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diff --git a/7880.txt b/7880.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..16e5295 --- /dev/null +++ b/7880.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7936 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Passages From the French and Italian +Notebooks, Volume 2, by Nathaniel Hawthorne + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Passages From the French and Italian Notebooks, Volume 2 + +Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne + +Release Date: April, 2005 [EBook #7880] +[This file was first posted on May 29, 2003] +[Last updated on December 17, 2011] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PASSSAGES FRENCH AND ITALIAN *** + + + + +Produced by Tapio Riikonen and David Widger + + + + + + + + +PASSAGES FROM HAWTHORNE'S NOTE-BOOKS IN FRANCE AND ITALY. + + + + +FLORENCE (Continued). + + +June 8th.--I went this morning to the Uffizi gallery. The entrance is +from the great court of the palace, which communicates with Lung' Arno at +one end, and with the Grand Ducal Piazza at the other. The gallery is in +the upper story of the palace, and in the vestibule are some busts of the +princes and cardinals of the Medici family,--none of them beautiful, one +or two so ugly as to be ludicrous, especially one who is all but buried +in his own wig. I at first travelled slowly through the whole extent of +this long, long gallery, which occupies the entire length of the palace +on both sides of the court, and is full of sculpture and pictures. The +latter, being opposite to the light, are not seen to the best advantage; +but it is the most perfect collection, in a chronological series, that I +have seen, comprehending specimens of all the masters since painting +began to be an art. Here are Giotto, and Cimabue, and Botticelli, and +Fra Angelico, and Filippo Lippi, and a hundred others, who have haunted +me in churches and galleries ever since I have been in Italy, and who +ought to interest me a great deal more than they do. Occasionally to-day +I was sensible of a certain degree of emotion in looking at an old +picture; as, for example, by a large, dark, ugly picture of Christ +hearing the cross and sinking beneath it, when, somehow or other, a sense +of his agony, and the fearful wrong that mankind did (and does) its +Redeemer, and the scorn of his enemies, and the sorrow of those who loved +him, came knocking at any heart and got entrance there. Once more I deem +it a pity that Protestantism should have entirely laid aside this mode of +appealing to the religious sentiment. + +I chiefly paid attention to the sculpture, and was interested in a long +series of busts of the emperors and the members of their families, and +some of the great men of Rome. There is a bust of Pompey the Great, +bearing not the slightest resemblance to that vulgar and unintellectual +one in the gallery of the Capitol, altogether a different cast of +countenance. I could not judge whether it resembled the face of the +statue, having seen the latter so imperfectly in the duskiness of the +hall of the Spada Palace. These, I presume, are the busts which Mr. +Powers condemns, from internal evidence, as unreliable and conventional. +He may be right,--and is far more likely, of course, to be right than I +am,--yet there certainly seems to be character in these marble faces, and +they differ as much among themselves as the same number of living faces +might. The bust of Caracalla, however, which Powers excepted from his +censure, certainly does give stronger assurance of its being an +individual and faithful portrait than any other in the series. All the +busts of Caracalla--of which I have seen many--give the same evidence of +their truth; and I should like to know what it was in this abominable +emperor that made him insist upon having his actual likeness perpetuated, +with all the ugliness of its animal and moral character. I rather +respect him for it, and still more the sculptor, whose hand, methinks, +must have trembled as he wrought the bust. Generally these wicked old +fellows, and their wicked wives and daughters, are not so hideous as we +might expect. Messalina, for instance, has small and pretty features, +though with rather a sensual development of the lower part of the face. +The busts, it seemed to me, are usually superior as works of art to those +in the Capitol, and either better preserved or more thoroughly restored. +The bust of Nero might almost be called handsome here, though bearing his +likeness unmistakably. + +I wish some competent person would undertake to analyze and develop his +character, and how and by what necessity--with all his elegant tastes, +his love of the beautiful, his artist nature--he grew to be such a +monster. Nero has never yet had justice done him, nor have any of the +wicked emperors; not that I suppose them to have been any less monstrous +than history represents them; but there must surely have been something +in their position and circumstances to render the terrible moral disease +which seized upon them so generally almost inevitable. A wise and +profound man, tender and reverent of the human soul, and capable of +appreciating it in its height and depth, has a great field here for the +exercise of his powers. It has struck me, in reading the history of the +Italian republics, that many of the tyrants, who sprung up after the +destruction of their liberties, resembled the worst of the Roman +emperors. The subject of Nero and his brethren has often perplexed me +with vain desires to come at the truth. + +There were many beautiful specimens of antique, ideal sculpture all along +the gallery,--Apollos, Bacchuses, Venuses, Mercurys, Fauns,--with the +general character of all of which I was familiar enough to recognize them +at a glance. The mystery and wonder of the gallery, however, the Venus +de' Medici, I could nowhere see, and indeed was almost afraid to see it; +for I somewhat apprehended the extinction of another of those lights that +shine along a man's pathway, and go out in a snuff the instant he comes +within eyeshot of the fulfilment of his hopes. My European experience +has extinguished many such. I was pretty well contented, therefore, not +to find the famous statue in the whole of my long journey from end to end +of the gallery, which terminates on the opposite side of the court from +that where it commences. The ceiling, by the by, through the entire +length, is covered with frescos, and the floor paved with a composition +of stone smooth and polished like marble. The final piece of sculpture, +at the end of the gallery, is a copy of the Laocoon, considered very +fine. I know not why, but it did not impress me with the sense of mighty +and terrible repose--a repose growing out of the infinitude of trouble-- +that I had felt in the original. + +Parallel with the gallery, on both sides of the palace-court, there runs +a series of rooms devoted chiefly to pictures, although statues and +bas-reliefs are likewise contained in some of them. I remember an +unfinished bas-relief by Michael Angelo of a Holy Family, which I touched +with my finger, because it seemed as if he might have been at work upon +it only an hour ago. The pictures I did little more than glance at, till +I had almost completed again the circuit of the gallery, through this +series of parallel rooms, and then I came upon a collection of French and +Dutch and Flemish masters, all of which interested me more than the +Italian generally. There was a beautiful picture by Claude, almost as +good as those in the British National Gallery, and very like in subject; +the sun near the horizon, of course, and throwing its line of light over +the ripple of water, with ships at the strand, and one or two palaces of +stately architecture on the shore. Landscapes by Rembrandt; fat Graces +and other plump nudities by Rubens; brass pans and earthen pots and +herrings by Terriers and other Dutchmen; none by Gerard Douw, I think, +but several by Mieris; all of which were like bread and beef and ale, +after having been fed too long on made dishes. This is really a +wonderful collection of pictures; and from first, to last--from Giotto to +the men of yesterday--they are in admirable condition, and may be +appreciated for all the merit that they ever possessed. + +I could not quite believe that I was not to find the Venus de' Medici; +and still, as I passed from one room to another, my breath rose and fell +a little, with the half-hope, half-fear, that she might stand before me. +Really, I did not know that I cared so much about Venus, or any possible +woman of marble. At last, when I had come from among the Dutchmen, I +believe, and was looking at some works of Italian artists, chiefly +Florentines, I caught a glimpse of her through the door of the next room. +It is the best room of the series, octagonal in shape, and hung with red +damask, and the light comes down from a row of windows, passing quite +round, beneath an octagonal dome. The Venus stands somewhat aside from +the centre of the room, and is surrounded by an iron railing, a pace or +two from her pedestal in front, and less behind. I think she might +safely be left to the reverence her womanhood would win, without any +other protection. She is very beautiful, very satisfactory; and has a +fresh and new charm about her unreached by any cast or copy. The line of +the marble is just so much mellowed by time, as to do for her all that +Gibson tries, or ought to try to do for his statues by color, softening +her, warming her almost imperceptibly, making her an inmate of the heart, +as well as a spiritual existence. I felt a kind of tenderness for her; +an affection, not as if she were one woman, but all womanhood in one. +Her modest attitude, which, before I saw her I had not liked, deeming +that it might be an artificial shame, is partly what unmakes her as the +heathen goddess, and softens her into woman. There is a slight degree of +alarm, too, in her face; not that she really thinks anybody is looking at +her, yet the idea has flitted through her mind, and startled her a +little. Her face is so beautiful and intellectual, that it is not +dazzled out of sight by her form. Methinks this was a triumph for the +sculptor to achieve. I may as well stop here. It is of no use to throw +heaps of words upon her; for they all fall away, and leave her standing +in chaste and naked grace, as untouched as when I began. + +She has suffered terribly by the mishaps of her long existence in the +marble. Each of her legs has been broken into two or three fragments, +her arms have been severed, her body has been broken quite across at the +waist, her head has been snapped off at the neck. Furthermore, there +have been grievous wounds and losses of substance in various tender parts +of her person. But on account of the skill with which the statue has +been restored, and also because the idea is perfect and indestructible, +all these injuries do not in the least impair the effect, even when you +see where the dissevered fragments have been reunited. She is just as +whole as when she left the hands of the sculptor. I am glad to have seen +this Venus, and to have found her so tender and so chaste. On the wall +of the room, and to be taken in at the same glance, is a painted Venus by +Titian, reclining on a couch, naked and lustful. + +The room of the Venus seems to be the treasure-place of the whole Uffizi +Palace, containing more pictures by famous masters than are to be found +in all the rest of the gallery. There were several by Raphael, and the +room was crowded with the easels of artists. I did not look half enough +at anything, but merely took a preliminary taste, as a prophecy of +enjoyment to come. + +As we were at dinner to-day, at half past three, there was a ring at the +door, and a minute after our servant brought a card. It was Mr. Robert +Browning's, and on it was written in pencil an invitation for us to go to +see them this evening. He had left the card and gone away; but very soon +the bell rang again, and he had come back, having forgotten to give his +address. This time he came in; and he shook hands with all of us, +children and grown people, and was very vivacious and agreeable. He +looked younger and even handsomer than when I saw him in London, two +years ago, and his gray hairs seemed fewer than those that had then +strayed into his youthful head. He talked a wonderful quantity in a +little time, and told us--among other things that we should never have +dreamed of--that Italian people will not cheat you, if you construe them +generously, and put them upon their honor. + +Mr. Browning was very kind and warm in his expressions of pleasure at +seeing us; and, on our part, we were all very glad to meet him. He must +be an exceedingly likable man. . . . They are to leave Florence very +soon, and are going to Normandy, I think he said, for the rest of the +summer. + +The Venus de' Medici has a dimple in her chin. + + +June 9th.--We went last evening, at eight o'clock, to see the Brownings; +and, after some search and inquiry, we found the Casa Guidi, which is a +palace in a street not very far from our own. It being dusk, I could not +see the exterior, which, if I remember, Browning has celebrated in song; +at all events, Mrs. Browning has called one of her poems "Casa Guidi +Windows." + +The street is a narrow one; but on entering the palace, we found a +spacious staircase and ample accommodations of vestibule and hall, the +latter opening on a balcony, where we could hear the chanting of priests +in a church close by. Browning told us that this was the first church +where an oratorio had ever been performed. He came into the anteroom to +greet us, as did his little boy, Robert, whom they call Pennini for +fondness. The latter cognomen is a diminutive of Apennino, which was +bestowed upon him at his first advent into the world because he was so +very small, there being a statue in Florence of colossal size called +Apennino. I never saw such a boy as this before; so slender, fragile, +and spirit-like,--not as if he were actually in ill health, but as if he +had little or nothing to do with human flesh and blood. His face is very +pretty and most intelligent, and exceedingly like his mother's. He is +nine years old, and seems at once less childlike and less manly than +would befit that age. I should not quite like to be the father of such a +boy, and should fear to stake so much interest and affection on him as he +cannot fail to inspire. I wonder what is to become of him,--whether he +will ever grow to be a man,--whether it is desirable that he should. His +parents ought to turn their whole attention to making him robust and +earthly, and to giving him a thicker scabbard to sheathe his spirit in. +He was born in Florence, and prides himself on being a Florentine, and is +indeed as un-English a production as if he were native of another planet. + +Mrs. Browning met us at the door of the drawing-room, and greeted us most +kindly,--a pale, small person, scarcely embodied at all; at any rate, +only substantial enough to put forth her slender fingers to be grasped, +and to speak with a shrill, yet sweet, tenuity of voice. Really, I do +not see how Mr. Browning can suppose that he has an earthly wife any more +than an earthly child; both are of the elfin race, and will flit away +from him some day when he least thinks of it. She is a good and kind +fairy, however, and sweetly disposed towards the human race, although +only remotely akin to it. It is wonderful to see how small she is, how +pale her cheek, how bright and dark her eyes. There is not such another +figure in the world; and her black ringlets cluster down into her neck, +and make her face look the whiter by their sable profusion. I could not +form any judgment about her age; it may range anywhere within the limits +of human life or elfin life. When I met her in London at Lord Houghton's +breakfast-table, she did not impress me so singularly; for the morning +light is more prosaic than the dim illumination of their great tapestried +drawing-room; and besides, sitting next to her, she did not have occasion +to raise her voice in speaking, and I was not sensible what a slender +voice she has. It is marvellous to me how so extraordinary, so acute, so +sensitive a creature can impress us, as she does, with the certainty of +her benevolence. It seems to me there were a million chances to one that +she would have been a miracle of acidity and bitterness. + +We were not the only guests. Mr. and Mrs. E------, Americans, recently +from the East, and on intimate terms with the Brownings, arrived after +us; also Miss F. H------, an English literary lady, whom I have met +several times in Liverpool; and lastly came the white head and +palmer-like beard of Mr. ------ with his daughter. Mr. Browning was very +efficient in keeping up conversation with everybody, and seemed to be in +all parts of the room and in every group at the same moment; a most vivid +and quick-thoughted person, logical and common-sensible, as, I presume, +poets generally are in their daily talk. + +Mr. ------, as usual, was homely and plain of manner, with an +old-fashioned dignity, nevertheless, and a remarkable deference and +gentleness of tone in addressing Mrs. Browning. I doubt, however, +whether he has any high appreciation either of her poetry or her +husband's, and it is my impression that they care as little about his. + +We had some tea and some strawberries, and passed a pleasant evening. +There was no very noteworthy conversation; the most interesting topic +being that disagreeable and now wearisome one of spiritual +communications, as regards which Mrs. Browning is a believer, and her +husband an infidel. Mr. ------ appeared not to have made up his mind on +the matter, but told a story of a successful communication between Cooper +the novelist and his sister, who had been dead fifty years. Browning and +his wife had both been present at a spiritual session held by Mr. Hume, +and had seen and felt the unearthly hands, one of which had placed a +laurel wreath on Mrs. Browning's head. Browning, however, avowed his +belief that these hands were affixed to the feet of Mr. Hume, who lay +extended in his chair, with his legs stretched far under the table. The +marvellousness of the fact, as I have read of it, and heard it from other +eye-witnesses, melted strangely away in his hearty gripe, and at the +sharp touch of his logic; while his wife, ever and anon, put in a little +gentle word of expostulation. + +I am rather surprised that Browning's conversation should be so clear, +and so much to the purpose at the moment, since his poetry can seldom +proceed far without running into the high grass of latent meanings and +obscure allusions. + +Mrs. Browning's health does not permit late hours, so we began to take +heave at about ten o'clock. I heard her ask Mr. ------ if he did not +mean to revisit Europe, and heard him answer, not uncheerfully, taking +hold of his white hair, "It is getting rather too late in the evening +now." If any old age can be cheerful, I should think his might be; so +good a man, so cool, so calm, so bright, too, we may say. His life has +been like the days that end in pleasant sunsets. He has a great loss, +however, or what ought to be a great loss,--soon to be encountered in the +death of his wife, who, I think, can hardly live to reach America. He is +not eminently an affectionate man. I take him to be one who cannot get +closely home to his sorrow, nor feel it so sensibly as he gladly would; +and, in consequence of that deficiency, the world lacks substance to him. +It is partly the result, perhaps, of his not having sufficiently +cultivated his emotional nature. His poetry shows it, and his personal +intercourse, though kindly, does not stir one's blood in the least. + +Little Pennini, during the evening, sometimes helped the guests to cake +and strawberries; joined in the conversation, when he had anything to +say, or sat down upon a couch to enjoy his own meditations. He has long +curling hair, and has not yet emerged from his frock and short hose. It +is funny to think of putting him into trousers. His likeness to his +mother is strange to behold. + + +June 10th.--My wife and I went to the Pitti Palace to-day; and first +entered a court where, yesterday, she had seen a carpet of flowers, +arranged for some great ceremony. It must have been a most beautiful +sight, the pavement of the court being entirely covered by them, in a +regular pattern of brilliant lines, so as really to be a living mosaic. +This morning, however, the court had nothing but its usual stones, and +the show of yesterday seemed so much the more inestimable as having been +so evanescent. Around the walls of the court there were still some +pieces of splendid tapestry which had made part of yesterday's +magnificence. We went up the staircase, of regally broad and easy +ascent, and made application to be admitted to see the grand-ducal +apartments. An attendant accordingly took the keys, and ushered us first +into a great hall with a vaulted ceiling, and then through a series of +noble rooms, with rich frescos above and mosaic floors, hung with damask, +adorned with gilded chandeliers, and glowing, in short, with more +gorgeousness than I could have imagined beforehand, or can now remember. +In many of the rooms were those superb antique cabinets which I admire +more than any other furniture ever invented; only these were of +unexampled art and glory, inlaid with precious stones, and with beautiful +Florentine mosaics, both of flowers and landscapes,--each cabinet worth a +lifetime's toil to make it, and the cost a whole palace to pay for it. +Many of the rooms were covered with arras, of landscapes, hunting-scenes, +mythological subjects, or historical scenes, equal to pictures in truth +of representation, and possessing an indescribable richness that makes +them preferable as a mere adornment of princely halls and chambers. Some +of the rooms, as I have said, were laid in mosaic of stone and marble, +otherwise in lovely patterns of various woods; others were covered with +carpets, delightful to tread upon, and glowing like the living floor of +flowers which my wife saw yesterday. There were tables, too, of +Florentine mosaic, the mere materials of which--lapis lazuli, malachite, +pearl, and a hundred other precious things--were worth a fortune, and +made a thousand times more valuable by the artistic skill of the +manufacturer. I toss together brilliant words by the handful, and make a +rude sort of patchwork, but can record no adequate idea of what I saw in +this suite of rooms; and the taste, the subdued splendor, so that it did +not shine too high, but was all tempered into an effect at once grand and +soft,--this was quite as remarkable as the gorgeous material. I have +seen a very dazzling effect produced in the principal cabin of an +American clipper-ship quite opposed to this in taste. + +After making the circuit of the grand-ducal apartments, we went into a +door in the left wing of the palace, and ascended a narrow flight of +stairs,--several tortuous flights indeed,--to the picture-gallery. It +fills a great many stately halls, which themselves are well worth a visit +for the architecture and frescos; only these matters become commonplace +after travelling through a mile or two of them. The collection of +pictures--as well for their number as for the celebrity and excellence of +many of them--is the most interesting that I have seen, and I do not yet +feel in a condition, nor perhaps ever shall, to speak of a single one. +It gladdened my very heart to find that they were not darkened out of +sight, nor apparently at all injured by time, but were well kept and +varnished, brilliantly framed, and, no doubt, restored by skilful touches +if any of them needed it. The artists and amateurs may say what they +like; for my part, I know no drearier feeling than that inspired by a +ruined picture,--ruined, that is, by time, damp, or rough treatment,--and +I would a thousand times rather an artist should do his best towards +reviving it, than have it left in such a condition. I do not believe, +however, that these pictures have been sacrilegiously interfered with; at +all events, I saw in the masterpieces no touch but what seemed worthy of +the master-hand. + +The most beautiful picture in the world, I am convinced, is Raphael's +"Madonna della Seggiola." I was familiar with it in a hundred engravings +and copies, and therefore it shone upon one as with a familiar beauty, +though infinitely more divine than I had ever seen it before. An artist +was copying it, and producing certainly something very like a fac-simile, +yet leaving out, as a matter of course, that mysterious something that +renders the picture a miracle. It is my present opinion that the +pictorial art is capable of something more like magic, more wonderful and +inscrutable in its methods, than poetry or any other mode of developing +the beautiful. But how does this accord with what I have been saying +only a minute ago? How then can the decayed picture of a great master +ever be restored by the touches of an inferior hand? Doubtless it never +can be restored; but let some devoted worshipper do his utmost, and the +whole inherent spirit of the divine picture may pervade his restorations +likewise. + +I saw the "Three Fates" of Michael Angelo, which were also being copied, +as were many other of the best pictures. Miss Fanny Howorth, whom I met +in the gallery, told me that to copy the "Madonna della Seggiola," +application must be made five years beforehand, so many are the artists +who aspire to copy it. Michael Angelo's Fates are three very grim and +pitiless old women, who respectively spin, hold, and cut the thread of +human destiny, all in a mood of sombre gloom, but with no more sympathy +than if they had nothing to do with us. I remember seeing an etching of +this when I was a child, and being struck, even then, with the terrible, +stern, passionless severity, neither loving us nor hating us, that +characterizes these ugly old women. If they were angry, or had the least +spite against human kind, it would render them the more tolerable. They +are a great work, containing and representing the very idea that makes a +belief in fate such a cold torture to the human soul. God give me the +sure belief in his Providence! + +In a year's time, with the advantage of access to this magnificent +gallery, I think I might come to have some little knowledge of pictures. +At present I still know nothing; but am glad to find myself capable, at +least, of loving one picture better than another. I cannot always "keep +the heights I gain," however, and after admiring and being moved by a +picture one day, it is within my experience to look at it the next as +little moved as if it were a tavern-sign. It is pretty much the same +with statuary; the same, too, with those pictured windows of the Duomo, +which I described so rapturously a few days ago. I looked at them again +the next morning, and thought they would have been hardly worthy of my +eulogium, even had all the separate windows of the cathedral combined +their narrow lights into one grand, resplendent, many-colored arch at the +eastern end. It is a pity they are so narrow. England has many a great +chancel-window that, though dimmer in its hues, dusty, and perhaps made +up of heterogeneous fragments, eclipses these by its spacious breadth. + +From the gallery, I went into the Boboli Gardens, which are contiguous to +the palace; but found them too sunny for enjoyment. They seem to consist +partly of a wilderness; but the portion into which I strayed was laid out +with straight walks, lined with high box-hedges, along which there was +only a narrow margin of shade. I saw an amphitheatre, with a wide sweep +of marble seat around it, enclosing a grassy space, where, doubtless, the +Medici may have witnessed splendid spectacles. + + +June 11th.--I paid another visit to the Uffizi gallery this morning, and +found that the Venus is one of the things the charm of which does not +diminish on better acquaintance. The world has not grown weary of her in +all these ages; and mortal man may look on her with new delight from +infancy to old age, and keep the memory of her, I should imagine, as one +of the treasures of spiritual existence hereafter. Surely, it makes me +more ready to believe in the high destinies of the human race, to think +that this beautiful form is but nature's plan for all womankind, and that +the nearer the actual woman approaches it, the more natural she is. I do +not, and cannot think of her as a senseless image, but as a being that +lives to gladden the world, incapable of decay and death; as young and +fair to-day as she was three thousand years ago, and still to be young +and fair as long as a beautiful thought shall require physical +embodiment. I wonder how any sculptor has had the impertinence to aim at +any other presentation of female beauty. I mean no disrespect to Gibson +or Powers, or a hundred other men who people the world with nudities, all +of which are abortions as compared with her; but I think the world would +be all the richer if their Venuses, their Greek Slaves, their Eves, were +burnt into quicklime, leaving us only this statue as our image of the +beautiful. I observed to-day that the eyes of the statue are slightly +hollowed out, in a peculiar way, so as to give them a look of depth and +intelligence. She is a miracle. The sculptor must have wrought +religiously, and have felt that something far beyond his own skill was +working through his hands. I mean to leave off speaking of the Venus +hereafter, in utter despair of saying what I wish; especially as the +contemplation of the statue will refine and elevate my taste, and make it +continually more difficult to express my sense of its excellence, as the +perception of it grows upon one. If at any time I become less sensible +of it, it will be my deterioration, not any defect in the statue. + +I looked at many of the pictures, and found myself in a favorable mood +for enjoying them. It seems to me that a work of art is entitled to +credit for all that it makes us feel in our best moments; and we must +judge of its merits by the impression it then makes, and not by the +coldness and insensibility of our less genial moods. + +After leaving the Uffizi Palace, . . . . I went into the Museum of +Natural History, near the Pitti Palace. It is a very good collection of +almost everything that Nature has made,--or exquisite copies of what she +has made,--stones, shells, vegetables, insects, fishes, animals, man; the +greatest wonders of the museum being some models in wax of all parts of +the human frame. It is good to have the wholeness and summed-up beauty +of woman in the memory, when looking at the details of her system as here +displayed; for these last, to the natural eye, are by no means beautiful. +But they are what belong only to our mortality. The beauty that makes +them invisible is our immortal type, which we shall take away with us. +Under glass cases, there were some singular and horribly truthful +representations, in small wax figures, of a time of pestilence; the hasty +burial, or tossing into one common sepulchre, of discolored corpses,--a +very ugly piece of work, indeed. I think Murray says that these things +were made for the Grand Duke Cosmo; and if so, they do him no credit, +indicating something dark and morbid in his character. + + +June 13th.--We called at the Powers's yesterday morning to leave R----- +there for an hour or two to play with the children; and it being not yet +quite time for the Pitti Palace, we stopped into the studio. Soon Mr. +Powers made his appearance, in his dressing-gown and slippers and +sculptor's cap, smoking a cigar. . . . He was very cordial and +pleasant, as I have always found him, and began immediately to be +communicative about his own works, or any other subject that came up. +There were two casts of the Venus de' Medici in the rooms, which he said +were valuable in a commercial point of view, being genuine casts from the +mould taken from the statue. He then gave us a quite unexpected but most +interesting lecture on the Venus, demonstrating it, as he proceeded, by +reference to the points which he criticised. The figure, he seemed to +allow, was admirable, though I think he hardly classes it so high as his +own Greek Slave or Eva; but the face, he began with saying, was that of +an idiot. Then, leaning on the pedestal of the cast, he continued, "It +is rather a bold thing to say, isn't it, that the sculptor of the Venus +de' Medici did not know what he was about?" + +Truly, it appeared to me so; but Powers went on remorselessly, and +showed, in the first place, that the eye was not like any eye that Nature +ever made; and, indeed, being examined closely, and abstracted from the +rest of the face, it has a very queer look,--less like a human eye than a +half-worn buttonhole! Then he attacked the ear, which, he affirmed and +demonstrated, was placed a good deal too low on the head, thereby giving +an artificial and monstrous height to the portion of the head above it. +The forehead met with no better treatment in his hands, and as to the +mouth, it was altogether wrong, as well in its general make as in such +niceties as the junction of the skin of the lips to the common skin +around them. In a word, the poor face was battered all to pieces and +utterly demolished; nor was it possible to doubt or question that it fell +by its own demerits. All that could be urged in its defence--and even +that I did not urge--being that this very face had affected me, only the +day before, with a sense of higher beauty and intelligence than I had +ever then received from sculpture, and that its expression seemed to +accord with that of the whole figure, as if it were the sweetest note of +the same music. There must be something in this; the sculptor +disregarded technicalities, and the imitation of actual nature, the +better to produce the effect which he really does produce, in somewhat +the same way as a painter works his magical illusions by touches that +have no relation to the truth if looked at from the wrong point of view. +But Powers considers it certain that the antique sculptor had bestowed +all his care on the study of the human figure, and really did not know +how to make a face. I myself used to think that the face was a much less +important thing with the Greeks, among whom the entire beauty of the form +was familiarly seen, than with ourselves, who allow no other nudity. + +After annihilating the poor visage, Powers showed us his two busts of +Proserpine and Psyche, and continued his lecture by showing the truth to +nature with which these are modelled. I freely acknowledge the fact; +there is no sort of comparison to be made between the beauty, +intelligence, feeling, and accuracy of representation in these two faces +and in that of the Venus de' Medici. A light--the light of a soul proper +to each individual character--seems to shine from the interior of the +marble, and beam forth from the features, chiefly from the eyes. Still +insisting upon the eye, and hitting the poor Venus another and another +and still another blow on that unhappy feature, Mr. Powers turned up and +turned inward and turned outward his own Titanic orb,--the biggest, by +far, that ever I saw in mortal head,--and made us see and confess that +there was nothing right in the Venus and everything right in Psyche and +Proserpine. To say the truth, their marble eyes have life, and, placing +yourself in the proper position towards them, you can meet their glances, +and feel them mingle with your own. Powers is a great man, and also a +tender and delicate one, massive and rude of surface as he looks; and it +is rather absurd to feel how he impressed his auditor, for the time +being, with his own evident idea that nobody else is worthy to touch +marble. Mr. B------ told me that Powers has had many difficulties on +professional grounds, as I understood him, and with his brother artists. +No wonder! He has said enough in my hearing to put him at swords' points +with sculptors of every epoch and every degree between the two inclusive +extremes of Phidias and Clark Mills. + +He has a bust of the reigning Grand Duchess of Tuscany, who sat to him +for it. The bust is that of a noble-looking lady; and Powers remarked +that royal personages have a certain look that distinguishes them from +other people, and is seen in individuals of no lower rank. They all have +it; the Queen of England and Prince Albert have it; and so likewise has +every other Royalty, although the possession of this kingly look implies +nothing whatever as respects kingly and commanding qualities. He said +that none of our public men, whatever authority they may have held, or +for whatever length of time, possess this look, but he added afterwards +that Washington had it. Commanders of armies sometimes have it, but not +in the degree that royal personages do. It is, as well as I could make +out Powers's idea, a certain coldness of demeanor, and especially of eye, +that surrounds them with an atmosphere through which the electricity of +human brotherhood cannot pass. From their youth upward they are taught +to feel themselves apart from the rest of mankind, and this manner +becomes a second nature to them in consequence, and as a safeguard to +their conventional dignity. They put themselves under glass, as it were +(the illustration is my own), so that, though you see them, and see them +looking no more noble and dignified than other mortals, nor so much so as +many, still they keep themselves within a sort of sanctity, and repel you +by an invisible barrier. Even if they invite you with a show of warmth +and hospitality, you cannot get through. I, too, recognize this look in +the portraits of Washington; in him, a mild, benevolent coldness and +apartness, but indicating that formality which seems to have been deeper +in him than in any other mortal, and which built up an actual +fortification between himself and human sympathy. I wish, for once, +Washington could come out of his envelopment and show us what his real +dimensions were. + +Among other models of statues heretofore made, Powers showed us one of +Melancholy, or rather of Contemplation, from Milton's "Penseroso"; a +female figure with uplifted face and rapt look, "communing with the +skies." It is very fine, and goes deeply into Milton's thought; but, as +far as the outward form and action are concerned, I remember seeing a +rude engraving in my childhood that probably suggested the idea. It was +prefixed to a cheap American edition of Milton's poems, and was probably +as familiar to Powers as to myself. It is very remarkable how difficult +it seems to be to strike out a new attitude in sculpture; a new group, or +a new single figure. + +One piece of sculpture Powers exhibited, however, which was very +exquisite, and such as I never saw before. Opening a desk, he took out +something carefully enclosed between two layers of cotton-wool, on +removing which there appeared a little baby's hand most delicately +represented in the whitest marble; all the dimples where the knuckles +were to be, all the creases in the plump flesh, every infantine wrinkle +of the soft skin being lovingly recorded. "The critics condemn minute +representation," said Powers; "but you may look at this through a +microscope and see if it injures the general effect." Nature herself +never made a prettier or truer little hand. It was the hand of his +daughter,--"Luly's hand," Powers called it,--the same that gave my own +such a frank and friendly grasp when I first met "Luly." The sculptor +made it only for himself and his wife, but so many people, he said, had +insisted on having a copy, that there are now forty scattered about the +world. At sixty years, Luly ought to have her hand sculptured again, and +give it to her grandchildren with the baby's hand of five months old. +The baby-hand that had done nothing, and felt only its mother's kiss; +the old lady's hand that had exchanged the love-pressure, worn the +marriage-ring, closed dead eyes,--done a lifetime's work, in short. The +sentiment is rather obvious, but true nevertheless. + +Before we went away, Powers took us into a room apart--apparently the +secretest room he had--and showed us some tools and machinery, all of his +own contrivance and invention. "You see I am a bit of a Yankee," he +observed. + +This machinery is chiefly to facilitate the process of modelling his +works, for--except in portrait-busts--he makes no clay model as other +sculptors do, but models directly in the plaster; so that instead of +being crumbled, like clay, the original model remains a permanent +possession. He has also invented a certain open file, which is of great +use in finishing the surface of the marble; and likewise a machine for +making these files and for punching holes through iron, and he +demonstrated its efficiency by punching a hole through an iron bar, with +a force equivalent to ten thousand pounds, by the mere application of a +part of his own weight. These inventions, he says, are his amusement, +and the bent of his nature towards sculpture must indeed have been +strong, to counteract, in an American, such a capacity for the +contrivance of steam-engines. . . . + +I had no idea of filling so many pages of this journal with the sayings +and characteristics of Mr. Powers, but the man and his talk are fresh, +original, and full of bone and muscle, and I enjoy him much. + +We now proceeded to the Pitti Palace, and spent several hours pleasantly +in its saloons of pictures. I never enjoyed pictures anywhere else as I +do in Florence. There is an admirable Judith in this gallery by Allori; +a face of great beauty and depth, and her hand clutches the head of +Holofernes by the hair in a way that startles the spectator. There are +two peasant Madonnas by Murillo; simple women, yet with a thoughtful +sense of some high mystery connected with the baby in their arms. + +Raphael grows upon me; several other famous painters--Guido, for +instance--are fading out of my mind. Salvator Rosa has two really +wonderful landscapes, looking from the shore seaward; and Rubens too, +likewise on a large scale, of mountain and plain. It is very idle and +foolish to talk of pictures; yet, after poring over them and into them, +it seems a pity to let all the thought excited by them pass into +nothingness. + +The copyists of pictures are very numerous, both in the Pitti and Uffizi +galleries; and, unlike sculptors, they appear to be on the best of terms +with one another, chatting sociably, exchanging friendly criticism, and +giving their opinions as to the best mode of attaining the desired +effects. Perhaps, as mere copyists, they escape the jealousy that might +spring up between rival painters attempting to develop original ideas. +Miss Howorth says that the business of copying pictures, especially those +of Raphael, is a regular profession, and she thinks it exceedingly +obstructive to the progress or existence of a modern school of painting, +there being a regular demand and sure sale for all copies of the old +masters, at prices proportioned to their merit; whereas the effort to be +original insures nothing, except long neglect, at the beginning of a +career, and probably ultimate failure, and the necessity of becoming a +copyist at last. Some artists employ themselves from youth to age in +nothing else but the copying of one single and selfsame picture by +Raphael, and grow at last to be perfectly mechanical, making, I suppose, +the same identical stroke of the brush in fifty successive pictures. + +The weather is very hot now,--hotter in the sunshine, I think, than a +midsummer day usually is in America, but with rather a greater +possibility of being comfortable in the shade. The nights, too, are +warm, and the bats fly forth at dusk, and the fireflies quite light up +the green depths of our little garden. The atmosphere, or something +else, causes a sort of alacrity in my mind and an affluence of ideas, +such as they are; but it does not thereby make me the happier. I feel an +impulse to be at work, but am kept idle by the sense of being unsettled +with removals to be gone through, over and over again, before I can shut +myself into a quiet room of my own, and turn the key. I need monotony +too, an eventless exterior life, before I can live in the world within. + + +June 15th.--Yesterday we went to the Uffizi gallery, and, of course, I +took the opportunity to look again at the Venus de' Medici after Powers's +attack upon her face. Some of the defects he attributed to her I could +not see in the statue; for instance, the ear appeared to be in accordance +with his own rule, the lowest part of it being about in a straight line +with the upper lip. The eyes must be given up, as not, when closely +viewed, having the shape, the curve outwards, the formation of the lids, +that eyes ought to have; but still, at a proper distance, they seemed to +have intelligence in them beneath the shadow cast by the brow. I cannot +help thinking that the sculptor intentionally made every feature what it +is, and calculated them all with a view to the desired effect. Whatever +rules may be transgressed, it is a noble and beautiful face,--more so, +perhaps, than if all rules had been obeyed. I wish Powers would do his +best to fit the Venus's figure (which he does not deny to be admirable) +with a face which he would deem equally admirable and in accordance with +the sentiment of the form. + +We looked pretty thoroughly through the gallery, and I saw many pictures +that impressed me; but among such a multitude, with only one poor mind to +take note of them, the stamp of each new impression helps to obliterate a +former one. I am sensible, however, that a process is going on, and has +been ever since I came to Italy, that puts me in a state to see pictures +with less toil, and more pleasure, and makes me more fastidious, yet more +sensible of beauty where I saw none before. It is the sign, I presume, +of a taste still very defective, that I take singular pleasure in the +elaborate imitations of Van Mieris, Gerard Douw, and other old Dutch +wizards, who painted such brass pots that you can see your face in them, +and such earthen pots that they will surely hold water; and who spent +weeks and months in turning a foot or two of canvas into a perfect +microscopic illusion of some homely scene. For my part, I wish Raphael +had painted the "Transfiguration" in this style, at the same time +preserving his breadth and grandeur of design; nor do I believe that +there is any real impediment to the combination of the two styles, except +that no possible space of human life could suffice to cover a quarter +part of the canvas of the "Transfiguration" with such touches as Gerard +Douw's. But one feels the vast scope of this wonderful art, when we +think of two excellences so far apart as that of this last painter and +Raphael. I pause a good while, too, before the Dutch paintings of fruit +and flowers, where tulips and roses acquire an immortal bloom, and grapes +have kept the freshest juice in them for two or three hundred years. +Often, in these pictures, there is a bird's-nest, every straw perfectly +represented, and the stray feather, or the down that the mother-bird +plucked from her bosom, with the three or four small speckled eggs, that +seem as if they might be yet warm. These pretty miracles have their use +in assuring us that painters really can do something that takes hold of +us in our most matter-of-fact moods; whereas, the merits of the grander +style of art may be beyond our ordinary appreciation, and leave us in +doubt whether we have not befooled ourselves with a false admiration. + +Until we learn to appreciate the cherubs and angels that Raphael scatters +through the blessed air, in a picture of the "Nativity," it is not amiss +to look at, a Dutch fly settling on a peach, or a bumblebee burying +himself in a flower. + +It is another token of imperfect taste, no doubt, that queer pictures and +absurd pictures remain in my memory, when better ones pass away by the +score. There is a picture of Venus, combing her son Cupid's head with a +small-tooth comb, and looking with maternal care among his curls; this I +shall not forget. Likewise, a picture of a broad, rubicund Judith by +Bardone,--a widow of fifty, of an easy, lymphatic, cheerful temperament, +who has just killed Holofernes, and is as self-complacent as if she had +been carving a goose. What could possibly have stirred up this pudding +of a woman (unless it were a pudding-stick) to do such a deed! I looked +with much pleasure at an ugly, old, fat, jolly Bacchus, astride on a +barrel, by Rubens; the most natural and lifelike representation of a +tipsy rotundity of flesh that it is possible to imagine. And sometimes, +amid these sensual images, I caught the divine pensiveness of a Madonna's +face, by Raphael, or the glory and majesty of the babe Jesus in her arm, +with his Father shining through him. This is a sort of revelation, +whenever it comes. + +This morning, immediately after breakfast, I walked into the city, +meaning to make myself better acquainted with its appearance, and to go +into its various churches; but it soon grew so hot, that I turned +homeward again. The interior of the Duomo was deliciously cool, to be +sure,--cool and dim, after the white-hot sunshine; but an old woman began +to persecute me, so that I came away. A male beggar drove me out of +another church; and I took refuge in the street, where the beggar and I +would have been two cinders together, if we had stood long enough on the +sunny sidewalk. After my five summers' experience of England, I may have +forgotten what hot weather is; but it does appear to me that an American +summer is not so fervent as this. Besides the direct rays, the white +pavement throws a furnace-heat up into one's face; the shady margin of +the street is barely tolerable; but it is like going through the ordeal +of fire to cross the broad bright glare of an open piazza. The narrow +streets prove themselves a blessing at this season, except when the sun +looks directly into them; the broad eaves of the houses, too, make a +selvage of shade, almost always. I do not know what becomes of the +street-merchants at the noontide of these hot days. They form a numerous +class in Florence, displaying their wares--linen or cotton cloth, +threads, combs, and all manner of haberdashery--on movable counters that +are borne about on wheels. In the shady morning, you see a whole side of +a street in a piazza occupied by them, all offering their merchandise at +full cry. They dodge as they can from shade to shade; but at last the +sunshine floods the whole space, and they seem to have melted away, +leaving not a rag of themselves or what they dealt in. + +Cherries are very abundant now, and have been so ever since we came here, +in the markets and all about the streets. They are of various kinds, +some exceedingly large, insomuch that it is almost necessary to disregard +the old proverb about making two bites of a cherry. Fresh figs are +already spoken of, though I have seen none; but I saw some peaches this +morning, looking as if they might be ripe. + + +June 16th.--Mr. and Mrs. Powers called to see us last evening. Mr. +Powers, as usual, was full of talk, and gave utterance to a good many +instructive and entertaining ideas. + +As one instance of the little influence the religion of the Italians has +upon their morals, he told a story of one of his servants, who desired +leave to set up a small shrine of the Virgin in their room--a cheap +print, or bas-relief, or image, such as are sold everywhere at the shops +--and to burn a lamp before it; she engaging, of course, to supply the +oil at her own expense. By and by, her oil-flask appeared to possess a +miraculous property of replenishing itself, and Mr. Powers took measures +to ascertain where the oil came from. It turned out that the servant had +all the time been stealing the oil from them, and keeping up her daily +sacrifice and worship to the Virgin by this constant theft. + +His talk soon turned upon sculpture, and he spoke once more of the +difficulty imposed upon an artist by the necessity of clothing portrait +statues in the modern costume. I find that he does not approve either of +nudity or of the Roman toga for a modern statue; neither does he think it +right to shirk the difficulty--as Chantrey did in the case of Washington +--by enveloping him in a cloak; but acknowledges the propriety of taking +the actual costume of the age and doing his best with it. He himself did +so with his own Washington, and also with a statue that he made of Daniel +Webster. I suggested that though this costume might not appear +ridiculous to us now, yet, two or three centuries hence, it would create, +to the people of that day, an impossibility of seeing the real man +through the absurdity of his envelopment, after it shall have entirely +grown out of fashion and remembrance; and Webster would seem as absurd to +them then as he would to us now in the masquerade of some bygone day. It +might be well, therefore, to adopt some conventional costume, never +actual, but always graceful and noble. Besides, Webster, for example, +had other costumes than that which he wore in public, and perhaps it was +in those that he lived his most real life; his dressing-gown, his drapery +of the night, the dress that he wore on his fishing-excursions; in these +other costumes he spent three fourths of his time, and most probably was +thus arrayed when he conceived the great thoughts that afterwards, in +some formal and outside mood, he gave forth to the public. I scarcely +think I was right, but am not sure of the contrary. At any rate, I know +that I should have felt much more sure that I knew the real Webster, if I +had seen him in any of the above-mentioned dresses, than either in his +swallow-tailed coat or frock. + +Talking of a taste for painting and sculpture, Powers observed that it +was something very different and quite apart from the moral sense, and +that it was often, perhaps generally, possessed by unprincipled men of +ability and cultivation. I have had this perception myself. A genuine +love of painting and sculpture, and perhaps of music, seems often to have +distinguished men capable of every social crime, and to have formed a +fine and hard enamel over their characters. Perhaps it is because such +tastes are artificial, the product of cultivation, and, when highly +developed, imply a great remove from natural simplicity. + +This morning I went with U---- to the Uffizi gallery, and again looked +with more or less attention at almost every picture and statue. I saw a +little picture of the golden age, by Zucchero, in which the charms of +youths and virgins are depicted with a freedom that this iron age can +hardly bear to look at. The cabinet of gems happened to be open for the +admission of a privileged party, and we likewise went in and saw a +brilliant collection of goldsmiths' work, among which, no doubt, were +specimens from such hands as Benvenuto Cellini. Little busts with +diamond eyes; boxes of gems; cups carved out of precious material; +crystal vases, beautifully chased and engraved, and sparkling with +jewels; great pearls, in the midst of rubies; opals, rich with all manner +of lovely lights. I remember Benvenuto Cellini, in his memoirs, speaks +of manufacturing such playthings as these. + +I observed another characteristic of the summer streets of Florence +to-day; tables, movable to and fro, on wheels, and set out with cool iced +drinks and cordials. + + +June 17th.--My wife and I went, this morning, to the Academy of Fine +Arts, and, on our way thither, went into the Duomo, where we found a +deliciously cool twilight, through which shone the mild gleam of the +painted windows. I cannot but think it a pity that St. Peter's is not +lighted by such windows as these, although I by no means saw the glory in +them now that I have spoken of in a record of my former visit. We found +out the monument of Giotto, a tablet, and portrait in bas-relief, on the +wall, near the entrance of the cathedral, on the right hand; also a +representation, in fresco, of a knight on horseback, the memorial of one +John Rawkwood, close by the door, to the left. The priests were chanting +a service of some kind or other in the choir, terribly inharmonious, and +out of tune. . . . + +On reaching the Academy, the soldier or policeman at the entrance +directed us into the large hall, the walls of which were covered on both +sides with pictures, arranged as nearly as possible in a progressive +series, with reference to the date of the painters; so that here the +origin and procession of the art may be traced through the course of, at +least, two hundred years. Giotto, Cimabue, and others of unfamiliar +names to me, are among the earliest; and, except as curiosities, I should +never desire to look once at them, nor think of looking twice. They seem +to have been executed with great care and conscientiousness, and the +heads are often wrought out with minuteness and fidelity, and have so +much expression that they tell their own story clearly enough; but it +seems not to have been the painter's aim to effect a lifelike illusion, +the background and accessories being conventional. The trees are no more +like real trees than the feather of a pen, and there is no perspective, +the figure of the picture being shadowed forth on a surface of burnished +gold. The effect, when these pictures, some of them very large, were new +and freshly gilded, must have been exceedingly brilliant, and much +resembling, on an immensely larger scale, the rich illuminations in an +old monkish missal. In fact, we have not now, in pictorial ornament, +anything at all comparable to what their splendor must have been. I was +most struck with a picture, by Fabriana Gentile, of the Adoration of the +Magi, where the faces and figures have a great deal of life and action, +and even grace, and where the jewelled crowns, the rich embroidered +robes, and cloth of gold, and all the magnificence of the three kings, +are represented with the vividness of the real thing: a gold sword-hilt, +for instance, or a pair of gold spurs, being actually embossed on the +picture. The effect is very powerful, and though produced in what modern +painters would pronounce an unjustifiable way, there is yet pictorial art +enough to reconcile it to the spectator's mind. Certainly, the people of +the Middle Ages knew better than ourselves what is magnificence, and how +to produce it; and what a glorious work must that have been, both in its +mere sheen of burnished gold, and in its illuminating art, which shines +thus through the gloom of perhaps four centuries. + +Fra Angelico is a man much admired by those who have a taste for +Pre-Raphaelite painters; and, though I take little or no pleasure in his +works, I can see that there is great delicacy of execution in his heads, +and that generally he produces such a Christ, and such a Virgin, and such +saints, as he could not have foreseen, except in a pure and holy +imagination, nor have wrought out without saying a prayer between every +two touches of his brush. I might come to like him, in time, if I +thought it worth while; but it is enough to have an outside perception of +his kind and degree of merit, and so to let him pass into the garret of +oblivion, where many things as good, or better, are piled away, that our +own age may not stumble over them. Perugino is the first painter whose +works seem really worth preserving for the genuine merit that is in them, +apart from any quaintness and curiosity of an ancient and new-born art. +Probably his religion was more genuine than Raphael's, and therefore the +Virgin often revealed herself to him in a loftier and sweeter face of +divine womanhood than all the genius of Raphael could produce. There is +a Crucifixion by him in this gallery, which made me partly feel as if I +were a far-off spectator,--no, I did not mean a Crucifixion, but a +picture of Christ dead, lying, with a calm, sweet face, on his mother's +knees ["a Pieta"]. + +The most inadequate and utterly absurd picture here, or in any other +gallery, is a head of the Eternal Father, by Carlo Dolce; it looks like a +feeble saint, on the eve of martyrdom, and very doubtful how he shall be +able to bear it; very finely and prettily painted, nevertheless. + +After getting through the principal gallery we went into a smaller room, +in which are contained a great many small specimens of the old Tuscan +artists, among whom Fra Angelico makes the principal figure. These +pictures are all on wood, and seem to have been taken from the shrines +and altars of ancient churches; they are predellas and triptychs, or +pictures on three folding tablets, shaped quaintly, in Gothic peaks or +arches, and still gleaming with backgrounds of antique gold. The wood is +much worm-eaten, and the colors have often faded or changed from what the +old artists meant then to be; a bright angel darkening into what looks +quite as much like the Devil. In one of Fra Angelico's pictures,--a +representation of the Last Judgment,--he has tried his saintly hand at +making devils indeed, and showing them busily at work, tormenting the +poor, damned souls in fifty ghastly ways. Above sits Jesus, with the +throng of blessed saints around him, and a flow of tender and powerful +love in his own face, that ought to suffice to redeem all the damned, and +convert the very fiends, and quench the fires of hell. At any rate, Fra +Angelico had a higher conception of his Saviour than Michael Angelo. + + +June 19th.