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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/7881.txt b/7881.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b621250 --- /dev/null +++ b/7881.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15477 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Passages From the French and Italian +Notebooks, Complete, by Nathaniel Hawthorne +#22 in our series by Nathaniel Hawthorne + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Passages From the French and Italian Notebooks, Complete + +Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne + +Release Date: April, 2005 [EBook #7881] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 29, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRENCH/ITALIAN NOTEBOOKS, COMPLETE *** + + + + +Produced by Tapio Riikonen and David Widger [widger@cecomet.net] + + + + +PASSAGES FROM THE FRENCH AND ITALIAN NOTE-BOOKS + +OF + +NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE + + + +VOL. I. + + + +PASSAGES FROM HAWTHORNE'S NOTE-BOOKS IN FRANCE AND ITALY. + + + + +FRANCE. + + +Hotel de Louvre, January 6th, 1858.--On Tuesday morning, our dozen trunks +and half-dozen carpet-bags being already packed and labelled, we began to +prepare for our journey two or three hours before light. Two cabs were at +the door by half past six, and at seven we set out for the London Bridge +station, while it was still dark and bitterly cold. There were already +many people in the streets, growing more numerous as we drove city-ward; +and, in Newgate Street, there was such a number of market-carts, that we +almost came to a dead lock with some of them. At the station we found +several persons who were apparently going in the same train with us, +sitting round the fire of the waiting-room. Since I came to England +there has hardly been a morning when I should have less willingly +bestirred myself before daylight; so sharp and inclement was the +atmosphere. We started at half past eight, having taken through tickets +to Paris by way of Folkestone and Boulogne. A foot-warmer (a long, flat +tin utensil, full of hot water) was put into the carriage just before we +started; but it did not make us more than half comfortable, and the frost +soon began to cloud the windows, and shut out the prospect, so that we +could only glance at the green fields--immortally green, whatever winter +can do against them--and at, here and there, a stream or pool with the +ice forming on its borders. It was the first cold weather of a very mild +season. The snow began to fall in scattered and almost invisible flakes; +and it seemed as if we had stayed our English welcome out, and were to +find nothing genial and hospitable there any more. + +At Folkestone, we were deposited at a railway station close upon a +shingly beach, on which the sea broke in foam, and which J----- reported +as strewn with shells and star-fish; behind was the town, with an old +church in the midst; and, close, at hand, the pier, where lay the steamer +in which we were to embark. But the air was so wintry, that I had no +heart to explore the town, or pick up shells with J----- on the beach; so +we kept within doors during the two hours of our stay, now and then +looking out of the windows at a fishing-boat or two, as they pitched and +rolled with an ugly and irregular motion, such as the British Channel +generally communicates to the craft that navigate it. + +At about one o'clock we went on board, and were soon under steam, at a +rate that quickly showed a long line of the white cliffs of Albion behind +us. It is a very dusky white, by the by, and the cliffs themselves do +not seem, at a distance, to be of imposing height, and have too even an +outline to be picturesque. + +As we increased our distance from England, the French coast came more and +more distinctly in sight, with a low, wavy outline, not very well worth +looking at, except because it was the coast of France. Indeed, I looked +at it but little; for the wind was bleak and boisterous, and I went down +into the cabin, where I found the fire very comfortable, and several +people were stretched on sofas in a state of placid wretchedness. . . . . +I have never suffered from sea-sickness, but had been somewhat +apprehensive of this rough strait between England and France, which seems +to have more potency over people's stomachs than ten times the extent of +sea in other quarters. Our passage was of two hours, at the end of which +we landed on French soil, and found ourselves immediately in the clutches +of the custom-house officers, who, however, merely made a momentary +examination of my passport, and allowed us to pass without opening even +one of our carpet-bags. The great bulk of our luggage had been +registered through to Paris, for examination after our arrival there. + +We left Boulogne in about an hour after our arrival, when it was already +a darkening twilight. The weather had grown colder than ever, since our +arrival in sunny France, and the night was now setting in, wickedly black +and dreary. The frost hardened upon the carriage windows in such +thickness that I could scarcely scratch a peep-hole through it; but, from +such glimpses as I could catch, the aspect of the country seemed pretty +much to resemble the December aspect of my dear native land,--broad, +bare, brown fields, with streaks of snow at the foot of ridges, and along +fences, or in the furrows of ploughed soil. There was ice wherever there +happened to be water to form it. + +We had feet-warmers in the carriage, but the cold crept in nevertheless; +and I do not remember hardly in my life a more disagreeable short journey +than this, my first advance into French territory. My impression of +France will always be that it is an Arctic region. At any season of the +year, the tract over which we passed yesterday must be an uninteresting +one as regards its natural features; and the only adornment, as far as I +could observe, which art has given it, consists in straight rows of very +stiff-looking and slender-stemmed trees. In the dusk they resembled +poplar-trees. + +Weary and frost-bitten,--morally, if not physically,--we reached Amiens +in three or four hours, and here I underwent much annoyance from the +French railway officials and attendants, who, I believe, did not mean to +incommode me, but rather to forward my purposes as far as they well +could. If they would speak slowly and distinctly I might understand them +well enough, being perfectly familiar with the written language, and +knowing the principles of its pronunciation; but, in their customary +rapid utterance, it sounds like a string of mere gabble. When left to +myself, therefore, I got into great difficulties. . . . . It gives a +taciturn personage like myself a new conception as to the value of +speech, even to him, when he finds himself unable either to speak or +understand. + +Finally, being advised on all hands to go to the Hotel du Rhin, we were +carried thither in an omnibus, rattling over a rough pavement, through an +invisible and frozen town; and, on our arrival, were ushered into a +handsome salon, as chill as a tomb. They made a little bit of a +wood-fire for us in a low and deep chimney-hole, which let a hundred +times more heat escape up the flue than it sent into the room. + +In the morning we sallied forth to see the cathedral. + +The aspect of the old French town was very different from anything +English; whiter, infinitely cleaner; higher and narrower houses, the +entrance to most of which seeming to be through a great gateway, +affording admission into a central court-yard; a public square, with a +statue in the middle, and another statue in a neighboring street. We met +priests in three-cornered hats, long frock-coats, and knee-breeches; also +soldiers and gendarmes, and peasants and children, clattering over the +pavements in wooden shoes. + +It makes a great impression of outlandishness to see the signs over the +shop doors in a foreign tongue. If the cold had not been such as to dull +my sense of novelty, and make all my perceptions torpid, I should have +taken in a set of new impressions, and enjoyed them very much. As it +was, I cared little for what I saw, but yet had life enough left to enjoy +the cathedral of Amiens, which has many features unlike those of English +cathedrals. + +It stands in the midst of the cold, white town, and has a high-shouldered +look to a spectator accustomed to the minsters of England, which cover a +great space of ground in proportion to their height. The impression the +latter gives is of magnitude and mass; this French cathedral strikes one +as lofty. The exterior is venerable, though but little time-worn by the +action of the atmosphere; and statues still keep their places in numerous +niches, almost as perfect as when first placed there in the thirteenth +century. The principal doors are deep, elaborately wrought, pointed +arches; and the interior seemed to us, at the moment, as grand as any +that we had seen, and to afford as vast an idea of included space; it +being of such an airy height, and with no screen between the chancel and +nave, as in all the English cathedrals. We saw the differences, too, +betwixt a church in which the same form of worship for which it was +originally built is still kept up, and those of England, where it has +been superseded for centuries; for here, in the recess of every arch of +the side aisles, beneath each lofty window, there was a chapel dedicated +to some Saint, and adorned with great marble sculptures of the +crucifixion, and with pictures, execrably bad, in all cases, and various +kinds of gilding and ornamentation. Immensely tall wax candles stand +upon the altars of these chapels, and before one sat a woman, with a +great supply of tapers, one of which was burning. I suppose these were +to be lighted as offerings to the saints, by the true believers. +Artificial flowers were hung at some of the shrines, or placed under +glass. In every chapel, moreover, there was a confessional,--a little +oaken structure, about as big as a sentry-box, with a closed part for the +priest to sit in, and an open one for the penitent to kneel at, and +speak, through the open-work of the priest's closet. Monuments, mural +and others, to long-departed worthies, and images of the Saviour, the +Virgin, and saints, were numerous everywhere about the church; and in the +chancel there was a great deal of quaint and curious sculpture, fencing +in the Holy of Holies, where the High Altar stands. There is not much +painted glass; one or two very rich and beautiful rose-windows, however, +that looked antique; and the great eastern window which, I think, is +modern. The pavement has, probably, never been renewed, as one piece of +work, since the structure was erected, and is foot-worn by the successive +generations, though still in excellent repair. I saw one of the small, +square stones in it, bearing the date of 1597, and no doubt there are a +thousand older ones. It was gratifying to find the cathedral in such +good condition, without any traces of recent repair; and it is perhaps a +mark of difference between French and English character, that the +Revolution in the former country, though all religious worship disappears +before it, does not seem to have caused such violence to ecclesiastical +monuments, as the Reformation and the reign of Puritanism in the latter. +I did not see a mutilated shrine, or even a broken-nosed image, in the +whole cathedral. But, probably, the very rage of the English fanatics +against idolatrous tokens, and their smashing blows at them, were +symptoms of sincerer religious faith than the French were capable of. +These last did not care enough about their Saviour to beat down his +crucified image; and they preserved the works of sacred art, for the sake +only of what beauty there was in them. + +While we were in the cathedral, we saw several persons kneeling at their +devotions on the steps of the chancel and elsewhere. One dipped his +fingers in the holy water at the entrance: by the by, I looked into the +stone basin that held it, and saw it full of ice. Could not all that +sanctity at least keep it thawed? Priests--jolly, fat, mean-looking +fellows, in white robes--went hither and thither, but did not interrupt +or accost us. + +There were other peculiarities, which I suppose I shall see more of in my +visits to other churches, but now we were all glad to make our stay as +brief as possible, the atmosphere of the cathedral being so bleak, and +its stone pavement so icy cold beneath our feet. We returned to the +hotel, and the chambermaid brought me a book, in which she asked me to +inscribe my name, age, profession, country, destination, and the +authorization under which I travelled. After the freedom of an English +hotel, so much greater than even that of an American one, where they make +you disclose your name, this is not so pleasant. + +We left Amiens at half past one; and I can tell as little of the country +between that place and Paris, as between Boulogne and Amiens. The +windows of our railway carriage were already frosted with French breath +when we got into it, and the ice grew thicker and thicker continually. I +tried, at various times, to rub a peep-hole through, as before; but the +ice immediately shot its crystallized tracery over it again; and, indeed, +there was little or nothing to make it worth while to look out, so bleak +was the scene. Now and then a chateau, too far off for its +characteristics to be discerned; now and then a church, with a tall gray +tower, and a little peak atop; here and there a village or a town, which +we could not well see. At sunset there was just that clear, cold, wintry +sky which I remember so well in America, but have never seen in England. + +At five we reached Paris, and were suffered to take a carriage to the +hotel de Louvre, without any examination of the little luggage we had +with us. Arriving, we took a suite of apartments, and the waiter +immediately lighted a wax candle in each separate room. + +We might have dined at the table d'hote, but preferred the restaurant +connected with and within the hotel. All the dishes were very delicate, +and a vast change from the simple English system, with its joints, +shoulders, beefsteaks, and chops; but I doubt whether English cookery, +for the very reason that it is so simple, is not better for men's moral +and spiritual nature than French. In the former case, you know that you +are gratifying your animal needs and propensities, and are duly ashamed +of it; but, in dealing with these French delicacies, you delude yourself +into the idea that you are cultivating your taste while satisfying your +appetite. This last, however, it requires a good deal of perseverance to +accomplish. + +In the cathedral at Amiens there were printed lists of acts of devotion +posted on the columns, such as prayers at the shrines of certain saints, +whereby plenary indulgences might be gained. It is to be observed, +however, that all these external forms were necessarily accompanied with +true penitence and religious devotion. + + +Hotel de Louvre, January 8th.--It was so fearfully cold this morning that +I really felt little or no curiosity to see the city. . . . . Until after +one o'clock, therefore, I knew nothing of Paris except the lights which I +had seen beneath our window the evening before, far, far downward, in the +narrow Rue St. Honore, and the rumble of the wheels, which continued +later than I was awake to hear it, and began again before dawn. I could +see, too, tall houses, that seemed to be occupied in every story, and +that had windows on the steep roofs. One of these houses is six stories +high. This Rue St. Honore is one of the old streets in Paris, and is +that in which Henry IV. was assassinated; but it has not, in this part of +it, the aspect of antiquity. + +After one o'clock we all went out and walked along the Rue de +Rivoli. . . . . We are here, right in the midst of Paris, and close to +whatever is best known to those who hear or read about it,--the Louvre +being across the street, the Palais Royal but a little way off, the +Tuileries joining to the Louvre, the Place de la Concorde just beyond, +verging on which is the Champs Elysees. We looked about us for a +suitable place to dine, and soon found the Restaurant des Echelles, where +we entered at a venture, and were courteously received. It has a +handsomely furnished saloon, much set off with gilding and mirrors; and +appears to be frequented by English and Americans; its carte, a bound +volume, being printed in English as well as French. . . . . + +It was now nearly four o'clock, and too late to visit the galleries of +the Louvre, or to do anything else but walk a little way along the +street. The splendor of Paris, so far as I have seen, takes me +altogether by surprise: such stately edifices, prolonging themselves in +unwearying magnificence and beauty, and, ever and anon, a long vista of a +street, with a column rising at the end of it, or a triumphal arch, +wrought in memory of some grand event. The light stone or stucco, wholly +untarnished by smoke and soot, puts London to the blush, if a blush could +be seen on its dingy face; but, indeed, London is not to be mentioned, +nor compared even, with Paris. I never knew what a palace was till I had +a glimpse of the Louvre and the Tuileries; never had my idea of a city +been gratified till I trod these stately streets. The life of the scene, +too, is infinitely more picturesque than that of London, with its +monstrous throng of grave faces and black coats; whereas, here, you see +soldiers and priests, policemen in cocked hats, Zonaves with turbans, +long mantles, and bronzed, half-Moorish faces; and a great many people +whom you perceive to be outside of your experience, and know them ugly to +look at, and fancy them villanous. Truly, I have no sympathies towards +the French people; their eyes do not win me, nor do their glances melt +and mingle with mine. But they do grand and beautiful things in the +architectural way; and I am grateful for it. The Place de la Concorde is +a most splendid square, large enough for a nation to erect trophies in of +all its triumphs; and on one side of it is the Tuileries, on the opposite +side the Champs Elysees, and, on a third, the Seine, adown which we saw +large cakes of ice floating, beneath the arches of a bridge. The Champs +Elysees, so far as I saw it, had not a grassy soil beneath its trees, but +the bare earth, white and dusty. The very dust, if I saw nothing else, +would assure me that I was out of England. + +We had time only to take this little walk, when it began to grow dusk; +and, being so pitilessly cold, we hurried back to our hotel. Thus far, I +think, what I have seen of Paris is wholly unlike what I expected; but +very like an imaginary picture which I had conceived of St. Petersburg,-- +new, bright, magnificent, and desperately cold. + +A great part of this architectural splendor is due to the present +Emperor, who has wrought a great change in the aspect of the city within +a very few years. A traveller, if he looks at the thing selfishly, ought +to wish him a long reign and arbitrary power, since he makes it his +policy to illustrate his capital with palatial edifices, which are, +however, better for a stranger to look at, than for his own people to pay +for. + +We have spent to-day chiefly in seeing some of the galleries of the +Louvre. I must confess that the vast and beautiful edifice struck me far +more than the pictures, sculpture, and curiosities which it contains,-- +the shell more than the kernel inside; such noble suites of rooms and +halls were those through which we first passed, containing Egyptian, and, +farther onward, Greek and Roman antiquities; the walls cased in +variegated marbles; the ceilings glowing with beautiful frescos; the +whole extended into infinite vistas by mirrors that seemed like vacancy, +and multiplied everything forever. The picture-rooms are not so +brilliant, and the pictures themselves did not greatly win upon me in +this one day. Many artists were employed in copying them, especially in +the rooms hung with the productions of French painters. Not a few of +these copyists were females; most of them were young men, picturesquely +mustached and bearded; but some were elderly, who, it was pitiful to +think, had passed through life without so much success as now to paint +pictures of their own. + +From the pictures we went into a suite of rooms where are preserved many +relics of the ancient and later kings of France; more relics of the elder +ones, indeed, than I supposed had remained extant through the Revolution. +The French seem to like to keep memorials of whatever they do, and of +whatever their forefathers have done, even if it be ever so little to +their credit; and perhaps they do not take matters sufficiently to heart +to detest anything that has ever happened. What surprised me most were +the golden sceptre and the magnificent sword and other gorgeous relics of +Charlemagne,--a person whom I had always associated with a sheepskin +cloak. There were suits of armor and weapons that had been worn and +handled by a great many of the French kings; and a religious book that +had belonged to St. Louis; a dressing-glass, most richly set with +precious stones, which formerly stood on the toilet-table of Catherine +de' Medici, and in which I saw my own face where hers had been. And +there were a thousand other treasures, just as well worth mentioning as +these. If each monarch could have been summoned from Hades to claim his +own relics, we should have had the halls full of the old Childerics, +Charleses, Bourbons and Capets, Henrys and Louises, snatching with +ghostly hands at sceptres, swords, armor, and mantles; and Napoleon would +have seen, apparently, almost everything that personally belonged to +him,--his coat, his cocked hats, his camp-desk, his field-bed, his +knives, forks, and plates, and even a lock of his hair. I must let it +all go. These things cannot be reproduced by pen and ink. + + +Hotel de Louvre, January 9th.