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diff --git a/old/drwt10.txt b/old/drwt10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d4b8058 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/drwt10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8460 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and Incidents +by William Beckford + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and Incidents + +Author: William Beckford + +Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7258] +[This file was first posted on April 2, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, DREAMS, WAKING THOUGHTS, ETC. *** + + + + +Transcribed from the 1891 Ward, Lock and Co. edition by David Price, +email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + +Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and Incidents; in a Series of Letters from +Various Parts of Europe + + + +LETTER I + + + +June 19th, 1780.--Shall I tell you my dreams?--To give an account of +my time is doing, I assure you, but little better. Never did there +exist a more ideal being. A frequent mist hovers before my eyes, +and, through its medium, I see objects so faint and hazy, that both +their colours and forms are apt to delude me. This is a rare +confession, say the wise, for a traveller to make: pretty accounts +will such a one give of outlandish countries: his correspondents +must reap great benefit, no doubt, from such purblind observations. +But stop, my good friends; patience a moment!--I really have not the +vanity of pretending to make a single remark, during the whole of my +journey: if--be contented with my visionary way of gazing, I am +perfectly pleased; and shall write away as freely as Mr. A., Mr. B., +Mr. C., and a million others whose letters are the admiration of the +politest circles. + +All through Kent did I doze as usual; now and then I opened my eyes +to take in an idea or two of the green, woody country through which I +was passing; then closed them again; transported myself back to my +native hills; thought I led a choir of those I loved best through +their shades; and was happy in the arms of illusion. The sun set +before I recovered my senses enough to discover plainly the +variegated slopes near Canterbury, waving with slender birch-trees, +and gilt with a profusion of broom. I thought myself still in my +beloved solitude, but missed the companions of my slumbers. Where +are they?--Behind yon blue hills, perhaps, or t'other side of that +thick forest. My fancy was travelling after these deserters, till we +reached the town; vile enough o' conscience, and fit only to be +passed in one's sleep. The moment after I got out of the carriage, +brought me to the cathedral; an old haunt of mine. I had always +venerated its lofty pillars, dim aisles, and mysterious arches. Last +night they were more solemn than ever, and echoed no other sound than +my steps. I strayed about the choir and chapels, till they grew so +dark and dismal, that I was half inclined to be frightened; looked +over my shoulder; thought of spectres that have an awkward trick of +syllabling men's names in dreary places; and fancied a sepulchral +voice exclaiming: "Worship my toe at Ghent; my ribs at Florence; my +skull at Bologna, Sienna, and Rome. Beware how you neglect this +order; for my bones, as well as my spirit, have the miraculous +property of being here, there, and everywhere." These injunctions, +you may suppose, were received in a becoming manner, and noted all +down in my pocket-book by inspiration (for I could not see), and +hurrying into the open air, I was whirled away in the dark to +Margate. Don't ask what were my dreams thither: --nothing but +horrors, deep-vaulted tombs, and pale, though lovely figures, +extended upon them; shrill blasts that sung in my ears, and filled me +with sadness, and the recollection of happy hours, fleeting away, +perhaps for ever! I was not sorry, when the bustle of our coming-in +dispelled these phantoms. The change, however, in point of scenery +was not calculated to dissipate my gloom; for the first object in +this world that presented itself, was a vast expanse of sea, just +visible by the gleamings of the moon, bathed in watery clouds; a +chill air ruffled the waves. I went to shiver a few melancholy +moments on the shore. How often did I try to wish away the reality +of my separation from those I love, and attempt to persuade myself it +was but a dream! + +This morning I found myself more cheerfully disposed, by the queer +Dutch faces with short pipes and ginger-bread complexions that came +smirking and scraping to get us on board their respective vessels; +but, as I had a ship engaged for me before, their invitations were +all in vain. The wind blows fair; and, should it continue of the +same mind a few hours longer, we shall have no cause to complain of +our passage. Adieu! Think of me sometimes. If you write +immediately, I shall receive your letter at the Hague. + +It is a bright sunny evening: the sea reflects a thousand glowing +colours, and, in a minute or two, I shall be gliding on its surface. + + + +LETTER II + + + +OSTEND, June 21st. + +T'other minute I was in Greece, gathering the bloom of Hymettus, but +now I am landed in Flanders, smoked with tobacco, and half poisoned +with garlic. Were I to remain ten days at Ostend, I should scarcely +have one delightful vision; 'tis so unclassic a place--nothing but +preposterous Flemish roofs disgust your eyes when you cast them +upwards; swaggering Dutchmen and mongrel barbers are the principal +objects they meet with below. 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. + +Am I not an object of pity, when I tell you that I was tormented +yesterday by a similar cause? But I know not how it is; your violent +complainers are the least apt to excite compassion. I believe, +notwithstanding, if another rising generation should lodge above me +at the next inn, I shall grow as scurrilous as Dr. Smollett, and be +dignified with the appellation of the Younger Smelfungus. Well, let +those make out my diploma that will, I am determined to vent my +spleen, and like Lucifer, unable to enjoy comfort myself, tease +others with the details of my vexatious. You must know, then, since +I am resolved to grumble, that, tired with my passage, I went to the +Capuchin church, a large solemn building, in search of silence and +solitude; but here again was I disappointed. Half-a-dozen squeaking +fiddles fugued and flourished away in the galleries, and as many +paralytic monks gabbled before the altars, while a whole posse of +devotees, in long white hoods and flannels, were sweltering on either +side. + +Such 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, joined to the desire I had of casting another glance over +the ocean, 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 whimsical as I please; but it happened that I had scarcely begun +my apostrophe, before out flaunted a whole rank of officers, with +ladies and abbes and puppy dogs, singing, and flirting, and making +such a hubbub, that I had not one peaceful moment to observe the +bright tints of the western horizon, or enjoy the series of antique +ideas with which a calm sunset never fails to inspire me. + +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 sugar-plums +and nursery eloquence had hushed it to repose. At length peace was +restored, and about eleven o'clock I fell into a slumber, during +which the most lovely Sicilian prospects filled the eye of my fancy. +I anticipated the classic scenes of that famous island, and forgot +every sorrow in the meadows of Enna. + +Next morning, awakened by the sunbeams, I arose quite refreshed by +the agreeable impressions of my dream, and filled with presages of +future happiness in the climes which had inspired them. No other +idea but such as Trinacria and Naples suggested, haunted me whilst +travelling to Ghent. I neither heard the vile Flemish dialect which +was talking around me, nor noticed formal avenues and marshy country +which we passed. When we stopped to change horses, I closed my eyes +upon the whole scene, and was transported immediately to some Grecian +solitude, where Theocritus and his shepherds were filling the air +with melody. To one so far gone in poetic antiquity, 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, dismal-looking +city, with a decent proportion of convents and chapels, stuffed with +monuments, brazen gates, and glittering marbles. In the great church +were two or three pictures by Rubens, mechanically excellent, but +these realities were not designed in so graceful a manner as to +divert my attention from the mere descriptions Pausanias gives us of +the works of Grecian artists, and I would at any time fall asleep in +a Flemish cathedral, for a vision of the temple of Olympian Jupiter. +But I think I hear, at this moment, some grave and respectable +personage chiding me for such levities, and saying, "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 +inspiring places 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 cabalist would but transport +me in an instant to the summit of AEtna, any body might slop through +the Low Countries that pleased. + +Being, however, so far advanced, there was no retracting; and as it +is now three or four years since I have almost abandoned the hopes of +discovering a necromancer, I 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 they bask +in the sun, and wallow at their ease, till the hour of death and +bacon arrives, when capacious paunches await them. If I may judge +from the healthy looks and reposed complexions of the Flemings, they +have every reason to expect a peaceful tomb. + +But it is high time to leave our swinish moralities behind us, and to +jog on towards Antwerp. More rich pastures, more ample fields of +grain, more flourishing willows!--a boundless plain before this city, +dotted with cows and flowers, from 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, noble 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 Mer," 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 some famous artist, adds to its splendour; and the tops +of some tufted trees, seen above a line of magnificent hotels, have +no bad effect in 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 about at a +distance; but their dress was so shroud-like, and their whole +appearance so ghostly, that I was more than half afraid to accost +them. As the 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 +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 lost in the confusion of 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 imposing than this edifice at the hour I first +beheld it. Dark shades hindered my examining the lower galleries or +windows; 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 into 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 +spire, and added not a little to its enchanted effect. I longed to +ascend it that instant, to stretch myself out upon its very summit, +and calculate from so sublime an elevation the influence of the +planets. + +Whilst I was indulging my astrological 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. No +mob obstructed my passage, and I ran through a succession of streets, +free and unmolested, as if I had been skimming along over the downs +of Wiltshire. My servants conversing before the hotel were the only +sounds which the great "Place de Mer" echoed. + +This universal stillness was the more pleasing, when I looked back +upon those scenes of horror and outcry which filled London but a week +or two ago, when danger was not confined to night only, and the +environs of the capital, but haunted our streets at midday. 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 fires, +or hearing the confused and terrifying murmurs 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 roosted at Antwerp. Were I +not still fatigued with my heavy progress through sands and +quagmires, I should descant a little longer upon the blessings of so +quiet a metropolis, but it is growing late, and I must retire to +enjoy it. + + + +LETTER III + + + +ANTWERP, June 23rd. + +My windows look full upon the Place de Mer, and the sun, beaming +through their white curtains, awoke me from a dream of Arabian +happiness. Imagination had procured herself a tent on the mountains +of Sanaa, covered with coffee-trees in bloom. She was presenting me +the essence of their flowers, and was just telling me that you +possessed a pavilion on a neighbouring hill, when the sunshine +dispelled the vision; and opening my eyes, I found myself pent in by +Flemish spires and buildings: no hills, no verdure, no aromatic +breezes, no hope of being in your vicinity: all were vanished with +the shadows of fancy, and I was left alone to deplore your absence. +But I think it rather selfish to wish you here, for what pleasure +could pacing from one dull church to another, afford a person of your +turn? I don't believe you would catch a taste for blubbering +Magdalens and coarse Madonnas, by lolling in Rubens' chair; nor do I +believe a view of the Ostades and Snyders, so liberally scattered in +every collection, would greatly improve your pencil. + +After breakfast this morning I began my pilgrimage to all those +illustrious cabinets. 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. Heavens forbid I +should enter into a detail of their niceties! I might as well count +the dew-drops upon any of Van Huysem'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 courtyard of the Chanoin Knyfe's habitation; a snug abode, +well furnished with easy chairs and orthodox couches. After viewing +the rooms on the first floor, we mounted a gentle staircase, and +entered an ante-chamber, which those 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 Polemburgs. In +the gallery adjoining, two or three Rosa de Tivolis merit +observation; and a large Teniers, representing a St. Anthony +surrounded by a malicious fry of imps and leering devilesses, is well +calculated to display the whimsical buffoonery of a Dutch +imagination. + +I was observing 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 revenue of about five thousand pounds sterling, +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 alehouse 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 relished, you may suppose, by +this jovial personage. I said a few favourable words of Polemburg, +and offered up a small tribute of praise to the memory of Berghem; +but, as I could not prevail upon Mynheer Knyfe 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 was fluttering about one of the pinnacles of the tower; +their faint chirpings were the only sounds that broke the stillness +of the air. 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 beneath the +spire, one solitary Franciscan was the only creature that accosted +me. From him I learnt 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. As I had seen cabinets enough +to form some slight judgment of Flemish painting, I determined to +stay one day longer at Antwerp to hear a little how its inhabitants +were disposed to harmony. + +Having taken this resolution, I formed an acquaintance with Mynheer +Vander Bosch, the first organist of the place, who very kindly +permitted me to sit next him in his gallery during the celebration of +high mass. The service ended, I strayed about the aisles, and +examined the innumerable chapels which decorate them, whilst Mynheer +Vander Bosch thundered and lightened away upon his huge organ with +fifty stops. + +When the first flashes of execution were a little subsided, I took an +opportunity of surveying the celebrated "Descent from the Cross," +which has ever been esteemed one of Rubens's chef d'oeuvres, and for +which they say old Lewis Baboon offered no less a sum than forty +thousand florins. The principal figure has, doubtless, a very +meritorious paleness, and looks as dead as an artist could desire; +the rest of the group have been so liberally praised, that there is +no occasion to add another tittle of commendation. A swinging St. +Christopher, fording a brook with a child on his shoulders, cannot +fail of attracting your attention. This colossal personage is +painted on the folding-doors which defend the capital performance +just mentioned from vulgar eyes; and here Rubens has selected a very +proper subject to display the gigantic coarseness of his pencil. + +Had this powerful artist confined his strength to the representation +of agonizing thieves and sturdy Barabbases, nobody would have been +readier than your humble servant to offer incense at his shrine, but +when I find him lost in the flounces of the Virgin's drapery, or +bewildered in the graces of St. Catherine's smile, pardon me if I +withhold my adoration. After I had most dutifully observed all the +Rubenses in the church, I walked half over Antwerp in search of St. +John's relics, which were moving about in procession, but an +heretical wind having extinguished all their tapers, and discomposed +the canopy over the Bon Dieu, I cannot say much for the grandeur of +the spectacle. If my eyes were not greatly 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. Several of its marble altars +gleamed with the reflection of lamps, and, altogether, the spectacle +was new and imposing. I knelt very piously in one of the aisles +while a symphony in the best style of Corelli, performed with taste +and feeling, transported me to Italian climates, and I was quite +vexed, 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, where my spirit had so long taken up its +abode. Finding it was in vain to wish or expect any 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 in the Place de Mer, and soothed myself with +some terrestrial harmony; till, my eyes growing heavy, I fell fast +asleep, and entered the empire of dreams, according to custom, by its +ivory portal. What passed in those shadowy realms is too thin and +unsubstantial to be committed to paper. The very breath of waking +mortals would dissipate all the train, and drive them eternally away; +give me leave, therefore, to omit the relation of my visionary +travels, and have the patience to pursue a sketch of my real ones +from Antwerp to the Hague. + +Monday, June 26th, we were again upon the pave, 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, track-shuyts, 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 sunset, 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. It was fresh and +pleasant enough, but I breathed none of those genuine woody perfumes, +which exhale from the depths of forests, and which allure my +imagination at once to the haunts of Pan and the good old Sylvanus. +However, I was far from displeased with my ramble; and, consoling +myself with the hopes of shortly reposing in the sylvan labyrinths of +Nemi, I 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 sunbeams 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. To be sure 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 at present of this adventurous voyage, +I returned towards the Hague, and, in my way home, 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 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 B.'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 economical disposition of the +Dutch, who raise gardens from heaps of sand, and cities out of the +bosom of the waters. I had still a further proof of this thrifty +turn, since the first object I met was an unwieldy fellow (not able, +or unwilling, perhaps, to afford horses) airing his carcass in a one- +dog chair. The poor animal puffed and panted,--Mynheer smoked, and +gaped around him with the most blessed indifference. + + + +LETTER IV + + + +June 30th. + +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 St. Anthony, by Hell-fire +Brughel, who has shown himself right worthy of the title; for a more +diabolical variety of imps never entered the human imagination. +Brughel 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, from whence issue a band +of junior devils. These seem highly entertained with pinking poor +St. 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 pious than his eye, which forms 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 Polemburgs; 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 don't do justice +to your merit; and excuse me, Potter! if I pass by your herds without +leaving a tribute of admiration. + +Mynheer Van Something is as eager to precipitate my motions as I was +to get out of the damps and perplexities of Soorflect yesterday +evening; so mounting a very indifferent staircase, he led me to a +suite of garret-like apartments; which, considering the meanness of +their exterior, I was much 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. What of all its baubles pleased me most was a large coffer +of some precious wood, containing enamelled flasks of oriental +essences, enough to perfume a zenana, and so fragrant that I thought +the Mogul himself a Dutchman, for lavishing them upon this inelegant +nation. If disagreeable fumes, as I mentioned before, dissolve +enchantments, such aromatic oils have doubtless the power of raising +them; for, whilst I scented their fragrance, scarcely could anything +have persuaded me that I was not in the wardrobe of Hecuba, - + + +"Where treasur'd odours breath'd a costly scent." + + +I saw, or seemed to see, the arched apartments, the procession of +venerable matrons, the consecrated vestments: the very temple began +to rise upon my sight, when a Dutch porpoise approaching to make me a +low bow; his complaisance was full as notorious as Satan's, when, +according to Catholic legends, he took leave of Calvin or Dr. +Faustus. No spell can resist a fumigation of this nature; away fled +palace, Hecuba, matrons, temple, etc. I looked up, and lo! I was in +a garret. As poetry is but too often connected with this lofty +situation, you won't 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 great deal to their +reestablishment. + +The butterflies, I must needs confess, were very near leading me +another dance: I thought of their native hills and beloved flowers, +of Haynang and Nan-Hoa; {110} but the jargon which was prating 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. The Hague is the place in the world for a motley +assembly, and, in some humours, I think such the most agreeable. + +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, and form some of the most +picturesque groups conceivable. 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. Several 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 seem +calculated to favour half the sins of a capital. + +Relying upon this comfortable security, I lingered unmolested amongst +the beeches till the ruddy gold of the setting sun ceased to glow on +their foliage; 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 their endeavours: 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 banqueting-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 their dolphin-like terminations? + +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. To puzzle +myself in such a labyrinth there was no temptation, 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. To-morrow I bid it adieu, and if the +horses but second my endeavours, shall be delivered in a few days +from the complicated plagues of the United Provinces. + + + +LETTER V + + + +HAERLEM, July 1st. + +The sky was clear and blue when we left the Hague, and we travelled +along a shady road for about an hour, then 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. So let us get out of it +as fast as we can, and breathe the cool air of the wood near Haerlem, +where 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 pleasant walk in the groves, took up Gesner, and +began to have pretty pastoral ideas; but when I approached the nymphs +that were dispersed on the meads, and saw faces that would have +dishonoured a flounder, and heard accents that would have confounded +a hog, all my dislike to the walking filth of the Low Countries +returned. I let fall the garlands I had wreathed for the shepherds; +we jumped into the carriage, and were 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 won't 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; Mynheers very busy with the +realities, and smoking as deliberately as if in a solitary lusthuys +over the laziest canal in the Netherlands; squeaking chambermaids in +the galleries above, and prudish dames 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 less and less delicate; Mammon prevails, +darkness and complaisance succeed. Good-night; may you sleep better +than I shall. + + + +LETTER VI + + + +UTRECHT, July 2nd. + +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 agreeable 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 covered, 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 round unmeaning faces 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 +Siest, 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 +handiworks: 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 have approached this busy group, but the +roll of the 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 +incorrect a narrative. I really have not time to look it over, and +am growing so drowsy, that you will, I hope, pardon all its errors, +when you consider that my pen writes in its sleep. + + + +LETTER VII + + + +SPA, July 6th. + +From Utrecht to Bois le Duc nothing but sand and heath; no +inspiration, no whispering foliage, not even a grasshopper, to put +one in mind of Eclogues and Theocritus. "But why did you not fall +into one of your beloved slumbers, and dream of poetic mountains? +This was the very country to shut one's eyes upon without +disparagement." Why so I did, but the postillions and boatmen +obliged me to open them, as soon as they were closed. Four times was +I shoved, out of my visions, into leaky boats, and towed across as +many idle rivers. I thought there was no end of these tiresome +transits; and, when I reached my journey's end, was so completely +jaded that I almost believed Charon would be the next aquatic I +should have to deal with. The fair light of the morning (Tuesday, +July 4th) was scarcely sufficient to raise my spirits, and I had left +Bois le Duc a good way in arrears before I was thoroughly convinced +of my existence; when I looked through the blinds of the carriage, +and saw nothing but barren plains and mournful willows, banks clad +with rushes, and heifers so black and dismal that Proserpine herself +would have given them up to Hecate. I was near believing myself in +the neighbourhood of a certain evil place, where I should be punished +for all my croakings. We travelled at this rate, I dare say, fifteen +miles, without seeing a single shed: at last, one or two miserable +cottages appeared, darkened by heath, and stuck in a sand-pit; from +whence issued a half-starved generation, that pursued us a long while +with their piteous wailings. The heavy roads and ugly prospects, +together with the petulant clamours of my petitioners, made me quite +uncharitable. I was in a dark, remorseless mood, which lasted me +till we reached Bree, a shabby decayed town, encompassed by walls and +ruined turrets. Having nothing to do, I straggled about them, till +night shaded the dreary prospects, and gave me an opportunity of +imagining them, if I pleased, noble and majestic. Several of these +waning edifices were invested with thick ivy: the evening was chill, +and I crept under their covert. Two or three brother owls were +before me, but politely gave up their pretensions to the spot, and, +as soon as I appeared, with a rueful whoop flitted away to some +deeper retirement. I had scarcely begun to mope in tranquillity, +before a rapid shower trickled amongst the clusters above me, and +forced me to abandon my haunt. Returning in the midst of it to my +inn, I hurried to bed, and was soon lulled asleep by the storm. A +dream bore me off to Persepolis; and led me thro' vast subterraneous +treasures to a hall, where Solomon, methought, was holding forth upon +their vanity. I was upon the very point of securing a part of this +immense wealth, and fancied myself writing