--This forenoon we have been to the Church of St. Lorenzo, +which stands on the site of an ancient basilica, and was itself built +more than four centuries ago. The facade is still an ugly height of +rough brickwork, as is the case with the Duomo, and, I think, some other +churches in Florence; the design of giving them an elaborate and +beautiful finish having been delayed from cycle to cycle, till at length +the day for spending mines of wealth on churches is gone by. The +interior had a nave with a flat roof, divided from the side aisles by +Corinthian pillars, and, at the farther end, a raised space around the +high altar. The pavement is a mosaic of squares of black and white +marble, the squares meeting one another cornerwise; the pillars, +pilasters, and other architectural material is dark brown or grayish +stone; and the general effect is very sombre, especially as the church is +somewhat dimly lighted, and as the shrines along the aisles, and the +statues, and the monuments of whatever kind, look dingy with time and +neglect. The nave is thickly set with wooden seats, brown and worn. +What pictures there are, in the shrines and chapels, are dark and faded. +On the whole, the edifice has a shabby aspect. On each side of the high +altar, elevated on four pillars of beautiful marble, is what looks like a +great sarcophagus of bronze. They are, in fact, pulpits, and are +ornamented with mediaeval bas-reliefs, representing scenes in the life of +our Saviour. Murray says that the resting-place of the first Cosmo de' +Medici, the old banker, who so managed his wealth as to get the +posthumous title of "father of his country," and to make his posterity +its reigning princes,--is in front of the high altar, marked by red and +green porphyry and marble, inlaid into the pavement. We looked, but +could not see it there. + +There were worshippers at some of the shrines, and persons sitting here +and there along the nave, and in the aisles, rapt in devotional thought, +doubtless, and sheltering themselves here from the white sunshine of the +piazzas. In the vicinity of the choir and the high altar, workmen were +busy repairing the church, or perhaps only making arrangements for +celebrating the great festival of St. John. + +On the left hand of the choir is what is called the old sacristy, with +the peculiarities or notabilities of which I am not acquainted. On the +right hand is the new sacristy, otherwise called the Capella dei +Depositi, or Chapel of the Buried, built by Michael Angelo, to contain +two monuments of the Medici family. The interior is of somewhat severe +and classic architecture, the walls and pilasters being of dark stone, +and surmounted by a dome, beneath which is a row of windows, quite round +the building, throwing their light down far beneath, upon niches of white +marble. These niches are ranged entirely around the chapel, and might +have sufficed to contain more than all the Medici monuments that the +world would ever care to have. Only two of these niches are filled, +however. In one of them sits Giuliano de' Medici, sculptured by Michael +Angelo,--a figure of dignity, which would perhaps be very striking in any +other presence than that of the statue which occupies the corresponding +niche. At the feet of Giuliano recline two allegorical statues, Day and +Night, whose meaning there I do not know, and perhaps Michael Angelo knew +as little. As the great sculptor's statues are apt to do, they fling +their limbs abroad with adventurous freedom. Below the corresponding +niche, on the opposite side of the chapel, recline two similar statues, +representing Morning and Evening, sufficiently like Day and Night to be +their brother and sister; all, in truth, having sprung from the same +father. . . . + +But the statue that sits above these two latter allegories, Morning and +Evening, is like no other that ever came from a sculptor's hand. It is +the one work worthy of Michael Angelo's reputation, and grand enough to +vindicate for him all the genius that the world gave him credit for. And +yet it seems a simple thing enough to think of or to execute; merely a +sitting figure, the face partly overshadowed by a helmet, one hand +supporting the chin, the other resting on the thigh. But after looking +at it a little while the spectator ceases to think of it as a marble +statue; it comes to life, and you see that the princely figure is +brooding over some great design, which, when he has arranged in his own +mind, the world will be fain to execute for him. No such grandeur and +majesty has elsewhere been put into human shape. It is all a miracle; +the deep repose, and the deep life within it. It is as much a miracle to +have achieved this as to make a statue that would rise up and walk. The +face, when one gazes earnestly into it, beneath the shadow of its helmet, +is seen to be calmly sombre; a mood which, I think, is generally that of +the rulers of mankind, except in moments of vivid action. This statue is +one of the things which I look at with highest enjoyment, but also with +grief and impatience, because I feel that I do not come at all which it +involves, and that by and by I must go away and leave it forever. How +wonderful! To take a block of marble, and convert it wholly into +thought, and to do it through all the obstructions and impediments of +drapery; for there is nothing nude in this statue but the face and hands. +The vest is the costume of Michael Angelo's century. This is what I +always thought a sculptor of true genius should be able to do,--to show +the man of whatever epoch, nobly and heroically, through the costume +which he might actually have worn. + +The statue sits within a square niche of white marble, and completely +fills it. It seems to me a pity that it should be thus confined. At the +Crystal Palace, if I remember, the effect is improved by a free +surrounding space. Its naturalness is as if it came out of the marble of +its own accord, with all its grandeur hanging heavily about it, and sat +down there beneath its weight. I cannot describe it. It is like trying +to stop the ghost of Hamlet's father, by crossing spears before it. + +Communicating with the sacristy is the Medicean Chapel, which was built +more than two centuries ago, for the reception of the Holy Sepulchre; +arrangements having been made about that time to steal this most sacred +relic from the Turks. The design failing, the chapel was converted by +Cosmo II. into a place of sepulture for the princes of his family. It is +a very grand and solemn edifice, octagonal in shape, with a lofty dome, +within which is a series of brilliant frescos, painted not more than +thirty years ago. These pictures are the only portion of the adornment +of the chapel which interferes with the sombre beauty of the general +effect; for though the walls are incrusted, from pavement to dome, with +marbles of inestimable cost, and it is a Florentine mosaic on a grander +scale than was ever executed elsewhere, the result is not gaudy, as in +many of the Roman chapels, but a dark and melancholy richness. The +architecture strikes me as extremely fine; each alternate side of the +octagon being an arch, rising as high as the cornice of the lofty dome, +and forming the frame of a vast niche. All the dead princes, no doubt, +according to the general design, were to have been honored with statues +within this stately mausoleum; but only two--those of Ferdinand I. and +Cosmo II.--seem to have been placed here. They were a bad breed, and few +of them deserved any better monument than a dunghill; and yet they have +this grand chapel for the family at large, and yonder grand statue for +one of its most worthless members. I am glad of it; and as for the +statue, Michael Angelo wrought it through the efficacy of a kingly idea, +which had no reference to the individual whose name it bears. + +In the piazza adjoining the church is a statue of the first Cosmo, the +old banker, in Roman costume, seated, and looking like a man fit to hold +authority. No, I mistake; the statue is of John de' Medici, the father +of Cosmo, and himself no banker, but a soldier. + + +June 21st.--Yesterday, after dinner, we went, with the two eldest +children, to the Boboli Gardens. . . . We entered by a gate, nearer to +our house than that by the Pitti Palace, and found ourselves almost +immediately among embowered walks of box and shrubbery, and little +wildernesses of trees, with here and there a seat under an arbor, and a +marble statue, gray with ancient weather-stains. The site of the garden +is a very uneven surface, and the paths go upward and downward, and +ascend, at their ultimate point, to a base of what appears to be a +fortress, commanding the city. A good many of the Florentines were +rambling about the gardens, like ourselves: little parties of +school-boys; fathers and mothers, with their youthful progeny; young men +in couples, looking closely into every female face; lovers, with a maid +or two attendant on the young lady. All appeared to enjoy themselves, +especially the children, dancing on the esplanades, or rolling down the +slopes of the hills; and the loving pairs, whom it was rather +embarrassing to come upon unexpectedly, sitting together on the stone +seat of an arbor, with clasped hands, a passionate solemnity in the young +man's face, and a downcast pleasure in the lady's. Policemen, in cocked +hats and epaulets, cross-belts, and swords, were scattered about the +grounds, but interfered with nobody, though they seemed to keep an eye on +all. A sentinel stood in the hot sunshine, looking down over the garden +from the ramparts of the fortress. + +For my part, in this foreign country, I have no objection to policemen or +any other minister of authority; though I remember, in America, I had an +innate antipathy to constables, and always sided with the mob against +law. This was very wrong and foolish, considering that I was one of +the sovereigns; but a sovereign, or any number of sovereigns, or the +twenty-millionth part of a sovereign, does not love to find himself, as +an American must, included within the delegated authority of his own +servants. + +There is a sheet of water somewhere in the Boboli Gardens, inhabited by +swans; but this we did not see. We found a smaller pond, however, set +in marble, and surrounded by a parapet, and alive with a multitude of +fish. There were minnows by the thousand, and a good many gold-fish; and +J-----, who had brought some bread to feed the swans, threw in handfuls +of crumbs for the benefit of these finny people. They seemed to be +accustomed to such courtesies on the part of visitors; and immediately +the surface of the water was blackened, at the spot where each crumb +fell, with shoals of minnows, thrusting one another even above the +surface in their eagerness to snatch it. Within the depths of the pond, +the yellowish-green water--its hue being precisely that of the Arno-- +would be reddened duskily with the larger bulk of two or three +gold-fishes, who finally poked their great snouts up among the minnows, +but generally missed the crumb. Beneath the circular margin of the pond, +there are little arches, into the shelter of which the fish retire, when +the noonday sun burns straight down into their dark waters. We went on +through the garden-paths, shadowed quite across by the high walls of box, +and reached an esplanade, whence we had a good view of Florence, with the +bare brown ridges on the northern side of the Arno, and glimpses of the +river itself, flowing like a street, between two rows of palaces. A +great way off, too, we saw some of the cloud-like peaks of the Apennines, +and, above them, the clouds into which the sun was descending, looking +quite as substantial as the distant mountains. The city did not present +a particularly splendid aspect, though its great Duomo was seen in the +middle distance, sitting in its circle of little domes, with the tall +campanile close by, and within one or two hundred yards of it, the high, +cumbrous bulk of the Palazzo Vecchio, with its lofty, machicolated, and +battlemented tower, very picturesque, yet looking exceedingly like a +martin-box, on a pole. There were other domes and towers and spires, and +here and there the distinct shape of an edifice; but the general picture +was of a contiguity of red earthen roofs, filling a not very broad or +extensive valley, among dry and ridgy hills, with a river-gleam +lightening up the landscape a little. U---- took out her pencil and +tablets, and began to sketch the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio; in doing +which, she immediately became an object of curiosity to some little boys +and larger people, who failed not, under such pretences as taking a +grasshopper off her dress, or no pretence at all, to come and look over +her shoulder. There is a kind of familiarity among these Florentines, +which is not meant to be discourteous, and ought to be taken in good +part. + +We continued to ramble through the gardens, in quest of a good spot from +which to see the sunset, and at length found a stone bench, on the slope +of a hill, whence the entire cloud and sun scenery was fully presented to +us. At the foot of the hill were statues, and among them a Pegasus, with +wings outspread; and, a little beyond, the garden-front of the Pitti +Palace, which looks a little less like a state-prison here, than as it +fronts the street. Girls and children, and young men and old, were +taking their pleasure in our neighborhood; and, just before us, a lady +stood talking with her maid. By and by, we discovered her to be Miss +Howorth. There was a misty light, streaming down on the hither side of +the ridge of hills, that was rather peculiar; but the most remarkable +thing was the shape into which the clouds gathered themselves, after the +disappearance of the sun. It was like a tree, with a broad and heavy +mass of foliage, spreading high upward on the sky, and a dark and +well-defined trunk, which rooted itself on the verge of the horizon. + +This morning we went to the Pitti Palace. The air was very sultry, and +the pavements, already heated with the sun, made the space between the +buildings seem like a close room. The earth, I think, is too much stoned +out of the streets of an Italian city,--paved, like those of Florence, +quite across, with broad flagstones, to the line where the stones of the +houses on each side are piled up. Thunder rumbled over our heads, +however, and the clouds were so dark that we scarcely hoped to reach the +palace without feeling the first drops of the shower. The air still +darkened and darkened, so that by the time we arrived at the suite of +picture-rooms the pictures seemed all to be changed to Rembrandts; the +shadows as black as midnight, with only some highly illuminated portions +gleaming out. The obscurity of the atmosphere made us sensible how +splendid is the adornment of these saloons. For the gilded cornices +shone out, as did the gilding of the arches and wreathed circles that +divide the ceiling into compartments, within which the frescos are +painted, and whence the figures looked dimly down, like gods out of a +mysterious sky. The white marble sculptures also gleamed from their +height, where winged cupids or cherubs gambolled aloft in bas-reliefs; or +allegoric shapes reclined along the cornices, hardly noticed, when the +daylight comes brightly into the window. On the walls, all the rich +picture-frames glimmered in gold, as did the framework of the chairs, and +the heavy gilded pedestals of the marble, alabaster, and mosaic tables. +These are very magnificent saloons; and since I have begun to speak of +their splendor, I may as well add that the doors are framed in polished, +richly veined marble, and the walls hung with scarlet damask. + +It was useless to try to see the pictures. All the artists engaged in +copying laid aside their brushes; and we looked out into the square +before the palace, where a mighty wind sprang up, and quickly raised a +prodigious cloud of dust. It hid the opposite side of the street, and +was carried, in a great dusky whirl, higher than the roofs of the houses, +higher than the top of the Pitti Palace itself. The thunder muttered and +grumbled, the lightning now and then flashed, and a few rain-drops +pattered against the windows; but, for a long time, the shower held off. +At last it came down in a stream, and lightened the air to such a degree +that we could see some of the pictures, especially those of Rubens, and +the illuminated parts of Salvator Rosa's, and, best of all, Titian's +"Magdalen," the one with golden hair clustering round her naked body. +The golden hair, indeed, seemed to throw out a glory of its own. This +Magdalen is very coarse and sensual, with only an impudent assumption of +penitence and religious sentiment, scarcely so deep as the eyelids; but +it is a splendid picture, nevertheless, with those naked, lifelike arms, +and the hands that press the rich locks about her, and so carefully +permit those voluptuous breasts to be seen. She a penitent! She would +shake off all pretence to it as easily as she would shake aside that +clustering hair. . . . Titian must have been a very good-for-nothing +old man. + +I looked again at Michael Angelo's Fates to-day; but cannot +satisfactorily make out what he meant by them. One of them--she who +holds the distaff--has her mouth open, as if uttering a cry, and might be +fancied to look somewhat irate. The second, who holds the thread, has a +pensive air, but is still, I think, pitiless at heart. The third sister +looks closely and coldly into the eyes of the second, meanwhile cutting +the thread with a pair of shears. Michael Angelo, if I may presume to +say so, wished to vary the expression of these three sisters, and give +each a different one, but did not see precisely how, inasmuch as all the +fatal Three are united, heart and soul, in one purpose. It is a very +impressive group. But, as regards the interpretation of this, or of any +other profound picture, there are likely to be as many interpretations as +there are spectators. It is very curious to read criticisms upon +pictures, and upon the same face in a picture, and by men of taste and +feeling, and to find what different conclusions they arrive at. Each man +interprets the hieroglyphic in his own way; and the painter, perhaps, had +a meaning which none of them have reached; or possibly he put forth a +riddle, without himself knowing the solution. There is such a necessity, +at all events, of helping the painter out with the spectator's own +resources of feeling and imagination, that you can never be sure how much +of the picture you have yourself made. There is no doubt that the public +is, to a certain extent, right and sure of its ground, when it declares, +through a series of ages, that a certain picture is a great work. It is +so; a great symbol, proceeding out of a great mind; but if it means one +thing, it seems to mean a thousand, and, often, opposite things. + + +June 27th.--I have had a heavy cold and fever almost throughout the past +week, and have thereby lost the great Florentine festivity, the Feast of +St. John, which took place on Thursday last, with the fireworks and +illuminations the evening before, and the races and court ceremonies on +the day itself. However, unless it were more characteristic and peculiar +than the Carnival, I have not missed anything very valuable. + +Mr. Powers called to see me one evening, and poured out, as usual, a +stream of talk, both racy and oracular in its character. Speaking of +human eyes, he observed that they did not depend for their expression +upon color, nor upon any light of the soul beaming through them, nor any +glow of the eyeball, nor upon anything but the form and action of the +surrounding muscles. He illustrates it by saying, that if the eye of a +wolf, or of whatever fiercest animal, could be placed in another setting, +it would be found capable of the utmost gentleness of expression. "You +yourself," said he, "have a very bright and sharp look sometimes; but it +is not in the eye itself." His own eyes, as I could have sworn, were +glowing all the time he spoke; and, remembering how many times I have +seemed to see eyes glow, and blaze, and flash, and sparkle, and melt, and +soften; and how all poetry is illuminated with the light of ladies' eyes; +and how many people have been smitten by the lightning of an eye, whether +in love or anger, it was difficult to allow that all this subtlest and +keenest fire is illusive, not even phosphorescent, and that any other +jelly in the same socket would serve as well as the brightest eye. +Nevertheless, he must be right; of course he must, and I am rather +ashamed ever to have thought otherwise. Where should the light come +from? Has a man a flame inside of his head? Does his spirit manifest +itself in the semblance of flame? The moment we think of it, the +absurdity becomes evident. I am not quite sure, however, that the outer +surface of the eye may not reflect more light in some states of feeling +than in others; the state of the health, certainly, has an influence of +this kind. + +I asked Powers what he thought of Michael Angelo's statue of Lorenzo de' +Medici. He allowed that its effect was very grand and mysterious; but +added that it owed this to a trick,--the effect being produced by the +arrangement of the hood, as he called it, or helmet, which throws the +upper part of the face into shadow. The niche in which it sits has, I +suppose, its part to perform in throwing a still deeper shadow. It is +very possible that Michael Angelo may have calculated upon this effect of +sombre shadow, and legitimately, I think; but it really is not worthy of +Mr. Powers to say that the whole effect of this mighty statue depends, +not on the positive efforts of Michael Angelo's chisel, but on the +absence of light in a space of a few inches. He wrought the whole statue +in harmony with that small part of it which he leaves to the spectator's +imagination, and if he had erred at any point, the miracle would have +been a failure; so that, working in marble, he has positively reached a +degree of excellence above the capability of marble, sculpturing his +highest touches upon air and duskiness. + +Mr. Powers gave some amusing anecdotes of his early life, when he was a +clerk in a store in Cincinnati. There was a museum opposite, the +proprietor of which had a peculiar physiognomy that struck Powers, +insomuch that he felt impelled to make continual caricatures of it. He +used to draw them upon the door of the museum, and became so familiar +with the face, that he could draw them in the dark; so that, every +morning, here was this absurd profile of himself, greeting the museum-man +when he came to open his establishment. Often, too, it would reappear +within an hour after it was rubbed out. The man was infinitely annoyed, +and made all possible efforts to discover the unknown artist, but in +vain; and finally concluded, I suppose, that the likeness broke out upon +the door of its own accord, like the nettle-rash. Some years afterwards, +the proprietor of the museum engaged Powers himself as an assistant; and +one day Powers asked him if he remembered this mysterious profile. +"Yes," said he, "did you know who drew them?" Powers took a piece of +chalk, and touched off the very profile again, before the man's eyes. +"Ah," said he, "if I had known it at the time, I would have broken every +bone in your body!" + +Before he began to work in marble, Powers had greater practice and +success in making wax figures, and he produced a work of this kind called +"The Infernal Regions," which he seemed to imply had been very famous. +He said he once wrought a face in wax which was life itself, having made +the eyes on purpose for it, and put in every hair in the eyebrows +individually, and finished the whole with similar minuteness; so that, +within the distance of a foot or two, it was impossible to tell that the +face did not live. + +I have hardly ever before felt an impulse to write down a man's +conversation as I do that of Mr. Powers. The chief reason is, probably, +that it is so possible to do it, his ideas being square, solid, and +tangible, and therefore readily grasped and retained. He is a very +instructive man, and sweeps one's empty and dead notions out of the way +with exceeding vigor; but when you have his ultimate thought and +perception, you feel inclined to think and see a little further for +yourself. He sees too clearly what is within his range to be aware of +any region of mystery beyond. Probably, however, this latter remark does +him injustice. I like the man, and am always glad to encounter the +mill-stream of his talk. . . . Yesterday he met me in the street +(dressed in his linen blouse and slippers, with a little bit of a +sculptor's cap on the side of his head), and gave utterance to a theory +of colds, and a dissertation on the bad effects of draughts, whether of +cold air or hot, and the dangers of transfusing blood from the veins of +one living subject to those of another. On the last topic, he remarked +that, if a single particle of air found its way into the veins, along +with the transfused blood, it caused convulsions and inevitable death; +otherwise the process might be of excellent effect. + +Last evening, we went to pass the evening with Miss Blagden, who inhabits +a villa at Bellosguardo, about a mile outside of the walls. The +situation is very lofty, and there are good views from every window of +the house, and an especially fine one of Florence and the hills beyond, +from the balcony of the drawing-room. By and by came Mr. Browning, Mr. +Trollope, Mr. Boott and his young daughter, and two or three other +gentlemen. . . . + +Browning was very genial and full of life, as usual, but his conversation +has the effervescent aroma which you cannot catch, even if you get the +very words that seem to be imbued with it. He spoke most rapturously of +a portrait of Mrs. Browning, which an Italian artist is painting for the +wife of an American gentleman, as a present from her husband. The +success was already perfect, although there had been only two sittings as +yet, and both on the same day; and in this relation, Mr. Browning +remarked that P------, the American artist, had had no less than +seventy-three sittings of him for a portrait. In the result, every hair +and speck of him was represented; yet, as I inferred from what he did not +say, this accumulation of minute truths did not, after all, amount to the +true whole. + +I do not remember much else that Browning said, except a playful abuse of +a little King Charles spaniel, named Frolic, Miss Blagden's lap-dog, +whose venerable age (he is eleven years old) ought to have pleaded in his +behalf. Browning's nonsense is of very genuine and excellent quality, +the true babble and effervescence of a bright and powerful mind; and he +lets it play among his friends with the faith and simplicity of a child. +He must be an amiable man. I should like him much, and should make him +like me, if opportunities were favorable. + +I conversed principally with Mr. Trollope, the son, I believe, of the +Mrs. Trollope to whom America owes more for her shrewd criticisms than we +are ever likely to repay. Mr. Trollope is a very sensible and cultivated +man, and, I suspect, an author: at least, there is a literary man of +repute of this name, though I have never read his works. He has resided +in Italy eighteen years. It seems a pity to do this. It needs the +native air to give life a reality; a truth which I do not fail to take +home regretfully to myself, though without feeling much inclination to go +back to the realities of my own. + +We had a pleasant cup of tea, and took a moonlight view of Florence from +the balcony. . . . + + +June 28th.--Yesterday afternoon, J----- and I went to a horse-race, which +took place in the Corso and contiguous line of streets, in further +celebration of the Feast of St. John. A crowd of people was already +collected, all along the line of the proposed race, as early as six +o'clock; and there were a great many carriages driving amid the throng, +open barouches mostly, in which the beauty and gentility of Florence were +freely displayed. It was a repetition of the scene in the Corso at Rome, +at Carnival time, without the masks, the fun, and the confetti. The +Grand Duke and Duchess and the Court likewise made their appearance in as +many as seven or eight coaches-and-six, each with a coachman, three +footmen, and a postilion in the royal livery, and attended by a troop of +horsemen in scarlet coats and cocked hats. I did not particularly notice +the Grand Duke himself; but, in the carriage behind him, there sat only a +lady, who favored the people along the street with a constant succession +of bows, repeated at such short intervals, and so quickly, as to be +little more than nods; therefore not particularly graceful or majestic. +Having the good fortune, to be favored with one of these nods, I lifted +my hat in response, and may therefore claim a bowing acquaintance with +the Grand Duchess. She is a Bourbon of the Naples family, and was a +pale, handsome woman, of princely aspect enough. The crowd evinced no +enthusiasm, nor the slightest feeling of any kind, in acknowledgment of +the presence of their rulers; and, indeed, I think I never saw a crowd so +well behaved; that is, with so few salient points, so little ebullition, +so absolutely tame, as the Florentine one. After all, and much contrary +to my expectations, an American crowd has incomparably more life than any +other; and, meeting on any casual occasion, it will talk, laugh, roar, +and be diversified with a thousand characteristic incidents and gleams +and shadows, that you see nothing of here. The people seems to have no +part even in its own gatherings. It comes together merely as a mass of +spectators, and must not so much as amuse itself by any activity of mind. + +The race, which was the attraction that drew us all together, turned out +a very pitiful affair. When we had waited till nearly dusk, the street +being thronged quite across, insomuch that it seemed impossible that it +should be cleared as a race-course, there came suddenly from every throat +a quick, sharp exclamation, combining into a general shout. Immediately +the crowd pressed back on each side of the street; a moment afterwards, +there was a rapid pattering of hoofs over the earth with which the +pavement was strewn, and I saw the head and back of a horse rushing past. +A few seconds more, and another horse followed; and at another little +interval, a third. This was all that we had waited for; all that I saw, +or anybody else, except those who stood on the utmost verge of the +course, at the risk of being trampled down and killed. Two men were +killed in this way on Thursday, and certainly human life was never spent +for a poorer object. The spectators at the windows, to be sure, having +the horses in sight for a longer time, might get a little more enjoyment +out of the affair. By the by, the most picturesque aspect of the scene +was the life given to it by the many faces, some of them fair ones, that +looked out from window and balcony, all along the curving line of lofty +palaces and edifices, between which the race-course lay; and from nearly +every window, and over every balcony, was flung a silken texture, or +cloth of brilliant line, or piece of tapestry or carpet, or whatever +adornment of the kind could be had, so as to dress up the street in gala +attire. But, the Feast of St. John, like the Carnival, is but a meagre +semblance of festivity, kept alive factitiously, and dying a lingering +death of centuries. It takes the exuberant mind and heart of a people to +keep its holidays alive. + +I do not know whether there be any populace in Florence, but I saw none +that I recognized as such, on this occasion. All the people were +respectably dressed and perfectly well behaved; and soldiers and priests +were scattered abundantly among the throng. On my way home, I saw the +Teatro Goldoni, which is in our own street, lighted up for a +representation this Sunday evening. It shocked my New England prejudices +a little. + +Thus forenoon, my wife and I went to the Church of Santa Croce, the great +monumental deposit of Florentine worthies. The piazza before it is a +wide, gravelled square, where the liberty of Florence, if it really ever +had any genuine liberty, came into existence some hundreds of years ago, +by the people's taking its own rights into its hands, and putting its own +immediate will in execution. The piazza has not much appearance of +antiquity, except that the facade of one of the houses is quite covered +with ancient frescos, a good deal faded and obliterated, yet with traces +enough of old glory to show that the colors must have been well laid on. + +The front of the church, the foundation of which was laid six centuries +ago, is still waiting for its casing of marbles, and I suppose will wait +forever, though a carpenter's staging is now erected before it, as if +with the purpose of doing something. + +The interior is spacious, the length of the church being between four and +five hundred feet. There is a nave, roofed with wooden cross-beams, +lighted by a clere-story and supported on each side by seven great +pointed arches, which rest upon octagonal pillars. The octagon seems to +be a favorite shape in Florence. These pillars were clad in yellow and +scarlet damask, in honor of the Feast of St. John. The aisles, on each +side of the nave, are lighted with high and somewhat narrow windows of +painted glass, the effect of which, however, is much diminished by the +flood of common daylight that comes in through the windows of the +clere-story. It is like admitting too much of the light of reason and +worldly intelligence into the mind, instead of illuminating it wholly +through a religious medium. The many-hued saints and angels lose their +mysterious effulgence, when we get white light enough, and find we see +all the better without their help. + +The main pavement of the church is brickwork; but it is inlaid with many +sepulchral slabs of marble, on some of which knightly or priestly figures +are sculptured in bas-relief. In both of the side aisles there are +saintly shrines, alternating with mural monuments, some of which record +names as illustrious as any in the world. As you enter, the first +monument, on your right is that of Michael Angelo, occupying the ancient +burial-site of his family. The general design is a heavy sarcophagus of +colored marble, with the figures of Sculpture, Painting, and Architecture +as mourners, and Michael Angelo's bust above, the whole assuming a +pyramidal form. You pass a shrine, within its framework of marble +pillars and a pediment, and come next to Dante's monument, a modern work, +with likewise its sarcophagus, and some huge, cold images weeping and +sprawling over it, and an unimpressive statue of Dante sitting above. + +Another shrine intervenes, and next you see the tomb of Alfieri, erected +to his memory by the Countess of Albany, who pays, out of a woman's love, +the honor which his country owed him. Her own monument is in one of the +chapels of the transept. + +Passing the next shrine you see the tomb of Macchiavelli, which, I think, +was constructed not many years after his death. The rest of the +monuments, on this side of the church, commemorate people of less than +world-wide fame; and though the opposite side has likewise a monument +alternating with each shrine, I remember only the names of Raphael +Morghen and of Galileo. The tomb of the latter is over against that of +Michael Angelo, being the first large tomb on the left-hand wall as you +enter the church. It has the usual heavy sarcophagus, surmounted by a +bust of Galileo, in the habit of his time, and is, of course, duly +provided with mourners in the shape of Science or Astronomy, or some such +cold-hearted people. I wish every sculptor might be at once imprisoned +for life who shall hereafter chisel an allegoric figure; and as for those +who have sculptured them heretofore, let them be kept in purgatory till +the marble shall have crumbled away. It is especially absurd to assign +to this frozen sisterhood of the allegoric family the office of weeping +for the dead, inasmuch as they have incomparably less feeling than a lump +of ice, which might contrive to shed a tear if the sun shone on it. But +they seem to let themselves out, like the hired mourners of an English +funeral, for the very reason that, having no interest in the dead person, +nor any affections or emotions whatever, it costs them no wear and tear +of heart. + +All round both transepts of the church there is a series of chapels, into +most of which we went, and generally found an inscrutably dark picture +over the altar, and often a marble bust or two, or perhaps a mediaeval +statue of a saint or a modern monumental bas-relief in marble, as white +as new-fallen snow. A chapel of the Bonapartes is here, containing +memorials of two female members of the family. In several chapels, +moreover, there were some of those distressing frescos, by Giotto, +Cimabue, or their compeers, which, whenever I see them,--poor, faded +relics, looking as if the Devil had been rubbing and scrubbing them for +centuries, in spite against the saints,--my heart sinks and my stomach +sickens. There is no other despondency like this; it is a new shade of +human misery, akin to the physical disease that comes from dryrot in a +wall. These frescos are to a church what dreary, old remembrances are to +a mind; the drearier because they were once bright: Hope fading into +Disappointment, Joy into Grief, and festal splendor passing into funereal +duskiness, and saddening you all the more by the grim identity that you +find to exist between gay things and sorrowful ones. Only wait long +enough, and they turn out to be the very same. + +All the time we were in the church some great religious ceremony had been +going forward; the organ playing and the white-robed priests bowing, +gesticulating, and making Latin prayers at the high altar, where at least +a hundred wax tapers were burning in constellations. Everybody knelt, +except ourselves, yet seemed not to be troubled by the echoes of our +passing footsteps, nor to require that we should pray along with them. +They consider us already lost irrevocably, no doubt, and therefore right +enough in taking no heed of their devotions; not but what we took so much +heed, however, as to give the smallest possible disturbance. By and by +we sat down in the nave of the church till the ceremony should be +concluded; and then my wife left me to go in quest of yet another chapel, +where either Cimabue or Giotto, or both, have left some of their now +ghastly decorations. While she was gone I threw my eyes about the +church, and came to the conclusion that, in spite of its antiquity, its +size, its architecture, its painted windows, its tombs of great men, and +all the reverence and interest that broods over them, it is not an +impressive edifice. Any little Norman church in England would impress me +as much, and more. There is something, I do not know what, but it is in +the region of the heart, rather than in the intellect, that Italian +architecture, of whatever age or style, never seems to reach. + +Leaving the Santa Croce, we went next in quest of the Riccardi Palace. +On our way, in the rear of the Grand Ducal Piazza, we passed by the +Bargello, formerly the palace of the Podesta of Florence, and now +converted into a prison. It is an immense square edifice of dark stone, +with a tall, lank tower rising high above it at one corner. Two stone +lions, symbols of the city, lash their tails and glare at the passers-by; +and all over the front of the building windows are scattered irregularly, +and grated with rusty iron bars; also there are many square holes, which +probably admit a little light and a breath or two of air into prisoners' +cells. It is a very ugly edifice, but looks antique, and as if a vast +deal of history might have been transacted within it, or have beaten, +like fierce blasts, against its dark, massive walls, since the thirteenth +century. When I first saw the city it struck me that there were few +marks of antiquity in Florence; but I am now inclined to think otherwise, +although the bright Italian atmosphere, and the general squareness and +monotony of the Italian architecture, have their effect in apparently +modernizing everything. But everywhere we see the ponderous Tuscan +basements that never can decay, and which will look, five hundred years +hence, as they look now; and one often passes beneath an abbreviated +remnant of what was once a lofty tower, perhaps three hundred feet high, +such as used to be numerous in Florence when each noble of the city had +his own warfare to wage; and there are patches of sculpture that look old +on houses, the modern stucco of which causes them to look almost new. +Here and there an unmistakable antiquity stands in its own impressive +shadow; the Church of Or San Michele, for instance, once a market, but +which grew to be a church by some inherent fitness and inevitable +consecration. It has not the least the aspect of a church, being high +and square, like a mediaeval palace; but deep and high niches are let +into its walls, within which stand great statues of saints, masterpieces +of Donatello, and other sculptors of that age, before sculpture began to +be congealed by the influence of Greek art. + +The Riccardi Palace is at the corner of the Via Larga. It was built by +the first Cosmo de' Medici, the old banker, more than four centuries ago, +and was long the home of the ignoble race of princes which he left behind +him. It looks fit to be still the home of a princely race, being nowise +dilapidated nor decayed externally, nor likely to be so, its high Tuscan +basement being as solid as a ledge of rock, and its upper portion not +much less so, though smoothed into another order of stately architecture. +Entering its court from the Via Larga, we found ourselves beneath a +pillared arcade, passing round the court like a cloister; and on the +walls of the palace, under this succession of arches, were statues, +bas-reliefs, and sarcophagi, in which, first, dead Pagans had slept, and +then dead Christians, before the sculptured coffins were brought hither +to adorn the palace of the Medici. In the most prominent place was a +Latin inscription of great length and breadth, chiefly in praise of old +Cosino and his deeds and wisdom. This mansion gives the visitor a +stately notion of the life of a commercial man in the days when merchants +were princes; not that it seems to be so wonderfully extensive, nor so +very grand, for I suppose there are a dozen Roman palaces that excel it +in both these particulars. Still, we cannot but be conscious that it +must have been, in some sense, a great man who thought of founding a +homestead like this, and was capable of filling it with his personality, +as the hand fills a glove. It has been found spacious enough, since +Cosmo's time, for an emperor and a pope and a king, all of whom have been +guests in this house. After being the family mansion of the Medici for +nearly two centuries, it was sold to the Riccardis, but was subsequently +bought of then by the government, and it is now occupied by public +offices and societies. + +After sufficiently examining the court and its antiquities, we ascended a +noble staircase that passes, by broad flights and square turns, to the +region above the basement. Here the palace is cut up and portioned off +into little rooms and passages, and everywhere there were desks, +inkstands, and men, with pens in their fingers or behind their ears. We +were shown into a little antique chapel, quite covered with frescos in +the Giotto style, but painted by a certain Gozzoli. They were in pretty +good preservation, and, in fact, I am wrong in comparing them to Giotto's +works, inasmuch as there must have been nearly two hundred years between +the two artists. The chapel was furnished with curiously carved old +chairs, and looked surprisingly venerable within its little precinct. + +We were next guided into the grand gallery, a hall of respectable size, +with a frescoed ceiling, on which is represented the blue sky, and +various members of the Medici family ascending through it by the help of +angelic personages, who seem only to have waited for their society to be +perfectly happy. At least, this was the meaning, so far as I could +make it out. Along one side of the gallery were oil-pictures on +looking-glasses, rather good than otherwise; but Rome, with her palaces +and villas, takes the splendor out of all this sort of thing elsewhere. + +On our way home, and on our own side of the Ponte Vecchio, we passed the +Palazzo Guicciardini, the ancient residence of the historian of Italy, +who was a politic statesman of his day, and probably as cruel and +unprincipled as any of those whose deeds he has recorded. Opposite, +across the narrow way, stands the house of Macchiavelli, who was his +friend, and, I should judge, an honester man than he. The house is +distinguished by a marble tablet, let into the wall, commemorative of +Macchiavelli, but has nothing antique or picturesque about it, being in a +continuous line with other smooth-faced and stuccoed edifices. + + +June 30th.--Yesterday, at three o'clock P. M., I went to see the final +horse-race of the Feast of St. John, or rather to see the concourse of +people and grandees whom it brought together. I took my stand in the +vicinity of the spot whence the Grand Duke and his courtiers view the +race, and from this point the scene was rather better worth looking at +than from the street-corners whence I saw it before. The vista of the +street, stretching far adown between two rows of lofty edifices, was +really gay and gorgeous with the silks, damasks, and tapestries of all +bright hues, that flaunted from windows and balconies, whence ladies +looked forth and looked down, themselves making the liveliest part of the +show. The whole capacity of the street swarmed with moving heads, +leaving scarce room enough for the carriages, which, as on Sunday, passed +up and down, until the signal for the race was given. Equipages, too, +were constantly arriving at the door of the building which communicates +with the open loggia, where the Grand Ducal party sit to see and to be +seen. Two sentinels were standing at the door, and presented arms as +each courtier or ambassador, or whatever dignity it might be, alighted. +Most of them had on gold-embroidered court-dresses; some of them had +military uniforms, and medals in abundance at the breast; and ladies also +came, looking like heaps of lace and gauze in the carriages, but lightly +shaking themselves into shape as they went up the steps. By and by a +trumpet sounded, a drum beat, and again appeared a succession of half a +dozen royal equipages, each with its six horses, its postilion, coachman, +and three footmen, grand with cocked hats and embroidery; and the +gray-headed, bowing Grand Duke and his nodding Grand Duchess as before. +The Noble Guard ranged themselves on horseback opposite the loggia; but +there was no irksome and impertinent show of ceremony and restraint upon +the people. The play-guard of volunteer soldiers, who escort the +President of the United States in his Northern progresses, keep back +their fellow-citizens much more sternly and immitigably than the +Florentine guard kept back the populace from its despotic sovereign. + +This morning J----- and I have been to the Uffizi gallery. It was his +first visit there, and he passed a sweeping condemnation upon everything +he saw, except a fly, a snail-shell, a caterpillar, a lemon, a piece of +bread, and a wineglass, in some of the Dutch pictures. The Venus de' +Medici met with no sort of favor. His feeling of utter distaste reacted +upon me, and I was sensible of the same weary lack of appreciation that +used to chill me through, in my earlier visits to picture-galleries; the +same doubt, moreover, whether we do not bamboozle ourselves in the +greater part of the admiration which we learn to bestow. I looked with +some pleasure at one of Correggio's Madonnas in the Tribune,--no divine +and deep-thoughted mother of the Saviour, but a young woman playing with +her first child, as gay and thoughtless as itself. I looked at Michael +Angelo's Madonna, in which William Ware saw such prophetic depth of +feeling; but I suspect it was one of the many instances in which the +spectator sees more than the painter ever dreamed of. + +Straying through the city, after leaving the gallery, we went into the +Church of Or San Michele, and saw in its architecture the traces of its +transformation from a market into a church. In its pristine state it +consisted of a double row of three great open arches, with the wind +blowing through them, and the sunshine falling aslantwise into them, +while the bustle of the market, the sale of fish, flesh, or fruit went on +within, or brimmed over into the streets that enclosed them on every +side. But, four or five hundred years ago, the broad arches were built +up with stone-work; windows were pierced through and filled with painted +glass; a high altar, in a rich style of pointed Gothic, was raised; +shrines and confessionals were set up; and here it is, a solemn and +antique church, where a man may buy his salvation instead of his dinner. +At any rate, the Catholic priests will insure it to him, and take the +price. The sculpture within the beautifully decorated niches, on the +outside of the church, is very curious and interesting. The statues of +those old saints seem to have that charm of earnestness which so attracts +the admirers of the Pre-Raphaelite painters. + +It appears that a picture of the Virgin used to hang against one of the +pillars of the market-place while it was still a market, and in the year +1291 several miracles were wrought by it, insomuch that a chapel was +consecrated for it. So many worshippers came to the shrine that the +business of the market was impeded, and ultimately the Virgin and St. +Michael won the whole space for themselves. The upper part of the +edifice was at that time a granary, and is still used for other than +religious purposes. This church was one spot to which the inhabitants +betook themselves much for refuge and divine assistance during the great +plague described by Boccaccio. + + +July 2d.--We set out yesterday morning to visit the Palazzo Buonarotti, +Michael Angelo's ancestral home. . . . It is in the Via Ghibellina, an +ordinary-looking, three-story house, with broad-brimmed eaves, a stuccoed +front, and two or three windows painted in fresco, besides the real ones. +Adown the street, there is a glimpse of the hills outside of Florence. +The sun shining heavily directly upon the front, we rang the door-bell, +and then drew back into the shadow that fell from the opposite side of +the street. After we had waited some time a man looked out from an upper +window, and a woman from a lower one, and informed us that we could not +be admitted now, nor for two or three months to come, the house being +under repairs. It is a pity, for I wished to see Michael Angelo's sword +and walking-stick and old slippers, and whatever other of his closest +personalities are to be shown. . . . + +We passed into the Piazza of the Grand Duke, and looked into the court of +the Palazzo Vecchio, with its beautifully embossed pillars; and, seeing +just beyond the court a staircase of broad and easy steps, we ascended it +at a venture. Upward and upward we went, flight after flight of stairs, +and through passages, till at last we found an official who ushered us +into a large saloon. It was the Hall of Audience. Its heavily embossed +ceiling, rich with tarnished gold, was a feature of antique magnificence, +and the only one that it retained, the floor being paved with tiles and +the furniture scanty or none. There were, however, three cabinets +standing against the walls, two of which contained very curious and +exquisite carvings and cuttings in ivory; some of them in the Chinese +style of hollow, concentric balls; others, really beautiful works of art: +little crucifixes, statues, saintly and knightly, and cups enriched with +delicate bas-reliefs. The custode pointed to a small figure of St. +Sebastian, and also to a vase around which the reliefs seemed to assume +life. Both these specimens, he said, were by Benvenuto Cellini, and +there were many others that might well have been wrought by his famous +hand. The third cabinet contained a great number and variety of +crucifixes, chalices, and whatever other vessels are needed in altar +service, exquisitely carved out of amber. They belong to the chapel of +the palace, and into this holy closet we were now conducted. It is large +enough to accommodate comfortably perhaps thirty worshippers, and is +quite covered with frescos by Ghirlandaio in good preservation, and with +remnants enough of gilding and bright color to show how splendid the +chapel must have been when the Medicean Grand Dukes used to pray here. +The altar is still ready for service, and I am not sure that some of the +wax tapers were not burning; but Lorenzo the Magnificent was nowhere to +be seen. + +The custode now led us back through the Hall of Audience into a smaller +room, hung with pictures chiefly of the Medici and their connections, +among whom was one Carolina, an intelligent and pretty child, and Bianca +Capella. + +There was nothing else to show us, except a very noble and most spacious +saloon, lighted by two large windows at each end, coming down level with +the floor, and by a row of windows on one side just beneath the cornice. +A gilded framework divides the ceiling into squares, circles, and +octagons, the compartments of which are filled with pictures in oil; and +the walls are covered with immense frescos, representing various battles +and triumphs of the Florentines. Statues by Michael Angelo, John of +Bologna, and Bandinello, as well historic as ideal, stand round the hall, +and it is really a fit theatre for the historic scenes of a country to be +acted in. It was built, moreover, with the idea of its being the +council-hall of a free people; but our own little Faneuil, which was +meant, in all simplicity, to be merely a spot where the townspeople +should meet to choose their selectmen, has served the world better in +that respect. I wish I had more room to speak of this vast, dusky, +historic hall. [This volume of journal closes here.] + + +July 4th 1858.