
+gardener informed me.</p>
+
+<p>Charles the Fifth’s elms in the island-garden close to the palace are
+decaying apace. I visited the nine venerable stumps close to a hideous
+brick-ruin; the largest measures forty or fifty feet in girth; the roots
+are picturesquely fantastic. The fountains, like the shades in which
+they are embowered, are rapidly going to decay: the bronze Venus, at the
+fountain which takes its name from Don John of Austria, has lost her
+arm.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the dreariness of the season with all its accompaniment
+of dry leaves and faded herbage, this historic garden had still charms;
+the air was mild, and the sunbeams<a name="page_vol_2_2367" id="page_vol_2_2367"></a> played on the Tagus, and many a bird
+flitted from spray to spray. Several long alleys of the loftiest elms,
+their huge rough trunks mantled with ivy, and their grotesque roots
+advancing and receding like grotto-work into the walk, struck me as
+singularly pleasing.</p>
+
+<p>The palace has not been long completed; the additions made by Charles
+the Third agree not ill with the original edifice. It is a comfortable,
+though not a magnificent abode; walls thick, windows cheerfully glazed
+in two panels, neat low chimney-pieces in many of the apartments; few
+traces of the days of the Philips; scarce any furniture that bespeak an
+ancient family. A flimsy modern style, half Italian, half French,
+prevails. Even the pictures are, in point of subjects, preservation,
+originality, and masters, as strangely jumbled together as in the
+dominions of an auctioneer. This may be accounted for by their being
+collected indiscriminately by the present King, whilst prince of
+Asturias. Amongst innumerable trash, I noticed a Crucifixion by Mengs;
+not overburthened with expression, but finely coloured; the back-ground
+and sky<a name="page_vol_2_2368" id="page_vol_2_2368"></a> most gloomily portentous, and producing a grand effect of light
+and shade. The interior of a gothic church, by Peter Neef, so fine, so
+clear, so silvery in point of tint, as to reconcile me, (for the moment,
+at least,) to this harsh, stiff master; the figures exquisite, the
+preservation perfect; no varnish, no retouches.</p>
+
+<p>A set of twelve small cabinet pictures, touched with admirable spirit by
+Teniers, the subjects taken from the Gierusalemme Liberata, treated as
+familiarly as if the boozy painter had been still copying his
+pot-companions. Armida’s palace is a little round summer-house; she
+herself, habited like a burgher’s frouw in her holiday garments, holds a
+Nuremberg-shaped looking-glass up to the broad vulgar face of a boorish
+Rinaldo. The fair Naiads, comfortably fat, and most invitingly smirkish,
+are naked to be sure, but a pile of furbelowed garments and farthingales
+is ostentatiously displayed on the bank of the water; close by a small
+table covered with a neat white tablecloth, and garnished with silver
+tankards, cold pie, and salvers of custard and jellies. All these vulgar
+accessories are finished with scrupulous delicacy.</p>
+
+<p>Several oratories open into the royal apartments.<a name="page_vol_2_2369" id="page_vol_2_2369"></a> One set apart for the
+Queen is adorned with a very costly, and at the same time beautiful
+altar, rich, simple, and majestic; not an ornament is lavished in vain.
+Two Corinthian columns of a most beautiful purple and white marble,
+sustain a pediment, as highly polished and as richly mottled as any
+agate I ever beheld; the capitals are bronze splendidly gilt, so is the
+foliage of the consoles supporting the slab which forms the altar. The
+design, the materials, the workmanship, are all Spanish, and do the
+nation credit.</p>
+
+<p>The king’s oratory is much larger, and not ill-designed; the proportion
+is good, about twenty-six by twenty-two, and twenty-four high, besides a
+solemn recess for the altar. The walls entirely covered with
+fresco-painting; saints, prophets, clouds, and angels, in grand
+confusion. The sides of the arch, and all the frame of the altar-piece,
+are profusely and solidly gilt. A plinth of jasper, and a skirting about
+three feet high, of a light-grey marble, streaked with black, not unlike
+the capricious ramifications on mocho-stones, and polished as a mirror,
+is continued round the room, so that nothing meets the eye but the rich
+gleam of<a name="page_vol_2_2370" id="page_vol_2_2370"></a> gold, painting, and marble, all blended together in one
+glowing tint. The pavement, too, of different Spanish marbles, is a
+<i>chef-d’œuvre</i> of workmanship. I particularly admired the soft
+ivory-hue of the white marble, but my conductor allowed it little merit
+when compared with that of Italy: I think him mistaken in this remark,
+and heartily wish him so in many others.</p>
+
+<p>This conductor, an old snuffling domestic of the late king, was rather
+forward in making his remarks upon times present. A sort of Piedmontese
+in my train, I believe the master of the fonda where I lodge, pointing
+to a <i>manege</i> now building, asked for whom it was designed, the King or
+the Duke d’Alcudia? “For both, no doubt,” was the answer; “what serves
+one serves the other.” In the royal tribune, I was informed, with a
+woful shrug, that the King, thank God! continued to be exact and fervent
+in his devotions; never missing mass a single day, and frequently
+spending considerable time in mental prayer; but that the Queen was
+scandalously remiss, and seldom appeared in the chapels, except when
+some slender remains<a name="page_vol_2_2371" id="page_vol_2_2371"></a> of etiquette render her presence indispensable.</p>
+
+<p>The chapel, repaired after designs of Sabbatini, an old Italian
+architect, much in favour with Charles the Third, has merit, and is
+remarkable for the just distribution of light, which produces a solemn
+religious effect. The three altars are noble, and their paintings good.