down the sage prophet's +advice how to make use of it, when a loud vociferation in the street, +and the bell of a neighbouring chapel, dispersed the vision. +Starting up, I threw open the windows, and found it was eight o'clock +(Wednesday, July 5th), and had hardly rubbed my eyes, before beggars +came limping from every quarter. I knew their plaguy voices but too +well; and that the same hubbub had broken my slumbers, and driven me +from wisdom and riches to the regions of ignorance and poverty. The +halt, the lame, and the blind, being restored, by the miracle of a +few stivers, to their functions, we breakfasted in peace, and, +gaining the carriage, waded through sandy deserts to Maestricht: our +view, however, was considerably improved, for a league round the +town, and presented some hills and pleasant valleys, smiling with +crops of grain: here and there, green meadows, spread over with hay, +varied the prospect, which the chirping of birds (the first I had +heard for many a tedious day) amongst the barley, rendered so +cheerful, that I began, like them, my exultations, and was equally +thoughtless and serene. I need scarcely tell you, that, leaving the +coach, I pursued a deep furrow between two extensive corn-fields, and +reposed upon a bank of flowers, the golden ears waving above my head, +and entirely bounding my prospect. Here I lay, in peace and +sunshine, a few happy moments; contemplating the blue sky, and +fancying myself restored to the valley at F., where I have passed so +many happy hours, shut out from the world, and concealed in the bosom +of harvests. It was then I first grew so fond of dreaming; and no +wonder, since I have frequently imagined that Ceres did not disdain +to inspire my slumbers; but, half concealed, half visible, would tell +me amusing stories of her reapers; and, sometimes more seriously +inclined, recite the affecting tale of her misfortunes. At midday, +when all was still, and a warm haze seemed to repose on the face of +the landscape, I have often fancied this celestial voice bewailing +Proserpine, in the most pathetic accents. From these sacred moments +I resolved to offer sacrifice in the fields of Enna; to explore their +fragrant recesses, and experience whether the Divinity would not +manifest herself to me in her favourite domain. It was this vow, +which tempted me from my native valleys. Its execution, therefore, +being my principal aim, I deserted my solitary bank and proceeded on +my journey. Maestricht abounds in Gothic churches, but contains no +temple to Ceres. I was not sorry to quit it, after spending an hour +unavoidably within its walls. Our road was conducted up a +considerable eminence, from the summit of which we discovered a range +of woody steeps, extending for leagues; beneath lay a winding valley, +richly variegated and lighted up by the Maese. The evening sun, +scarcely gleaming through hazy clouds, cast a pale, tender hue upon +the landscape, and the copses, still dewy with a shower that had +lately fallen, diffused the most grateful fragrance. Flocks of sheep +hung browsing on the acclivities, whilst a numerous herd were +dispersed along the river's side. I stayed so long, enjoying this +pastoral scene, that we did not arrive at Liege till the night was +advanced, and the moon risen. Her interesting gleams were thrown +away upon this ill-built, crowded city; and I grieved that gates and +fortifications prevented my breathing the fresh air of the +surrounding mountains. + +Next morning (July 6th) a zigzag road brought us, after many descents +and rises, to Spa. The approach, through a rocky vale, is not +totally devoid of picturesque merit, and as I met no cabriolets or +tituppings on the chaufee, I concluded that the waters were not as +yet much visited; and that I should have their romantic environs +pretty much to myself. But, alas, how rudely was I deceived! The +moment we entered up flew a dozen sashes. Chevaliers de St. Louis, +meagre Marquises, and ladies of the scarlet order of Babylon, all +poked their heads out. In a few minutes half the town was in motion; +tailors, confectioners, and barbers thrusting bills into our hands +with manifold grimaces and contortions. Then succeeded a grand entre +of valets de place, who were hardly dismissed before the lodging +letters arrived, followed by somebody with a list of les seigneurs +and dames as long as a Welsh pedigree. Half-an-hour was wasted in +speeches and recommendations; another passed before we could snatch a +morsel of refreshment; they then finding I was neither inclined to go +to the ball, nor enter the land where Pharaoh reigneth, peace was +restored, a few feeble bows were scraped, and I found myself in +perfect solitude. Taking advantage of this quiet moment, I stole out +of town, and followed a path cut in the rocks, which brought me to a +young wood of oaks on their summits. Luckily I met no saunterer: +the gay vagabonds, it seemed, were all at the assembly, as happy as +billiards and chit-chat could make them. It was not an evening to +tempt such folks abroad. The air was cool, and the sky lowering; a +melancholy cloud shaded the wild hills and irregular woods at a +distance. There was something so importunate in their appearance, +that I could not help asking their name, and was told they were +skirts of the forest of Ardenne, amongst whose enchanted labyrinths +the heroes of Boyardo and Ariosto roved formerly in quest of +adventures. I felt myself singularly affected whilst gazing upon a +wood so celebrated in romance for feats of the highest chivalry; and, +Don Quixote-like, would have explored its recesses in search of that +memorable fountain of hatred, which (if you recollect the story) was +raised by Merlin to free illustrious knights and damsels from the +torments of rejected love. So far was I advanced in these romantic +fancies, that, forgetting the lateness of the hour, I wandered on, +expecting to reach the fountain at every step; but at length it grew +so dusky that, unable to trace back my way amongst the thickets, in +vain I strayed through intricate copses, till the clouds began to +disperse and the moon appeared. Being so placed as to receive the +full play of silver radiance, to my no small surprise, I beheld a +precipice immediately beneath my feet. The chasm was deep and awful; +something like the entrance to a grot discovered itself below, and if +I had not already been disappointed on the score of the fount, I +won't answer but that I should have flung myself adventurously down, +and tried whether I might not have seen such wonders as appeared to +Bradamante, when cast by Pinnabel, rather impolitely, into Merlin's +cave. But no propitious light beaming from the cavity, I concluded +times were changed; and searching about me, found at last a shelving +steep, which it was just possible to descend without goat's heels, +and that's all. + +In my way home, I passed the redoute, and seeing a vast glare of +lustres in its apartments, I ran upstairs and found the gamblers all +eager in storming the Pharaoh Bank: a young Englishman of +distinction seemed the most likely to raise the siege, which +increased every instant in turbulence; but not feeling the least +inclination to protract or to shorten its fate, I left the knights to +their adventures, and returned ingloriously to my inn. + +All languages are chattering at the Table d'Hote, and all sorts of +business transacted under my very windows. The racket and perfume of +this place make me resolve to get out of it to-morrow; as that is the +case, you won't hear from me till I reach Munich. Adieu! May we +meet in our dreams by the fountain of Merlin, and from thence take +our flight with Astolpho to the moon; for I shrewdly suspect the best +part of our senses are bottled up there; and then, you know, it will +be a delightful novelty to wake up with a clear understanding. + +"Indeed, Sir, no Monsieur comme il faut, ever left Spa in such +dudgeon before, unless jilted by a Polish princess, or stripped by an +itinerant Count! You have neither breakfasted at the Vauxhall, nor +attended the Spectacle, nor tasted the waters. Had you but taken one +sip, your ill-humour would have all trickled away, and you would have +felt both your heels and your elbows quite alive in the evening."-- +Granted; but pray tell your postillions to drive off as fast as their +horses will carry them. + +Away we went to 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 asked our names (for not a single +soldier appeared); and 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, found myself, towards the close of evening, +upon the banks of the Rhine. + +Many wild ideas thronged into my mind, the moment I beheld this +celebrated river. I thought of the vast regions through which it +flows, and suffered my imagination to expatiate as far as its source. +A red, variegated sky, reflected from the stream, the woods trembling +on its banks, and the spires of Nuys rising beyond them, helped to +amuse my fancy. Not being able to brook the confinement of the +carriage, I left it to come over at its leisure; and, stepping into a +boat, rowed along, at first, by the quivering osiers; then, launching +out into the midst of the waters, I glided a few moments with the +current, and resting on my oars, listened to the hum of voices afar +off, while several little skiffs, like canoes, glanced before my +sight, concerning which distance and the twilight allowed me to make +a thousand fantastic conjectures. When I had sufficiently indulged +these extravagant reveries, I began to cross over the river in good +earnest; and being landed on its opposite margin, travelled forwards +to the town. + +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 both the seat +of war and the victim 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 that ever nastiness +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 +subject, and think such strange imbroglios 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 colours alone can express, would be +only reversing the absurdity of many a master in the gallery, who +aims to represent those ideas by colours which language alone is able +to describe. Should you admit this opinion, you won't 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 M---. + +As I had spent so much time in gazing at Camillo's divinity, 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 Mr. Salmon himself 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 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 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 in some Arabian pyramid +ten feet deep in spice; but you see one can never 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 the holy Empress Helena, as great +a collectress of relics as the D---s of P. is of profane curiosities, +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 God 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 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. Various are the prospects I surveyed from this imaginary +exaltation, and innumerable the chimeras which trotted in my brain. +Mounted on these fantastic quadrupeds, I shot swiftly from rock to +rock, and built castles in the style of Piranesi upon most of their +pinnacles. The magnificence and variety of my aerial towers hindered +my thinking the way long. I was still 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 palace. You may guess how contemptible it appeared to one +just returned from the court of fancy. + +In other respects, I saw it in a very favourable moment; for the +twilight, shading the whole facade, concealed its plaistered walls +and painted pillars; their pediments and capitals being tolerably +well proportioned, and the range of windows beneath considerable, I +gave the architect more credit than he deserved, and paced to and fro +beneath the arcade, as pompously as if arrived at the Vatican; but +the circumstance which rendered my walk in reality agreeable, was the +prevalence of a delicious perfume. It was so dusky, that I was a +minute or two seeking in vain the entrance of an orangery, from +whence this reviving scent proceeded. At length I discovered it; +and, passing under an arch, found myself in the midst of lemon and +orange trees, now in the fullest blow, which form a continued grove +before the palace, and extend, on each side of its grand portal, out +of sight. A few steps separate this extensive terrace from a lawn, +bordered by stately rows of beeches. Beyond, in the centre of this +striking theatre, rises a romantic assemblage of distant mountains, +crowned with the ruins of castles, whose turrets, but faintly seen, +were just such as you have created to complete a prospect. I was the +only human being in the misty extent of the gardens, and was happier +in my solitude than I can describe. No noise disturbed its silence, +except the flutter of moths and trickling of fountains. These +undecided sounds, corresponding with the dimness and haze of the +scenery, threw me into a pensive state of mind, neither gay nor +dismal. I recapitulated the wayward adventures of my childhood, and +traced back each moment of a period, which had seen me happy. Then, +turning my thoughts towards future days, my heart beat at the idea of +that awful veil which covers the time to come. One moment, 'twas the +brightest hope that glittered behind it; the next, a series of +melancholy images clouded the perspective. Thus, alternately swayed +by fears and exultation, I passed an interesting hour in the +twilight, ranging amongst the orange trees, or reclined by the +fountain. I could not boast of being perfectly satisfied, since +those were absent, without whom not even the fields of Enna could be +charming. However, I was far from displeased with the clear streams +that bubbled around, and could willingly have dropped asleep by their +margin. Had I reposed in so romantic a situation, the murmurs of +trees and waters would doubtless have invited "some strange +mysterious dream" to hover over me, and perhaps futurity might have +been unveiled. + + + +LETTER VIII + + + +July 11th.--Let those who delight in picturesque country repair to +the borders of the Rhine, and follow the road which we took 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 shades and promontories beneath which we should be +wafted along. + +But I don't think you would find Coblentz, where we were obliged to +take up our night's lodging, much to your taste. 'Tis a mean, dirty +assemblage of plastered houses, striped with paint, and set off with +wooden galleries, in the beautiful taste of St. Giles's. Above, on a +rock, stands the palace of the Elector, which seems to be remarkable +for nothing but situation. I did not bestow many looks on this +structure whilst ascending the mountain across which our road to +Mayence conducted us. + +July 12th.--Having attained the summit, we discovered a vast, +irregular range of country, and advancing, found ourselves amongst +downs bounded by forests and purpled with thyme. 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; there reposing beneath its shade, I +gathered flowers, listened to the bees, observed their industry, and +idled away a few minutes with great fascination. 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, shut +in 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 Lune (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. +Upon my return, I asked a thousand questions, but could never obtain +any information of the figure and its luminaries. + +July 13th.--The pure air of the morning invited me early to the +hills. 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 new promontory, 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 of +its entrance. Full of such agreeable dreams, I rambled about the +meads, scarcely knowing 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. {127} + +July 14th.--I have just made a discovery, that this place 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; no +chance of meeting either card or billiard players in their solitudes. +Both abound at Ems, where they hop and fidget from ball to ball, +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 coarse 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'hotel 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 grande maitresse, son Chamberlain et quelques +Dames d'Honneur:" moreover, that his Highness came hither to refresh +himself after his laborious employments at the Court of Petersburg, +and expected (grace aux eaux!) to return to the domains his august +sovereign had lately bestowed upon him in perfect health, and to +become the father of his people. + +Wishing Monsieur d'Orloff all possible success, I should have left +the company at a great 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 awfully +along the distant cliffs, and several rapid torrents began to run +down the steeps. Unable to stay within, I walked into an open +portico, listening to the murmur of the river, mingled with the roar +of falling waters. At intervals a blue flash of lightning discovered +their agitated surface, 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 nothingness of ascending mountains, took shelter +under the porch, and entering immediately into conversation, regaled +my ears with a woful narration of murders which had happened the +other day on the precise road I was to follow 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 +once 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." + +I own I felt rather intimidated by so formidable a prospect, and was +very near abandoning my plan of crossing the mountains, and so go +back again and round about, the Lord knows where; but considering +this step would be quite unheroical, I resolved to attribute my fears +to the gloom of the moment, and the dejection it occasioned. 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; and after tossing and tumbling in the +agitation of tumultuous slumbers, I started up at seven in the +morning of July 15th, ordered the horses, and set forward, without +further dilemmas. Though it had thundered almost the whole night, +the air was still clogged with vapours, the mountains bathed in humid +clouds, and the scene I had so warmly admired no longer discernible. +Proceeding along the edge of the precipices I had been forewarned of, +for about an hour, and escaping that peril at least, we traversed the +slopes of a rude, heathy hill, in instantaneous expectation of foes +and murderers. A misty rain prevented us seeing above ten yards +before us, and every uncouth oak or rocky fragment we approached +seemed lurking spies or gigantic enemies. One time the murmur of the +wind among invisible woods of beech, sounded like the wail of +distress; and at another the noise of a torrent we could not +discover, counterfeited the report of musquetry. In this suspicious +manner we journeyed through the forest which had so recently been the +scene of assaults and depredations. At length, after winding several +restless hours amongst its dreary avenues, we emerged into open +daylight. The sky cleared, a cultivated vale lay before us, and the +evening sun, gleaming bright through the vapours, cast a cheerful +look upon some corn-fields, and seemed to promise better times. A +few minutes more brought us safe to the village of Viesbaden, where +we slept in peace and tranquillity. + +July 16th.--Our apprehensions entirely dispersed, we rose light and +refreshed from our slumbers, and passing through Mayence, Oppenheim, +and Worms, travelled gaily over the plain in which Mannheim is +situated. The sun set before we arrived there, and it was by the +mild gleams of the rising moon, that I first beheld the vast +electoral palace, and those long straight streets and neat white +houses, which distinguish this elegant capital from almost every +other. + +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 German flute. A +scene of such happiness and refinement contrasted in the most +agreeable manner with the dismal prospects we had left behind. No +storms, no frightful chasms, were here to alarm us, no ruffians or +lawless plunderers. All around was peace, security, and contentment +in their most engaging attire. + +July 17th.--Though all impatience to reach that delightful classic +region which already possesses, as I have often said, the better half +of my spirit, I could not think of leaving Mannheim unexplored; and +therefore resolved to give up the day to the halls and galleries of +the electoral palace. Those, which contain the cabinet of paintings +and sculptures in ivory, form a regular suite of nine immense +apartments, about three hundred and seventy-two feet in length, well- +proportioned and uniformly floored with inlaid wood. Each room has +ample folding-doors richly gilt and varnished. When seen in +perspective these entrances have the most magnificent effect +imaginable. Nothing can give nobler ideas of space than such an +enfilade of saloons unencumbered by heavy furniture, where the eyes +range without interruption: I wandered alone from one to the other, +and was never wearied with contemplating the variety of pictures +which enliven the scene, and convey the highest idea of the +collector's taste. When my curiosity was a little satisfied, I left +this amusing series of apartments with regret, visited the library +which the present Elector Palatine has formed, upon the same great +scale that characterizes his other collections, and, after viewing +the rest of the palace, saw the opera house, which may boast of +having contained one of the first bands in Europe: from thence I +returned home in a very musical humour. + +An excellent harpsichord seconded this disposition, which lasted me +till late in the evening; when growing drowsy, I yielded to the +influence of sleep, and was in an instant transported to a far more +delightful palace than that of the elector; where I expatiated in +perfumed apartments with yellow light, and conversed with none but +Albano and Claude Lorrain, till the beams of the morning sun entered +my chamber, and forced my visiting companions to fly murmuring to the +shades. I cannot say but I was sorry to leave Mannheim, though my +acquaintance with it was entirely confined to inanimate objects. The +cheerful air and free range of the galleries would be sufficient, for +several days, for my amusement; as you know I could people them with +phantoms. Not many leagues out of town, lie the famous gardens of +Schweidsing. The weather being extremely warm, we were glad to avail +ourselves of their shades. There are a great many fountains inclosed +by thickets of shrubs, and cool alleys which lead to arbours of +trellis-work, festooned with nasturtiums and convolvuluses. Several +catalpas and sumachs in full flower gave considerable richness to the +scenery; and whilst we walked amongst them, a fresh breeze gently +waved their summits. The tall poplars and acacias, quivering with +the air, cast innumerable shadows on the intervening plats of +greensward, and, as they moved their branches, discovered other walks +beyond, and distant jets of water rising above their foliage, and +sparkling in the sun. After passing a multitude of shady avenues, +terminated by temples or groups of statues, we followed our guide +through a kind of arched bower to a little opening in the wood, +neatly paved with different coloured pebbles. On one side, appeared +niches and alcoves, ornamented with spars and polished marbles; on +the other, an aviary; in front, a superb pavilion, with baths, +porticos, and cabinets, fitted up in the most elegant and luxurious +style. The song of exotic birds; the freshness of the surrounding +verdure heightened by falling streams; and that dubious poetic light +admitted through thick foliage, so agreeable after the glare of a +sultry day, detained me for some time in an alcove reading Spenser, +and imagining myself but a few paces removed from the Idle Lake. I +would fain have loitered an hour more in this enchanted bower, had +not the gardener, whose patience was quite exhausted, and who had +never heard of the Red-Cross Knight and his achievements, dragged me +away to a sunburnt, contemptible hillock, commanding the view of a +serpentine ditch, and decorated with the title of Jardin Anglois. +Some object like decayed limekilns and mouldering ovens, is disposed +in an amphitheatrical form, on the declivity of this tremendous +eminence: and there is to be ivy, and a cascade, and what not, as my +conductor observed. A glance was all I bestowed on this caricature +upon English gardens; I then went off in a huff at being chased from +my bower, and grumbled all the road to Entsweigen; where, to our +misfortune, we lay amidst hogs and vermin, who amply revenged my +quarrels with their country. + +July 20th.--After travelling a post or two, we came in sight of a +green moor, with many insulated woods and villages; the Danube +sweeping majestically along, and the city of Ulm rising upon its +banks. The fields in its neighbourhood were overspread with cloths +bleaching in the sun, and waiting for barks which convey them down +the great river, in ten days, to Vienna, and from thence through +Hungary, into the midst of the Turkish Empire. I almost envied the +merchants their voyage, and descending to the edge of the stream, +proffered my orisons to Father Danube, beseeching him to remember me +to the regions through which he flows. I promised him an altar and +solemn rites, should he grant my request, and was very idolatrous, +until the shadows lengthening over the unlimited plains on his +margin, reminded me that the sun would be shortly sunk, and that I +had still above fifteen miles to go. Gathering a purple iris that +grew upon the bank, I wore it to his honour; and have reason to fancy +my piety was rewarded, as not a fly or an insect dared to buzz about +me the whole evening. + +You never saw a brighter sky nor more glowing clouds than gilded our +horizon. The air was impregnated with the perfume of clover, and for +ten miles we beheld no other objects than smooth levels enamelled +with flowers, and interspersed with thickets of oak, beyond which +appeared a long series of mountains, that distance and the evening +tinged with an interesting azure. Such were the very spots for +youthful games and exercises, open spaces for tilts, and spreading +shades to screen the spectators. + +Father Lafiteau tells us, there are many such vast and flowery meads +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 Aneantsic, +encircled by choirs of departed chieftains leaping in cadence to the +mournful sound of spears as they ring on the shell of the tortoise. +Their favourite attendants, long separated from them whilst 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 across the lawn to meet them. Flights of familiar birds, +the purveyors of many an earthly chase, once more attend their +progress, whilst the shades of their faithful dogs seem coursing each +other below. Low murmurs and tinkling sounds fill the whole region, +and, as its new denizens proceed, increase in melody, till, unable to +resist the thrilling music, they 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 plain, which appeared to widen and extend +in proportion as the twilight prevailed. + +The dusky hour, favourable to conjurations, allowed me to believe the +spirits of departed friends not far removed from the clouds, which, +to all appearance, reposed at the extremity of the prospect, and +tinted the surface of the horizon with ruddy colours. This glow +still lingered upon the verge of the landscape, after the sun +disappeared; and 'twas in those peaceful moments, when no sound but +the browsing of cattle reached me, that I imagined benign looks were +cast upon me from the golden vapours, and I seemed to catch glimpses +of faint forms moving, amongst them, which were once so dear; and +even thought my ears affected by well-known voices, long silent upon +earth. When the warm hues of the sky were gradually fading, and the +distant thickets began to assume a deeper and more melancholy blue, I +fancied a shape like Thisbe {133} shot swiftly along; and, sometimes +halting afar off, cast an affectionate look upon her old master, that +seemed to say, When you draw near the last inevitable hour, and the +pale countries of Aneantsic are stretched out before you, I will +precede your footsteps, and guide them safe through the wild +labyrinths which separate this world from yours. I was so possessed +with the ideas and so full of the remembrance of that poor, +affectionate creature, whose miserable end you were the witness of, +that I did not, for several minutes, perceive our arrival at +Guntsberg. Hurrying to bed, I seemed in my slumbers to pass that +interdicted boundary which divides our earth from the region of +Indian happiness. Thisbe ran nimbly before me; her white form +glimmered amongst dusky forests; she led me into an infinitely +spacious plain, where I heard vast multitudes discoursing upon events +to come. What further passed must never be revealed. I awoke in +tears, and could hardly find spirits enough to look around me, till +we were driving through the midst of Augsburg. + +July 21st.