--Yesterday forenoon we went to see the Church of Santa +Maria Novella. We found the piazza, on one side of which the church +stands, encumbered with the amphitheatrical ranges of wooden seats that +had been erected to accommodate the spectators of the chariot-races, at +the recent Feast of St. John. The front of the church is composed of +black and white marble, which, in the course of the five centuries that +it has been built, has turned brown and yellow. On the right hand, as +you approach, is a long colonnade of arches, extending on a line with the +facade, and having a tomb beneath every arch. This colonnade forms one +of the enclosing walls of a cloister. We found none of the front +entrances open, but on our left, in a wall at right angles with the +church, there was an open gateway, approaching which, we saw, within the +four-sided colonnade, an enclosed green space of a cloister. This is +what is called the Chiostro Verde, so named from the prevailing color of +the frescos with which the walls beneath the arches are adorned. + +This cloister is the reality of what I used to imagine when I saw the +half-ruinous colonnades connected with English cathedrals, or endeavored +to trace out the lines along the broken wall of some old abbey. Not that +this extant cloister, still perfect and in daily use for its original +purposes, is nearly so beautiful as the crumbling ruin which has ceased +to be trodden by monkish feet for more than three centuries. The +cloister of Santa Maria has not the seclusion that is desirable, being +open, by its gateway, to the public square; and several of the neighbors, +women as well as men, were loitering within its precincts. The convent, +however, has another and larger cloister, which I suppose is kept free +from interlopers. The Chiostro Verde is a walk round the four sides of a +square, beneath an arched and groined roof. One side of the walk looks +upon an enclosed green space with a fountain or a tomb (I forget which) +in the centre; the other side is ornamented all along with a succession +of ancient frescos, representing subjects of Scripture history. In the +days when the designs were more distinct than now, it must have been a +very effective way for a monk to read Bible history, to see its +personages and events thus passing visibly beside him in his morning and +evening walks. Beneath the frescos on one side of the cloistered walk, +and along the low stone parapet that separates it from the grass-plat on +the other, are inscriptions to the memory of the dead who are buried +underneath the pavement. The most of these were modern, and recorded the +names of persons of no particular note. Other monumental slabs were +inlaid with the pavement itself. Two or three Dominican monks, belonging +to the convent, passed in and out, while we were there, in their white +habits. + +After going round three sides, we came to the fourth, formed by the wall +of the church, and heard the voice of a priest behind a curtain that fell +down before a door. Lifting it aside, we went in, and found ourselves in +the ancient chapter-house, a large interior formed by two great pointed +arches crossing one another in a groined roof. The broad spaces of the +walls were entirely covered with frescos that are rich even now, and must +have glowed with an inexpressible splendor, when fresh from the artists' +hands, five hundred years ago. There is a long period, during which +frescos illuminate a church or a hall in a way that no other adornment +can; when this epoch of brightness is past, they become the dreariest +ghosts of perished magnificence. . . . This chapter-house is the only +part of the church that is now used for the purposes of public worship. +There are several confessionals, and two chapels or shrines, each with +its lighted tapers. A priest performed mass while we were there, and +several persons, as usual, stepped in to do a little devotion, either +praying on their own account, or uniting with the ceremony that was going +forward. One man was followed by two little dogs, and in the midst of +his prayers, as one of the dogs was inclined to stray about the church, +he kept snapping his fingers to call him back. The cool, dusky +refreshment of these holy places, affording such a refuge from the hot +noon of the streets and piazzas, probably suggests devotional ideas to +the people, and it may be, when they are praying, they feel a breath of +Paradise fanning them. If we could only see any good effects in their +daily life, we might deem it an excellent thing to be able to find +incense and a prayer always ascending, to which every individual may join +his own. I really wonder that the Catholics are not better men and +women. + +When we had looked at the old frescos, . . . . we emerged into the +cloister again, and thence ventured into a passage which would have led +us to the Chiostro Grande, where strangers, and especially ladies, +have no right to go. It was a secluded corridor, very neatly kept, +bordered with sepulchral monuments, and at the end appeared a vista of +cypress-trees, which indeed were but an illusory perspective, being +painted in fresco. While we loitered along the sacristan appeared and +offered to show us the church, and led us into the transept on the right +of the high altar, and ushered us into the sacristy, where we found two +artists copying some of Fra Angelico's pictures. These were painted on +the three wooden leaves of a triptych, and, as usual, were glorified with +a great deal of gilding, so that they seemed to float in the brightness +of a heavenly element. Solomon speaks of "apples of gold in pictures of +silver." The pictures of Fra Angelico, and other artists of that age, +are really pictures of gold; and it is wonderful to see how rich the +effect, and how much delicate beauty is attained (by Fra Angelico at +least) along with it. His miniature-heads appear to me much more +successful than his larger ones. In a monkish point of view, however, +the chief value of the triptych of which I am speaking does not lie in +the pictures, for they merely serve as the framework of some relics, +which are set all round the edges of the three leaves. They consist of +little bits and fragments of bones, and of packages carefully tied up in +silk, the contents of which are signified in Gothic letters appended to +each parcel. The sacred vessels of the church are likewise kept in the +sacristy. . . . + +Re-entering the transept, our guide showed us the chapel of the Strozzi +family, which is accessible by a flight of steps from the floor of the +church. The walls of this chapel are covered with frescos by Orcagna, +representing around the altar the Last Judgment, and on one of the walls +heaven and the assembly of the blessed, and on the other, of course, +hell. I cannot speak as to the truth of the representation; but, at all +events, it was purgatory to look at it. . . . + +We next passed into the choir, which occupies the extreme end of the +church behind the great square mass of the high altar, and is surrounded +with a double row of ancient oaken seats of venerable shape and carving. +The choir is illuminated by a threefold Gothic window, full of richly +painted glass, worth all the frescos that ever stained a wall or ceiling; +but these walls, nevertheless, are adorned with frescos by Ghirlandaio, +and it is easy to see must once have made a magnificent appearance. I +really was sensible of a sad and ghostly beauty in many of the figures; +but all the bloom, the magic of the painter's touch, his topmost art, +have long ago been rubbed off, the white plaster showing through the +colors in spots, and even in large spaces. Any other sort of ruin +acquires a beauty proper to its decay, and often superior to that of its +pristine state; but the ruin of a picture, especially of a fresco, is +wholly unredeemed; and, moreover, it dies so slowly that many generations +are likely to be saddened by it. + +We next saw the famous picture of the Virgin by Cimabue, which was deemed +a miracle in its day, . . . . and still brightens the sombre walls with +the lustre of its gold ground. As to its artistic merits, it seems to me +that the babe Jesus has a certain air of state and dignity; but I could +see no charm whatever in the broad-faced Virgin, and it would relieve my +mind and rejoice my spirit if the picture were borne out of the church in +another triumphal procession (like the one which brought it there), and +reverently burnt. This should be the final honor paid to all human works +that have served a good office in their day, for when their day is +over, if still galvanized into false life, they do harm instead of good. +. . . . The interior of Santa Maria Novella is spacious and in the Gothic +style, though differing from English churches of that order of +architecture. It is not now kept open to the public, nor were any of the +shrines and chapels, nor even the high altar itself, adorned and lighted +for worship. The pictures that decorated the shrines along the side +aisles have been removed, leaving bare, blank spaces of brickwork, very +dreary and desolate to behold. This is almost worse than a black +oil-painting or a faded fresco. The church was much injured by the +French, and afterwards by the Austrians, both powers having quartered +their troops within the holy precincts. Its old walls, however, are yet +stalwart enough to outlast another set of frescos, and to see the +beginning and the end of a new school of painting as long-lived as +Cimabue's. I should be sorry to have the church go to decay, because it +was here that Boccaccio's dames and cavaliers encountered one another, +and formed their plan of retreating into the country during the +plague. . . . + +At the door we bought a string of beads, with a small crucifix appended, +in memory of the place. The beads seem to be of a grayish, pear-shaped +seed, and the seller assured us that they were the tears of St. Job. +They were cheap, probably because Job shed so many tears in his lifetime. + +It being still early in the day, we went to the Uffizi gallery, and after +loitering a good while among the pictures, were so fortunate as to find +the room of the bronzes open. The first object that attracted us was +John of Bologna's Mercury, poising himself on tiptoe, and looking not +merely buoyant enough to float, but as if he possessed more than the +eagle's power of lofty flight. It seems a wonder that he did not +absolutely fling himself into the air when the artist gave him the last +touch. No bolder work was ever achieved; nothing so full of life has +been done since. I was much interested, too, in the original little wax +model, two feet high, of Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus. The wax seems to +be laid over a wooden framework, and is but roughly finished off. . . . + +In an adjoining room are innumerable specimens of Roman and Etruscan +bronzes, great and small. A bronze Chimera did not strike me as very +ingeniously conceived, the goat's head being merely an adjunct, growing +out of the back of the monster, without possessing any original and +substantive share in its nature. The snake's head is at the end of the +tail. The object most really interesting was a Roman eagle, the standard +of the Twenty-fourth Legion, about the size of a blackbird. + + +July 8th.--On the 6th we went to the Church of the Annunziata, which +stands in the piazza of the same name. On the corner of the Via dei +Servi is the palace which I suppose to be the one that Browning makes the +scene of his poem, "The Statue and the Bust," and the statue of Duke +Ferdinand sits stately on horseback, with his face turned towards the +window, where the lady ought to appear. Neither she nor the bust, +however, was visible, at least not to my eyes. The church occupies one +side of the piazza, and in front of it, as likewise on the two adjoining +sides of the square, there are pillared arcades, constructed by +Brunelleschi or his scholars. After passing through these arches, and +still before entering the church itself, you come to an ancient cloister, +which is now quite enclosed in glass as a means of preserving some +frescos of Andrea del Sarto and others, which are considered valuable. + +Passing the threshold of the church, we were quite dazzled by the +splendor that shone upon us from the ceiling of the nave, the great +parallelograms of which, viewed from one end, look as if richly +embossed all over with gold. The whole interior, indeed, has an effect +of brightness and magnificence, the walls being covered mostly with +light-colored marble, into which are inlaid compartments of rarer and +richer marbles. The pillars and pilasters, too, are of variegated +marbles, with Corinthian capitals, that shine just as brightly as if they +were of solid gold, so faithfully have they been gilded and burnished. +The pavement is formed of squares of black and white marble. There are +no side aisles, but ranges of chapels, with communication from one to +another, stand round the whole extent of the nave and choir; all of +marble, all decorated with pictures, statues, busts, and mural monuments; +all worth, separately, a day's inspection. The high altar is of great +beauty and richness, . . . . and also the tomb of John of Bologna in a +chapel at the remotest extremity of the church. In this chapel there are +some bas-reliefs by him, and also a large crucifix, with a marble Christ +upon it. I think there has been no better sculptor since the days of +Phidias. . . . + +The church was founded by seven gentlemen of Florence, who formed +themselves into a religious order called "Servants of Mary." Many +miraculous cures were wrought here; and the church, in consequence, was +so thickly hung with votive offerings of legs, arms, and other things in +wax, that they used to tumble upon people's heads, so that finally they +were all cleared out as rubbish. The church is still, I should imagine, +looked upon as a place of peculiar sanctity; for while we were there it +had an unusual number of kneeling worshippers, and persons were passing +from shrine to shrine all round the nave and choir, praying awhile at +each, and thus performing a pilgrimage at little cost of time and labor. +One old gentleman, I observed, carried a cushion or pad, just big enough +for one knee, on which he carefully adjusted his genuflexions before each +altar. An old woman in the choir prayed alternately to us and to the +saints, with most success, I hope, in her petitions to the latter, though +certainly her prayers to ourselves seemed the more fervent of the two. + +When we had gone entirely round the church, we came at last to the chapel +of the Annunziata, which stands on the floor of the nave, on the left +hand as we enter. It is a very beautiful piece of architecture,--a sort +of canopy of marble, supported upon pillars; and its magnificence within, +in marble and silver, and all manner of holy decoration, is quite +indescribable. It was built four hundred years ago, by Pietro de' +Medici, and has probably been growing richer ever since. The altar is +entirely of silver, richly embossed. As many people were kneeling on the +steps before it as could find room, and most of them, when they finished +their prayers, ascended the steps, kissed over and over again the margin +of the silver altar, laid their foreheads upon it, and then deposited an +offering in a box placed upon the altar's top. From the dulness of the +chink in the only case when I heard it, I judged it to be a small copper +coin. + +In the inner part of this chapel is preserved a miraculous picture of the +"Santissima Annunziata," painted by angels, and held in such holy repute +that forty thousand dollars have lately been expended in providing a new +crown for the sacred personage represented. The picture is now veiled +behind a curtain; and as it is a fresco, and is not considered to do much +credit to the angelic artists, I was well contented not to see it. + +We found a side door of the church admitting us into the great cloister, +which has a walk of intersecting arches round its four sides, paved with +flat tombstones, and broad enough for six people to walk abreast. On the +walls, in the semicircles of each successive arch, are frescos +representing incidents in the lives of the seven founders of the church, +and all the lower part of the wall is incrusted with marble inscriptions +to the memory of the dead, and mostly of persons who have died not very +long ago. The space enclosed by the cloistered walk, usually made +cheerful by green grass, has a pavement of tombstones laid in regular +ranges. In the centre is a stone octagonal structure, which at first I +supposed to be the tomb of some deceased mediaeval personage; but, on +approaching, I found it a well, with its bucket hanging within the curb, +and looking as if it were in constant use. The surface of the water lay +deep beneath the deepest dust of the dead people, and thence threw up its +picture of the sky; but I think it would not be a moderate thirst that +would induce me to drink of that well. + +On leaving the church we bought a little gilt crucifix. . . . + +On Sunday evening I paid a short visit to Mr. Powers, and, as usual, was +entertained and instructed with his conversation. It did not, indeed, +turn upon artistical subjects; but the artistic is only one side of his +character, and, I think, not the principal side. He might have achieved +valuable success as an engineer and mechanician. He gave a dissertation +on flying-machines, evidently from his own experience, and came to the +conclusion that it is impossible to fly by means of steam or any other +motive-power now known to man. No force hitherto attained would suffice +to lift the engine which generated it. He appeared to anticipate that +flying will be a future mode of locomotion, but not till the moral +condition of mankind is so improved as to obviate the bad uses to which +the power might be applied. Another topic discussed was a cure for +complaints of the chest by the inhalation of nitric acid; and he produced +his own apparatus for that purpose, being merely a tube inserted into a +bottle containing a small quantity of the acid, just enough to produce +the gas for inhalation. He told me, too, a remedy for burns accidentally +discovered by himself; viz., to wear wash-leather, or something +equivalent, over the burn, and keep it constantly wet. It prevents all +pain, and cures by the exclusion of the air. He evidently has a great +tendency to empirical remedies, and would have made a natural doctor of +mighty potency, possessing the shrewd sense, inventive faculty, and +self-reliance that such persons require. It is very singular that there +should be an ideal vein in a man of this character. + +This morning he called to see me, with intelligence of the failure of the +new attempt to lay the electric cable between England and America; and +here, too, it appears the misfortune might have been avoided if a plan of +his own for laying the cable had been adopted. He explained his process, +and made it seem as practicable as to put up a bell-wire. I do not +remember how or why (but appositely) he repeated some verses, from a +pretty little ballad about fairies, that had struck his fancy, and he +wound up his talk with some acute observations on the characters of +General Jackson and other public men. He told an anecdote, illustrating +the old general's small acquaintance with astronomical science, and his +force of will in compelling a whole dinner-party of better instructed +people than himself to succumb to him in an argument about eclipses and +the planetary system generally. Powers witnessed the scene himself. He +thinks that General Jackson was a man of the keenest and surest +intuitions, in respect to men and measures, but with no power of +reasoning out his own conclusions, or of imparting them intellectually to +other persons. Men who have known Jackson intimately, and in great +affairs, would not agree as to this intellectual and argumentative +deficiency, though they would fully allow the intuitive faculty. I have +heard General Pierce tell a striking instance of Jackson's power of +presenting his own view of a subject with irresistible force to the mind +of the auditor. President Buchanan has likewise expressed to me as high +admiration of Jackson as I ever heard one man award to another. Surely +he was a great man, and his native strength, as well of intellect as +character, compelled every man to be his tool that came within his reach; +and the more cunning the individual might be, it served only to make him +the sharper tool. + +Speaking of Jackson, and remembering Raphael's picture of Pope Julius +II., the best portrait in the whole world, and excellent in all its +repetitions, I wish it had been possible for Raphael to paint General +Jackson! + +Referring again to General Jackson's intuitions, and to Powers's idea +that he was unable to render a reason to himself or others for what he +chose to do, I should have thought that this very probably might have +been the case, were there not such strong evidence to the contrary. The +highest, or perhaps any high administrative ability is intuitive, and +precedes argument, and rises above it. It is a revelation of the very +thing to be done, and its propriety and necessity are felt so strongly +that very likely it cannot be talked about; if the doer can likewise +talk, it is an additional and gratuitous faculty, as little to be +expected as that a poet should be able to write an explanatory criticism +on his own poem. The English overlook this in their scheme of +government, which requires that the members of the national executive +should be orators, and the readiest and most fluent orators that can be +found. The very fact (on which they are selected) that they are men of +words makes it improbable that they are likewise men of deeds. And it is +only tradition and old custom, founded on an obsolete state of things, +that assigns any value to parliamentary oratory. The world has done with +it, except as an intellectual pastime. The speeches have no effect till +they are converted into newspaper paragraphs; and they had better be +composed as such, in the first place, and oratory reserved for churches, +courts of law, and public dinner-tables. + + +July 10th.--My wife and I went yesterday forenoon to see the Church of +San Marco, with which is connected a convent of Dominicans. . . . The +interior is not less than three or four hundred years old, and is in the +classic style, with a flat ceiling, gilded, and a lofty arch, supported +by pillars, between the nave and choir. There are no side aisles, but +ranges of shrines on both sides of the nave, each beneath its own pair of +pillars and pediments. The pavement is of brick, with here and there a +marble tombstone inlaid. It is not a magnificent church; but looks dingy +with time and apparent neglect, though rendered sufficiently interesting +by statues of mediaeval date by John of Bologna and other old sculptors, +and by monumental busts and bas-reliefs: also, there is a wooden crucifix +by Giotto, with ancient gilding on it; and a painting of Christ, which +was considered a wonderful work in its day. Each shrine, or most of +them, at any rate, had its dark old picture, and there is a very old and +hideous mosaic of the Virgin and two saints, which I looked at very +slightly, with the purpose of immediately forgetting it. Savonarola, the +reforming monk, was a brother of this convent, and was torn from its +shelter, to be subsequently hanged and burnt in the Grand Ducal Piazza. +A large chapel in the left transept is of the Salviati family, dedicated +to St. Anthony, and decorated with several statues of saints, and with +some old frescos. When we had more than sufficiently examined these, the +custode proposed to show us some frescos of Fra Angelico, and conducted +us into a large cloister, under the arches of which, and beneath a +covering of glass, he pointed to a picture of St. Dominic kneeling at the +Cross. There are two or three others by the angelic friar in different +parts of the cloister, and a regular series, filling up all the arches, +by various artists. Its four-sided, cloistered walk surrounds a square, +open to the sky as usual, and paved with gray stones that have no +inscriptions, but probably are laid over graves. Its walls, however, are +incrusted, and the walk itself is paved with monumental inscriptions on +marble, none of which, so far as I observed, were of ancient date. +Either the fashion of thus commemorating the dead is not ancient in +Florence, or the old tombstones have been removed to make room for new +ones. I do not know where the monks themselves have their burial-place; +perhaps in an inner cloister, which we did not see. All the inscriptions +here, I believe, were in memory of persons not connected with the +convent. + +A door in the wall of the cloister admitted us into the chapter-house, +its interior moderately spacious, with a roof formed by intersecting +arches. Three sides of the walls were covered with blessed whitewash; +but on the fourth side, opposite to the entrance, was a great fresco of +the Crucifixion, by Fra Angelico, surrounded with a border or pictured +framework, in which are represented the heads of saints, prophets, and +sibyls, as large as life. The cross of the Saviour and those of the +thieves were painted against a dark red sky; the figures upon them were +lean and attenuated, evidently the vague conceptions of a man who had +never seen a naked figure. Beneath, was a multitude of people, most of +whom were saints who had lived and been martyred long after the +Crucifixion; and some of these had wounds from which gilded rays shone +forth, as if the inner glory and blessedness of the holy men blazed +through them. It is a very ugly picture, and its ugliness is not that of +strength and vigor, but of weakness and incompetency. Fra Angelico +should have confined himself to miniature heads, in which his delicacy of +touch and minute labor often produce an excellent effect. The custode +informed us that there were more frescos of this pious artist in the +interior of the convent, into which I might be allowed admittance, but +not my wife. I declined seeing them, and heartily thanked heaven for my +escape. + +Returning through the church, we stopped to look at a shrine on the right +of the entrance, where several wax candles were lighted, and the steps of +which were crowded with worshippers. It was evidently a spot of special +sanctity, and, approaching the steps, we saw, behind a gilded framework +of stars and protected by glass, a wooden image of the Saviour, naked, +covered with spots of blood, crowned with thorns, and expressing all the +human wretchedness that the carver's skill could represent. The whole +shrine, within the glass, was hung with offerings, as well of silver and +gold as of tinsel and trumpery, and the body of Christ glistened with +gold chains and ornaments, and with watches of silver and gold, some of +which appeared to be of very old manufacture, and others might be new. +Amid all this glitter the face of pain and grief looked forth, not a whit +comforted. While we stood there, a woman, who had been praying, arose +from her knees and laid an offering of a single flower upon the shrine. + +The corresponding arch, on the opposite side of the entrance, contained a +wax-work within a large glass case, representing the Nativity. I do not +remember how the Blessed Infant looked, but the Virgin was gorgeously +dressed in silks, satins, and gauzes, with spangles and ornaments of all +kinds, and, I believe, brooches of real diamonds on her bosom. Her +attire, judging from its freshness and newness of glitter, might have +been put on that very morning. + + +July 13th.--We went for the second time, this morning, to the Academy of +Fine Arts, and I looked pretty thoroughly at the Pre-Raphaelite pictures, +few of which are really worth looking at nowadays. Cimabue and Giotto +might certainly be dismissed, henceforth and forever, without any +detriment to the cause of good art. There is what seems to me a better +picture than either of these has produced, by Bonamico Buffalmacco, an +artist of about their date or not long after. The first real picture in +the series is the "Adoration of the Magi," by Gentile da Fabriano, a +really splendid work in all senses, with noble and beautiful figures in +it, and a crowd of personages, managed with great skill. Three pictures +by Perugino are the only other ones I cared to look at. In one of these, +the face of the Virgin who holds the dead Christ on her knees has a +deeper expression of woe than can ever have been painted since. After +Perugino the pictures cease to be interesting; the art came forward with +rapid strides, but the painters and their productions do not take nearly +so much hold of the spectator as before. They all paint better than +Giotto and Cimabue,--in some respects better than Perugino; but they +paint in vain, probably because they were not nearly so much in earnest, +and meant far less, though possessing the dexterity to express far more. +Andrea del Sarto appears to have been a good painter, yet I always turn +away readily from his pictures. I looked again, and for a good while, at +Carlo Dolce's portrait of the Eternal Father, for it is a miracle and +masterpiece of absurdity, and almost equally a miracle of pictorial art. +It is the All-powerless, a fair-haired, soft, consumptive deity, with a +mouth that has fallen open through very weakness. He holds one hand on +his stomach, as if the wickedness and wretchedness of mankind made him +qualmish; and he is looking down out of Heaven with an expression of +pitiable appeal, or as if seeking somewhere for assistance in his heavy +task of ruling the universe. You might fancy such a being falling on his +knees before a strong-willed man, and beseeching him to take the reins of +omnipotence out of his hands. No wonder that wrong gets the better of +right, and that good and ill are confounded, if the Supreme Head were as +here depicted; for I never saw, and nobody else ever saw, so perfect a +representation of a person burdened with a task infinitely above his +strength. If Carlo Dolce had been wicked enough to know what he was +doing, the picture would have been most blasphemous,--a satire, in the +very person of the Almighty, against all incompetent rulers, and against +the rickety machine and crazy action of the universe. Heaven forgive me +for such thoughts as this picture has suggested! It must be added that +the great original defect in the character as here represented is an easy +good-nature. I wonder what Michael Angelo would have said to this +painting. + +In the large, enclosed court connected with the Academy there are a +number of statues, bas-reliefs, and casts, and what was especially +interesting, the vague and rude commencement of a statue of St. Matthew +by Michael Angelo. The conceptions of this great sculptor were so +godlike that he seems to have been discontented at not likewise +possessing the godlike attribute of creating and embodying them with an +instantaneous thought, and therefore we often find sculptures from his +hand left at the critical point of their struggle to get out of the +marble. The statue of St. Matthew looks like the antediluvian fossil of +a human being of an epoch when humanity was mightier and more majestic +than now, long ago imprisoned in stone, and half uncovered again. + + +July 16th.--We went yesterday forenoon to see the Bargello. I do not +know anything more picturesque in Florence than the great interior court +of this ancient Palace of the Podesta, with the lofty height of the +edifice looking down into the enclosed space, dark and stern, and the +armorial bearings of a long succession of magistrates carved in stone +upon the walls, a garland, as it were, of these Gothic devices extending +quite round the court. The best feature of the whole is the broad stone +staircase, with its heavy balustrade, ascending externally from the court +to the iron-grated door in the second story. We passed the sentinels +under the lofty archway that communicates with the street, and went up +the stairs without being questioned or impeded. At the iron-grated door, +however, we were met by two officials in uniform, who courteously +informed us that there was nothing to be exhibited in the Bargello except +an old chapel containing some frescos by Giotto, and that these could +only be seen by making a previous appointment with the custode, he not +being constantly on hand. I was not sorry to escape the frescos, though +one of them is a portrait of Dante. + +We next went to the Church of the Badia, which is built in the form of a +Greek cross, with a flat roof embossed and once splendid with now +tarnished gold. The pavement is of brick, and the walls of dark stone, +similar to that of the interior of the cathedral (pietra serena), and +there being, according to Florentine custom, but little light, the effect +was sombre, though the cool gloomy dusk was refreshing after the hot +turmoil and dazzle of the adjacent street. Here we found three or four +Gothic tombs, with figures of the deceased persons stretched in marble +slumber upon them. There were likewise a picture or two, which it was +impossible to see; indeed, I have hardly ever met with a picture in a +church that was not utterly wasted and thrown away in the deep shadows of +the chapel it was meant to adorn. If there is the remotest chance of its +being seen, the sacristan hangs a curtain before it for the sake of his +fee for withdrawing it. In the chapel of the Bianco family we saw (if it +could be called seeing) what is considered the finest oil-painting of Fra +Filippo Lippi. It was evidently hung with reference to a lofty window on +the other side of the church, whence sufficient light might fall upon it +to show a picture so vividly painted as this is, and as most of Fra +Filippo Lippi's are. The window was curtained, however, and the chapel +so dusky that I could make out nothing. + +Several persons came in to say their prayers during the little time that +we remained in the church, and as we came out we passed a good woman who +sat knitting in the coolness of the vestibule, which was lined with mural +tombstones. Probably she spends the day thus, keeping up the little +industry of her fingers, slipping into the church to pray whenever a +devotional impulse swells into her heart, and asking an alms as often as +she sees a person of charitable aspect. + +From the church we went to the Uffizi gallery, and reinspected the +greater part of it pretty faithfully. We had the good fortune, too, +again to get admittance into the cabinet of bronzes, where we admired +anew the wonderful airiness of John of Bologna's Mercury, which, as I now +observed, rests on nothing substantial, but on the breath of a zephyr +beneath him. We also saw a bronze bust of one of the Medici by Benvenuto +Cellini, and a thousand other things the curiosity of which is overlaid +by their multitude. The Roman eagle, which I have recorded to be about +the size of a blackbird, I now saw to be as large as a pigeon. + +On our way towards the door of the gallery, at our departure, we saw the +cabinet of gems open, and again feasted our eyes with its concentrated +brilliancies and magnificences. Among them were two crystal cups, with +engraved devices, and covers of enamelled gold, wrought by Benvenuto +Cellini, and wonderfully beautiful. But it is idle to mention one or two +things, when all are so beautiful and curious; idle, too, because +language is not burnished gold, with here and there a brighter word +flashing like a diamond; and therefore no amount of talk will give the +slightest idea of one of these elaborate handiworks. + + +July 27th.--I seldom go out nowadays, having already seen Florence +tolerably well, and the streets being very hot, and myself having been +engaged in sketching out a romance [The Marble Faun.--ED.], which whether +it will ever come to anything is a point yet to be decided. At any rate, +it leaves me little heart for journalizing and describing new things; and +six months of uninterrupted monotony would be more valuable to me just +now, than the most brilliant succession of novelties. + +Yesterday I spent a good deal of time in watching the setting out of a +wedding party from our door; the bride being the daughter of an English +lady, the Countess of ------. After all, there was nothing very +characteristic. The bridegroom is a young man of English birth, son of +the Countess of St. G------, who inhabits the third piano of this Casa +del Bello. The very curious part of the spectacle was the swarm of +beggars who haunted the street all day; the most wretched mob +conceivable, chiefly women, with a few blind people, and some old men and +boys. Among these the bridal party distributed their beneficence in the +shape of some handfuls of copper, with here and there a half-paul +intermixed; whereupon the whole wretched mob flung themselves in a heap +upon the pavement, struggling, lighting, tumbling one over another, and +then looking up to the windows with petitionary gestures for more and +more, and still for more. Doubtless, they had need enough, for they +looked thin, sickly, ill-fed, and the women ugly to the last degree. The +wedding party had a breakfast above stairs, which lasted till four +o'clock, and then the bridegroom took his bride in a barouche and pair, +which was already crammed with his own luggage and hers. . . . He was a +well-looking young man enough, in a uniform of French gray with silver +epaulets; more agreeable in aspect than his bride, who, I think, will +have the upper hand in their domestic life. I observed that, on getting +into the barouche, he sat down on her dress, as he could not well help +doing, and received a slight reprimand in consequence. After their +departure, the wedding guests took their leave; the most noteworthy +person being the Pope's Nuncio (the young man being son of the Pope's +Chamberlain, and one of the Grand Duke's Noble Guard), an ecclesiastical +personage in purple stockings, attended by two priests, all of whom got +into a coach, the driver and footmen of which wore gold-laced cocked hats +and other splendors. + +To-day I paid a short visit to the gallery of the Pitti Palace. I looked +long at a Madonna of Raphael's, the one which is usually kept in the +Grand Duke's private apartments, only brought into the public gallery for +the purpose of being copied. It is the holiest of all Raphael's +Madonnas, with a great reserve in the expression, a sense of being apart, +and yet with the utmost tenderness and sweetness; although she drops her +eyelids before her like a veil, as it were, and has a primness of eternal +virginity about the mouth. It is one of Raphael's earlier works, when he +mixed more religious sentiment with his paint than afterwards. +Perugino's pictures give the impression of greater sincerity and +earnestness than Raphael's, though the genius of Raphael often gave him +miraculous vision. + + +July 28th.--Last evening we went to the Powers's, and sat with them on +the terrace, at the top of the house, till nearly ten o'clock. It was a +delightful, calm, summer evening, and we were elevated far above all the +adjacent roofs, and had a prospect of the greater part of Florence and +its towers, and the surrounding hills, while directly beneath us rose the +trees of a garden, and they hardly sent their summits higher than we sat. +At a little distance, with only a house or two between, was a theatre in +full action, the Teatro Goldoni, which is an open amphitheatre, in the +ancient fashion, without any roof. We could see the upper part of the +proscenium, and, had we been a little nearer, might have seen the whole +performance, as did several boys who crept along the tops of the +surrounding houses. As it was, we heard the music and the applause, and +now and then an actor's stentorian tones, when we chose to listen. Mrs. +P------ and my wife, U---- and Master Bob, sat in a group together, and +chatted in one corner of our aerial drawing-room, while Mr. Powers and +myself leaned against the parapet, and talked of innumerable things. +When the clocks struck the hour, or the bells rang from the steeples, as +they are continually doing, I spoke of the sweetness of the Florence +bells, the tones of some of them being as if the bell were full of liquid +melody, and shed it through the air on being upturned. I had supposed, +in my lack of musical ear, that the bells of the Campanile were the +sweetest; but Mr. Powers says that there is a defect in their tone, and +that the bell of the Palazzo Vecchio is the most melodious he ever heard. +Then he spoke of his having been a manufacturer of organs, or, at least, +of reeds for organs, at one period of his life. I wonder what he has not +been! He told me of an invention of his in the musical line, a jewsharp +with two tongues; and by and by he produced it for my inspection. It was +carefully kept in a little wooden case, and was very neatly and +elaborately constructed, with screws to tighten it, and a silver +centre-piece between the two tongues. Evidently a great deal of thought +had been bestowed on this little harp; but Mr. Powers told me that it was +an utter failure, because the tongues were apt to interfere and jar with +one another, although the strain of music was very sweet and melodious-- +as he proved, by playing on it a little--when everything went right. It +was a youthful production, and he said that its failure had been a great +disappointment to him at the time; whereupon I congratulated him that his +failures had been in small matters, and his successes in great ones. + +We talked, furthermore, about instinct and reason, and whether the brute +creation have souls, and, if they have none, how justice is to be done +them for their sufferings here; and Mr. Powers came finally to the +conclusion that brutes suffer only in appearance, and that God enjoys for +them all that they seem to enjoy, and that man is the only intelligent +and sentient being. We reasoned high about other states of being; and I +suggested the possibility that there might be beings inhabiting this +earth, contemporaneously with us, and close beside us, but of whose +existence and whereabout we could have no perception, nor they of ours, +because we are endowed with different sets of senses; for certainly it +was in God's power to create beings who should communicate with nature by +innumerable other senses than those few which we possess. Mr. Powers +gave hospitable reception to this idea, and said that it had occurred to +himself; and he has evidently thought much and earnestly about such +matters; but is apt to let his idea crystallize into a theory, before he +can have sufficient data for it. He is a Swedenborgian in faith. + +The moon had risen behind the trees, while we were talking, and Powers +intimated his idea that beings analogous to men--men in everything except +the modifications necessary to adapt them to their physical +circumstances--inhabited the planets, and peopled them with beautiful +shapes. Each planet, however, must have its own standard of the +beautiful, I suppose; and probably his sculptor's eye would not see much +to admire in the proportions of an inhabitant of Saturn. + +The atmosphere of Florence, at least when we ascend a little way into it, +suggests planetary speculations. Galileo found it so, and Mr. Powers and +I pervaded the whole universe; but finally crept down his garret-stairs, +and parted, with a friendly pressure of the hand. + + + +VILLA MONTANTO. MONTE BENI. + + +August 2d.--We had grown weary of the heat of Florence within the walls, +. . . . there being little opportunity for air and exercise except within +the precincts of our little garden, which, also, we feared might breed +malaria, or something akin to it. We have therefore taken this suburban +villa for the two next months, and, yesterday morning, we all came out +hither. J----- had preceded us with B. P------. The villa is on a hill +called Bellosguardo, about a mile beyond the Porta Romana. Less than +half an hour's walk brought us, who were on foot, to the iron gate of our +villa, which we found shut and locked. We shouted to be let in, and +while waiting for somebody to appear, there was a good opportunity to +contemplate the external aspect of the villa. After we had waited a few +minutes, J----- came racing down to the gate, laughing heartily, and said +that Bob and he had been in the house, but had come out, shutting the +door behind them; and as the door closed with a springlock, they could +not get in again. Now as the key of the outer gate as well as that of +the house itself was in the pocket of J-----'s coat, left inside, we were +shut out of our own castle, and compelled to carry on a siege against it, +without much likelihood of taking it, although the garrison was willing +to surrender. But B. P------ called in the assistance of the contadini +who cultivate the ground, and live in the farm-house close by; and one of +them got into a window by means of a ladder, so that the keys were got, +the gates opened, and we finally admitted. Before examining any other +part of the house, we climbed to the top of the tower, which, indeed, is +not very high, in proportion to its massive square. Very probably, +its original height was abbreviated, in compliance with the law that +lowered so many of the fortified towers of noblemen within the walls of +Florence. . . . The stairs were not of stone, built in with the +original mass of the tower, as in English castles, but of now decayed +wood, which shook beneath us, and grew more and more crazy as we +ascended. It will not be many years before the height of the tower +becomes unattainable. . . . Near at hand, in the vicinity of the city, +we saw the convent of Monte Olivetto, and other structures that looked +like convents, being built round an enclosed square; also numerous white +villas, many of which had towers, like that we were standing upon, square +and massive, some of them battlemented on the summit, and others +apparently modernized for domestic purposes. Among them U---- pointed +out Galileo's tower, whither she made an excursion the other day. It +looked lower than our own, but seemed to stand on a higher elevation. We +also saw the duke's villa, the Poggio, with a long avenue of cypresses +leading from it, as if a funeral were going forth. And having wasted +thus much of description on the landscape, I will finish with saying that +it lacked only water to be a very fine one. It is strange what a +difference the gleam of water makes, and how a scene awakens and comes to +life wherever it is visible. The landscape, moreover, gives the beholder +(at least, this beholder) a sense of oppressive sunshine and scanty +shade, and does not incite a longing to wander through it on foot, as a +really delightful landscape should. The vine, too, being cultivated in +so trim a manner, does not suggest that idea of luxuriant fertility, +which is the poetical notion of a vineyard. The olive-orchards have a +pale and unlovely hue. An English view would have been incomparably +richer in its never-fading green; and in my own country, the wooded hills +would have been more delightful than these peaks and ridges of dreary and +barren sunshine; and there would have been the bright eyes of half a +dozen little lakes, looking heavenward, within an extent like that of the +Val d' Arno. + +By and by mamma's carriage came along the dusty road, and passed through +the iron gateway, which we had left open for her reception. We shouted +down to her and R-----, and they waved their handkerchiefs upward to us; +and, on my way down, I met R----- and the servant coming up through the +ghostly rooms. + +The rest of the day we spent mostly in exploring the premises. The house +itself is of almost bewildering extent, insomuch that we might each of us +have a suite of rooms individually. I have established myself on the +ground-floor, where I have a dressing-room, a large vaulted saloon, hung +with yellow damask, and a square writing-study, the walls and ceilings of +the two latter apartments being ornamented with angels and cherubs aloft +in fresco, and with temples, statues, vases, broken columns, peacocks, +parrots, vines, and sunflowers below. I know not how many more saloons, +anterooms, and sleeping-chambers there are on this same basement story, +besides an equal number over them, and a great subterranean +establishment. I saw some immense jars there, which I suppose were +intended to hold oil; and iron kettles, for what purpose I cannot tell. +There is also a chapel in the house, but it is locked up, and we cannot +yet with certainty find the door of it, nor even, in this great +wilderness of a house, decide absolutely what space the holy precincts +occupy. Adjoining U----'s chamber, which is in the tower, there is a +little oratory, hung round with sacred prints of very ancient date, and +with crucifixes, holy-water vases, and other consecrated things; and +here, within a glass case, there is the representation of an undraped +little boy in wax, very prettily modelled, and holding up a heart that +looks like a bit of red sealing-wax. If I had found him anywhere else I +should have taken him for Cupid; but, being in an oratory, I presume him +to have some religious signification. In the servants' room a crucifix +hung on one side of the bed, and a little vase for holy water, now +overgrown with a cobweb, on the other; and, no doubt, all the other +sleeping-apartments would have been equally well provided, only that +their occupants were to be heretics. + +The lower floor of the house is tolerably furnished, and looks cheerful +with its frescos, although the bare pavements in every room give an +impression of discomfort. But carpets are universally taken up in Italy +during summer-time. It must have been an immense family that could have +ever filled such a house with life. We go on voyages of discovery, and +when in quest of any particular point, are likely enough to fetch up at +some other. This morning I had difficulty in finding my way again to the +top of the tower. One of the most peculiar rooms is constructed close to +the tower, under the roof of the main building, but with no external +walls on two sides! It is thus left open to the air, I presume for the +sake of coolness. A parapet runs round the exposed sides for the sake of +security. Some of the palaces in Florence have such open loggias in +their upper stories, and I saw others on our journey hither, after +arriving in Tuscany. + +The grounds immediately around the house are laid out in gravel-walks, +and ornamented with shrubbery, and with what ought to be a grassy lawn; +but the Italian sun is quite as little favorable to beauty of that kind +as our own. I have enjoyed the luxury, however, almost for the first +time since I left my hill-top at the Wayside, of flinging myself at full +length on the ground without any fear of catching cold. Moist England +would punish a man soundly for taking such liberties with her greensward. +A podere, or cultivated tract, comprising several acres, belongs to the +villa, and seems to be fertile, like all the surrounding country. The +possessions of different proprietors are not separated by fences, but +only marked out by ditches; and it seems possible to walk miles and +miles, along the intersecting paths, without obstruction. The rural +laborers, so far as I have observed, go about in their shirt-sleeves, and +look very much like tanned and sunburnt Yankees. + +Last night it was really a work of time and toil to go about making our +defensive preparations for the night; first closing the iron gate, then +the ponderous and complicated fastenings of the house door, then the +separate barricadoes of each iron-barred window on the lower floor, with +a somewhat slighter arrangement above. There are bolts and shutters, +however, for every window in the house, and I suppose it would not be +amiss to put them all in use. Our garrison is so small that we must +depend more upon the strength of our fortifications than upon our own +active efforts in case of an attack. In England, in an insulated country +house, we should need all these bolts and bars, and Italy is not thought +to be the safer country of the two. + +It deserves to be recorded that the Count Montanto, a nobleman, and +seemingly a man of property, should deem it worth while to let his +country seat, and reside during the hot months in his palace in the city, +for the consideration of a comparatively small sum a month. He seems to +contemplate returning hither for the autumn and winter, when the +situation must be very windy and bleak, and the cold death-like in these +great halls; and then, it is to be supposed, he will let his palace in +town. The Count, through the agency of his son, bargained very stiffly +for, and finally obtained, three dollars in addition to the sum which we +at first offered him. This indicates that even a little money is still a +matter of great moment in Italy. Signor del Bello, who, I believe, is +also a nobleman, haggled with us about some cracked crockery at our late +residence, and finally demanded and received fifty cents in compensation. +But this poor gentleman has been a spendthrift, and now acts as the agent +of another. + + +August 3d.--Yesterday afternoon William Story called on me, he being on a +day or two's excursion from Siena, where he is spending the summer with +his family. He was very entertaining and conversative, as usual, and +said, in reply to my question whether he were not anxious to return to +Cleopatra, that he had already sketched out another subject for +sculpture, which would employ him during next winter. He told me, what I +was glad to hear, that his sketches of Italian life, intended for the +"Atlantic Monthly," and supposed to be lost, have been recovered. +Speaking of the superstitiousness of the Italians, he said that they +universally believe in the influence of the evil eye. The evil influence +is supposed not to be dependent on the will of the possessor of the evil +eye; on the contrary, the persons to whom he wishes well are the very +ones to suffer by it. It is oftener found in monks than in any other +class of people; and on meeting a monk, and encountering his eye, an +Italian usually makes a defensive sign by putting both hands behind him, +with the forefingers and little fingers extended, although it is a +controverted point whether it be not more efficacious to extend the hand +with its outspread fingers towards the suspected person. It is +considered an evil omen to meet a monk on first going out for the day. +The evil eye may be classified with the phenomena of mesmerism. The +Italians, especially the Neapolitans, very generally wear amulets. Pio +Nono, perhaps as being the chief of all monks and other religious people, +is supposed to have an evil eye of tenfold malignancy; and its effect has +been seen in the ruin of all schemes for the public good so soon as they +are favored by him. When the pillar in the Piazza de' Spagna, +commemorative of his dogma of the Immaculate Conception, was to be +erected, the people of Rome refused to be present, or to have anything to +do with it, unless the pope promised to abstain from interference. His +Holiness did promise, but so far broke his word as to be present one day +while it was being erected, and on that day a man was killed. A little +while ago there was a Lord Clifford, an English Catholic nobleman, +residing in Italy, and, happening to come to Rome, he sent his +compliments to Pio Nono, and requested the favor of an interview. The +pope, as it happened, was indisposed, or for some reason could not see +his lordship, but very kindly sent him his blessing. Those who knew of +it shook their heads, and intimated that it would go ill with his +lordship now that he had been blessed by Pio Nono, and the very next day +poor Lord Clifford was dead! His Holiness had better construe the +scriptural injunction literally, and take to blessing his enemies. + +I walked into town with J------ this morning, and, meeting a monk in the +Via Furnace, I thought it no more than reasonable, as the good father +fixed his eyes on me, to provide against the worst by putting both hands +behind me, with the forefingers and little fingers stuck out. + +In speaking of the little oratory connected with U----'s chamber, I +forgot to mention the most remarkable object in it. It is a skull, the +size of life (or death). . . . This part of the house must be very old, +probably coeval with the tower. The ceiling of U----'s apartment is +vaulted with intersecting arches; and adjoining it is a very large +saloon, likewise with a vaulted and groined ceiling, and having a +cushioned divan running all round the walls. The windows of these rooms +look out on the Val d' Arno. + +The apartment above this saloon is of the same size, and hung with +engraved portraits, printed on large sheets by the score and hundred +together, and enclosed in wooden frames. They comprise the whole series +of Roman emperors, the succession of popes, the kings of Europe, the +doges of Venice, and the sultans of Turkey. The engravings bear +different dates between 1685 and thirty years later, and were executed at +Rome. + + +August 4th.--We ascended our tower yesterday afternoon to see the sunset. +In my first sketch of the Val d' Arno I said that the Arno seemed to hold +its course near the bases of the hills. I now observe that the line of +trees which marks its current divides the valley into two pretty equal +parts, and the river runs nearly east and west. . . . At last, when it +was growing dark, we went down, groping our way over the shaky +staircases, and peeping into each dark chamber as we passed. I gratified +J----- exceedingly by hitting my nose against the wall. Reaching the +bottom, I went into the great saloon, and stood at a window watching the +lights twinkle forth, near and far, in the valley, and listening to the +convent bells that sounded from Monte Olivetto, and more remotely still. +The stars came out, and the constellation of the Dipper hung exactly over +the Val d' Arno, pointing to the North Star above the hills on my right. + + +August 12th.--We drove into town yesterday afternoon, with Miss Blagden, +to call on Mr. Kirkup, an old Englishman who has resided a great many +years in Florence. He is noted as an antiquarian, and has the reputation +of being a necromancer, not undeservedly, as he is deeply interested in +spirit-rappings, and holds converse, through a medium, with dead poets +and emperors. He lives in an old house, formerly a residence of the +Knights Templars, hanging over the Arno, just as you come upon the Ponte +Vecchio; and, going up a dark staircase and knocking at a door on one +side of the landing-place, we were received by Mr. Kirkup. He had had +notice of our visit, and was prepared for it, being dressed in a blue +frock-coat of rather an old fashion, with a velvet collar, and in a thin +waistcoat and pantaloons fresh from the drawer; looking very sprucely, in +short, and unlike his customary guise, for Miss Blagden hinted to us that +the poor gentleman is generally so untidy that it is not quite pleasant +to take him by the hand. He is rather low of stature, with a pale, +shrivelled face, and hair and beard perfectly white, and the hair of a +particularly soft and silken texture. He has a high, thin nose, of the +English aristocratic type; his eyes have a queer, rather wild look, and +the eyebrows are arched above them, so that he seems all the time to be +seeing something that strikes him with surprise. I judged him to be a +little crack-brained, chiefly on the strength of this expression. His +whole make is delicate, his hands white and small, and his appearance and +manners those of a gentleman, with rather more embroidery of courtesy +than belongs to an Englishman. He appeared to be very nervous, +tremulous, indeed, to his fingers' ends, without being in any degree +disturbed or embarrassed by our presence. Finally, he is very deaf; an +infirmity that quite took away my pleasure in the interview, because it +is impossible to say anything worth while when one is compelled to raise +one's voice above its ordinary level. + +He ushered us through two or three large rooms, dark, dusty, hung with +antique-looking pictures, and lined with bookcases containing, I doubt +not, a very curious library. Indeed, he directed my attention to one +case, and said that he had collected those works, in former days, merely +for the sake of laughing at them. They were books of magic and occult +sciences. What he seemed really to value, however, were some manuscript +copies of Dante, of which he showed us two: one, a folio on parchment, +beautifully written in German text, the letters as clear and accurately +cut as printed type; the other a small volume, fit, as Mr. Kirkup said, +to be carried in a capacious mediaeval sleeve. This also was on vellum, +and as elegantly executed as the larger one; but the larger had beautiful +illuminations, the vermilion and gold of which looked as brilliant now as +they did five centuries ago. Both of these books were written early in +the fourteenth century. Mr. Kirkup has also a plaster cast of Dante's +face, which he believes to be the original one taken from his face after +death; and he has likewise his own accurate tracing from Giotto's fresco +of Dante in the chapel of the Bargello. This fresco was discovered +through Mr. Kirkup's means, and the tracing is particularly valuable, +because the original has been almost destroyed by rough usage in drawing +out a nail that had been driven into the eye. It represents the profile +of a youthful but melancholy face, and has the general outline of Dante's +features in other portraits. + +Dante has held frequent communications with Mr. Kirkup through a medium, +the poet being described by the medium as wearing the same dress seen in +the youthful portrait, but as hearing more resemblance to the cast taken +from his dead face than to the picture from his youthful one. + +There was a very good picture of Savonarola in one of the rooms, and many +other portraits, paintings, and drawings, some of them ancient, and +others the work of Mr. Kirkup himself. He has the torn fragment of an +exquisite drawing of a nude figure by Rubens, and a portfolio of other +curious drawings. And besides books and works of art, he has no end of +antique knick-knackeries, none of which we had any time to look at; among +others some instruments with which nuns used to torture themselves in +their convents by way of penance. But the greatest curiosity of all, and +no antiquity, was a pale, large-eyed little girl, about four years old, +who followed the conjurer's footsteps wherever he went. She was the +brightest and merriest little thing in the world, and frisked through +those shadowy old chambers, among the dead people's trumpery, as gayly as +a butterfly flits among flowers and sunshine. + +The child's mother was a beautiful girl named Regina, whose portrait Mr. +Kirkup showed us on the wall. I never saw a more beautiful and striking +face claiming to be a real one. She was a Florentine, of low birth, and +she lived with the old necromancer as his spiritual medium. He showed us +a journal, kept during her lifetime, and read from it his notes of an +interview with the Czar Alexander, when that potentate communicated to +Mr. Kirkup that he had been poisoned. The necromancer set a great value +upon Regina, . . . . and when she died he received her poor baby into his +heart, and now considers it absolutely his own. At any rate, it is a +happy belief for him, since he has nothing else in the world to love, and +loves the child entirely, and enjoys all the bliss of fatherhood, though +he must have lived as much as seventy years before he began to taste it. + +The child inherits her mother's gift of communication with the spiritual +world, so that the conjurer can still talk with Regina through the baby +which she left, and not only with her, but with Dante, and any other +great spirit that may choose to visit him. It is a very strange story, +and this child might be put at once into a romance, with all her history +and environment; the ancient Knight Templar palace, with the Arno flowing +under the iron-barred windows, and the Ponte Vecchio, covered with its +jewellers' shops, close at hand; the dark, lofty chambers with faded +frescos on the ceilings, black pictures hanging on the walls, old books +on the shelves, and hundreds of musty antiquities, emitting an odor of +past centuries; the shrivelled, white-bearded old man, thinking all the +time of ghosts, and looking into the child's eyes to seek them; and the +child herself, springing so freshly out of the soil, so pretty, so +intelligent, so playful, with never a playmate save the conjurer and a +kitten. It is a Persian kitten, and lay asleep in a window; but when I +touched it, it started up at once in as gamesome a mood as the child +herself. + +The child looks pale, and no wonder, seldom or never stirring out of that +old palace, or away from the river atmosphere. Miss Blagden advised Mr. +Kirkup to go with her to the seaside or into the country, and he did not +deny that it might do her good, but seemed to be hampered by an old man's +sluggishness and dislike of change. I think he will not live a great +while, for he seems very frail. When he dies the little girl will +inherit what property he may leave. A lady, Catharine Fleeting, an +Englishwoman, and a friend of Mr. Kirkup, has engaged to take her in +charge. She followed us merrily to the door, and so did the Persian +kitten, and Mr. Kirkup shook hands with us, over and over again, with +vivacious courtesy, his manner having been characterized by a great deal +of briskness throughout the interview. He expressed himself delighted to +have met one (whose books he had read), and said that the day would be a +memorable one to him,--which I did not in the least believe. + +Mr. Kirkup is an intimate friend of Trelawny, author of "Adventures of a +Younger Son," and, long ago, the latter promised him that, if he ever +came into possession of the family estate, he would divide it with him. +Trelawny did really succeed to the estate, and lost no time in forwarding +to his friend the legal documents, entitling him to half of the property. +But Mr. Kirkup declined the gift, as he himself was not destitute, and +Trelawny had a brother. There were two pictures of Trelawny in the +saloons, one a slight sketch on the wall, the other a half-length +portrait in a Turkish dress; both handsome, but indicating no very +amiable character. It is not easy to forgive Trelawny for uncovering +dead Byron's limbs, and telling that terrible story about them,--equally +disgraceful to himself, be it truth or a lie. + +It seems that Regina had a lover, and a sister who was very disreputable +It rather adds than otherwise to the romance of the affair,--the idea +that this pretty little elf has no right whatever to the asylum which she +has found. Her name is Imogen. + +The small manuscript copy of Dante which he showed me was written by a +Florentine gentleman of the fourteenth century, one of whose ancestors +the poet had met and talked with in Paradise. + + +August 19th.