+One in particular, on the right, dedicated to St. Anthony, immediately
+attracted my attention by the effulgence of glory amidst which the
+infant Jesus is descending to caress the kneeling saint, whose attitude,
+and youthful, enthusiastic countenance, have great expression. The
+colouring is warm and harmonious; Maella is the painter.</p>
+
+<p>I inquired after a remarkable room in this palace, called in the plan
+<i>Salon de los Funciones</i>, and vulgarly <i>el Coliseo</i>. The ceiling was
+painted by Mengs, and esteemed one of his capital works: here Ferdinand
+and Barbara, the most musical of sovereigns, used to melt in ecstasies
+at the soft warblings of Farinelli and Egiziello&mdash;but, alas! the scene
+of their amusements, like themselves and their<a name="page_vol_2_2372" id="page_vol_2_2372"></a> warblers, is no more.
+Not later than last summer, this grand theatrical apartment was divided
+into a suite of shabby, bandboxical rooms for the accommodation of the
+Infant of Parma. No mercy was shown to the beautiful roof. In some
+places, legs and folds of drapery are still visible; but the workmen are
+hammering and plastering at a great rate, and in a few days whitewash
+will cover all.</p>
+
+<p>Coming out of the palace, and observing how deserted and melancholy the
+walks, garden, and avenues appeared, I was told, that in a few weeks a
+total change would take place, for the court was expected on the 6th of
+January, to remain six months, and that every pleasure followed in its
+train. Shoals of gamblers, and ladies of easy virtue of all ranks, ages,
+and descriptions. Every barrier which Charles the Third, of chaste and
+pious memory, attempted to oppose to the wanton inclinations of his
+subjects, has been broken down in the present reign; boundless freedom
+of conduct prevails, and the most disgusting debauchery riots in these
+lovely groves, which deserve to be set apart for elegant and rural
+pleasures.<a name="page_vol_2_2373" id="page_vol_2_2373"></a></p>
+
+<p>In my walks I passed a huge edifice lately built for the favourite
+Alcudia. Common report accuses it of being more magnificently furnished
+than the royal residence; but as I did not enter it, I shall content
+myself with noting down, that it boasts nineteen windows in front, and a
+plain Tuscan portal with handsome granite pillars. Adjoining is a house
+belonging to the Duchess of Ossuna, full of workmen, painters, and
+stuccadors: a goggle-eyed Milanese, most fiercely conceited, is daubing
+the walls with all his might and main. He is an architect too, at least
+I have his word for it, and claims the merit, a great one as he
+believes, of having designed a sort of ball-room, with many a festoon
+and Bohemian glass-chandelier and coarse arabesque. The floor is
+bricked, upon which thick mats or carpets are spread when dancing is
+going forward.</p>
+
+<p>I was in hopes this tiresome custom of thumping mats and rugs with the
+feet, to the brisk airs of boleros and fandangos, was exploded. No music
+is more inspiring than the Spanish; what a pity they refuse themselves
+the joy of rising a foot or two into the air at every step, by the help
+of elastic boards.<a name="page_vol_2_2374" id="page_vol_2_2374"></a></p>
+
+<p>Next to this sort of a ball-room is a sort of an oval boudoir, and then
+a sort of an octagon; all bad sorts of their kind. This confounded
+painter is covering the oval with landscapes, not half so harmonious or
+spirited as those which figure on Birmingham snuff-boxes or tea-boards.
+He has a terrible partiality to blues and greens of the crudest tints.