--We dined 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, under whose auspices the colony was formed. 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, and displays in his background those streets +of palaces described in the Iliad, Augsburg, or some such city, may +easily be traced. Sometimes a corner of Antwerp discovers itself; +and generally, 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 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 a +triumphal car waited at my feet, or as if on the point of giving +audience to the Queen of Sheba. It happened to be a Saint's day, 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 identical 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 supper was served up to my majesty; I scolded in an unroyal +style, and soon convinced myself I was no longer Solomon. + +July 22nd.--Joy to the Electors of Bavaria! for planting 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 walk amidst +springs and lilies of her own creation. I speak from authority, +having had the pleasure of anticipating an evening in this romantic +style. + +Tuesday next is the grand fair, 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 like 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 23rd.--We were driven in the evening to Nymphenburg, the +Elector's country palace, whose bosquets, jets-d'eaux, and parterres +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 the most +flaming flowers, border the edge of the walks, which extend till the +perspective meets, and swarm with ladies and gentlemen in parti- +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. T., +and a party of fashionable Bavarians. + +Amongst the ladies was Madame la Contesse, I forget who, a production +of the venerable Haslang, with her daughter, Madame de ---, 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 a-going 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 in a coloured print. Thus we +kept walking genteelly about the orangery, till the carriage drew up +and conveyed us to Mr. T'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 valz, 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 inconceivable +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, heads scratching, and all sorts of +performances going forward at the same moment; the flutes, oboes, and +bassoons snorting and grunting 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 somewhat advanced before they +are deserted. If good humour and coarse merriment are all that +people desire, here they are to be found in perfection, though at the +expense of toes and noses. Both these extremities of my person +suffered most cruelly; and I was not sorry to retire about one in the +morning to a purer atmosphere. + +July 24th.--Custom condemned us to visit the palace, which glares +with looking-glass, gilding, and 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 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 Sleitzom collection is +piled up, till a gallery can be finished for its reception. 'Twas a +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 canvas, and 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 +don't be afraid of any long-winded epistles from their summits: I +shall be too well employed in ascending them. Just now, as I have +lain by a long while, I grow sleek, and scribble on in mere +wantonness of spirit. What excesses such a correspondence is capable +of, you will soon be able to judge. + +July 25th.--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 energetic vehemence of the German +tongue. Vast quantities of rich merchandise glittered in the shops +as we passed along to the gates. Heaps of fruit and sweetmeats set +half the grandams and infants in the place a-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 bread, and were pestered with swarms +of flies, most probably journeying to Munich fair, there to feast +upon sugared tarts and bottle-noses. + +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 Wollrathshausen, consisting of +several cottages, built entirely of fir, with strange galleries +hanging over the way. Nothing can be neater than the carpentry of +these simple 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 who remember the +Emperor Lewis of Bavaria. Orchards of cherry-trees impend from the +steeps above the village, which to our certain knowledge produce no +contemptible fruit. + +Having refreshed ourselves with their cooling juice, we struck into a +grove of pines, the tallest and most flourishing perhaps we ever +beheld. There seemed no end to these forests, save 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 and 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, and then are circumscribed by +snows: here, no boundaries are set to their progress, and the +mountains, from their bases to their summits, display rich unbroken +masses of vegetation. + +As we were surveying this prospect, a thick cloud, fraught with +thunder, obscured the transparence of the horizon, whilst flashes +startled our horses, whose snorts and stampings resounded through the +woods. What from the shade of the firs and the impending tempests, +we travelled several miles almost in total darkness. One moment the +clouds began to fleet, and a faint gleam promised serener hours, but +the next all was gloom 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 fury as to be with difficulty forded. +Twilight drew on, just as we had passed the most terrible; then +ascending a steep hill under 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 a few +transparent clouds, the remains of the rays of a struggling sunset, +were suspended, which streamed on the surface of the waters, and +tinged with tender pink the brow of a verdant promontory. + +I could not help fixing myself on the banks of the lake for several +minutes, till this apparition was lost, and confounded with the +shades of night. Looking round, I shuddered at a craggy mountain, +clothed in dark forests and almost perpendicular, that was absolutely +to be surmounted before we could arrive at Wallersee. No house, not +even a shed appearing, we were forced to ascend the peak, and +penetrate these awful groves. + +Great praise is due to the directors of the roads across them, which, +considering their situation, are wonderfully fine. Mounds of stone +support the passage in some places; and, in others, it is hewn with +incredible labour through the solid rock. Beeches and pines of a +hundred feet high, darken the way with their gigantic branches, +casting a chill around, and diffusing a woody odour. As we advanced, +in the thick shade, amidst the spray of torrents, and heard their +loud roar in the chasm beneath, I could scarcely help thinking myself +transported to the Grande Chartreuse; and began to conceive hopes of +once more beholding St. Bruno. {140} But, though that venerable +father did not vouchsafe an apparition, or call to me again from the +depths of the dells, he protected his votary from nightly perils, and +brought us to the banks of Wallersee Lake. We saw lights gleam upon +its shores, which directed us to a cottage where we reposed after our +toils, and were soon lulled to sleep by the fall of distant waters. + +July 26th.--The sun rose many hours before me, and when I got up was +spangling the surface of the lake, which expands 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 Meer, 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. I could contentedly have +passed a summer's moon in these retirements, hollowed myself a canoe, +and fished for sustenance. + +From the shore of Wallersee, our road led us straight through arching +groves, which the axe seems never to have violated, to the summit of +a rock covered with spurge-laurel, 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 spruce-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, their 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 exotic appearance of this sequestered +family, that, crossing a rivulet, I clambered up to their cottage and +begged 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. I can +imagine few situations more dreadful than to be lost at night amidst +this confusion of trunks, hollow winds whistling among the branches, +and strewing their cones below. 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 swelling hills, +divided into agreeable shady inclosures, where many herds were +grazing. A rivulet flows along the pastures beneath; and after +winding through the village of Boidou, 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, and 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 a neat hamlet +called Mittenvald, 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 Mittenvald the whole evening. + +Our inn had long airy galleries, and a pleasant balcony 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 +these glowing vapours sailing over the pointed rocks; and brightening +them in their passage with amber light. + +When all were 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, guards the plain from +intrusion, and opens 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 her saintship's day), +going to pay their devotions, 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, other 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. Don't be surprised, then, if I became a convert +to idolatry in so amiable a form, and worshipped St. 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 the caper-plant 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 dashes 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 summits of the cliffs, and diffused a +repose, a divine calm, over this deep retirement, which inclined me +to imagine it the extremity of the earth, and 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! I hung eagerly on the gulph, impressed with this idea, and +fancied myself listening to a voice that bubbled 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 the wild pinks with which they +are strewed in profusion, and a species of 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 shades. The village was +already hushed when I regained it, and in a few moments I followed +its example. + +July 27th.--We pursued our journey to Inspruck, through the wildest +scenes of wood and mountain that were ever traversed, the rocks 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 Ambras, 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 immediately off. + +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 +glistening in the sun. 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 half-way up the cliffs, +till its roar and agitation became, through distance, inconsiderable. + +After a long ascent, the shades of evening reposing in the valleys, +and the upland snows still tinged with a vivid red, we reached +Schonberg, 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, which had finished half its course +before we were settled to rest. + +July 28th.--I rose early to scent 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 considerable. + +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 adjoining, which are filled with poppies, +seeming to thrive in this parched situation. + + +"Urit enim lini campum seges, urit avenae, +Urunt Lethaeo perfusa papavera somno." + + +The farther we advanced in the dell, the larger were the plantations +which discovered themselves. For what purpose these gaudy flowers +meet with such encouragement, I had neither time nor language to +inquire; 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, and has perceived 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 don't +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 tricklings inspire a drowsiness not easily to be +resisted. Add to these circumstances the waving of the pines, with +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. + +At present, I must confess, I should not dislike submitting to his +empire, for a few months or years, just as it might happen, whilst +Europe is distracted by demons of revenge and war; whilst they are +strangling at Venice, and tearing each other to pieces in unhappy +London; whilst Etna and Vesuvius give signs of uncommon wrath; +America welters in her blood; and almost every quarter of the globe +is filled with carnage and devastation. This is the moment to humble +ourselves before the God of Sleep; to beseech him to open his dusky +portals; and admit us into the repose of his retired kingdom. If you +are inclined to become a suppliant, hasten to the Tyrol, and we will +search together about the mountains, traverse the poppy-meads, and +look into every chasm and fissure that excludes daylight, in hopes of +discovering the mansion of repose. Then when we have found this +corner (or I think our search will be successful) Morpheus will give +us an approving nod, and beckon us in silence to couch, where, soon +lulled by the murmurs of the place, we shall sink into oblivion and +tranquillity. But we may as well keep our eyes open for the present, +till we have made this important discovery, and look at the beautiful +country round Brixen, whither I arrived in the cool of the evening, +and breathed the freshness of a garden, immediately beneath my +window. The thrushes, warbling amongst its shades, saluted me, the +moment I awoke next morning. + +July 29th.--We proceeded over fertile mountains to Bolsano. Here +first I noticed the rocks cut into terraces, thick set with melons +and Indian corn; gardens of fig-trees and pomegranates hanging over +walls, clustered with fruit; amidst them, a little pleasant cot, +shaded by cypresses. In the evening we perceived several further +indications of approaching Italy; and after sunset the Adige, rolling +its full tide between precipices, which looked awful 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 +degree 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 robed with verdure from their +bases to their summits. + +The shores present one continual shrubbery, 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 five 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 the tufted foliage of the groves around. I +quitted the contemplation of them with regret, and, in a few hours, +arrived at Borgo di Volsugano, the scenes 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," + + +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 a fortress (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 aerial for my earthly frame. A black vapour, +tinging their entrance, completed the terror of the prospect, which I +shall never forget. + +For two or three leagues it continued much in the same style; 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 +vast numbers 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 had 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 glooming 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 homeward from the cultivated +hillocks and corn-fields, singing as they went, and calling to each +other over the hills; whilst the women were milking goats before the +wickets of the cottages, 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 are +the blessings 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 eat 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 people, sitting +in circles upon the grass, refreshing themselves with cooling liquors +or lounging upon the bank beneath the towers. They looked so free +and happy that I longed to be acquainted with them; and by the +interposition of a polite Venetian (who, though a perfect stranger, +showed me the most engaging marks of attention), was introduced to a +group of the principal inhabitants. Our conversation ended in a +promise to meet the next evening at a country house about a league +from Bassano, and then to return together and sing to the praise of +Pacchierotti, 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 +Roberti, 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. + +August 1st.--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 incrusted with a composition as cool and polished as +marble; the windows, doors, and balconies adorned with silvered, iron +work, commanding scenes of meads and woodlands that extend to the +shores of the Adriatic; spires 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. Beyond the villa, a tumble of hillocks present +themselves in a variety of forms, with dips and hollows between, +scattered over with leafy trees and vines dangling in continued +garlands. + +I gazed on this rural view till it faded in the dusk; then returning +to Bassano, repaired to an illuminated hall, and had the felicity of +hearing La Signora Roberti sing the very air which had excited such +transport at Padua. As soon as she had ended, and that I could hear +no more those affecting sounds, which had held me silent and almost +breathless for several moments, 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 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 2nd.--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. Stretched beneath the +awning, I enjoyed at my ease the freshness of the gales, and the +sight of the waters. 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 from 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 +azure 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, the sun casting his last gleams +across the waves, and reddening the different towers, we every moment +distinguished some new church or palace in the city, suffused with +the evening rays, and reflected with all their glow of colouring from +the surface of the waters. + +The air was still; 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 Saint Secondo, and waved the veil before its portal, +as we rowed by and coasted the walls of its garden, overhung with +fig-trees and topped with Italian pines. The convent discovers +itself through their branches, built in a style somewhat morisco, and +level with the sea, except where the garden intervenes. + +Here, meditation may indulge her reveries in the midst of the surges, +and walk in cloisters, alone vocal with the whispers of the pine. I +passed this consecrated spot soon after sunset, when daylight was +expiring in the west, and when the distant woods of Fusina were lost +in the haze of the horizon. + +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 Saracenical, 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 perspective appears the Rialto; the sweep of the canal +conceals the other. + +The rooms of our hotel are as spacious and cheerful as I could +desire; a lofty hall, or rather gallery, painted with grotesque in a +very good style, perfectly clean, floored with the stucco composition +I have mentioned above, 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 was clamorous 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 3rd.--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 one of the +liveliest pictures imaginable. Amongst the multitudes, I remarked a +good many whose dress and carriage announced something above the +common rank; and upon inquiry 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. I gazed, delighted with its superb frontispiece +and dome, relieved by a clear blue sky. To criticize columns or +pediments of the different facades, would be time lost; since one +glance upon the worst view that has been taken of them, conveys a far +better idea than the most elaborate description. 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 wrapped in +shadows. The sunbeams 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, by far the +most perfect and beautiful edifice my eyes ever beheld. + +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 reclining under its shade, my +feet dangling over the waters, viewed the vast range of palaces, of +porticos, of towers, opening on every side and extending out of +sight. The Doge's residence 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 +the spoils of different nations, 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 charges. + +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 and +rumour of the town. Fortunately a 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, and applauded the genius of Palladio. + +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 liberty of making excursions from it, whenever they have a mind. + +The republic, wisely 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, awake from its ignoble slumber, and +look back upon the tiara, with all its host of idle fears and scaring +phantoms, as the offspring of a distempered dream. Scarce a +sovereign supports any longer this vain illusion, except the old +woman of Hungary, and as soon as her dim eyes are closed we shall +probably witness great events. {156} + +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 Redenptore, 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 their church, according to custom, 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 +midday, 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 fly +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 fig- +trees and pomegranates, got under an ancient bay, 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 bay 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 fancied myself hearing these rapid +travellers relate their adventures, wished my interrogators in +purgatory, and pleaded ignorance of the Italian language. This +circumstance extricated me from my difficulties, and procured me a +long interval of repose. + +The rustling of the pines had the same effect as the murmurs of other +old story-tellers, and I slept undisturbed till the people without, +in the boat (who wondered not a little, I dare say, what the deuce +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 from whence they proceeded: a glassy sea lay +full before me; no gale ruffled the expanse; every breath was +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 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 before 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 square, with its towers and +standards. So noble an assemblage never met my eyes. 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 republic 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 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, like the hues of the +declining sun. + +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 the same time +bold and elegant. It is also to this celebrated architect we are +indebted for the stately facade of the Proccuratie 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 purity of +Sansovino, impresses veneration, and completes the pomp of the view. + +There is something strange and singular in the tower, 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 +rather 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 mass seems to promise a very long +duration, and will probably carry down the fame of St. 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 elegant 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, rich with sculptured +foliage, 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 geganti 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, adored the +tutelary divinities. + +My devotions were 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 half my vows +unpaid and a million of delicate sculptures unexplored; for every +pilaster, every frieze, every entablature, is incrusted with +porphyry, verde antique, or some other curious marble, carved into as +many grotesque wreaths and mouldings as we admire in the loggios of +Raffaello. The various portals, the strange projections, the length +of cloisters; in short, the noble irregularity of these imperial +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 assemblage of objects, such regal scenery, with +the reflection that half 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. + +These fits of enthusiasm were hardly subsided, when I issued from 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 become the resort of pleasure and dissipation. Numbers were +walking in parties upon the pavement; some sought the shade of the +porticos 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 scarce ever +acquainted 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. There the Sclavonian +dialect predominated; there some Grecian jargon, almost +unintelligible. Had St. 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 +Mad. de R. arrived, to whom I had the happiness of being recommended. +She very obligingly 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: as much, however, through indolence and +forgetfulness, I should conjecture, as from any political motive, for +I don't believe all those wise stories, which some travellers have +propagated, of Venetian subtlety and profound silence. They might +have reigned during the dark periods of the republic, but at this +moment the veil is rent in fifty places; and without any wonderful +penetration, the debates of the senate are discoverable. There +doubtless was a time when, society being greatly divided, and little +communication subsisting among the nobles, secrets were invariably +kept; but since the establishment of casinos, which the ladies rule, +where chit-chat and tittle-tattle are for ever going forwards, who +can preserve a rigorous taciturnity upon any subject in the universe? +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 are eternally repeated; the apartments echoed no other +sound. + +No lively people could endure such monotony; yet 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 disease and the +consequences of early debaucheries, impede all lively flow of spirits +in its course, and permit at best but a few moments of a false and +feverish activity. The approaches of rest, forced back by an +immoderate use of coffee, render them, too, 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; and am apt to imagine +that instead of slumbering less than other people, they pass their +lives in one perpetual doze. + +August 4th.--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 its 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 level with them. I observed several, as I glided along, +supported by rows of well-proportioned pillars, 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 painted on the calm waters, +launched into the blue expanse of sea, from which rise the Chartreuse +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, cast off my clothes, 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, and exposed me +to a thousand perils, 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, +senseless 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 Giant's 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 porticos 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? How ever 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 and invoked it 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 text which cannot be reproduced]. 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 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 +over which the lofty walls of the palace cast a tremendous shade. +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 DEl 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's 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. B. 