--. . . . Last evening Mr. Fezaudie called. +He spoke very freely respecting the Emperor and the hatred entertained +against him in France; but said that he is more powerful, that is, more +firmly fixed as a ruler, than ever the first Napoleon was. We, who look +back upon the first Napoleon as one of the eternal facts of the past, a +great bowlder in history, cannot well estimate how momentary and +insubstantial the great Captain may have appeared to those who beheld his +rise out of obscurity. They never, perhaps, took the reality of his +career fairly into their minds, before it was over. The present Emperor, +I believe, has already been as long in possession of the supreme power as +his uncle was. I should like to see him, and may, perhaps, do--so, as he +is our neighbor, across the way. + +This morning Miss ------, the celebrated astronomical lady, called. She +had brought a letter of introduction to me, while consul; and her purpose +now was to see if we could take her as one of our party to Rome, whither +she likewise is bound. We readily consented, for she seems to be a +simple, strong, healthy-humored woman, who will not fling herself as a +burden on our shoulders; and my only wonder is that a person evidently so +able to take care of herself should wish to have an escort. + +We issued forth at about eleven, and went down the Rue St. Honore, which +is narrow, and has houses of five or six stories on either side, between +which run the streets like a gully in a rock. One face of our hotel +borders and looks on this street. After going a good way, we came to an +intersection with another street, the name of which I forget; but, at +this point, Ravaillac sprang at the carriage of Henry IV. and plunged his +dagger into him. As we went down the Rue St. Honore, it grew more and +more thronged, and with a meaner class of people. The houses still were +high, and without the shabbiness of exterior that distinguishes the old +part of London, being of light-colored stone; but I never saw anything +that so much came up to my idea of a swarming city as this narrow, +crowded, and rambling street. + +Thence we turned into the Rue St. Denis, which is one of the oldest +streets in Paris, and is said to have been first marked out by the track +of the saint's footsteps, where, after his martyrdom, he walked along it, +with his head under his arm, in quest of a burial-place. This legend may +account for any crookedness of the street; for it could not reasonably be +asked of a headless man that he should walk straight. + +Through some other indirections we at last found the Rue Bergere, down +which I went with J----- in quest of Hottinguer et Co., the bankers, +while the rest of us went along the Boulevards, towards the Church of the +Madeleine. . . . . This business accomplished, J----- and I threaded our +way back, and overtook the rest of the party, still a good distance from +the Madeleine. I know not why the Boulevards are called so. They are a +succession of broad walks through broad streets, and were much thronged +with people, most of whom appeared to be bent more on pleasure than +business. The sun, long before this, had come out brightly, and gave us +the first genial and comfortable sensations which we have had in Paris. + +Approaching the Madeleine, we found it a most beautiful church, that +might have been adapted from Heathenism to Catholicism; for on each side +there is a range of magnificent pillars, unequalled, except by those of +the Parthenon. A mourning-coach, arrayed in black and silver, was drawn +up at the steps, and the front of the church was hung with black cloth, +which covered the whole entrance. However, seeing the people going in, +we entered along with them. Glorious and gorgeous is the Madeleine. The +entrance to the nave is beneath a most stately arch; and three arches of +equal height open from the nave to the side aisles; and at the end of the +nave is another great arch, rising, with a vaulted half-dome, over the +high altar. The pillars supporting these arches are Corinthian, with +richly sculptured capitals; and wherever gilding might adorn the church, +it is lavished like sunshine; and within the sweeps of the arches there +are fresco paintings of sacred subjects, and a beautiful picture covers +the hollow of the vault over the altar; all this, besides much sculpture; +and especially a group above and around the high altar, representing the +Magdalen smiling down upon angels and archangels, some of whom are +kneeling, and shadowing themselves with their heavy marble wings. There +is no such thing as making my page glow with the most distant idea of the +magnificence of this church, in its details and in its whole. It was +founded a hundred or two hundred years ago; then Bonaparte contemplated +transforming it into a Temple of Victory, or building it anew as one. +The restored Bourbons remade it into a church; but it still has a +heathenish look, and will never lose it. + +When we entered we saw a crowd of people, all pressing forward towards +the high altar, before which burned a hundred wax lights, some of which +were six or seven feet high; and, altogether, they shone like a galaxy of +stars. In the middle of the nave, moreover, there was another galaxy of +wax candles burning around an immense pall of black velvet, embroidered +with silver, which seemed to cover, not only a coffin, but a sarcophagus, +or something still more huge. The organ was rumbling forth a deep, +lugubrious bass, accompanied with heavy chanting of priests, out of which +sometimes rose the clear, young voices of choristers, like light flashing +out of the gloom. The church, between the arches, along the nave, and +round the altar, was hung with broad expanses of black cloth; and all the +priests had their sacred vestments covered with black. They looked +exceedingly well; I never saw anything half so well got up on the stage. +Some of these ecclesiastical figures were very stately and noble, and +knelt and bowed, and bore aloft the cross, and swung the censers in a way +that I liked to see. The ceremonies of the Catholic Church were a superb +work of art, or perhaps a true growth of man's religious nature; and so +long as men felt their original meaning, they must have been full of awe +and glory. Being of another parish, I looked on coldly, but not +irreverently, and was glad to see the funeral service so well performed, +and very glad when it was over. What struck me as singular, the person +who performed the part usually performed by a verger, keeping order among +the audience, wore a gold-embroidered scarf, a cocked hat, and, I +believe, a sword, and had the air of a military man. + +Before the close of the service a contribution-box--or, rather, a black +velvet bag--was handed about by this military verger; and I gave J----- a +franc to put in, though I did not in the least know for what. + +Issuing from the church, we inquired of two or three persons who was the +distinguished defunct at whose obsequies we had been assisting, for we +had some hope that it might be Rachel, who died last week, and is still +above ground. But it proved to be only a Madame Mentel, or some such +name, whom nobody had ever before heard of. I forgot to say that her +coffin was taken from beneath the illuminated pall, and carried out of +the church before us. + +When we left the Madeleine we took our way to the Place de la Concorde, +and thence through the Elysian Fields (which, I suppose, are the French +idea of heaven) to Bonaparte's triumphal arch. The Champs Elysees may +look pretty in summer; though I suspect they must be somewhat dry and +artificial at whatever season,--the trees being slender and scraggy, and +requiring to be renewed every few years. The soil is not genial to them. +The strangest peculiarity of this place, however, to eyes fresh from +moist and verdant England, is, that there is not one blade of grass in +all the Elysian Fields, nothing but hard clay, now covered with white +dust. It gives the whole scene the air of being a contrivance of man, in +which Nature has either not been invited to take any part, or has +declined to do so. There were merry-go-rounds, wooden horses, and other +provision for children's amusements among the trees; and booths, and +tables of cakes, and candy-women; and restaurants on the borders of the +wood; but very few people there; and doubtless we can form no idea of +what the scene might become when alive with French gayety and vivacity. + +As we walked onward the Triumphal Arch began to loom up in the distance, +looking huge and massive, though still a long way off. It was not, +however, till we stood almost beneath it that we really felt the grandeur +of this great arch, including so large a space of the blue sky in its +airy sweep. At a distance it impresses the spectator with its solidity; +nearer, with the lofty vacancy beneath it. There is a spiral staircase +within one of its immense limbs; and, climbing steadily upward, lighted +by a lantern which the doorkeeper's wife gave us, we had a bird's-eye +view of Paris, much obscured by smoke or mist. Several interminable +avenues shoot with painful directness right towards it. + +On our way homeward we visited the Place Vendome, in the centre of which +is a tall column, sculptured from top to bottom, all over the pedestal, +and all over the shaft, and with Napoleon himself on the summit. The +shaft is wreathed round and roundabout with representations of what, as +far as I could distinguish, seemed to be the Emperor's victories. It has +a very rich effect. At the foot of the column we saw wreaths of +artificial flowers, suspended there, no doubt, by some admirer of +Napoleon, still ardent enough to expend a franc or two in this way. + + +Hotel de Louvre, January 10th.--We had purposed going to the Cathedral +of Notre Dame to-day, but the weather and walking were too unfavorable +for a distant expedition; so we merely went across the street to the +Louvre. . . . . . + +Our principal object this morning was to see the pencil drawings by +eminent artists. Of these the Louvre has a very rich collection, +occupying many apartments, and comprising sketches by Annibale Caracci, +Claude, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Michel Angelo, Rubens, Rembrandt, and +almost all the other great masters, whether French, Italian, Dutch, or +whatever else; the earliest drawings of their great pictures, when they +had the glory of their pristine idea directly before their minds' eye,-- +that idea which inevitably became overlaid with their own handling of it +in the finished painting. No doubt the painters themselves had often a +happiness in these rude, off-hand sketches, which they never felt again +in the same work, and which resulted in disappointment, after they had +done their best. To an artist, the collection must be most deeply +interesting: to myself, it was merely curious, and soon grew wearisome. + +In the same suite of apartments, there is a collection of miniatures, +some of them very exquisite, and absolutely lifelike, on their small +scale. I observed two of Franklin, both good and picturesque, one of +them especially so, with its cloud-like white hair. I do not think we +have produced a man so interesting to contemplate, in many points of +view, as he. Most of our great men are of a character that I find it +impossible to warm into life by thought, or by lavishing any amount of +sympathy upon them. Not so Franklin, who had a great deal of common and +uncommon human nature in him. + +Much of the time, while my wife was looking at the drawings, I sat +observing the crowd of Sunday visitors. They were generally of a lower +class than those of week-days; private soldiers in a variety of uniforms, +and, for the most part, ugly little men, but decorous and well behaved. +I saw medals on many of their breasts, denoting Crimean service; some +wore the English medal, with Queen Victoria's head upon it. A blue +coat, with red baggy trousers, was the most usual uniform. Some had +short-breasted coats, made in the same style as those of the first +Napoleon, which we had seen in the preceding rooms. The policemen, +distributed pretty abundantly about the rooms, themselves looked +military, wearing cocked hats and swords. There were many women of the +middling classes; some, evidently, of the lowest, but clean and decent, +in colored gowns and caps; and laboring men, citizens, Sunday gentlemen, +young artists, too, no doubt looking with educated eyes at these +art-treasures, and I think, as a general thing, each man was mated with a +woman. The soldiers, however, came in pairs or little squads, +accompanied by women. I did not much like any of the French faces, and +yet I am not sure that there is not more resemblance between them and the +American physiognomy, than between the latter and the English. The women +are not pretty, but in all ranks above the lowest they have a trained +expression that supplies the place of beauty. + +I was wearied to death with the drawings, and began to have that dreary +and desperate feeling which has often come upon me when the sights last +longer than my capacity for receiving them. As our time in Paris, +however, is brief and precious, we next inquired our way to the galleries +of sculpture, and these alone are of astounding extent, reaching, I +should think, all round one quadrangle of the Louvre, on the basement +floor. Hall after hall opened interminably before us, and on either side +of us, paved and incrusted with variegated and beautifully polished +marble, relieved against which stand the antique statues and groups, +interspersed with great urns and vases, sarcophagi, altars, tablets, +busts of historic personages, and all manner of shapes of marble which +consummate art has transmuted into precious stones. Not that I really +did feel much impressed by any of this sculpture then, nor saw more than +two or three things which I thought very beautiful; but whether it be +good or no, I suppose the world has nothing better, unless it be a few +world-renowned statues in Italy. I was even more struck by the skill and +ingenuity of the French in arranging these sculptural remains, than by +the value of the sculptures themselves. The galleries, I should judge, +have been recently prepared, and on a magnificent system,--the adornments +being yet by no means completed,--for besides the floor and wall-casings +of rich, polished marble, the vaulted ceilings of some of the apartments +are painted in fresco, causing them to glow as if the sky were opened. +It must be owned, however, that the statuary, often time-worn and +darkened from its original brilliancy by weather-stains, does not suit +well as furniture for such splendid rooms. When we see a perfection of +modern finish around them, we recognize that most of these statues have +been thrown down from their pedestals, hundreds of years ago, and have +been battered and externally degraded; and though whatever spiritual +beauty they ever had may still remain, yet this is not made more apparent +by the contrast betwixt the new gloss of modern upholstery, and their +tarnished, even if immortal grace. I rather think the English have given +really the more hospitable reception to the maimed Theseus, and his +broken-nosed, broken-legged, headless companions, because flouting them +with no gorgeous fittings up. + +By this time poor J----- (who, with his taste for art yet undeveloped, is +the companion of all our visits to sculpture and picture galleries) was +wofully hungry, and for bread we had given him a stone,--not one stone, +but a thousand. We returned to the hotel, and it being too damp and raw +to go to our Restaurant des Echelles, we dined at the hotel. In my +opinion it would require less time to cultivate our gastronomic taste +than taste of any other kind; and, on the whole, I am not sure that a man +would not be wise to afford himself a little discipline in this line. It +is certainly throwing away the bounties of Providence, to treat them as +the English do, producing from better materials than the French have to +work upon nothing but sirloins, joints, joints, steaks, steaks, steaks, +chops, chops, chops, chops! We had a soup to-day, in which twenty kinds +of vegetables were represented, and manifested each its own aroma; a +fillet of stewed beef, and a fowl, in some sort of delicate fricassee. +We had a bottle of Chablis, and renewed ourselves, at the close of the +banquet, with a plate of Chateaubriand ice. It was all very good, and we +respected ourselves far more than if we had eaten a quantity of red roast +beef; but I am not quite sure that we were right. . . . . + +Among the relics of kings and princes, I do not know that there was +anything more interesting than a little brass cannon, two or three inches +long, which had been a toy of the unfortunate Dauphin, son of Louis XVI. +There was a map,--a hemisphere of the world,--which his father had drawn +for this poor boy; very neatly done, too. The sword of Louis XVI., a +magnificent rapier, with a beautifully damasked blade, and a jewelled +scabbard, but without a hilt, is likewise preserved, as is the hilt of +Henry IV.'s sword. But it is useless to begin a catalogue of these +things. What a collection it is, including Charlemagne's sword and +sceptre, and the last Dauphin's little toy cannon, and so much between +the two! + + +Hotel de Louvre, January 11th.