--Here is a good Italian incident, which I find in Valery. +Andrea del Castagno was a painter in Florence in the fifteenth century; +and he had a friend, likewise a painter, Domenico of Venice. The latter +had the secret of painting in oils, and yielded to Castagno's entreaties +to impart it to him. Desirous of being the sole possessor of this great +secret, Castagno waited only the night to assassinate Domenico, who so +little suspected his treachery, that he besought those who found him +bleeding and dying to take him to his friend Castagno, that he might die +in his arms. The murderer lived to be seventy-four years old, and his +crime was never suspected till he himself revealed it on his death-bed. +Domenico did actually die in Castagno's arms. The death scene would have +been a good one for the latter to paint in oils. + + +September 1st.--Few things journalizable have happened during the last +month, because Florence and the neighborhood have lost their novelty; and +furthermore, I usually spend the whole day at home, having been engaged +in planning and sketching out a romance. I have now done with this for +the present, and mean to employ the rest of the time we stay here chiefly +in revisiting the galleries, and seeing what remains to be seen in +Florence. + +Last Saturday, August 28th, we went to take tea at Miss Blagden's, who +has a weekly reception on that evening. We found Mr. Powers there, and +by and by Mr. Boott and Mr. Trollope came in. Miss ------ has lately +been exercising her faculties as a spiritual writing-medium; and, the +conversation turning on that subject, Mr. Powers related some things that +he had witnessed through the agency of Mr. Home, who had held a session +or two at his house. He described the apparition of two mysterious hands +from beneath a table round which the party were seated. These hands +purported to belong to the aunt of the Countess Cotterel, who was +present, and were a pair of thin, delicate, aged, lady-like hands and +arms, appearing at the edge of the table, and terminating at the elbow in +a sort of white mist. One of the hands took up a fan and began to use +it. The countess then said, "Fan yourself as you used to do, dear aunt"; +and forthwith the hands waved the fan back and forth in a peculiar +manner, which the countess recognized as the manner of her dead aunt. +The spirit was then requested to fan each member of the party; and +accordingly, each separate individual round the table was fanned in turn, +and felt the breeze sensibly upon his face. Finally, the hands sank +beneath the table, I believe Mr. Powers said; but I am not quite sure +that they did not melt into the air. During this apparition, Mr. Home +sat at the table, but not in such a position or within such distance that +he could have put out or managed the spectral hands; and of this Mr. +Powers satisfied himself by taking precisely the same position after the +party had retired. Mr. Powers did not feel the hands at this time, but +he afterwards felt the touch of infant hands, which were at the time +invisible. He told of many of the wonders, which seem to have as much +right to be set down as facts as anything else that depends on human +testimony. For example, Mr. K------, one of the party, gave a sudden +start and exclamation. He had felt on his knee a certain token, which +could have been given him only by a friend, long ago in his grave. Mr. +Powers inquired what was the last thing that had been given as a present +to a deceased child; and suddenly both he and his wife felt a prick as of +some sharp instrument, on their knees. The present had been a penknife. +I have forgotten other incidents quite as striking as these; but, with +the exception of the spirit-hands, they seemed to be akin to those that +have been produced by mesmerism, returning the inquirer's thoughts and +veiled recollections to himself, as answers to his queries. The hands +are certainly an inexplicable phenomenon. Of course, they are not +portions of a dead body, nor any other kind of substance; they are +impressions on the two senses, sight and touch, but how produced I cannot +tell. Even admitting their appearance,--and certainly I do admit it as +freely and fully as if I had seen them myself,--there is no need of +supposing them to come from the world of departed spirits. + +Powers seems to put entire faith in the verity of spiritual +communications, while acknowledging the difficulty of identifying spirits +as being what they pretend to be. He is a Swedenborgian, and so far +prepared to put faith in many of these phenomena. As for Home, Powers +gives a decided opinion that he is a knave, but thinks him so organized, +nevertheless, as to be a particularly good medium for spiritual +communications. Spirits, I suppose, like earthly people, are obliged to +use such instruments as will answer their purposes; but rather than +receive a message from a dead friend through the organism of a rogue or +charlatan, methinks I would choose to wait till we meet. But what most +astonishes me is the indifference with which I listen to these marvels. +They throw old ghost stories quite into the shade; they bring the whole +world of spirits down amongst us, visibly and audibly; they are +absolutely proved to be sober facts by evidence that would satisfy us of +any other alleged realities; and yet I cannot force my mind to interest +myself in them. They are facts to my understanding, which, it might have +been anticipated, would have been the last to acknowledge them; but they +seem not to be facts to my intuitions and deeper perceptions. My inner +soul does not in the least admit them; there is a mistake somewhere. So +idle and empty do I feel these stories to be, that I hesitated long +whether or no to give up a few pages of this not very important journal +to the record of them. + +We have had written communications through Miss ------ with several +spirits; my wife's father, mother, two brothers, and a sister, who died +long ago, in infancy; a certain Mary Hall, who announces herself as the +guardian spirit of Miss ------; and, queerest of all, a Mary Runnel, who +seems to be a wandering spirit, having relations with nobody, but thrusts +her finger into everybody's affairs. My wife's mother is the principal +communicant; she expresses strong affection, and rejoices at the +opportunity of conversing with her daughter. She often says very pretty +things; for instance, in a dissertation upon heavenly music; but there is +a lack of substance in her talk, a want of gripe, a delusive show, a +sentimental surface, with no bottom beneath it. The same sort of thing +has struck me in all the poetry and prose that I have read from spiritual +sources. I should judge that these effusions emanated from earthly +minds, but had undergone some process that had deprived them of solidity +and warmth. In the communications between my wife and her mother, I +cannot help thinking that (Miss ------ being unconsciously in a mesmeric +state) all the responses are conveyed to her fingers from my wife's +mind. . . . + +We have tried the spirits by various test questions, on every one of +which they have failed egregiously. Here, however, the aforesaid Mary +Runnel comes into play. The other spirits have told us that the veracity +of this spirit is not to be depended upon; and so, whenever it is +possible, poor Mary Runnel is thrust forward to bear the odium of every +mistake or falsehood. They have avowed themselves responsible for all +statements signed by themselves, and have thereby brought themselves into +more than one inextricable dilemma; but it is very funny, where a +response or a matter of fact has not been thus certified, how invariably +Mary Runnel is made to assume the discredit of it, on its turning out to +be false. It is the most ingenious arrangement that could possibly have +been contrived; and somehow or other, the pranks of this lying spirit +give a reality to the conversations which the more respectable ghosts +quite fail in imparting. + +The whole matter seems to me a sort of dreaming awake. It resembles a +dream, in that the whole material is, from the first, in the dreamer's +mind, though concealed at various depths below the surface; the dead +appear alive, as they always do in dreams; unexpected combinations occur, +as continually in dreams; the mind speaks through the various persons of +the drama, and sometimes astonishes itself with its own wit, wisdom, and +eloquence, as often in dreams; but, in both cases, the intellectual +manifestations are really of a very flimsy texture. Mary Runnel is the +only personage who does not come evidently from dream-land; and she, I +think, represents that lurking scepticism, that sense of unreality, of +which we are often conscious, amid the most vivid phantasmagoria of a +dream. I should be glad to believe in the genuineness of these spirits, +if I could; but the above is the conclusion to which my soberest thoughts +tend. There remains, of course, a great deal for which I cannot account, +and I cannot sufficiently wonder at the pigheadedness both of +metaphysicians and physiologists, in not accepting the phenomena, so far +as to make them the subject of investigation. + +In writing the communications, Miss ------ holds the pencil rather +loosely between her fingers; it moves rapidly, and with equal facility +whether she fixes her eyes on the paper or not. The handwriting has far +more freedom than her own. At the conclusion of a sentence, the pencil +lays itself down. She sometimes has a perception of each word before it +is written; at other times, she is quite unconscious what is to come +next. Her integrity is absolutely indubitable, and she herself totally +disbelieves in the spiritual authenticity of what is communicated through +her medium. + + +September 3d.--We walked into Florence yesterday, betimes after +breakfast, it being comfortably cool, and a gray, English sky; though, +indeed, the clouds had a tendency to mass themselves more than they do on +an overcast English day. We found it warmer in Florence, but, not +inconveniently so, even in the sunniest streets and squares. + +We went to the Uffizi gallery, the whole of which with its contents is +now familiar to us, except the room containing drawings; and our to-day's +visit was especially to them. The door giving admittance to them is the +very last in the gallery; and the rooms, three in number, are, I should +judge, over the Loggia de' Lanzi, looking on the Grand Ducal Piazza. The +drawings hang on the walls, framed and glazed; and number, perhaps, from +one to two hundred in each room; but this is only a small portion of the +collection, which amounts, it is said, to twenty thousand, and is +reposited in portfolios. The sketches on the walls are changed, from +time to time, so as to exhibit all the most interesting ones in turn. +Their whole charm is artistic, imaginative, and intellectual, and in no +degree of the upholstery kind; their outward presentment being, in +general, a design hastily shadowed out, by means of colored crayons, on +tinted paper, or perhaps scratched rudely in pen and ink; or drawn in +pencil or charcoal, and half rubbed out; very rough things, indeed, in +many instances, and the more interesting on that account, because it +seems as if the artist had bestirred himself to catch the first glimpse +of an image that did but reveal itself and vanish. The sheets, or +sometimes scraps of paper, on which they are drawn, are discolored with +age, creased, soiled; but yet you are magnetized by the hand of Raphael, +Michael Angelo, Leonardo, or whoever may have jotted down those +rough-looking master-touches. They certainly possess a charm that is +lost in the finished picture; and I was more sensible of forecasting +thought, skill, and prophetic design, in these sketches than in the most +consummate works that have been elaborated from them. There is something +more divine in these; for I suppose the first idea of a picture is real +inspiration, and all the subsequent elaboration of the master serves but +to cover up the celestial germ with something that belongs to himself. +At any rate, the first sketch is the more suggestive, and sets the +spectator's imagination at work; whereas the picture, if a good one, +leaves him nothing to do; if bad, it confuses, stupefies, disenchants, +and disheartens him. First thoughts have an aroma and fragrance in them, +that they do not lose in three hundred years; for so old, and a good deal +more, are some of these sketches. + +None interested me more than some drawings, on separate pieces of paper, +by Perugino, for his picture of the mother and friends of Jesus round his +dead body, now at the Pitti Palace. The attendant figures are distinctly +made out, as if the Virgin, and John, and Mary Magdalen had each favored +the painter with a sitting; but the body of Jesus lies in the midst, +dimly hinted with a few pencil-marks. + +There were several designs by Michael Angelo, none of which made much +impression on me; the most striking was a very ugly demon, afterwards +painted in the Sistine Chapel. Raphael shows several sketches of +Madonnas,--one of which has flowered into the Grand Duke's especial +Madonna at the Pitti Palace, but with a different face. His sketches +were mostly very rough in execution; but there were two or three designs +for frescos, I think, in the Vatican, very carefully executed; perhaps +because these works were mainly to be done by other hands than his own. +It seems to one that the Pre-Raphaelite artists made more careful +drawings than the later ones; and it rather surprised me to see how much +science they possessed. + +We looked at few other things in the gallery; and, indeed, it was not one +of the days when works of art find me impressible. We stopped a little +while in the Tribune, but the Venus de' Medici seemed to me to-day little +more than any other piece of yellowish white marble. How strange that a +goddess should stand before us absolutely unrecognized, even when we know +by previous revelations that she is nothing short of divine! It is also +strange that, unless when one feels the ideal charm of a statue, it +becomes one of the most tedious and irksome things in the world. Either +it must be a celestial thing or an old lump of stone, dusty and +time-soiled, and tiring out your patience with eternally looking just the +same. Once in a while you penetrate through the crust of the old +sameness, and see the statue forever new and immortally young. + +Leaving the gallery we walked towards the Duomo, and on our way stopped +to look at the beautiful Gothic niches hollowed into the exterior walls +of the Church of San Michele. They are now in the process of being +cleaned, and each niche is elaborately inlaid with precious marbles, and +some of them magnificently gilded; and they are all surmounted with +marble canopies as light and graceful as frost-work. Within stand +statues, St. George, and many other saints, by Donatello and others, and +all taking a hold upon one's sympathies, even if they be not beautiful. +Classic statues escape you with their slippery beauty, as if they were +made of ice. Rough and ugly things can be clutched. This is nonsense, +and yet it means something. . . . The streets were thronged and +vociferative with more life and outcry than usual. It must have been +market-day in Florence, for the commerce of the streets was in great +vigor, narrow tables being set out in them, and in the squares, burdened +with all kinds of small merchandise, such as cheap jewelry, glistening as +brightly as what we had just seen in the gem-room of the Uffizi; crockery +ware; toys, books, Italian and French; silks; slippers; old iron; all +advertised by the dealers with terribly loud and high voices, that +reverberated harshly from side to side of the narrow streets. Italian +street-cries go through the head; not that they are so very sharp, but +exceedingly hard, like a blunt iron bar. + +We stood at the base of the Campanile, and looked at the bas-reliefs +which wreathe it round; and, above them, a row of statues; and from +bottom to top a marvellous minuteness of inlaid marbles, filling up the +vast and beautiful design of this heaven-aspiring tower. Looking upward +to its lofty summit,--where angels might alight, lapsing downward from +heaven, and gaze curiously at the bustle of men below,--I could not but +feel that there is a moral charm in this faithful minuteness of Gothic +architecture, filling up its outline with a million of beauties that +perhaps may never be studied out by a single spectator. It is the very +process of nature, and no doubt produces an effect that we know not of. +Classic architecture is nothing but an outline, and affords no little +points, no interstices where human feelings may cling and overgrow it +like ivy. The charm, as I said, seems to be moral rather than +intellectual; for in the gem-room of the Uffizi you may see fifty +designs, elaborated on a small scale, that have just as much merit as the +design of the Campanile. If it were only five inches long, it might be a +case for some article of toilet; being two hundred feet high, its +prettiness develops into grandeur as well as beauty, and it becomes +really one of the wonders of the world. The design of the Pantheon, on +the contrary, would retain its sublimity on whatever scale it might be +represented. + +Returning homewards, we crossed the Ponte Vecchio, and went to the Museum +of Natural History, where we gained admittance into the rooms dedicated +to Galileo. They consist of a vestibule, a saloon, and a semicircular +tribune, covered with a frescoed dome, beneath which stands a colossal +statue of Galileo, long-bearded, and clad in a student's gown, or some +voluminous garb of that kind. Around the tribune, beside and behind the +statue, are six niches,--in one of which is preserved a forefinger of +Galileo, fixed on a little gilt pedestal, and pointing upward, under a +glass cover. It is very much shrivelled and mummy-like, of the color of +parchment, and is little more than a finger-bone, with the dry skin or +flesh flaking away from it; on the whole, not a very delightful relic; +but Galileo used to point heavenward with this finger, and I hope has +gone whither he pointed. + +Another niche contains two telescopes, wherewith he made some of his +discoveries; they are perhaps a yard long, and of very small calibre. +Other astronomical instruments are displayed in the glass cases that line +the rooms; but I did not understand their use any better than the monks, +who wished to burn Galileo for his heterodoxy about the planetary +system. . . . + +After dinner I climbed the tower. . . . Florence lay in the sunshine, +level, compact, and small of compass. Above the tiled roofs rose the +tower of the Palazzo Vecchio, the loftiest and the most picturesque, +though built, I suppose, with no idea of making it so. But it attains, +in a singular degree, the end of causing the imagination to fly upward +and alight on its airy battlements. Near it I beheld the square mass of +Or San Michele, and farther to the left the bulky Duomo and the Campanile +close beside it, like a slender bride or daughter; the dome of San +Lorenzo too. The Arno is nowhere visible. Beyond, and on all sides of +the city, the hills pile themselves lazily upward in ridges, here and +there developing into a peak; towards their bases white villas were +strewn numerously, but the upper region was lonely and bare. + +As we passed under the arch of the Porta Romana this morning, on our way +into the city, we saw a queer object. It was what we at first took for a +living man, in a garb of light reddish or yellowish red color, of antique +or priestly fashion, and with a cowl falling behind. His face was of the +same hue, and seemed to have been powdered, as the faces of maskers +sometimes are. He sat in a cart, which he seemed to be driving into the +Deity with a load of earthen jars and pipkins, the color of which was +precisely like his own. On closer inspection, this priestly figure +proved to be likewise an image of earthenware, but his lifelikeness had a +very strange and rather ghastly effect. Adam, perhaps, was made of just +such red earth, and had the complexion of this figure. + + +September 7th.--I walked into town yesterday morning, by way of the Porta +San Frediano. The gate of a city might be a good locality for a chapter +in a novel, or for a little sketch by itself, whether by painter or +writer. The great arch of the gateway, piercing through the depth and +height of the massive masonry beneath the battlemented summit; the shadow +brooding below, in the immense thickness of the wall and beyond it, the +vista of the street, sunny and swarming with life; outside of the gate, a +throng of carts, laden with fruits, vegetables, small flat barrels of +wine, waiting to be examined by the custom-house officers; carriages too, +and foot-passengers entering, and others swarming outward. Under the +shadowy arch are the offices of the police and customs, and probably the +guard-room of the soldiers, all hollowed out in the mass of the gateway. +Civil officers loll on chairs in the shade, perhaps with an awning over +their heads. Where the sun falls aslantwise under the arch a sentinel, +with musket and bayonet, paces to and fro in the entrance, and other +soldiers lounge close by. The life of the city seems to be compressed +and made more intense by this barrier; and on passing within it you do +not breathe quite so freely, yet are sensible of an enjoyment in the +close elbowing throng, the clamor of high voices from side to side of the +street, and the million of petty sights, actions, traffics, and +personalities, all so squeezed together as to become a great whole. + +The street by which I entered led me to the Carraja Bridge; crossing +which, I kept straight onward till I came to the Church of Santa Maria +Novella. Doubtless, it looks just the same as when Boccaccio's party +stood in a cluster on its broad steps arranging their excursion to the +villa. Thence I went to the Church of St. Lorenzo, which I entered by +the side door, and found the organ sounding and a religious ceremony +going forward. It is a church of sombre aspect, with its gray walls and +pillars, but was decked out for some festivity with hangings of scarlet +damask and gold. I sat awhile to rest myself, and then pursued my way to +the Duomo. I entered, and looked at Sir John Hawkwood's painted effigy, +and at several busts and statues, and at the windows of the chapel +surrounding the dome, through which the sunshine glowed, white in the +outer air, but a hundred-hued splendor within. I tried to bring up the +scene of Lorenzo de' Medici's attempted assassination, but with no great +success; and after listening a little while to the chanting of the +priests and acolytes, I went to the Bank. It is in a palace of which +Raphael was the architect, in the Piazza Gran Duca. + +I next went, as a matter of course, to the Uffizi gallery, and, in the +first place, to the Tribune, where the Venus de' Medici deigned to reveal +herself rather more satisfactorily than at my last visit. . . . I +looked into all the rooms, bronzes, drawings, and gem-room; a volume +might easily be written upon either subject. The contents of the +gem-room especially require to be looked at separately in order to +convince one's self of their minute magnificences; for, among so many, +the eye slips from one to another with only a vague outward sense that +here are whole shelves full of little miracles, both of nature's material +and man's workmanship. Greater [larger] things can be reasonably well +appreciated with a less scrupulous though broader attention; but in order +to estimate the brilliancy of the diamond eyes of a little agate bust, +for instance, you have to screw your mind down to them and nothing else. +You must sharpen your faculties of observation to a point, and touch the +object exactly on the right spot, or you do not appreciate it at all. It +is a troublesome process when there are a thousand such objects to be +seen. + +I stood at an open window in the transverse corridor, and looked down +upon the Arno, and across at the range of edifices that impend over it on +the opposite side. The river, I should judge, may be a hundred or a +hundred and fifty yards wide in its course between the Ponte alle Grazie +and the Ponte Vecchio; that is, the width between strand and strand is at +least so much. The river, however, leaves a broad margin of mud and +gravel on its right bank, on which water-weeds grow pretty abundantly, +and creep even into the stream. On my first arrival in Florence I +thought the goose-pond green of the water rather agreeable than +otherwise; but its hue is now that of unadulterated mud, as yellow as the +Tiber itself, yet not impressing me as being enriched with city sewerage +like that other famous river. From the Ponte alle Grazie downward, +half-way towards the Ponte Vecchio, there is an island of gravel, and the +channel on each side is so shallow as to allow the passage of men and +horses wading not overleg. I have seen fishermen wading the main channel +from side to side, their feet sinking into the dark mud, and thus +discoloring the yellow water with a black track visible, step by step, +through its shallowness. But still the Arno is a mountain stream, and +liable to be tetchy and turbulent like all its kindred, and no doubt it +often finds its borders of hewn stone not too far apart for its +convenience. + +Along the right shore, beneath the Uffizi and the adjacent buildings, +there is a broad paved way, with a parapet; on the opposite shore the +edifices are built directly upon the river's edge, and impend over the +water, supported upon arches and machicolations, as I think that peculiar +arrangement of buttressing arcades is called. The houses are +picturesquely various in height, from two or three stories to seven; +picturesque in hue likewise,--pea-green, yellow, white, and of aged +discoloration,--but all with green blinds; picturesque also in the courts +and galleries that look upon the river, and in the wide arches that open +beneath, intended perhaps to afford a haven for the household boat. Nets +were suspended before one or two of the houses, as if the inhabitants +were in the habit of fishing out of window. As a general effect, the +houses, though often palatial in size and height, have a shabby, +neglected aspect, and are jumbled too closely together. Behind their +range the city swells upward in a hillside, which rises to a great height +above, forming, I believe, a part of the Boboli Gardens. + +I returned homewards over the Ponte Vecchio, which is a continuous street +of ancient houses, except over the central arch, so that a stranger might +easily cross the river without knowing it. In these small, old houses +there is a community of goldsmiths, who set out their glass cases, and +hang their windows with rings, bracelets, necklaces, strings of pearl, +ornaments of malachite and coral, and especially with Florentine mosaics; +watches, too, and snuff-boxes of old fashion or new; offerings for +shrines also, such as silver hearts pierced with swords; an infinity of +pretty things, the manufacture of which is continually going on in the +little back-room of each little shop. This gewgaw business has been +established on the Ponte Vecchio for centuries, although, long since, it +was an art of far higher pretensions than now. Benvenuto Cellini had his +workshop here, probably in one of these selfsame little nooks. It would +have been a ticklish affair to be Benvenuto's fellow-workman within such +narrow limits. + +Going out of the Porta Romana, I walked for some distance along the city +wall, and then, turning to the left, toiled up the hill of Bellosguardo, +through narrow zigzag lanes between high walls of stone or plastered +brick, where the sun had the fairest chance to frizzle me. There were +scattered villas and houses, here and there concentrating into a little +bit of a street, paved with flag-stones from side to side, as in the +city, and shadowed quite across its narrowness by the height of the +houses. Mostly, however, the way was inhospitably sunny, and shut out by +the high wall from every glimpse of a view, except in one spot, where +Florence spread itself before my eyes, with every tower, dome, and spire +which it contains. A little way farther on my own gray tower rose before +me, the most welcome object that I had seen in the course of the day. + + +September 10th.--I went into town again yesterday, by way of the Porta +San Frediano, and observed that this gate (like the other gates of +Florence, as far as I have observed) is a tall, square structure of stone +or brick, or both, rising high above the adjacent wall, and having a +range of open loggie in the upper story. The arch externally is about +half the height of the structure. Inside, towards the town, it rises +nearly to the roof. On each side of the arch there is much room for +offices, apartments, storehouses, or whatever else. On the outside of +the gate, along the base, are those iron rings and sockets for torches, +which are said to be the distinguishing symbol of illustrious houses. As +contrasted with the vista of the narrow, swarming street through the arch +from without, the view from the inside might be presented with a glimpse +of the free blue sky. + +I strolled a little about Florence, and went into two or three churches; +into that of the Annunziata for one. I have already described this +church, with its general magnificence, and it was more magnificent than +ever to-day, being hung with scarlet silk and gold-embroidery. A great +many people were at their devotions, thronging principally around the +Virgin's shrine. I was struck now with the many bas-reliefs and busts in +the costume of their respective ages, and seemingly with great accuracy +of portraiture, in the passage leading from the front of the church +into the cloisters. The marble was not at all abashed nor degraded by +being made to assume the guise of the mediaeval furred robe, or the +close-fitting tunic with elaborate ruff, or the breastplate and gorget, +or the flowing wig, or whatever the actual costume might be; and one is +sensible of a rectitude and reality in the affair, and respects the dead +people for not putting themselves into an eternal masquerade. The dress +of the present day will look equally respectable in one or two hundred +years. + +The Fair is still going on, and one of its principal centres is before +this church, in the Piazza of the Annunziata. Cloth is the chief +commodity offered for sale, and none of the finest; coarse, unbleached +linen and cotton prints for country-people's wear, together with yarn, +stockings, and here and there an assortment of bright-colored ribbons. +Playthings, of a very rude fashion, were also displayed; likewise books +in Italian and French; and a great deal of iron-work. Both here and in +Rome they have this odd custom of offering rusty iron implements for +sale, spread out on the pavements. There was a good deal of tinware, +too, glittering in the sunshine, especially around the pedestal of the +bronze statue of Duke Ferdinand, who curbs his horse and looks down upon +the bustling piazza in a very stately way. . . . The people attending +the fair had mostly a rustic appearance; sunburnt faces, thin frames; no +beauty, no bloom, no joyousness of young or old; an anxious aspect, as if +life were no easy or holiday matter with them; but I should take them to +be of a kindly nature, and reasonably honest. Except the broad-brimmed +Tuscan hats of the women, there was no peculiarity of costume. At a +careless glance I could very well have mistaken most of the men for +Yankees; as for the women, there is very little resemblance between them +and ours,--the old being absolutely hideous, and the young ones very +seldom pretty. It was a very dull crowd. They do not generate any +warmth among themselves by contiguity; they have no pervading sentiment, +such as is continually breaking out in rough merriment from an American +crowd; they have nothing to do with one another; they are not a crowd, +considered as one mass, but a collection of individuals. A despotic +government has perhaps destroyed their principle of cohesion, and +crumbled them to atoms. Italian crowds are noted for their civility; +possibly they deserve credit for native courtesy and gentleness; +possibly, on the other hand, the crowd has not spirit and +self-consciousness enough to be rampant. I wonder whether they will ever +hold another parliament in the Piazza of Santa Croce! + +I paid a visit to the gallery of the Pitti Palace. There is too large an +intermixture of Andrea del Sarto's pictures in this gallery; everywhere +you see them, cold, proper, and uncriticisable, looking so much like +first-rate excellence, that you inevitably quarrel with your own taste +for not admiring them. . . . + +It was one of the days when my mind misgives me whether the pictorial art +be not a humbug, and when the minute accuracy of a fly in a Dutch picture +of fruit and flowers seems to me something more reliable than the +master-touches of Raphael. The gallery was considerably thronged, and +many of the visitors appeared to be from the country, and of a class +intermediate between gentility and labor. Is there such a rural class in +Italy? I saw a respectable-looking man feeling awkward and uncomfortable +in a new and glossy pair of pantaloons not yet bent and creased to his +natural movement. + +Nothing pleased me better to-day than some amber cups, in one of the +cabinets of curiosities. They are richly wrought, and the material is as +if the artist had compressed a great deal of sunshine together, and when +sufficiently solidified had moulded these cups out of it and let them +harden. This simile was suggested by ------. + +Leaving the palace, I entered the Boboli Gardens, and wandered up and +down a good deal of its uneven surface, through broad, well-kept edges of +box, sprouting loftily, trimmed smoothly, and strewn between with cleanly +gravel; skirting along plantations of aged trees, throwing a deep shadow +within their precincts; passing many statues, not of the finest art, yet +approaching so near it, as to serve just as good a purpose for garden +ornament; coming now and then to the borders of a fishpool, or a pond, +where stately swans circumnavigated an island of flowers;--all very fine +and very wearisome. I have never enjoyed this garden; perhaps because it +suggests dress-coats, and such elegant formalities. + + +September 11th.--We have heard a good deal of spirit matters of late, +especially of wonderful incidents that attended Mr. Home's visit to +Florence, two or three years ago. Mrs. Powers told a very marvellous +thing; how that when Mr. Home was holding a seance in her house, and +several persons present, a great scratching was heard in a neighboring +closet. She addressed the spirit, and requested it not to disturb the +company then, as they were busy with other affairs, promising to converse +with it on a future occasion. On a subsequent night, accordingly, the +scratching was renewed, with the utmost violence; and in reply to Mrs. +Powers's questions, the spirit assured her that it was not one, but +legion, being the ghosts of twenty-seven monks, who were miserable and +without hope! The house now occupied by Powers was formerly a convent, +and I suppose these were the spirits of all the wicked monks that had +ever inhabited it; at least, I hope that there were not such a number of +damnable sinners extant at any one time. These ghostly fathers must have +been very improper persons in their lifetime, judging by the +indecorousness of their behavior even after death, and in such dreadful +circumstances; for they pulled Mrs. Powers's skirts so hard as to break +the gathers. . . . It was not ascertained that they desired to have +anything done for their eternal welfare, or that their situation was +capable of amendment anyhow; but, being exhorted to refrain from further +disturbance, they took their departure, after making the sign of the +cross on the breast of each person present. This was very singular in +such reprobates, who, by their own confession, had forfeited all claim to +be benefited by that holy symbol: it curiously suggests that the forms of +religion may still be kept up in purgatory and hell itself. The sign was +made in a way that conveyed the sense of something devilish and spiteful; +the perpendicular line of the cross being drawn gently enough, but the +transverse one sharply and violently, so as to leave a painful +impression. Perhaps the monks meant this to express their contempt and +hatred for heretics; and how queer, that this antipathy should survive +their own damnation! But I cannot help hoping that the case of these +poor devils may not be so desperate as they think. They cannot be wholly +lost, because their desire for communication with mortals shows that they +need sympathy, therefore are not altogether hardened, therefore, with +loving treatment, may be restored. + +A great many other wonders took place within the knowledge and experience +of Mrs. P------. She saw, not one pair of hands only, but many. The +head of one of her dead children, a little boy, was laid in her lap, not +in ghastly fashion, as a head out of the coffin and the grave, but just +as the living child might have laid it on his mother's knees. It was +invisible, by the by, and she recognized it by the features and the +character of the hair, through the sense of touch. Little hands grasped +hers. In short, these soberly attested incredibilities are so numerous +that I forget nine tenths of them, and judge the others too cheap to be +written down. Christ spoke the truth surely, in saying that men would +not believe, "though one rose from the dead." In my own case, the fact +makes absolutely no impression. I regret such confirmation of truth as +this. + +Within a mile of our villa stands the Villa Columbaria, a large house, +built round a square court. Like Mr. Powers's residence, it was formerly +a convent. It is inhabited by Major Gregorie, an old soldier of Waterloo +and various other fights, and his family consists of Mrs. ------, the +widow of one of the Major's friends, and her two daughters. We have +become acquainted with the family, and Mrs. ------, the married daughter, +has lent us a written statement of her experiences with a ghost, who has +haunted the Villa Columbaria for many years back. + +He had made Mrs. ------ aware of his presence in her room by a sensation +of extreme cold, as if a wintry breeze were blowing over her; also by a +rustling of the bed-curtains; and, at such times, she had a certain +consciousness, as she says, that she was not ALONE. Through Mr. +Home's agency, the ghost was enabled to explain himself, and declared +that he was a monk, named Giannane, who died a very long time ago in +Mrs. ------'s present bedchamber. He was a murderer, and had been in a +restless and miserable state ever since his death, wandering up and down +the house, but especially haunting his own death-chamber and a staircase +that communicated with the chapel of the villa. All the interviews with +this lost spirit were attended with a sensation of severe cold, which was +felt by every one present. He made his communications by means of +table-rapping, and by the movements of chairs and other articles, which +often assumed an angry character. The poor old fellow does not seem to +have known exactly what he wanted with Mrs. ------, but promised to +refrain from disturbing her any more, on condition that she would pray +that he might find some repose. He had previously declined having any +masses said for his soul. Rest, rest, rest, appears to be the continual +craving of unhappy spirits; they do not venture to ask for positive +bliss: perhaps, in their utter weariness, would rather forego the trouble +of active enjoyment, but pray only for rest. The cold atmosphere around +this monk suggests new ideas as to the climate of Hades. If all the +afore-mentioned twenty-seven monks had a similar one, the combined +temperature must have been that of a polar winter. + +Mrs. ------ saw, at one time, the fingers of her monk, long, yellow, and +skinny; these fingers grasped the hands of individuals of the party, with +a cold, clammy, and horrible touch. + +After the departure of this ghost other seances were held in her +bedchamber, at which good and holy spirits manifested themselves, and +behaved in a very comfortable and encouraging way. It was their +benevolent purpose, apparently, to purify her apartments from all traces +of the evil spirit, and to reconcile her to what had been so long the +haunt of this miserable monk, by filling it with happy and sacred +associations, in which, as Mrs. ------ intimates, they entirely +succeeded. + +These stories remind me of an incident that took place at the old manse, +in the first summer of our marriage. . . . + + +September 17th.--We walked yesterday to Florence, and visited the church +of St. Lorenzo, where we saw, for the second time, the famous Medici +statues of Michael Angelo. I found myself not in a very appreciative +state, and, being a stone myself, the statue of Lorenzo was at first +little more to me than another stone; but it was beginning to assume +life, and would have impressed me as it did before if I had gazed long +enough. There was a better light upon the face, under the helmet, than +at my former visit, although still the features were enough overshadowed +to produce that mystery on which, according to Mr. Powers, the effect of +the statue depends. I observe that the costume of the figure, instead of +being mediaeval, as I believe I have stated, is Roman; but, be it what it +may, the grand and simple character of the figure imbues the robes with +its individual propriety. I still think it the greatest miracle ever +wrought in marble. + +We crossed the church and entered a cloister on the opposite side, in +quest of the Laurentian Library. Ascending a staircase we found an old +man blowing the bellows of the organ, which was in full blast in the +church; nevertheless he found time to direct us to the library door. We +entered a lofty vestibule, of ancient aspect and stately architecture, +and thence were admitted into the library itself; a long and wide gallery +or hall, lighted by a row of windows on which were painted the arms of +the Medici. The ceiling was inlaid with dark wood, in an elaborate +pattern, which was exactly repeated in terra-cotta on the pavement +beneath our feet. Long desks, much like the old-fashioned ones in +schools, were ranged on each side of the mid aisle, in a series from end +to end, with seats for the convenience of students; and on these desks +were rare manuscripts, carefully preserved under glass; and books, +fastened to the desks by iron chains, as the custom of studious antiquity +used to be. Along the centre of the hall, between the two ranges of +desks, were tables and chairs, at which two or three scholarly persons +were seated, diligently consulting volumes in manuscript or old type. It +was a very quiet place, imbued with a cloistered sanctity, and remote +from all street-cries and rumble of the city,--odorous of old +literature,--a spot where the commonest ideas ought not to be expressed +in less than Latin. + +The librarian--or custode he ought rather to be termed, for he was a man +not above the fee of a paul--now presented himself, and showed us some of +the literary curiosities; a vellum manuscript of the Bible, with a +splendid illumination by Ghirlandaio, covering two folio pages, and just +as brilliant in its color as if finished yesterday. Other illuminated +manuscripts--or at least separate pages of them, for the volumes were +kept under glass, and not to be turned over--were shown us, very +magnificent, but not to be compared with this of Ghirlandaio. Looking at +such treasures I could almost say that we have left behind us more +splendor than we have kept alive to our own age. We publish beautiful +editions of books, to be sure, and thousands of people enjoy them; but in +ancient times the expense that we spread thinly over a thousand volumes +was all compressed into one, and it became a great jewel of a book, a +heavy folio, worth its weight in gold. Then, what a spiritual charm it +gives to a book to feel that every letter has been individually wrought, +and the pictures glow for that individual page alone! Certainly the +ancient reader had a luxury which the modern one lacks. I was surprised, +moreover, to see the clearness and accuracy of the chirography. Print +does not surpass it in these respects. + +The custode showed us an ancient manuscript of the Decameron; likewise, a +volume containing the portraits of Petrarch and of Laura, each covering +the whole of a vellum page, and very finely done. They are authentic +portraits, no doubt, and Laura is depicted as a fair-haired beauty, with +a very satisfactory amount of loveliness. We saw some choice old +editions of books in a small separate room; but as these were all ranged +in shut bookcases, and as each volume, moreover, was in a separate cover +or modern binding, this exhibition did us very little good. By the by, +there is a conceit struggling blindly in my mind about Petrarch and +Laura, suggested by those two lifelike portraits, which have been +sleeping cheek to cheek through all these centuries. But I cannot lay +hold of it. + + +September 21st.--Yesterday morning the Val d' Arno was entirely filled +with a thick fog, which extended even up to our windows, and concealed +objects within a very short distance. It began to dissipate itself +betimes, however, and was the forerunner of an unusually bright and warm +day. We set out after breakfast and walked into town, where we looked at +mosaic brooches. These are very pretty little bits of manufacture; but +there seems to have been no infusion of fresh fancy into the work, and +the specimens present little variety. It is the characteristic commodity +of the place; the central mart and manufacturing locality being on the +Ponte Vecchio, from end to end of which they are displayed in cases; but +there are other mosaic shops scattered about the town. The principal +devices are roses,--pink, yellow, or white,--jasmines, lilies of the +valley, forget-me-nots, orange blossoms, and others, single or in sprigs, +or twined into wreaths; parrots, too, and other birds of gay plumage,-- +often exquisitely done, and sometimes with precious materials, such as +lapis lazuli, malachite, and still rarer gems. Bracelets, with several +different, yet relative designs, are often very beautiful. We find, at +different shops, a great inequality of prices for mosaics that seemed to +be of much the same quality. + +We went to the Uffizi gallery, and found it much thronged with the middle +and lower classes of Italians; and the English, too, seemed more numerous +than I have lately seen them. Perhaps the tourists have just arrived +here, starting at the close of the London season. We were amused with a +pair of Englishmen who went through the gallery; one of them criticising +the pictures and statues audibly, for the benefit of his companion. The +critic I should take to be a country squire, and wholly untravelled; a +tall, well-built, rather rough, but gentlemanly man enough; his friend, a +small personage, exquisitely neat in dress, and of artificial deportment, +every attitude and gesture appearing to have been practised before a +glass. Being but a small pattern of a man, physically and +intellectually, he had thought it worth while to finish himself off with +the elaborateness of a Florentine mosaic; and the result was something +like a dancing-master, though without the exuberant embroidery of such +persons. Indeed, he was a very quiet little man, and, though so +thoroughly made up, there was something particularly green, fresh, and +simple in him. Both these Englishmen were elderly, and the smaller one +had perfectly white hair, glossy and silken. It did not make him in the +least venerable, however, but took his own character of neatness and +prettiness. He carried his well-brushed and glossy hat in his hand in +such a way as not to ruffle its surface; and I wish I could put into one +word or one sentence the pettiness, the minikinfinical effect of this +little man; his self-consciousness so lifelong, that, in some sort, he +forgot himself even in the midst of it; his propriety, his cleanliness +and unruffledness; his prettiness and nicety of manifestation, like a +bird hopping daintily about. + +His companion, as I said, was of a completely different type; a tall, +gray-haired man, with the rough English face, a little tinted with port +wine; careless, natural manner, betokening a man of position in his own +neighborhood; a loud voice, not vulgar, nor outraging the rules of +society, but betraying a character incapable of much refinement. He +talked continually in his progress through the gallery, and audibly +enough for us to catch almost everything he said, at many yards' +distance. His remarks and criticisms, addressed to his small friend, +were so entertaining, that we strolled behind him for the sake of being +benefited by them; and I think he soon became aware of this, and +addressed himself to us as well as to his more immediate friend. Nobody +but an Englishman, it seems to me, has just this kind of vanity,--a +feeling mixed up with scorn and good-nature; self-complacency on his own +merits, and as an Englishman; pride at being in foreign parts; contempt +for everybody around him; a rough kindliness towards people in general. +I liked the man, and should be glad to know him better. As for his +criticism, I am sorry to remember only one. It was upon the picture of +the Nativity, by Correggio, in the Tribune, where the mother is kneeling +before the Child, and adoring it in an awful rapture, because she sees +the eternal God in its baby face and figure. The Englishman was highly +delighted with this picture, and began to gesticulate, as if dandling a +baby, and to make a chirruping sound. It was to him merely a +representation of a mother fondling her infant. He then said, "If I +could have my choice of the pictures and statues in the Tribune, I would +take this picture, and that one yonder" (it was a good enough +Enthronement of the Virgin by Andrea del Sarto) "and the Dancing Faun, +and let the rest go." A delightful man; I love that wholesome coarseness +of mind and heart, which no education nor opportunity can polish out of +the genuine Englishman; a coarseness without vulgarity. When a Yankee is +coarse, he is pretty sure to be vulgar too. + +The two critics seemed to be considering whether it were practicable to +go from the Uffizi to the Pitti gallery; but "it confuses one," remarked +the little man, "to see more than one gallery in a day." (I should think +so,--the Pitti Palace tumbling into his small receptacle on the top of +the Uffizi.) "It does so," responded the big man, with heavy emphasis. + + +September 23d.--The vintage has been going on in our podere for about a +week, and I saw a part of the process of making wine, under one of our +back windows. It was on a very small scale, the grapes being thrown into +a barrel, and crushed with a sort of pestle; and as each estate seems to +make its own wine, there are probably no very extensive and elaborate +appliances in general use for the manufacture. The cider-making of New +England is far more picturesque; the great heap of golden or rosy apples +under the trees, and the cider-mill worked by a circumgyratory horse, +and all agush with sweet juice. Indeed, nothing connected with the +grape-culture and the vintage here has been picturesque, except the large +inverted pyramids in which the clusters hang; those great bunches, white +or purple, really satisfy my idea both as to aspect and taste. We can +buy a large basketful for less than a paul; and they are the only things +that one can never devour too much of--and there is no enough short of a +little too much without subsequent repentance. It is a shame to turn +such delicious juice into such sour wine as they make in Tuscany. I +tasted a sip or two of a flask which the contadini sent us for trial,-- +the rich result of the process I had witnessed in the barrel. It took me +altogether by surprise; for I remembered the nectareousness of the new +cider which I used to sip through a straw in my boyhood, and I never +doubted that this would be as dulcet, but finer and more ethereal; as +much more delectable, in short, as these grapes are better than puckery +cider apples. Positively, I never tasted anything so detestable, such a +sour and bitter juice, still lukewarm with fermentation; it was a wail of +woe, squeezed out of the wine-press of tribulation, and the more a man +drinks of such, the sorrier he will be. + +Besides grapes, we have had figs, and I have now learned to be very fond +of them. When they first began to appear, two months ago, they had +scarcely any sweetness, and tasted very like a decaying squash: this was +an early variety, with purple skins. There are many kinds of figs, the +best being green-skinned, growing yellower as they ripen; and the riper +they are, the more the sweetness within them intensifies, till they +resemble dried figs in everything, except that they retain the fresh +fruit-flavor; rich, luscious, yet not palling. We have had pears, too, +some of them very tolerable; and peaches, which look magnificently, as +regards size and downy blush, but, have seldom much more taste than a +cucumber. A succession of fruits has followed us, ever since our arrival +in Florence:--first, and for a long time, abundance of cherries; then +apricots, which lasted many weeks, till we were weary of them; then +plums, pears, and finally figs, peaches, and grapes. Except the figs and +grapes, a New England summer and autumn would give us better fruit than +any we have found in Italy. + +Italy beats us I think in mosquitoes; they are horribly pungent little +satanic particles. They possess strange intelligence, and exquisite +acuteness of sight and smell,--prodigious audacity and courage to match +it, insomuch that they venture on the most hazardous attacks, and get +safe off. One of them flew into my mouth, the other night, and sting me +far down in my throat; but luckily I coughed him up in halves. They are +bigger than American mosquitoes; and if you crush them, after one of +their feasts, it makes a terrific bloodspot. It is a sort of suicide--at +least, a shedding of one's own blood--to kill them; but it gratifies the +old Adam to do it. It shocks me to feel how revengeful I am; but it is +impossible not to impute a certain malice and intellectual venom to these +diabolical insects. I wonder whether our health, at this season of the +year, requires that we should be kept in a state of irritation, and so +the mosquitoes are Nature's prophetic remedy for some disease; or whether +we are made for the mosquitoes, not they for us. It is possible, just +possible, that the infinitesimal doses of poison which they infuse into +us are a homoeopathic safeguard against pestilence; but medicine never +was administered in a more disagreeable way. + +The moist atmosphere about the Arno, I suppose, produces these insects, +and fills the broad, ten-mile valley with them; and as we are just on the +brim of the basin, they overflow into our windows. + + +September 25th.--U---- and I walked to town yesterday morning, and went +to the Uffizi gallery. It is not a pleasant thought that we are so soon +to give up this gallery, with little prospect (none, or hardly any, on my +part) of ever seeing it again. It interests me and all of us far more +than the gallery of the Pitti Palace, wherefore I know not, for the +latter is the richer of the two in admirable pictures. Perhaps it is the +picturesque variety of the Uffizi--the combination of painting, +sculpture, gems, and bronzes--that makes the charm. The Tribune, too, is +the richest room in all the world; a heart that draws all hearts to it. +The Dutch pictures, moreover, give a homely, human interest to the +Uffizi; and I really think that the frequency of Andrea del Santo's +productions at the Pitti Palace--looking so very like masterpieces, yet +lacking the soul of art and nature--have much to do with the weariness +that comes from better acquaintance with the latter gallery. The +splendor of the gilded and frescoed saloons is perhaps another bore; but, +after all, my memory will often tread there as long as I live. What +shall we do in America? + +Speaking of Dutch pictures, I was much struck yesterday, as frequently +before, with a small picture by Teniers the elder. It seems to be a +pawnbroker in the midst of his pledges; old earthen jugs, flasks, a brass +kettle, old books, and a huge pile of worn-out and broken rubbish, which +he is examining. These things are represented with vast fidelity, yet +with bold and free touches, unlike the minute, microscopic work of other +Dutch masters; and a wonderful picturesqueness is wrought out of these +humble materials, and even the figure and head of the pawnbroker have a +strange grandeur. + +We spent no very long time at the Uffizi, and afterwards crossed the +Ponte alle Grazie, and went to the convent of San Miniato, which stands +on a hill outside of the Porta San Gallo. A paved pathway, along which +stand crosses marking stations at which pilgrims are to kneel and pray, +goes steeply to the hill-top, where, in the first place, is a smaller +church and convent than those of San Miniato. The latter are seen at a +short distance to the right, the convent being a large, square +battlemented mass, adjoining which is the church, showing a front of aged +white marble, streaked with black, and having an old stone tower behind. +I have seen no other convent or monastery that so well corresponds with +my idea of what such structures were. The sacred precincts are enclosed +by a high wall, gray, ancient, and luxuriously ivy-grown, and lofty and +strong enough for the rampart of a fortress. We went through the gateway +and entered the church, which we found in much disarray, and masons at +work upon the pavement. The tribune is elevated considerably above the +nave, and accessible by marble staircases; there are great arches and a +chapel, with curious monuments in the Gothic style, and ancient carvings +and mosaic works, and, in short, a dim, dusty, and venerable interior, +well worth studying in detail. . . . The view of Florence from the +church door is very fine, and seems to include every tower, dome, or +whatever object emerges out of the general mass. + + +September 28th.