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 Bertoni's direction, who breathes around him the very soul of +grace and 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, excluded the glow of the western sky, and +reflected the lamps which burn perpetually before the altar. Every +tribune was thronged with people, whose profound silence showed them +worthy auditors of Bertoni's compositions. Here were no cackling old +women, or groaning Methodists, such as infest our English churches, +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. + +August 18th.--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 go and 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 +transporting 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 altars cannot subdue. + +When oppressed by 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 tracts 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 Damascus and Suristan, those happy countries which +nature has covered with roses. + +Asiatics find Venice very much to their liking, 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, agrees 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 jargon, 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 V., 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, etc., with a formidable fluency; and drove me from one end of +the room to the other with all the thunder 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 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 a peaceful hour in dreaming over the medals and +rarities, M. de V. was for conducting me to the Armenian convent, but +I begged to be excused, and went to S. Giovanni e Paolo's, a church +ever celebrated in the annals of painting, since it contains that +masterpiece of Titian, "The Martyrdom of St. Peter." It being a +festival, the huge Gothic pillars were covered with red damask, and +the shrines of saints and worthies glimmered with tapers. The dim +chapels on each side the nave received a feeble light, and discovered +the tombs of ancient Doges, and the equestrian statues of many a +doughty General. I admired them all, but liked nothing so much as a +snug bas-relief I found out in a corner, which represents St. Mark +and some other good souls a-prosing, whilst his lion and the old +serpent squabble and scratch in the foreground of the sculpture, like +cat and dog by the fireside. After dinner, when the shadows of domes +and palaces began lengthening across the waves, I rowed out + + +"On the clear hyaline, the glassy sea," + + +to observe the last sunbeams fade on the tufted gardens of the +Giudecca, 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 those ancient times, deep forests and extensive pastures covered +the shores {170a} 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. +{170b} The form of the hillocks is varied and picturesque, and the +sun, sinking behind them, suffuses their summits with tints of the +brightest orange. Scarce one evening have I failed to remark the +changeful scenery of the clouds, and to fill my mind with +recollections of primeval days and happier ages. Night generally +surprises me in the midst of my reveries; I return, lulled in my +gondola by the murmur of waters, pass about an hour with M. de R., +whose imagination and sensibility almost equal your own; then, retire +to sleep, and dream of the Euganeans. + + + +LETTER IX + + + +August 27th.--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 ravine 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. {170c} +Its neighbourhood was scattered with innumerable villas and temples, +composing altogether a prospect which Martial compares to Baiae: + + +"AEmula 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 misshapen +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 concealed halls and 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 +St. Michael and Murano. + +The waves coursed each other with violence, and dark clouds hung over +the grand sweep of northern mountains, whilst the west smiled with +azure and bright sunshine. Thunder rolled awfully at a distance, and +those white and greyish birds, the harbingers of storms, flitted +frequently before our bark. For some moments we were in doubt +whether to proceed; but as we advanced by a little dome in the Isle +of St. Michael, shaped like an ancient temple, the sky cleared, and +the ocean subsiding by degrees, soon presented a tranquil expanse, +across which we were smoothly wafted. Our instruments played several +delightful airs, that called forth the inhabitants of every island, +and held them silent, 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 {171} purple +flowers, and could distinguish the low hum of the insects which hover +above them; such was the silence 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 clothes the margin of +the waters, which the people justly dignify with the title of marine +incense. 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 invading them, or prying too cautiously about! + +Not choosing to be devoured, we left many a mount of fragments +unnoticed, and made the best of our way to a little green, free from +weeds or adders, 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, turned on the ancient Roman principle, convinced us that it +dates as high as the sixth or seventh century. + +Nothing can be well more fantastic than the ornaments of this +structure, formed from the ruins of the Pagan temples of Altina, and +incrusted 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 goodly group a +sort of marble chair, cool and penitential enough, where St. 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 cling round its +sides, more devilish, more Egyptian, than any I ever beheld. The +dragons on old china are not more whimsical: I longed to have it +filled with bats' blood, and to have sent it by way of present to the +sabbath; I can assure you it would have done honour to their +witcheries. The sculpture is not the most delicate, but I cannot say +a great deal about it, as but 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 last whirlwind, one should think, could +move from their hinges. + +By the time we had examined every nook and corner of this singular +edifice, and caught perhaps 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, and the breezes blew cool from the +ocean, 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 St. 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 +bodily 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, so fatal was the sound of the +instrument, so just the conduct of the harmony. + +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 at +Venice, than this conservatorio. Whenever I am musically given, I +fly to it, and hear the most striking finales in Bertoni's and +Anfosse'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 female 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 kettledrum; 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 these +same Amazonians. The poetry I send you, which seems to be some of +the most picturesque and nervous an Italian ever produced. 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, was I not +hurrying to Lucca, where Pacchierotti sings next week, in the opera +of Quinto Fabio, of all operas the most worthy to excuse such a +musical fanaticism. Adieu. + + + +LETTER X + + + +September 4th.--I was sorry to leave Venice, and regretted my +peaceful excursions upon the Adriatic, when the Euganean hills were +lost in a golden haze, and the sun cast his departing gleam across +the waters. No bright rays illuminated my departure, but the +coolness and perfume of the air made some amends for their absence. + +About an hour's rowing from the isle of Saint Giorgio in Alga, +brought us to the shores 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 flowers clothe the brink of the stream, except where a tall +growth of reeds and osiers lift themselves to the breezes. I heard +their whispers as we glided along; and had I been alone might have +told you what they said to me; but such aerial oracles must be +approached in solitude. The morning continued to lower as we +advanced; scarce a wind ventured to breathe; all was still and placid +as the surface of the Brenta. 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; no other objects than green +inclosures and fields of Turkish corn, shaded with vines and poplars, +met my eyes wherever I turned them. + +Our navigation, the tranquil streams and cultivated banks, in short +the whole landscape, had a sort of Chinese cast, which led me into +Quang-Si and Quang-Tong. The variety of canes, reeds, and blooming +rushes, shooting from the slopes, confirmed my fancies, and when I +beheld the yellow nenupha expanding its broad leaves to the current, +I thought of the Tao-Se, and venerated one of the chief ingredients +in their beverage of immortality. Landing where this magic +vegetation appeared most luxuriant, I cropped the flowers; but +searched in vain for the kernels, which, according to the doctrine of +the Bonzes, produce such wonderful effects. Though I was deceived in +this pursuit, I gained, however, in another. The bank upon which I +had sprung presented a continual walk of level turf, surrounded by +vines, concealing the trees which supported them, and forming the +most delightful bowers. Under these garlands I passed, and gathered +the ripe clusters which dangled around, convinced that Noah had +discovered a far superior beverage to that of the Tao-Se. Whilst I +was thus agreeably employed, it began to rain, and the earth to +exhale a fresh, reviving odour, highly grateful to one who had been +so long confined to walls and waters. After breathing nothing but +the essence of the canals and the flavours of the Rialto, after the +jingling of bells and brawls of the gondoliers, imagine how agreeable +it was to scent the perfume of clover, to tread a springing herbage, +and listen in silence to the showers pattering amongst the leaves. I +staid so long amidst the vines, that it grew late before we rowed by +the Mira, a village of palaces, whose courts and gardens, as +magnificent as statues, terraces, and vases can make them, compose a +grand, though far from a rural prospect. + +Not being greatly delighted with such scenery, 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, surmounted by tall +waving poplars. Day was about to close when we reached Fiesso; and +it being a misty evening, I could scarcely distinguish the pompous +facade of the Pisani palace. That where we supped 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 the shower, and +hearing the drops trickle down the awning above our heads. The +Galuzzi sang some of her father Ferandini's compositions, with a +fire, an energy, an expression, that one moment raised me to a pitch +of heroism, and the next dissolved me in tears. Her cheek was +flushed with inspiration, her eyes glistened; the whole tone of her +countenance was like that of a person rapt and inspired. I forgot +both time and place whilst she was breathing forth such celestial +harmony. The night stole imperceptibly away, and morning dawned +before I awoke from my trance. I don't recollect ever to have passed +an evening, which every circumstance conspired so much to improve. +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. The C--- +threw quick around her the glancing fires of genius: and, 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 had not fallen into a celestial dream. I loathed +the light of the morning star, which summoned me to depart; and, if I +may express myself so poetically, + + +"Cast many a longing, ling'ring look behind." + + + +LETTER XI + + + +September 5th.--The glow and 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 St. Anthony, who betook himself to the conversion of fish, +after the heretics would lend no ear to his discourses. + +You are too well apprised of the veneration I have always entertained +for this ingenious preacher, to doubt that I immediately repaired to +his shrine and offered up my little orisons before it. Mine was a +disturbed spirit, and required all the balm of St. Anthony's kindness +to appease it. Perhaps you will say I had better gone to bed, and +applied myself to my sleepy friend, the pagan divinity. 'Tis +probable that you are in the right; but I could not retire to rest +without 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, and fell down on the steps before the +shrine. 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 superstitious prodigality, conceals the holy pile from +profane glances. Those who are profoundly touched with its sanctity +may approach, and walking round, look through the crevices of the +tomb, and rub their noses against the identical bones of St. Anthony, +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 the most exquisite sculptures. Sansovino and the best +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 much less exactness than they +merited, and acted perhaps too capital a part amongst the devotees, 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. +'Tis true my slumbers were not a little agitated. St. Anthony 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, as large as 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 coving of the roof, with beams +like perches for the feathered race, stretching across it, and, above +all, the watery gleams that glanced through the 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 +Scheutzer's "Physica Sacra" seems to be formed upon this very model, +and for several moments I indulged the chimera of imagining myself +confined within its precincts. How willingly, could I but choose my +companions, would I encounter a deluge, to float whole years instead +of months upon the waves! + +We remained walking to and fro in the ark, till the twilight faded +into total darkness. It was then full time to retire, as the +guardian of the place was by no means formed to divine our diluvian +ideas. + + + +LETTER XII + + + +September 6th.--At Padua, I was too near the last and one of the most +celebrated abodes of Petrarch, to make the omission of a visit +excusable; had I not been in a disposition to render such a +pilgrimage peculiarly pleasing. I set forwards from Padua after +dinner, so as to arrive some time before sunset. Nothing could be +finer than the day; and I had every reason to promise myself a serene +and delicious hour, before the sun might go down. I put the poems of +Petrarch into my pocket; and, as my road lay chiefly through lanes, +planted on either side with mulberries and poplars, from which vines +hung dangling in careless festoons, I found many a bowering shade, +where I sat, at intervals, to indulge my pensive humour over some +ejaculatory sonnet; as the pilgrim, on his journey to Loretto, +reposes here and there, to offer his prayers and meditations to the +Virgin. In little more than an hour and half, I found myself in the +midst of the Euganean hills, and, after winding almost another hour +amongst them, I got, before I was well aware, into the village of +Arqua. Nothing can be more sequestered or obscure than its +situation. It had rather a deserted appearance; several of its +houses being destitute of inhabitants, and crumbling into ruins. Two +or three of them, however, exhibited ancient towers, richly mantled +with ivy, and surrounded with cypress, that retained the air of +having once belonged to persons of consideration. Their present +abandoned state nourished the melancholy idea with which I entered +the village. Could one approach the last retreat of genius, and not +look for some glow of its departed splendour? + + +"Dear to the pensive eye of fond regret, +Is light still beaming from a sun that's set." + + +The residence of Petrarch at Arqua is said to have drawn thither from +Padua the society of its more enlightened citizens. This city, +whilst Petrarch lived in its neighbourhood, was engaged in rebellion +against the Venetians; and Francis de Carrara, the head of it, went +often to Arqua, to consult Petrarch; when he found himself obliged to +sue to Venice for peace. The poet was indeed deputed, upon this +occasion, his ambassador to the state; as being a person whose +character and credit were most likely to appease its wrath. His +success in this embassy might, perhaps, have been some recompense for +an employment he accepted with much regret, as it forced him from his +beloved retirement. In a letter to one of his friends, written about +this period of his life, he says: "I pass the greatest part of the +year in the country, which I have always preferred to cities: I +read; I write; I think: thus, my life and my pleasures are like +those of youth. I take pains to hide myself; but I cannot escape +visits: it is an honour which displeases and wearies me. In my +little house on the Euganean hills, I hope to pass my few remaining +days in tranquillity, and to have always before my eyes my dead, or +my absent, friends." I was musing on these circumstances as I walked +along the village, till a venerable old woman, seated at her door +with her distaff in her hand, observing me, soon guessed the cause of +my excursion; and offered to guide me to Petrarch's house. The +remainder of my way was short, and well amused by my guide's +enthusiastic expressions of veneration for the poet's memory; which, +she assured me, she felt but in common with the other inhabitants of +the village. When we came to the door of the house, we met the +peasant, its present possessor. The old woman, recommending the +stranger and his curiosity to her neighbour's good offices, departed. +I entered immediately, and ran over every room, which the peasant +assured me, in confirmation of what I before learnt from better +authority, were preserved, as nearly as they could be, in the state +Petrarch had left them. The house and premises, having unfortunately +been transmitted from one enthusiast of his name to another, no +tenants have been admitted, but under the strictest prohibition of +making any change in the form of the apartments, or in the memorial +relics belonging to the place: and, to say the truth, everything I +saw in it, save a few articles of the peasant's furniture in the +kitchen, has an authentic appearance. Three of the rooms below +stairs are particularly shown, and they have nothing in them but what +once belonged to the poet. In one, which I think they call his +parlour, is a very antique cupboard; where, it is supposed, he +deposited some precious part of his literary treasure. The ceiling +is painted in a grotesque manner. A niche in the wall contains the +skeleton of his favourite cat, with a Latin epigram beneath, of +Petrarch's composition. It is good enough to deserve being copied; +but the lateness of the hour did not allow me time. A little room, +beyond this, is said to have been his study: the walls of it, from +top to bottom, are scribbled over with sonnets, and poetical eulogies +on Petrarch, ancient and modern: many of which are subscribed by +persons, of distinguished rank and talents, Italians as well as +strangers. Here, too, is the bard's old chair, and on it is +displayed a great deal of heavy, ornamental carpentry; which required +no stretch of faith to be believed the manufacture of the fourteenth +century. You may be sure, I placed myself in it, with much +veneration, and the most resigned assent to Mrs. Dobson's relation: +that Petrarch, sitting in this same chair, was found dead in his +library, with one arm leaning on a book. Who could sit in Petrarch's +chair, void of some effect? I rose not from it without a train of +pensive sentiments and soft impressions; which I ever love to +indulge. I was now led into a larger room, behind that I first saw; +where, it is likely enough, the poet, according to the peasant's +information, received the visits of his friends. Its walls were +adorned with landscapes and pastoral scenes, in such painting as +Petrarch himself might, and is supposed to have executed. Void of +taste and elegance, either in the design or colouring, they bear some +characteristic marks of the age to which they are, with no +improbability, assigned; and, separate from the merit of exhibiting +repeatedly the portraits of Petrarch and Laura, are a valuable sketch +of the rude infancy of the art, where it rose with such hasty vigour +to perfection. Having seen all that was left unchanged in this +consecrated mansion, I passed through a room, said to have been the +bard's bed-room, and stepped into the garden, situated on a green +slope, descending directly from the house. It is now rather an +orchard than a garden; a spot of small extent, and without much else +to recommend it, but that it once was the property of Petrarch. It +is not pretended to have retained the form in which he left it. An +agreeably wild and melancholy kind of view, which it commands over +the Euganean hills, and which I beheld under the calm glow of +approaching sunset, must often, at the same moment, have soothed the +poet's anxious feelings, and hushed his active imagination, as it did +my own, into a delicious repose. Having lingered here till the sun +was sunk beneath the horizon, I was led a little way farther in the +village, to see Petrarch's fountain. Hippocrene itself could not +have been more esteemed by the poet, than this, his gift, by all the +inhabitants of Arqua. The spring is copious, clear, and of excellent +water; I need not say with what relish I drank of it. The last +religious act in my little pilgrimage was a visit to the church-yard; +where I strewed a few flowers, the fairest of the season, on the +poet's tomb; and departed for Padua by the light of the moon. + + + +LETTER XIII + + + +September 7th.--Immediately after breakfast, we went to St. +Justina's, a noble temple, designed by Palladio, and worthy of his +reputation. The dimensions are vast, and the equal distribution of +light and ornament truly admirable. Upon my first entrance, the long +perspective of domes above, and chequered marble below, struck me +with surprise and pleasure. I roved about the spacious aisles for +several minutes, then sat down under the grand cupola, and admired +the beautiful symmetry of the building. + +Both extremities of the cross aisles are terminated by altar and +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 surrounded 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 {182} 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, and makes his slave, the organ, +send forth the most affecting, long-protracted sounds, which languish +in the air, and are some time a-dying. 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 scarcely +exists but through its medium. + +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 C. another visit, and +proper to see the Pisani palace, which happily I had before +neglected. All these proprieties considered, M. 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 sung till the moon tempted the fascinating G---a and +myself to stray on 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 listened to the faint murmurs of the +leaves, and the distant rural noises, observing the gleams that +quivered on the river, and discovered a mutual delight in +contemplating the same objects. + +We supped late: before the Galuzzi had repeated the airs which had +most affected me, morning began to dawn. + +September 8th.--It was evening, and I was still asleep; not in a +tranquil slumber, but at the mercy of fantastic visions. The want of +sound repose had thrown me into a feverish impatient mood, that was +alone to be subdued by harmony. Scarcely had I snatched some slight +refreshment, before I flew to the great organ at St. Justina's, but +tried, this time, to compose myself in vain. M. de R., finding my +endeavours unsuccessful, proposed, by way of diverting my attention, +that we should set out immediately for one of the Euganean hills +about five or seven miles from Padua, at the foot of which some +antique baths had very lately been discovered. I consented, without +hesitation, little concerned whither I went, or what happened to me, +provided the scene was often shifted. The lanes and enclosures we +passed on 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 we beheld the meadows, over which the ruins are +scattered, lie before us, when we still imagined ourselves several +miles away. Had I but enjoyed my former serenity, how agreeably +would such a landscape have affected my imagination! How lightly +should I not have run over the herbage, and viewed the irregular +shrubby hills, diversified with clumps of cypress, verdant spots, and +pastoral cottages, such as Zuccarelli loved to paint! No scene could +be more smiling than this which here presented itself, or answer, in +a fuller degree, the ideas I had formed of Italy. + +Leaving our carriage at the entrance of the mead, we traversed its +flowery 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 +discernible; in short, the whole ground-plan may be easily traced. +Nothing more remains: the pillars and arcades are fallen, and one or +two pedestals alone vouch for their former existence. 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 universal freshness of the ruin shows that it has not been long +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 glories, to calmer and less impatient minds. + +Having taken a cursory view of the ruins in the mead, we ascended the +hill which borders upon it, 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 turned them to the +fragments beneath our feet. The walls appear plainly composed of the +opus reticulatum so universal in the environs of Naples. A sort of +terrace, with the bases of columns circling the mount, leads me to +imagine here were formerly arcades and porticos, for enjoying the +view; for on the summit I could trace no vestiges of any considerable +structure, 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 in vain its reviving coolness, and I remained, if +possible, more sad and restless than before. + +To produce such a revolution, divine how I must have been fascinated! +and be not surprised at my repeating all the way that pathetic sonnet +of Petrarch: + + +"O giorno, o ora, o ultimo momento, +O stelle congiurate a 'mpoverirme! +O fido sguardo, or che volei tu dirme, +Partend' io, per non esser mai contento?" + + +September 9th.--You may imagine how I felt when the hour of leaving +Padua drew near. It happened to be a high festival, and mass +celebrated at the grand church of St. Anthony, with more than +ordinary splendour. The music drawing us thither, we found every +chapel twinkling with lights, and the choir filled with a vapour of +incense. Through its medium several cloth of gold figures discovered +themselves, ministering before the altar, and acting their parts with +a sacred pomposity, wonderfully imposing. I attended very little to +their functions, but the plaintive tones of the voices and +instruments, so consonant with my own feelings, melted me into tears, +and gave me, no doubt, the exterior of exalted piety. Guadazni sang +amongst the other musicians, but seemed to be sinking apace into +devotion and obscurity. The ceremony ended, I took leave of M. de R. +with sincere regret, and was driven away to Vicenza. Of my journey I +scarce know any more than that the evening was cold and rainy, that I +shivered and was miserable. + +September 10th.--The morning being overcast, I went, full of the +spirit of AEschylus, to the Olympic Theatre, and vented my evil +temper in reciting some of the most tremendous verses of his furies. +The august front of the scene, and its three grand streets of fanes +and palaces, inspired me with the loftiest sentiments of the Grecian +drama; but the dubious light admitted through windows, scarce visible +between the rows of statues which crown the entablature, sunk me into +fits of gloom and sadness. I mused a long while in the darkest and +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. 