+Such colours affect my eyes as disagreeably as certain sounds my teeth,
+when set on edge. I pity the Duchess of Ossuna, whose liberal desire of
+encouraging the arts deserves better artists. In music she has been more
+fortunate: Boccharini directed her band when I was last at Madrid; and I
+remember with what transport she heard and applauded the Galli, to whom
+she sent one morning a present of the most expensive trinkets,
+carelessly heaped up upon a magnificent salver of massive silver, two or
+three feet in diameter.</p>
+
+<p>The day closed as I was wandering about the Duchess’s mansion, surprised
+at the slovenly neglect of the furniture, not an article of which has
+been moved out of the reach of dust, scaffoldings, the exhalations of
+paint, and the still more pestilential exhalation of garlick<a name="page_vol_2_2375" id="page_vol_2_2375"></a>-eating
+workmen. Universal apathy and indifference to everything seems to
+pervade the whole Iberian peninsula. If not caring what you eat or what
+you drink is a virtue, so far the evangelical precept is obeyed. So it
+is in Portugal, and so it is in Spain, and so it looks likely to be
+world without end: to which, let the rest of Europe say amen; for were
+these countries to open their long-closed eyes, cast off their trammels,
+and rouse themselves to industry, they would soon surpass their
+neighbours in wealth and population.<a name="page_vol_2_2376" id="page_vol_2_2376"></a></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LETTER_XVIII-spn" id="LETTER_XVIII-spn"></a>LETTER XVIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Explore the extremities of the Calle de la Reyna.&mdash;Destructive rage
+for improvement.&mdash;Loveliness of the valley of
+Aranjuez.&mdash;Undisturbed happiness of the animals
+there.&mdash;Degeneration of the race of grandees.&mdash;A royal cook.</p></div>
+
+<p class="rht">Wednesday, Dec. 2nd, 1795.</p>
+
+<p>I<small>T</small> was near eleven before a thick fog, which had arisen from the groves
+and waters of Aranjuez, dispersed. I took advantage of a bright sunshine
+to issue forth on horseback, and explore the extremities of the Calle de
+la Reyna. Most of the ancient elms which compose this noble avenue, are
+dead-topped, many have lost their flourishing heads since I was last
+here, but on every side innumerable plantations of oak, elm, poplar, and
+plane, are springing up in all the vigour and luxuriance of youth. I was
+sorry to see many, very many acres of unmeaning<a name="page_vol_2_2377" id="page_vol_2_2377"></a> shrubbery, serpentine
+walks, and clumps of paltry flowers, encroaching upon the wild thickets
+upon the banks of the Tagus.</p>
+
+<p>The King, the Queen, the favourite, are bitten by the rage of what they
+fancy to be improvement, and are levelling ground, and smoothing banks,
+and building rock-work, with pagodas and Chinese-railing. The laburnums,
+weeping-willows, and flowering shrubs, which I admired so much seven
+years ago in all their native luxuriance, are beginning to be trimmed
+and tortured into what the gardener calls genteel shapes. Even the
+course of the Tagus has been thwarted, and part of its waters diverted
+into a broad ditch in order to form an island; flat, swampy, and dotted
+over with exotic shrubs, to make room for which many a venerable arbele
+and poplar has been laid low.</p>
+
+<p>Hard by stands a large brick mansion, just erected, in the dullest and
+commonest Spanish taste, very improperly called Casa del Labrador. It
+has nothing rural about it, not even a hen-roost or a hog-sty; but the
+kitchen is snug and commodious, and to this his Catholic Majesty often
+resorts, and cooks with his own<a name="page_vol_2_2378" id="page_vol_2_2378"></a> royal hands, and for his own royal
+self, creadillas, (alias lamb’s fry,) garlick-omelets, and other savoury
+messes, in the national style.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing delights the good-natured monarch so much as a pretence for
+descending into low life, and creeping out of the sight of his court,
+his council, and his people; therefore Madrid is almost totally
+abandoned by him, and many capricious buildings are starting up in every
+secluded corner of the royal parks and gardens. This last is the ugliest
+and most unmeaning of all. I recollect being pleased with the casinos he
+built whilst Prince of Asturias, at the Escurial and the Pardo. His
+present advisers, in matters of taste, are inferior even to those who
+direct his political movements; and the workmen, who obey the first,
+still more unskilful and bungling than the generals, admirals, and
+engineers, who carry the plans of the latter into execution.</p>
+
+<p>If they would but let Aranjuez alone, I should not care. Nature has
+lavished her charms most bountifully on this valley; the wild hills
+which close it in, though barren, are picturesquely-shaped; the Tagus
+here winds along in the boldest manner, overhung by<a name="page_vol_2_2379" id="page_vol_2_2379"></a> crooked willows and
+lofty arbeles; now losing itself in almost impervious thickets, now
+under-mining steep banks, laying rocks bare, and forming irregular coves
+and recesses; now flowing smoothly through vast tracts of low shrubs,