--This was another chill, raw day, +characterized by a spitefulness of atmosphere which I do not remember +ever to have experienced in my own dear country. We meant to have +visited the Hotel des Invalides, but J----- and I walked to the Tivoli, +the Place de la Concorde, the Champs Elysees, and to the Place de +Beaujou, and to the residence of the American minister, where I wished to +arrange about my passport. After speaking with the Secretary of +Legation, we were ushered into the minister's private room, where he +received me with great kindness. Mr. ------ is an old gentleman with a +white head, and a large, florid face, which has an expression of +amiability, not unmingled with a certain dignity. He did not rise from +his arm-chair to greet me,--a lack of ceremony which I imputed to the +gout, feeling it impossible that he should have willingly failed in +courtesy to one of his twenty-five million sovereigns. In response to +some remark of mine about the shabby way in which our government treats +its officials pecuniarily, he gave a detailed account of his own troubles +on that score; then expressed a hope that I had made a good thing out of +my consulate, and inquired whether I had received a hint to resign; to +which I replied that, for various reasons, I had resigned of my own +accord, and before Mr. Buchanan's inauguration. We agreed, however, in +disapproving the system of periodical change in our foreign officials; +and I remarked that a consul or an ambassador ought to be a citizen both +of his native country and of the one in which he resided; and that his +possibility of beneficent influence depended largely on his being so. +Apropos to which Mr. ------ said that he had once asked a diplomatic +friend of long experience, what was the first duty of a minister. "To +love his own country, and to watch over its interests," answered the +diplomatist. "And his second duty?" asked Mr. ------. "To love and to +promote the interests of the country to which he is accredited," said his +friend. This is a very Christian and sensible view of the matter; but it +can scarcely have happened once in our whole diplomatic history, that a +minister can have had time to overcome his first rude and ignorant +prejudice against the country of his mission; and if there were any +suspicion of his having done so, it would be held abundantly sufficient +ground for his recall. I like Mr. ------, a good-hearted, sensible old +man. + +J----- and I returned along the Champs Elysees, and, crossing the Seine, +kept on our way by the river's brink, looking at the titles of books on +the long lines of stalls that extend between the bridges. Novels, +fairy-tales, dream books, treatises of behavior and etiquette, +collections of bon-mots and of songs, were interspersed with volumes in +the old style of calf and gilt binding, the works of the classics of +French literature. A good many persons, of the poor classes, and of +those apparently well to do, stopped transitorily to look at these books. +On the other side of the street was a range of tall edifices with shops +beneath, and the quick stir of French life hurrying, and babbling, and +swarming along the sidewalk. We passed two or three bridges, occurring +at short intervals, and at last we recrossed the Seine by a bridge which +oversteps the river, from a point near the National Institute, and +reaches the other side, not far from the Louvre. . . . . + +Though the day was so disagreeable, we thought it best not to lose the +remainder of it, and therefore set out to visit the Cathedral of Notre +Dame. We took a fiacre in the Place de Carousel, and drove to the door. +On entering, we found the interior miserably shut off from view by the +stagings erected for the purpose of repairs. Penetrating from the nave +towards the chancel, an official personage signified to us that we must +first purchase a ticket for each grown person, at the price of half a +franc each. This expenditure admitted us into the sacristy, where we +were taken in charge by a guide, who came down upon us with an avalanche +or cataract of French, descriptive of a great many treasures reposited in +this chapel. I understood hardly more than one word in ten, but gathered +doubtfully that a bullet which was shown us was the one that killed the +late Archbishop of Paris, on the floor of the cathedral. [But this was a +mistake. It was the archbishop who was killed in the insurrection of +1848. Two joints of his backbone were also shown.] Also, that some +gorgeously embroidered vestments, which he drew forth, had been used at +the coronation of Napoleon I. There were two large, full-length +portraits hanging aloft in the sacristy, and a gold or silver gilt, or, +at all events, gilt image of the Virgin, as large as life, standing on a +pedestal. The guide had much to say about these, but, understanding him +so imperfectly, I have nothing to record. + +The guide's supervision of us seemed not to extend beyond this sacristy, +on quitting which he gave us permission to go where we pleased, only +intimating a hope that we would not forget him; so I gave him half a +franc, though thereby violating an inhibition on the printed ticket of +entrance. + +We had been much disappointed at first by the apparently narrow limits +of the interior of this famous church; but now, as we made our way round +the choir, gazing into chapel after chapel, each with its painted window, +its crucifix, its pictures, its confessional, and afterwards came back +into the nave, where arch rises above arch to the lofty roof, we came to +the conclusion that it was very sumptuous. It is the greatest of pities +that its grandeur and solemnity should just now be so infinitely marred +by the workmen's boards, timber, and ladders occupying the whole centre +of the edifice, and screening all its best effects. It seems to have +been already most richly ornamented, its roof being painted, and the +capitals of the pillars gilded, and their shafts illuminated in fresco; +and no doubt it will shine out gorgeously when all the repairs and +adornments shall be completed. Even now it gave to my actual sight what +I have often tried to imagine in my visits to the English cathedrals,-- +the pristine glory of those edifices, when they stood glowing with gold +and picture, fresh from the architects' and adorners' hands. + +The interior loftiness of Notre Dame, moreover, gives it a sublimity +which would swallow up anything that might look gewgawy in its +ornamentation, were we to consider it window by window, or pillar by +pillar. It is an advantage of these vast edifices, rising over us and +spreading about us in such a firmamental way, that we cannot spoil them +by any pettiness of our own, but that they receive (or absorb) our +pettiness into their own immensity. Every little fantasy finds its place +and propriety in them, like a flower on the earth's broad bosom. + +When we emerged from the cathedral, we found it beginning to rain or +snow, or both; and, as we had dismissed our fiacre at the door, and could +find no other, we were at a loss what to do. We stood a few moments on +the steps of the Hotel Dieu, looking up at the front of Notre Dame, with +its twin towers, and its three deep-pointed arches, piercing through a +great thickness of stone, and throwing a cavern-like gloom around these +entrances. The front is very rich. Though so huge, and all of gray +stone, it is carved and fretted with statues and innumerable devices, as +cunningly as any ivory casket in which relics are kept; but its size did +not so much impress me. . . . . + + +Hotel de Louvre, January 12th.--This has been a bright day as regards +weather; but I have done little or nothing worth recording. After +breakfast, I set out in quest of the consul, and found him up a court, at +51 Rue Caumartin, in an office rather smaller, I think, than mine at +Liverpool; but, to say the truth, a little better furnished. I was +received in the outer apartment by an elderly, brisk-looking man, in +whose air, respectful and subservient, and yet with a kind of authority +in it, I recognized the vice-consul. He introduced me to Mr. ------, who +sat writing in an inner room; a very gentlemanly, courteous, cool man of +the world, whom I should take to be an excellent person for consul at +Paris. He tells me that he has resided here some years, although his +occupancy of the consulate dates only from November last. Consulting him +respecting my passport, he gave me what appear good reasons why I should +get all the necessary vises here; for example, that the vise of a +minister carries more weight than that of a consul; and especially that +an Austrian consul will never vise a passport unless he sees his +minister's name upon it. Mr. ------ has travelled much in Italy, and +ought to be able to give me sound advice. His opinion was, that at this +season of the year I had better go by steamer to Civita Veechia, instead +of landing at Leghorn, and thence journeying to Rome. On this point I +shall decide when the time comes. As I left the office the vice-consul +informed me that there was a charge of five francs and some sous for the +consul's vise, a tax which surprised me,--the whole business of passports +having been taken from consuls before I quitted office, and the consular +fee having been annulled even earlier. However, no doubt Mr. ------ had +a fair claim to my five francs; but, really, it is not half so pleasant +to pay a consular fee as it used to be to receive it. + +Afterwards I walked to Notre Dame, the rich front of which I viewed with +more attention than yesterday. There are whole histories, carved in +stone figures, within the vaulted arches of the three entrances in this +west front, and twelve apostles in a row above, and as much other +sculpture as would take a month to see. We then walked quite round it, +but I had no sense of immensity from it, not even that of great height, +as from many of the cathedrals in England. It stands very near the +Seine; indeed, if I mistake not, it is on an island formed by two +branches of the river. Behind it, is what seems to be a small public +ground (or garden, if a space entirely denuded of grass or other green +thing, except a few trees, can be called so), with benches, and a +monument in the midst. This quarter of the city looks old, and appears +to be inhabited by poor people, and to be busied about small and petty +affairs; the most picturesque business that I saw being that of the old +woman who sells crucifixes of pearl and of wood at the cathedral door. +We bought two of these yesterday. + +I must again speak of the horrible muddiness, not only of this part of +the city, but of all Paris, so far as I have traversed it to-day. My +ways, since I came to Europe, have often lain through nastiness, but I +never before saw a pavement so universally overspread with mud-padding as +that of Paris. It is difficult to imagine where so much filth can come +from. + +After dinner I walked through the gardens of the Tuileries; but as dusk +was coming on, and as I was afraid of being shut up within the iron +railing, I did not have time to examine them particularly. There are +wide, intersecting walks, fountains, broad basins, and many statues; but +almost the whole surface of the gardens is barren earth, instead of the +verdure that would beautify an English pleasure-ground of this sort. In +the summer it has doubtless an agreeable shade; but at this season the +naked branches look meagre, and sprout from slender trunks. Like the +trees in the Champs Elysees, those, I presume, in the gardens of the +Tuileries need renewing every few years. The same is true of the human +race,--families becoming extinct after a generation or two of residence +in Paris. Nothing really thrives here; man and vegetables have but an +artificial life, like flowers stuck in a little mould, but never taking +root. I am quite tired of Paris, and long for a home more than ever. + + + +MARSEILLES. + + +Hotel d'Angleterre, January 15th.--On Tuesday morning, (12th) we took our +departure from the Hotel de Louvre. It is a most excellent and perfectly +ordered hotel, and I have not seen a more magnificent hall, in any +palace, than the dining-saloon, with its profuse gilding, and its +ceiling, painted in compartments; so that when the chandeliers are all +alight, it looks a fit place for princes to banquet in, and not very fit +for the few Americans whom I saw scattered at its long tables. + +By the by, as we drove to the railway, we passed through the public +square, where the Bastille formerly stood; and in the centre of it now +stands a column, surmounted by a golden figure of Mercury (I think), +which seems to be just on the point of casting itself from a gilt ball +into the air. This statue is so buoyant, that the spectator feels quite +willing to trust it to the viewless element, being as sure that it would +be borne up as that a bird would fly. + +Our first day's journey was wholly without interest, through a country +entirely flat, and looking wretchedly brown and barren. There were rows +of trees, very slender, very prim and formal; there was ice wherever +there happened to be any water to form it; there were occasional +villages, compact little streets, or masses of stone or plastered +cottages, very dirty and with gable ends and earthen roofs; and a +succession of this same landscape was all that we saw, whenever we rubbed +away the congelation of our breath from the carriage windows. Thus we +rode on, all day long, from eleven o'clock, with hardly a five minutes' +stop, till long after dark, when we came to Dijon, where there was a halt +of twenty-five minutes for dinner. Then we set forth again, and rumbled +forward, through cold and darkness without, until we reached Lyons at +about ten o'clock. We left our luggage at the railway station, and took +an omnibus for the Hotel de Provence, which we chose at a venture, among +a score of other hotels. + +As this hotel was a little off the direct route of the omnibus, the +driver set us down at the corner of a street, and pointed to some lights, +which he said designated the Hotel do Provence; and thither we proceeded, +all seven of us, taking along a few carpet-bags and shawls, our equipage +for the night. The porter of the hotel met us near its doorway, and +ushered us through an arch, into the inner quadrangle, and then up some +old and worn steps,--very broad, and appearing to be the principal +staircase. At the first landing-place, an old woman and a waiter or two +received us; and we went up two or three more flights of the same broad +and worn stone staircases. What we could see of the house looked very +old, and had the musty odor with which I first became acquainted at +Chester. + +After ascending to the proper level, we were conducted along a +corridor, paved with octagonal earthen tiles; on one side were +windows, looking into the courtyard, on the other doors opening into the +sleeping-chambers. The corridor was of immense length, and seemed still +to lengthen itself before us, as the glimmer of our conductor's candle +went farther and farther into the obscurity. Our own chamber was at a +vast distance along this passage; those of the rest of the party were on +the hither side; but all this immense suite of rooms appeared to +communicate by doors from one to another, like the chambers through which +the reader wanders at midnight, in Mrs. Radcliffe's romances. And they +were really splendid rooms, though of an old fashion, lofty, spacious, +with floors of oak or other wood, inlaid in squares and crosses, +and waxed till they were slippery, but without carpets. Our own +sleeping-room had a deep fireplace, in which we ordered a fire, and asked +if there were not some saloon already warmed, where we could get a cup of +tea. + +Hereupon the waiter led us back along the endless corridor, and down the +old stone staircases, and out into the quadrangle, and journeyed with us +along an exterior arcade, and finally threw open the door of the salle a +manger, which proved to be a room of lofty height, with a vaulted roof, a +stone floor, and interior spaciousness sufficient for a baronial hall, +the whole bearing the same aspect of times gone by, that characterized +the rest of the house. There were two or three tables covered with white +cloth, and we sat down at one of them and had our tea. Finally we wended +back to our sleeping-rooms,--a considerable journey, so endless seemed +the ancient hotel. I should like to know its history. + +The fire made our great chamber look comfortable, and the fireplace threw +out the heat better than the little square hole over which we cowered in +our saloon at the Hotel de Louvre. . . . . + +In the morning we began our preparations for starting at ten. Issuing +into the corridor, I found a soldier of the line, pacing to and fro there +as sentinel. Another was posted in another corridor, into which I +wandered by mistake; another stood in the inner court-yard, and another +at the porte-cochere. They were not there the night before, and I know +not whence nor why they came, unless that some officer of rank may have +taken up his quarters at the hotel. Miss M------ says she heard at +Paris, that a considerable number of troops had recently been drawn +together at Lyons, in consequence of symptoms of disaffection that have +recently shown themselves here. + +Before breakfast I went out to catch a momentary glimpse of the city. +The street in which our hotel stands is near a large public square; in +the centre is a bronze equestrian statue of Louis XIV.; and the square +itself is called the Place de Louis le Grand. I wonder where this statue +hid itself while the Revolution was raging in Lyons, and when the +guillotine, perhaps, stood on that very spot. + +The square was surrounded by stately buildings, but had what seemed to be +barracks for soldiers,--at any rate, mean little huts, deforming its +ample space; and a soldier was on guard before the statue of Louis le +Grand. It was a cold, misty morning, and a fog lay throughout the area, +so that I could scarcely see from one side of it to the other. + +Returning towards our hotel, I saw that it had an immense front, along +which ran, in gigantic letters, its title,-- + + HOTEL DE PROVENCE ET DES AMBASSADEURS. + +The excellence of the hotel lay rather in the faded pomp of its +sleeping-rooms, and the vastness of its salle a manger, than in anything +very good to eat or drink. + +We left it, after a poor breakfast, and went to the railway station. +Looking at the mountainous heap of our luggage the night before, we had +missed a great carpet-bag; and we now found that Miss M------'s trunk had +been substituted for it, and, there being the proper number of packages +as registered, it was impossible to convince the officials that anything +was wrong. We, of course, began to generalize forthwith, and pronounce +the incident to be characteristic of French morality. They love a +certain system and external correctness, but do not trouble themselves to +be deeply in the right; and Miss M------ suggested that there used to be +parallel cases in the French Revolution, when, so long as the assigned +number were sent out of prison to be guillotined, the jailer did not much +care whether they were the persons designated by the tribunal or not. At +all events, we could get no satisfaction about the carpet-bag, and shall +very probably be compelled to leave Marseilles without it. + +This day's ride was through a far more picturesque country than that we +saw yesterday. Heights began to rise imminent above our way, with +sometimes a ruined castle wall upon them; on our left, the rail-track +kept close to the hills; on the other side there was the level bottom of +a valley, with heights descending upon it a mile or a few miles away. +Farther off we could see blue hills, shouldering high above the +intermediate ones, and themselves worthy to be called mountains. These +hills arranged themselves in beautiful groups, affording openings between +them, and vistas of what lay beyond, and gorges which I suppose held a +great deal of romantic scenery. By and by a river made its appearance, +flowing swiftly in the same direction that we were travelling,--a +beautiful and cleanly river, with white pebbly shores, and itself of a +peculiar blue. It rushed along very fast, sometimes whitening over +shallow descents, and even in its calmer intervals its surface was all +covered with whirls and eddies, indicating that it dashed onward in +haste. I do not now know the name of this river, but have set it down as +the "arrowy Rhone." It kept us company a long while, and I think we did +not part with it as long as daylight remained. I have seldom seen +hill-scenery that struck me more than some that we saw to-day, and the +old feudal towers and old villages at their feet; and the old churches, +with spires shaped just like extinguishers, gave it an interest +accumulating from many centuries past. + +Still going southward, the vineyards began to border our track, together +with what I at first took to be orchards, but soon found were plantations +of olive-trees, which grow to a much larger size than I supposed, and +look almost exactly like very crabbed and eccentric apple-trees. Neither +they nor the vineyards add anything to the picturesqueness of the +landscape. + +On the whole, I should have been delighted with all this scenery if it +had not looked so bleak, barren, brown, and bare; so like the wintry New +England before the snow has fallen. It was very cold, too; ice along the +borders of streams, even among the vineyards and olives. The houses are +of rather a different shape here than, farther northward, their roofs +being not nearly so sloping. They are almost invariably covered with +white plaster; the farm-houses have their outbuildings in connection with +the dwelling,--the whole surrounding three sides of a quadrangle. + +We travelled far into the night, swallowed a cold and hasty dinner at +Avignon, and reached Marseilles sorely wearied, at about eleven o'clock. +We took a cab to the Hotel d'Angleterre (two cabs, to be quite accurate), +and find it a very poor place. + +To go back a little, as the sun went down, we looked out of the window of +our railway carriage, and saw a sky that reminded us of what we used to +see day after day in America, and what we have not seen since; and, after +sunset, the horizon burned and glowed with rich crimson and orange +lustre, looking at once warm and cold. After it grew dark, the stars +brightened, and Miss M------ from her window pointed out some of the +planets to the children, she being as familiar with them as a gardener +with his flowers. They were as bright as diamonds. + +We had a wretched breakfast, and J----- and I then went to the railway +station to see about our luggage. On our walk back we went astray, +passing by a triumphal arch, erected by the Marseillais, in honor of +Louis Napoleon; but