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 Palladio'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. You can enter +into the rapture of an artist, who sees his fondest vision realized; +and can easily conceive how it was, that Palladio esteemed this +compliment the most flattering reward. After I had given scope to +the fancies which the scene suggested, we set out for Verona. + +The situation is striking and picturesque. A long line of battlement +walls, flanked by venerable towers, mounts the hill in a grand +irregular sweep, and incloses many a woody garden and grove of +slender cypress. Beyond rises an awful assembly of mountains; +opposite to which a fertile 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 with +their 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 Garda, and the +delicious fruits of the country,--grapes worthy of Canaan, and +peaches such as Eden itself might have gloried in producing. Thus +did I remain, solacing myself, breathing the cool air, and remarking +the evening tints of the mountains. Neither the paintings of Count +this, nor the antiquities of the Marquis t'other, could tempt me from +my aerial situation; I refused hunting out the famous Paolos +scattered over the town, and sat like the owl in the Georgics, + + +"Solis et occasom servans de culmine summo." + + +Twilight drawing on, I left my haunt, and stealing downstairs, +inquired 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 diligent 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 row of gradines rises to a majestic elevation. Four +arches, with their simple Doric ornament, alone remain of the grand +circle which once lifted itself above 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 theatre except at public shows and +representations, sometimes still given in the arena. + +When I paced slowly across it, silence reigned undisturbed amongst +the awful ruins, and nothing moved, save the weeds and grasses which +skirt the walls and tremble with the faintest breeze. + +I liked the idea of being thus shut in on every side by endless +gradines, abandoned to a stillness and solitude I was so peculiarly +disposed to taste. Throwing myself upon the grass in the middle of +the arena, I enjoyed the freedom of my situation; and pursued the +last tracks of light, as they faded behind the solitary arches, which +rose above the rest. Red and fatal were the tints of the western +sky; the wind blew chill and hollow, and something more than common +seemed to issue from the withering herbage on the walls. I started +up, fled through a dark arcade, where water falls drop by drop, and +arrived, panting, in the great square before the ruins. Directing my +steps across it, I reached an ancient castle, once inhabited by the +Scaligeri, sovereigns of Verona. Hard by appeared the ruins of a +triumphal arch, which most antiquarians ascribe to Vitruvius, +enriched with delicate scrolls and flowery ornaments. I could have +passed half-an-hour very agreeably in copying these elegant +sculptures; but night covering them with her shades, I returned home +to the Corso; where the outlines of several palaces, designed by +Michel San Michele, attracted my attention. But it was too dusky to +examine their details. + +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, among which start up +innumerable barren hills. Now and then a knot of poplars diversify +their craggy summits, 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. For my own part, I approached this +neighbourhood with proper deference, and began to feel the God, but +finding no tufted tree on which I could suspend my lyre, or verdant +bank which invited to repose, I abandoned poetry and entered the city +in despair. + +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 +grotesques, with which the stucco ceilings are covered, equal the +celebrated loggios of the Vatican. I don't recollect ever having +seen these elegant designs engraven, and believe it would be +perfectly worth the pains of some capital artist to copy them. Being +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. Amongst others 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 AEtna, 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 cling around mounds of ruins, which during +the elegant reign of the Gonzagas led to grottos and subterranean +apartments, concealed from vulgar eyes, and sacred to the most +refined enjoyments. I gathered a tuberose that sprang from a shell +of white marble, once trickling with water, now half filled with +mould, and carrying it home, shut myself up for the rest of the +night, inhaled its perfume, and fell a-dreaming. + +September 12th.--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 +agreeable 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, led us, perhaps too +rapidly, by so cheerful a landscape. I caught glimpses of fields and +copses as we fled 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 - + + +"Strata jacent passim sus quaeque sub arbore poma." + + +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, as usual, my +conjectures of what was going forward on their summits; of those who +tended goats on the edge of the precipice; traversed, at this moment, +the dark thickets of pines, and passed their lives in yonder sheds, +contented and unknown. 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 days ago, had seen me +so happy at Fiesso. Her soft light reposed upon the meads, that had +been newly mown, and the shadows of tall poplars were cast aslant +them. I left my carriage, and running into the dim haze, abandoned +myself to the recollection it inspired. During an hour, I kept +continually flying forwards; bounding from enclosure to enclosure +like a hunted antelope, and forgetting where I was or whither I was +going. One sole idea filled my mind, and led me on with such +heedless rapidity, that I stumbled over stones and bushes, and +entangled myself on every wreath of vines which opposed my progress. +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 ten and eleven at the +place of my destination. + +September 13th.--Having but a moment or two at liberty, I hurried +early in the morning to the palace, and entered an elegant Ionic +court, with arcades of the whitest stone, through which I caught +peeps of a clear blue sky and groves of cypresses. Some few good +paintings still adorn the apartments, but the best part of the +collection has been disposed of, for a hundred thousand sequins, +amongst which was that inestimable picture, the Notte of Corregio. +An excellent copy remained and convinced me the original was not +undeservedly celebrated. None but the pencil of Corregio ever +designed such graceful angels, nor imagined such a pearly dawn to +cast around them. Ten thousand times, I dare say, has the subject of +the Nativity been treated, and as many painters have failed in +rendering it so pleasing. The break of day, the first smiles of the +celestial infant, and the truth, the simplicity of every countenance, +cannot be too warmly admired. In the other rooms, no picture gave me +more pleasure than Jacob's Vision by Domenico Feti. I gazed several +minutes at the grand confusion of clouds and seraphim descending +around the patriarch, and wished for a similar dream. + +Having spent the little time I had remaining in contemplating this +object, I hastened from the palace and left Modena. + +We traversed a champagne country in our way to Bologna, whose +richness and fertility increased 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, +almost every one of which has its grove of chestnuts and cypresses. +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 Saint Maria +del Monte. + +At present I thought of little else, to say truth, but what I had +seen at Fiesso; and what I was to hear at Lucca. The anxiety +inspired by the one, and impatience by the other, rendered me +shamefully insensible to the merits of Bologna (where I passed near +two hours), and of which I can add nothing but that it is very much +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 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; ran up a tall slender tower as high as the +Campanile di San Marco, by way of exercise; 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 +Jerusalem. + +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; but I was not to be frightened, and would +offer up my adorations to departing day, in spite of their caperings. +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, +whence an extensive tract of cliff and forest land was discernible. + +The rocks here formed a spacious terrace; along which I continued +surveying the distant groves, and marking the solemn approach of +night. The sky was hung with storms, and a pale moon seemed to +advance with difficulty amongst broken and tempestuous clouds. It +was an hour to reap plants with brazen sickles, and to meditate upon +revenge. + +A chill wind blew from the highest peak of the Apennines, inspiring +evil, and making a dismal rustle amongst the woods of chestnut that +hung on the mountain's side, through which we were forced to pass. I +never heard such fatal murmurs; nor felt myself so gloomily. I +walked out of the sound of the carriage, where the glimmering +moonlight prevailed, and 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, but full of melancholy bodings, +and something that bordered upon despair. Had I but commanded an +oracle, as ancient visionaries were wont, I should have thrown whole +nations into dismay. + +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 the huts of Lognone, where we were +to sleep. This blessed 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 crow's 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. Its blaze gave me courage to hear the hollow blasts +that whistled in the crevices; and pitching my bed in a warm corner, +I soon fell asleep, and forgot all my cares and inquietudes. + +September 14th.--The sun had not been long above the horizon, before +we set forward upon a craggy pavement hewn out of the rough bosom of +the cliffs and precipices. Scarce 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 midday, 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 spreading my repast upon a +bank, baked in the sunshine, and gathered large spikes of lavender in +full bloom. + +Continuing our route, we bid adieu to the realms of poverty and +barrenness, and entered a cultivated vale sheltered by woody +acclivities. Among these we wound along, the peasants singing upon +the hill, and driving their cattle to springs by the road's side; +near one of which we dined in a patriarchal manner, and afterwards +pursued our course through a grove of taper cypresses, waving with +the cool gales of the evening. The heights were suffused with a +ruddy glow, proceeding from the light pink clouds which floated on +the horizon. No others were to be seen. All nature seemed in a +happy tranquil state; the herds penned in their folds, and every +rustic going to repose. I shared the general calm for the first time +this many a tedious hour; and traversed the dales in peace, abandoned +to flattering hopes and gay illusions. The full moon shone +propitiously upon me as I ascended a hill, and discovered Florence at +a distance, surrounded with gardens and terraces, rising one above +another. The serene moonlight on the pale grey tints of the olive, +gave an Elysian, visionary appearance to the landscape. I never +beheld so mild a sky, nor such soft gleams: the mountains were +veiled in azure mists, which concealed their rugged summits; and the +plains in vapours, that smoothed their irregularities, and diffused a +faint aerial hue, to which no description can render justice. I +could have contemplated such scenery for hours, and was sorry when I +found myself shut up from it by the gates of Florence. We passed +several lofty palaces of the true Tuscan order, with rustic arcades +and stout columns, whose solidity and magnificence were not +diminished by the shades of midnight. Whilst these grand masses lay +dark and solemn, the smooth flagstone, with which every street is +paved, received a chequered gleam, and the Arno, the brightest +radiance. Though tired with my jumble over the Apennines, I could +not resist the temptation of walking upon the banks of so celebrated +a river, and crossing its bridges, which still echoed with music and +conversation. Having gratified the first impulse of curiosity, I +returned to Vaninis, and slept as well as my impatience would allow, +till it was time next morning (September 15th), to visit the gallery, +and worship the Venus de Medicis. I felt, upon entering this world +of taste and elegance, as if I could have taken up my abode in it for +ever; but confused with the multitude of objects, I knew not where to +turn myself, 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 +prodigies of bronze and marble; paintings on the walls, on the +ceilings, in short, everywhere. A minute brought me, vast as it was, +to the extremity of this range; 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. + +I bowed low to these awful powers, but seeing a black figure just by, +whose attitude seemed to announce the deity of sleep, I made +immediately up to it. 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 such high ideas of the god +as live in my bosom, or else he never would have represented him with +so little grace or dignity. + +Displeased at finding my favourite subject profaned, I perceived the +lively transports of enthusiasm began in some degree to be +dissipated, and I felt myself calm enough to follow the herd of +guides and spectators from chamber to chamber and cabinet to cabinet, +without falling into errors of rapture and inspiration. We were led +slowly and moderately through the large rooms, containing the +portraits of painters, good, bad, and indifferent, from Raffaelle to +Liotard; then into a museum of bronzes, which would afford both +amusement and instruction for years. + +To one who can never behold an ancient lamp or tripod without the +associations of those who sacrificed on the one and meditated by the +other, imagine what pleasures such a repository must have +communicated. + +When I had alarmed, not satisfied, my curiosity by rapidly running +over this multitude of candelabra, 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, hard by 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, piu che latte." + + +I put my guide's patience to the proof, by remaining much longer than +any one else ever did, in admiring the pillar, and rummaging the +drawers of the 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 that surprising genius 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. + +The colouring of these disgustful objects is faithful to a great +degree; the effect of light, prodigious; the whole so masterly that I +could not help entering into this description; though I fear to +little purpose, as words at best convey but a weak idea of objects +addressed to the sight alone. + +Here are a great many Polemburgs: 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 Polemburg is so renowned. + +Had not the subject so palpably contradicted the execution as to +become remarkable, I should have passed it over, like a thousand +more, and brought you immediately to the Tribune. I dare say our +sensations were similar on entering this apartment. Need I say I was +enchanted 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. + +Their symmetry every artist is acquainted with; but do you recollect +a faint ruddy cast in the hair, which admirably relieves the +whiteness of the forehead? This circumstance, though perhaps +accidental, struck me as peculiarly charming; it increased the +illusion, and helped me to imagine I beheld a breathing divinity. + +When I had taken my eyes reluctantly 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 scarce 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 seems perfectly lulled, and rests his muzzle upon his fore- +paws as quiet as a domestic mastiff. I contemplated the god with +infinite satisfaction, till I felt an agreeable sleepiness steal over +my senses, and should have liked very well to doze away a few hours +by his side. 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, (to +whom the Lord give a fair seat in paradise!) had realized my ideas; +and, if I may venture my opinion, sculpture never arrived to higher +perfection, or, at the same time, kept more justly within its +province. Sleeping figures with me always produce the finest +illusion. I easily persuade myself that I behold the very personage, +cast into the lethargic state which is meant to be represented, and I +can gaze whole hours upon them with complacency. 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 ask, When will they perform what they are about? +When will the bow twang? the foot come to the ground? or the fist +meet its adversary? Such wearisome attitudes I can view with +admiration, but never with pleasure. The wrestlers, for example, in +the same apartment, filled me with disgust: I cried out, For +heaven's sake! give the throw, and have done. In taking my turn +round the enchanted circle, I discovered still, another Morpheus; +stretched carelessly on a mantle, with poppies in his hands; but no +wings grow from his temples, nor lion supports his head. A moth just +issuing from his chrysalis is the only being which seems to have felt +his soporific influence; whereas the other god I have mentioned may +vaunt the glory of subduing the most formidable of animals. + +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 myself 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 surveyed the hills at a +distance, purpled by the declining sun. Its mild beams tempted me to +the garden of Boboli, which lies behind the Palazzo Pitti, stretched +out on the side of a mountain. I ascended terrace after terrace, +robed by a thick underwood of hay 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 +spiring 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 mountain, 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, that produce to my certain +knowledge the most delicious clusters. A colossal statue of Ceres, +her hands extended in the act of scattering fertility over the +prospect, crowns the summit, where I lingered to mark the landscape +fade, and the bright skirts of the western sun die gradually away. + +Then 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 tall +aerial cypresses. This spot brought the scenery of an antique Roman +garden full into my mind. I expected every instant to be called to +the table of Lucullus hard by, in one of the porticoes, 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 me so far into antiquity. + +Friday, September 16th.--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 some of the pleasantest copses imaginable, +bordered with a variety of heaths and broom in blossom. Sometimes it +conducted us down slopes, overgrown with shrubby chestnuts and arbor +vitae; sometimes between groves of cypresses and pines laden with +cones: 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 +into mountains, green to their very summits, and diversified with +gardens and palaces. A 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, like mourners for 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 terribly out of +humour, and shut myself up in a chamber of the inn, which, to +complete my misfortune, was crowded with human lumber. 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. +Hearing of my fondness for music, they speedily got together a few +scrapers, and began such an academia as drove me to one end of the +room, whilst they possessed the other. The hopes and heir of the +family--a coarse chubby dolt of about eighteen--played out of all +time, and during the interval of repose he gave his elbow, burst out +into a torrent of commonplace, which completed, you may imagine, my +felicity. + +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. +Abbes and greyhounds were fidgeting continually without. In short, I +was so worried that, pleading headaches and lassitudes, I escaped +about ten o'clock, and shook myself when I got safe to my apartment, +like a spaniel just fresh from a dripping copse. + + + +LETTER XIV + + + +LUCCA, September 25th. + +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 Palmarin 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 dinners and glories of the town, and only come 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 confounded 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 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. Billingsgate never produced such furious orators. 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, in defending him, +and in 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 threats were put into +execution, and yesterday we made a tour of about thirty miles upon +the highlands, and visited a variety of castles and palaces. + +The Conte Nobili conducted us, a noble Lucchese, but born in Flanders +and educated at Paris. He possesses the greatest elegance of +imagination, and a degree of sensibility rarely met with upon our +gross planet. 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 deep blue, and I am now convinced +the azure so prevalent in Velvet Breughel's landscapes is not +exaggerated. + +After riding for six or seven miles along the cultivated levels, we +began to ascend a rough slope, overgrown with chestnuts; here and +there some vines streaming in garlands displayed their clusters. A +great many loose fragments and stumps of ancient pomegranates +perplexed our route, which continued, turning and winding through +this sort of 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 Garzonis, 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, has +an enchanted effect for the first time. Two large marble basins, +with jet-d'eaux seventy feet in height, divide the parterres; from +the extremity of which rises a rude cliff, shaded with firs and ilex, +and cut into terraces. + +Leaving our horses at the great gate of this magic inclosure, we +passed through the spray of the fountains, and mounting an almost +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 vivid 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 some pavilions 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 arched over my +head, and fell, without even wetting me with its spray, into the +depths below. + +I could with difficulty prevail upon myself to abandon this cool +recess, which the fragrance of bay and orange, extracted 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 and as forest-like +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 +azure 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), which led us to the palace. This 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 bower of vines, which runs for miles along its summit, +almost without interruption. 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 which 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 an agreeable hillock, surrounded by others, woody and irregular. +Wide vineyards and fences 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 +Constantia and the Cape to excel it. + +Afterwards, retiring into a wood of the Marchese Mansi, with neat +pebble walks and trickling rivulets, we sipped coffee and loitered +till sunset. It was then time to return: the dews began to fall, +and the mists to rise from the valleys. The profound calm and +silence of evening threw us all three 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. + +I think now I have detained you long enough with my excursions: you +must require a little repose; for my own part, I am heartily tired. +I intended to say some things about certain owls, amongst other +grievances I am pestered with in this republic; but shall cut them +all short, and wish you good-night; for the opera is already begun, +and I would not miss the first glorious recitative for the empire of +Trebizond. + + + +LETTER XV + + + +LIVOURNO, October 2nd. + +No sooner were we beyond the gates, 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 intervene we discovered a variety of +hillocks clothed with shrubberies and verdure, 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 verdant opening, and is by far +the most curious and highly finished edifice my eyes ever viewed. +Don't ask of what shape or architecture; it is almost impossible to +tell, so great is the confusion of ornaments. The capitals of the +columns and carvings of the architraves, as well as the form of the +arches, are evidently of Grecian design, but Gothic proportions. 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 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 M. +Ang. Buonaroti, and paintings by the most distinguished artists. We +examined them all, 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 to examine the alabaster fount in the +baptistery, constructed after the primitive ritual, and exquisitely +wrought. Many palm trees appear amongst the carved work, which seems +to indicate the former connections of the Pisanese with Palestine. + +Our next object was the Campo Santo, which forms one side of the +opening in which the cathedral is situated. The walls, and Gothic +tabernacle above the entrance, rising from a level turf, appear as +fresh as if built within the present century, and, preserving a neat +straw colour, have the cleanest effect imaginable. Our guide +unlocking the gates, we entered a spacious cloister, forming an +oblong quadrangle, enclosing the sacred earth of Jerusalem, conveyed +hither about the period of the crusades, in 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 and monumental inscriptions smoothly +laid. Ranges of slender pillars, formed of the whitest marble and +glistening in the sun, support the arcades, which are 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 Boccace mentions in his +"Decamerone." + +Beneath, along the base of the columns, rows of pagan sarcophagi are +placed, to my no small surprise, as 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 covering 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 fairyland. 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 act a +visionary part, hear visionary music, and commune with sprites, for I +shall never find in the whole universe besides so whimsical a +theatre. It was between ten and eleven when we entered the Campo +Santo, and one o'clock struck before I could be persuaded to leave +it; and 'twas the sun which then drove me away; whose 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 a moment ago. + +Early in the afternoon, we proceeded to Livourno 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 chestnuts, 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 +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, listlessly surveyed +the cattle browsing at a distance, and the blue hills that rose above +the foliage, and bounded the view. During a few moments I had +forgotten every care; but when I began to inquire 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 meads and woodlands were of little avail. + +We had not left this woody region far behind, when the Fanale began +to lift itself above the horizon--the Fanale 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 XVI + + + +October 3rd.