+aspens, and tamarisks; in one spot edged by the most delicate
+greensward, in another by beds of mint and a thousand other fragrant
+herbs. I saw numerous herds of deer bounding along in full enjoyment of
+pasture and liberty; droves of horses, many of a soft cream-colour, were
+frisking about under some gigantic alders; and I counted one hundred and
+eighty cows, of a most remarkable size, in a green meadow, ruminating in
+peace and plenty.</p>
+
+<p>The animal creation at Aranjuez seem, undoubtedly, to enjoy all the
+blessings of an excellent government. The breed is peculiarly attended
+to, and no pains or expense spared, to procure the finest bulls from
+every quarter. Cows more beautifully dappled, more comfortably sleek, I
+never beheld.</p>
+
+<p>If the race of grandees could, by judicious crossing, be sustained as
+successfully, Spain would not have to lament her present scurvy,<a name="page_vol_2_2380" id="page_vol_2_2380"></a>
+ill-favoured generation of nobility. Should they be suffered to dwindle
+much longer, and accumulate estates and diseases by eternal
+intermarriages in the same family, I expect to see them on all-fours
+before the next century is much advanced in its course. These little
+men, however, are not without some sparks of a lofty, resolute spirit;
+very few, indeed, have bowed the knee to the Baal of the present hour,
+to the image which the King has set up. A train of eager, hungry
+dependants, picked out of inferior and foreign classes, form the company
+of the Duke of Alcudia. Notwithstanding his lofty titles, unbounded
+wealth, solid power, and dazzling magnificence, he is treated by the
+first class with silent contempt and passive indifference. They read the
+tale of his illustrious descent with the same sneering incredulity, as
+the patents and decrees which enumerate the services he has done the
+state. Few instances, perhaps, are upon record, of a more steady,
+persevering contempt of an object in actual power, stamped with every
+ornament royal favour can devise to give it credit, value, and currency.</p>
+
+<p>A thousand interesting reflections arising<a name="page_vol_2_2381" id="page_vol_2_2381"></a> from this subject crowded my
+mind as I rode home through the stately and now deserted alleys of
+Aranjuez. The weather was growing chill, and the withered leaves began
+to rustle. I was glad to take refuge by a blazing fire. Money, which
+procures almost everything, had not failed to seduce the best salads and
+apples from the royal gardens, admirable butter and good game; so I
+feasted royally, though I dare say I should have done more so, in the
+most extensive sense of the word, could some supernatural power or
+Frenchified revolution have procured me the royal cook. His Majesty, I
+am assured, by those I am far from suspecting of flattery, has real
+talents for this most useful profession.</p>
+
+<p>The comfortable listlessness which had crept over me was too pleasant to
+be shaken off, and I remained snug by my fireside the whole evening.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="c"><small>THE END.</small></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="c"><small>LONDON:<br />
+PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,<br />
+Dorset Street, Fleet Street.</small></p>
+
+<p><a name="transc" id="transc"></a></p>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""
+style="border:3px dotted gray;padding:2%;">
+<tr><th align="center">Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="errata">headach</span> and indisposition=> headache and indisposition {pg v1 185}</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">so wan and <span class="errata">singugular</span>=> so wan and singular {pg v1 201}</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">into some <span class="errata">inchanted</span> cave=> into some enchanted cave {pg v1 231}</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="errata">suprising</span> variety of other plants=> surprising variety of other plants {pg v1 351}</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">The <span class="errata">shubberies</span> and garden=> The shrubberies and garden {pg v2 182}</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="errata">ton</span> at present in this court=> tone at present in this court {pg v2 240}</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="errata">statu</span> quo=> status quo {pg v2 243}</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">Nuestra <span class="errata">Senora</span>=> Nuestra Señora {pg v2 286}</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><p class="cb">FOOTNOTES:</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> This crucifix was made of the bronze which had formed the
+statue of the terrible Duke of Alva, swept in its first form from the
+citadel where it was proudly stationed, in a moment of popular fury.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The History of John Bull explains this ridiculous
+appellation.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Hills in the neighbourhood of Canton.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Apuleius Met: Lib. 5.