we inquired our way of old women and soldiers, who +were very kind and courteous,--especially the latter,--and were directed +aright. We came to a large, oblong, public place, set with trees, but +devoid of grass, like all public places in France. In the middle of it +was a bronze statue of an ecclesiastical personage, stretching forth his +hands in the attitude of addressing the people or of throwing a +benediction over them. It was some archbishop, who had distinguished +himself by his humanity and devotedness during the plague of 1720. At +the moment of our arrival the piazza was quite thronged with people, who +seemed to be talking amongst themselves with considerable earnestness, +although without any actual excitement. They were smoking cigars; +and we judged that they were only loitering here for the sake of the +sunshine, having no fires at home, and nothing to do. Some looked like +gentlemen, others like peasants; most of them I should have taken for the +lazzaroni of this Southern city,--men with cloth caps, like the classic +liberty-cap, or with wide-awake hats. There were one or two women of the +lower classes, without bonnets, the elder ones with white caps, the +younger bareheaded. I have hardly seen a lady in Marseilles; and I +suspect, it being a commercial city, and dirty to the last degree, +ill-built, narrow-streeted, and sometimes pestilential, there are few or +no families of gentility resident here. + +Returning to the hotel, we found the rest of the party ready to go +out; so we all issued forth in a body, and inquired our way to the +telegraph-office, in order to send my message about the carpet-bag. In a +street through which we had to pass (and which seemed to be the Exchange, +or its precincts), there was a crowd even denser, yes, much denser, than +that which we saw in the square of the archbishop's statue; and each man +was talking to his neighbor in a vivid, animated way, as if business were +very brisk to-day. + +At the telegraph-office, we discovered the cause that had brought out +these many people. There had been attempts on the Emperor's life,-- +unsuccessful, as they seem fated to be, though some mischief was done to +those near him. I rather think the good people of Marseilles were glad +of the attempt, as an item of news and gossip, and did not very greatly +care whether it were successful or no. It seemed to have roused their +vivacity rather than their interest. The only account I have seen of it +was in the brief public despatch from the Syndic (or whatever he be) of +Paris to the chief authority of Marseilles, which was printed and posted +in various conspicuous places. The only chance of knowing the truth with +any fulness of detail would be to come across an English paper. We have +had a banner hoisted half-mast in front of our hotel to-day as a token, +the head-waiter tells me, of sympathy and sorrow for the General and +other persons who were slain by this treasonable attempt. + +J----- and I now wandered by ourselves along a circular line of quays, +having, on one side of us, a thick forest of masts, while, on the +other, was a sweep of shops, bookstalls, sailors' restaurants and +drinking-houses, fruit-sellers, candy-women, and all manner of open-air +dealers and pedlers; little children playing, and jumping the rope, and +such a babble and bustle as I never saw or heard before; the sun lying +along the whole sweep, very hot, and evidently very grateful to those who +basked in it. Whenever I passed into the shade, immediately from too +warm I became too cold. The sunshine was like hot air; the shade, like +the touch of cold steel,--sharp, hard, yet exhilarating. From the broad +street of the quays, narrow, thread-like lanes pierced up between the +edifices, calling themselves streets, yet so narrow, that a person in the +middle could almost touch the houses on either hand. They ascended +steeply, bordered on each side by long, contiguous walls of high houses, +and from the time of their first being built, could never have had a +gleam of sunshine in them,--always in shadow, always unutterably nasty, +and often pestiferous. The nastiness which I saw in Marseilles exceeds +my heretofore experience. There is dirt in the hotel, and everywhere +else; and it evidently troubles nobody,--no more than if all the people +were pigs in a pigsty. . . . . + +Passing by all this sweep of quays, J----- and I ascended to an elevated +walk, overlooking the harbor, and far beyond it; for here we had our +first view of the Mediterranean, blue as heaven, and bright with +sunshine. It was a bay, widening forth into the open deep, and bordered +with heights, and bold, picturesque headlands, some of which had either +fortresses or convents on them. Several boats and one brig were under +sail, making their way towards the port. I have never seen a finer +sea-view. Behind the town, there seemed to be a mountainous landscape, +imperfectly visible, in consequence of the intervening edifices. + + + +THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA. + + +Steamer Calabrese, January 17th.--If I had remained at Marseilles, I +might have found many peculiarities and characteristics of that Southern +city to notice; but I fear that these will not be recorded if I leave +them till I touch the soil of Italy. Indeed, I doubt whether there be +anything really worth recording in the little distinctions between one +nation and another; at any rate, after the first novelty is over, new +things seem equally commonplace with the old. There is but one little +interval when the mind is in such a state that it can catch the fleeting +aroma of a new scene. And it is always so much pleasanter to enjoy this +delicious newness than to attempt arresting it, that it requires great +force of will to insist with one's self upon sitting down to write. I +can do nothing with Marseilles, especially here on the Mediterranean, +long after nightfall, and when the steamer is pitching in a pretty lively +way. + +(Later.)--I walked out with J----- yesterday morning, and reached the +outskirts of the city, whence we could see the bold and picturesque +heights that surround Marseilles as with a semicircular wall. They rise +into peaks, and the town, being on their lower slope, descends from them +towards the sea with a gradual sweep. Adown the streets that descend +these declivities come little rivulets, running along over the pavement, +close to the sidewalks, as over a pebbly bed; and though they look vastly +like kennels, I saw women washing linen in these streams, and others +dipping up the water for household purposes. The women appear very much +in public at Marseilles. In the squares and places you see half a dozen +of them together, sitting in a social circle on the bottoms of upturned +baskets, knitting, talking, and enjoying the public sunshine, as if it +were their own household fire. Not one in a thousand of them, probably, +ever has a household fire for the purpose of keeping themselves warm, but +only to do their little cookery; and when there is sunshine they take +advantage of it, and in the short season of rain and frost they shrug +their shoulders, put on what warm garments they have, and get through the +winter somewhat as grasshoppers and butterflies do,--being summer insects +like then. This certainly is a very keen and cutting air, sharp as a +razor, and I saw ice along the borders of the little rivulets almost at +noonday. To be sure, it is midwinter, and yet in the sunshine I found +myself uncomfortably warm, but in the shade the air was like the touch of +death itself. I do not like the climate. + +There are a great number of public places in Marseilles, several of +which are adorned with statues or fountains, or triumphal arches or +columns, and set out with trees, and otherwise furnished as a kind of +drawing-rooms, where the populace may meet together and gossip. I never +before heard from human lips anything like this bustle and babble, this +thousand-fold talk which you hear all round about you in the crowd of a +public square; so entirely different is it from the dulness of a crowd in +England, where, as a rule, everybody is silent, and hardly half a dozen +monosyllables will come from the lips of a thousand people. In +Marseilles, on the contrary, a stream of unbroken talk seems to bubble +from the lips of every individual. A great many interesting scenes take +place in these squares. From the window of our hotel (which looked into +the Place Royale) I saw a juggler displaying his art to a crowd, who +stood in a regular square about him, none pretending to press nearer than +the prescribed limit. While the juggler wrought his miracles his wife +supplied him with his magic materials out of a box; and when the +exhibition was over she packed up the white cloth with which his table +was covered, together with cups, cards, balls, and whatever else, and +they took their departure. + +I have been struck with the idle curiosity, and, at the same time, the +courtesy and kindness of the populace of Marseilles, and I meant to +exemplify it by recording how Miss S------ and I attracted their notice, +and became the centre of a crowd of at least fifty of them while doing no +more remarkable thing than settling with a cab-driver. But really this +pitch and swell is getting too bad, and I shall go to bed, as the best +chance of keeping myself in an equable state. + + + +ROME. + + +37 Palazzo Larazani, Via Porta Pinciana, January 24th.--We left +Marseilles in the Neapolitan steamer Calabrese, as noticed above, a week +ago this morning. There was no fault to be found with the steamer, which +was very clean and comfortable, contrary to what we had understood +beforehand; except for the coolness of the air (and I know not that this +was greater than that of the Atlantic in July), our voyage would have +been very pleasant; but for myself, I enjoyed nothing, having a cold upon +me, or a low fever, or something else that took the light and warmth out +of everything. + +I went to bed immediately after my last record, and was rocked to sleep +pleasantly enough by the billows of the Mediterranean; and, coming on +deck about sunrise next morning, found the steamer approaching Genoa. We +saw the city, lying at the foot of a range of hills, and stretching a +little way up their slopes, the hills sweeping round it in the segment of +a circle, and looking like an island rising abruptly out of the sea; for +no connection with the mainland was visible on either side. There was +snow scattered on their summits and streaking their sides a good way +down. They looked bold, and barren, and brown, except where the snow +whitened them. The city did not impress me with much expectation of size +or splendor. Shortly after coming into the port our whole party landed, +and we found ourselves at once in the midst of a crowd of cab-drivers, +hotel-runnets, and coin missionaires, who assaulted us with a volley of +French, Italian, and broken English, which beat pitilessly about our +ears; for really it seemed as if all the dictionaries in the world had +been torn to pieces, and blown around us by a hurricane. Such a pother! +We took a commissionaire, a respectable-looking man, in a cloak, who said +his name was Salvator Rosa; and he engaged to show us whatever was +interesting in Genoa. + +In the first place, he took us through narrow streets to an old church, +the name of which I have forgotten, and, indeed, its peculiar features; +but I know that I found it pre-eminently magnificent,--its whole interior +being incased in polished marble, of various kinds and colors, its +ceiling painted, and its chapels adorned with pictures. However, this +church was dazzled out of sight by the Cathedral of San Lorenzo, to which +we were afterwards conducted, whose exterior front is covered with +alternate slabs of black and white marble, which were brought, either in +whole or in part, from Jerusalem. Within, there was a prodigious +richness of precious marbles, and a pillar, if I mistake not, from +Solomon's Temple; and a picture of the Virgin by St. Luke; and others +(rather more intrinsically valuable, I imagine), by old masters, set in +superb marble frames, within the arches of the chapels. I used to try to +imagine how the English cathedrals must have looked in their primeval +glory, before the Reformation, and before the whitewash of Cromwell's +time had overlaid their marble pillars; but I never imagined anything at +all approaching what my eyes now beheld: this sheen of polished and +variegated marble covering every inch of its walls; this glow of +brilliant frescos all over the roof, and up within the domes; these +beautiful pictures by great masters, painted for the places which they +now occupied, and making an actual portion of the edifice; this wealth of +silver, gold, and gems, that adorned the shrines of the saints, before +which wax candles burned, and were kept burning, I suppose, from year's +end to year's end; in short, there is no imagining nor remembering a +hundredth part of the rich details. And even the cathedral (though I +give it up as indescribable) was nothing at all in comparison with a +church to which the commissionaire afterwards led us; a church that had +been built four or five hundred years ago, by a pirate, in expiation of +his sins, and out of the profit of his rapine. This last edifice, in its +interior, absolutely shone with burnished gold, and glowed with pictures; +its walls were a quarry of precious stones, so valuable were the marbles +out of which they were wrought; its columns and pillars were of +inconceivable costliness; its pavement was a mosaic of wonderful beauty, +and there were four twisted pillars made out of stalactites. Perhaps the +best way to form some dim conception of it is to fancy a little +casket, inlaid inside with precious stones, so that there shall not a +hair's-breadth be left unprecious-stoned, and then to conceive this +little bit of a casket iucreased to the magnitude of a great church, +without losing anything of the excessive glory that was compressed into +its original small compass, but all its pretty lustre made sublime by the +consequent immensity. At any rate, nobody who has not seen a church +like this can imagine what a gorgeous religion it was that reared it. + +In the cathedral, and in all the churches, we saw priests and many +persons kneeling at their devotions; and our Salvator Rosa, whenever we +passed a chapel or shrine, failed not to touch the pavement with one +knee, crossing himself the while; and once, when a priest was going +through some form of devotion, he stopped a few moments to share in it. + +He conducted us, too, to the Balbi Palace, the stateliest and most +sumptuous residence, but not more so than another which he afterwards +showed us, nor perhaps than many others which exist in Genoa, THE SUPERB. +The painted ceilings in these palaces are a glorious adornment; the walls +of the saloons, incrusted with various-colored marbles, give an idea of +splendor which I never gained from anything else. The floors, laid in +mosaic, seem too precious to tread upon. In the royal palace, many of +the floors were of various woods, inlaid by an English artist, and they +looked like a magnification of some exquisite piece of Tunbridge ware; +but, in all respects, this palace was inferior to others which we saw. I +say nothing of the immense pictorial treasures which hung upon the walls +of all the rooms through which we passed; for I soon grew so weary of +admirable things, that I could neither enjoy nor understand them. My +receptive faculty is very limited, and when the utmost of its small +capacity is full, I become perfectly miserable, and the more so the +better worth seeing are the things I am forced to reject. I do not know +a greater misery; to see sights, after such repletion, is to the mind +what it would be to the body to have dainties forced down the throat long +after the appetite was satiated. + +All this while, whenever we emerged into the vaultlike streets, +we were wretchedly cold. The commissionaire took us to a sort of +pleasure-garden, occupying the ascent of a hill, and presenting seven +different views of the city, from as many stations. One of the objects +pointed out to us was a large yellow house, on a hillside, in the +outskirts of Genoa, which was formerly inhabited for six months by +Charles Dickens. Looking down from the elevated part of the +pleasure-gardens, we saw orange-trees beneath us, with the golden fruit +hanging upon them, though their trunks were muffled in straw; and, still +lower down, there was ice and snow. + +Gladly (so far as I myself was concerned) we dismissed the +commissionaire, after he had brought us to the hotel of the Cross of +Malta, where we dined; needlessly, as it proved, for another dinner +awaited us, after our return on board the boat. + +We set sail for Leghorn before dark, and I retired early, feeling still +more ill from my cold than the night before. The next morning we were in +the crowded port of Leghorn. We all went ashore, with some idea of +taking the rail for Pisa, which is within an hour's distance, and might +have been seen in time for our departure with the steamer. But a +necessary visit to a banker's, and afterwards some unnecessary +formalities about our passports, kept us wandering through the streets +nearly all day; and we saw nothing in the slightest degree interesting, +except the tomb of Smollett, in the burial-place attached to the English +Chapel. It is surrounded by an iron railing, and marked by a slender +obelisk of white marble, the pattern of which is many times repeated over +surrounding graves. + +We went into a Jewish synagogue,--the interior cased in marbles, and +surrounded with galleries, resting upon arches above arches. There were +lights burning at the altar, and it looked very like a Christian church; +but it was dirty, and had an odor not of sanctity. + +In Leghorn, as everywhere else, we were chilled to the heart, except when +the sunshine fell directly upon us; and we returned to the steamer with a +feeling as if we were getting back to our home; for this life of +wandering makes a three days' residence in one place seem like home. + +We found several new passengers on board, and among others a monk, in a +long brown frock of woollen cloth, with an immense cape, and a little +black covering over his tonsure. He was a tall figure, with a gray +beard, and might have walked, just as he stood, out of a picture by one +of the old masters. This holy person addressed me very affably in +Italian; but we found it impossible to hold much conversation. + +The evening was beautiful, with a bright young moonlight, not yet +sufficiently powerful to overwhelm the stars, and as we walked the deck, +Miss M------ showed the children the constellations, and told their +names. J----- made a slight mistake as to one of them, pointing it out +to me as "O'Brien's belt!" + +Elba was presently in view, and we might have seen many other interesting +points, had it not been for our steamer's practice of resting by day, and +only pursuing its voyage by night. The next morning we found ourselves +in the harbor of Civita Vecchia, and, going ashore with our luggage, went +through a blind turmoil with custom-house officers, inspectors of +passports, soldiers, and vetturino people. My wife and I strayed a +little through Civita Vecchia, and found its streets narrow, like clefts +in a rock (which seems to be the fashion of Italian towns), and smelling +nastily. I had made a bargain with a vetturino to send us to Rome in a +carriage, with four horses, in eight hours; and as soon as the +custom-house and passport people would let us, we started, lumbering +slowly along with our mountain of luggage. We had heard rumors of +robberies lately committed on this route; especially of a Nova Scotia +bishop, who was detained on the road an hour and a half, and utterly +pillaged; and certainly there was not a single mile of the dreary and +desolate country over which we passed, where we might not have been +robbed and murdered with impunity. Now and then, at long distances, we +came to a structure that was either a prison, a tavern, or a barn, but +did not look very much like either, being strongly built of stone, with +iron-grated windows, and of ancient and rusty aspect. We kept along by +the seashore a great part of the way, and stopped to feed our horses at a +village, the wretched street of which stands close along the shore of the +Mediterranean, its loose, dark sand being made nasty by the vicinity. +The vetturino cheated us, one of the horses giving out, as he must have +known it would do, half-way on our journey; and we staggered on through +cold and darkness, and peril, too, if the banditti were not a myth,-- +reaching Rome not much before midnight. I perpetrated unheard-of +briberies on the custom-house officers at the gates, and was permitted to +pass through and establish myself at Spillman's Hotel, the only one where +we could gain admittance, and where we have been half frozen ever since. + +And this is sunny Italy, and genial Rome! + + +Palazzo Larazani, Via Porta Pinciana, February 3d.