--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 +watch-towers, 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 possessed 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 large branches of red coral, offered them to sale. I +eagerly made the purchase, and thought myself a favourite of Neptune, +since he allowed me to acquire for next to nothing some of his most +beautiful ornaments. + +My bargain thus expeditiously finished, I ran along the quay with my +basket of coral, and, jumping into a boat, was rowed back to the gate +of the port. The carriage waited there; I filled it with jasmine, +shut myself up in the shade of the green blinds, and was driven away +at a rate that favoured my impatience. We bowled smoothly over the +lawns I attempted describing in my last letter, amongst myrtles in +flower, that would have done honour to the island of Juan Fernandes. + +Arrived at Pisa, I scarcely allowed myself a moment to revisit the +Campo Santo, but, after taking my usual portion of ice and +pomegranate-seeds, hurried on to Lucca as fast as horses could carry +me, threw the whole idle town into a stare by my speedy return, and +gave myself up to Q. Fabio. + +Next day (October 4th) was passed in running over my old haunts upon +the hills, and bidding farewell to several venerable chestnuts, for +which I had contracted a sort of friendship by often experiencing +their protection. I could not help feeling some melancholy sensation +when I turned round the last time to bid them adieu. Who knows but +some dryad enclosed within them was conscious of my gratitude, and +noted it down on the bark of her tree? It was late before I finished +my excursion, and soon after I had walked as usual upon the ramparts +the opera began. + + + +LETTER XVII + + + +FLORENCE, October 5th. + +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. We found an apartment over the Arno prepared for our +reception. The river, 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, and cast a lowering gleam over +the hills, which rise above the town, and wave with cypress. 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 sunk into the darkest +quarter of the sky, and a bell began to toll. Its sullen sound +filled me with sadness. I closed the casements, called for lights, +ran to a harpsichord Vannini had prepared for me, and played somewhat +in the strain of Jomelli's Miserere. + +October 6th.--Every cloud was dispersed when I arose; the sunbeams +glittered on the stream, and the purity and transparency of the +tether added new charms to the woody eminences around. Such was the +clearness of the air that even objects on the distant mountains were +distinguishable. I felt quite revived by the exhilarating prospect, +and walked in the splendour of sunshine to the porticos beneath the +famous gallery; then to an ancient castle, raised in the days of the +republic, which fronts the grand piazza: colossal statues and +venerable terms are placed before it. On one side a fountain clung +round with antique figures of bronze, by John of Bologna, so +admirably wrought as to hold me several minutes in astonishment; on +the other, three lofty Gothic arches, and under one of them the +Perseus of Benvenuto Cellini, raised on a pedestal, incomparably +designed and executed; which I could not behold uninterested, since +its author has ever occupied a distinguished place in my kalendar of +genius. 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 as uncouthly carved 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, +were preserved numbers of curious cabinets, tables of inlaid gems, +and a thousand rarities, collected by the house of Medici, but +exposed by the present sovereign of Tuscany to 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, read over your letters, 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 alleys, brown with impending foliage, I +emerged into a green opening on the brow of the hill, and seated +myself under the statue of Ceres. From this high point I surveyed +the mosaic cupola of the Duomo, its quaint turret, and one still more +grotesque in its neighbourhood, built not improbably in the style of +ancient Etruria. Beyond this singular group of buildings a plain +stretches itself far and wide, most richly scattered over with +villas, gardens, and groves of pine and olive, quite to the feet of +the mountains. + +After I had marked the sun's going down, I went through a plat of +vines hanging on the steeps, to a little eminence, round which the +wood grows wilder and more luxuriant, and the cypresses shoot up to a +surprising elevation. The pruners have spared this sylvan corner, +and suffered the bays to put forth their branches, and the ilex to +dangle over the walks, many of whose entrances are nearly overgrown. +I enjoyed the gloom of these shady arbours, in the midst of which +rises a lofty pavilion with galleries running round it, not unlike +the idea one forms of Turkish chiosks. Beneath lies a garden of +vines and rose-trees, which I visited, and found a spring under a +rustic arch of grotto-work, fringed round with ivy. Millions 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, and listening to the drops that +trickle from the cove. Opposite to which, at the end of an alley of +vines, you discover an oval bason, and in the midst of it a statue of +Ganymede, sitting reclined upon the eagle, 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. +Her silver brightness was strongly contrasted by the deep green of +the holm-oak and bay, amongst which I descended by several flights of +stairs, with neat marble balustrades crowned by vases of aloes. + +It was about seven o'clock, and everybody was jumbling 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, after +all, neither he nor his abode are worth mentioning. I found a deal +of slopping and sipping of tea going forwards, 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. +However, it being addressed to the sight alone, I was soon tired, and +gave myself up to conversation. Bedini, 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 music 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 XVIII + + + +October 22nd.--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 +vast or vehement delight in this company, though very ingenious, +praiseworthy, etc. 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,--hear, +without feeling, the showers trickling above my head, and see the +cattle browsing peacefully in their pastures, which hazel copses, +Italian pines, and groves of cypress enclose. + +In the afternoon I never fail hiding myself in the thickets of +Boboli, and marking the golden glimmer of sunset between their +leaves. The other evening I varied my walks, and ascended one of +those pleasant hills {214} which rise in the vicinity of the city, +and command a variegated scene of spires, towns, villas, cots, and +gardens. On the right, as you stand upon the brow, appears Fesule +with its turrets and white houses, covering a rocky mount; to the +left, the vast Val d'Arno lost in immensity. A Franciscan convent +stands on the summit of the eminence, wrapped up in ancient +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 which +venerable avenue, crosses with inscriptions are placed at stated +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 ("Giesu incontra la fua afflitta madre"). + +Above, at the end of the perspective, rises a chapel designed with +infinite taste and simple elegance by M. A. Buonarotti. Further on, +an ancient church, in the corrupt Greek style of the primitive +Christians, incrusted 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, +placed in a semicircular recess, which reminded me of the church at +Torcello, glitters with barbaric paintings on a gold ground, and +receives the strongest glow of light imaginable from five windows, +filled up with transparent marble clouded like tortoiseshell. A +smooth polished staircase leads to this sacred place: another +brought me to a subterraneous chapel, supported by confused groups of +variegated pillars, just visible by the glimmer of lamps. I thought +of the Zancaroon at Cordova, and began reciting the first verses of +the Koran. + +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 a very opposite scene engaged me, though much against my +will. Her R. H. the G. 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 hearing the Grand Duke talk politics +for some time, the doors of a temporary chapel were thrown open. +Trumpets flourished, processions marched, and the archbishop began +his business 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 execrable band of music, though led by +Nardini. The poor old archbishop, who looked very piteous and saint- +like, struck up the Te Deum with a quavering voice, and the rest +followed him full gallop. + +That ceremony being despatched (for his R. H. 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 Tilney's. + +Evening drawing on, I ran to throw myself into the woods of Boboli, +and remained till it was night in their profound 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 a melancholy 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 across 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 battlements of the old castle, +which I remember mentioning in a former letter, shone with lamps; the +lantern of the cathedral was lighted up on a sudden; whilst a stream +of torches ran along its fantastic turrets. + +I enjoyed this prospect at a distance: when near, its pleasure was +greatly diminished, for half the fish in the town were frying to +rejoice the hearts of H. R. 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. I had half a mind to return to Boboli. + + + +LETTER XIX + + + +October 23rd.--Do you recollect our evening rambles last year upon +the hill of pines? and the dark valley where we used to muse in the +twilight? I remember we often fancied the scene like Valombrosa; and +vowed, if ever an occasion offered, to visit that deep retirement. 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 sharp from the peaks of the mountains, and to hear the murmur of +the forests of pine which shade their acclivities. A paved path +leads across them, quite darkened by boughs, which, meeting over our +heads, cast a gloom and a chill 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 one of those confusions 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 issued shortly into a vast amphitheatre of lawns and +meadows, surrounded by thick woods beautifully green. Flocks of +sheep were dispersed on the slopes, whose smoothness and verdure +equal our English pastures. Steep cliffs and mountains, clothed with +beech to their very summits, guard this retired valley. The herbage, +moistened by streams which fall from the eminences, has never been +known to fade; and, 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 havoc 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 remote firs and chestnuts +towering one above another. + +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 we endured the silliest questions imaginable; but that +despatched, away flew your humble servant to the fields 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 ran up a narrow path overhung by +rock, with bushy chestnuts 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; then +springing up, I clambered over crags and fragments, guided by the +sound, and presently discovered a full stream, precipitating itself +down a cliff of pine, amongst which I remained several minutes, +watching the fallen floods; till, tired with their endless +succession, I plunged into the thickest of the grove. A beech +received me, like a second Gualbertus, in its hollow trunk. 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 +exactly answered the idea I had formed of Valombrosa, + + + " . . . where th' Etrurian shades +High overarch't imbowr." + + +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. Pardon me, if I +cursed their intrusion, and wished them as still as Gualbertus. + +"You have missed the way," cried the youngest; "the hermitage, with +the fine picture by Andrea 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 prithee +conduct me thither, for I have great need of such salutary waters, +being troubled with strange fancies and imaginations, such as the +evil one himself ought to be ashamed of inspiring." + +The youngest father shook his head, as much as to say, "This is +nothing more than a heretic's whim." + +The senior--muddled, I conjecture--set forwards with greater piety, +and began some legendary tales of the kind which my soul loveth: +rare stories of caves and dens of the earth, inhabited by ancient men +familiar with spirits, and not the least discomposed by a party of +angels coming to dinner, or playing a game at miracles to pass away +the evening. 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! cherubim appeared, light dawned, 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 Andrea +del Sarto, which I should have more minutely examined in any other +place, but where the wild scenery of hanging woods and meadows, steep +hills and nodding precipices, 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, and swelling into gentle acclivities, skirted by groves of +fir, whose solemn verdure formed a contrast with its tender green. +Beyond this pleasant opening rises a second, hemmed in with copses; +and still higher, a third, whence a forest of young pines spires up +into a lofty theatre terminated by peaks, universally concealed under +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 smoke rise from the +cottages, and viewed a vast tract of barren country, which evening +rendered still more desolate, bounded by the high 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 dark, and the rest of the prospect of a melancholy blue. + +Returning slowly homeward, I marked the warm glow deserting the +eminences, and heard the bell toll sullenly to vespers. The young +boys of the seminary were moving in a body to their dark inclosure, +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. A +sadness I could scarcely account for came over me. I shivered at the +bare idea of being cooped up in such a place, and seeing no other +living objects than scarecrow priests and friars; to hear every day +the same dull service and droning organ; view the same cloisters; be +led the same walks; watched, cribbed, confined, and filled with +superstitious fears. + +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 raise 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, which is perhaps the +most harmonious I ever played upon; but placed in a dark, dingy +recess, feebly lighted by lamps, not calculated to inspire triumphant +voluntaries. The monks, who had all crowded around me when I first +began, in expectation of brisk jigs and lively overtures, soon took +themselves away upon hearing a strain ten times more sorrowful than +that to which they were accustomed. I did not lament their +departure, but played dismally on till our horses came round to the +gate. We mounted, spurred back through the grove of pines which +protect Valombrosa from intrusion, descended the steeps, and, gaining +the plains, galloped in three hours to Florence. + + + +LETTER XX + + + +SIENNA, October 26th. + +At last fears were overcome, the epidemical fever at Rome allowed to +be no longer dangerous, and myself permitted to quit Florence. The +weather was neither gay nor dismal; the country neither fine nor +ugly; and your friend full as indifferent as the scenes he looked at. +Towards afternoon, a thunderstorm gave character to the landscape, +and we entered a narrow vale enclosed by rocks, with streams running +at their base. Poplars with faded yellow leaves sprung from the +margins of the rivulets, which seemed to lose themselves in the ruins +of a castle, built in the Gothic times. Our road led through its +court and passed the ancient keep, still darkened by its turrets; a +few mud cottages are scattered about the opening where formerly the +chieftain exercised his vassals, and trained them to war. The +dungeon, once filled with miserable victims, serves only at present +to confine a few goats, which were milking before its entrance. As +we were driven along under a tottering gateway, and then through a +plain and up a hill, the breeze whispering amongst the fern which +covers it, I felt the sober autumnal cast of the evening bring back +the happy hours I passed last year at this very time, calm and +sequestered. Full of these recollections, my eyes closed of their +own accord, and were not opened for many hours; in short, till we +entered Sienna. + +October 27th.--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 +our holy ancestors did not choose a mountain at once, scrape it into +shrines, and chisel it into scripture stories. It would have cost +them almost as little trouble as the building in question, which may +certainly be esteemed a masterpiece of ridiculous taste and elaborate +absurdity. The front, incrusted with alabaster, is worked into a +million of fretted arches and puzzling ornaments. There are statues +without number and relievos without end. + +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 figured amongst them, between Leo the Fourth and Benedict the +Third, till the year 1600, when 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 in the true +style of that hobgoblin tapestry which used to bestare the halls 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 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 is so lost in general disorder as to want the +best part of its effect. + +From the church one enters a vaulted chamber, erected by the +Picolominis, filled with valuable missals most exquisitely +illuminated. The paintings in fresco on the walls are rather +barbarous, though executed after the designs of the mighty Raffaelle; +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 were 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 sunk when I entered a vast range +of apartments, with high black rafted 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 +the sudden glare of torches, and be more initiated than I wished 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, suspecting that +they would soon turn wizards, and was surprised, when midnight came, +to hear nothing more than their mewings, doleful enough, and echoed +by the hollow walls and arches. + + + +LETTER XXI + + + +RADICOFANI, October 28th. + +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 corn-fields at a distance, near Aquapadente, which is +situated on a ledge of cliffs, mantled with chestnut 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 Polemburg and +Peter de Laer 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 XXII + + + +ROME, October 29th. + +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 feeding by the way- +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 give me at least a momentary animation. +Heath and furze were 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 Caesars, 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 postillions: 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. + +A spring flowed opportunely into a marble cistern close by the way; +two cypresses and a pine waved over it. I leaped up, poured water +upon my hands, and then, lifting them up to the sylvan Genii of the +place, implored their protection. I wished to have run wild in the +fresh fields and copses above the Vatican, there to have remained +till fauns might creep out of their concealment, and satyrs begin to +touch their flutes in the twilight, for the place looks still so +wondrous classical, that I can never persuade myself either +Constantine Attila or the Popes themselves have chased them all away. +I think I should have found some out, who would have fed me with milk +and chestnuts, have sung me a Latian ditty, and mourned the woeful +changes which have taken place, since their sacred groves were +felled, and Faunus ceased to be oracular. Who can tell but they +would have given me some mystic skin to sleep on, that I might have +looked into futurity? + +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 legion 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, and +fixed me, as if spell-bound, under the obelisk, lost in wonder. 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 fetid 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, and think whether I had not revelations. + +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.--It was a clear morning; I mounted up to the roof of +the house, and sat under a set of open pavilions, surveying the vast +group of stately buildings below; then repaired immediately after +breakfast 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 under the dome. 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 pavilion for you. Thus +established, we would take our evening walks on the field of marble; +for is not the pavement vast enough to excuse 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 for +us to read or draw by. Music should not be wanting: one day to +breathe in the subterraneous chapels, another to mount high into the +dome. + +The doors should be closed, and not a mortal admitted. No priests, +no cardinals: God forbid! We should have all the space to +ourselves, and to such creatures, too, as resemble us. + +The windows I should shade with transparent curtains of yellow silk, +to admit the glow of perpetual summer. Lanterns, as many as you +please, of all forms and sizes; they would remind us of China, and, +depending from the roof of the palace, bring before us that of the +Emperor Ki, which was twice as large as St. Peter's (if we may credit +the grand annals), and lighted alone by tapers, for his Imperial +Majesty, being tired of the sun, would absolutely have a new +firmament of his own creation, and an artificial day. Was it not a +rare fantastic idea? For my part, I should like of all things to +immure myself after his example, with those I love; forget the +divisions of time, have a moon at command, and a theatrical sun to +rise and set at pleasure. + +I was so absorbed in my imaginary palace, and exhausted with +contriving plans for its embellishment, as to have no 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 offending me, 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, etc., etc. Then I paced disconsolately into the portico, which +shows the name of Agrippa on its pediment. I leaned a minute against +a Corinthian column; I lamented that no pontiff arrived with victims +and aruspices, of whom I might inquire, 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 view of this +venerable structure. I left the column, walked to the centre of the +temple, and, folding my arms, stood as fixed as a statue. Some +architects have celebrated the effect of light from the opening +above, and pretended it to be distributed around so as to give those +who walk beneath the appearance of mystic substances beaming with +radiance. Mighty fine, if that were the case! I appeared, to be +sure, a luminous figure, and never stood I more in need of something +to distinguish me, being forlorn and dismal in the supreme degree. + +But though it is not so immense as I had expected, yet a certain +venerable air, an awful gloom, breathed inspiration, though of the +sorrowful kind. + +I had expected a heap of Venetian letters, but could not discover +one. I had received no intelligence from England this 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 am half inclined to imagine 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 condescend to 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. + +October 31st.--I absolutely will have no antiquary to go prating from +fragment to fragment, and tell me, that were I to stay five years at +Rome, I should not see half it contained. The thought alone, of so +much to look at, is quite distracting, and makes me resolve to view +nothing at all in a scientific way; but straggle and wander about, +just as the spirit chooses. This evening, it led me to the Coliseo, +and excited a vehement desire in me to break down and pulverize the +whole circle of saints' nests and chapels, which disgrace the arena. +You recollect, I dare say, the vile effect of this holy trumpery, and +would join with all your heart in kicking it into the Tiber. A few +lazy abbots were at their devotions before them; such as would have +made a lion's mouth water; fatter, I dare say, than any saint in the +whole martyrology, and ten times more tantalizing. I looked first, +at the dens where wild beasts used to be kept, to divert the +magnanimous people of Rome with devastation and murder; then, at the +tame cattle before the altars. Heavens! thought I to myself, how +times are changed! Could ever Vespasian have imagined his +amphitheatre would have been thus inhabited? I passed on, making +these reflections, to a dark arcade, overgrown with ilex. In the +openings which time and violence have made, a distant grove of +cypresses discover themselves; springing from heaps of mouldering +ruins, relieved by a clear transparent sky, strewed with a few red +clouds. This was the sort of prospect I desired, and I sat down on a +shattered frieze to enjoy it. Many stories of ancient Rome thronged +into my mind as I mused; triumphal scenes, but tempered by sadness, +and the awful thoughts of their being all passed away. It would be +in vain to recapitulate the ideas which chased one another along. +Think where I sat, and you may easily conjecture the series. When +the procession was fleeted by (for I not only thought, but seemed to +see warriors moving amongst the cypresses, and consuls returning from +Parthian expeditions, loaded with strange spoils, and received with +the acclamations of millions upon entering the theatre), I arose, +crossed the arena, paced several times round and round, looked up to +arcade rising above arcade, and admiring the stately height and +masses of the structure, considered it in various points of view, and +felt, as if I never should be satisfied with gazing, hour after hour, +and day after day. Next, directing my steps to the arch of +Constantine, I surveyed the groups of ruins which surrounded me. The +cool breeze of the evening played in the beds of canes and osiers +which flourished under the walls of the Coliseo: a cloud of birds +were upon the wing to regain their haunts in its crevices; and, +except the sound of their flight, all was silent; for happily no +carriages were rattling along. I observed the palace and obelisk of +St. John of Lateran, at a distance; but it was too late to take a +nearer survey; so, returning leisurely home, I traversed the Campo +Vaccino, and leaned a moment against one of the columns which +supported the temple of Jupiter Stator. Some women were fetching +water from the fountain hard by, whilst another group had kindled a +fire under the shrubs and twisted fig-trees, which cover the Palatine +Hill. Innumerable vaults and arches peep out of the vegetation. It +was upon these, in all probability, the splendid palace of the +Caesars was raised. Confused fragments of marble, and walls of lofty +terraces, are the sole traces of its ancient magnificence. A +wretched rabble were roasting their chestnuts, on the very spot, +perhaps, where Domitian convened a senate, to harangue upon the +delicacies of his entertainment. The light of the flame cast upon +the figures around it, and the mixture of tottering wall with foliage +impending above their heads, formed a striking picture, which I +stayed contemplating from my pillar, till the fire went out, the +assembly dispersed, and none remained but a withered hag, raking the +embers, and muttering to herself. I thought also it was high time to +retire, lest the unwholesome mists, which were streaming from the +opening before the Coliseo, might make me repent my stay. Whether +they had already taken effect, or no, I will not absolutely +determine; but something or other had grievously disordered me. A +few centuries ago I should have taxed the old hag with my headache, +and have attributed the uncommon oppression I experienced to her +baleful power. Hastening to my hotel, I mounted into the open +portico upon its summit, nearly upon a level with the Villa Medici, +and sat, several hours, with my arms folded in one another, listening +to the distant rumours of the town. It had been a fine moment to +have bestrode one of the winds which piped around me, offering, no +doubt, some compact from Lucifer. + +November 1st.--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 torchlight in +the evening. St. John's of Lateran astonished me. I could not help +walking several times round the obelisk, and admiring the noble open +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, but 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 inclosure. Such objects are scattered over the landscape, that +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 daybreak, 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 +air? it seemed purer and more transparent than any I had before +inhaled. The mountains were covered with thin mists, and the morning +star sparkled above their summits. Birds were twittering amongst +some sheds and bushes, which border the sides of the road. A +chestnut hung over it, against which I leaned till the chaise came +up. 