--I went to the Pitti Palace yesterday, and to the Uffizi +to-day, paying them probably my last visit, yet cherishing an +unreasonable doubt whether I may not see them again. At all events, I +have seen them enough for the present, even what is best of them; and, at +the same time, with a sad reluctance to bid them farewell forever, I +experience an utter weariness of Raphael's old canvas, and of the +time-yellowed marble of the Venus de' Medici. When the material +embodiment presents itself outermost, and we perceive them only by the +grosser sense, missing their ethereal spirit, there is nothing so heavily +burdensome as masterpieces of painting and sculpture. I threw my +farewell glance at the Venus de' Medici to-day with strange +insensibility. + +The nights are wonderfully beautiful now. When the moon was at the full, +a few nights ago, its light was an absolute glory, such as I seem only to +have dreamed of heretofore, and that only in my younger days. At its +rising I have fancied that the orb of the moon has a kind of purple +brightness, and that this tinge is communicated to its radiance until it +has climbed high aloft and sheds a flood of white over hill and valley. +Now that the moon is on the wane, there is a gentler lustre, but still +bright; and it makes the Val d' Arno with its surrounding hills, and its +soft mist in the distance, as beautiful a scene as exists anywhere out of +heaven. And the morning is quite as beautiful in its own way. This +mist, of which I have so often spoken, sets it beyond the limits of +actual sense and makes it ideal; it is as if you were dreaming about the +valley,--as if the valley itself were dreaming, and met you half-way in +your own dream. If the mist were to be withdrawn, I believe the whole +beauty of the valley would go with it. + +Until pretty late in the morning, we have the comet streaming through the +sky, and dragging its interminable tail among the stars. It keeps +brightening from night to night, and I should think must blaze fiercely +enough to cast a shadow by and by. I know not whether it be in the +vicinity of Galileo's tower, and in the influence of his spirit, but I +have hardly ever watched the stars with such interest as now. + + +September 29th.--Last evening I met Mr. Powers at Miss Blagden's, and he +talked about his treatment, by our government in reference, to an +appropriation of twenty-five thousand dollars made by Congress for a +statue by him. Its payment and the purchase of the statue were left at +the option of the President, and he conceived himself wronged because the +affair was never concluded. . . . As for the President, he knows +nothing of art, and probably acted in the matter by the advice of the +director of public works. No doubt a sculptor gets commissions as +everybody gets public employment and emolument of whatever kind from our +government, not by merit or fitness, but by political influence skilfully +applied. As Powers himself observed, the ruins of our Capitol are not +likely to afford sculptures equal to those which Lord Elgin took from the +Parthenon, if this be the system under which they are produced. . . . I +wish our great Republic had the spirit to do as much, according to its +vast means, as Florence did for sculpture and architecture when it was a +republic; but we have the meanest government and the shabbiest, and--if +truly represented by it--we are the meanest and shabbiest people known in +history. And yet the less we attempt to do for art the better, if our +future attempts are to have no better result than such brazen troopers as +the equestrian statue of General Jackson, or even such naked +respectabilities as Greenough's Washington. There is something false and +affected in our highest taste for art; and I suppose, furthermore, we are +the only people who seek to decorate their public institutions, not by +the highest taste among them, but by the average at best. + +There was also at Miss Blagden's, among other company, Mr. ------, an +artist in Florence, and a sensible man. I talked with him about Home, +the medium, whom he had many opportunities of observing when the latter +was in these parts. Mr. ------ says that Home is unquestionably a knave, +but that he himself is as much perplexed at his own preternatural +performances as any other person; he is startled and affrighted at the +phenomena which he produces. Nevertheless, when his spiritual powers +fall short, he does his best to eke them out with imposture. This moral +infirmity is a part of his nature, and I suggested that perhaps if he +were of a firmer and healthier moral make, if his character were +sufficiently sound and dense to be capable of steadfast principle, he +would not have possessed the impressibility that fits him for the +so-called spiritual influences. Mr. ------ says that Louis Napoleon is +literally one of the most skilful jugglers in the world, and that +probably the interest he has taken in Mr. Home was caused partly by a +wish to acquire his art. + +This morning Mr. Powers invited me to go with him to the Grand Duke's new +foundry, to see the bronze statue of Webster which has just been cast +from his model. It is the second cast of the statue, the first having +been shipped some months ago on board of a vessel which was lost; and, as +Powers observed, the statue now lies at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean +somewhere in the vicinity of the telegraphic cable. + +We were received with much courtesy and emphasis by the director of the +foundry, and conducted into a large room walled with bare, new brick, +where the statue was standing in front of the extinct furnace: a majestic +Webster indeed, eight feet high, and looking even more colossal than +that. The likeness seemed to me perfect, and, like a sensible man, +Powers' has dressed him in his natural costume, such as I have seen +Webster have on while making a speech in the open air at a mass meeting +in Concord,--dress-coat buttoned pretty closely across the breast, +pantaloons and boots,--everything finished even to a seam and a stitch. +Not an inch of the statue but is Webster; even his coat-tails are imbued +with the man, and this true artist has succeeded in showing him through +the broadcloth as nature showed him. He has felt that a man's actual +clothes are as much a part of him as his flesh, and I respect him for +disdaining to shirk the difficulty by throwing the meanness of a cloak +over it, and for recognizing the folly of masquerading our Yankee +statesman in a Roman toga, and the indecorousness of presenting him as a +brassy nudity. It would have been quite as unjustifiable to strip him to +his skeleton as to his flesh. Webster is represented as holding in his +right hand the written roll of the Constitution, with which he points to +a bundle of fasces, which he keeps from falling by the grasp of his left, +thus symbolizing him as the preserver of the Union. There is an +expression of quiet, solid, massive strength in the whole figure; a deep, +pervading energy, in which any exaggeration of gesture would lessen and +lower the effect. He looks really like a pillar of the state. The face +is very grand, very Webster stern and awful, because he is in the act of +meeting a great crisis, and yet with the warmth of a great heart glowing +through it. Happy is Webster to have been so truly and adequately +sculptured; happy the sculptor in such a subject, which no idealization +of a demigod could have supplied him with. Perhaps the statue at the +bottom of the sea will be cast up in some future age, when the present +race of man is forgotten, and if so, that far posterity will look up to +us as a grander race than we find ourselves to be. Neither was Webster +altogether the man he looked. His physique helped him out, even when he +fell somewhat short of its promise; and if his eyes had not been in such +deep caverns their fire would not have looked so bright. + +Powers made me observe how the surface of the statue was wrought to a +sort of roughness instead of being smoothed, as is the practice of other +artists. He said that this had cost him great pains, and certainly it +has an excellent effect. The statue is to go to Boston, and I hope will +be placed in the open air, for it is too mighty to be kept under any roof +that now exists in America. . . . + +After seeing this, the director showed us some very curious and exquisite +specimens of castings, such as baskets of flowers, in which the most +delicate and fragile blossoms, the curl of a petal, the finest veins in a +leaf, the lightest flower-spray that ever quivered in a breeze, were +perfectly preserved; and the basket contained an abundant heap of such +sprays. There were likewise a pair of hands, taken actually from life, +clasped together as they were, and they looked like parts of a man who +had been changed suddenly from flesh to brass. They were worn and rough +and unhandsome hands, and so very real, with all their veins and the +pores of the skin, that it was shocking to look at them. A bronze leaf, +cast also from the life, was as curious and more beautiful. + +Taking leave of Powers, I went hither and thither about Florence, seeing +for the last time things that I have seen many times before: the market, +for instance, blocking up a line of narrow streets with fruit-stalls, and +obstreperous dealers crying their peaches, their green lemons, their +figs, their delicious grapes, their mushrooms, their pomegranates, their +radishes, their lettuces. They use one vegetable here which I have not +known so used elsewhere; that is, very young pumpkins or squashes, of the +size of apples, and to be cooked by boiling. They are not to my taste, +but the people here like unripe things,--unripe fruit, unripe chickens, +unripe lamb. This market is the noisiest and swarmiest centre of noisy +and swarming Florence, and I always like to pass through it on that +account. + +I went also to Santa Croce, and it seemed to me to present a longer vista +and broader space than almost any other church, perhaps because the +pillars between the nave and aisles are not so massive as to obstruct the +view. I looked into the Duomo, too, and was pretty well content to leave +it. Then I came homeward, and lost my way, and wandered far off through +the white sunshine, and the scanty shade of the vineyard walls, and the +olive-trees that here and there branched over them. At last I saw our +own gray battlements at a distance, on one side, quite out of the +direction in which I was travelling, so was compelled to the grievous +mortification of retracing a great many of my weary footsteps. It was a +very hot day. This evening I have been on the towertop star-gazing, and +looking at the comet, which waves along the sky like an immense feather +of flame. Over Florence there was an illuminated atmosphere, caused by +the lights of the city gleaming upward into the mists which sleep and +dream above that portion of the valley, as well as the rest of it. I saw +dimly, or fancied I saw, the hill of Fiesole on the other side of +Florence, and remembered how ghostly lights were seen passing thence to +the Duomo on the night when Lorenzo the Magnificent died. From time to +time the sweet bells of Florence rang out, and I was loath to come down +into the lower world, knowing that I shall never again look heavenward +from an old tower-top in such a soft calm evening as this. Yet I am not +loath to go away; impatient rather; for, taking no root, I soon weary of +any soil in which I may be temporarily deposited. The same impatience I +sometimes feel or conceive of as regards this earthly life. . . . + +I forgot to mention that Powers showed me, in his studio, the model of +the statue of America, which he wished the government to buy. It has +great merit, and embodies the ideal of youth, freedom, progress, and +whatever we consider as distinctive of our country's character and +destiny. It is a female figure, vigorous, beautiful, planting its foot +lightly on a broken chain, and pointing upward. The face has a high look +of intelligence and lofty feeling; the form, nude to the middle, has all +the charms of womanhood, and is thus warmed and redeemed out of the cold +allegoric sisterhood who have generally no merit in chastity, being +really without sex. I somewhat question whether it is quite the thing, +however, to make a genuine woman out of an allegory we ask, Who is to wed +this lovely virgin? and we are not satisfied to banish her into the realm +of chilly thought. But I liked the statue, and all the better for what I +criticise, and was sorry to see the huge package in which the finished +marble lies bundled up, ready to be sent to our country,--which does not +call for it. + +Mr. Powers and his two daughters called to take leave of us, and at +parting I expressed a hope of seeing him in America. He said that it +would make him very unhappy to believe that he should never return +thither; but it seems to me that he has no such definite purpose of +return as would be certain to bring itself to pass. It makes a very +unsatisfactory life, thus to spend the greater part of it in exile. In +such a case we are always deferring the reality of life till a future +moment, and, by and by, we have deferred it till there are no future +moments; or, if we do go back, we find that life has shifted whatever of +reality it had to the country where we deemed ourselves only living +temporarily; and so between two stools we come to the ground, and make +ourselves a part of one or the other country only by laying our bones in +its soil. It is particularly a pity in Powers's case, because he is so +very American in character, and the only convenience for him of his +Italian residence is, that here he can supply himself with marble, and +with workmen to chisel it according to his designs. + + + +SIENA. + + +October 2d.--Yesterday morning, at six o'clock, we left our ancient +tower, and threw a parting glance--and a rather sad one--over the misty +Val d' Arno. This summer will look like a happy one in our children's +retrospect, and also, no doubt, in the years that remain to ourselves; +and, in truth, I have found it a peaceful and not uncheerful one. + +It was not a pleasant morning, and Monte Morello, looking down on +Florence, had on its cap, betokening foul weather, according to the +proverb. Crossing the suspension-bridge, we reached the Leopoldo railway +without entering the city. By some mistake,--or perhaps because nobody +ever travels by first-class carriages in Tuscany,--we found we had +received second-class tickets, and were put into a long, crowded +carriage, full of priests, military men, commercial travellers, and other +respectable people, facing one another lengthwise along the carriage, and +many of them smoking cigars. They were all perfectly civil, and I think +I must own that the manners of this second-class would compare favorably +with those of an American first-class one. + +At Empoli, about an hour after we started, we had to change carriages, +the main train proceeding to Leghorn. . . . My observations along the +road were very scanty: a hilly country, with several old towns seated on +the most elevated hill-tops, as is common throughout Tuscany, or +sometimes a fortress with a town on the plain at its base; or, once or +twice, the towers and battlements of a mediaeval castle, commanding the +pass below it. Near Florence the country was fertile in the vine and +olive, and looked as unpicturesque as that sort of fertility usually +makes it; not but what I have come to think better of the tint of the +olive-leaf than when I first saw it. In the latter part of our journey I +remember a wild stream, of a greenish hue, but transparent, rushing along +over a rough bed, and before reaching Siena we rumbled into a long +tunnel, and emerged from it near the city. . . . + +We drove up hill and down (for the surface of Siena seems to be nothing +but an irregularity) through narrow old streets, and were set down at +the Aquila Nera, a grim-looking albergo near the centre of the town. +Mrs. S------ had already taken rooms for us there, and to these we were +now ushered up the highway of a dingy stone staircase, and into a small, +brick-paved parlor. The house seemed endlessly old, and all the glimpses +that we caught of Siena out of window seemed more ancient still. Almost +within arm's reach, across a narrow street, a tall palace of gray, +time-worn stone clambered skyward, with arched windows, and square +windows, and large windows and small, scattered up and down its side. It +is the Palazzo Tolomei, and looks immensely venerable. From the windows +of our bedrooms we looked into a broader street, though still not very +wide, and into a small piazza, the most conspicuous object in which was a +column, hearing on its top a bronze wolf suckling Romulus and Remus. +This symbol is repeated in other parts of the city, and scours to +indicate that the Sienese people pride themselves in a Roman origin. In +another direction, over the tops of the houses, we saw a very high tower, +with battlements projecting around its summit, so that it was a fortress +in the air; and this I have since found to be the Palazzo Publico. It +was pleasant, looking downward into the little old piazza and narrow +streets, to see the swarm of life on the pavement, the life of to-day +just as new as if it had never been lived before; the citizens, the +priests, the soldiers, the mules and asses with their panniers, the +diligence lumbering along, with a postilion in a faded crimson coat +bobbing up and down on the off-horse. Such a bustling scene, vociferous, +too, with various street-cries, is wonderfully set off by the gray +antiquity of the town, and makes the town look older than if it were a +solitude. + +Soon Mr. and Mrs. Story came, and accompanied us to look for lodgings. +They also drove us about the city in their carriage, and showed us the +outside of the Palazzo Publico, and of the cathedral and other remarkable +edifices. The aspect of Siena is far more picturesque than that of any +other town in Italy, so far as I know Italian towns; and yet, now that I +have written it, I remember Perugia, and feel that the observation is a +mistake. But at any rate Siena is remarkably picturesque, standing on +such a site, on the verge and within the crater of an extinct volcano, +and therefore being as uneven as the sea in a tempest; the streets so +narrow, ascending between tall, ancient palaces, while the side streets +rush headlong down, only to be threaded by sure-footed mules, such as +climb Alpine heights; old stone balconies on the palace fronts; old +arched doorways, and windows set in frames of Gothic architecture; +arcades, resembling canopies of stone, with quaintly sculptured statues +in the richly wrought Gothic niches of each pillar;--everything massive +and lofty, yet minutely interesting when you look at it stone by stone. +The Florentines, and the Romans too, have obliterated, as far as they +could, all the interest of their mediaeval structures by covering them +with stucco, so that they have quite lost their character, and affect the +spectator with no reverential idea of age. Here the city is all +overwritten with black-letter, and the glad Italian sun makes the effect +so much the stronger. + +We took a lodging, and afterwards J----- and I rambled about, and went +into the cathedral for a moment, and strayed also into the Piazza del +Campo, the great public square of Siena. I am not in the mood for +further description of public places now, so shall say a word or two +about the old palace in which we have established ourselves. We have the +second piano, and dwell amid faded grandeur, having for our saloon what +seems to have been a ball-room. It is ornamented with a great fresco in +the centre of the vaulted ceiling, and others covering the sides of the +apartment, and surrounded with arabesque frameworks, where Cupids gambol +and chase one another. The subjects of the frescos I cannot make out, +not that they are faded like Giotto's, for they are as fresh as roses, +and are done in an exceedingly workmanlike style; but they are allegories +of Fame and Plenty and other matters, such as I could never understand. +Our whole accommodation is in similar style,--spacious, magnificent, and +mouldy. + +In the evening Miss S------ and I drove to the railway, and on the +arrival of the train from Florence we watched with much eagerness the +unlading of the luggage-van. At last the whole of our ten trunks and tin +bandbox were produced, and finally my leather bag, in which was my +journal and a manuscript book containing my sketch of a romance. It +gladdened my very heart to see it, and I shall think the better of Tuscan +promptitude and accuracy for so quickly bringing it back to me. (It was +left behind, under one of the rail-carriage seats.) We find all the +public officials, whether of railway, police, or custom-house, extremely +courteous and pleasant to encounter; they seem willing to take trouble +and reluctant to give it, and it is really a gratification to find that +such civil people will sometimes oblige you by taking a paul or two +aside. + + +October 3d.--I took several strolls about the city yesterday, and find it +scarcely extensive enough to get lost in; and if we go far from the +centre we soon come to silent streets, with only here and there an +individual; and the inhabitants stare from their doors and windows at the +stranger, and turn round to look at him after he has passed. The +interest of the old town would soon be exhausted for the traveller, but I +can conceive that a thoughtful and shy man might settle down here with +the view of making the place a home, and spend many years in a sombre +kind of happiness. I should prefer it to Florence as a residence, but it +would be terrible without an independent life in one's own mind. + +U---- and I walked out in the afternoon, and went into the Piazza del +Campo, the principal place of the city, and a very noble and peculiar +one. It is much in the form of an amphitheatre, and the surface of the +ground seems to be slightly scooped out, so that it resembles the shallow +basin of a shell. It is thus a much better site for an assemblage of the +populace than if it were a perfect level. A semicircle or truncated +ellipse of stately and ancient edifices surround the piazza, with arches +opening beneath them, through which streets converge hitherward. One +side of the piazza is a straight line, and is occupied by the Palazzo +Publico, which is a most noble and impressive Gothic structure. It has +not the mass of the Palazzo Vecchio at Florence, but is more striking. +It has a long battlemented front, the central part of which rises eminent +above the rest, in a great square bulk, which is likewise crowned with +battlements. This is much more picturesque than the one great block of +stone into which the Palazzo Vecchio is consolidated. At one extremity +of this long front of the Palazzo Publico rises a tower, shooting up its +shaft high, high into the air, and bulging out there into a battlemented +fortress, within which the tower, slenderer than before, climbs to a +still higher region. I do not know whether the summit of the tower is +higher or so high as that of the Palazzo Vecchio; but the length of the +shaft, free of the edifice, is much greater, and so produces the more +elevating effect. The whole front of the Palazzo Publico is exceedingly +venerable, with arched windows, Gothic carvings, and all the old-time +ornaments that betoken it to have stood a great while, and the gray +strength that will hold it up at least as much longer. At one end of the +facade, beneath the shadow of the tower, is a grand and beautiful porch, +supported on square pillars, within each of which is a niche containing a +statue of mediaeval sculpture. + +The great Piazza del Campo is the market-place of Siena. In the morning +it was thronged with booths and stalls, especially of fruit and vegetable +dealers; but as in Florence, they melted away in the sunshine, gradually +withdrawing themselves into the shadow thrown from the Palazzo Publico. + +On the side opposite the palace is an antique fountain of marble, +ornamented with two statues and a series of bas-reliefs; and it was so +much admired in its day that its sculptor received the name "Del Fonte." +I am loath to leave the piazza and palace without finding some word or +two to suggest their antique majesty, in the sunshine and the shadow; and +how fit it seemed, notwithstanding their venerableness, that there should +be a busy crowd filling up the great, hollow amphitheatre, and crying +their fruit and little merchandises, so that all the curved line of +stately old edifices helped to reverberate the noise. The life of +to-day, within the shell of a time past, is wonderfully fascinating. + +Another point to which a stranger's footsteps are drawn by a kind of +magnetism, so that he will be apt to find himself there as often as he +strolls out of his hotel, is the cathedral. It stands in the highest +part of the city, and almost every street runs into some other street +which meanders hitherward. On our way thither, U---- and I came to a +beautiful front of black and white marble, in somewhat the same style as +the cathedral; in fact, it was the baptistery, and should have made a +part of it, according to the original design, which contemplated a +structure of vastly greater extent than this actual one. We entered the +baptistery, and found the interior small, but very rich in its clustered +columns and intersecting arches, and its frescos, pictures, statues, and +ornaments. Moreover, a father and mother had brought their baby to be +baptized, and the poor little thing, in its gay swaddling-clothes, looked +just like what I have seen in old pictures, and a good deal like an +Indian pappoose. It gave one little slender squeak when the priest put +the water on its forehead, and then was quiet again. + +We now went round to the facade of the cathedral. . . . It is of black +and white marble, with, I believe, an intermixture of red and other +colors; but time has toned them down, so that white, black, and red do +not contrast so strongly with one another as they may have done five +hundred years ago. The architecture is generally of the pointed Gothic +style, but there are likewise carved arches over the doors and windows, +and a variety which does not produce the effect of confusion,--a +magnificent eccentricity, an exuberant imagination flowering out in +stone. On high, in the great peak of the front, and throwing its colored +radiance into the nave within, there is a round window of immense +circumference, the painted figures in which we can see dimly from the +outside. But what I wish to express, and never can, is the multitudinous +richness of the ornamentation of the front: the arches within arches, +sculptured inch by inch, of the deep doorways; the statues of saints, +some making a hermitage of a niche, others standing forth; the scores of +busts, that look like faces of ancient people gazing down out of the +cathedral; the projecting shapes of stone lions,--the thousand forms of +Gothic fancy, which seemed to soften the marble and express whatever it +liked, and allow it to harden again to last forever. But my description +seems like knocking off the noses of some of the busts, the fingers and +toes of the statues, the projecting points of the architecture, jumbling +them all up together, and flinging them down upon the page. This gives +no idea of the truth, nor, least of all, can it shadow forth that solemn +whole, mightily combined out of all these minute particulars, and +sanctifying the entire space of ground over which this cathedral-front +flings its shadow, or on which it reflects the sun. A majesty and a +minuteness, neither interfering with the other, each assisting the +other; this is what I love in Gothic architecture. We went in and walked +about; but I mean to go again before sketching the interior in my poor +water-colors. + + +October 4th.--On looking again at the Palazzo Publico, I see that the +pillared portal which I have spoken of does not cover an entrance to the +palace, but is a chapel, with an altar, and frescos above it. Bouquets +of fresh flowers are on the altar, and a lamp burns, in all the daylight, +before the crucifix. The chapel is quite unenclosed, except by an +openwork balustrade of marble, on which the carving looks very ancient. +Nothing could be more convenient for the devotions of the crowd in the +piazza, and no doubt the daily prayers offered at the shrine might be +numbered by the thousand,--brief, but I hope earnest,--like those +glimpses I used to catch at the blue sky, revealing so much in an +instant, while I was toiling at Brook Farm. Another picturesque thing +about the Palazzo Publico is a great stone balcony quaintly wrought, +about midway in the front and high aloft, with two arched windows opening +into it. + +After another glimpse at the cathedral, too, I realize how utterly I have +failed in conveying the idea of its elaborate ornament, its twisted and +clustered pillars, and numberless devices of sculpture; nor did I mention +the venerable statues that stand all round the summit of the edifice, +relieved against the sky,--the highest of all being one of the Saviour, +on the topmost peak of the front; nor the tall tower that ascends from +one side of the building, and is built of layers of black and white +marble piled one upon another in regular succession; nor the dome that +swells upward close beside this tower. + +Had the cathedral been constructed on the plan and dimensions at first +contemplated, it would have been incomparably majestic; the finished +portion, grand as it is, being only what was intended for a transept. +One of the walls of what was to have been the nave is still standing, and +looks like a ruin, though, I believe, it has been turned to account as +the wall of a palace, the space of the never-completed nave being now a +court or street. + +The whole family of us were kindly taken out yesterday, to dine and spend +the day at the Villa Belvedere with our friends Mr. and Mrs. Story. The +vicinity of Siena is much more agreeable than that of Florence, being +cooler, breezier, with more foliage and shrubbery both near at hand and +in the distance; and the prospect, Mr. Story told us, embraces a diameter +of about a hundred miles between hills north and south. The Villa +Belvedere was built and owned by an Englishman now deceased, who has left +it to his butler, and its lawns and shrubbery have something English in +their character, and there was almost a dampness in the grass, which +really pleased me in this parched Italy. Within the house the walls are +hung with fine old-fashioned engravings from the pictures of +Gainsborough, West, and other English painters. The Englishman, though +he had chosen to live and die in Italy, had evidently brought his native +tastes and peculiarities along with him. Mr. Story thinks of buying this +villa: I do not know but I might be tempted to buy it myself if Siena +were a practicable residence for the entire year; but the winter here, +with the bleak mountain-winds of a hundred miles round about blustering +against it, must be terribly disagreeable. + +We spent a very pleasant day, turning over books or talking on the lawn, +whence we could behold scenes picturesque afar, and rich vineyard +glimpses near at hand. Mr. Story is the most variously accomplished and +brilliant person, the fullest of social life and fire, whom I ever met; +and without seeming to make an effort, he kept us amused and entertained +the whole day long; not wearisomely entertained neither, as we should +have been if he had not let his fountain play naturally. Still, though +he bubbled and brimmed over with fun, he left the impression on me +that . . . . there is a pain and care, bred, it may be, out of the very +richness of his gifts and abundance of his outward prosperity. Rich, in +the prime of life, . . . . and children budding and blossoming around him +as fairly as his heart could wish, with sparkling talents,--so many, that +if he choose to neglect or fling away one, or two, or three, he would +still have enough left to shine with,--who should be happy if not +he? . . . . + +Towards sunset we all walked out into the podere, pausing a little while +to look down into a well that stands on the verge of the lawn. Within +the spacious circle of its stone curb was an abundant growth of +maidenhair, forming a perfect wreath of thickly clustering leaves quite +round, and trailing its tendrils downward to the water which gleamed +beneath. It was a very pretty sight. Mr. Story bent over the well and +uttered deep, musical tones, which were reverberated from the hollow +depths with wonderful effect, as if a spirit dwelt within there, and +(unlike the spirits that speak through mediums) sent him back responses +even profounder and more melodious than the tones that awakened them. +Such a responsive well as this might have been taken for an oracle in old +days. + +We went along paths that led from one vineyard to another, and which +might have led us for miles across the country. The grapes had been +partly gathered, but still there were many purple or white clusters +hanging heavily on the vines. We passed cottage doors, and saw groups of +contadini and contadine in their festal attire, and they saluted us +graciously; but it was observable that one of the men generally lingered +on our track to see that no grapes were stolen, for there were a good +many young people and children in our train, not only our own, but some +from a neighboring villa. These Italian peasants are a kindly race, but, +I doubt, not very hospitable of grape or fig. + +There was a beautiful sunset, and by the time we reached the house again +the comet was already visible amid the unextinguished glow of daylight. +A Mr. and Mrs. B------, Scotch people from the next villa, had come to +see the Storys, and we sat till tea-time reading, talking, William Story +drawing caricatures for his children's amusement and ours, and all of us +sometimes getting up to look at the comet, which blazed brighter and +brighter till it went down into the mists of the horizon. Among the +caricatures was one of a Presidential candidate, evidently a man of very +malleable principles, and likely to succeed. + +Late in the evening (too late for little Rosebud) we drove homeward. The +streets of old Siena looked very grim at night, and it seemed like gazing +into caverns to glimpse down some of the side streets as we passed, with +a light burning dimly at the end of them. It was after ten when we +reached home, and climbed up our gloomy staircase, lighted by the glimmer +of some wax moccoli which I had in my pocket. + + +October 5th.--I have been two or three times into the cathedral; . . . . +the whole interior is of marble, in alternate lines of black and white, +each layer being about eight inches in width and extending horizontally. +It looks very curiously, and might remind the spectator of a stuff with +horizontal stripes. Nevertheless, the effect is exceedingly rich, these +alternate lines stretching away along the walls and round the clustered +pillars, seen aloft, and through the arches; everywhere, this inlay of +black and white. Every sort of ornament that could be thought of seems +to have been crammed into the cathedral in one place or another: gilding, +frescos, pictures; a roof of blue, spangled with golden stars; a +magnificent wheel-window of old painted glass over the entrance, and +another at the opposite end of the cathedral; statues, some of marble, +others of gilded bronze; pulpits of carved marble; a gilded organ; a +cornice of marble busts of the popes, extending round the entire church; +a pavement, covered all over with a strange kind of mosaic work in +various marbles, wrought into marble pictures of sacred subjects; immense +clustered pillars supporting the round arches that divide the nave from +the side aisles; a clere-story of windows within pointed arches;--it +seemed as if the spectator were reading an antique volume written in +black-letter of a small character, but conveying a high and solemn +meaning. I can find no way of expressing its effect on me, so quaint and +venerable as I feel this cathedral to be in its immensity of striped +waistcoat, now dingy with five centuries of wear. I ought not to say +anything that might detract from the grandeur and sanctity of the blessed +edifice, for these attributes are really uninjured by any of the Gothic +oddities which I have hinted at. + +We went this morning to the Institute of the Fine Arts, which is +interesting as containing a series of the works of the Sienese painters +from a date earlier than that of Cimabue. There is a dispute, I believe, +between Florence and Siena as to which city may claim the credit of +having originated the modern art of painting. The Florentines put +forward Cimabue as the first artist, but as the Sienese produce a +picture, by Guido da Siena, dated before the birth of Cimabue, the +victory is decidedly with them. As to pictorial merit, to my taste there +is none in either of these old painters, nor in any of their successors +for a long time afterwards. At the Institute there are several rooms +hung with early productions of the Sienese school, painted before the +invention of oil-colors, on wood shaped into Gothic altar-pieces. The +backgrounds still retain a bedimmed splendor of gilding. There is a +plentiful use of red, and I can conceive that the pictures must have shed +an illumination through the churches where they were displayed. There is +often, too, a minute care bestowed on the faces in the pictures, and +sometimes a very strong expression, stronger than modern artists get, and +it is very strange how they attained this merit while they were so +inconceivably rude in other respects. It is remarkable that all the +early faces of the Madonna are especially stupid, and all of the same +type, a sort of face such as one might carve on a pumpkin, representing a +heavy, sulky, phlegmatic woman, with a long and low arch of the nose. +This same dull face continues to be assigned to the Madonna, even when +the countenances of the surrounding saints and angels are characterized +with power and beauty, so that I think there must have been some portrait +of this sacred personage reckoned authentic, which the early painters +followed and religiously repeated. + +At last we came to a picture by Sodoma, the most illustrious +representative of the Sienese school. It was a fresco; Christ bound to +the pillar, after having been scourged. I do believe that painting has +never done anything better, so far as expression is concerned, than this +figure. In all these generations since it was painted it must have +softened thousands of hearts, drawn down rivers of tears, been more +effectual than a million of sermons. Really, it is a thing to stand and +weep at. No other painter has done anything that can deserve to be +compared to this. + +There are some other pictures by Sodoma, among them a Judith, very noble +and admirable, and full of a profound sorrow for the deed which she has +felt it her mission to do. + + +Aquila Nera, October 7th.--Our lodgings in Siena had been taken only for +five days, as they were already engaged after that period; so yesterday +we returned to our old quarters at the Black Eagle. + +In the forenoon J----- and I went out of one of the gates (the road from +it leads to Florence) and had a pleasant country walk. Our way wound +downward, round the hill on which Siena stands, and gave us views of the +Duomo and its campanile, seemingly pretty near, after we had walked long +enough to be quite remote from them. Sitting awhile on the parapet of a +bridge, I saw a laborer chopping the branches off a poplar-tree which he +had felled; and, when it was trimmed, he took up the large trunk on one +of his shoulders and carried it off, seemingly with ease. He did not +look like a particularly robust man; but I have never seen such an +herculean feat attempted by an Englishman or American. It has frequently +struck me that the Italians are able to put forth a great deal of +strength in such insulated efforts as this; but I have been told that +they are less capable of continued endurance and hardship than our own +race. I do not know why it should be so, except that I presume their +food is less strong than ours. There was no other remarkable incident in +our walk, which lay chiefly through gorges of the hills, winding beneath +high cliffs of the brown Siena earth, with many pretty scenes of rural +landscape; vineyards everywhere, and olive-trees; a mill on its little +stream, over which there was an old stone bridge, with a graceful arch; +farm-houses; a villa or two; subterranean passages, passing from the +roadside through the high banks into the vineyards. At last we turned +aside into a road which led us pretty directly to another gate of the +city, and climbed steeply upward among tanneries, where the young men +went about with their well-shaped legs bare, their trousers being tucked +up till they were strictly breeches and nothing else. The campanile +stood high above us; and by and by, and very soon, indeed, the steep +ascent of the street brought us into the neighborhood of the Piazza del +Campo, and of our own hotel. . . . From about twelve o'clock till one, +I sat at my chamber window watching the specimens of human life as +displayed in the Piazza Tolomei. [Here follow several pages of moving +objects.] . . . . Of course, a multitude of other people passed by, but +the curiousness of the catalogue is the prevalence of the martial and +religious elements. The general costume of the inhabitants is frocks or +sacks, loosely made, and rather shabby; often, shirt-sleeves; or the coat +hung over one shoulder. They wear felt hats and straw. People of +respectability seem to prefer cylinder hats, either black or drab, and +broadcloth frock-coats in the French fashion; but, like the rest, they +look a little shabby. Almost all the women wear shawls. Ladies in +swelling petticoats, and with fans, some of which are highly gilded, +appear. The people generally are not tall, but have a sufficient breadth +of shoulder; in complexion, similar to Americans; bearded, universally. +The vehicle used for driving is a little gig without a top; but these are +seldom seen, and still less frequently a cab or other carriages. The +gait of the people has not the energy of business or decided purpose. +Everybody appears to lounge, and to have time for a moment's chat, and a +disposition to rest, reason or none. + +After dinner I walked out of another gate of the city, and wandered among +some pleasant country lanes, bordered with hedges, and wearing an English +aspect; at least, I could fancy so. The vicinity of Siena is delightful +to walk about in; there being a verdant outlook, a wide prospect of +purple mountains, though no such level valley as the Val d' Arno; and the +city stands so high that its towers and domes are seen more picturesquely +from many points than those of Florence can be. Neither is the +pedestrian so cruelly shut into narrow lanes, between high stone-walls, +over which he cannot get a glimpse of landscape. As I walked by the +hedges yesterday I could have fancied that the olive-trunks were those of +apple-trees, and that I was in one or other of the two lands that I love +better than Italy. But the great white villas and the farm-houses were +unlike anything I have seen elsewhere, or that I should wish to see +again, though proper enough to Italy. + + +October 9th.--Thursday forenoon, 8th, we went to see the Palazzo Publico. +There are some fine old halls and chapels, adorned with ancient frescos +and pictures, of which I remember a picture of the Virgin by Sodoma, very +beautiful, and other fine pictures by the same master. The architecture +of these old rooms is grand, the roofs being supported by ponderous +arches, which are covered with frescos, still magnificent, though faded, +darkened, and defaced. We likewise saw an antique casket of wood, +enriched with gilding, which had once contained an arm of John the +Baptist,--so the custode told us. One of the halls was hung with the +portraits of eight popes and nearly forty cardinals, who were natives of +Siena. I have done hardly any other sight-seeing except a daily visit to +the cathedral, which I admire and love the more the oftener I go thither. +Its striped peculiarity ceases entirely to interfere with the grandeur +and venerable beauty of its impression; and I am never weary of gazing +through the vista of its arches, and noting continually something that I +had not seen before in its exuberant adornment. The pavement alone is +inexhaustible, being covered all over with figures of life-size or +larger, which look like immense engravings of Gothic or Scriptural +scenes. There is Absalom hanging by his hair, and Joab slaying him with +a spear. There is Samson belaboring the Philistines with the jawbone of +an ass. There are armed knights in the tumult of battle, all wrought +with wonderful expression. The figures are in white marble, inlaid with +darker stone, and the shading is effected by means of engraved lines in +the marble, filled in with black. It would be possible, perhaps, to +print impressions from some of these vast plates, for the process of +cutting the lines was an exact anticipation of the modern art of +engraving. However, the same thing was done--and I suppose at about the +same period--on monumental brasses, and I have seen impressions or +rubbings from those for sale in the old English churches. + +Yesterday morning, in the cathedral, I watched a woman at confession, +being curious to see how long it would take her to tell her sins, the +growth of a week perhaps. I know not how long she had been confessing +when I first observed her, but nearly an hour passed before the priest +came suddenly from the confessional, looking weary and moist with +perspiration, and took his way out of the cathedral. The woman was left +on her knees. This morning I watched another woman, and she too was very +long about it, and I could see the face of the priest behind the curtain +of the confessional, scarcely inclining his ear to the perforated tin +through which the penitent communicated her outpourings. It must be very +tedious to listen, day after day, to the minute and commonplace +iniquities of the multitude of penitents, and it cannot be often that +these are redeemed by the treasure-trove of a great sin. When her +confession was over the woman came and sat down on the same bench with +me, where her broad-brimmed straw hat was lying. She seemed to be a +country woman, with a simple, matronly face, which was solemnized and +softened with the comfort that she had obtained by disburdening herself +of the soil of worldly frailties and receiving absolution. An old woman, +who haunts the cathedral, whispered to her, and she went and knelt down +where a procession of priests were to pass, and then the old lady begged +a cruzia of me, and got a half-paul. It almost invariably happens, in +church or cathedral, that beggars address their prayers to the heretic +visitor, and probably with more unction than to the Virgin or saints. +However, I have nothing to say against the sincerity of this people's +devotion. They give all the proof of it that a mere spectator can +estimate. + +Last evening we all went out to see the comet, which then reached its +climax of lustre. It was like a lofty plume of fire, and grew very +brilliant as the night darkened. + + +October 10th.--This morning, too, we went to the cathedral, and sat long +listening to the music of the organ and voices, and witnessing rites and +ceremonies which are far older than even the ancient edifice where they +were exhibited. A good many people were present, sitting, kneeling, or +walking about,--a freedom that contrasts very agreeably with the grim +formalities of English churches and our own meeting-houses. Many persons +were in their best attire; but others came in, with unabashed simplicity, +in their old garments of labor, sunburnt women from their toil among the +vines and olives. One old peasant I noticed with his withered shanks in +breeches and blue yarn stockings. The people of whatever class are +wonderfully tolerant of heretics, never manifesting any displeasure or +annoyance, though they must see that we are drawn thither by curiosity +alone, and merely pry while they pray. I heartily wish the priests were +better men, and that human nature, divinely influenced, could be depended +upon for a constant supply and succession of good and pure ministers, +their religion has so many admirable points. And then it is a sad pity +that this noble and beautiful cathedral should be a mere fossil shell, +out of which the life has died long ago. But for many a year yet to come +the tapers will burn before the high altar, the Host will be elevated, +the incense diffuse its fragrance, the confessionals be open to receive +the penitents. I saw a father entering with two little bits of boys, +just big enough to toddle along, holding his hand on either side. The +father dipped his fingers into the marble font of holy water,--which, on +its pedestals, was two or three times as high as those small Christians, +--and wetted a hand of each, and taught them how to cross themselves. +When they come to be men it will be impossible to convince those children +that there is no efficacy in holy water, without plucking up all +religious faith and sentiment by the roots. Generally, I suspect, when +people throw off the faith they were born in, the best soil of their +hearts is apt to cling to its roots. + +Raised several feet above the pavement, against every clustered pillar +along the nave of the cathedral, is placed a statue of Gothic sculpture. +In various places are sitting statues of popes of Sienese nativity, all +of whom, I believe, have a hand raised in the act of blessing. Shrines +and chapels, set in grand, heavy frames of pillared architecture, stand +all along the aisles and transepts, and these seem in many instances to +have been built and enriched by noble families, whose arms are sculptured +on the pedestals of the pillars, sometimes with a cardinal's hat above to +denote the rank of one of its members. How much pride, love, and +reverence in the lapse of ages must have clung to the sharp points of all +this sculpture and architecture! The cathedral is a religion in itself, +--something worth dying for to those who have an hereditary interest in +it. In the pavement, yesterday, I noticed the gravestone of a person who +fell six centuries ago in the battle of Monte Aperto, and was buried here +by public decree as a meed of valor. + +This afternoon I took a walk out of one of the city gates, and found the +country about Siena as beautiful in this direction as in all others. I +came to a little stream flowing over into a pebbly bed, and collecting +itself into pools, with a scanty rivulet between. Its glen was deep, and +was crossed by a bridge of several lofty and narrow arches like those of +a Roman aqueduct. It is a modern structure, however. Farther on, as I +wound round along the base of a hill which fell down upon the road by +precipitous cliffs of brown earth, I saw a gray, ruined wall on the +summit, surrounded with cypress-trees. This tree is very frequent about +Siena, and the scenery is made soft and beautiful by a variety of other +trees and shrubbery, without which these hills and gorges would have +scarcely a charm. The road was thronged with country people, mostly +women and children, who had been spending the feast-day in Siena; and +parties of boys were chasing one another through the fields, pretty much +as boys do in New England of a Sunday, but the Sienese lads had not the +sense of Sabbath-breaking like our boys. Sunday with these people is +like any other feast-day, and consecrated cheerful enjoyment. So much +religious observance, as regards outward forms, is diffused through the +whole week that they have no need to intensify the Sabbath except by +making it gladden the other days. + +Returning through the same gate by which I had come out, I ascended into +the city by a long and steep street, which was paved with bricks set +edgewise. This pavement is common in many of the streets, which, being +too steep for horses and carriages, are meant only to sustain the lighter +tread of mules and asses. The more level streets are paved with broad, +smooth flag-stones, like those of Florence,--a fashion which I heartily +regret to change for the little penitential blocks of Rome. The walls of +Siena in their present state, and so far as I have seen them, are chiefly +brick; but there are intermingled fragments of ancient stone-work, and I +wonder why the latter does not prevail more largely. The Romans, +however,--and Siena had Roman characteristics,--always liked to build of +brick, a taste that has made their ruins (now that the marble slabs are +torn off) much less grand than they ought to have been. I am grateful to +the old Sienese for having used stone so largely in their domestic +architecture, and thereby rendered their city so grimly picturesque, with +its black palaces frowning upon one another from arched windows, across +narrow streets, to the height of six stories, like opposite ranks of tall +men looking sternly into one another's eyes. + + +October 11th.--Again I went to the cathedral this morning, and spent an +hour listening to the music and looking through the orderly intricacies +of the arches, where many vistas open away among the columns of the +choir. There are five clustered columns on each side of the nave; then +under the dome there are two more arches, not in a straight line, but +forming the segment of a circle; and beyond the circle of the dome there +are four more arches, extending to the extremity of the chancel. I +should have said, instead of "clustered columns" as above, that there are +five arches along the nave supported by columns. This cathedral has +certainly bewitched me, to write about it so much, effecting nothing with +my pains. I should judge the width of each arch to be about twenty feet, +and the thickness of each clustered pillar is eight; or ten more, and the +length of the entire building may be between two and three hundred feet; +not very large, certainly, but it makes an impression of grandeur +independent of size. . . . + +I never shall succeed even in reminding myself of the venerable +magnificence of this minster, with its arches, its columns, its cornice +of popes' heads, its great wheel windows, its manifold ornament, all +combining in one vast effect, though many men have labored individually, +and through a long course of time, to produce this multifarious handiwork +and headwork. + +I now took a walk out of the city. A road turned immediately to the left +as I emerged from the city, and soon proved to be a rustic lane leading +past several villas and farm-houses. It was a very pleasant walk, with +vineyards and olive-orchards on each side, and now and then glimpses of +the towers and sombre heaped-up palaces of Siena, and now a rural +seclusion again; for the hills rise and the valleys fall like the swell +and subsidence of the sea after a gale, so that Siena may be quite hidden +within a quarter of a mile of its wall, or may be visible, I doubt not, +twenty miles away. It is a fine old town, with every promise of health +and vigor in its atmosphere, and really, if I could take root anywhere, I +know not but it could as well be here as in another place. It would only +be a kind of despair, however, that would ever make me dream of finding a +home in Italy; a sense that I had lost my country through absence or +incongruity, and that earth is not an abiding-place. I wonder that we +Americans love our country at all, it having no limits and no oneness; +and when you try to make it a matter of the heart, everything falls away +except one's native State; neither can you seize hold of that unless you +tear it out of the Union, bleeding and quivering. Yet unquestionably, we +do stand by our national flag as stoutly as any people in the world, and +I myself have felt the heart throb at sight of it as sensibly as other +men. I think the singularity of our form of government contributes to +give us a kind of patriotism, by separating us from other nations more +entirely. If other nations had similar institutions,--if England, +especially, were a democracy,--we should as readily make ourselves at +home in another country as now in a new State. + + +October 12th.--And again we went to the cathedral this forenoon, and the +whole family, except myself, sketched portions of it. Even Rosebud stood +gravely sketching some of the inlaid figures of the pavement. As for me, +I can but try to preserve some memorial of this beautiful edifice in +ill-fitting words that never hit the mark. This morning visit was not my +final one, for I went again after dinner and walked quite round the whole +interior. I think I have not yet mentioned the rich carvings of the old +oaken seats round the choir, and the curious mosaic of lighter and darker +woods, by which figures and landscapes are skilfully represented on the +backs of some of the stalls. The process seems to be the same as the +inlaying and engraving of the pavement, the material in one case being +marble, in the other wood. The only other thing that I particularly +noticed was, that in the fonts of holy water at the front entrance, +marble fish are sculptured in the depths of the basin, and eels and +shellfish crawling round the brim. Have I spoken of the sumptuous +carving of the capitals of the columns? At any rate I have left a +thousand beauties without a word. Here I drop the subject. As I took my +parting glance the cathedral had a gleam of golden sunshine in its far +depths, and it seemed to widen and deepen itself, as if to convince me of +my error in saying, yesterday, that it is not very large. I wonder how I +could say it. + +After taking leave of the cathedral, I found my way out of another of the +city gates, and soon turned aside into a green lane. . . . Soon the +lane passed through a hamlet consisting of a few farm-houses, the +shabbiest and dreariest that can be conceived, ancient, and ugly, and +dilapidated, with iron-grated windows below, and heavy wooden shutters on +the windows above,--high, ruinous walls shutting in the courts, and +ponderous gates, one of which was off its hinges. The farm-yards were +perfect pictures of disarray and slovenly administration of home affairs. +Only one of these houses had a door opening on the road, and that was the +meanest in the hamlet. A flight of narrow stone stairs ascended from the +threshold to the second story. All these houses were specimens of a rude +antiquity, built of brick and stone, with the marks of arched doors and +windows where a subsequent generation had shut up the lights, or the +accesses which the original builders had opened. Humble as these +dwellings are,--though large and high compared with rural residences in +other countries,--they may very probably date back to the times when +Siena was a warlike republic, and when every house in its neighborhood +had need to be a fortress. I suppose, however, prowling banditti were +the only enemies against whom a defence would be attempted. What lives +must now be lived there,--in beastly ignorance, mental sluggishness, hard +toil for little profit, filth, and a horrible discomfort of fleas; for if +the palaces of Italy are overrun with these pests, what must the country +hovels be! . . . . + +We are now all ready for a start to-morrow. + + + +RADICOFANI. + + +October 13th.