--We have been in Rome +a fortnight to-day, or rather at eleven o'clock to-night; and I have +seldom or never spent so wretched a time anywhere. Our impressions were +very unfortunate, arriving at midnight, half frozen in the wintry rain, +and being received into a cold and cheerless hotel, where we shivered +during two or three days; meanwhile seeking lodgings among the sunless, +dreary alleys which are called streets in Rome. One cold, bright day +after another has pierced me to the heart, and cut me in twain as with a +sword, keen and sharp, and poisoned at point and edge. I did not think +that cold weather could have made me so very miserable. Having caught a +feverish influenza, I was really glad of being muffled up comfortably in +the fever heat. The atmosphere certainly has a peculiar quality of +malignity. After a day or two we settled ourselves in a suite of ten +rooms, comprehending one flat, or what is called the second piano of this +house. The rooms, thus far, have been very uncomfortable, it being +impossible to warm them by means of the deep, old-fashioned, inartificial +fireplaces, unless we had the great logs of a New England forest to burn +in them; so I have sat in my corner by the fireside with more clothes on +than I ever wore before, and my thickest great-coat over all. In the +middle of the day I generally venture out for an hour or two, but have +only once been warm enough even in the sunshine, and out of the sun never +at any time. I understand now the force of that story of Diogenes when +he asked the Conqueror, as the only favor he could do him, to stand out +of his sunshine, there being such a difference in these Southern climes +of Europe between sun and shade. If my wits had not been too much +congealed, and my fingers too numb, I should like to have kept a minute +journal of my feelings and impressions during the past fortnight. It +would have shown modern Rome in an aspect in which it has never yet been +depicted. But I have now grown somewhat acclimated, and the first +freshness of my discomfort has worn off, so that I shall never be able to +express how I dislike the place, and how wretched I have been in it; and +soon, I suppose, warmer weather will come, and perhaps reconcile +me to Rome against my will. Cold, narrow lanes, between tall, ugly, +mean-looking whitewashed houses, sour bread, pavements most uncomfortable +to the feet, enormous prices for poor living; beggars, pickpockets, +ancient temples and broken monuments, and clothes hanging to dry about +them; French soldiers, monks, and priests of every degree; a shabby +population, smoking bad cigars,--these would have been some of the points +of my description. Of course there are better and truer things to be +said. . . . . + +It would be idle for me to attempt any sketches of these famous sites and +edifices,--St. Peter's, for example,--which have been described by a +thousand people, though none of them have ever given me an idea of what +sort of place Rome is. . . . . + +The Coliseum was very much what I had preconceived it, though I was not +prepared to find it turned into a sort of Christian church, with a pulpit +on the verge of the open space. . . . . The French soldiers, who keep +guard within it, as in other public places in Rome, have an excellent +opportunity to secure the welfare of their souls. + + +February 7th.--I cannot get fairly into the current of my journal since +we arrived, and already I perceive that the nice peculiarities of Roman +life are passing from my notice before I have recorded them. It is a +very great pity. During the past week I have plodded daily, for an hour +or two, through the narrow, stony streets, that look worse than the worst +backside lanes of any other city; indescribably ugly and disagreeable +they are, . . . . without sidewalks, but provided with a line of larger +square stones, set crosswise to each other, along which there is somewhat +less uneasy walking. . . . . Ever and anon, even in the meanest streets, +--though, generally speaking, one can hardly be called meaner than +another,--we pass a palace, extending far along the narrow way on a line +with the other houses, but distinguished by its architectural windows, +iron-barred on the basement story, and by its portal arch, through which +we have glimpses, sometimes of a dirty court-yard, or perhaps of a clean, +ornamented one, with trees, a colonnade, a fountain, and a statue in the +vista; though, more likely, it resembles the entrance to a stable, and +may, perhaps, really be one. The lower regions of palaces come to +strange uses in Rome. . . . . In the basement story of the Barberini +Palace a regiment of French soldiers (or soldiers of some kind [we find +them to be retainers of the Barberini family, not French]) seems to be +quartered, while no doubt princes have magnificent domiciles above. Be +it palace or whatever other dwelling, the inmates climb through rubbish +often to the comforts, such as they may be, that await them above. I +vainly try to get down upon paper the dreariness, the ugliness, +shabbiness, un-home-likeness of a Roman street. It is also to be said +that you cannot go far in any direction without coming to a piazza, which +is sometimes little more than a widening and enlarging of the dingy +street, with the lofty facade of a church or basilica on one side, and a +fountain in the centre, where the water squirts out of some fantastic +piece of sculpture into a great stone basin. These fountains are often +of immense size and most elaborate design. . . . . + +There are a great many of these fountain-shapes, constructed under the +orders of one pope or another, in all parts of the city; and only the +very simplest, such as a jet springing from a broad marble or porphyry +vase, and falling back into it again, are really ornamental. If an +antiquary were to accompany me through the streets, no doubt he would +point out ten thousand interesting objects that I now pass over +unnoticed, so general is the surface of plaster and whitewash; but often +I can see fragments of antiquity built into the walls, or perhaps a +church that was a Roman temple, or a basement of ponderous stones that +were laid above twenty centuries ago. It is strange how our ideas of +what antiquity is become altered here in Rome; the sixteenth century, in +which many of the churches and fountains seem to have been built or +re-edified, seems close at hand, even like our own days; a thousand +years, or the days of the latter empire, is but a modern date, and +scarcely interests us; and nothing is really venerable of a more recent +epoch than the reign of Constantine. And the Egyptian obelisks that +stand in several of the piazzas put even the Augustan or Republican +antiquities to shame. I remember reading in a New York newspaper an +account of one of the public buildings of that city,--a relic of "the +olden time," the writer called it; for it was erected in 1825! I am glad +I saw the castles and Gothic churches and cathedrals of England before +visiting Rome, or I never could have felt that delightful reverence for +their gray and ivy-hung antiquity after seeing these so much older +remains. But, indeed, old things are not so beautiful in this dry +climate and clear atmosphere as in moist England. . . . . + +Whatever beauty there may be in a Roman ruin is the remnant of what was +beautiful originally; whereas an English ruin is more beautiful often in +its decay than even it was in its primal strength. If we ever build such +noble structures as these Roman ones, we can have just as good ruins, +after two thousand years, in the United States; but we never can have a +Furness Abbey or a Kenilworth. The Corso, and perhaps some other +streets, does not deserve all the vituperation which I have bestowed on +the generality of Roman vias, though the Corso is narrow, not averaging +more than nine paces, if so much, from sidewalk to sidewalk. But palace +after palace stands along almost its whole extent,--not, however, that +they make such architectural show on the street as palaces should. The +enclosed courts were perhaps the only parts of these edifices which the +founders cared to enrich architecturally. I think Linlithgow Palace, of +which I saw the ruins during my last tour in Scotland, was built, by an +architect who had studied these Roman palaces. There was never any idea +of domestic comfort, or of what we include in the name of home, at all +implicated in such structures, they being generally built by wifeless and +childless churchmen for the display of pictures and statuary in galleries +and long suites of rooms. + +I have not yet fairly begun the sight-seeing of Rome. I have been four +or five times to St. Peter's, and always with pleasure, because there is +such a delightful, summerlike warmth the moment we pass beneath the +heavy, padded leather curtains that protect the entrances. It is almost +impossible not to believe that this genial temperature is the result of +furnace-heat, but, really, it is the warmth of last summer, which will be +included within those massive walls, and in that vast immensity of space, +till, six months hence, this winter's chill will just have made its way +thither. It would be an excellent plan for a valetudinarian to lodge +during the winter in St. Peter's, perhaps establishing his household in +one of the papal tombs. I become, I think, more sensible of the size of +St. Peter's, but am as yet far from being overwhelmed by it. It is not, +as one expects, so big as all out of doors, nor is its dome so immense as +that of the firmament. It looked queer, however, the other day, to see a +little ragged boy, the very least of human things, going round and +kneeling at shrine after shrine, and a group of children standing on +tiptoe to reach the vase of holy water. . . . . + +On coming out of St. Peter's at my last visit, I saw a great sheet of ice +around the fountain on the right hand, and some little Romans awkwardly +sliding on it. I, too, took a slide, just for the sake of doing what I +never thought to do in Rome. This inclement weather, I should suppose, +must make the whole city very miserable; for the native Romans, I am +told, never keep any fire, except for culinary purposes, even in the +severest winter. They flee from their cheerless houses into the open +air, and bring their firesides along with them in the shape of small +earthen vases, or pipkins, with a handle by which they carry them up and +down the streets, and so warm at least their hands with the lighted +charcoal. I have had glimpses through open doorways into interiors, and +saw them as dismal as tombs. Wherever I pass my summers, let me spend my +winters in a cold country. + +We went yesterday to the Pantheon. . . . . + +When I first came to Rome, I felt embarrassed and unwilling to pass, with +my heresy, between a devotee and his saint; for they often shoot their +prayers at a shrine almost quite across the church. But there seems to +be no violation of etiquette in so doing. A woman begged of us in +the Pantheon, and accused my wife of impiety for not giving her an +alms. . . . . People of very decent appearance are often unexpectedly +converted into beggars as you approach them; but in general they take a +"No" at once. + + +February 9th.--For three or four days it has been cloudy and rainy, which +is the greater pity, as this should be the gayest and merriest part of +the Carnival. I go out but little,--yesterday only as far as Pakenham's +and Hooker's bank in the Piazza de' Spagna, where I read Galignani and +the American papers. At last, after seeing in England more of my +fellow-compatriots than ever before, I really am disjoined from my +country. + +To-day I walked out along the Pincian Hill. . . . . As the clouds still +threatened rain, I deemed it my safest course to go to St. Peter's for +refuge. Heavy and dull as the day was, the effect of this great world of +a church was still brilliant in the interior, as if it had a sunshine of +its own, as well as its own temperature; and, by and by, the sunshine of +the outward world came through the windows, hundreds of feet aloft, and +fell upon the beautiful inlaid pavement. . . . . Against a pillar, on one +side of the nave, is a mosaic copy of Raphael's Transfiguration, fitly +framed within a great arch of gorgeous marble; and, no doubt, the +indestructible mosaic has preserved it far more completely than the +fading and darkening tints in which the artist painted it. At any rate, +it seemed to me the one glorious picture that I have ever seen. The +pillar nearest the great entrance, on the left of the nave, supports the +monument to the Stuart family, where two winged figures, with inverted +torches, stand on either side of a marble door, which is closed forever. +It is an impressive monument, for you feel as if the last of the race had +passed through that door. + +Emerging from the church, I saw a French sergeant drilling his men in the +piazza. These French soldiers are prominent objects everywhere about the +city, and make up more of its sight and sound than anything else that +lives. They stroll about individually; they pace as sentinels in all the +public places; and they march up and down in squads, companies, and +battalions, always with a very great din of drum, fife, and trumpet; ten +times the proportion of music that the same number of men would require +elsewhere; and it reverberates with ten times the noise, between the high +edifices of these lanes, that it could make in broader streets. +Nevertheless, I have no quarrel with the French soldiers; they are fresh, +healthy, smart, honest-looking young fellows enough, in blue coats and +red trousers; . . . . and, at all events, they serve as an efficient +police, making Rome as safe as London; whereas, without them, it would +very likely be a den of banditti. + +On my way home I saw a few tokens of the Carnival, which is now in full +progress; though, as it was only about one o'clock, its frolics had not +commenced for the day. . . . . I question whether the Romans themselves +take any great interest in the Carnival. The balconies along the Corso +were almost entirely taken by English and Americans, or other foreigners. + +As I approached the bridge of St. Angelo, I saw several persons engaged, +as I thought, in fishing in the Tiber, with very strong lines; but on +drawing nearer I found that they were trying to hook up the branches, and +twigs, and other drift-wood, which the recent rains might have swept into +the river. There was a little heap of what looked chiefly like willow +twigs, the poor result of their labor. The hook was a knot of wood, with +the lopped-off branches projecting in three or four prongs. The Tiber +has always the hue of a mud-puddle; but now, after a heavy rain which has +washed the clay into it, it looks like pease-soup. It is a broad and +rapid stream, eddying along as if it were in haste to disgorge its +impurities into the sea. On the left side, where the city mostly is +situated, the buildings hang directly over the stream; on the other, +where stand the Castle of St. Angelo and the Church of St. Peter, the +town does not press so imminent upon the shore. The banks are clayey, +and look as if the river had been digging them away for ages; but I +believe its bed is higher than of yore. + + +February 10th.--I went out to-day, and, going along the Via Felice and +the Via delle Quattro Fontane, came unawares to the Basilica of Santa +Maria Maggiore, on the summit of the Esquiline Hill. I entered it, +without in the least knowing what church it was, and found myself in a +broad and noble nave, both very simple and very grand. There was a long +row of Ionic columns of marble, twenty or thereabouts on each side, +supporting a flat roof. There were vaulted side aisles, and, at the +farther end, a bronze canopy over the high altar; and all along the +length of the side aisles were shrines with pictures, sculpture, and +burning lamps; the whole church, too, was lined with marble: the roof was +gilded; and yet the general effect of severe and noble simplicity +triumphed over all the ornament. I should have taken it for a Roman +temple, retaining nearly its pristine aspect; but Murray tells us that it +was founded A. D. 342 by Pope Liberius, on the spot precisely marked out +by a miraculous fall of snow, in the month of August, and it has +undergone many alterations since his time. But it is very fine, and +gives the beholder the idea of vastness, which seems harder to attain +than anything else. On the right hand, approaching the high altar, there +is a chapel, separated from the rest of the church by an iron paling; +and, being admitted into it with another party, I found it most +elaborately magnificent. But one magnificence outshone another, and made +itself the brightest conceivable for the moment. However, this chapel +was as rich as the most precious marble could make it, in pillars and +pilasters, and broad, polished slabs, covering the whole walls (except +where there were splendid and glowing frescos; or where some monumental +statuary or bas-relief, or mosaic picture filled up an arched niche). +Its architecture was a dome, resting on four great arches; and in size it +would alone have been a church. In the centre of the mosaic pavement +there was a flight of steps, down which we went, and saw a group in +marble, representing the nativity of Christ, which, judging by the +unction with which our guide talked about it, must have been of peculiar +sanctity. I hate to leave this chapel and church, without being able to +say any one thing that may reflect a portion of their beauty, or of the +feeling which they excite. Kneeling against many of the pillars there +were persons in prayer, and I stepped softly, fearing lest my tread on +the marble pavement should disturb them,--a needless precaution, however, +for nobody seems to expect it, nor to be disturbed by the lack of it. + +The situation of the church, I should suppose, is the loftiest in Rome: +it has a fountain at one end, and a column at the other; but I did not +pay particular attention to either, nor to the exterior of the church +itself. + +On my return, I turned aside from the Via delle Quattro Fontane into the +Via Quirinalis, and was led by it into the Piazza di Monte Cavallo. The +street through which I passed was broader, cleanlier, and statelier than +most streets in Rome, and bordered by palaces; and the piazza had noble +edifices around it, and a fountain, an obelisk, and two nude statues in +the centre. The obelisk was, as the inscription indicated, a relic of +Egypt; the basin of the fountain was an immense bowl of Oriental granite, +into which poured a copious flood of water, discolored by the rain; the +statues were colossal,--two beautiful young men, each holding a fiery +steed. On the pedestal of one was the inscription, OPUS PHIDIAE; on the +other, OPUS PRAXITELIS. What a city is this, when one may stumble, by +mere chance,--at a street corner, as it were,--on the works of two such +sculptors! I do not know the authority on which these statues (Castor +and Pollux, I presume) are attributed to Phidias and Praxiteles; but they +impressed me as noble and godlike, and I feel inclined to take them for +what they purport to be. On one side of the piazza is the Pontifical +Palace; but, not being aware of this at the time, I did not look +particularly at the edifice. + +I came home by way of the Corso, which seemed a little enlivened by +Carnival time; though, as it was not yet two o'clock, the fun had not +begun for the day. The rain throws a dreary damper on the festivities. + + +February 13th.