+</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Vehementer iterum ac sæpius beatos illos qui<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Super gemmas et monilia calcant!<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Schönberg, beautiful mountain.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Ariosto Orlando Furioso.&mdash;<i>Canto 7, stanza 32.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> A nephew of Bertoni, the celebrated composer.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> This excellent and highly cultivated woman died at Naples
+in August 1782. Had she lived to a later period her example and
+influence might probably have gone great lengths towards arresting that
+tide of corruption and profligacy which swept off this ill-fated court
+to Sicily, and threatened its total destruction.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Mem. pour la Vie de Petrarque, vol. i. p. 439.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> The Piscina mirabilis.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> See Letter VII.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> See Miss Williams’s poems.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Since Marquis of Abrantes.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Writers of travels are sadly given to exaggeration. The
+author of the Tableau du Lisbonne writes, “Il est dix heures, une foule
+de P. de Ch. s’avance,” &amp;c. From such an account one would suppose the
+whole line of houses in motion. No such thing. At intervals, to be sure,
+some accidents of this sort, more or less, slily occur; but by no means
+in so general and evident a manner.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> These affecting tones seem to have made a lasting
+impression indeed upon the heart of a young man, one of the principal
+clerks in the Secretary of State’s office; he was all admiration, all
+ardour, his divinity all indifference. After a long period of unavailing
+courtship, the poor lover, driven to absolute despair, made a donation
+of all he was worth in the world to the object of his adoration, and
+threw himself into the Tagus. Providentially he was fished out and
+brought home, pale and almost inanimate. Such a spectacle, accompanied
+by so vivid a proof of unlimited passion, had its effect. The lady
+relented, they were united, and are as happy at this day, I believe, as
+the recollection of so narrow an escape, and its cause, can make them.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> An old English housekeeper.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> For no light specimen of these atrocities, see Southey’s
+Letters from Spain and Portugal.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Don Joaô da Valperra.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> At the time I wrote this, half Lisbon believed in the
+individuality of the holy crows, and the other half prudently concealed
+their scepticism.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Don Josè, elder brother of the late king, John VI.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Dryden.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> The royal chapel of the Ajuda, though somewhat fallen from
+the unequalled splendour it boasted during the sing-song days of the
+late king, Don Joseph, still displayed some of the finest specimens of
+vocal manufacture which Italy could furnish. It possessed, at the same
+time, Carlo Reina, Ferracuti, Totti, Fedelino, Ripa, Gelati, Venanzio,
+Biagino, and Marini&mdash;all these <i>virtuosi</i>, with names ending in vowels,
+were either <i>contraltos</i> of the softest note, or <i>sopranos</i> of the
+highest squeakery.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Now Marquis of Tancos.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> About the period of the present king’s accession, several
+ladies of this description had bounced into the peerage; but as they did
+not walk at the coronation, somebody observed, it was odd enough that
+the peeresses best accustomed to a free use of their limbs, declined
+stirring a step upon this occasion. Horace Walpole mentions this bon mot
+in some of his letters; I forget to whom he attributes it.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> The personage in question paid dearly for having listened
+to evil counsellors and exciting the suspicions of the church. In about
+a twelvemonth after this conversation, the small pox, not attended to so
+skilfully as it might have been, was suffered to carry him off, and
+reduced his imperious widow to a mere cipher in the politics of a court
+she had begun very successfully to agitate. To this period the cruel
+distress of the queen’s mind may be traced. The conflict between
+maternal tenderness and what she thought political duty, may be supposed
+with much greater probability to have produced her fatal derangement,
+than all the scruples respecting the Aveiro and Tavoura confiscations
+which the fanatical, interested priest, who succeeded my excellent
+friend, excited.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> A well-known wily diplomatist, afterwards ambassador at
+Constantinople.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> He resided afterwards at Paris in a diplomatic character,
+and is supposed to have been implicated in some of the least amiable
+events of the revolution. A mysterious passage in the first volume of
+Soulavie’s Memoirs is said to refer to him. He was particularly intimate
+with citizen Egalité.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> A nephew of the famous Angelica, and no indifferent
+painter himself.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> I have seen a beautiful portrait, engraved by Selma, of
+this image, and dedicated in due form to its first lady of the
+dressing-room, Marchioness of Cogolhudo, Duchess of San Estévan, &amp;c.</p></div>
+
+</div>
+<hr class="full" />
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Italy; with sketches of Spain and
+Portugal, by William Beckford
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+</pre>
+
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