--We arranged to begin our journey at six. . . . It was a +chill, lowering morning, and the rain blew a little in our faces before +we had gone far, but did not continue long. The country soon lost the +pleasant aspect which it wears immediately about Siena, and grew very +barren and dreary. Then it changed again for the better, the road +leading us through a fertility of vines and olives, after which the +dreary and barren hills came back again, and formed our prospect +throughout most of the day. We stopped for our dejeuner a la fourchette +at a little old town called San Quirico, which we entered through a +ruined gateway, the town being entirely surrounded by its ancient wall. +This wall is far more picturesque than that of Siena, being lofty and +built of stone, with a machicolation of arches running quite round its +top, like a cornice. It has little more than a single street, perhaps a +quarter of a mile long, narrow, paved with flag-stones in the Florentine +fashion, and lined with two rows of tall, rusty stone houses, without a +gap between them from end to end. The cafes were numerous in relation to +the size of the town, and there were two taverns,--our own, the Eagle, +being doubtless the best, and having three arched entrances in its front. +Of these, the middle one led to the guests' apartments, the one on the +right to the barn, and that on the left to the stable, so that, as is +usual in Italian inns, the whole establishment was under one roof. We +were shown into a brick-paved room on the first floor, adorned with a +funny fresco of Aurora on the ceiling, and with some colored prints, both +religious and profane. . . . + +As we drove into the town we noticed a Gothic church with two doors of +peculiar architecture, and while our dejeuner was being prepared we went +to see it. The interior had little that was remarkable, for it had been +repaired early in the last century, and spoilt of course; but an old +triptych is still hanging in a chapel beside the high altar. It is +painted on wood, and dates back beyond the invention of oil-painting, and +represents the Virgin and some saints and angels. Neither is the +exterior of the church particularly interesting, with the exception of +the carving and ornaments of two of the doors. Both of them have round +arches, deep and curiously wrought, and the pillars of one of the two are +formed of a peculiar knot or twine in stone-work, such as I cannot well +describe, but it is both ingenious and simple. These pillars rest on two +nondescript animals, which look as much like walruses as anything else. +The pillars of the other door consist of two figures supporting the +capitals, and themselves standing on two handsomely carved lions. The +work is curious, and evidently very ancient, and the material a red +freestone. + +After lunch, J----- and I took a walk out of the gate of the town +opposite to that of our entrance. There were no soldiers on guard, as at +city gates of more importance; nor do I think that there is really any +gate to shut, but the massive stone gateway still stands entire over the +empty arch. Looking back after we had passed through, I observed that +the lofty upper story is converted into a dove-cot, and that pumpkins +were put to ripen in some open chambers at one side. We passed near the +base of a tall, square tower, which is said to be of Roman origin. The +little town is in the midst of a barren region, but its immediate +neighborhood is fertile, and an olive-orchard, venerable of aspect, lay +on the other side of the pleasant lane with its English hedges, and +olive-trees grew likewise along the base of the city wall. The arched +machicolations, which I have before mentioned, were here and there +interrupted by a house which was built upon the old wall or incorporated +into it; and from the windows of one of then I saw ears of Indian corn +hung out to ripen in the sun, and somebody was winnowing grain at a +little door that opened through the wall. It was very pleasant to see +the ancient warlike rampart thus overcome with rustic peace. The ruined +gateway is partly overgrown with ivy. + +Returning to our inn, along the street, we saw ------ sketching one of +the doors of the Gothic church, in the midst of a crowd of the good +people of San Quirico, who made no scruple to look over her shoulder, +pressing so closely as hardly to allow her elbow-room. I must own that I +was too cowardly to come forward and take my share of this public notice, +so I turned away to the inn and there awaited her coming. Indeed, she +has seldom attempted to sketch without finding herself the nucleus of a +throng. + + + +VITERBO. + + +The Black Eagle, October 14th.--Perhaps I had something more to say of +San Quirico, but I shall merely add that there is a stately old palace of +the Piccolomini close to the church above described. It is built in the +style of the Roman palaces, and looked almost large enough to be one of +them. Nevertheless, the basement story, or part of it, seems to be used +as a barn and stable, for I saw a yoke of oxen in the entrance. I cannot +but mention a most wretched team of vettura-horses which stopped at the +door of our albergo: poor, lean, downcast creatures, with deep furrows +between their ribs; nothing but skin and bone, in short, and not even so +much skin as they should have had, for it was partially worn off from +their backs. The harness was fastened with ropes, the traces and reins +were ropes; the carriage was old and shabby, and out of this miserable +equipage there alighted an ancient gentleman and lady, whom our waiter +affirmed to be the Prefect of Florence and his wife. + +We left San Quirico at two o'clock, and followed an ascending road till +we got into the region above the clouds; the landscape was very wide, but +very dreary and barren, and grew more and more so till we began to climb +the mountain of Radicofani, the peak of which had been blackening itself +on the horizon almost the whole day. When we had come into a pretty high +region we were assailed by a real mountain tempest of wind, rain, and +hail, which pelted down upon us in good earnest, and cooled the air a +little below comfort. As we toiled up the mountain its upper region +presented a very striking aspect, looking as if a precipice had been +smoothed and squared for the purpose of rendering the old castle on its +summit more inaccessible than it was by nature. This is the castle of +the robber-knight, Ghino di Tacco, whom Boccaccio introduces into the +Decameron. A freebooter of those days must have set a higher value on +such a rock as this than if it had been one mass of diamond, for no art +of mediaeval warfare could endanger him in such a fortress. Drawing yet +nearer, we found the hillside immediately above us strewn with thousands +upon thousands of great fragments of stone. It looked as if some great +ruin had taken place there, only it was too vast a ruin to have been the +dismemberment and dissolution of anything made by man. + +We could now see the castle on the height pretty distinctly. It seemed +to impend over the precipice; and close to the base of the latter we saw +the street of a town on as strange and inconvenient a foundation as ever +one was built upon. I suppose the inhabitants of the village were +dependants of the old knight of the castle; his brotherhood of robbers, +as they married and had families, settled there under the shelter of the +eagle's nest. But the singularity is, how a community of people have +contrived to live and perpetuate themselves so far out of the reach of +the world's help, and seemingly with no means of assisting in the world's +labor. I cannot imagine how they employ themselves except in begging, +and even that branch of industry appears to be left to the old women and +the children. No house was ever built in this immediate neighborhood for +any such natural purpose as induces people to build them on other sites. +Even our hotel, at which we now arrived, could not be said to be a +natural growth of the soil; it had originally been a whim of one of the +Grand Dukes of Tuscany,--a hunting-palace,--intended for habitation only +during a few weeks of the year. Of all dreary hotels I ever alighted at, +methinks this is the most so; but on first arriving I merely followed the +waiter to look at our rooms, across stone-paved basement-halls dismal as +Etruscan tombs; up dim staircases, and along shivering corridors, all of +stone, stone, stone, nothing but cold stone. After glancing at these +pleasant accommodations, my wife and I, with J-----, set out to ascend +the hill and visit the town of Radicofani. + +It is not more than a quarter of a mile above our hotel, and is +accessible by a good piece of road, though very steep. As we approached +the town, we were assailed by some little beggars; but this is the case +all through Italy, in city or solitude, and I think the mendicants of +Radicofani are fewer than its proportion. We had not got far towards the +village, when, looking back over the scene of many miles that lay +stretched beneath us, we saw a heavy shower apparently travelling +straight towards us over hill and dale. It seemed inevitable that it +should soon be upon us, so I persuaded my wife to return to the hotel; +but J----- and I kept onward, being determined to see Radicofani with or +without a drenching. We soon entered the street; the blackest, ugliest, +rudest old street, I do believe, that ever human life incrusted itself +with. The first portion of it is the overbrimming of the town in +generations subsequent to that in which it was surrounded by a wall; but +after going a little way we came to a high, square tower planted right +across the way, with an arched gateway in its basement story, so that it +looked like a great short-legged giant striding over the street of +Radicofani. Within the gateway is the proper and original town, though +indeed the portion outside of the gate is as densely populated, as ugly, +and as ancient, as that within. + +The street was very narrow, and paved with flag-stones not quite so +smooth as those of Florence; the houses are tall enough to be stately, if +they were not so inconceivably dingy and shabby; but, with their +half-dozen stories, they make only the impression of hovel piled upon +hovel,--squalor immortalized in undecaying stone. It was now getting far +into the twilight, and I could not distinguish the particularities of the +little town, except that there were shops, a cafe or two, and as many +churches, all dusky with age, crowded closely together, inconvenient +stifled too in spite of the breadth and freedom of the mountain +atmosphere outside the scanty precincts of the street. It was a +death-in-life little place, a fossilized place, and yet the street was +thronged, and had all the bustle of a city; even more noise than a city's +street, because everybody in Radicofani knows everybody, and probably +gossips with everybody, being everybody's blood relation, as they cannot +fail to have become after they and their forefathers have been shut up +together within the narrow walls for many hundred years. They looked +round briskly at J----- and me, but were courteous, as Italians always +are, and made way for us to pass through the throng, as we kept on still +ascending the steep street. It took us but a few minutes to reach the +still steeper and winding pathway which climbs towards the old castle. + +After ascending above the village, the path, though still paved, becomes +very rough, as if the hoofs of Ghino di Tacco's robber cavalry had +displaced the stones and they had never been readjusted. On every side, +too, except where the path just finds space enough, there is an enormous +rubbish of huge stones, which seems to have fallen from the precipice +above, or else to have rained down out of the sky. We kept on, and by +and by reached what seemed to have been a lower outwork of the castle on +the top; there was the massive old arch of a gateway, and a great deal of +ruin of man's work, beside the large stones that here, as elsewhere, were +scattered so abundantly. Within the wall and gateway just mentioned, +however, there was a kind of farm-house, adapted, I suppose, out of the +old ruin, and I noticed some ears of Indian corn hanging out of a window. +There were also a few stacks of hay, but no signs of human or animal +life; and it is utterly inexplicable to me, where these products of the +soil could have come from, for certainly they never grew amid that +barrenness. + +We had not yet reached Ghino's castle, and, being now beneath it, we had +to bend our heads far backward to see it rising up against the clear sky +while we were now in twilight. The path upward looked terribly steep and +rough, and if we had climbed it we should probably have broken our necks +in descending again into the lower obscurity. We therefore stopped here, +much against J-----'s will, and went back as we came, still wondering at +the strange situation of Radicofani; for its aspect is as if it had +stepped off the top of the cliff and lodged at its base, though still in +danger of sliding farther down the hillside. Emerging from the compact, +grimy life of its street, we saw that the shower had swept by, or +probably had expended itself in a region beneath us, for we were above +the scope of many of the showery clouds that haunt a hill-country. There +was a very bright star visible, I remember, and we saw the new moon, now +a third towards the full, for the first time this evening. The air was +cold and bracing. + +But I am excessively sleepy, so will not describe our great dreary hotel, +where a blast howled in an interminable corridor all night. It did not +seem to have anything to do with the wind out of doors, but to be a blast +that had been casually shut in when the doors were closed behind the last +Grand Duke who came hither and departed, and ever since it has been kept +prisoner, and makes a melancholy wail along the corridor. The dreamy +stupidity of this conceit proves how sleepy I am. + + + +SETTE VENE. + + +October 15th.--We left Radicofani long before sunrise, and I saw that +ceremony take place from the coupe of the vettura for the first time in a +long while. A sunset is the better sight of the two. I have always +suspected it, and have been strengthened in the idea whenever I have had +an opportunity of comparison. Our departure from Radicofani was most +dreary, except that we were very glad to get away; but, the cold +discomfort of dressing in a chill bedroom by candlelight, and our +uncertain wandering through the immense hotel with a dim taper in search +of the breakfast-room, and our poor breakfast of eggs, Italian bread, and +coffee,--all these things made me wish that people were created with +roots like trees, so they could not befool themselves with wandering +about. However, we had not long been on our way before the morning air +blew away all our troubles, and we rumbled cheerfully onward, ready to +encounter even the papal custom-house officers at Ponte Centino. Our +road thither was a pretty steep descent. I remember the barren landscape +of hills, with here and there a lonely farm-house, which there seemed to +be no occasion for, where nothing grew. + +At Ponte Centino my passport was examined, and I was invited into an +office where sat the papal custom-house officer, a thin, subtle-looking, +keen-eyed, sallow personage, of aspect very suitable to be the agent of a +government of priests. I communicated to him my wish to pass the +custom-house without giving the officers the trouble of examining my +luggage. He inquired whether I had any dutiable articles, and wrote for +my signature a declaration in the negative; and then he lifted a +sand-box, beneath which was a little heap of silver coins. On this +delicate hint I asked what was the usual fee, and was told that fifteen +pauls was the proper sum. I presume it was entirely an illegal charge, +and that he had no right to pass any luggage without examination; but the +thing is winked at by the authorities, and no money is better spent for +the traveller's convenience than these fifteen pauls. There was a papal +military officer in the room, and he, I believe, cheated me in the change +of a Napoleon, as his share of the spoil. At the door a soldier met me +with my passport, and looked as if he expected a fee for handing it to +me; but in this he was disappointed. After I had resumed my seat in the +coupe, the porter of the custom-house--a poor, sickly-looking creature, +half dead with the malaria of the place--appeared, and demanded a fee for +doing nothing to my luggage. He got three pauls, and looked but half +contented. This whole set of men seem to be as corrupt as official +people can possibly be; and yet I hardly know whether to stigmatize them +as corrupt, because it is not their individual delinquency, but the +operation of a regular system. Their superiors know what men they are, +and calculate upon their getting a living by just these means. And, +indeed, the custom-house and passport regulations, as they exist in +Italy, would be intolerable if there were not this facility of evading +them at little cost. Such laws are good for nothing but to be broken. + +We now began to ascend again, and the country grew fertile and +picturesque. We passed many mules and donkeys, laden with a sort of deep +firkin on each side of the saddle, and these were heaped up with grapes, +both purple and white. We bought some, and got what we should have +thought an abundance at small price, only we used to get twice as many at +Montanto for the same money. However, a Roman paul bought us three or +four pounds even here. We still ascended, and came soon to the gateway +of the town of Acquapendente, which stands on a height that seems to +descend by natural terraces to the valley below. . . . + +French soldiers, in their bluish-gray coats and scarlet trousers, were on +duty at the gate, and one of them took my passport and the vetturino's, +and we then drove into the town to wait till they should be vised. We +saw but one street, narrow, with tall, rusty, aged houses, built of +stone, evil smelling; in short, a kind of place that would be intolerably +dismal in cloudy England, and cannot be called cheerful even under the +sun of Italy. . . . Priests passed, and burly friars, one of whom was +carrying a wine-barrel on his head. Little carts, laden with firkins of +grapes, and donkeys with the same genial burden, brushed passed our +vettura, finding scarce room enough in the narrow street. All the idlers +of Acquapendente--and they were many--assembled to gaze at us, but not +discourteously. Indeed, I never saw an idle curiosity exercised in such +a pleasant way as by the country-people of Italy. It almost deserves to +be called a kindly interest and sympathy, instead of a hard and cold +curiosity, like that of our own people, and it is displayed with such +simplicity that it is evident no offence is intended. + +By and by the vetturino brought his passport and my own, with the +official vise, and we kept on our way, still ascending, passing through +vineyards and olives, and meeting grape-laden donkeys, till we came to +the town of San Lorenzo Nuovo, a place built by Pius VI. as the refuge +for the people of a lower town which had been made uninhabitable by +malaria. The new town, which I suppose is hundreds of years old, with +all its novelty shows strikingly the difference between places that grow +up and shape out their streets of their own accord, as it were, and one +that is built on a settled plan of malice aforethought. This little +rural village has gates of classic architecture, a spacious piazza, and a +great breadth of straight and rectangular streets, with houses of uniform +style, airy and wholesome looking to a degree seldom seen on the +Continent. Nevertheless, I must say that the town looked hatefully dull +and ridiculously prim, and, of the two, I had rather spend my life in +Radicofani. We drove through it, from gate to gate, without stopping, +and soon came to the brow of a hill, whence we beheld, right beneath us, +the beautiful lake of Bolsena; not exactly at our feet, however, for a +portion of level ground lay between, haunted by the pestilence which has +depopulated all these shores, and made the lake and its neighborhood a +solitude. It looked very beautiful, nevertheless, with a sheen of a +silver mid a gray like that of steel as the wind blew and the sun shone +over it; and, judging by my own feelings, I should really have thought +that the breeze from its surface was bracing and healthy. + +Descending the hill, we passed the ruins of the old town of San Lorenzo, +of which the prim village on the hill-top may be considered the daughter. +There is certainly no resemblance between parent and child, the former +being situated on a sort of precipitous bluff, where there could have +been no room for piazzas and spacious streets, nor accessibility except +by mules, donkeys, goats, and people of Alpine habits. There was an +ivy-covered tower on the top of the bluff, and some arched cavern mouths +that looked as if they opened into the great darkness. These were the +entrances to Etruscan tombs, for the town on top had been originally +Etruscan, and the inhabitants had buried themselves in the heart of the +precipitous bluffs after spending their lives on its summit. + +Reaching the plain, we drove several miles along the shore of the lake, +and found the soil fertile and generally well cultivated, especially with +the vine, though there were tracks apparently too marshy to be put to any +agricultural purpose. We met now and then a flock of sheep, watched by +sallow-looking and spiritless men and boys, who, we took it for granted, +would soon perish of malaria, though, I presume, they never spend their +nights in the immediate vicinity of the lake. I should like to inquire +whether animals suffer from the bad qualities of the air. The lake is +not nearly so beautiful on a nearer view as it is from the hill above, +there being no rocky margin, nor bright, sandy beach, but everywhere this +interval of level ground, and often swampy marsh, betwixt the water and +the hill. At a considerable distance from the shore we saw two islands, +one of which is memorable as having been the scene of an empress's +murder, but I cannot stop to fill my journal with historical +reminiscences. + +We kept onward to the town of Bolsena, which stands nearly a mile from +the lake, and on a site higher than the level margin, yet not so much so, +I should apprehend, as to free it from danger of malaria. We stopped at +an albergo outside of the wall of the town, and before dinner had time to +see a good deal of the neighborhood. The first aspect of the town was +very striking, with a vista into its street through the open gateway, and +high above it an old, gray, square-built castle, with three towers +visible at the angles, one of them battlemented, one taller than the +rest, and one partially ruined. Outside of the town-gate there were some +fragments of Etruscan ruin, capitals of pillars and altars with +inscriptions; these we glanced at, and then made our entrance through the +gate. + +There it was again,--the same narrow, dirty, time-darkened street of +piled-up houses which we have so often seen; the same swarm of ill-to-do +people, grape-laden donkeys, little stands or shops of roasted chestnuts, +peaches, tomatoes, white and purple figs; the same evidence of a fertile +land, and grimy poverty in the midst of abundance which nature tries to +heap into their hands. It seems strange that they can never grasp it. + +We had gone but a little way along this street, when we saw a narrow lane +that turned aside from it and went steeply upward. Its name was on the +corner,--the Via di Castello,--and as the castle promised to be more +interesting than anything else, we immediately began to ascend. The +street--a strange name for such an avenue--clambered upward in the oddest +fashion, passing under arches, scrambling up steps, so that it was more +like a long irregular pair of stairs than anything that Christians call a +street; and so large a part of it was under arches that we scarcely +seemed to be out of doors. At last U----, who was in advance, emerged +into the upper air, and cried out that we had ascended to an upper town, +and a larger one than that beneath. + +It really seemed like coming up out of the earth into the midst of the +town, when we found ourselves so unexpectedly in upper Bolsena. We were +in a little nook, surrounded by old edifices, and called the Piazza del +Orologio, on account of a clock that was apparent somewhere. The castle +was close by, and from its platform there was a splendid view of the lake +and all the near hill-country. The castle itself is still in good +condition, and apparently as strong as ever it was as respects the +exterior walls; but within there seemed to be neither floor nor chamber, +nothing but the empty shell of the dateless old fortress. The stones at +the base and lower part of the building were so massive that I should +think the Etrurians must have laid them; and then perhaps the Romans +built a little higher, and the mediaeval people raised the battlements +and towers. But we did not look long at the castle, our attention being +drawn to the singular aspect of the town itself, which--to speak first of +its most prominent characteristic--is the very filthiest place, I do +believe, that was ever inhabited by man. Defilement was everywhere; in +the piazza, in nooks and corners, strewing the miserable lanes from side +to side, the refuse of every day, and of accumulated ages. I wonder +whether the ancient Romans were as dirty a people as we everywhere find +those who have succeeded them; for there seems to have been something in +the places that have been inhabited by Romans, or made famous in their +history, and in the monuments of every kind that they have raised, that +puts people in mind of their very earthliness, and incites them to defile +therewith whatever temple, column, ruined palace, or triumphal arch may +fall in their way. I think it must be an hereditary trait, probably +weakened and robbed of a little of its horror by the influence of milder +ages; and I am much afraid that Caesar trod narrower and fouler ways in +his path to power than those of modern Rome, or even of this disgusting +town of Bolsena. I cannot imagine anything worse than these, however. +Rotten vegetables thrown everywhere about, musty straw, standing puddles, +running rivulets of dissolved nastiness,--these matters were a relief +amid viler objects. The town was full of great black hogs wallowing +before every door, and they grunted at us with a kind of courtesy and +affability as if the town were theirs, and it was their part to be +hospitable to strangers. Many donkeys likewise accosted us with braying; +children, growing more uncleanly every day they lived, pestered us with +begging; men stared askance at us as they lounged in corners, and women +endangered us with slops which they were flinging from doorways into the +street. No decent words can describe, no admissible image can give an +idea of this noisome place. And yet, I remember, the donkeys came up the +height loaded with fruit, and with little flat-sided barrels of wine; the +people had a good atmosphere--except as they polluted it themselves--on +their high site, and there seemed to be no reason why they should not +live a beautiful and jolly life. + +I did not mean to write such an ugly description as the above, but it is +well, once for all, to have attempted conveying an idea of what disgusts +the traveller, more or less, in all these Italian towns. Setting aside +this grand characteristic, the upper town of Bolsena is a most curious +and interesting place. It was originally an Etruscan city, the ancient +Volsinii, and when taken and destroyed by the Romans was said to contain +two thousand statues. Afterwards the Romans built a town upon the site, +including, I suppose, the space occupied by the lower city, which looks +as if it had brimmed over like Radicofani, and fallen from the +precipitous height occupied by the upper. The latter is a strange +confusion of black and ugly houses, piled massively out of the ruins of +former ages, built rudely and without plan, as a pauper would build his +hovel, and yet with here and there an arched gateway, a cornice, a +pillar, that might have adorned a palace. . . . The streets are the +narrowest I have seen anywhere,--of no more width, indeed, than may +suffice for the passage of a donkey with his panniers. They wind in and +out in strange confusion, and hardly look like streets at all, but, +nevertheless, have names printed on the corners, just as if they were +stately avenues. After looking about us awhile and drawing half-breaths +so as to take in the less quantity of gaseous pollution, we went back to +the castle, and descended by a path winding downward from it into the +plain outside of the town-gate. + +It was now dinner-time, . . . . and we had, in the first place, some fish +from the pestiferous lake; not, I am sorry to say, the famous stewed eels +which, Dante says, killed Pope Martin, but some trout. . . . By the by, +the meal was not dinner, but our midday colazione. After despatching it, +we again wandered forth and strolled round the outside of the lower town, +which, with the upper one, made as picturesque a combination as could be +desired. The old wall that surrounds the lower town has been +appropriated, long since, as the back wall of a range of houses; windows +have been pierced through it; upper chambers and loggie have been built +upon it; so that it looks something like a long row of rural dwellings +with one continuous front or back, constructed in a strange style of +massive strength, contrasting with the vines that here and there are +trained over it, and with the wreaths of yellow corn that hang from the +windows. But portions of the old battlements are interspersed with the +line of homely chambers and tiled house-tops. Within the wall the town +is very compact, and above its roofs rises a rock, the sheer, precipitous +bluff on which stands the upper town, whose foundations impend over the +highest roof in the lower. At one end is the old castle, with its towers +rising above the square battlemented mass of the main fortress; and if we +had not seen the dirt and squalor that dwells within this venerable +outside, we should have carried away a picture of gray, grim dignity, +presented by a long past age to the present one, to put its mean ways and +modes to shame. ------ sat diligently sketching, and children came about +her, exceedingly unfragrant, but very courteous and gentle, looking over +her shoulders, and expressing delight as they saw each familiar edifice +take its place in the sketch. They are a lovable people, these Italians, +as I find from almost all with whom we come in contact; they have great +and little faults, and no great virtues that I know of; but still are +sweet, amiable, pleasant to encounter, save when they beg, or when you +have to bargain with them. + +We left Bolsena and drove to Viterbo, passing the gate of the picturesque +town of Montefiascone, over the wall of which I saw spires and towers, +and the dome of a cathedral. I was sorry not to taste, in its own town, +the celebrated est, which was the death-draught of the jolly prelate. At +Viterbo, however, I called for some wine of Montefiascone, and had a +little straw-covered flask, which the waiter assured us was the genuine +est-wine. It was of golden color, and very delicate, somewhat resembling +still champagne, but finer, and requiring a calmer pause to appreciate +its subtle delight. Its good qualities, however, are so evanescent, that +the finer flavor became almost imperceptible before we finished the +flask. + +Viterbo is a large, disagreeable town, built at the foot of a mountain, +the peak of which is seen through the vista of some of the narrow streets. + +There are more fountains in Viterbo than I have seen in any other city of +its size, and many of them of very good design. Around most of them +there were wine-hogsheads, waiting their turn to be cleansed and rinsed, +before receiving the wine of the present vintage. Passing a doorway, +J----- saw some men treading out the grapes in a great vat with their +naked feet. + +Among the beggars here, the loudest and most vociferous was a crippled +postilion, wearing his uniform jacket, green, faced with red; and he +seemed to consider himself entitled still to get his living from +travellers, as having been disabled in the way of his profession. I +recognized his claim, and was rewarded with a courteous and grateful bow +at our departure. . . . To beggars--after my much experience both in +England and Italy--I give very little, though I am not certain that it +would not often be real beneficence in the latter country. There being +little or no provision for poverty and age, the poor must often suffer. +Nothing can be more earnest than their entreaties for aid; nothing +seemingly more genuine than their gratitude when they receive it. + +They return you the value of their alms in prayers, and say, "God will +accompany you." Many of them have a professional whine, and a certain +doleful twist of the neck and turn of the head, which hardens my heart +against them at once. A painter might find numerous models among them, +if canvas had not already been more than sufficiently covered with their +style of the picturesque. There is a certain brick-dust colored cloak +worn in Viterbo, not exclusively by beggars, which, when ragged enough, +is exceedingly artistic. + + + +ROME. + + +68 Piazza Poli, October 17th.--We left Viterbo on the 15th, and +proceeded, through Monterosi, to Sette Verse. There was nothing +interesting at Sette Verse, except an old Roman bridge, of a single arch, +which had kept its sweep, composed of one row of stones, unbroken for two +or more thousand years, and looked just as strong as ever, though gray +with age, and fringed with plants that found it hard to fix themselves in +its close crevices. + +The next day we drove along the Cassian Way towards Rome. It was a most +delightful morning, a genial atmosphere; the more so, I suppose, because +this was the Campagna, the region of pestilence and death. I had a +quiet, gentle, comfortable pleasure, as if, after many wanderings, I was +drawing near Rome, for, now that I have known it once, Rome certainly +does draw into itself my heart, as I think even London, or even little +Concord itself, or old sleepy Salem, never did and never will. Besides, +we are to stay here six months, and we had now a house all prepared to +receive us; so that this present approach, in the noontide of a genial +day, was most unlike our first one, when we crept towards Rome through +the wintry midnight, benumbed with cold, ill, weary, and not knowing +whither to betake ourselves. Ah! that was a dismal tine! One thing, +however, that disturbed even my present equanimity a little was the +necessity of meeting the custom-house at the Porta del Popolo; but my +past experience warranted me in believing that even these ogres might be +mollified by the magic touch of a scudo; and so it proved. We should +have escaped any examination at all, the officer whispered me, if his +superior had not happened to be present; but, as the case stood, they +took down only one trunk from the top of the vettura, just lifted the +lid, closed it again, and gave us permission to proceed. So we came to +68 Piazza Poli, and found ourselves at once at home, in such a +comfortable, cosey little house, as I did not think existed in Rome. + +I ought to say a word about our vetturino, Constantino Bacci, an +excellent and most favorable specimen of his class; for his magnificent +conduct, his liberality, and all the good qualities that ought to be +imperial, S----- called him the Emperor. He took us to good hotels, and +feasted us with the best; he was kind to us all, and especially to little +Rosebud, who used to run by his side, with her small white hand in his +great brown one; he was cheerful in his deportment, and expressed his +good spirits by the smack of his whip, which is the barometer of a +vetturino's inward weather; he drove admirably, and would rumble up to +the door of an albergo, and stop to a hair's-breadth just where it was +most convenient for us to alight; he would hire postilions and horses, +where other vetturini would take nothing better than sluggish oxen, to +help us up the hilly roads, so that sometimes we had a team of seven; he +did all that we could possibly require of him, and was content and more, +with a buon mono of five scudi, in addition to the stipulated price. +Finally, I think the tears had risen almost to his eyelids when we parted +with him. + +Our friends, the Thompsons, through whose kindness we procured this +house, called to see us soon after our arrival. In the afternoon, I +walked with Rosebud to the Medici Gardens, and on our way thither, we +espied our former servant, Lalla, who flung so many and such bitter +curses after us, on our departure from Rome, sitting at her father's +fruit-stall. Thank God, they have not taken effect. After going to the +Medici, we went to the Pincian Gardens, and looked over into the Borghese +grounds, which, methought, were more beautiful than ever. The same was +true of the sky, and of every object beneath it; and as we came homeward +along the Corso, I wondered at the stateliness and palatial magnificence +of that noble street. Once, I remember, I thought it narrow, and far +unworthy of its fame. + +In the way of costume, the men in goat-skin breeches, whom we met on the +Campagna, were very striking, and looked like Satyrs. + + +October 21st.--. . . . I have been twice to St. Peter's, and was +impressed more than at any former visit by a sense of breadth and +loftiness, and, as it were, a visionary splendor and magnificence. I +also went to the Museum of the Capitol; and the statues seemed to me more +beautiful than formerly, and I was not sensible of the cold despondency +with which I have so often viewed them. Yesterday we went to the Corsini +Palace, which we had not visited before. It stands in the Trastevere, in +the Longara, and is a stately palace, with a grand staircase, leading to +the first floor, where is situated the range of picture-rooms. There +were a good many fine pictures, but none of them have made a memorable +impression on my mind, except a portrait by Vandyke, of a man in +point-lace, very grand and very real. The room in which this picture +hung had many other portraits by Holbein, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, and +other famous painters, and was wonderfully rich in this department. In +another, there was a portrait of Pope Julius II., by Raphael, somewhat +differing from those at the Pitti and the Uffizi galleries in Florence, +and those I have seen in England and Paris; thinner, paler, perhaps +older, more severely intellectual, but at least, as high a work of art as +those. + +The palace has some handsome old furniture, and gilded chairs, covered +with leather cases, possibly relics of Queen Christina's time, who died +here. I know not but the most curious object was a curule chair of +marble, sculptured all out of one piece, and adorned with bas-reliefs. +It is supposed to be Etruscan. It has a circular back, sweeping round, +so as to afford sufficient rests for the elbows; and, sitting down in it, +I discovered that modern ingenuity has not made much real improvement on +this chair of three or four thousand years ago. But some chairs are +easier for the moment, yet soon betray you, and grow the more irksome. + +We strolled along Longara, and found the piazza of St. Peter's full of +French soldiers at their drill. . . . We went quite round the interior +of the church, and perceiving the pavement loose and broken near the +altar where Guido's Archangel is placed, we picked up some bits of rosso +antico and gray marble, to be set in brooches, as relics. + +We have the snuggest little set of apartments in Rome, seven rooms, +including an antechamber; and though the stairs are exceedingly narrow, +there is really a carpet on them,--a civilized comfort, of which the +proudest palaces in the Eternal City cannot boast. The stairs are very +steep, however, and I should not wonder if some of us broke our noses +down them. Narrowness of space within doors strikes us all rather +ludicrously, yet not unpleasantly, after being accustomed to the wastes +and deserts of the Montanto Villa. It is well thus to be put in training +for the over-snugness of our cottage in Concord. Our windows here look +out on a small and rather quiet piazza, with an immense palace on the +left hand, and a smaller yet statelier one on the right, and just round +the corner of the street, leading out of our piazza, is the Fountain of +Trevi, of which I can hear the plash in the evening, when other sounds +are hushed. + +Looking over what I have said of Sodoma's "Christ Bound," at Sierra, I +see that I have omitted to notice what seems to me one of its most +striking characteristics,--its loneliness. You feel as if the Saviour +were deserted, both in heaven and earth; the despair is in him which made +him say, "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Even in this extremity, +however, he is still Divine, and Sodoma almost seems to have reconciled +the impossibilities of combining an omnipresent divinity with a suffering +and outraged humanity. But this is one of the cases in which the +spectator's imagination completes what the artist merely hints at. + +Mr. ------, the sculptor, called to see us, the other evening, and quite +paid Powers off for all his trenchant criticisms on his brother artists. +He will not allow Powers to be an artist at all, or to know anything of +the laws of art, although acknowledging him to be a great bust-maker, and +to have put together the Greek Slave and the Fisher-Boy very ingeniously. +The latter, however (he says), is copied from the Apollino in the Tribune +of the Uzi; and the former is made up of beauties that had no reference +to one another; and he affirms that Powers is ready to sell, and has +actually sold, the Greek Slave, limb by limb, dismembering it by +reversing the process of putting it together,--a head to one purchaser, +an arm or a foot to another, a hand to a third. Powers knows nothing +scientifically of the human frame, and only succeeds in representing it +as a natural bone-doctor succeeds in setting a dislocated limb by a happy +accident or special providence. (The illustration was my own, and +adopted by Mr. ------.) Yet Mr. ------ seems to acknowledge that he did +succeed. I repeat these things only as another instance how invariably +every sculptor uses his chisel and mallet to smash and deface the +marble-work of every other. I never heard Powers speak of Mr. ------, +but can partly imagine what he would have said. + +Mr. ------ spoke of Powers's disappointment about the +twenty-five-thousand-dollar appropriation from Congress, and said that he +was altogether to blame, inasmuch as he attempted to sell to the nation +for that sum a statue which, to Mr. ------'s certain knowledge, he had +already offered to private persons for a fifth part of it. I have not +implicit faith in Mr. ------'s veracity, and doubt not Powers acted +fairly in his own eyes. + + +October 23d.--I am afraid I have caught one of the colds which the Roman +air continually affected me with last winter; at any rate, a sirocco has +taken the life out of me, and I have no spirit to do anything. This +morning I took a walk, however, out of the Porta Maggiore, and looked at +the tomb of the baker Eurysaces, just outside of the gate,--a very +singular ruin covered with symbols of the man's trade in stone-work, and +with bas-reliefs along the cornice, representing people at work, making +bread. An inscription states that the ashes of his wife are likewise +reposited there, in a bread-basket. The mausoleum is perhaps twenty feet +long, in its largest extent, and of equal height; and if good bakers were +as scarce in ancient Rome as in the modern city, I do not wonder that +they were thought worthy of stately monuments. None of the modern ones +deserve any better tomb than a pile of their own sour loaves. + +I walked onward a good distance beyond the gate alongside of the arches +of the Claudian aqueduct, which, in this portion of it, seems to have had +little repair, and to have needed little, since it was built. It looks +like a long procession, striding across the Campagna towards the city, +and entering the gate, over one of its arches, within the gate, I saw two +or three slender jets of water spurting from the crevices; this aqueduct +being still in use to bring the Acqua Felice into Rome. + +Returning within the walls, I walked along their inner base, to the +Church of St. John Lateran, into which I went, and sat down to rest +myself, being languid and weary, and hot with the sun, though afraid to +trust the coolness of the shade. I hate the Roman atmosphere; indeed, +all my pleasure in getting back--all my home-feeling--has already +evaporated, and what now impresses me, as before, is the languor of +Rome,--its weary pavements, its little life, pressed down by a weight of +death. + +Quitting St. John Lateran, I went astray, as I do nine times out of ten +in these Roman intricacies, and at last, seeing the Coliseum in the vista +of a street, I betook myself thither to get a fresh start. Its round of +stones looked vast and dreary, but not particularly impressive. The +interior was quite deserted; except that a Roman, of respectable +appearance, was making a pilgrimage at the altars, kneeling and saying a +prayer at each one. + +Outside of the Coliseum, a neat-looking little boy came and begged of me; +and I gave him a baiocco, rather because he seemed to need it so little +than for any other reason. I observed that he immediately afterwards +went and spoke to a well-dressed man, and supposed that the child was +likewise begging of him. I watched the little boy, however, and saw +that, in two or three other instances, after begging of other +individuals, he still returned to this well-dressed man; the fact being, +no doubt, that the latter was fishing for baiocci through the medium of +his child,--throwing the poor little fellow out as a bait, while he +himself retained his independent respectability. He had probably come +out for a whole day's sport; for, by and by, he went between the arches +of the Coliseum, followed by the child, and taking with him what looked +like a bottle of wine, wrapped in a handkerchief. + + +November 2d.--The weather lately would have suited one's ideal of an +English November, except that there have been no fogs; but of ugly, +hopeless clouds, chill, shivering winds, drizzle, and now and then +pouring rain, much more than enough. An English coal-fire, if we could +see its honest face within doors, would compensate for all the +unamiableness of the outside atmosphere; but we might ask for the +sunshine of the New Jerusalem, with as much hope of getting it. It is +extremely spirit-crushing, this remorseless gray, with its icy heart; and +the more to depress the whole family, U---- has taken what seems to be +the Roman fever, by sitting down in the Palace of the Caesars, while Mrs. +S----- sketched the ruins. . . . + +[During four months of the illness of his daughter, Mr. Hawthorne wrote +no word of Journal.--ED.] + + +February 27th, 1859.--For many days past, there have been tokens of the +coming Carnival in the Corso and the adjacent streets; for example, in +the shops, by the display of masks of wire, pasteboard, silk, or cloth, +some of beautiful features, others hideous, fantastic, currish, asinine, +huge-nosed, or otherwise monstrous; some intended to cover the whole +face, others concealing only the upper part, also white dominos, or robes +bedizened with gold-lace and theatric splendors, displayed at the windows +of mercers or flaunting before the doors. Yesterday, U---- and I came +along the Corso, between one and two o'clock, after a walk, and found all +these symptoms of impending merriment multiplied and intensified; . . . . +rows of chairs, set out along the sidewalks, elevated a foot or two by +means of planks; great baskets, full of confetti, for sale in the nooks +and recesses of the streets; bouquets of all qualities and prices. The +Corso was becoming pretty well thronged with people; but, until two +o'clock, nobody dared to fling as much as a rosebud or a handful of +sugar-plums. There was a sort of holiday expression, however, on almost +everybody's face, such as I have not hitherto seen in Rome, or in any +part of Italy; a smile gleaming out, an aurora of mirth, which probably +will not be very exuberant in its noontide. The day was so sunny and +bright that it made this opening scene far more cheerful than any day of +the last year's carnival. As we threaded our way through the Corso, +U---- kept wishing she could plunge into the fun and uproar as J----- +would, and for my own part, though I pretended to take no interest in the +matter, I could have bandied confetti and nosegays as readily and as +riotously as any urchin there. But my black hat and grave talma would +have been too good a mark for the combatants, . . . . so we went home +before a shot was fired. . . . + + +March 7th.--I, as well as the rest of the family, have followed up the +Carnival pretty faithfully, and enjoyed it as well, or rather better +than could have been expected; principally in the street, as a more +looker-on,--which does not let one into the mystery of the fun,--and +twice from a balcony, where I threw confetti, and partly understood why +the young people like it so much. Certainly, there cannot well be a more +picturesque spectacle in human life, than that stately, palatial avenue +of the Corso, the more picturesque because so narrow, all hung with +carpets and Gobelin tapestry, and the whole palace-heights alive with +faces; and all the capacity of the street thronged with the most +fantastic figures that either the fancies of folks alive at this day are +able to contrive, or that live traditionally from year to year. . . . +The Prince of Wales has fought manfully through the Carnival with +confetti and bouquets, and U---- received several bouquets from him, on +Saturday, as her carriage moved along. + + +March 8th.--I went with U---- to Mr. Motley's balcony, in the Corso, and +saw the Carnival from it yesterday afternoon; but the spectacle is +strangely like a dream, in respect to the difficulty of retaining it in +the mind and solidifying it into a description. I enjoyed it a good +deal, and assisted in so far as to pelt all the people in cylinder hats +with handfuls of confetti. The scene opens with a long array of cavalry, +who ride through the Corso, preceded by a large band, playing loudly on +their brazen instruments. . . . There were some splendid dresses, +particularly contadina costumes of scarlet and gold, which seem to be +actually the festal attire of that class of people, and must needs be so +expensive that one must serve for a lifetime, if indeed it be not an +inheritance. . . . + + +March 9th.--I was, yesterday, an hour or so among the people on the +sidewalks of the Corso, just on the edges of the fun. They appeared to +be in a decorous, good-natured mood, neither entering into the merriment, +nor harshly repelling; and when groups of maskers overflowed among them, +they received their jokes in good part. Many women of the lower class +were in the crowd of bystanders; generally broad and sturdy figures, clad +evidently in their best attire, and wearing a good many ornaments; such +as gold or coral beads and necklaces, combs of silver or gold, heavy +ear-rings, curiously wrought brooches, perhaps cameos or mosaics, though +I think they prefer purely metallic work to these. One ornament very +common among them is a large bodkin, which they stick through their hair. +It is usually of silver, but sometimes it looks like steel, and is made +in the shape of a sword,--a long Spanish thrusting sword, for example. +Dr. Franco told us a story of a woman of Trastevere, who was addressed +rudely at the Carnival by a gentleman; she warned him to desist, but as +he still persisted, she drew the bodkin from her hair, and stabbed him to +the heart. + +By and by I went to Mr. Motley's balcony, and looked down on the closing +scenes of the Carnival. Methought the merry-makers labored harder to be +mirthful, and yet were somewhat tired of their eight play-days; and their +dresses looked a little shabby, rumpled, and draggled; but the lack of +sunshine--which we have had on all the preceding days--may have produced +this effect. The wheels of some of the carriages were wreathed round and +spoked with green foliage, making a very pretty and fanciful appearance, +as did likewise the harnesses of the horses, which were trimmed with +roses. The pervading noise and uproar of human voices is one of the most +effective points of the matter; but the scene is quite indescribable, and +its effect not to be conceived without both witnessing and taking part in +it. If you merely look at it, it depresses you; if you take even the +slightest share in it, you become aware that it has a fascination, and +you no longer wonder that the young people, at least, take such delight +in plunging into this mad river of fun that goes roaring between the +narrow limits of the Corso. + +As twilight came on, the moccoli commenced, and as it grew darker the +whole street twinkled with lights, which would have been innumerable if +every torch-bearer had not been surrounded by a host of enemies, who +tried to extinguish his poor little twinkle. It was a pity to lose so +much splendor as there might have been; but yet there was a kind of +symbolism in the thought that every one of those thousands of twinkling +lights was in charge of somebody, who was striving with all his might to +keep it alive. Not merely the street-way, but all the balconies and +hundreds of windows were lit up with these little torches; so that it +seemed as if the stars had crumbled into glittering fragments, and rained +down upon the Corso, some of them lodging upon the palace-fronts, some +falling on the ground. Besides this, there were gas-lights burning with +a white flame; but this illumination was not half so interesting as that +of the torches, which indicated human struggle. All this time there were +myriad voices shouting, "SENZA MOCCOLO!" and mingling into one long roar. +We, in our balcony, carried on a civil war against one another's torches, +as is the custom of human beings, within even the narrowest precincts; +but after a while we grew tired, and so did the crowd, apparently; for +the lights vanished, one after another, till the gas-lights--which at +first were an unimportant part of the illumination--shone quietly out, +overpowering the scattered twinkles of the moccoli. They were what the +fixed stars are to the transitory splendors of human life. + +Mr. Motley tells me, that it was formerly the custom to have a mock +funeral of harlequin, who was supposed to die at the close of the +Carnival, during which he had reigned supreme, and all the people, or as +many as chose, bore torches at his burial. But this being considered an +indecorous mockery of Popish funereal customs, the present frolic of the +moccoli was instituted,--in some sort, growing out of it. + +All last night, or as much of it as I was awake, there was a noise of +song and of late revellers in the streets; but to-day we have waked up in +the sad and sober season of Lent. + +It is worthy of remark, that all the jollity of the Carnival is a genuine +ebullition of spirit, without the aid of wine or strong drink. + + +March 11th.--Yesterday we went to the Catacomb of St. Calixtus, the +entrance to which is alongside of the Appian Way, within sight of the +tomb of Cecilia Metella. We descended not a very great way under ground, +by a broad flight of stone steps, and, lighting some wax tapers, with +which we had provided ourselves, we followed the guide through a great +many intricate passages, which mostly were just wide enough for me to +touch the wall on each side, while keeping my elbows close to my body; +and as to height, they were from seven to ten feet, and sometimes a good +deal higher It was rather picturesque, when we saw the long line of our +tapers, for another large party had joined us, twinkling along the dark +passage, and it was interesting to think of the former inhabitants of +these caverns. . . . In one or two places there was the round mark in +the stone or plaster, where a bottle had been deposited. This was said +to have been the token of a martyr's burial-place, and to have contained +his blood. After leaving the Catacomb, we drove onward to Cecilia +Metella's tomb, which we entered and inspected. Within the immensely +massive circular substance of the tomb was a round, vacant space, and +this interior vacancy was open at the top, and had nothing but some +fallen stones and a heap of earth at the bottom. + +On our way home we entered the Church of "Domine, quo vadis," and looked +at the old fragment of the Appian Way, where our Saviour met St. Peter, +and left the impression of his feet in one of the Roman paving-stones. +The stone has been removed, and there is now only a fac-simile engraved +in a block of marble, occupying the place where Jesus stood. It is a +great pity they had not left the original stone; for then all its +brother-stones in the pavement would have seemed to confirm the truth of +the legend. + +While we were at dinner, a gentleman called and was shown into the +parlor. We supposed it to be Mr. May; but soon his voice grew familiar, +and my wife was sure it was General Pierce, so I left the table, and +found it to be really he. I was rejoiced to see him, though a little +saddened to see the marks of care and coming age, in many a whitening +hair, and many a furrow, and, still more, in something that seemed to +have passed away out of him, without leaving any trace. His voice, +sometimes, sounded strange and old, though generally it was what it used +to be. He was evidently glad to see me, glad to see my wife, glad to see +the children, though there was something melancholy in his tone, when he +remarked what a stout boy J----- had grown. Poor fellow! he has neither +son nor daughter to keep his heart warm. This morning I have been with +him to St. Peter's, and elsewhere about the city, and find him less +changed than he seemed to be last night; not at all changed in heart and +affections. We talked freely about all matters that came up; among the +rest, about the project--recognizable by many tokens--for bringing him +again forward as a candidate for the Presidency next year. He appears to +be firmly resolved not again to present himself to the country, and is +content to let his one administration stand, and to be judged by the +public and posterity on the merits of that. No doubt he is perfectly +sincere; no doubt, too, he would again be a candidate, if a pretty +unanimous voice of the party should demand it. I retain all my faith in +his administrative faculty, and should be glad, for his sake, to have it +fully rccognized; but the probabilities, as far as I can see, do not +indicate for him another Presidential term. + + +March 15th.