--Day before yesterday we took J----- and R----- in a +carriage, and went to see the Carnival, by driving up and down the Corso. +It was as ugly a day, as respects weather, as has befallen us since we +came to Rome,--cloudy, with an indecisive wet, which finally settled into +a rain; and people say that such is generally the weather in Carnival +time. There is very little to be said about the spectacle. Sunshine +would have improved it, no doubt; but a person must have very broad +sunshine within himself to be joyous on such shallow provocation. The +street, at all events, would have looked rather brilliant under a sunny +sky, the balconies being hung with bright-colored draperies, which were +also flung out of some of the windows. . . . . Soon I had my first +experience of the Carnival in a handful of confetti, right slap in my +face. . . . . Many of the ladies wore loose white dominos, and some of +the gentlemen had on defensive armor of blouses; and wire masks over the +face were a protection for both sexes,--not a needless one, for I +received a shot in my right eye which cost me many tears. It seems to be +a point of courtesy (though often disregarded by Americans and English) +not to fling confetti at ladies, or at non-combatants, or quiet +bystanders; and the engagements with these missiles were generally +between open carriages, manned with youths, who were provided with +confetti for such encounters, and with bouquets for the ladies. We had +one real enemy on the Corso; for our former friend Mrs. T------ was +there, and as often as we passed and repassed her, she favored us with a +handful of lime. Two or three times somebody ran by the carriage and +puffed forth a shower of winged seeds through a tube into our faces and +over our clothes; and, in the course of the afternoon, we were hit with +perhaps half a dozen sugar-plums. Possibly we may not have received our +fair share of these last salutes, for J----- had on a black mask, which +made him look like an imp of Satan, and drew many volleys of confetti +that we might otherwise have escaped. A good many bouquets were flung at +our little R-----, and at us generally. . . . . This was what is called +masking-day, when it is the rule to wear masks in the Corso, but the +great majority of people appeared without them. . . . . Two fantastic +figures, with enormous heads, set round with frizzly hair, came and +grinned into our carriage, and J----- tore out a handful of hair +(which proved to be sea-weed) from one of their heads, rather to +the discomposure of the owner, who muttered his indignation in +Italian. . . . . On comparing notes with J----- and R-----, indeed with +U---- too, I find that they all enjoyed the Carnival much more than I +did. Only the young ought to write descriptions of such scenes. My cold +criticism chills the life out of it. + + +February 14th.--Friday, 12th, was a sunny day, the first that we had had +for some time; and my wife and I went forth to see sights as well as to +make some calls that had long been due. We went first to the church of +Santa Maria Maggiore, which I have already mentioned, and, on our return, +we went to the Piazza di Monte Cavallo, and saw those admirable ancient +statues of Castor and Pollux, which seem to me sons of the morning, and +full of life and strength. The atmosphere, in such a length of time, has +covered the marble surface of these statues with a gray rust, that +envelops both the men and horses as with a garment; besides which, there +are strange discolorations, such as patches of white moss on the elbows, +and reddish streaks down the sides; but the glory of form overcomes all +these defects of color. It is pleasant to observe how familiar some +little birds are with these colossal statues,--hopping about on their +heads and over their huge fists, and very likely they have nests in their +ears or among their hair. + +We called at the Barberini Palace, where William Story has established +himself and family for the next seven years, or more, on the third piano, +in apartments that afford a very fine outlook over Rome, and have the sun +in them through most of the day. Mrs. S---- invited us to her fancy +ball, but we declined. + +On the staircase ascending to their piano we saw the ancient Greek +bas-relief of a lion, whence Canova is supposed to have taken the idea of +his lions on the monument in St. Peter's. Afterwards we made two or +three calls in the neighborhood of the Piazza de' Spagna, finding only +Mr. Hamilton Fish and family, at the Hotel d'Europe, at home, and next +visited the studio of Mr. C. G. Thompson, whom I knew in Boston. He has +very greatly improved since those days, and, being always a man of +delicate mind, and earnestly desiring excellence for its own sake, he has +won himself the power of doing beautiful and elevated works. He is now +meditating a series of pictures from Shakespeare's "Tempest," the +sketches of one or two of which he showed us, likewise a copy of a small +Madonna, by Raphael, wrought with a minute faithfulness which it makes +one a better man to observe. . . . . Mr. Thompson is a true artist, and +whatever his pictures have of beauty comes from very far beneath the +surface; and this, I suppose, is one weighty reason why he has but +moderate success. I should like his pictures for the mere color, even if +they represented nothing. His studio is in the Via Sistina; and at a +little distance on the other side of the same street is William Story's, +where we likewise went, and found him at work on a sitting statue of +Cleopatra. + +William Story looks quite as vivid, in a graver way, as when I saw him +last, a very young man. His perplexing variety of talents and +accomplishments--he being a poet, a prose writer, a lawyer, a painter, a +musician, and a sculptor--seems now to be concentrating itself into this +latter vocation, and I cannot see why he should not achieve something +very good. He has a beautiful statue, already finished, of Goethe's +Margaret, pulling a flower to pieces to discover whether Faust loves her; +a very type of virginity and simplicity. The statue of Cleopatra, now +only fourteen days advanced in the clay, is as wide a step from the +little maidenly Margaret as any artist could take; it is a grand subject, +and he is conceiving it with depth and power, and working it out with +adequate skill. He certainly is sensible of something deeper in his art +than merely to make beautiful nudities and baptize them by classic names. +By the by, he told me several queer stories of American visitors to his +studio: one of them, after long inspecting Cleopatra, into which he has +put all possible characteristics of her time and nation and of her own +individuality, asked, "Have you baptized your statue yet?" as if the +sculptor were waiting till his statue were finished before he chose the +subject of it,--as, indeed, I should think many sculptors do. Another +remarked of a statue of Hero, who is seeking Leander by torchlight, and +in momentary expectation of finding his drowned body, "Is not the face a +little sad?" Another time a whole party of Americans filed into his +studio, and ranged themselves round his father's statue, and, after much +silent examination, the spokesman of the party inquired, "Well, sir, what +is this intended to represent?" William Story, in telling these little +anecdotes, gave the Yankee twang to perfection. . . . . + +The statue of his father, his first work, is very noble, as noble and +fine a portrait-statue as I ever saw. In the outer room of his studio a +stone-cutter, or whatever this kind of artisan is called, was at work, +transferring the statue of Hero from the plaster-cast into marble; and +already, though still in some respects a block of stone, there was a +wonderful degree of expression in the face. It is not quite pleasant to +think that the sculptor does not really do the whole labor on his +statues, but that they are all but finished to his hand by merely +mechanical people. It is generally only the finishing touches that are +given by his own chisel. + +Yesterday, being another bright day, we went to the basilica of St. John +Lateran, which is the basilica next in rank to St. Peter's, and has the +precedence of it as regards certain sacred privileges. It stands on a +most noble site, on the outskirts of the city, commanding a view of the +Sabine and Alban hills, blue in the distance, and some of them hoary with +sunny snow. The ruins of the Claudian aqueduct are close at hand. The +church is connected with the Lateran palace and museum, so that the whole +is one edifice; but the facade of the church distinguishes it, and is +very lofty and grand,--more so, it seems to me, than that of St. Peter's. +Under the portico is an old statue of Constantine, representing him as a +very stout and sturdy personage. The inside of the church disappointed +me, though no doubt I should have been wonderstruck had I seen it a month +ago. We went into one of the chapels, which was very rich in colored +marbles; and, going down a winding staircase, found ourselves among the +tombs and sarcophagi of the Corsini family, and in presence of a marble +Pieta very beautifully sculptured. On the other side of the church we +looked into the Torlonia Chapel, very rich and rather profusely gilded, +but, as it seemed to me, not tawdry, though the white newness of the +marble is not perfectly agreeable after being accustomed to the milder +tint which time bestows on sculpture. The tombs and statues appeared +like shapes and images of new-fallen snow. The most interesting thing +which we saw in this church (and, admitting its authenticity, there can +scarcely be a more interesting one anywhere) was the table at which the +Last Supper was eaten. It is preserved in a corridor, on one side of the +tribune or chancel, and is shown by torchlight suspended upon the wall +beneath a covering of glass. Only the top of the table is shown, +presenting a broad, flat surface of wood, evidently very old, and showing +traces of dry-rot in one or two places. There are nails in it, and the +attendant said that it had formerly been covered with bronze. As well as +I can remember, it may be five or six feet square, and I suppose would +accommodate twelve persons, though not if they reclined in the Roman +fashion, nor if they sat as they do in Leonardo da Vinci's picture. It +would be very delightful to believe in this table. + +There are several other sacred relics preserved in the church; for +instance, the staircase of Pilate's house up which Jesus went, and the +porphyry slab on which the soldiers cast lots for his garments. These, +however, we did not see. There are very glowing frescos on portions of +the walls; but, there being much whitewash instead of incrusted marble, +it has not the pleasant aspect which one's eye learns to demand in Roman +churches. There is a good deal of statuary along the columns of the +nave, and in the monuments of the side aisles. + +In reference to the interior splendor of Roman churches, I must say that +I think it a pity that painted windows are exclusively a Gothic ornament; +for the elaborate ornamentation of these interiors puts the ordinary +daylight out of countenance, so that a window with only the white +sunshine coming through it, or even with a glimpse of the blue Italian +sky, looks like a portion left unfinished, and therefore a blotch in the +rich wall. It is like the one spot in Aladdin's palace which he left for +the king, his father-in-law, to finish, after his fairy architects had +exhausted their magnificence on the rest; and the sun, like the king, +fails in the effort. It has what is called a porta santa, which we saw +walled up, in front of the church, one side of the main entrance. I know +not what gives it its sanctity, but it appears to be opened by the pope +on a year of jubilee, once every quarter of a century. + +After our return . . . . . I took R----- along the Pincian Hill, and +finally, after witnessing what of the Carnival could be seen in the +Piazza del Popolo from that safe height, we went down into the Corso, and +some little distance along it. Except for the sunshine, the scene was +much the same as I have already described; perhaps fewer confetti and +more bouquets. Some Americans and English are said to have been brought +before the police authorities, and fined for throwing lime. It is +remarkable that the jollity, such as it is, of the Carnival, does not +extend an inch beyond the line of the Corso; there it flows along in a +narrow stream, while in the nearest street we see nothing but the +ordinary Roman gravity. + + +February 15th.--Yesterday was a bright day, but I did not go out till the +afternoon, when I took an hour's walk along the Pincian, stopping a good +while to look at the old beggar who, for many years past, has occupied +one of the platforms of the flight of steps leading from the Piazza de' +Spagna to the Triniti de' Monti. Hillard commemorates him in his book. +He is an unlovely object, moving about on his hands and knees, +principally by aid of his hands, which are fortified with a sort of +wooden shoes; while his poor, wasted lower shanks stick up in the air +behind him, loosely vibrating as he progresses. He is gray, old, ragged, +a pitiable sight, but seems very active in his own fashion, and bestirs +himself on the approach of his visitors with the alacrity of a spider +when a fly touches the remote circumference of his web. While I looked +down at him he received alms from three persons, one of whom was a young +woman of the lower orders; the other two were gentlemen, probably either +English or American. I could not quite make out the principle on which +he let some people pass without molestation, while he shuffled from one +end of the platform to the other to intercept an occasional individual. +He is not persistent in his demands, nor, indeed, is this a usual fault +among Italian beggars. A shake of the head will stop him when wriggling +towards you from a distance. I fancy he reaps a pretty fair harvest, and +no doubt leads as contented and as interesting a life as most people, +sitting there all day on those sunny steps, looking at the world, and +making his profit out of it. It must be pretty much such an occupation +as fishing, in its effect upon the hopes and apprehensions; and probably +he suffers no more from the many refusals he meets with than the angler +does, when he sees a fish smell at his bait and swim away. One success +pays for a hundred disappointments, and the game is all the better for +not being entirely in his own favor. + +Walking onward, I found the Pincian thronged with promenaders, as also +with carriages, which drove round the verge of the gardens in an unbroken +ring. + +To-day has been very rainy. I went out in the forenoon, and took a +sitting for my bust in one of a suite of rooms formerly occupied by +Canova. It was large, high, and dreary from the want of a carpet, +furniture, or anything but clay and plaster. A sculptor's studio has not +the picturesque charm of that of a painter, where there is color, warmth, +and cheerfulness, and where the artist continually turns towards you the +glow of some picture, which is resting against the wall. . . . . I was +asked not to look at the bust at the close of the sitting, and, of +course, I obeyed; though I have a vague idea of a heavy-browed +physiognomy, something like what I have seen in the glass, but looking +strangely in that guise of clay. . . . . + +It is a singular fascination that Rome exercises upon artists. There is +clay elsewhere, and marble enough, and heads to model, and ideas may be +made sensible objects at home as well as here. I think it is the +peculiar mode of life that attracts, and its freedom from the +inthralments of society, more than the artistic advantages which Rome +offers; and, no doubt, though the artists care little about one another's +works, yet they keep each other warm by the presence of so many of them. + +The Carnival still continues, though I hardly see how it can have +withstood such a damper as this rainy day. There were several people-- +three, I think--killed in the Corso on Saturday; some accounts say that +they were run over by the horses in the race; others, that they were +ridden down by the dragoons in clearing the course. + +After leaving Canova's studio, I stepped into the church of San Luigi de' +Francesi, in the Via di Ripetta. It was built, I believe, by Catherine +de' Medici, and is under the protection of the French government, and a +most shamefully dirty place of worship, the beautiful marble columns +looking dingy, for the want of loving and pious care. There are many +tombs and monuments of French people, both of the past and present,-- +artists, soldiers, priests, and others, who have died in Rome. It was so +dusky within the church that I could hardly distinguish the pictures in +the chapels and over the altar, nor did I know that there were any worth +looking for. Nevertheless, there were frescos by Domenichino, and +oil-paintings by Guido and others. I found it peculiarly touching to +read the records, in Latin or French, of persons who had died in this +foreign laud, though they were not my own country-people, and though I +was even less akin to them than they to Italy. Still, there was a sort +of relationship in the fact that neither they nor I belonged here. + + +February 17th.--Yesterday morning was perfectly sunny, and we went out +betimes to see churches; going first to the Capuchins', close by the +Piazza Barberini. + +["The Marble Faun" takes up this description of the church and of the +dead monk, which we really saw, just as recounted, even to the sudden +stream of blood which flowed from the nostrils, as we looked at him.-- +ED.] + +We next went to the Trinita de' Monti, which stands at the head of the +steps, leading, in several flights, from the Piazza de' Spagna. It is +now connected with a convent of French nuns, and when we rang at a side +door, one of the sisterhood answered the summons, and admitted us into +the church. This, like that of the Capuchins', had a vaulted roof over +the nave, and no side aisles, but rows of chapels instead. Unlike the +Capuchins', which was filthy, and really disgraceful to behold, this +church was most exquisitely neat, as women alone would have thought it +worth while to keep it. It is not a very splendid church, not rich in +gorgeous marbles, but pleasant to be in, if it were only for the sake of +its godly purity. There was only one person in the nave; a young girl, +who sat perfectly still, with her face towards the altar, as long as we +stayed. Between the nave and the rest of the church there is a high iron +railing, and on the other side of it were two kneeling figures in black, +so motionless that I at first thought them statues; but they proved to be +two nuns at their devotions; and others of the sisterhood came by and by +and joined them. Nuns, at least these nuns, who are French, and probably +ladies of refinement, having the education of young girls in charge, are +far pleasanter objects to see and think about than monks; the odor of +sanctity, in the latter, not being an agreeable fragrance. But these +holy sisters, with their black crape and white muslin, looked really pure +and unspotted from the world. + +On the iron railing above mentioned was the representation of a golden +heart, pierced with arrows; for these are nuns of the Sacred Heart. In +the various chapels there are several paintings in fresco, some by +Daniele da Volterra; and one of them, the "Descent from the Cross," has +been pronounced the third greatest picture in the world. I never should +have had the slightest suspicion that it was a great picture at all, so +worn and faded it looks, and so hard, so difficult to be seen, and so +undelightful when one does see it. + +From the Trinita we went to the Santa Maria del Popolo, a church built on +a spot where Nero is said to have been buried, and which was afterwards +made horrible by devilish phantoms. It now being past twelve, and all +the churches closing from twelve till two, we had not time to pay much +attention to the frescos, oil-pictures, and statues, by Raphael and other +famous men, which are to be seen here. I remember dimly the magnificent +chapel of the Chigi family, and little else, for we stayed but a short +time; and went next to the sculptor's studio, where I had another sitting +for my bust. After I had been moulded for about an hour, we turned +homeward; but my wife concluded to hire a balcony for this last afternoon +and evening of the Carnival, and she took possession of it, while I went +home to send to her Miss S------ and the two elder children. For my +part, I took R-----, and walked, by way of the Pincian, to the Piazza del +Popolo, and thence along the Corso, where, by this time, the warfare of +bouquets and confetti raged pretty fiercely. The sky being blue and the +sun bright, the scene looked much gayer and brisker than I had before +found it; and I can conceive of its being rather agreeable than +otherwise, up to the age of twenty. We got several volleys of confetti. +R----- received a bouquet and a sugar-plum, and I a resounding hit from +something that looked more like a cabbage than a flower. Little as I +have enjoyed the Carnival, I think I could make quite a brilliant sketch +of it, without very widely departing from truth. + + +February 19th.