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 curses of its postillions. +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 cliffs, so famous for +Circe's incantations, and the whole line of coast, which was once +covered with her forests. + +Whilst I was advancing with full speed, the sunbeams began to shoot +athwart the mountains, the plains to light up by degrees, and their +shrubberies of myrtle to glisten with dewdrops. The sea brightened, +and the Circean rock soon glowed with purple. I never felt my +spirits so exhilarated, and they could not have flowed with more +vivacity, even had I tasted the cup which Helen gave Telemachus. You +will think me gone wild when I tell you I was, in a manner, drunk +with the dews of the morning, and so enraptured with the prospects +which lay before me as to address them in verse, and compose charms +to dispel the enchantments of Circe. All day were we approaching her +rock; towards evening Terracina appeared before us, in a bold +romantic site; house above house, and turret looking over turret, on +the steeps of a mountain, inclosed with mouldering walls, and crowned +by the ruined terraces of a delightful 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 exquisitely agreeable. 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 ever seen, and clustered with +fruit, I climbed up the rocks to take a close survey of it, and found +a spring trickling near its fount, bordered by fresh herbage. On +this I stretched myself on the very edge of the precipice, and +looking down upon the beach, and glassy plains of ocean, exclaimed +with Martial: + + +"O nemua! O fentes! aolidumque madentis +Littus, et acquorcis splendidus Anxur aquis!" + + +Glancing my eyes athwart the sea, I fixed them on the Circean +promontory, 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. + +Who knows but Circe might have led me to some other palace, in a more +secret and retired vale, where she dwells remote from modern +mariners, and the present inhabitants of her environs; universally +changed to swine for these many ages? Their metamorphoses being so +thoroughly established as to leave no further pretence for her +operations, I can imagine her given up to solitude, and the +consciousness of her potent influence. Notwithstanding the risks of +the adventure, I wished to have attempted it, and seen whether she +would have allowed me, as night came on, to warm myself by her cedar +fire, and hear her captivating song. Perhaps, had the goddess been +propitious, I might have culled some herbs of wondrous efficacy. You +recollect, I dare say, how renowned the cliff was for them, and +remember that Circe's attendants, deeply skilled, like their +mistress, in pharmacy, were continually gathering plants in the woods +and wilds which enriched her abode. It was thus the companions of +Ulysses found them employed, when, entering her palace, they unwarily +drank the beverage she offered. Ovid has told this story in a +masterly manner, and formed a lively picture of the magic dome, with +the occupations of its inhabitants. We see them judiciously +arranging their plants, whilst Circe directs and points out, with the +nicest discernment, the simple and compound virtues of every flower. + +Descending the cliff, and pursuing our route to Mola along the shore, +by a grand road formed on the ruins of the Appian, 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 AEneid had sailed in search +of fate and empire, then closed my eyes, and dreamed of those +illustrious wanderers. + +Nine struck when we arrived at Mola di Cajeta. 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 AEneas and +Ulysses. + +November 3rd.--The morning was soft, but hazy. I walked in a grove +of oranges, white with blossoms, and at. the same time glowing with +fruit, some of which I obtained leave to gather. The spot sloped +pleasantly towards the sea, and here I amused myself with my +agreeable occupation till the horses were ready, then set off on the +Appian, between hedges of myrtle and aloes, catching fresh gales from +the sea as I flew along, and breathing the perfume of an aromatic +vegetation, which covers the fields on the shore. We observed +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 full in my mind: + + +"Tot congesta manu praeruptis oppida saxis +Fluminaque antiquos suhterlabentia 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 the pleasure of discovering it; +lightning began to flash with dreadful rapidity, and people to run +frightened to their houses. 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 fields round +Naples were filled with herds, lowing most piteously, and yet not +half so much scared as their masters, who ran about cursing and +swearing 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. I could not sleep, and was full as disturbed as the elements. + +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 several 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 +ether, 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 woody, variegated shore of Posilipo next drew my +attention. It was on those very rocks, under those tall pines, +Sannazaro was wont to sit by moonlight, or at peep of dawn, holding +converse with the Nereids. 'Tis 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 in all the pomp of awkwardness. I jostled along to the +presence chamber, where his Majesty was dining alone in a circular +inclosure 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. Doing so was the great business of the day, and 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.'s and hear Lady H. play, whose music breathes the +most pastoral Sicilian ideas, and transports me to green meads on the +sea-coast, where I wander with Theocritus. + +The evening was passing swiftly away in this delightful excursion of +fancy, 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 six rows of boxes +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 ugly 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. + +The last ballet, formed upon the old story of "Le Festin de Pierre," +had wonderful effect, and terminated in the most striking perspective +of the infernal region. Picq danced incomparably, and Signora Rossi +led the Fandango, with a grace and activity that pleased me beyond +idea. Music was never more rapturous than that which accompanies +this dance. It quite enchanted me, and I longed to have sprung upon +the stage. The cadence is so strongly marked by the castanets, that +it is almost impossible to be out of time; and the rapidity of steps +and varied movements scarcely allows a moment to think of being +tired. I should imagine the eternal dance, with which certain tribes +of American savages think they are to be rewarded in a future +existence, might be formed somewhat on this model. Indeed the +Fandango arrived in Spain with the conquerors of the other +hemisphere, and is far too lively and extatic to be of European +original. + +November 6th--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 roused me from my slumbers, and +summoned me to the broad terrace of Chiaja, directly above the waters +and commanding 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 their +fresh yellow colours, variegated with ivy, have a beautiful effect. +To the right a grove of pines sprung from the highest pinnacles: on +the left, bay and chestnut conceal the tomb of Virgil, placed on the +summit of a cliff which impends over the opening of the grotto, and +is fringed with a florid 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 such a noise with their tools and their voices as +almost inclined me to wish the Cimmerians would start from their +subterraneous habitations, and sacrifice these profane to the Manes. + +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 vast and solemn perspective, terminated by a speck of grey +uncertain light, venerated a work which some old chroniclers have +imagined as ancient as the Trojan war. 'Twas here the mysterious +race I have just mentioned 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 Mr. Addison very +justly observes, is better known at Naples in his magical character, +than as the author of the AEneid. 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, {240} 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. Drops of dew were +distilling from the niches of the little chamber, which once +contained his urn, and heaps of withered leaves had gathered on the +pavement. Amongst these I crept to eat some grapes and biscuits, +having duly scattered a few crumbs as a sort of offering to the +invisible guardians of the place. I believe they were sensible of my +piety, and, as a reward, kept vagabonds and clowns away. + +The one who conducted me remained aloof at awful distance, whilst I +sat commercing with the manes of my beloved poet, or straggling about +the shrubbery which hangs directly above the mouth of the grot. I +wonder I did not visit the eternal shades sooner that I expected, for +no squirrel ever skipped from bough to bough more venturously. One +instant I climbed up the branches of a chestnut, and sat almost on +its extremity, my feet impending over the chasm below; another I +boldly advanced to the edge of the rock, and 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. Having clambered 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 aerial situation, which commanded the +grand sweep of the bay, varied by convents, palaces, and gardens, +mixed with huge masses of rock and crowned by the stately buildings +of the Carthusians and fortress of St. Elmo. Add a glittering blue +sea to this perspective, with Caprea rising from its bosom, and +Vesuvius breathing forth a white column of smoke into the ether, 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 + + + +November 8th.--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 +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 lively 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 was leading 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 AEneas. + +With these dispositions I proceeded; and soon the cliffs and copses +opened to views of the Baian bay, 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 Puzzoli. 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, chestnut, bay, and ilex, that shelter the ruins of +columbariums and sepulchral chambers, where the dead sleep snug +amongst rampant herbage. The region was still, save when a cock crew +from the hamlets, which, as well as the tombs, are almost concealed +by thickets. 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 plausible young travellers +that had gone before me. + +After ascending some time, I followed him into the Piscina Mirabilis, +the wondrous reservoir which Nero constructed to supply his fleet, +when anchored in the neighbouring bay. 'Tis a grand labyrinth of +solid vaults and pillars, as you well know, but you cannot conceive +the partial gleams of sunshine which played on the arches, nor the +variety of roots and ivies trailing from the cove. A noise of +trickling waters prevailed, 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 looked over the Mare Morto, and Elysian +fields trembling with poplars. The Dead Lake, a faithful emblem of +eternal tranquillity, looked deep and solemn. A few peasants were +passing along its margin, their shadows reflected on the water: all +was serene and peaceful. 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 corn seemed to flourish in the inclosures. + +I walked on with slowness and deliberation, musing at every step, and +stopping ever and anon to rest myself by springs and tufted bay- +trees; when 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 enclosures; a +primeval rudeness characterized the whole scene, - + + + "Juvat arva videre, +Non rastris, hominum non ulli obnoxia curae." + + +The idea of going almost out of the world, soothed the tone of mind +into which a variety of affecting recollections had thrown me. I +formed conjectures about the promontory to which we were tending; and +when I cast my eyes around the savage landscape, transported myself +four thousand years into antiquity, and half persuaded myself I was +one of AEneas's companions. After forcing our way about a mile +through glades of shrubs and briars, we entered a verdant 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; they would have discovered a nymph in every flower, +and detected a dryad under every tree. Doubtless imagination never +formed a lovelier prospect. Here were clear streams and grassy +hillocks, leafy shrubs and cypresses spiring out of their bosom, - + + +"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,--a flat spot covered with herbage, +where I lay contemplating the ocean, and fanned by its breezes. The +sun darted upon my head; I wished to avoid its immediate influence: +no tree was near. Deep below lay the pleasant valley: 'twas a long +way to descend. 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; dark ivy crept among the crevices, +and dwarf aloes with sharp spines, 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 hollow 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. To say truth, I wished +myself away, and heartily regretted the green vale. + +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. O +Quixote! O Sylvio di Rosalva! how would ye have strutted in such a +situation! What fair Infantas would ye not have expected to behold, +condemned to spinning wheels, and solitude?" I, alas! saw nothing +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 chestnuts before me. This patriarchal politeness 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." + + +Said she, "Your features are wonderfully like those of an unfortunate +young person, who, in this retirement . . . " The tears began to +fall as she pronounced these words; she seemed older than before, and +bent to the ground with sorrow. 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 might no doubt alleviate, 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, however, +to talk 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 unworthy 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, and rousing his dire spirit, applied to a malignant daemon +who sold the most inveterate poisons. These he presented, like a cup +of pure iced water, to his friend, and to his own affectionate +father. They drank the draught, and soon began to pine. 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 agitation 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. Equally was he +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 +unheard-of 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 inquired 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. + +"I am not inclined to describe their ecstasies, or the eagerness with +which they sought each other's embraces. I turned indignantly my +head; 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. +I mistook the shadow of leaves, that chequered the entrance to the +grot, for ugly reptiles, and 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 hurried my steps. Dark +clouds were driving across the sky, and the setting moon was flushed +with the deepest crimson. A wan gleam coloured the sea. 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 hard by my hovel, and scarcely three paces from the +brink of the cavern: it was from 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 ten feet down: thus dreadfully +did he hang over the gulph from the branch bent 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 +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 saw me not; for not once did he implore my help. +My heart was dead within me. I called out upon the Lord. His voice +grew faint, and as I gazed intent upon him, 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; I lifted up my eyes, but nothing stirred; the +stillness that prevailed was awful. + +"The moon looked stained with streaks of blood; her orb 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 soon I 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.' I shrank back. + +"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, shuddering, looked down +into the gloom. There I remained 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 the great Being? in our Redeemer? in +the tenets of our faith?" I answered with reverence, but said I was +no Catholic. "Then," continued the aged woman, "I will not declare +before a heretic what were the sacred 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, as, 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. + +I was vexed to be roused from my visions, and had much rather have +sunk in some deep cave of the Cimmerians than returned to Naples. + + + +LETTER XXIV + + + +NAPLES, November 9th. + +We made our excursion to Pompeii, passing through Portici, and over +the last lava of Mount Vesuvius. I experienced a strange mixture of +sensations, on surveying at once the mischiefs of the late eruption, +in the ruin of villages, farms, and vineyards; and all around them +the most luxuriant and delightful scenery of nature. It was +impossible to resist the impressions of melancholy from viewing the +former, or not to admit that gaiety of spirits which was inspired by +the sight of the latter. I say nothing of the Museum at Portici, +which we saw in our way, on account of the ample description of its +contents already given to the public, and because it should be +described no otherwise than by an exact catalogue, or by an +exhibition of engravings. An hour and half brought us from this +celebrated repository to Pompeii. Nothing can be conceived more +delightful than the climate and situation of this city. It stands +upon a gently-rising hill, which commands the bay of Naples, with the +islands of Caprea and Ischia, the rich coasts of Sorento, the tower +of Castel a Mare; and on the other side, Mount Vesuvius, with the +lovely country intervening. It is judged to be about an Italian mile +long, and three and a half in circuit. We entered the city at the +little gate which lies towards Stabiae. The first object upon +entering is a colonnade round a square court, which seems to have +formed a place of arms. Behind the colonnade is a series of little +rooms, destined for the soldiers' barracks. The columns are of +stone, plaistered with stucco and coloured. On several of them we +found names scratched in Greek and Latin; probably those of the +soldiers who had been quartered there. Helmets and armour for +various parts of the body were discovered amongst the skeletons of +some soldiers, whose hard fate had compelled them to wait on duty, at +the perilous moment of the city's approaching destruction. Dolphins +and tridents, sculptured in relief on most of these relics of armour, +seem to show that they had been fabricated for naval service. Some +of the sculptures on the arms, probably belonging to officers, +exhibit a greater variety of ornaments. The taking of Troy, wrought +on one of the helmets, is beautifully executed; and much may be said +in commendation of the work of several others. + +We were next led to the remains of a temple and altar near these +barracks. From thence to some rooms floored (as indeed were almost +all that have been cleared from the rubbish) with tesselated mosaic +pavements of various patterns, and most of them of very excellent +execution. Many of these have been taken up, and now form the floors +of the rooms in the Museum at Portici, whose best ornaments of every +kind are furnished from the discoveries at Pompeii. From the rooms +just mentioned we descended into a subterraneous chamber, +communicating with a bathing apartment. It appears to have served as +a kind of office to the latter. It was probably here that the +clothes used in bathing were washed. A fireplace, a capacious +cauldron of bronze, and earthen vessels, proper for that purpose, +found here, have given rise to the conjecture. Contiguous to this +room is a small circular one with a fireplace, which was the stove to +the bath. I should not forget to tell you that the skeleton of the +poor laundress (for so the antiquaries will have it), who was very +diligently washing the bathing clothes at the time of the eruption, +was found lying in an attitude of most resigned death, not far from +the washing cauldron in the office just mentioned. + +We were now conducted to the temple, or rather chapel, of Isis. The +chief remains are a covered cloister; the great altar on which was +probably exhibited the statue of the goddess; a little edifice to +protect the sacred well; the pediment of the chapel, with a +symbolical vase in relief; ornaments in stucco, on the front of the +main building, consisting of the lotus, the sistrum, representations +of gods, Harpocrates, Anubis, and other objects of Egyptian worship. +The figures on one side of this temple are Perseus with the Gorgon's +head; on the other side, Mars and Venus, with Cupids bearing the arms +of Mars. We next observe three altars of different sizes. On one of +them is said to have been found the bones of a victim unconsumed, the +last sacrifice having probably been stopped by the dreadful calamity +which had occasioned it. From a niche in the temple was taken a +statue of marble: a woman pressing her lips with her forefinger. +Within the area is a well, where the priest threw the ashes of the +sacrifices. We saw in the Museum at Portici some lovely arabesque +paintings, cut from the walls of the cloister. The foliage which ran +round the whole sweep of the cloister itself is in the finest taste. +A tablet of basalt with Egyptian hieroglyphics was transported from +thence to Portici, together with the following inscription, taken +from the front gate of the chapel: + + +N. POPIDUS N. F. CELSINUS. +AEDEM ISIDIS TERRAE MOTU COLLAPSAM +A FUNDAMENTO P. SUA RESTITUIT +HUNC DECURIONES OB LIBERALITATEM +CUM ESSET ANNORUM SEX ORDINI SUO +GRATIS ADLEGERUNT. + + +Behind one of the altars we saw a small room, in which, our guide +informed us, a human skeleton had been discovered, with some fish +bones on a plate near it, and a number of other culinary utensils. +We then passed on to another apartment, almost contiguous, where +nothing more remarkable had been found than an iron crow: an +instrument with which perhaps the unfortunate wretch, whose skeleton +I have mentioned above, had vainly endeavoured to extricate herself, +this room being probably barricaded by the matter of the eruption. +This temple, rebuilt, as the inscription imports, by N. Popidius, had +been thrown down by a terrible earthquake, that likewise destroyed a +great part of the city (sixteen years before the famous eruption of +Vesuvius described by Pliny, which happened in the first year of +Titus, A.D. 79) and buried at once both Herculaneum and Pompeii. As +I lingered alone in these environs sacred to Isis, some time after my +companions had quitted them, I fell into one of those reveries which +my imagination is so fond of indulging; and transporting myself +seventeen hundred years back, fancied I was sailing with the elder +Pliny, on the first day's eruption, from Misenum, towards Retina and +Herculaneum; and afterwards towards the villa of his friend +Pomponianus at Stabiae. The course of our galley seldom carried us +out of sight of Pompeii, and as often as I could divert my attention +from the tremendous spectacle of the eruption, its enormous pillar of +smoke standing conically in the air, and tempests of liquid fire +continually bursting out from the midst of it, then raining down the +sides of the mountain, and flooding this beautiful coast with +innumerable streams of red-hot lava, methought I turned my eyes upon +this fair city, whose houses, villas, and gardens, with their long +ranges of columned courts and porticos, were made visible through the +universal cloud of ashes, by lightning from the mountain; and saw its +distracted inhabitants, men, women, and children, running to and fro +in despair. But in one spot, I mean the court and precincts of the +temple, glared a continual light. It was the blaze of the altars; +towards which I discerned a long-robed train of priests moving in +solemn procession, to supplicate by prayer and sacrifice, at this +destructive moment, the intervention of Isis, who had taught the +first fathers of mankind the culture of the earth, and other arts of +civil life. Methought I could distinguish in their hands all those +paintings and images, sacred to this divinity, brought out on this +portentous occasion, from the subterraneous apartments and mystic +cells of the temple. There was every form of creeping thing and +abominable beast, every Egyptian pollution which the true prophet had +seen in vision, among the secret idolatries of the temple at +Jerusalem. The priests arrived at the altars; I saw them gathered +round, and purifying the three at once with the sacred meal; then, +all moving slowly about them, each with his right hand towards the +fire: it was the office of some to seize the firebrands of the +altars, with which they sprinkled holy water on the numberless +bystanders. Then began the prayers, the hymns, and lustrations of +the sacrifice. The priests had laid the victims with their throats +downward upon the altars; were ransacking the baskets of flour and +salt for the knives of slaughter, and proceeding in haste to the +accomplishment of their pious ceremonies;--when one of our company, +who thought me lost, returned with impatience, and calling me off to +some new object, put an end to my strange reverie. We were now +summoned to pay some attention to the scene and corridor of a +theatre, not far from the temple. Little more of its remains being +yet cleared away, we hastened back to a small house and garden in the +neighbourhood of Isis. Sir W. Hamilton (in his account of Pompeii +communicated to the Society of Antiquaries), when speaking of this +house, having taken occasion to give a general idea of the private +mansions of the ancient citizens, I shall take the liberty of +transcribing the whole passage. "A covered cloister, supported by +columns, goes round the house, as was customary in many of the houses +at Pompeii. The rooms in general are very small, and in one, where +an iron bedstead was found, the wall had been pared away to make room +for this bedstead; so that it was not six feet square, and yet this +room was most elegantly painted, and had a tesselated or mosaic +floor. The weight of the matter erupted from Mount Vesuvius has +universally damaged the upper parts of the houses; the lower parts +are mostly found as fresh as at the moment they were buried. The +plan of most of the houses at Pompeii is a square court, with a +fountain in the middle, and small rooms round, communicating with +that court. By the construction and distribution of the houses, it +seems, the inhabitants of Pompeii were fond of privacy. They had few +windows towards the street, except where, from the nature of the +plan, they could not avoid it; but even in that case the windows were +placed too high for anyone in the streets to overlook them. Their +houses nearly resemble each other, both as to distribution of plan, +and in the manner of finishing the apartments. The rooms are in +general small, from ten to twelve feet, and from fourteen to eighteen +feet; few communications between room and room, almost all without +windows, except the apartments situated to the gardens, which are +thought to have been allotted to the women. Their cortiles, or +courts, were often surrounded by porticos, even in very small houses; +not but there were covered galleries before the doors of their +apartments to afford shade and shelter. No timber was used in +finishing their apartments, except in doors and windows. The floors +were generally laid in mosaic work. One general taste prevailed of +painting the sides and ceilings