--This morning I went with my wife and Miss Hoar to Miss +Hosmer's studio, to see her statue of Zenobia. We found her in her +premises, springing about with a bird-like action. She has a lofty room, +with a skylight window; it was pretty well warmed with a stove, and there +was a small orange-tree in a pot, with the oranges growing on it, and two +or three flower-shrubs in bloom. She herself looked prettily, with her +jaunty little velvet cap on the side of her head, whence came clustering +out, her short brown curls; her face full of pleasant life and quick +expression; and though somewhat worn with thought and struggle, handsome +and spirited. She told us that "her wig was growing as gray as a rat." + +There were but very few things in the room; two or three plaster busts, a +headless cast of a plaster statue, and a cast of the Minerva Medica, +which perhaps she had been studying as a help towards the design of her +Zenobia; for, at any rate, I seemed to discern a resemblance or analogy +between the two. Zenobia stood in the centre of the room, as yet +unfinished in the clay, but a very noble and remarkable statue indeed, +full of dignity and beauty. It is wonderful that so brisk a woman could +have achieved a work so quietly impressive; and there is something in +Zenobia's air that conveys the idea of music, uproar, and a great throng +all about her; whilst she walks in the midst of it, self-sustained, and +kept in a sort of sanctity by her native pride. The idea of motion is +attained with great success; you not only perceive that she is walking, +but know at just what tranquil pace she steps, amid the music of the +triumph. The drapery is very fine and full; she is decked with +ornaments; but the chains of her captivity hang from wrist to wrist; and +her deportment--indicating a soul so much above her misfortune, yet not +insensible to the weight of it--makes these chains a richer decoration +than all her other jewels. I know not whether there be some magic in the +present imperfect finish of the statue, or in the material of clay, as +being a better medium of expression than even marble; but certainly I +have seldom been more impressed by a piece of modern sculpture. Miss +Hosmer showed us photographs of her Puck--which I have seen in the +marble--and likewise of the Will-o'-the-Wisp, both very pretty and +fanciful. It indicates much variety of power, that Zenobia should be the +sister of these, which would seem the more natural offspring of her quick +and vivid character. But Zenobia is a high, heroic ode. + +. . . . On my way up the Via Babuino, I met General Pierce. We have +taken two or three walks together, and stray among the Roman ruins, and +old scenes of history, talking of matters in which he is personally +concerned, yet which are as historic as anything around us. He is +singularly little changed; the more I see him, the more I get him back, +just such as he was in our youth. This morning, his face, air, and smile +were so wonderfully like himself of old, that at least thirty years are +annihilated. + +Zenobia's manacles serve as bracelets; a very ingenious and suggestive +idea. + + +March 18th.--I went to the sculpture-gallery of the Capitol yesterday, +and saw, among other things, the Venus in her secret cabinet. This was +my second view of her: the first time, I greatly admired her; now, she +made no very favorable impression. There are twenty Venuses whom I like +as well, or better. On the whole, she is a heavy, clumsy, +unintellectual, and commonplace figure; at all events, not in good looks +to-day. Marble beauties seem to suffer the same occasional eclipses as +those of flesh and blood. We looked at the Faun, the Dying Gladiator, +and other famous sculptures; but nothing had a glory round it, perhaps +because the sirocco was blowing. These halls of the Capitol have always +had a dreary and depressing effect upon me, very different from those of +the Vatican. I know not why, except that the rooms of the Capitol have a +dingy, shabby, and neglected look, and that the statues are dusty, and +all the arrangements less magnificent than at the Vatican. The corroded +and discolored surfaces of the statues take away from the impression of +immortal youth, and turn Apollo [The Lycian Apollo] himself into an old +stone; unless at rare intervals, when he appears transfigured by a light +gleaming from within. + + +March 23d.--I am wearing away listlessly these last precious days of my +abode in Rome. U----'s illness is disheartening, and by confining +------, it takes away the energy and enterprise that were the spring of +all our movements. I am weary of Rome, without having seen and known it +as I ought, and I shall be glad to get away from it, though no doubt +there will be many yearnings to return hereafter, and many regrets that I +did not make better use of the opportunities within my grasp. Still, I +have been in Rome long enough to be imbued with its atmosphere, and this +is the essential condition of knowing a place; for such knowledge does +not consist in having seen every particular object it contains. In the +state of mind in which I now stand towards Rome, there is very little +advantage to be gained by staying here longer. + +And yet I had a pleasant stroll enough yesterday afternoon, all by +myself, from the Corso down past the Church of St. Andrea della Valle,-- +the site where Caesar was murdered,--and thence to the Farnese Palace, +the noble court of which I entered; thence to the Piazza Cenci, where I +looked at one or two ugly old palaces, and fixed on one of them as the +residence of Beatrice's father; then past the Temple of Vesta, and +skirting along the Tiler, and beneath the Aventine, till I somewhat +unexpectedly came in sight of the gray pyramid of Caius Cestius. I went +out of the city gate, and leaned on the parapet that encloses the +pyramid, advancing its high, unbroken slope and peak, where the great +blocks of marble still fit almost as closely to one another as when they +were first laid; though, indeed, there are crevices just large enough for +plants to root themselves, and flaunt and trail over the face of this +great tomb; only a little verdure, however, over a vast space of marble, +still white in spots, but pervadingly turned gray by two thousand years' +action of the atmosphere. Thence I came home by the Caelian, and sat +down on an ancient flight of steps under one of the arches of the +Coliseum, into which the sunshine fell sidelong. It was a delightful +afternoon, not precisely like any weather that I have known elsewhere; +certainly never in America, where it is always too cold or too hot. It, +resembles summer more than anything which we New-Englanders recognize in +our idea of spring, but there was an indescribable something, sweet, +fresh, gentle, that does not belong to summer, and that thrilled and +tickled my heart with a feeling partly sensuous, partly spiritual. + +I go to the Bank and read Galignani and the American newspapers; thence I +stroll to the Pincian or to the Medici Gardens; I see a good deal of +General Pierce, and we talk over his Presidential life, which, I now +really think, he has no latent desire nor purpose to renew. Yet he seems +to have enjoyed it while it lasted, and certainly he was in his element +as an administrative man; not far-seeing, not possessed of vast stores of +political wisdom in advance of his occasions, but endowed with a +miraculous intuition of what ought to be done just at the time for +action. His judgment of things about him is wonderful, and his Cabinet +recognized it as such; for though they were men of great ability, he was +evidently the master-mind among them. None of them were particularly his +personal friends when he selected them; they all loved him when they +parted; and he showed me a letter, signed by all, in which they expressed +their feelings of respect and attachment at the close of his +administration. There was a noble frankness on his part, that kept the +atmosphere always clear among them, and in reference to this +characteristic Governor Marcy told him that the years during which he had +been connected with his Cabinet had been the happiest of his life. +Speaking of Caleb Cushing, he told me that the unreliability, the +fickleness, which is usually attributed to him, is an actual +characteristic, but that it is intellectual, not moral. He has such +comprehensiveness, such mental variety and activity, that, if left to +himself, he cannot keep fast hold of one view of things, and so cannot, +without external help, be a consistent man. He needs the influence of a +more single and stable judgment to keep him from divergency, and, on this +condition, he is a most inestimable coadjutor. As regards learning and +ability, he has no superior. + +Pierce spoke the other day of the idea among some of his friends that his +life had been planned, from a very early period, with a view to the +station which he ultimately reached. He smiled at the notion, said that +it was inconsistent with his natural character, and that it implied +foresight and dexterity beyond what any mortal is endowed with. I think +so too; but nevertheless, I was long and long ago aware that he cherished +a very high ambition, and that, though he might not anticipate the +highest things, he cared very little about inferior objects. Then as to +plans, I do not think that he had any definite ones; but there was in him +a subtle faculty, a real instinct, that taught him what was good for +him,--that is to say, promotive of his political success,--and made him +inevitably do it. He had a magic touch, that arranged matters with a +delicate potency, which he himself hardly recognized; and he wrought +through other minds so that neither he nor they always knew when and how +far they were under his influence. Before his nomination for the +Presidency I had a sense that it was coming, and it never seemed to me an +accident. He is a most singular character; so frank, so true, so +immediate, so subtle, so simple, so complicated. + +I passed by the tower in the Via Portoghese to-day, and observed that the +nearest shop appears to be for the sale of cotton or linen cloth. . . . +The upper window of the tower was half open; of course, like all or +almost all other Roman windows, it is divided vertically, and each half +swings back on hinges. . . . + +Last week a fritter-establishment was opened in our piazza. It was a +wooden booth erected in the open square, and covered with canvas painted +red, which looked as if it had withstood much rain and sunshine. In +front were three great boughs of laurel, not so much for shade, I think, +as ornament. There were two men, and their apparatus for business was a +sort of stove, or charcoal furnace, and a frying-pan to place over it; +they had an armful or two of dry sticks, some flour, and I suppose oil, +and this seemed to be all. It was Friday, and Lent besides, and possibly +there was some other peculiar propriety in the consumption of fritters +just then. At all events, their fire burned merrily from morning till +night, and pretty late into the evening, and they had a fine run of +custom; the commodity being simply dough, cut into squares or rhomboids, +and thrown into the boiling oil, which quickly turned them to a light +brown color. I sent J----- to buy some, and, tasting one, it resembled +an unspeakably bad doughnut, without any sweetening. In fact, it was +sour, for the Romans like their bread, and all their preparations of +flour, in a state of acetous fermentation, which serves them instead of +salt or other condiment. This fritter-shop had grown up in a night, like +Aladdin's palace, and vanished as suddenly; for after standing through +Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, it was gone on Monday morning, and a +charcoal-strewn place on the pavement where the furnace had been was the +only memorial of it. It was curious to observe how immediately it became +a lounging-place for idle people, who stood and talked all day with the +fritter-friers, just as they might at any old shop in the basement, of a +palace, or between the half-buried pillars of the Temple of Minerva, +which had been familiar to them and their remote grandfathers. + + +April 14th.--Yesterday afternoon I drove with Mr. and Mrs. Story and Mr. +Wilde to see a statue of Venus, which has just been discovered, outside +of the Porta Portese, on the other side of the Tiber. A little distance +beyond the gate we came to the entrance of a vineyard, with a wheel-track +through the midst of it; and, following this, we soon came to a hillside, +in which an excavation had been made with the purpose of building a +grotto for keeping and storing wine. They had dug down into what seemed +to be an ancient bathroom, or some structure of that kind, the excavation +being square and cellar-like, and built round with old subterranean walls +of brick and stone. Within this hollow space the statue had been found, +and it was now standing against one of the walls, covered with a coarse +cloth, or a canvas bag. This being removed, there appeared a headless +marble figure, earth-stained, of course, and with a slightly corroded +surface, but wonderfully delicate and beautiful, the shape, size, and +attitude, apparently, of the Venus de' Medici, but, as we all thought, +more beautiful than that. It is supposed to be the original, from which +the Venus de' Medici was copied. Both arms were broken off, but the +greater part of both, and nearly the whole of one hand, had been found, +and these being adjusted to the figure, they took the well-known position +before the bosom and the middle, as if the fragmentary woman retained her +instinct of modesty to the last. There were the marks on the bosom and +thigh where the fingers had touched; whereas in the Venus de' Medici, if +I remember rightly, the fingers are sculptured quite free of the person. +The man who showed the statue now lifted from a corner a round block of +marble, which had been lying there among other fragments, and this he +placed upon the shattered neck of the Venus; and behold, it was her head +and face, perfect, all but the nose! Even in spite of this mutilation, +it seemed immediately to light up and vivify the entire figure; and, +whatever I may heretofore have written about the countenance of the Venus +de' Medici, I here record my belief that that head has been wrongfully +foisted upon the statue; at all events, it is unspeakably inferior to +this newly discovered one. This face has a breadth and front which are +strangely deficient in the other. The eyes are well opened, most unlike +the buttonhole lids of the Venus de' Medici; the whole head is so much +larger as to entirely obviate the criticism that has always been made on +the diminutive head of the De' Medici statue. If it had but a nose! +They ought to sift every handful of earth that has been thrown out of the +excavation, for the nose and the missing hand and fingers must needs be +there; and, if they were found, the effect would be like the reappearance +of a divinity upon earth. Mutilated as we saw her, it was strangely +interesting to be present at the moment, as it were, when she had just +risen from her long burial, and was shedding the unquenchable lustre +around her which no eye had seen for twenty or more centuries. The earth +still clung about her; her beautiful lips were full of it, till Mr. Story +took a thin chip of wood and cleared it away from between them. + +The proprietor of the vineyard stood by; a man with the most purple face +and hugest and reddest nose that I ever beheld in my life. It must have +taken innumerable hogsheads of his thin vintage to empurple his face in +this manner. He chuckled much over the statue, and, I suppose, counts +upon making his fortune by it. He is now awaiting a bid from the Papal +government, which, I believe, has the right of pre-emption whenever any +relics of ancient art are discovered. If the statue could but be +smuggled out of Italy, it might command almost any price. There is not, +I think, any name of a sculptor on the pedestal, as on that of the Venus +de' Medici. A dolphin is sculptured on the pillar against which she +leans. The statue is of Greek marble. It was first found about eight +days ago, but has been offered for inspection only a day or two, and +already the visitors come in throngs, and the beggars gather about the +entrance of the vineyard. A wine shop, too, seems to have been opened on +the premises for the accommodation of this great concourse, and we saw a +row of German artists sitting at a long table in the open air, each with +a glass of thin wine and something to eat before him; for the Germans +refresh nature ten times to other persons once. + +How the whole world might be peopled with antique beauty if the Romans +would only dig! + + +April 19th.--General Pierce leaves Rome this morning for Venice, by way +of Ancona, and taking the steamer thence to Trieste. I had hoped to make +the journey along with him; but U----'s terrible illness has made it +necessary for us to continue here another mouth, and we are thankful that +this seems now to be the extent of our misfortune. Never having had any +trouble before that pierced into my very vitals, I did not know what +comfort there might be in the manly sympathy of a friend; but Pierce has +undergone so great a sorrow of his own, and has so large and kindly a +heart, and is so tender and so strong, that he really did the good, and I +shall always love him the better for the recollection of his +ministrations in these dark days. Thank God, the thing we dreaded did +not come to pass. + +Pierce is wonderfully little changed. Indeed, now that he has won and +enjoyed--if there were any enjoyment in it--the highest success that +public life could give him, he seems more like what he was in his early +youth than at any subsequent period. He is evidently happier than I have +ever known him since our college days; satisfied with what he has been, +and with the position in the country that remains to him, after filling +such an office. Amid all his former successes,--early as they came, and +great as they were,--I always perceived that something gnawed within him, +and kept him forever restless and miserable. Nothing he won was worth +the winning, except as a step gained toward the summit. I cannot tell +how early he began to look towards the Presidency; but I believe he would +have died an unhappy man without it. And yet what infinite chances there +seemed to be against his attaining it! When I look at it in one way, it +strikes me as absolutely miraculous; in another, it came like an event +that I had all along expected. It was due to his wonderful tact, which +is of so subtle a character that he himself is but partially sensible +of it. + +I have found in him, here in Rome, the whole of my early friend, and even +better than I used to know him; a heart as true and affectionate, a mind +much widened and deepened by his experience of life. We hold just the +same relation to each other as of yore, and we have passed all the +turning-off places, and may hope to go on together still the same dear +friends as long as we live. I do not love him one whit the less for +having been President, nor for having done me the greatest good in his +power; a fact that speaks eloquently in his favor, and perhaps says a +little for myself. If he had been merely a benefactor, perhaps I might +not have borne it so well; but each did his best for the other as friend +for friend. + + +May 15th.--Yesterday afternoon we went to the Barberini picture-gallery +to take a farewell look at the Beatrice Cenci, which I have twice visited +before since our return from Florence. I attempted a description of it +at my first visit, more than a year ago, but the picture is quite +indescribable and unaccountable in its effect, for if you attempt to +analyze it you can never succeed in getting at the secret of its +fascination. Its peculiar expression eludes a straightforward glance, +and can only be caught by side glimpses, or when the eye falls upon it +casually, as it were, and without thinking to discover anything, as if +the picture had a life and consciousness of its own, and were resolved +not to betray its secret of grief or guilt, though it wears the full +expression of it when it imagines itself unseen. I think no other such +magical effect can ever have been wrought by pencil. I looked close into +its eyes, with a determination to see all that there was in them, and +could see nothing that might not have been in any young girl's eyes; and +yet, a moment afterwards, there was the expression--seen aside, and +vanishing in a moment--of a being unhumanized by some terrible fate, and +gazing at me out of a remote and inaccessible region, where she was +frightened to be alone, but where no sympathy could reach her. The mouth +is beyond measure touching; the lips apart, looking as innocent as a +baby's after it has been crying. The picture never can be copied. Guido +himself could not have done it over again. The copyists get all sorts of +expression, gay, as well as grievous; some copies have a coquettish air, +a half-backward glance, thrown alluring at the spectator, but nobody ever +did catch, or ever will, the vanishing charm of that sorrow. I hated to +leave the picture, and yet was glad when I had taken my last glimpse, +because it so perplexed and troubled me not to be able to get hold of its +secret. + +Thence we went to the Church of the Capuchins, and saw Guido's Archangel. +I have been several times to this church, but never saw the picture +before, though I am familiar with the mosaic copy at St. Peter's, and had +supposed the latter to be an equivalent representation of the original. +It is nearly or quite so as respects the general effect; but there is a +beauty in the archangel's face that immeasurably surpasses the copy,--the +expression of heavenly severity, and a degree of pain, trouble, or +disgust, at being brought in contact with sin, even for the purpose of +quelling and punishing it. There is something finical in the copy, which +I do not find in the original. The sandalled feet are here those of an +angel; in the mosaic they are those of a celestial coxcomb, treading +daintily, as if he were afraid they would be soiled by the touch of +Lucifer. + +After looking at the Archangel we went down under the church, guided +by a fleshy monk, and saw the famous cemetery, where the dead monks of +many centuries back have been laid to sleep in sacred earth from +Jerusalem. . . . + + + +FRANCE. + + +Hotel des Colonies, Marseilles, May 29th, Saturday.--Wednesday was the +day fixed for our departure from Rome, and after breakfast I walked to +the Pincian, and saw the garden and the city, and the Borghese grounds, +and St. Peter's in an earlier sunlight than ever before. Methought they +never looked so beautiful, nor the sky so bright and blue. I saw Soracte +on the horizon, and I looked at everything as if for the last time; nor +do I wish ever to see any of these objects again, though no place ever +took so strong a hold of my being as Rome, nor ever seemed so close to me +and so strangely familiar. I seem to know it better than my birthplace, +and to have known it longer; and though I have been very miserable there, +and languid with the effects of the atmosphere, and disgusted with a +thousand things in its daily life, still I cannot say I hate it, perhaps +might fairly own a love for it. But life being too short for such +questionable and troublesome enjoyments, I desire never to set eyes on it +again. . . . + +. . . . We traversed again that same weary and dreary tract of country +which we passed over in a winter afternoon and night on our first arrival +in Rome. It is as desolate a country as can well be imagined, but about +midway of our journey we came to the sea-shore, and kept very near it +during the rest of the way. The sight and fragrance of it were +exceedingly refreshing after so long an interval, and U---- revived +visibly as we rushed along, while J----- chuckled and contorted himself +with ineffable delight. + +We reached Civita Vecchia in three or four hours, and were there +subjected to various troubles. . . . All the while Miss S------ and I +were bothering about the passport, the rest of the family sat in the sun +on the quay, with all kinds of bustle and confusion around them; a very +trying experience to U---- after the long seclusion and quiet of her +sick-chamber. But she did not seem to suffer from it, and we finally +reached the steamer in good condition and spirits. . . . + +I slept wretchedly in my short and narrow berth, more especially as there +was an old gentleman who snored as if he were sounding a charge; it was +terribly hot too, and I rose before four o'clock, and was on deck amply +in time to watch the distant approach of sunrise. We arrived at Leghorn +pretty early, and might have gone ashore and spent the day. Indeed, we +had been recommended by Dr. Franco, and had fully purposed to spend a +week or ten days there, in expectation of benefit to U----'s health from +the sea air and sea bathing, because he thought her still too feeble to +make the whole voyage to Marseilles at a stretch. But she showed herself +so strong that we thought she would get as much good from our three days' +voyage as from the days by the sea-shore. Moreover, . . . . we all of us +still felt the languor of the Roman atmosphere, and dreaded the hubbub +and crazy confusion of landing at an Italian port. . . . So we lay in +the harbor all day without stirring from the steamer. . . . It would +have been pleasant, however, to have gone to Pisa, fifteen miles off, and +seen the leaning tower; but, for my part, I have arrived at that point +where it is somewhat pleasanter to sit quietly in any spot whatever than +to see whatever grandest or most beautiful thing. At least this was my +mood in the harbor of Leghorn. From the deck of the steamer there were +many things visible that might have been interesting to describe: the +boats of peculiar rig, and covered with awning; the crowded shipping; the +disembarkation of horses from the French cavalry, which were lowered from +steamers into gondolas or lighters, and hung motionless, like the sign of +the Golden Fleece, during the transit, only kicking a little when their +feet happened to graze the vessel's side. One horse plunged overboard, +and narrowly escaped drowning. There was likewise a disembarkation of +French soldiers in a train of boats, which rowed shoreward with sound of +trumpet. The French are concentrating a considerable number of troops at +this point. + +Our steamer was detained by order of the French government to take on +board despatches; so that, instead of sailing at dusk, as is customary, +we lay in the harbor till seven of the next morning. A number of young +Sardinian officers, in green uniform, came on board, and a pale and +picturesque-looking Italian, and other worthies of less note,--English, +American, and of all races,--among them a Turk with a little boy in +Christian dress; also a Greek gentleman with his young bride. + +At the appointed time we weighed anchor for Genoa, and had a beautiful +day on the Mediterranean, and for the first time in my life I saw the +real dark blue of the sea. I do not remember noticing it on my outward +voyage to Italy. It is the most beautiful hue that can be imagined, like +a liquid sky; and it retains its lustrous blue directly under the side of +the ship, where the water of the mid-Atlantic looks greenish. . . . We +reached Genoa at seven in the afternoon. . . . Genoa looks most +picturesquely from the sea, at the foot of a sheltering semicircle of +lofty hills; and as we lay in the harbor we saw, among other interesting +objects, the great Doria Palace, with its gardens, and the cathedral, and +a heap and sweep of stately edifices, with the mountains looking down +upon he city, and crowned with fortresses. The variety of hue in the +houses, white, green, pink, and orange, was very remarkable. It would +have been well to go ashore here for an hour or two and see the streets, +--having already seen the palaces, churches, and public buildings at our +former visit,--and buy a few specimens of Genoa goldsmiths' work; but I +preferred the steamer's deck, so the evening passed pleasantly away; the +two lighthouses at the entrance of the port kindled up their fires, and +at nine o'clock the evening gun thundered from the fortress, and was +reverberated from the heights. We sailed away at eleven, and I was +roused from my first sleep by the snortings and hissings of the vessel as +she got under way. + +At Genoa we took on board some more passengers, an English nobleman with +his lady being of the number. These were Lord and Lady J------, and +before the end of our voyage his lordship talked to me of a translation +of Tasso in which he is engaged, and a stanza or two of which he repeated +to me. I really liked the lines, and liked too the simplicity and +frankness with which he spoke of it to me a stranger, and the way be +seemed to separate his egotism from the idea which he evidently had that +he is going to make an excellent translation. I sincerely hope it may be +so. He began it without any idea of publishing it, or of ever bringing +it to a conclusion, but merely as a solace and occupation while in great +trouble during an illness of his wife, but he has gradually come to find +it the most absorbing occupation he ever undertook; and as Mr. Gladstone +and other high authorities give him warm encouragement, he now means to +translate the entire poem, and to publish it with beautiful +illustrations, and two years hence the world may expect to see it. I do +not quite perceive how such a man as this--a man of frank, warm, simple, +kindly nature, but surely not of a poetical temperament, or very refined, +or highly cultivated--should make a good version of Tasso's poems; but +perhaps the dead poet's soul may take possession of this healthy +organization, and wholly turn him to its own purposes. + +The latter part of our voyage to-day lay close along the coast of France, +which was hilly and picturesque, and as we approached Marseilles was very +bold and striking. We steered among rocky islands, rising abruptly out +of the sea, mere naked crags, without a trace of verdure upon them, and +with the surf breaking at their feet. They were unusual specimens of +what hills would look like without the soil, that is to them what flesh +is to a skeleton. Their shapes were often wonderfully fine, and the +great headlands thrust themselves out, and took such lines of light and +shade that it seemed like sailing through a picture. In the course of +the afternoon a squall came up and blackened the sky all over in a +twinkling; our vessel pitched and tossed, and a brig a little way from us +had her sails blown about in wild fashion. The blue of the sea turned as +black as night, and soon the rain began to spatter down upon us, and +continued to sprinkle and drizzle a considerable time after the wind had +subsided. It was quite calm and pleasant when we entered the harbor of +Marseilles, which lies at the foot of very fair hills, and is set among +great cliffs of stone. I did not attend much to this, however, being in +dread of the difficulty of landing and passing through the custom-house +with our twelve or fourteen trunks and numberless carpet-bags. The +trouble vanished into thin air, nevertheless, as we approached it, for +not a single trunk or bag was opened, and, moreover, our luggage and +ourselves were not only landed, but the greater part of it conveyed to +the railway without any expense. Long live Louis Napoleon, say I. We +established ourselves at the Hotel des Colonies, and then Mss S------, +J-----, and I drove hither and thither about Marseilles, making +arrangements for our journey to Avignon, where we mean to go to-day. We +might have avoided a good deal of this annoyance; but travellers, like +other people, are continually getting their experience just a little too +late. It was after nine before we got back to the hotel and took our tea +in peace. + + + +AVIGNON. + + +Hotel de l'Europe, June 1st.--I remember nothing very special to record +about Marseilles; though it was really like passing from death into life, +to find ourselves in busy, cheerful, effervescing France, after living so +long between asleep and awake in sluggish Italy. Marseilles is a very +interesting and entertaining town, with its bold surrounding heights, its +wide streets,--so they seemed to us after the Roman alleys,--its squares, +shady with trees, its diversified population of sailors, citizens, +Orientals, and what not; but I have no spirit for description any longer; +being tired of seeing things, and still more of telling myself about +them. Only a young traveller can have patience to write his travels. +The newest things, nowadays, have a familiarity to my eyes; whereas in +their lost sense of novelty lies the charm and power of description. + +On Monday (30th May), though it began with heavy rain, we set early about +our preparations for departure, . . . . and, at about three, we left the +Hotel des Colonies. It is a very comfortable hotel, though expensive. +The Restaurant connected with it occupies the enclosed court-yard and the +arcades around it; and it was a good amusement to look down from the +surrounding gallery, communicating with our apartments, and see the +fashion and manner of French eating, all the time going forward. In +sunny weather a great awning is spread over the whole court, across from +the upper stories of the house. There is a grass-plat in the middle, and +a very spacious and airy dining-saloon is thus formed. + +Our railroad carriage was comfortable, and we found in it, besides two +other Frenchwomen, two nuns. They were very devout, and sedulously read +their little books of devotion, repeated prayers under their breath, +kissed the crucifixes which hung at their girdles, and told a string of +beads, which they passed from one to the other. So much were they +occupied with these duties, that they scarcely looked at the scenery +along the road, though, probably, it is very rare for them to see +anything outside of their convent walls. They never failed to mutter a +prayer and kiss the crucifix whenever we plunged into a tunnel. If they +glanced at their fellow-passengers, it was shyly and askance, with their +lips in motion all the time, like children afraid to let their eyes +wander from their lesson-book. One of them, however, took occasion to +pull down R-----'s dress, which, in her frisky movements about the +carriage, had got out of place, too high for the nun's sense of decorum. +Neither of them was at all pretty, nor was the black stuff dress and +white muslin cap in the least becoming, neither were their features of an +intelligent or high-bred stamp. Their manners, however, or such little +glimpses as I could get of them, were unexceptionable; and when I drew a +curtain to protect one of them from the sun, she made me a very courteous +gesture of thanks. + +We had some very good views both of sea and hills; and a part of our way +lay along the banks of the Rhone. . . . By the by, at the station at +Marseilles I bought the two volumes of the "Livre des Merveilles," by a +certain author of my acquaintance, translated into French, and printed +and illustrated in very pretty style. Miss S------ also bought them, +and, in answer to her inquiry for other works by the same author, the +bookseller observed that "she did not think Monsieur Nathaniel had +published anything else." The Christian name deems to be the most +important one in France, and still more especially in Italy. + +We arrived at Avignon, Hotel de l'Europe, in the dusk of the +evening. . . . The lassitude of Rome still clings to us, and I, at +least, feel no spring of life or activity, whether at morn or eve. In +the morning we found ourselves very pleasantly situated as regards +lodgings. The gallery of our suite of rooms looks down as usual into an +enclosed court, three sides of which are formed by the stone house and +its two wings, and the third by a high wall, with a gateway of iron +between two lofty stone pillars, which, for their capitals, have great +stone vases, with grass growing in them, and hanging over the brim. +There is a large plane-tree in one corner of the court, and creeping +plants clamber up trellises; and there are pots of flowers and +bird-cages, all of which give a very fresh and cheerful aspect to the +enclosure. The court is paved with small round stones; the omnibus +belonging to the hotel, and all the carriages of guests drive into it; +and the wide arch of the stable-door opens under the central part of +the house. Nevertheless, the scene is not in all respects that of a +stable-yard; for gentlemen and ladies come from the salle a manger and +other rooms, and stand talking in the court, or occupy chairs and seats +there; children play about; the hostess or her daughter often appears and +talks with her guests or servants; dogs lounge, and, in short, the court +might well enough be taken for the one scene of a classic play. The +hotel seems to be of the first class, though such would not be indicated, +either in England or America, by thus mixing up the stable with the +lodgings. I have taken two or three rambles about the town, and have +climbed a high rock which dominates over it, and gives a most extensive +view from the broad table-land of its summit. The old church of Avignon +--as old as the times of its popes, and older--stands close beside this +mighty and massive crag. We went into it, and found it a dark old place, +with broad, interior arches, and a singularly shaped dome; a venerable +Gothic and Grecian porch, with ancient frescos in its arched spaces; some +dusky pictures within; an ancient chair of stone, formerly occupied by +the popes, and much else that would have been exceedingly interesting +before I went to Rome. But Rome takes the charm out of an inferior +antiquity, as well as the life out of human beings. + +This forenoon J----- and I have crossed the Rhone by a bridge, just the +other side of one of the city gates, which is near our hotel. We walked +along the riverside, and saw the ruins of an ancient bridge, which ends +abruptly in the midst of the stream; two or three arches still making +tremendous strides across, while the others have long ago been crumbled +away by the rush of the rapid river. The bridge was originally founded +by St. Benezet, who received a Divine order to undertake the work, while +yet a shepherd-boy, with only three sous in his pocket; and he proved the +authenticity of the mission by taking an immense stone on his shoulder, +and laying it for the foundation. There is still an ancient chapel +midway on the bridge, and I believe St. Benezet lies buried there, in the +midst of his dilapidated work. The bridge now used is considerably lower +down the stream. It is a wooden suspension-bridge, broader than the +ancient one, and doubtless more than supplies its place; else, +unquestionably, St. Benezet would think it necessary to repair his own. +The view from the inner side of this ruined structure, grass-grown and +weedy, and leading to such a precipitous plunge into the swift river, is +very picturesque, in connection with the gray town and above it, the +great, massive bulk of the cliff, the towers of the church, and of a vast +old edifice, shapeless, ugly, and venerable, which the popes built and +occupied as their palace, many centuries ago. . . . + +After dinner we all set out on a walk, in the course of which we called +at a bookseller's shop to show U---- an enormous cat, which I had already +seen. It is of the Angora breed, of a mottled yellow color, and is +really a wonder; as big and broad as a tolerably sized dog, very soft and +silken, and apparently of the gentlest disposition. I never imagined the +like, nor felt anything so deeply soft as this great beast. Its master +seems very fond and proud of it; and, great favorite as the cat is, she +does not take airs upon herself, but is gently shy and timid in her +demonstrations. + +We ascended the great Rocher above the palace of the popes, and on our +way looked into the old church, which was so dim in the decline of day +that we could not see within the dusky arches, through which the chapels +communicated with the nave. Thence we pursued our way up the farther +ascent, and, standing on the edge of the precipice,--protected by a +parapet of stone, and in other places by an iron railing,--we could look +down upon the road that winds its dusky track far below, and at the river +Rhone, which eddies close beside it. This is indeed a massive and lofty +cliff, and it tumbles down so precipitously that I could readily have +flung myself from the bank, and alighted on my head in the middle of the +river. The Rhone passes so near its base that I threw stones a good way +into its current. We talked with a man of Avignon, who leaned over the +parapet near by, and he was very kind in explaining the points of view, +and told us that the river, which winds and doubles upon itself so as to +look like at least two rivers, is really the Rhone alone. The Durance +joins with it within a few miles below Avignon, but is here invisible. + + +Hotel de l'Europe, June 2d.--This morning we went again to the Duomo of +the popes; and this time we allowed the custode, or sacristan, to show us +the curiosities of it. He led us into a chapel apart, and showed us the +old Gothic tomb of Pope John XXII., where the recumbent statue of the +pope lies beneath one of those beautiful and venerable canopies of stone +which look at once so light and so solemn. I know not how many hundred +years old it is, but everything of Gothic origin has a faculty of +conveying the idea of age; whereas classic forms seem to have nothing to +do with time, and so lose the kind of impressiveness that arises from +suggestions of decay and the past. + +In the sacristy the guide opened a cupboard that contained the jewels and +sacred treasures of the church, and showed a most exquisite figure of +Christ in ivory, represented as on a cross of ebony; and it was executed +with wonderful truth and force of expression, and with great beauty +likewise. I do not see what a full-length marble statue could have had +that was lacking in this little ivory figure of hardly more than a foot +high. It is about two centuries old, by an unknown artist. There is +another famous ivory statuette in Avignon which seems to be more +celebrated than this, but can hardly be superior. I shall gladly look at +it if it comes in my way. + +Next to this, the prettiest thing the man showed us was a circle of +emeralds, in one of the holy implements; and then he exhibited a little +bit or a pope's skull; also a great old crozier, that looked as if made +chiefly of silver, and partly gilt; but I saw where the plating of silver +was worn away, and betrayed the copper of its actual substance. There +were two or three pictures in the sacristy, by ancient and modern French +artists, very unlike the productions of the Italian masters, but not +without a beauty of their own. + +Leaving the sacristy, we returned into the church, where U---- and J----- +began to draw the pope's old stone chair. There is a beast, or perhaps +more than one, grotesquely sculptured upon it; the seat is high and +square, the back low and pointed, and it offers no enticing promise to a +weary man. + +The interior of the church is massively picturesque, with its vaulted +roof, and a stone gallery, heavily ornamented, running along each side of +the nave. Each arch of the nave gives admittance to a chapel, in all of +which there are pictures, and sculptures in most of them. One of these +chapels is of the time of Charlemagne, and has a vaulted roof of +admirable architecture, covered with frescos of modern date and little +merit. In an adjacent chapel is the stone monument of Pope Benedict, +whose statue reposes on it, like many which I have seen in the cathedral +of York and other old English churches. In another part we saw a +monument, consisting of a plain slab supported on pillars; it is said to +be of a Roman or very early Christian epoch. In another chapel was a +figure of Christ in wax, I believe, and clothed in real drapery; a very +ugly object. Also, a figure reposing under a slab, which strikes the +spectator with the idea that it is really a dead person enveloped in a +shroud. There are windows of painted glass in some of the chapels; and +the gloom of the dimly lighted interior, especially beneath the broad, +low arches, is very impressive. + +While we were there some women assembled at one of the altars, and went +through their acts of devotion without the help of a priest; one and +another of them alternately repeating prayers, to which the rest +responded. The murmur of their voices took a musical tone, which was +reverberated by the vaulted arches. + +U---- and I now came out; and, under the porch, we found an old woman +selling rosaries, little religious books, and other holy things. We +bought two little medals of the Immaculate Virgin, one purporting to be +of silver, the other of gold; but as both together cost only two or three +sous, the genuineness of the material may well be doubted. We sat down +on the steps, of a crucifix which is placed in front of the church, and +the children began to draw the porch, of which I hardly know whether to +call the architecture classic or Gothic (as I said before); at all events +it has a venerable aspect, and there are frescos within its arches by +Simone Memmi. . . . The popes' palace is contiguous to the church, and +just below it, on the hillside. It is now occupied as barracks by some +regiments of soldiers, a number of whom were lounging before the +entrance; but we passed the sentinel without being challenged, and +addressed ourselves to the concierge, who readily assented to our request +to be shown through the edifice. A French gentleman and lady, likewise, +came with similar purpose, and went the rounds along with us. The palace +is such a confused heap and conglomeration of buildings, that it is +impossible to get within any sort of a regular description. It is a +huge, shapeless mass of architecture; and if it ever had any pretence to +a plan, it has lost it in the modern alterations. For instance, an +immense and lofty chapel, or rather church, has had two floors, one above +the other, laid at different stages of its height; and the upper one of +these floors, which extends just where the arches of the vaulted root +begin to spring from the pillars, is ranged round with the beds of one of +the regiments of soldiers. They are small iron bedsteads, each with its +narrow mattress, and covered with a dark blanket. On some of them lay or +lounged a soldier; other soldiers were cleaning their accoutrements; +elsewhere we saw parties of them playing cards. So it was wherever we +went among those large, dingy, gloomy halls and chambers, which, no +doubt, were once stately and sumptuous, with pictures, with tapestry, and +all sorts of adornment that the Middle Ages knew how to use. The windows +threw a sombre light through embrasures at least two feet thick. There +were staircases of magnificent breadth. We were shown into two small +chapels, in different parts of the building, both containing the remains +of old frescos wofully defaced. In one of them was a light, spiral +staircase of iron, built in the centre of the room as a means of +contemplating the frescos, which were said to be the work of our old +friend Giotto. . . . Finally, we climbed a long, long, narrow stair, +built in the thickness of the wall, and thus gained access to the top of +one of the towers, whence we saw the noblest landscapes, mountains, +plains, and the Rhone, broad and bright, winding hither and thither, as +if it had lost its way. + +Beneath our feet was the gray, ugly old palace, and its many courts, just +as void of system and as inconceivable as when we were burrowing through +its bewildering passages. No end of historical romances might be made +out of this castle of the popes; and there ought to be a ghost in every +room, and droves of them in some of the rooms; for there have been +murders here in the gross and in detail, as well hundreds of years ago, +as no longer back than the French Revolution, when there was a great +massacre in one of the courts. Traces of this bloody business were +visible in actual stains on the wall only a few years ago. + +Returning to the room of the concierge, who, being a little stiff with +age, had sent an attendant round with us, instead of accompanying us in +person, he showed us a picture of Rienzi, the last of the Roman tribunes, +who was once a prisoner here. On a table, beneath the picture, stood a +little vase of earthenware containing some silver coin. We took it as a +hint, in the customary style of French elegance, that a fee should be +deposited here, instead of being put into the hand of the concierge; so +the French gentleman deposited half a franc, and I, in my magnificence, +twice as much. + + +Hotel de l'Europe, June 6th.--We are still here. . . . I have been +daily to the Rocher des Dons, and have grown familiar with the old church +on its declivity. I think I might become attached to it by seeing it +often. A sombre old interior, with its heavy arches, and its roof +vaulted like the top of a trunk; its stone gallery, with ponderous +adornments, running round three sides. I observe that it is a daily +custom of the old women to say their prayers in concert, sometimes making +a pilgrimage, as it were, from chapel to chapel. The voice of one of +them is heard running through the series of petitions, and at intervals +the voices of the others join and swell into a chorus, so that it is like +a river connecting a series of lakes; or, not to use so gigantic a +simile, the one voice is like a thread, on which the beads of a rosary +are strung. + +One day two priests came and sat down beside these prayerful women, and +joined in their petitions. I am inclined to hope that there is something +genuine in the devotion of these old women. + +The view from the top of the Rocker des Dons (a contraction of Dominis) +grows upon me, and is truly magnificent; a vast mountain-girdled plain, +illuminated by the far windings and reaches of the Rhone. The river is +here almost as turbid as the Tiber itself; but, I remember, in the upper +part of its course the waters are beautifully transparent. A powerful +rush is indicated by the swirls and eddies of its broad surface. + +Yesterday was a race day at Avignon, and apparently almost the whole +population and a great many strangers streamed out of the city gate +nearest our hotel, on their way to the race-course. There were many +noticeable figures that might come well into a French picture or +description; but only one remains in my memory,--a young man with a +wooden leg, setting off for the course--a walk of several miles, I +believe--with prodigious courage and alacrity, flourishing his wooden leg +with an air and grace that seemed to render it positively flexible. The +crowd returned towards sunset, and almost all night long, the streets and +the whole air of the old town were full of song and merriment. There was +a ball in a temporary structure, covered with an awning, in the Place +d'Horloge, and a showman has erected his tent and spread forth his great +painted canvases, announcing an anaconda and a sea-tiger to be seen. +J----- paid four sous for admittance, and found that the sea-tiger was +nothing but a large seal, and the anaconda altogether a myth. + +I have rambled a good deal about the town. Its streets are crooked and +perplexing, and paved with round pebbles for the most part, which afford +more uncomfortable pedestrianism than the pavement of Rome itself. It is +an ancient-looking place, with some large old mansions, but few that are +individually impressive; though here and there one sees an antique +entrance, a corner tower, or other bit of antiquity, that throws a +venerable effect over the gray commonplace of past centuries. The town +is not overclean, and often there is a kennel of unhappy odor. There +appear to have been many more churches and devotional establishments +under the ancient dominion of the popes than have been kept intact in +subsequent ages; the tower and facade of a church, for instance, form the +front of a carpenter's shop, or some such plebeian place. The church +where Laura lay has quite disappeared, and her tomb along with it. The +town reminds me of Chester, though it does not in the least resemble it, +and is not nearly so picturesque. Like Chester, it is entirely +surrounded by a wall; and that of Avignon--though it has no delightful +promenade on its top, as the wall of Chester has--is the more perfectly +preserved in its mediaeval form, and the more picturesque of the two. +J----- and I have once or twice walked nearly round it, commencing from +the gate of Ouelle, which is very near our hotel. From this point it +stretches for a considerable distance along by the river, and here there +is a broad promenade, with trees, and blocks of stone for seats; on one +side "the arrowy Rhone," generally carrying a cooling breeze along with +it; on the other, the gray wall, with its battlements and machicolations, +impending over what was once the moat, but which is now full of careless +and untrained shrubbery. At intervals there are round towers swelling +out from the wall, and rising a little above it. After about half a mile +along the river-side the wall turns at nearly right angles, and still +there is a wide road, a shaded walk, a boulevard; and at short distances +are cafes, with their little round tables before the door, or small shady +nooks of shrubbery. So numerous are these retreats and pleasaunces that +I do not see how the little old town can support them all, especially as +there are a great many cafes within the walls. I do not remember seeing +any soldiers on guard at the numerous city gates, but there is an office +in the side of each gate for levying the octroi, and old women are +sometimes on guard there. + +This morning, after breakfast, J----- and I crossed the suspension-bridge +close by the gate nearest our hotel, and walked to the ancient town of +Villeneuve, on the other side of the Rhone. The first bridge leads to an +island, from the farther side of which another very long one, with a +timber foundation, accomplishes the passage of the other branch of the +Rhone. There was a good breeze on the river, but after crossing it we +found the rest of the walk excessively hot. This town of Villeneuve is +of very ancient origin, and owes its existence, it is said, to the +famous holiness of a female saint, which gathered round her abode and +burial-place a great many habitations of people who reverenced her. She +was the daughter of the King of Saragossa, and I presume she chose this +site because it was so rocky and desolate. Afterwards it had a long +mediaeval history; and in the time of the Avignon popes, the cardinals, +regretful of their abandoned Roman villas, built pleasure-houses here, so +that the town was called Villa Nueva. After they had done their best, it +must have seemed to these poor cardinals but a rude and sad exchange for +the Borghese, the Albani, the Pamfili Doria, and those other perfectest +results of man's luxurious art. And probably the tradition of the Roman +villas had really been kept alive, and extant examples of them all the +way downward from the times of the empire. But this Villeneuve is the +stoniest, roughest town that can be imagined. There are a few large old +houses, to be sure, but built on a line with shabby village dwellings and +barns, and so presenting little but samples of magnificent shabbiness. +Perhaps I might have found traces of old splendor if I had sought for +them; but, not having the history of the place in my mind, I passed +through its scrambling streets without imagining that Princes of the +Church had once made their abode here. The inhabitants now are peasants, +or chiefly such; though, for aught I know, some of the French noblesse +may burrow in these palaces that look so like hovels. + +A large church, with a massive tower, stands near the centre of the town; +and, of course, I did not fail to enter its arched door,--a pointed arch, +with many frames and mouldings, one within another. An old woman was at +her devotions, and several others came in and knelt during my stay there. +It was quite an interesting interior; a long nave, with six pointed +arches on each side, beneath which were as many chapels. The walls were +rich with pictures, not only in the chapels, but up and down the nave, +above the arches. There were gilded virgins, too, and much other quaint +device that produced an effect that I rather liked than otherwise. At +the end of the church, farthest from the high altar, there were four +columns of exceedingly rich marble, and a good deal more of such precious +material was wrought into the chapels and altars. There was an old stone +seat, also, of some former pope or prelate. The church was dim enough to +cause the lamps in the shrines to become points of vivid light, and, +looking from end to end, it was a long, venerable, tarnished, Old World +vista, not at all tampered with by modern taste. + +We now went on our way through the village, and, emerging from a gate, +went clambering towards the castle of St. Andre, which stands, perhaps, a +quarter of a mile beyond it. This castle was built by Philip le Bel, as +a restraint to the people of Avignon in extending their power on this +side of the Rhone. We happened not to take the most direct way, and so +approached the castle on the farther side and were obliged to go nearly +round the hill on which it stands, before striking into the path which +leads to its gate. It crowns a very bold and difficult hill, directly +above the Rhone, opposite to Avignon,--which is so far off that objects +are not minutely distinguishable,--and looking down upon the long, +straggling town of Villeneuve. It must have been a place of mighty +strength, in its day. Its ramparts seem still almost entire, as looked +upon from without, and when, at length, we climbed the rough, rocky +pathway to the entrance, we found the two vast round towers, with their +battlemented summits and arched gateway between them, just as perfect as +they could have been five hundred or more years ago. Some external +defences are now, however, in a state of ruin; and there are only the +remains of a tower, that once arose between the two round towers, and was +apparently much more elevated than they. A little in front of the gate +was a monumental cross of stone; and in the arch, between the two round +towers, were two little boys at play; and an old woman soon showed +herself, but took no notice of us. Casting our eyes within the gateway, +we saw what looked a rough village street, betwixt old houses built +ponderously of stone, but having far more the aspect of huts than of +castle-hails. They were evidently the dwellings of peasantry, and people +engaged in rustic labor; and no doubt they have burrowed into the +primitive structures of the castle, and, as they found convenient, have +taken their crumbling materials to build barns and farm-houses. There +was space and accommodation for a very considerable population; but the +men were probably at work in the fields, and the only persons visible +were the children aforesaid, and one or two old women bearing bundles of +twigs on their backs. They showed no curiosity respecting us, and though +the wide space included within the castle-rampart seemed almost full of +habitations ruinous or otherwise, I never found such a solitude in any +ruin before. It contrasts very favorably in this particular with English +castles, where, though you do not find rustic villages within the warlike +enclosure, there is always a padlocked gate, always a guide, and +generally half a dozen idle tourists. But here was only antiquity, with +merely the natural growth of fungous human life upon it. + +We went to the end of the castle court and sat down, for lack of other +shade, among some inhospitable nettles that grew close to the wall. +Close by us was a great gap in the ramparts,--it may have been a breach +which was once stormed through; and it now afforded us an airy and sunny +glimpse of distant hills. . . . J----- sketched part of the broken +wall, which, by the by, did not seem to me nearly so thick as the walls +of English castles. Then we returned through the gate, and I stopped, +rather impatiently, under the hot sun, while J----- drew the outline of +the two round towers. This done, we resumed our way homeward, after +drinking from a very deep well close by the square tower of Philip le +Bel. Thence we went melting through the sunshine, which beat upward +as pitilessly from the white road as it blazed downwards from the +sky. . . . + + + +GENEVA. + + +Hotel d'Angleterre, June 11th.