--Day before yesterday, pretty early, we went to St. +Peter's, expecting to see the pope cast ashes on the heads of the +cardinals, it being Ash-Wednesday. On arriving, however, we found no +more than the usual number of visitants and devotional people scattered +through the broad interior of St. Peter's; and thence concluded that the +ceremonies were to be performed in the Sistine Chapel. Accordingly, we +went out of the cathedral, through the door in the left transept, and +passed round the exterior, and through the vast courts of the Vatican, +seeking for the chapel. We had blundered into the carriage-entrance of +the palace; there is an entrance from some point near the front of the +church, but this we did not find. The papal guards, in the strangest +antique and antic costume that was ever seen,--a party-colored dress, +striped with blue, red, and yellow, white and black, with a doublet and +ruff, and trunk-breeches, and armed with halberds,--were on duty at the +gateways, but suffered us to pass without question. Finally, we reached +a large court, where some cardinals' red equipages and other carriages +were drawn up, but were still at a loss as to the whereabouts of the +chapel. At last an attendant kindly showed us the proper door, and led +us up flights of stairs, along passages and galleries, and through halls, +till at last we came to a spacious and lofty apartment adorned with +frescos; this was the Sala Regia, and the antechamber to the Sistine +Chapel. + +The attendant, meanwhile, had informed us that my wife could not be +admitted to the chapel in her bonnet, and that I myself could not enter +at all, for lack of a dress-coat; so my wife took off her bonnet, and, +covering her head with her black lace veil, was readily let in, while I +remained in the Sala Regia, with several other gentlemen, who found +themselves in the same predicament as I was. There was a wonderful +variety of costume to be seen and studied among the persons around me, +comprising garbs that have been elsewhere laid aside for at least three +centuries,--the broad, plaited, double ruff, and black velvet cloak, +doublet, trunk-breeches, and sword of Queen Elizabeth's time,--the papal +guard, in their striped and party-colored dress as before described, +looking not a little like harlequins; other soldiers in helmets and +jackboots; French officers of various uniform; monks and priests; +attendants in old-fashioned and gorgeous livery; gentlemen, some in black +dress-coats and pantaloons, others in wide-awake hats and tweed +overcoats; and a few ladies in the prescribed costume of black; so that, +in any other country, the scene might have been taken for a fancy ball. +By and by, the cardinals began to arrive, and added their splendid purple +robes and red hats to make the picture still more brilliant. They were +old men, one or two very aged and infirm, and generally men of bulk and +substance, with heavy faces, fleshy about the chin. Their red hats, +trimmed with gold-lace, are a beautiful piece of finery, and are +identical in shape with the black, loosely cocked beavers worn by the +Catholic ecclesiastics generally. Wolsey's hat, which I saw at the +Manchester Exhibition, might have been made on the same block, but +apparently was never cocked, as the fashion now is. The attendants +changed the upper portions of their master's attire, and put a little cap +of scarlet cloth on each of their heads, after which the cardinals, one +by one, or two by two, as they happened to arrive, went into the chapel, +with a page behind each holding up his purple train. In the mean while, +within the chapel, we heard singing and chanting; and whenever the +voluminous curtains that hung before the entrance were slightly drawn +apart, we outsiders glanced through, but could see only a mass of people, +and beyond them still another chapel, divided from the hither one by a +screen. When almost everybody had gone in, there was a stir among the +guards and attendants, and a door opened, apparently communicating with +the inner apartments of the Vatican. Through this door came, not the +pope, as I had partly expected, but a bulky old lady in black, with a red +face, who bowed towards the spectators with an aspect of dignified +complaisance as she passed towards the entrance of the chapel. I took +off my hat, unlike certain English gentlemen who stood nearer, and found +that I had not done amiss, for it was the Queen of Spain. + +There was nothing else to be seen; so I went back through the +antechambers (which are noble halls, richly frescoed on the walls and +ceilings), endeavoring to get out through the same passages that had let +me in. I had already tried to descend what I now supposed to be the +Scala Santa, but had been turned back by a sentinel. After wandering to +and fro a good while, I at last found myself in a long, long gallery, on +each side of which were innumerable inscriptions, in Greek and Latin, on +slabs of marble, built into the walls; and classic altars and tablets +were ranged along, from end to end. At the extremity was a closed iron +grating, from which I was retreating; but a French gentleman accosted me, +with the information that the custode would admit me, if I chose, and +would accompany me through the sculpture department of the Vatican. I +acceded, and thus took my first view of those innumerable art-treasures, +passing from one object to another, at an easy pace, pausing hardly a +moment anywhere, and dismissing even the Apollo, and the Laocoon, and the +Torso of Hercules, in the space of half a dozen breaths. I was well +enough content to do so, in order to get a general idea of the contents +of the galleries, before settling down upon individual objects. + +Most of the world-famous sculptures presented themselves to my eye with a +kind of familiarity, through the copies and casts which I had seen; but I +found the originals more different than I anticipated. The Apollo, for +instance, has a face which I have never seen in any cast or copy. I must +confess, however, taking such transient glimpses as I did, I was more +impressed with the extent of the Vatican, and the beautiful order in +which it is kept, and its great sunny, open courts, with fountains, +grass, and shrubs, and the views of Rome and the Campagna from its +windows,--more impressed with these, and with certain vastly capacious +vases, and two seat sarcophagi,--than with the statuary. Thus I went +round the whole, and was dismissed through the grated barrier into the +gallery of inscriptions again; and after a little more wandering, I made +my way out of the palace. . . . . + +Yesterday I went out betimes, and strayed through some portion of ancient +Rome, to the Column of Trajan, to the Forum, thence along the Appian Way; +after which I lost myself among the intricacies of the streets, and +finally came out at the bridge of St. Angelo. The first observation +which a stranger is led to make, in the neighborhood of Roman ruins, is +that the inhabitants seem to be strangely addicted to the washing of +clothes; for all the precincts of Trajan's Forum, and of the Roman Forum, +and wherever else an iron railing affords opportunity to hang them, were +whitened with sheets, and other linen and cotton, drying in the sun. It +must be that washerwomen burrow among the old temples. The second +observation is not quite so favorable to the cleanly character of the +modern Romans; indeed, it is so very unfavorable, that I hardly know how +to express it. But the fact is, that, through the Forum, . . . . and +anywhere out of the commonest foot-track and roadway, you must look well +to your steps. . . . . If you tread beneath the triumphal arch of Titus +or Constantine, you had better look downward than upward, whatever be the +merit of the sculptures aloft. . . . . + +After a while the visitant finds himself getting accustomed to this +horrible state of things; and the associations of moral sublimity and +beauty seem to throw a veil over the physical meannesses to which I +allude. Perhaps there is something in the mind of the people of these +countries that enables them quite to dissever small ugliness from great +sublimity and beauty. They spit upon the glorious pavement of St. +Peter's, and wherever else they like; they place paltry-looking wooden +confessionals beneath its sublime arches, and ornament them with cheap +little colored prints of the crucifixion; they hang tin hearts and other +tinsel and trumpery at the gorgeous shrines of the saints, in chapels +that are incrusted with gems, or marbles almost as precious; they put +pasteboard statues of saints beneath the dome of the Pantheon; in short, +they let the sublime and the ridiculous come close together, and are not +in the least troubled by the proximity. It must be that their sense of +the beautiful is stronger than in the Anglo-Saxon mind, and that it +observes only what is fit to gratify it. + +To-day, which was bright and cool, my wife and I set forth immediately +after breakfast, in search of the Baths of Diocletian, and the church of +Santa Maria degl' Angeli. We went too far along the Via di Porta Pia, +and after passing by two or three convents, and their high garden walls, +and the villa Bonaparte on one side, and the villa Torlonia on the other, +at last issued through the city gate. Before us, far away, were the +Alban hills, the loftiest of which was absolutely silvered with snow and +sunshine, and set in the bluest and brightest of skies. We now retraced +our steps to the Fountain of the Termini, where is a ponderous heap of +stone, representing Moses striking the rock; a colossal figure, not +without a certain enormous might and dignity, though rather too evidently +looking his awfullest. This statue was the death of its sculptor, whose +heart was broken on account of the ridicule it excited. There are many +more absurd aquatic devices in Rome, however, and few better. + +We turned into the Piazza de' Termini, the entrance of which is at this +fountain; and after some inquiry of the French soldiers, a numerous +detachment of whom appear to be quartered in the vicinity, we found our +way to the portal of Santa Maria degl' Angeli. The exterior of this +church has no pretensions to beauty or majesty, or, indeed, to +architectural merit of any kind, or to any architecture whatever; for it +looks like a confused pile of ruined brickwork, with a facade resembling +half the inner curve of a large oven. No one would imagine that there +was a church under that enormous heap of ancient rubbish. But the door +admits you into a circular vestibule, once an apartment of Diocletian's +Baths, but now a portion of the nave of the church, and surrounded with +monumental busts; and thence you pass into what was the central hall; +now, with little change, except of detail and ornament, transformed into +the body of the church. This space is so lofty, broad, and airy, that +the soul forthwith swells out and magnifies itself, for the sake of +filling it. It was Michael Angelo who contrived this miracle; and I feel +even more grateful to him for rescuing such a noble interior from +destruction, than if he had originally built it himself. In the ceiling +above, you see the metal fixtures whereon the old Romans hung their +lamps; and there are eight gigantic pillars of Egyptian granite, standing +as they stood of yore. There is a grand simplicity about the church, +more satisfactory than elaborate ornament; but the present pope has paved +and adorned one of the large chapels of the transept in very beautiful +style, and the pavement of the central part is likewise laid in rich +marbles. In the choir there are several pictures, one of which was +veiled, as celebrated pictures frequently are in churches. A person, who +seemed to be at his devotions, withdrew the veil for us, and we saw a +Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, by Domenichino, originally, I believe, +painted in fresco in St. Peter's, but since transferred to canvas, and +removed hither. Its place at St. Peter's is supplied by a mosaic copy. +I was a good deal impressed by this picture,--the dying saint, amid the +sorrow of those who loved him, and the fury of his enemies, looking +upward, where a company of angels, and Jesus with them, are waiting to +welcome him and crown him; and I felt what an influence pictures might +have upon the devotional part of our nature. The nailmarks in the hands +and feet of Jesus, ineffaceable, even after he had passed into bliss and +glory, touched my heart with a sense of his love for us. I think this +really a great picture. We walked round the church, looking at other +paintings and frescos, but saw no others that greatly interested us. In +the vestibule there are monuments to Carlo Maratti and Salvator Rosa, and +there is a statue of St. Bruno, by Houdon, which is pronounced to be very +fine. I thought it good, but scarcely worthy of vast admiration. Houdon +was the sculptor of the first statue of Washington, and of the bust, +whence, I suppose, all subsequent statues have been, and will be, mainly +modelled. + +After emerging from the church, I looked back with wonder at the stack of +shapeless old brickwork that hid the splendid interior. I must go there +again, and breathe freely in that noble space. + + +February 20th.--This morning, after breakfast, I walked across the city, +making a pretty straight course to the Pantheon, and thence to the bridge +of St. Angelo, and to St. Peter's. It had been my purpose to go to the +Fontana Paolina; but, finding that the distance was too great, and being +weighed down with a Roman lassitude, I concluded to go into St. Peter's. +Here I looked at Michael Angelo's Pieta, a representation of the dead +Christ, in his mother's lap. Then I strolled round the great church, and +find that it continues to grow upon me both in magnitude and beauty, by +comparison with the many interiors of sacred edifices which I have lately +seen. At times, a single, casual, momentary glimpse of its magnificence +gleams upon my soul, as it were, when I happen to glance at arch opening +beyond arch, and I am surprised into admiration. I have experienced that +a landscape and the sky unfold the deepest beauty in a similar way; not +when they are gazed at of set purpose, but when the spectator looks +suddenly through a vista, among a crowd of other thoughts. Passing near +the confessional for foreigners to-day, I saw a Spaniard, who had just +come out of the one devoted to his native tongue, taking leave of his +confessor, with an affectionate reverence, which--as well as the benign +dignity of the good father--it was good to behold. . . . . + +I returned home early, in order to go with my wife to the Barberini +Palace at two o'clock. We entered through the gateway, through the Via +delle Quattro Fontane, passing one or two sentinels; for there is +apparently a regiment of dragoons quartered on the ground-floor of the +palace; and I stumbled upon a room containing their saddles, the other +day, when seeking for Mr. Story's staircase. The entrance to the +picture-gallery is by a door on the right hand, affording us a sight of a +beautiful spiral staircase, which goes circling upward from the very +basement to the very summit of the palace, with a perfectly easy ascent, +yet confining its sweep within a moderate compass. We looked up through +the interior of the spiral, as through a tube, from the bottom to the +top. The pictures are contained in three contiguous rooms of the lower +piano, and are few in number, comprising barely half a dozen which I +should care to see again, though doubtless all have value in their way. +One that attracted our attention was a picture of "Christ disputing with +the Doctors," by Albert Duerer, in which was represented the ugliest, +most evil-minded, stubborn, pragmatical, and contentious old Jew that +ever lived under the law of Moses; and he and the child Jesus were +arguing, not only with their tongues, but making hieroglyphics, as it +were, by the motion of their hands and fingers. It is a very queer, as +well as a very remarkable picture. But we passed hastily by this, and +almost all others, being eager to see the two which chiefly make the +collection famous,--Raphael's Fornarina, and Guido's portrait of Beatrice +Cenci. These were found in the last of the three rooms, and as regards +Beatrice Cenci, I might as well not try to say anything; for its spell is +indefinable, and the painter has wrought it in a way more like magic than +anything else. . . . . + +It is the most profoundly wrought picture in the world; no artist did it, +nor could do it, again. Guido may have held the brush, but he painted +"better than he knew." I wish, however, it were possible for some +spectator, of deep sensibility, to see the picture without knowing +anything of its subject or history; for, no doubt, we bring all our +knowledge of the Cenci tragedy to the interpretation of it. + +Close beside Beatrice Cenci hangs the Fornarina. . . . . + +While we were looking at these works Miss M------ unexpectedly joined us, +and we went, all three together, to the Rospigliosi Palace, in the Piazza +di Monte Cavallo. A porter, in cocked hat, and with a staff of office, +admitted us into a spacious court before the palace, and directed us to a +garden on one side, raised as much as twenty feet above the level on +which we stood. The gardener opened the gate for us, and we ascended a +beautiful stone staircase, with a carved balustrade, bearing many marks +of time and weather. Reaching the garden-level, we found it laid out in +walks, bordered with box and ornamental shrubbery, amid which were +lemon-trees, and one large old exotic from some distant clime. In the +centre of the garden, surrounded by a stone balustrade, like that of the +staircase, was a fish-pond, into which several jets of water were +continually spouting; and on pedestals, that made part of the balusters, +stood eight marble statues of Apollo, Cupid, nymphs, and other such sunny +and beautiful people of classic mythology. There had been many more of +these statues, but the rest had disappeared, and those which remained had +suffered grievous damage, here to a nose, there to a hand or foot, and +often a fracture of the body, very imperfectly mended. There was a +pleasant sunshine in the garden, and a springlike, or rather a genial, +autumnal atmosphere, though elsewhere it was a day of poisonous Roman +chill. + +At the end of the garden, which was of no great extent, was an edifice, +bordering on the piazza, called the Casino, which, I presume, means a +garden-house. The front is richly ornamented with bas-reliefs, and +statues in niches; as if it were a place for pleasure and enjoyment, and +therefore ought to be beautiful. As we approached it, the door swung +open, and we went into a large room on the ground-floor, and, looking up +to the ceiling, beheld Guido's Aurora. The picture is as fresh and +brilliant as if he had painted it with the morning sunshine which it +represents. It could not be more lustrous in its lines, if he had given +it the last touch an hour ago. Three or four artists were copying it at +that instant, and positively their colors did not look brighter, though a +great deal newer than his. The alacrity and movement, briskness and +morning stir and glow, of the picture are wonderful. It seems impossible +to catch its glory in a copy. Several artists, as I said, were making +the attempt, and we saw two other attempted copies leaning against the +wall, but it was easy to detect failure in just essential points. My +memory, I believe, will be somewhat enlivened by this picture hereafter: +not that I remember it very distinctly even now; but bright things leave +a sheen and glimmer in the mind, like Christian's tremulous glimpse of +the Celestial City. + +In two other rooms of the Casino we saw pictures by Domenichino, Rubens, +and other famous painters, which I do not mean to speak of, because I +cared really little or nothing about them. Returning into the garden, +the sunny warmth of which was most grateful after the chill air and cold +pavement of the Casino, we walked round the laguna, examining the +statues, and looking down at some little fishes that swarmed at the stone +margin of the pool. There were two infants of the Rospigliosi family: +one, a young child playing with a maid and head-servant; another, the +very chubbiest and rosiest boy in the world, sleeping on its nurse's +bosom. The nurse was a comely woman enough, dressed in bright colors, +which fitly set off the deep lines of her Italian face. An old painter +very likely would have beautified and refined the pair into a Madonna, +with the child Jesus; for an artist need not go far in Italy to find a +picture ready composed and tinted, needing little more than to be +literally copied. + +Miss M------ had gone away before us; but my wife and I, after leaving +the Palazzo Rospigliosi, and on our way hone, went into the Church of St. +Andrea, which belongs to a convent of Jesuits. I have long ago exhausted +all my capacity of admiration for splendid interiors of churches, but +methinks this little, little temple (it is not more than fifty or sixty +feet across) has a more perfect and gem-like beauty than any other. Its +shape is oval, with an oval dome, and, above that, another little dome, +both of which are magnificently frescoed. Around the base of the larger +dome is wreathed a flight of angels, and the smaller and upper one is +encircled by a garland of cherubs,--cherub and angel all of pure white +marble. The oval centre of the church is walled round with precious and +lustrous marble of a red-veined variety interspersed with columns and +pilasters of white; and there are arches opening through this rich wall, +forming chapels, which the architect seems to have striven hard to make +even more gorgeous than the main body of the church. They contain +beautiful pictures, not dark and faded, but glowing, as if just from the +painter's hands; and the shrines are adorned with whatever is most rare, +and in one of them was the great carbuncle; at any rate, a bright, fiery +gem as big as a turkey's egg. The pavement of the church was one star of +various-colored marble, and in the centre was a mosaic, covering, I +believe, the tomb of the founder. I have not seen, nor expect to see, +anything else so entirely and satisfactorily finished as this small oval +church; and I only wish I could pack it in a large box, and send it home. + +I must not forget that, on our way from the Barberini Palace, we stopped +an instant to look at the house, at the corner of the street of the four +fountains, where Milton was a guest while in Rome. He seems quite a man +of our own day, seen so nearly at the hither extremity of the vista +through which we look back, from the epoch of railways to that of the +oldest Egyptian obelisk. The house (it was then occupied by the Cardinal +Barberini) looks as if it might have been built within the present +century; for mediaeval houses in Rome do not assume the aspect of +antiquity; perhaps because the Italian style of architecture, or +something similar, is the one more generally in vogue in most cities. + + +February 21st.