of the rooms. Small figures and +medallions of low relief were sometimes introduced. Their great +variety consisted in the colours, and in the choice and delicacy of +the ornaments, in which they displayed great harmony and taste. +Their houses were some two, others three stories high." + +We now pursued our way through what is with some probability thought +to have been the principal street. Its narrowness, however, +surprised me. It is scarcely eleven feet wide, clear of the footways +raised on each side of it. The pavement is formed of a large sort of +flattish-surfaced pebbles; not laid down with the greatest evenness +or regularity. The sideways may be about a yard wide, each paved, +irregularly enough, with small stones. There are guard stones at +equal intervals, to defend the foot passengers from carriages and +horses. I cannot say I found anything either elegant or pleasant in +the effect of this open street. But, as the houses in general +present little more than a dead wall towards it, I do not imagine any +views, beyond mere use and convenience, were consulted in the plan. +It led us, however, through the principal gate or entrance, to a sort +of Villa Rustica, without the limits of the city, which amply +recompensed our curiosity. The arcade surrounding a square garden, +or courtyard, offers itself first to the observer's notice. Into +this open a number of coved rooms, adorned with paintings of figures +and arabesques. These rooms, though small, have a rich and elegant +appearance, their ornaments being very well executed, and retaining +still their original freshness. On the top of the arcade runs a walk +or open terrace, leading to the larger apartments of the higher +story. One of the rooms below has a capacious bow-window, where +several panes of glass, somewhat shattered, were found, but in +sufficient preservation to show that the ancients were not without +knowledge of this species of manufacture. As Horace and most of the +old Latin Poets dwell much on the praises of ancient conviviality, +and appear to have valued themselves considerably on their +connoisseurship in wine, it was with great pleasure I descended into +the spacious cellars, sunk and vaulted beneath the arcade above- +mentioned. Several earthen amphorae were standing in rows against +the walls, but the Massic and Falernian with which they were once +stored, had probably long been totally absorbed by the earth and +ashes, which were now the sole contents of these venerable jars. The +ancients are thought to have used oil, instead of corks, and that the +stoppers were of some matter that could make but little resistance, +seems confirmed by the entrance of that, which now supplied the place +with wine. The skeletons of several of the family who had possessed +this villa were discovered in the cellar, together with brass and +silver coins, and many such ornaments of dress as were of more +durable materials. On re-ascending, we went to the hot and cold +baths; thence to the back of the villa, separated by a passage from +the more elegant part of the house; we were shown some rooms which +had been occupied by the farmer, and from whence several implements +of agriculture had been carried, to enrich the collection at Portici. +On the whole, the plan and construction of this villa are extremely +curious, and its situation very happily chosen. I could not, +however, help feeling some regret, in not having had the good fortune +to be present at the first discovery. It must have been highly +interesting to see all its ancient relics (the greatest part of which +are now removed) each in its proper place; or, at least, in the place +they had possessed for so long a course of years. His Sicilian +Majesty has ordered a correct draught of this villa to be taken, +which, it is hoped, will one day be published, with a complete +account of all the discoveries at Pompeii. + +Our next walk was to see the Columbarium, a very solemn looking +edifice, where probably the families of higher rank only at Pompeii, +deposited the urns of their deceased kindred. Several of these urns, +with their ashes, and one among the rest of glass, inclosed in +another of earth, were dug out of the sepulchral vaults. A quantity +of marble statues, of but ordinary execution, and colossal masks of +terra-cotta, constituted the chief ornaments of the Columbarium. It +is situated without the gates, on the same side of the city as the +villa just described. There is something characteristically sad in +its aspect. It threw my mind into a melancholy, but not disagreeable +tone. Under the mixed sentiments it inspired, I cast one lingering +look back on the whole affecting scene of ruins, over which I had for +several hours been rambling, and quitted it to return to Naples, not +without great reluctance. + + + +LETTER XXV + + + +ROME, December 9th. + +My last letter was despatched in such a hurry that I had not time to +conclude it. This will be nearly as imperfect; but yet I cannot +forbear writing, having the vanity to believe that you are pleased +with hearing only that I am well. + +Your friend H. walked with me this morning in the Loggios of +Raffaelle, and we went afterwards to the Capitol. Nothing delighted +me more in the whole treasury of sculptures, than a figure in alto +relievo of Endymion, reclined on the mountain's brow: his head falls +upon his breast with an ease and gracefulness, of which the Greeks +alone had ever a true conception. Most of the chambers, if you +recollect, are filled with the elegant remains of Adrian's +collection. The villa of that classic emperor at Tivoli, must have +been the most charming of structures. Having travelled into various +and remote parts of his empire, he assembled their most valuable +ornaments on one spot. Some of his apartments were filled with the +mysterious images and symbols of Egypt: others with Eastern tripods +and strange Adriatic vases. Though enraptured with St. Peter's and +the Vatican, with the gardens and groves of pine, that surround this +interesting city, still I cannot help sighing after my native hills +and copses, which look (I know not how it happens) more like the +haunts of Pan than any I have seen in Italy. I eagerly anticipate +the placid hours we shall pass, perhaps next summer, on the wild +range which belongs to our sylvan deities. In their deep fastnesses +I will hide myself from the world, and never allow its glare to +bicker through my foliage. You will follow me, I trust, into +retirement, and equally forget the turmoils of mankind. What have we +children of the good Sylvanus to do with the miseries or triumphs of +the savages that prowl about London? Let us forget there exists such +a city, and when reposing amongst ivy and blossoms of bloom, imagine +ourselves in the ancient dominions of Saturn, and dream that we see +him pass along with his rustic attendants. + + + +LETTER XXVI + + + +AUGSBURG, January 20th, 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. Often were we +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 the pleasure of discovering a smoke rising from a +cottage, or of 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. + + + +ADDITIONAL LETTERS + + + +[The following Letters, written in a second Excursion, which was +interrupted by a dangerous illness, are added on account of their +affinity to some of the preceding.] + + + +LETTER I + + + +COLOGNE, May 28th, 1782. + +This is the first day of summer; the oak leaves expand, the roses +blow, butterflies are about, 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 stout oaken 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 alleys, 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 in the alleys, 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 whence we came in. This procession seemed at first +very mystical, but it was too soon accounted for by our postillions, +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 + + + +INSPRUCK, June 4th. + +No sooner had we passed Fuezen than we entered the Tyrol, and the +country of wonders. Those lofty peaks, those steeps of wood I +delight in, lay before us. Innumerable clear springs gush 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 Nasariet, 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 C. 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. A sort of bluebell predominated, brighter than ultramarine; +here and there auriculas looked out of the moss, and I often reposed +upon tufts of ranunculus. Bushes of phillerea 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 + + + +PADUA, June 14th. + +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 lofty 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 +by my ear. Sadness came over me as I entered the great canal, and +recognised (the scene of many a strange adventure) those solemn +palaces, with their lofty arcades and gloomy arches, beneath which I +had so often sat. + +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 moonlight. 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 M. de R.'s, and sung over the airs I +composed in the dawn of our acquaintance. + +Next morning the wind was uncommonly violent for the mild season of +June, and the canals much agitated; 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, I hailed the Adriatic, and plunged +into its bosom. 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 merchandize, the perfume +of coffee, the shade of awnings, and the sight of Greeks and Asiatics +sitting crossed-legged under them, made me think myself in the +bazaars of Constantinople. + +'Tis 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 + + + +PADUA, June 19th. + +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 Mad. 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 I pitched my +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 chestnuts in +blossom, 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, June 29th. + +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 jiggeting along the Corso with the puppets in +blue and silver coats, and green and gold coaches, instead of bowing +to Cardinal this, and dotting my head to Abbe t'other, I strolled to +the Coliseo, found out my old haunts amongst its arches, and enjoyed +the pure transparent sky between groves of slender cypress. 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 Villa Medici; +before, lies roof beyond roof and dome beyond dome: these are dimly +discovered; but don't 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 + + + +ROME, June 30th. + +As soon as the sun declined I strolled into the Villa Medici; but +finding it haunted by fine pink and yellow people, nay, even by the +Spanish Ambassador, and several more dignified carcasses, 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. Yes, I am persuaded +some consul or praetor dwelt here only fifty years ago. Would to +God, our souls might be transported to such solitary spots! where we +might glide along the dark alleys together, when bodies were gone to +bed. I discovered a little cave that would just suit us; celandine, +Venus' hair, and a thousand delicate plants, growing downwards from +the cave; beneath lies a clear spring. + +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 sad waste of the Campagna met my +eyes, and I wished to go home, but had not 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 view the dreary scene, the long line +of aqueducts and lonesome towers. Perhaps the unwholesome vapours, +rising like blue mists from the plains, 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, July 8th. + +The sea-breezes restored me to life. I set the heat of midday at +defiance, and do not believe in the horrors of the sirocco. +Yesterday I passed 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 +carriage than Sir W.'s is allowed to enter its alleys. We breathed a +fresh air untainted by dust or garlic. 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; at least, I +should do so, if I were a rabbit. + +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, surrounded by gardens 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 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. + + + +AN EXCURSION TO THE GRAND CHARTREUSE IN THE YEAR 1778 + + + +The Grand Chartreuse has exceeded my expectations; it is more +wonderfully wild than I can describe, or even you can imagine. It +has possessed me to such a degree that at present I can neither +think, speak, nor write upon any other subject. + +June 5th.--I left Geneva, and after passing through a succession of +valleys between innumerable mountains, and after crossing a variety +of picturesque bridges, thrown over the streams which water them, +arrived at Aix, in Savoy, famous for its baths, which, as +disagreeable things are generally the most salutary, ought doubtless +to be of the greatest efficacy; for more uninviting objects one +seldom meets with. + +Advancing beneath a little eminence, partly rock, partly wall, we +discovered the principal bath, filled with a blue reeking water, +whose very steam is sufficient to seethe one without further +assistance. + +Scarce had we stood looking on it a minute, before down dashed three +or four dirty boys, as copper-coloured as the natives of Bengal; who +by splashing us all over, and swimming about a la crapaudine, +convinced us that it was not their fault, if we would not have +companions in the delights of bathing. I soon hurried away from this +salubrious cauldron, and stepping into a little chapel hard by, where +they were singing vespers, prayed heartily to the Virgin, that I +might never need the assistance of those wonder-working waters over +which she presides. As there was but little company in the town, and +little amusement, I went to bed at nine, and rose at four the next +morning, that I might reach before sunset the celebrated road, which +Charles Emanuel had cut through a rocky mountain. My plan succeeded, +and after dining at Chambery (a place scarce worth speaking of to +you), and passing by a cataract that throws itself from a lofty +steep, I began to discover a beautiful woody vale, terminated on one +side by the hallowed cliffs of the Grand Chartreuse, and on the other +by the mountain which Charles Emanuel had perforated in so +extraordinary a manner. The sun was just sinking in a brilliant +cloud, which seemed to repose on a swelling hill, covered with +cattle, when we quitted the cheerful valley, and began to descend +between two ridges of precipices, that at some distance had the +appearance of towering ramparts. Pursuing our route, we found +ourselves in a deep cleft, surrounded by caverns, echoing with a +thousand rills which trickle down their sides, and mingling their +murmurs with the rattling of our wheels and the steps of our horses, +infinitely repeated and multiplied, formed, altogether, the strangest +combination of sounds that ever reached my ears. The road itself is +admirably cut, and hewn with such neatness that, were it not for the +savage and desolate air of its environs, I should have imagined +myself approaching some grand castle or considerable city. Toward +the summits of the precipices, that in some places rise to a majestic +elevation (the two sides here and there nearly meeting in an arch), +hang light woods of glossy green, which, being agitated by a gentle +wind, cast a moving shadow over the cleft beneath, and, at a little +distance, gave our road the appearance of a chequered pavement. + +Having wound through the bosom of the mountain for some time, I was +struck by the unexpected appearance of a grand edifice, resembling a +vast portal, supported by Doric pilasters, and crowned with an +ornamented pediment. Upon my nearer approach I found a smooth tablet +filling up the space I had allotted for an entrance, on which was +engraven a pompous Latin inscription, setting forth with what +incredible labour and perseverance his Majesty, Charles Emanuel the +Second of Sardinia, Cyprus, and Jerusalem, King, had cut this road +through the mountain; which great enterprise, though unattempted by +the Romans, and despaired of by other nations, was executed under his +auspices. I very sincerely wished him joy, and, as the evening was +growing rather cool, was not sorry to perceive, through an opening in +the rocks, a wide-extended plain, interspersed with meadows, +embosomed by woods, in which I distinguished Les Echelles, a village, +where we were to lie, with its chimneys smoking, under the base of +one of the Carthusian mountains, round which had gathered a concourse +of red and greyish clouds. + +The twilight was beginning to prevail when we reached our inn, and +very glad I was to leave it 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 fall, 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 inclosure, 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 leaning 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. + +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 bedchambers. + +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. The best fish, +the most exquisite fruits, and a variety of dishes, excellent without +the assistance of meat, were served up with an order and arrangement +that showed it was not the first time they had entertained in the +noblest manner. But I was not more struck with the delicacy of the +entertainment, than with the extreme cleanness and English-like +neatness of the whole apartment and its furniture. A marble +fountain, particularly, gave it a very agreeable aid, and the water +that fell from it into a porphyry shell was remarkable for its +clearness and purity. Our attendant friar was helping us to some +Burgundy, which we pronounced of very respectable antiquity, 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 W., 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Dom Biclet died about ten days before our +arrival: a week ago they elected the Pere Robinet 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 representations 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. + +Were I, after walking along the dim cloisters, and passing through +the antechapel, faintly illuminated by a solitary lamp, suddenly to +enter this hall at midnight, when the convocation is assembled, and +the synod of venerable fathers, all in solemn order, surrounding the +successor of Bruno, it would be a long while, I believe, before I +could recover from the surprise of so august a spectacle. It must +indeed be a very imposing sight: the gravity they preserve on these +occasions, their venerable age (for Superiors cannot be chosen +young), and the figures of their deceased Generals, dimly discovered +above, may surely be allowed to awe even an heretical spectator into +a momentary respect for the order. For my own part, I must confess, +that the hall, though divested of all this accompaniment, filled me +with a veneration I scarcely knew how to account for; perhaps the +portraits inspired it. They were all well executed, and mostly in +attitudes of adoration. The form of Bruno was almost lost in the +splendour of the stars which hovered over him. I could in some +moments fancy myself capable of plunging into the horror of a desert, +and foregoing all the vanities and delights of the world, to secure +my memory so sublime a consecration. + +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, portrayed 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. Being +neatly glazed, and free from paintings or Gothic ornaments, it 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 even there the elegance of the workmanship concealed the glare of +the materials, which were silver, solid gold, and the most costly +gems. It being Whit-Sunday, this altar was covered 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 faint external light admitted from above, the +splendour and dignity of the altar was enhanced by contrast. I +retired a moment from it, and seating myself in one of the +furthermost stalls of the choir, looked towards it, and fancied it +had risen 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 very piously 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, everything 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 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 enthusiasm and superstition. + +Saint Bruno was certainly a mighty genius; I admire the motives which +drew him to this desert; but perhaps before we come to that part of +the story, you will like to know what preceded it. My Saint (for +Bruno has succeeded Thomas of Canterbury) was of noble descent, and +possessed considerable wealth. He was not less remarkable for the +qualities of his mind, and his talents gained him the degree of +Master of the great sciences in the University of Rheims; here he +contracted a friendship with Odo, afterwards Urban the Second. Being +always poetic, singular, and visionary, he soon grew disgusted with +the world, and began early in life to sigh after retirement. His +residence at Grenoble, where he was invited by Hugo, its bishop, +determined him to the monastic state. + +This venerable prelate imparted to him a vision in which he seemed to +behold the desert and mountain beyond his city visible in the dead of +night by the streaming of seven lucid stars that hung directly over +them. Whilst he was ardently gazing at this wonder, a still voice +was heard declaring it the future abode of Bruno--by him to be +consecrated as a retirement for holy men desirous of holding converse +with their God. No shepherd's pipe was to be heard within these +precincts; no huntsman's profane feet to tread these silent regions, +which were to be dedicated solely to their Creator; no woman was to +ascend this mountain, nor 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. Many are the miracles +which he wrought and which his canonized bones have since effected: +angels (it is said), hovered round him in his departing hour, and +bore him on their wings to heaven. The different accounts of his +translation are almost endless; and as they are all nearly in the +same style, it will be needless to recite them. + +I had scarcely finished taking extracts from the life and writings of +St. Bruno 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 with the dessert, and served up an +admirable dish of miracles, well seasoned with the devil and prettily +garnished with angels and moonbeams. {284} + +Our conversation was interrupted, 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 inquiring 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 a steep hollow +vale, surrounded by the 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. --- 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. + +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 bluish 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 a 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: the convent bell tolled; for the most solemn hour +of prayer was arrived. I cannot, nor would I, attempt to unfold to +you, in prose, half the strange things of which I thought, and which +I seemed to see, during this wild excursion. However, I owe to it +the poetical humour in which I composed the following lines, written +immediately on my return, in the album of the fathers, during the +stillest watch of the night: + + + +ODE. + + To orisons, the midnight bell +Had toll'd each silent inmate from his cell; + The hour was come to muse or pray, +Or work mysterious rites that shun the day: + My steps some whis'pring influence led, +Up to yon pine-clad mountain's gloomy head: + Hollow and deep the gust did blow, +And torrents dash'd into the vales below. + At length the toilsome height attain'd, +Quick fled the moon, and sudden stillness reign'd. + As fearful turn'd my searching eye, +Glanc'd near a shadowy form, and fleeted by; + Anon, before me full it stood: +A saintly figure, pale, in pensive mood. + Damp horror thrill'd me till he spoke, +And accents faint the charm bound silence broke: + "Long, trav'ller! ere this region near, +Say, did not whisp'rings strange arrest thine ear? + My summons 'twas to bid thee come, +Where sole the friend of Nature loves to roam. + Ages long past, this drear abode +To solitude I sanctified, and God: + 'Twas here, by love of Wisdom brought, +Her truest lore, Self-knowledge, first I sought; + Devoted here my worldly wealth, +To win my chosen sons immortal health. + Midst these dun woods, and mountains steep, +Midst the wild horrors of yon desert deep, + Midst yawning caverns, wat'ry dells, +Midst long, sequestered aisles, and peaceful cells, + No passions fell distract the mind, +To Nature, Silence, and Herself consign'd. + In these still mansions who shall bide, +'Tis mine, with Heaven's appointment, to decide; + But, hither, I invite not all: +Some want the will to come, and more the call; + But all, mark well my parting voice! +Led, or by chance, necessity, or choice + (Ah! with our Genius dread to sport), +Sage lessons here may learn of high import. + Know! Silence is the nurse of Truth; +Know! Temperance long retards the flight of Youth + Learn here, how penitence and pray'r +Man's fallen race for happier worlds prepare; + Learn mild demeanour, void of art, +And bear, amidst the world, the hermit's heart; + Fix, trav'ller! deep this heaven-taught lore: +Know Bruno brings it, and returns no more." + (Half sighed, half smiled his long farewell), +He turn'd, and vanish'd in the bright'ning dell. + + +My imagination was too much disturbed, and my spirits far too active, +to allow me any rest for some time, and I had not long been quieted +by sleep, when I was suddenly awakened by a furious blast, that drove +open my casement, and let in the roar of the tempest, for the night +was troubled. 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 beach-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 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. The +cattle were all slunk into the recesses of the wood, and were +drinking at the streams which flow along their shades, before I could +prevail on myself to quit the turf and the beech trees. Never shall +I cease regretting the peaceful moments I spent in Valombre, as never +perhaps, were I even to return to it, may so many circumstances unite +to render it pleasing. + +When I returned unwillingly to the convent, the only topic on which I +could converse was the charms of Valombre; but 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, 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 bid 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 flow'rs." + + +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 screened 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 ether. + +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 a 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 Chamberry, and, instead +of going through Aix, passed by Amecy; 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 Valombre. + + + +Footnotes: + +{110} Hills in the neighbourhood of Quang-Tong + +{127} The Peries, inhabitants of Ginnistan, live upon perfumes, +etc., etc. See Richardson's Dissertations. + +{133} Thisbe, a favourite greyhound torn to pieces by a mad dog. + +{140} See the description of the Grande Chartreuse. + +{156} The conduct of the emperor, since the death of his mother, +seems to be accomplishing this prediction apace. + +{170a} It is reasonably conjectured that the sea formerly washed the +walls of Padua. + +{170b} T. Livius, L. i., c. i. + +{170c} Lib. v., c. iv., p. 5. + +{171} Called Roscani in Venetian, and reduced to ashes for the glass +manufactory at Murano. + +{182} A nephew of Bertoni, and worthy of his uncle. + +{214} Mentioned by Dante in his "Purgatorio." + +{240} Mem. pour la Vie de Petrarque, vol. i., p. 439. + +{284} Angela are frequently represented, in legendary tales, as +riding on the beams of the moon. + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, DREAMS, WAKING THOUGHTS, ETC. *** + +This file should be named drwt10.txt or drwt10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, drwt11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, drwt10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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