--We left Avignon on Tuesday, 7th, and took +the rail to Valence, where we arrived between four and five, and put up +at the Hotel de la Poste, an ancient house, with dirty floors and dirt +generally, but otherwise comfortable enough. . . . Valence is a stately +old town, full of tall houses and irregular streets. We found a +cathedral there, not very large, but with a high and venerable interior, +a nave supported by tall pillars, from the height of which spring arches. +This loftiness is characteristic of French churches, as distinguished +from those of Italy. . . . We likewise saw, close by the cathedral, a +large monument with four arched entrances meeting beneath a vaulted roof; +but, on inquiry of an old priest and other persons, we could get no +account of it, except that it was a tomb, and of unknown antiquity. The +architecture seemed classic, and yet it had some Gothic peculiarities, +and it was a reverend and beautiful object. Had I written up my journal +while the town was fresh in my remembrance, I might have found much to +describe; but a succession of other objects have obliterated most of the +impressions I have received here. Our railway ride to Valence was +intolerably hot. I have felt nothing like it since leaving America, +and that is so long ago that the terrible discomfort was just as good +as new. . . . + +We left Valence at four, and came that afternoon to Lyons, still along +the Rhone. Either the waters of this river assume a transparency in +winter which they lose in summer, or I was mistaken in thinking them +transparent on our former journey. They are now turbid; but the hue does +not suggest the idea of a running mud-puddle, as the water of the Tiber +does. No streams, however, are so beautiful in the quality of their +waters as the clear, brown rivers of New England. The scenery along this +part of the Rhone, as we have found all the way from Marseilles, is very +fine and impressive; old villages, rocky cliffs, castellated steeps, +quaint chateaux, and a thousand other interesting objects. + +We arrived at Lyons at five o'clock, and went to the Hotel de l'Univers, +to which we had been recommended by our good hostess at Avignon. The day +had become showery, but J----- and I strolled about a little before +nightfall, and saw the general characteristics of the place. Lyons is a +city of very stately aspect, hardly inferior to Paris; for it has regular +streets of lofty houses, and immense squares planted with trees, and +adorned with statues and fountains. New edifices of great splendor are +in process of erection; and on the opposite side of the Rhone, where the +site rises steep and high, there are structures of older date, that have +an exceedingly picturesque effect, looking down upon the narrow town. + +The next morning I went out with J----- in quest of my bankers, and of +the American Consul; and as I had forgotten the directions of the waiter +of the hotel, I of course went astray, and saw a good deal more of Lyons +than I intended. In my wanderings I crossed the Rhone, and found myself +in a portion of the city evidently much older than that with which I had +previously made acquaintance; narrow, crooked, irregular, and rudely +paved streets, full of dingy business and bustle,--the city, in short, as +it existed a century ago, and how much earlier I know not. Above rises +that lofty elevation of ground which I before noticed; and the glimpses +of its stately old buildings through the openings of the street were very +picturesque. Unless it be Edinburgh, I have not seen any other city that +has such striking features. Altogether unawares, immediately after +crossing the bridge, we came upon the cathedral; and the grand, +time-blackened Gothic front, with its deeply arched entrances, seemed to +me as good as anything I ever saw,--unexpectedly more impressive than all +the ruins of Rome. I could but merely glance at its interior; so that +its noble height and venerable space, filled with the dim, consecrated +light of pictured windows, recur to me as a vision. And it did me good +to enjoy the awfulness and sanctity of Gothic architecture again, after +so long shivering in classic porticos. . . . + +We now recrossed the river. . . . The Frank methods and arrangements in +matters of business seem to be excellent, so far as effecting the +proposed object is concerned; but there is such an inexorable succession +of steel-wrought forms, that life is not long enough for so much +accuracy. The stranger, too, goes blindfold through all these processes, +not knowing what is to turn up next, till, when quite in despair, he +suddenly finds his business mysteriously accomplished. . . . + +We left Lyons at four o'clock, taking the railway for Geneva. The +scenery was very striking throughout the journey; but I allowed the +hills, deep valleys, high impending cliffs, and whatever else I saw along +the road, to pass from me without an ink-blot. We reached Geneva at +nearly ten o'clock. . . . It is situated partly on low, flat ground, +bordering the lake, and behind this level space it rises by steep, +painfully paved streets, some of which can hardly be accessible by +wheeled carriages. The prosperity of the town is indicated by a good +many new and splendid edifices, for commercial and other purposes, in the +vicinity of the lake; but intermixed with these there are many quaint +buildings of a stern gray color, and in a style of architecture that I +prefer a thousand times to the monotony of Italian streets. Immensely +high, red roofs, with windows in them, produce an effect that delights +me. They are as ugly, perhaps, as can well be conceived, but very +striking and individual. At each corner of these ancient houses +frequently is a tower, the roof of which rises in a square pyramidal +form, or, if the tower be round, in a round pyramidal form. Arched +passages, gloomy and grimy, pass from one street to another. The lower +town creeps with busy life, and swarms like an ant-hill; but if you climb +the half-precipitous streets, you find yourself among ancient and stately +mansions, high roofed, with a strange aspect of grandeur about them, +looking as if they might still be tenanted by such old magnates as dwelt +in them centuries ago. There is also a cathedral, the older portion +exceedingly fine; but it has been adorned at some modern epoch with a +Grecian portico,--good in itself, but absurdly out of keeping with the +edifice which it prefaces. This being a Protestant country, the doors +were all shut,--an inhospitality that made me half a Catholic. It is +funny enough that a stranger generally profits by all that is worst for +the inhabitants of the country where he himself is merely a visitor. +Despotism makes things all the pleasanter for the stranger. Catholicism +lends itself admirably to his purposes. + +There are public gardens (one, at least) in Geneva. . . . Nothing +struck me so much, I think, as the color of the Rhone, as it flows under +the bridges in the lower town. It is absolutely miraculous, and, +beautiful as it is, suggests the idea that the tubs of a thousand dyers +have emptied their liquid indigo into the stream. When once you have +conquered and thrust out this idea, it is an inexpressible delight to +look down into this intense, brightly transparent blue, that hurries +beneath you with the speed of a race-horse. + +The shops of Geneva are very tempting to a traveller, being full of such +little knick-knacks as he would be glad to carry away in memory of the +place: wonderful carvings in wood and ivory, done with exquisite taste +and skill; jewelry that seems very cheap, but is doubtless dear enough, +if you estimate it by the solid gold that goes into its manufacture; +watches, above all things else, for a third or a quarter of the price +that one pays in England, looking just as well, too, and probably +performing the whole of a watch's duty as uncriticisably. The Swiss +people are frugal and inexpensive in their own habits, I believe, plain +and simple, and careless of ornament; but they seem to reckon on other +people's spending a great deal of money for gewgaws. We bought some of +their wooden trumpery, and likewise a watch for U----. . . . Next to +watches, jewelry, and wood-carving, I should say that cigars were one of +the principal articles of commerce in Geneva. Cigar-shops present +themselves at every step or two, and at a reasonable rate, there being no +duties, I believe, on imported goods. There was no examination of our +trunks on arrival, nor any questions asked on that score. + + + +VILLENEUVE. + + +Hotel de Byron, June 12th.--Yesterday afternoon we left Geneva by a +steamer, starting from the quay at only a short distance from our hotel. +The forenoon had been showery; but the suit now came out very pleasantly, +although there were still clouds and mist enough to give infinite variety +to the mountain scenery. At the commencement of our voyage the scenery +of the lake was not incomparably superior to that of other lakes on which +I have sailed, as Lake Windermere, for instance, or Loch Lomond, or our +own Lake Champlain. It certainly grew more grand and beautiful, however, +till at length I felt that I had never seen anything worthy to be put +beside it. The southern shore has the grandest scenery; the great hills +on that side appearing close to the water's edge, and after descending, +with headlong slope, directly from their rocky and snow-streaked summits +down into the blue water. Our course lay nearer to the northern shore, +and all our stopping-places were on that side. The first was Coppet, +where Madame de Stael or her father, or both, were either born or resided +or died, I know not which, and care very little. It is a picturesque +village, with an old church, and old, high-roofed, red-tiled houses, the +whole looking as if nothing in it had been changed for many, many years. +All these villages, at several of which we stopped momentarily, look +delightfully unmodified by recent fashions. There is the church, with +its tower crowned by a pyramidal roof, like an extinguisher; then the +chateau of the former lord, half castle and half dwelling-house, with a +round tower at each corner, pyramid topped; then, perhaps, the ancient +town-house or Hotel de Ville, in an open paved square; and perhaps the +largest mansion in the whole village will have been turned into a modern +inn, but retaining all its venerable characteristics of high, steep +sloping roof, and antiquated windows. Scatter a delightful shade of +trees among the houses, throw in a time-worn monument of one kind or +another, swell out the delicious blue of the lake in front, and the +delicious green of the sunny hillside sloping up and around this closely +congregated neighborhood of old, comfortable houses, and I do not know +what more I can add to this sketch. Often there was an insulated house +or cottage, embowered in shade, and each seeming like the one only spot +in the wide world where two people that had good consciences and loved +each other could spend a happy life. Half-ruined towers, old historic +castles, these, too, we saw. And all the while, on the other side of the +lake, were the high hills, sometimes dim, sometimes black, sometimes +green, with gray precipices of stone, and often snow-patches, right above +the warm sunny lake whereon we were sailing. + +We passed Lausanne, which stands upward, on the slope of the hill, the +tower of its cathedral forming a conspicuous object. We mean to visit +this to-morrow; so I may pretermit further mention of it here. We passed +Vevay and Clarens, which, methought, was particularly picturesque; for +now the hills had approached close to the water on the northern side +also, and steep heights rose directly above the little gray church and +village; and especially I remember a rocky cliff which ascends into a +rounded pyramid, insulated from all other peaks and ridges. But if I +could perform the absolute impossibility of getting one single outline of +the scene into words, there would be all the color wanting, the light, +the haze, which spiritualizes it, and moreover makes a thousand and a +thousand scenes out of that single one. Clarens, however, has still +another interest for me; for I found myself more affected by it, as the +scene of the love of St. Preux and Julie, than I have often been by +scenes of poetry and romance. I read Rousseau's romance with great +sympathy, when I was hardly more than a boy; ten years ago, or +thereabouts, I tried to read it again without success; but I think, from +my feeling of yesterday, that it still retains its hold upon my +imagination. + +Farther onward, we saw a white, ancient-looking group of towers, beneath +a mountain, which was so high, and rushed so precipitately down upon this +pile of building as quite to dwarf it; besides which, its dingy whiteness +had not a very picturesque effect. Nevertheless, this was the Castle of +Chillon. It appears to sit right upon the water, and does not rise very +loftily above it. I was disappointed in its aspect, having imagined this +famous castle as situated upon a rock, a hundred, or, for aught I know, a +thousand feet above the surface of the lake; but it is quite as +impressive a fact--supposing it to be true--that the water is eight +hundred feet deep at its base. By this time, the mountains had taken the +beautiful lake into their deepest heart; they girdled it quite round with +their grandeur and beauty, and, being able to do no more for it, they +here withheld it from extending any farther; and here our voyage came to +an end. I have never beheld any scene so exquisite; nor do I ask of +heaven to show me any lovelier or nobler one, but only to give me such +depth and breadth of sympathy with nature, that I may worthily enjoy +this. It is beauty more than enough for poor, perishable mortals. If +this be earth, what must heaven be! + +It was nearly eight o'clock when we arrived; and then we had a walk of at +least a mile to the Hotel Byron. . . . I forgot to mention that in the +latter part of our voyage there was a shower in some part of the sky, and +though none of it fell upon us, we had the benefit of those gentle tears +in a rainbow, which arched itself across the lake from mountain to +mountain, so that our track lay directly under this triumphal arch. We +took it as a good omen, nor were we discouraged, though, after the +rainbow had vanished, a few sprinkles of the shower came down. + +We found the Hotel Byron very grand indeed, and a good one too. There +was a beautiful moonlight on the lake and hills, but we contented +ourselves with looking out of our lofty window, whence, likewise, we had +a sidelong glance at the white battlements of Chillon, not more than a +mile off, on the water's edge. The castle is wofully in need of a +pedestal. If its site were elevated to a height equal to its own, it +would make a far better appearance. As it now is, it looks, to speak +profanely of what poetry has consecrated, when seen from the water, or +along the shore of the lake, very like an old whitewashed factory or +mill. + +This morning I walked to the Castle of Chillon with J-----, who sketches +everything he sees, from a wildflower or a carved chair to a castle or a +range of mountains. The morning had sunshine thinly scattered through +it; but, nevertheless, there was a continual sprinkle, sometimes scarcely +perceptible, and then again amounting to a decided drizzle. The road, +which is built along on a little elevation above the lake shore, led us +past the Castle of Chillon; and we took a side-path, which passes still +nearer the castle gate. The castle stands on an isthmus of gravel, +permanently connecting it with the mainland. A wooden bridge, covered +with a roof, passes from the shore to the arched entrance; and beneath +this shelter, which has wooden walls as well as roof and floor, we saw a +soldier or gendarme who seemed to act as warder. As it sprinkled rather +more freely than at first, I thought of appealing to his hospitality for +shelter from the rain, but concluded to pass on. + +The castle makes a far better appearance on a nearer view, and from the +land, than when seen at a distance, and from the water. It is built of +stone, and seems to have been anciently covered with plaster, which +imparts the whiteness to which Byron does much more than justice, when he +speaks of "Chillon's snow-white battlements." There is a lofty external +wall, with a cluster of round towers about it, each crowned with its +pyramidal roof of tiles, and from the central portion of the castle rises +a square tower, also crowned with its own pyramid to a considerably +greater height than the circumjacent ones. The whole are in a close +cluster, and make a fine picture of ancient strength when seen at a +proper proximity; for I do not think that distance adds anything to the +effect. There are hardly any windows, or few, and very small ones, +except the loopholes for arrows and for the garrison of the castle to +peep from on the sides towards the water; indeed, there are larger +windows at least in the upper apartments; but in that direction, no +doubt, the castle was considered impregnable. Trees here and there on +the land side grow up against the castle wall, on one part of which, +moreover, there was a green curtain of ivy spreading from base to +battlement. The walls retain their machicolations, and I should judge +that nothing had been [altered], nor any more work been done upon the old +fortress than to keep it in singularly good repair. It was formerly a +castle of the Duke of Savoy, and since his sway over the country ceased +(three hundred years at least), it has been in the hands of the Swiss +government, who still keep some arms and ammunition there. + +We passed on, and found the view of it better, as we thought, from a +farther point along the road. The raindrops began to spatter down +faster, and we took shelter under an impending precipice, where the ledge +of rock had been blasted and hewn away to form the road. Our refuge was +not a very convenient and comfortable one, so we took advantage of the +partial cessation of the shower to turn homeward, but had not gone far +when we met mamma and all her train. As we were close by the castle +entrance, we thought it advisable to seek admission, though rather +doubtful whether the Swiss gendarme might not deem it a sin to let us +into the castle on Sunday. But he very readily admitted us under his +covered drawbridge, and called an old man from within the fortress to +show us whatever was to be seen. This latter personage was a staid, +rather grim, and Calvinistic-looking old worthy; but he received us +without scruple, and forthwith proceeded to usher us into a range of most +dismal dungeons, extending along the basement of the castle, on a level +with the surface of the lake. First, if I remember aright, we came to +what he said had been a chapel, and which, at all events, looked like an +aisle of one, or rather such a crypt as I have seen beneath a cathedral, +being a succession of massive pillars supporting groined arches,--a very +admirable piece of gloomy Gothic architecture. Next, we came to a very +dark compartment of the same dungeon range, where he pointed to a sort of +bed, or what might serve for a bed, hewn in the solid rock, and this, our +guide said, had been the last sleeping-place of condemned prisoners on +the night before their execution. The next compartment was still duskier +and dismaller than the last, and he bade us cast our eyes up into the +obscurity and see a beam, where the condemned ones used to be hanged. I +looked and looked, and closed my eyes so as to see the clearer in this +horrible duskiness on opening them again. Finally, I thought I discerned +the accursed beam, and the rest of the party were certain that they saw +it. Next beyond this, I think, was a stone staircase, steep, rudely cut, +and narrow, down which the condemned were brought to death; and beyond +this, still on the same basement range of the castle, a low and narrow +[corridor] through which we passed and saw a row of seven massive +pillars, supporting two parallel series of groined arches, like those in +the chapel which we first entered. This was Bonnivard's prison, and the +scene of Byron's poem. + +The arches are dimly lighted by narrow loopholes, pierced through the +immensely thick wall, but at such a height above the floor that we could +catch no glimpse of land or water, or scarcely of the sky. The prisoner +of Chillon could not possibly have seen the island to which Byron +alludes, and which is a little way from the shore, exactly opposite the +town of Villeneuve. There was light enough in this long, gray, vaulted +room, to show us that all the pillars were inscribed with the names of +visitors, among which I saw no interesting one, except that of Byron +himself, which is cut, in letters an inch long or more, into one of the +pillars next to that to which Bonnivard was chained. The letters are +deep enough to remain in the pillar as long as the castle stands. Byron +seems to have had a fancy for recording his name in this and similar +ways; as witness the record which I saw on a tree of Newstead Abbey. In +Bonnivard's pillar there still remains an iron ring, at the height of +perhaps three feet from the ground. His chain was fastened to this ring, +and his only freedom was to walk round this pillar, about which he is +said to have worn a path in the stone pavement of the dungeon; but as the +floor is now covered with earth or gravel, I could not satisfy myself +whether this be true. Certainly six years, with nothing else to do in +them save to walk round the pillar, might well suffice to wear away the +rock, even with naked feet. This column, and all the columns, were cut +and hewn in a good style of architecture, and the dungeon arches are not +without a certain gloomy beauty. On Bonnivard's pillar, as well as on +all the rest, were many names inscribed; but I thought better of Byron's +delicacy and sensitiveness for not cutting his name into that very +pillar. Perhaps, knowing nothing of Bonnivard's story, he did not know +to which column he was chained. + +Emerging from the dungeon-vaults, our guide led us through other parts of +the castle, showing us the Duke of Savoy's kitchen, with a fireplace at +least twelve feet long; also the judgment-hall, or some such place, hung +round with the coats of arms of some officers or other, and having at one +end a wooden post, reaching from floor to ceiling, and having upon it the +marks of fire. By means of this post, contumacious prisoners were put to +a dreadful torture, being drawn up by cords and pulleys, while their +limbs were scorched by a fire underneath. We also saw a chapel or two, +one of which is still in good and sanctified condition, and was to be +used this very day, our guide told us, for religious purposes. We saw, +moreover, the Duke's private chamber, with a part of the bedstead on +which he used to sleep, and be haunted with horrible dreams, no doubt, +and the ghosts of wretches whom he had tortured and hanged; likewise the +bedchamber of his duchess, that had in its window two stone seats, where, +directly over the head of Bonnivard, the ducal pair might look out on the +beautiful scene of lake and mountains, and feel the warmth of the blessed +sun. Under this window, the guide said, the water of the lake is eight +hundred feet in depth; an immense profundity, indeed, for an inland lake, +but it is not very difficult to believe that the mountain at the foot of +which Chillon stands may descend so far beneath the water. In other +parts of the lake and not distant, more than nine hundred feet have been +sounded. I looked out of the duchess's window, and could certainly see +no appearance of a bottom in the light blue water. + +The last thing that the guide showed us was a trapdoor, or opening, +beneath a crazy old floor. Looking down into this aperture we saw three +stone steps, which we should have taken to be the beginning of a flight +of stairs that descended into a dungeon, or series of dungeons, such as +we had already seen. But inspecting them more closely, we saw that the +third step terminated the flight, and beyond was a dark vacancy. Three +steps a person would grope down, planting his uncertain foot on a dimly +seen stone; the fourth step would be in the empty air. The guide told us +that it used to be the practice to bring prisoners hither, under pretence +of committing them to a dungeon, and make them go down the three steps +and that fourth fatal one, and they would never more be heard of; but at +the bottom of the pit there would be a dead body, and in due time a +mouldy skeleton, which would rattle beneath the body of the next prisoner +that fell. I do not believe that it was anything more than a secret +dungeon for state prisoners whom it was out of the question either to set +at liberty or bring to public trial. The depth of the pit was about +forty-five feet. Gazing intently down, I saw a faint gleam of light at +the bottom, apparently coming from some other aperture than the trap-door +over which we were bending, so that it must have been contemplated to +supply it with light and air in such degree as to support human life. +U---- declared she saw a skeleton at the bottom; Miss S------ thought she +saw a hand, but I saw only the dim gleam of light. + +There are two or three courts in the castle, but of no great size. We +were now led across one of them, and dismissed out of the arched entrance +by which we had come in. We found the gendarme still keeping watch on +his roofed drawbridge, and as there was the same gentle shower that had +been effusing itself all the morning, we availed ourselves of the +shelter, more especially as there were some curiosities to examine. +These consisted chiefly of wood-carvings,--such as little figures in the +national costume, boxes with wreaths of foliage upon them, paper knives, +the chamois goat, admirably well represented. We at first hesitated to +make any advances towards trade with the gendarme because it was Sunday, +and we fancied there might be a Calvinistic scruple on his part about +turning a penny on the Sabbath; but from the little I know of the Swiss +character, I suppose they would be as ready as any other men to sell, not +only such matters, but even their own souls, or any smaller--or shall we +say greater--thing on Sunday or at any other time. So we began to ask +the prices of the articles, and met with no difficulty in purchasing a +salad spoon and fork, with pretty bas-reliefs carved on the handles, and +a napkin-ring. For Rosebud's and our amusement, the gendarme now set a +musical-box a-going; and as it played a pasteboard figure of a dentist +began to pull the tooth of a pasteboard patient, lifting the wretched +simulacrum entirely from the ground, and keeping him in this horrible +torture for half an hour. Meanwhile, mamma, Miss Shepard, U----, and +J----- sat down all in a row on a bench and sketched the mountains; and +as the shower did not cease, though the sun most of the time shone +brightly, they were kept actual prisoners of Chillon much longer than we +wished to stay. + +We took advantage of the first cessation,--though still the drops came +dimpling into the water that rippled against the pebbles beneath the +bridge,--of the first partial cessation of the shower, to escape, and +returned towards the hotel, with this kindliest of summer rains falling +upon us most of the way In the afternoon the rain entirely ceased, and +the weather grew delightfully radiant, and warmer than could well be +borne in the sunshine. U---- and I walked to the village of Villeneuve, +--a mile from the hotel,--and found a very commonplace little old town of +one or two streets, standing on a level, and as uninteresting as if there +were not a hill within a hundred miles. It is strange what prosaic lines +men thrust in amid the poetry of nature. . . . + + +Hotel de l'Angleterre, Geneva, June 14th.--Yesterday morning was very +fine, and we had a pretty early breakfast at Hotel Byron, preparatory to +leaving it. This hotel is on a magnificent scale of height and breadth, +its staircases and corridors being the most spacious I have seen; but +there is a kind of meagreness in the life there, and a certain lack of +heartiness, that prevented us from feeling at home. We were glad to get +away, and took the steamer on our return voyage, in excellent spirits. +Apparently it had been a cold night in the upper regions, for a great +deal more snow was visible on some of the mountains than we had before +observed; especially a mountain called "Diableries" presented a silver +summit, and broad sheets and fields of snow. Nothing ever can have been +more beautiful than those groups of mighty hills as we saw them then, +with the gray rocks, the green slopes, the white snow-patches and crests, +all to be seen at one glance, and the mists and fleecy clouds tumbling, +rolling, hovering about their summits, filling their lofty valleys, and +coming down far towards the lower world, making the skyey aspects so +intimate with the earthly ones, that we hardly knew whether we were +sojourning in the material or spiritual world. It was like sailing +through the sky, moreover, to be borne along on such water as that of +Lake Leman,--the bluest, brightest, and profoundest element, the most +radiant eye that the dull earth ever opened to see heaven withal. I am +writing nonsense, but it is because no sense within my mind will answer +the purpose. + +Some of these mountains, that looked at no such mighty distance, were at +least forty or fifty miles off, and appeared as if they were near +neighbors and friends of other mountains, from which they were really +still farther removed. The relations into which distant points are +brought, in a view of mountain scenery, symbolize the truth which we can +never judge within our partial scope of vision, of the relations which we +bear to our fellow-creatures and human circumstances. These mighty +mountains think that they have nothing to do with one another, each seems +itself its own centre, and existing for itself alone; and yet to an eye +that can take them all in, they are evidently portions of one grand and +beautiful idea, which could not be consummated without the lowest and the +loftiest of them. I do not express this satisfactorily, but have a +genuine meaning in it nevertheless. + +We passed again by Chillon, and gazed at it as long as it was distinctly +visible, though the water view does no justice to its real +picturesqueness, there being no towers nor projections on the side +towards the lake, nothing but a wall of dingy white, with an indentation +that looks something like a gateway. About an hour and a half brought us +to Ouchy, the point where passengers land to take the omnibus to +Lausanne. The ascent from Ouchy to Lausanne is a mile and a half, which +it took the omnibus nearly half an hour to accomplish. We left our +shawls and carpet-bags in the salle a manger of the Hotel Faucon, and set +forth to find the cathedral, the pinnacled tower of which is visible for +a long distance up and down the lake. Prominent as it is, however, it is +by no means very easy to find it while rambling through the intricate +streets and declivities of the town itself, for Lausanne is the town, I +should fancy, in all the world the most difficult to go directly from one +point to another. It is built on the declivity of a hill, adown which +run several valleys or ravines, and over these the contiguity of houses +extends, so that the communication is kept up by means of steep streets +and sometimes long weary stairs, which must be surmounted and descended +again in accomplishing a very moderate distance. In some inscrutable way +we at last arrived at the cathedral, which stands on a higher site than +any other in Lausanne. It has a very venerable exterior, with all the +Gothic grandeur which arched mullioned windows, deep portals, buttresses, +towers, and pinnacles, gray with a thousand years, can give to +architecture. After waiting awhile we obtained entrance by means of an +old woman, who acted the part of sacristan, and was then showing the +church to some other visitors. + +The interior disappointed us; not but what it was very beautiful, but I +think the excellent repair that it was in, and the Puritanic neatness +with which it is kept, does much towards effacing the majesty and mystery +that belong to an old church. Every inch of every wall and column, and +all the mouldings and tracery, and every scrap of grotesque carving, had +been washed with a drab mixture. There were likewise seats all up and +down the nave, made of pine wood, and looking very new and neat, just +such seats as I shall see in a hundred meeting-houses (if ever I go into +so many) in America. Whatever might be the reason, the stately nave, +with its high-groined roof, the clustered columns and lofty pillars, the +intersecting arches of the side-aisles, the choir, the armorial and +knightly tombs that surround what was once the high altar, all produced +far less effect than I could have thought beforehand. + +As it happened, we had more ample time and freedom to inspect this +cathedral than any other that we have visited, for the old woman +consented to go away and leave us there, locking the door behind her. +The others, except Rosebud, sat down to sketch such portions as struck +their fancy; and for myself, I looked at the monuments, of which some, +being those of old knights, ladies, bishops, and a king, were curious +from their antiquity; and others are interesting as bearing memorials of +English people, who have died at Lausanne in comparatively recent years. +Then I went up into the pulpit, and tried, without success, to get into +the stone gallery that runs all round the nave; and I explored my way +into various side apartments of the cathedral, which I found fitted up +with seats for Sabbath schools, perhaps, or possibly for meetings of +elders of the Church. I opened the great Bible of the church, and found +it to be a French version, printed at Lille some fifty years ago. There +was also a liturgy, adapted, probably, to the Lutheran form of worship. +In one of the side apartments I found a strong box, heavily clamped with +iron, and having a contrivance, like the hopper of a mill, by which money +could be turned into the top, while a double lock prevented its being +abstracted again. This was to receive the avails of contributions made +in the church; and there were likewise boxes, stuck on the ends of long +poles, wherewith the deacons could go round among the worshippers, +conveniently extending the begging-box to the remotest curmudgeon among +them all. From the arrangement of the seats in the nave, and the labels +pasted or painted on them, I judged that the women sat on one side and +the men on the other, and the seats for various orders of magistrates, +and for ecclesiastical and collegiate people, were likewise marked out. + +I soon grew weary of these investigations, and so did Rosebud and J-----, +who essayed to amuse themselves with running races together over the +horizontal tombstones in the pavement of the choir, treading +remorselessly over the noseless effigies of old dignitaries, who never +expected to be so irreverently treated. I put a stop to their sport, and +banished them to different parts of the cathedral; and by and by, the old +woman appeared again, and released us from durance. . . . + +While waiting for our dejeuner, we saw the people dining at the regular +table d'hote of the hotel, and the idea was strongly borne in upon me, +that the professional mystery of a male waiter is a very unmanly one. It +is so absurd to see the solemn attentiveness with which they stand behind +the chairs, the earnestness of their watch for any crisis that may demand +their interposition, the gravity of their manner in performing some +little office that the guest might better do for himself, their decorous +and soft steps; in short, as I sat and gazed at them, they seemed to me +not real men, but creatures with a clerical aspect, engendered out of a +very artificial state of society. When they are waiting on myself, they +do not appear so absurd; it is necessary to stand apart in order to see +them properly. + +We left Lausanne--which was to us a tedious and weary place--before four +o'clock. I should have liked well enough to see the house of Gibbon, and +the garden in which he walked, after finishing "The Decline and Fall"; +but it could not be done without some trouble and inquiry, and as the +house did not come to see me, I determined not to go and see the house. +There was, indeed, a mansion of somewhat antique respectability, near our +hotel, having a garden and a shaded terrace behind it, which would have +answered accurately enough to the idea of Gibbon's residence. Perhaps it +was so; far more probably not. + +Our former voyages had been taken in the Hirondelle; we now, after +broiling for some time in the sunshine by the lakeside, got on board of +the Aigle, No. 2. There were a good many passengers, the larger +proportion of whom seemed to be English and American, and among the +latter a large party of talkative ladies, old and young. The voyage was +pleasant while we were protected from the sun by the awning overhead, but +became scarcely agreeable when the sun had descended so low as to shine +in our faces or on our backs. We looked earnestly for Mont Blanc, which +ought to have been visible during a large part of our course; but the +clouds gathered themselves hopelessly over the portion of the sky where +the great mountain lifted his white peak; and we did not see it, and +probably never shall. As to the meaner mountains, there were enough of +them, and beautiful enough; but we were a little weary, and feverish with +the heat. . . . I think I had a head-ache, though it is so unusual a +complaint with me, that I hardly know it when it comes. We were none of +us sorry, therefore, when the Eagle brought us to the quay of Geneva, +only a short distance from our hotel. . . . + +To-day I wrote to Mr. Wilding, requesting him to secure passages for us +from Liverpool on the 15th of next month, or 1st of August. It makes my +heart thrill, half pleasantly, half otherwise; so much nearer does this +step seem to bring that home whence I have now been absent six years, and +which, when I see it again, may turn out to be not my home any longer. I +likewise wrote to Bennoch, though I know not his present address; but I +should deeply grieve to leave England without seeing him. He and Henry +Bright are the only two men in England to whom I shall be much grieved to +bid farewell; but to the island itself I cannot bear to say that word as +a finality. I shall dreamily hope to come back again at some indefinite +time; rather foolishly perhaps, for it will tend to take the substance +out of my life in my own land. But this, I suspect, is apt to be the +penalty of those who stay abroad and stay too long. + + + +HAVRE. + + +Hotel Wheeler, June 22d.--We arrived at this hotel last evening from +Paris, and find ourselves on the borders of the Petit Quay Notre Dame, +with steamers and boats right under our windows, and all sorts of +dock-business going on briskly. There are barrels, bales, and crates of +goods; there are old iron cannon for posts; in short, all that belongs to +the Wapping of a great seaport. . . . The American partialities of the +guests [of this hotel] are consulted by the decorations of the parlor, in +which hang two lithographs and colored views of New York, from Brooklyn +and from Weehawken. The fashion of the house is a sort of nondescript +mixture of Frank, English, and American, and is not disagreeable to us +after our weary experience of Continental life. The abundance of the +food is very acceptable in comparison with the meagreness of French and +Italian meals; and last evening we supped nobly on cold roast beef and +ham, set generously before us, in the mass, instead of being doled out in +slices few and thin. The waiter has a kindly sort of manner, and +resembles the steward of a vessel rather than a landsman; and, in short, +everything here has undergone a change, which might admit of very +effective description. I may now as well give up all attempts at +journalizing. So I shall say nothing of our journey across France from +Geneva. . . . To-night, we shall take our departure in a steamer for +Southampton, whence we shall go to London; thence, in a week or two, to +Liverpool; thence to Boston and Concord, there to enjoy--if enjoyment it +prove--a little rest and a sense that we are at home. + +[More than four months were now taken up in writing "The Marble Faun," in +great part at the seaside town of Redcar, Yorkshire, Mr. Hawthorne having +concluded to remain another year in England, chiefly to accomplish that +romance. In Redcar, where he remained till September or October, he +wrote no journal, but only the book. He then went to Leamington, where +he finished "The Marble Faun" in March, and there is a little +journalizing soon after leaving Redcar.--ED.] + + + +ENGLAND. + + +Leamington, November 14th, 1859.--J---- and I walked to Lillington the +other day. Its little church was undergoing renovation when we were here +two years ago, and now seems to be quite renewed, with the exception of +its square, gray, battlemented tower, which has still the aspect of +unadulterated antiquity. On Saturday J----- and I walked to Warwick by +the old road, passing over the bridge of the Avon, within view of the +castle. It is as fine a piece of English scenery as exists anywhere,-- +the quiet little river, shadowed with drooping trees, and, in its vista, +the gray towers and long line of windows of the lordly castle, with a +picturesquely varied outline; ancient strength, a little softened by +decay. . . . + +The town of Warwick, I think, has been considerably modernized since I +first saw it. The whole of the central portion of the principal street +now looks modern, with its stuccoed or brick fronts of houses, and, in +many cases, handsome shop windows. Leicester Hospital and its adjoining +chapel still look venerably antique; and so does a gateway that half +bestrides the street. Beyond these two points on either side it has a +much older aspect. The modern signs heighten the antique impression. + + +February 5th, 1860.--Mr. and Mrs. Bennoch are staying for a little while +at Mr. B------'s at Coventry, and Mr. B------ called upon us the other +day, with Mr. Bennoch, and invited us to go and see the lions of +Coventry; so yesterday U---- and I went. It was not my first visit, +therefore I have little or nothing to record, unless it were to describe +a ribbon-factory into which Mr. B------ took us. But I have no +comprehension of machinery, and have only a confused recollection of an +edifice of four or five stories, on each floor of which were rows of huge +machines, all busy with their iron hands and joints in turning out +delicate ribbons. It was very curious and unintelligible to me to +observe how they caused different colored patterns to appear, and even +flowers to blossom, on the plain surface of a ribbon. Some of the +designs were pretty, and I was told that one manufacturer pays 500 pounds +annually to French artists (or artisans, for I do not know whether they +have a connection with higher art) merely for new patterns of ribbons. +The English find it impossible to supply themselves with tasteful +productions of this sort merely from the resources of English fancy. If +an Englishman possessed the artistic faculty to the degree requisite to +produce such things, he would doubtless think himself a great artist, and +scorn to devote himself to these humble purposes. Every Frenchman is +probably more of an artist than one Englishman in a thousand. + +We ascended to the very roof of the factory, and gazed thence over smoky +Coventry, which is now a town of very considerable size, and rapidly on +the increase. The three famous spires rise out of the midst, that of St. +Michael being the tallest and very beautiful. Had the day been clear, we +should have had a wide view on all sides; for Warwickshire is well laid +out for distant prospects, if you can only gain a little elevation from +which to see them. + +Descending from the roof, we next went to see Trinity Church, which has +just come through an entire process of renovation, whereby much of its +pristine beauty has doubtless been restored; but its venerable awfulness +is greatly impaired. We went into three churches, and found that they +had all been subjected to the same process. It would be nonsense to +regret it, because the very existence of these old edifices is involved +in their being renewed; but it certainly does deprive them of a great +part of their charm, and puts one in mind of wigs, padding, and all such +devices for giving decrepitude the aspect of youth. In the pavement of +the nave and aisles there are worn tombstones, with defaced inscriptions, +and discolored marbles affixed against the wall; monuments, too, where a +mediaeval man and wife sleep side by side on a marble slab; and other +tombs so old that the inscriptions are quite gone. Over an arch, in one +of the churches, there was a fresco, so old, dark, faded, and blackened, +that I found it impossible to make out a single figure or the slightest +hint of the design. On the whole, after seeing the churches of Italy, I +was not greatly impressed with these attempts to renew the ancient beauty +of old English minsters; it would be better to preserve as sedulously +as possible their aspect of decay, in which consists the principal +charm. . . . + +On our way to Mr. B------'s house, we looked into the quadrangle of a +charity-school and old men's hospital, and afterwards stepped into a +large Roman Catholic church, erected within these few years past, and +closely imitating the mediaeval architecture and arrangements. It is +strange what a plaything, a trifle, an unserious affair, this imitative +spirit makes of a huge, ponderous edifice, which if it had really been +built five hundred years ago would have been worthy of all respect. I +think the time must soon come when this sort of thing will be held in +utmost scorn, until the lapse of time shall give it a claim to respect. +But, methinks, we had better strike out any kind of architecture, so it +be our own, however wretched, than thus tread back upon the past. + +Mr. B------ now conducted us to his residence, which stands a little +beyond the outskirts of the city, on the declivity of a hill, and in so +windy a spot that, as he assured me, the very plants are blown out of the +ground. He pointed to two maimed trees whose tops were blown off by a +gale two or three years since; but the foliage still covers their +shortened summits in summer, so that he does not think it desirable to +cut them down. + +In America, a man of Mr. B------'s property would take upon himself the +state and dignity of a millionaire. It is a blessed thing in England, +that money gives a man no pretensions to rank, and does not bring the +responsibilities of a great position. + +We found three or four gentlemen to meet us at dinner,--a Mr. D------ and +a Mr. B------, an author, having written a book called "The Philosophy of +Necessity," and is acquainted with Emerson, who spent two or three days +at his house when last in England. He was very kindly appreciative of my +own productions, as was also his wife, next to whom I sat at dinner. She +talked to me about the author of "Adam Bede," whom she has known +intimately all her life. . . . Miss Evans (who wrote "Adam Bede") was +the daughter of a steward, and gained her exact knowledge of English +rural life by the connection with which this origin brought her with the +farmers. She was entirely self-educated, and has made herself an +admirable scholar in classical as well as in modern languages. Those +who knew her had always recognized her wonderful endowments, and only +watched to see in what way they would develop themselves. She is a +person of the simplest manners and character, amiable and unpretending, +and Mrs. B------ spoke of her with great affection and respect. . . . +Mr. B------, our host, is an extremely sensible man; and it is remarkable +how many sensible men there are in England,--men who have read and +thought, and can develop very good ideas, not exactly original, yet so +much the product of their own minds that they can fairly call them their +own. + + +February 18th.--. . . . This present month has been somewhat less dismal +than the preceding ones; there have been some sunny and breezy days when +there was life in the air, affording something like enjoyment in a walk, +especially when the ground was frozen. It is agreeable to see the fields +still green through a partial covering of snow; the trunks and branches +of the leafless trees, moreover, have a verdant aspect, very unlike that +of American trees in winter, for they are covered with a delicate green +moss, which is not so observable in summer. Often, too, there is a twine +of green ivy up and down the trunk. The other day, as J----- and I were +walking to Whitnash, an elm was felled right across our path, and I was +much struck by this verdant coating of moss over all its surface,--the +moss plants too minute to be seen individually, but making the whole tree +green. It has a pleasant effect here, where it is the natural aspect of +trees in general; but in America a mossy tree-trunk is not a pleasant +object, because it is associated with damp, low, unwholesome situations. +The lack of foliage gives many new peeps and vistas, hereabouts, which I +never saw in summer. + + +March 17th.--J----- and I walked to Warwick yesterday forenoon, and went +into St. Mary's Church, to see the Beauchamp chapel. . . . On one side +of it were some worn steps ascending to a confessional, where the priest +used to sit, while the penitent, in the body of the church, poured his +sins through a perforated auricle into this unseen receptacle. The +sexton showed us, too, a very old chest which had been found in the +burial vault, with some ancient armor stored away in it. Three or four +helmets of rusty iron, one of them barred, the last with visors, and all +intolerably weighty, were ranged in a row. What heads those must have +been that could bear such massiveness! On one of the helmets was a +wooden crest--some bird or other--that of itself weighed several +pounds. . . . + + +April 23d.--We have been here several weeks. . . . Had I seen Bath +earlier in my English life, I might have written many pages about it, for +it is really a picturesque and interesting city. It is completely +sheltered in the lap of hills, the sides of the valley rising steep and +high from the level spot on which it stands, and through which runs the +muddy little stream of the Avon. The older part of the town is on the +level, and the more modern growth--the growth of more than a hundred +years--climbs higher and higher up the hillside, till the upper streets +are very airy and lofty. The houses are built almost entirely of Bath +stone, which in time loses its original buff color, and is darkened by +age and coal-smoke into a dusky gray; but still the city looks clean and +pure as compared with most other English towns. In its architecture, it +has somewhat of a Parisian aspect, the houses having roofs rising steep +from their high fronts, which are often adorned with pillars, pilasters, +and other good devices, so that you see it to be a town built with some +general idea of beauty, and not for business. There are Circuses, +Crescents, Terraces, Parades, and all such fine names as we have become +familiar with at Leamington, and other watering-places. The declivity of +most of the streets keeps them remarkably clean, and they are paved in a +very comfortable way, with large blocks of stone, so that the middle of +the street is generally practicable to walk upon, although the sidewalks +leave no temptation so to do, being of generous width. In many alleys, +and round about the abbey and other edifices, the pavement is of square +flags, like those of Florence, and as smooth as a palace floor. On the +whole, I suppose there is no place in England where a retired man, with a +moderate income, could live so tolerably as at Bath; it being almost a +city in size and social advantages; quite so, indeed, if eighty thousand +people make a city,--and yet having no annoyance of business nor spirit +of worldly struggle. All modes of enjoyment that English people like may +be had here; and even the climate is said to be milder than elsewhere in +England. How this may be, I know not; but we have rain or passing +showers almost every day since we arrived, and I suspect the surrounding +hills are just about of that inconvenient height, that keeps catching +clouds, and compelling them to squeeze out their moisture upon the +included valley. The air, however, certainly is preferable to that of +Leamington. . . . + +There are no antiquities except the abbey, which has not the interest of +many other English churches and cathedrals. In the midst of the old part +of the town stands the house which was formerly Beau Nash's residence, +but which is now part of the establishment of an ale-merchant. The +edifice is a tall, but rather mean-looking, stone building, with the +entrance from a little side court, which is so cumbered with empty +beer-barrels as hardly to afford a passage. The doorway has some +architectural pretensions, being pillared and with some sculptured +devices--whether lions or winged heraldic monstrosities I forget--on the +pediment. Within, there is a small entry, not large enough to be termed +a hall, and a staircase, with carved balustrade, ascending by angular +turns and square landing-places. For a long course of years, ending a +little more than a century ago, princes, nobles, and all the great and +beautiful people of old times, used to go up that staircase, to pay their +respects to the King of Bath. On the side of the house there is a marble +slab inserted, recording that here he resided, and that here he died in +1767, between eighty and ninety years of age. My first acquaintance with +him was in Smollett's "Roderick Random," and I have met him in a hundred +other novels. + +His marble statue is in a niche at one end of the great pump-room, in +wig, square-skirted coat, flapped waistcoat, and all the queer costume of +the period, still looking ghost-like upon the scene where he used to be +an autocrat. Marble is not a good material for Beau Nash, however; or, +if so, it requires color to set him off adequately. . . . + +It is usual in Bath to see the old sign of the checker-board on the +doorposts of taverns. It was originally a token that the game might be +played there, and is now merely a tavern-sign. + + + +LONDON. + + +31 Hertford Street, Mayfair, May 16th, 1860.--I came hither from Bath on +the 14th, and am staying with my friends, Mr. and Mrs. Motley. I would +gladly journalize some of my proceedings, and describe things and people; +but I find the same coldness and stiffness in my pen as always since our +return to England. I dined with the Motleys at Lord Dufferin's, on +Monday evening, and there met, among a few other notable people, the +Honorable Mrs. Norton, a dark, comely woman, who doubtless was once most +charming, and still has charms, at above fifty years of age. In fact, I +should not have taken her to be greatly above thirty, though she seems to +use no art to make herself look younger, and talks about her time of +life, without any squeamishness. Her voice is very agreeable, having a +sort of muffled quality, which is excellent in woman. She is of a very +cheerful temperament, and so has borne a great many troubles without +being destroyed by them. But I can get no color into my sketch, so shall +leave it here. + + +London, May 17th. [From a letter.]--Affairs succeed each other so fast, +that I have really forgotten what I did yesterday. I remember seeing my +dear friend, Henry Bright, and listening to him, as we strolled in the +Park, and along the Strand. To-day I met at breakfast Mr. Field +Talfourd, who promises to send you the photograph of his portrait of Mr. +Browning. He was very agreeable, and seemed delighted to see me again. +At lunch, we had Lord Dufferin, the Honorable Mrs. Norton, and Mr. +Sterling (author of the "Cloister Life of Charles V."), with whom we are +to dine on Sunday. + +You would be stricken dumb, to see how quietly I accept a whole string of +invitations, and what is more, perform my engagements without a murmur. + +A German artist has come to me with a letter of introduction, and a +request that I will sit to him for a portrait in bas-relief. To this, +likewise, I have assented! subject to the condition that I shall have my +leisure. + +The stir of this London life, somehow or other, has done me a wonderful +deal of good, and I feel better than for months past. This is strange, +for if I had my choice, I should leave undone almost all the things I do. + +I have had time to see Bennoch only once. + +[This closes the European Journal. After Mr. Hawthorne's return to +America, he published "Our Old Home," and began a new romance, of which +two chapters appeared in the Atlantic Monthly. But the breaking out of +the war stopped all imaginative work with him, and all journalizing, +until 1862, when he went to Maine for a little excursion, and began +another journal, from which I take one paragraph, giving a slight note +of his state of mind at an interesting period of his country's history. +--ED.] + + +West Gouldsborough, August 15th, 1862.--It is a week ago, Saturday, since +J----- and I reached this place, . . . . Mr. Barney S. Hill's. + +At Hallowell, and subsequently all along the route, the country was +astir with volunteers, and the war is all that seems to be alive, and +even that doubtfully so. Nevertheless, the country certainly shows a +good spirit, the towns offering everywhere most liberal bounties, and +every able-bodied man feels an immense pull and pressure upon him to go +to the war. I doubt whether any people was ever actuated by a more +genuine and disinterested public spirit; though, of course, it is not +unalloyed with baser motives and tendencies. We met a train of cars with +a regiment or two just starting for the South, and apparently in high +spirits. Everywhere some insignia of soldiership were to be seen,-- +bright buttons, a red stripe down the trousers, a military cap, and +sometimes a round-shouldered bumpkin in the entire uniform. They require +a great deal to give them the aspect of soldiers; indeed, it seems as if +they needed to have a good deal taken away and added, like the rough clay +of a sculptor as it grows to be a model. The whole talk of the bar-rooms +and every other place of intercourse was about enlisting and the war, +this being the very crisis of trial, when the voluntary system is drawing +to an end, and the draft almost immediately to commence. + + +END OF VOL. II. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Passages From the French and Italian +Notebooks, Volume 2, by Nathaniel Hawthorne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PASSSAGES FRENCH AND ITALIAN *** + +***** This file should be named 7880.txt or 7880.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/8/8/7880/ + +Produced by Tapio Riikonen and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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