--This morning I took my way through the Porta del Popolo, +intending to spend the forenoon in the Campagna; but, getting weary of +the straight, uninteresting street that runs out of the gate, I turned +aside from it, and soon found myself on the shores of the Tiber. It +looked, as usual, like a saturated solution of yellow mud, and eddied +hastily along between deep banks of clay, and over a clay bed, in which +doubtless are hidden many a richer treasure than we now possess. The +French once proposed to draw off the river, for the purpose of recovering +all the sunken statues and relics; but the Romans made strenuous +objection, on account of the increased virulence of malaria which would +probably result. I saw a man on the immediate shore of the river, fifty +feet or so beneath the bank on which I stood, sitting patiently, with an +angling rod; and I waited to see what he might catch. Two other persons +likewise sat down to watch him; but he caught nothing so long as I +stayed, and at last seemed to give it up. The banks and vicinity of the +river are very bare and uninviting, as I then saw them; no shade, no +verdure,--a rough, neglected aspect, and a peculiar shabbiness about the +few houses that were visible. Farther down the stream the dome of St. +Peter's showed itself on the other side, seeming to stand on the +outskirts of the city. I walked along the banks, with some expectation +of finding a ferry, by which I might cross the river; but my course was +soon interrupted by the wall, and I turned up a lane that led me straight +back again to the Porta del Popolo. I stopped a moment, however, to see +some young men pitching quoits, which they appeared to do with a good +deal of skill. + +I went along the Via di Ripetta, and through other streets, stepping into +two or three churches, one of which was the Pantheon. . . . . + +There are, I think, seven deep, pillared recesses around the +circumference of it, each of which becomes a sufficiently capacious +chapel; and alternately with these chapels there is a marble structure, +like the architecture of a doorway, beneath which is the shrine of a +saint; so that the whole circle of the Pantheon is filled up with the +seven chapels and seven shrines. A number of persons were sitting or +kneeling around; others came in while I was there, dipping their fingers +in the holy water, and bending the knee, as they passed the shrines and +chapels, until they reached the one which, apparently, they had selected +as the particular altar for their devotions. Everybody seemed so devout, +and in a frame of mind so suited to the day and place, that it really +made me feel a little awkward not to be able to kneel down along with +them. Unlike the worshippers in our own churches, each individual here +seems to do his own individual acts of devotion, and I cannot but think +it better so than to make an effort for united prayer as we do. It is my +opinion that a great deal of devout and reverential feeling is kept alive +in people's hearts by the Catholic mode of worship. + +Soon leaving the Pantheon, a few minutes' walk towards the Corso brought +me to the Church of St. Ignazio, which belongs to the College of the +Jesuits. It is spacious and of beautiful architecture, but not +strikingly distinguished, in the latter particular, from many others; a +wide and lofty nave, supported upon marble columns, between which arches +open into the side aisles, and at the junction of the nave and transept a +dome, resting on four great arches. The church seemed to be purposely +somewhat darkened, so that I could not well see the details of the +ornamentation, except the frescos on the ceiling of the nave, which were +very brilliant, and done in so effectual a style, that I really could not +satisfy myself that some of the figures did not actually protrude from +the ceiling,--in short, that they were not colored bas-reliefs, instead +of frescos. No words can express the beautiful effect, in an upholstery +point of view, of this kind of decoration. Here, as at the Pantheon, +there were many persons sitting silent, kneeling, or passing from shrine +to shrine. + +I reached home at about twelve, and, at one, set out again, with my wife, +towards St. Peter's, where we meant to stay till after vespers. We +walked across the city, and through the Piazza de Navona, where we +stopped to look at one of Bernini's absurd fountains, of which the water +makes but the smallest part,--a little squirt or two amid a prodigious +fuss of gods and monsters. Thence we passed by the poor, battered-down +torso of Pasquin, and came, by devious ways, to the bridge of St. Angelo; +the streets bearing pretty much their weekday aspect, many of the shops +open, the market-stalls doing their usual business, and the people brisk +and gay, though not indecorously so. I suppose there was hardly a man or +woman who had not heard mass, confessed, and said their prayers; a thing +which--the prayers, I mean--it would be absurd to predicate of London, +New York, or any Protestant city. In however adulterated a guise, the +Catholics do get a draught of devotion to slake the thirst of their +souls, and methinks it must needs do them good, even if not quite so pure +as if it came from better cisterns, or from the original fountain-head. + +Arriving at St. Peter's shortly after two, we walked round the whole +church, looking at all the pictures and most of the monuments, . . . . +and paused longest before Guido's "Archangel Michael overcoming Lucifer." +This is surely one of the most beautiful things in the world, one of the +human conceptions that are imbued most deeply with the celestial. . . . . + +We then sat down in one of the aisles and awaited the beginning of +vespers, which we supposed would take place at half past three. Four +o'clock came, however, and no vespers; and as our dinner-hour is +five, . . . . we at last cane away without hearing the vesper hymn. + + +February 23d.--Yesterday, at noon, we set out for the Capitol, and after +going up the acclivity (not from the Forum, but from the opposite +direction), stopped to look at the statues of Castor and Pollux, which, +with other sculptures, look down the ascent. Castor and his brother seem +to me to have heads disproportionately large, and are not so striking, in +any respect, as such great images ought to be. But we heartily admired +the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, . . . . and looked at +a fountain, principally composed, I think, of figures representing the +Nile and the Tiber, who loll upon their elbows and preside over the +gushing water; and between them, against the facade of the Senator's +Palace, there is a statue of Minerva, with a petticoat of red porphyry. +Having taken note of these objects, we went to the museum, in an edifice +on our left, entering the piazza, and here, in the vestibule, we found +various old statues and relics. Ascending the stairs, we passed through +a long gallery, and, turning to our left, examined somewhat more +carefully a suite of rooms running parallel with it. The first of these +contained busts of the Caesars and their kindred, from the epoch of the +mightiest Julius downward; eighty-three, I believe, in all. I had seen a +bust of Julius Caesar in the British Museum, and was surprised at its +thin and withered aspect; but this head is of a very ugly old man +indeed,--wrinkled, puckered, shrunken, lacking breadth and substance; +careworn, grim, as if he had fought hard with life, and had suffered in +the conflict; a man of schemes, and of eager effort to bring his schemes +to pass. His profile is by no means good, advancing from the top of his +forehead to the tip of his nose, and retreating, at about the same angle, +from the latter point to the bottom of his chin, which seems to be thrust +forcibly down into his meagre neck,--not that he pokes his head forward, +however, for it is particularly erect. + +The head of Augustus is very beautiful, and appears to be that of a +meditative, philosophic man, saddened with the sense that it is not very +much worth while to be at the summit of human greatness after all. It is +a sorrowful thing to trace the decay of civilization through this series +of busts, and to observe how the artistic skill, so requisite at first, +went on declining through the dreary dynasty of the Caesars, till at +length the master of the world could not get his head carved in better +style than the figure-head of a ship. + +In the next room there were better statues than we had yet seen; but in +the last room of the range we found the "Dying Gladiator," of which I had +already caught a glimpse in passing by the open door. It had made all +the other treasures of the gallery tedious in my eagerness to come to +that. I do not believe that so much pathos is wrought into any other +block of stone. Like all works of the highest excellence, however, it +makes great demands upon the spectator. He must make a generous gift of +his sympathies to the sculptor, and help out his skill with all his +heart, or else he will see little more than a skilfully wrought surface. +It suggests far more than it shows. I looked long at this statue, and +little at anything else, though, among other famous works, a statue of +Antinous was in the same room. + +I was glad when we left the museum, which, by the by, was piercingly +chill, as if the multitude of statues radiated cold out of their marble +substance. We might have gone to see the pictures in the Palace of the +Conservatori, and S-----, whose receptivity is unlimited and forever +fresh, would willingly have done so; but I objected, and we went towards +the Forum. I had noticed, two or three times, an inscription over a +mean-looking door in this neighborhood, stating that here was the +entrance to the prison of the holy apostles Peter and Paul; and we soon +found the spot, not far from the Forum, with two wretched frescos of the +apostles above the inscription. We knocked at the door without effect; +but a lame beggar, who sat at another door of the same house (which +looked exceedingly like a liquor-shop), desired us to follow him, and +began to ascend to the Capitol, by the causeway leading from the Forum. +A little way upward we met a woman, to whom the beggar delivered us over, +and she led us into a church or chapel door, and pointed to a long flight +of steps, which descended through twilight into utter darkness. She +called to somebody in the lower regions, and then went away, leaving us +to get down this mysterious staircase by ourselves. Down we went, +farther and farther from the daylight, and found ourselves, anon, in a +dark chamber or cell, the shape or boundaries of which we could not make +out, though it seemed to be of stone, and black and dungeon-like. +Indistinctly, and from a still farther depth in the earth, we heard +voices,--one voice, at least,--apparently not addressing ourselves, but +some other persons; and soon, directly beneath our feet, we saw a +glimmering of light through a round, iron-grated hole in the bottom of +the dungeon. In a few moments the glimmer and the voice came up through +this hole, and the light disappeared, and it and the voice came +glimmering and babbling up a flight of stone stairs, of which we had not +hitherto been aware. It was the custode, with a party of visitors, to +whom he had been showing St. Peter's dungeon. Each visitor was provided +with a wax taper, and the custode gave one to each of us, bidding us wait +a moment while he conducted the other party to the upper air. During his +absence we examined the cell, as well as our dim lights would permit, and +soon found an indentation in the wall, with an iron grate put over it for +protection, and an inscription above informing us that the Apostle Peter +had here left the imprint of his visage; and, in truth, there is a +profile there,--forehead, nose, mouth, and chin,--plainly to be seen, an +intaglio in the solid rock. We touched it with the tips of our fingers, +as well as saw it with our eyes. + +The custode soon returned, and led us down the darksome steps, chattering +in Italian all the time. It is not a very long descent to the lower +cell, the roof of which is so low that I believe I could have reached it +with my hand. We were now in the deepest and ugliest part of the old +Mamertine Prison, one of the few remains of the kingly period of Rome, +and which served the Romans as a state-prison for hundreds of years +before the Christian era. A multitude of criminals or innocent persons, +no doubt, have languished here in misery, and perished in darkness. Here +Jugurtha starved; here Catiline's adherents were strangled; and, +methinks, there cannot be in the world another such an evil den, so +haunted with black memories and indistinct surmises of guilt and +suffering. In old Rome, I suppose, the citizens never spoke of this +dungeon above their breath. It looks just as bad as it is; round, only +seven paces across, yet so obscure that our tapers could not illuminate +it from side to side,-- the stones of which it is constructed being as +black as midnight. The custode showed us a stone post, at the side of +the cell, with the hole in the top of it, into which, he said, St. +Peter's chain had been fastened; and he uncovered a spring of water, in +the middle of the stone floor, which he told us had miraculously gushed +up to enable the saint to baptize his jailer. The miracle was perhaps +the more easily wrought, inasmuch as Jugurtha had found the floor of the +dungeon oozy with wet. However, it is best to be as simple and childlike +as we can in these matters; and whether St. Peter stamped his visage into +the stone, and wrought this other miracle or no, and whether or no he +ever was in the prison at all, still the belief of a thousand years and +more gives a sort of reality and substance to such traditions. The +custode dipped an iron ladle into the miraculous water, and we each of us +drank a sip; and, what is very remarkable, to me it seemed hard water and +almost brackish, while many persons think it the sweetest in Rome. I +suspect that St. Peter still dabbles in this water, and tempers its +qualities according to the faith of those who drink it. + +The staircase descending into the lower dungeon is comparatively modern, +there having been no entrance of old, except through the small circular +opening in the roof. In the upper cell the custode showed us an ancient +flight of stairs, now built into the wall, which used to lead from the +Capitol. The whole precincts are now consecrated, and I believe the +upper portion, perhaps both upper and lower, are a shrine or a chapel. + +I now left S------ in the Forum, and went to call on Mr. J. P. K------ at +the Hotel d'Europe. I found him just returned from a drive,--a gentleman +of about sixty, or more, with gray hair, a pleasant, intellectual face, +and penetrating, but not unkindly eyes. He moved infirmly, being on the +recovery from an illness. We went up to his saloon together, and had a +talk,--or, rather, he had it nearly all to himself,--and particularly +sensible talk, too, and full of the results of learning and experience. +In the first place, he settled the whole Kansas difficulty; then he made +havoc of St. Peter, who came very shabbily out of his hands, as regarded +his early character in the Church, and his claims to the position he now +holds in it. Mr. K------ also gave a curious illustration, from +something that happened to himself, of the little dependence that can be +placed on tradition purporting to be ancient, and I capped his story by +telling him how the site of my town-pump, so plainly indicated in the +sketch itself, has already been mistaken in the city council and in the +public prints. + + +February 24th.--Yesterday I crossed the Ponte Sisto, and took a short +ramble on the other side of the river; and it rather surprised me to +discover, pretty nearly opposite the Capitoline Hill, a quay, at which +several schooners and barks, of two or three hundred tons' burden, were +moored. There was also a steamer, armed with a large gun and two brass +swivels on her forecastle, and I know not what artillery besides. +Probably she may have been a revenue-cutter. + +Returning I crossed the river by way of the island of St. Bartholomew +over two bridges. The island is densely covered with buildings, and is a +separate small fragment of the city. It was a tradition of the ancient +Romans that it was formed by the aggregation of soil and rubbish brought +down by the river, and accumulating round the nucleus of some sunken +baskets. + +On reaching the hither side of the river, I soon struck upon the ruins of +the theatre of Marcellus, which are very picturesque, and the more so +from being closely linked in, indeed, identified with the shops, +habitations, and swarming life of modern Rome. The most striking portion +was a circular edifice, which seemed to have been composed of a row of +Ionic columns standing upon a lower row of Doric, many of the antique +pillars being yet perfect; but the intervening arches built up with +brickwork, and the whole once magnificent structure now tenanted by poor +and squalid people, as thick as mites within the round of an old cheese. +From this point I cannot very clearly trace out my course; but I passed, +I think, between the Circus Maximus and the Palace of the Caesars, and +near the Baths of Caracalla, and went into the cloisters of the Church of +San Gregorio. All along I saw massive ruins, not particularly +picturesque or beautiful, but huge, mountainous piles, chiefly of +brickwork, somewhat tweed-grown here and there, but oftener bare and +dreary. . . . . All the successive ages since Rome began to decay have +done their best to ruin the very ruins by taking away the marble and the +hewn stone for their own structures, and leaving only the inner filling +up of brickwork, which the ancient architects never designed to be seen. +The consequence of all this is, that, except for the lofty and poetical +associations connected with it, and except, too, for the immense +difference in magnitude, a Roman ruin may be in itself not more +picturesque than I have seen an old cellar, with a shattered brick +chimney half crumbling down into it, in New England. + +By this time I knew not whither I was going, and turned aside from a +broad, paved road (it was the Appian Way) into the Via Latina, which I +supposed would lead to one of the city gates. It was a lonely path: on +my right hand extensive piles of ruin, in strange shapes or +shapelessness, built of the broad and thin old Roman bricks, such as may +be traced everywhere, when the stucco has fallen away from a modern Roman +house; for I imagine there has not been a new brick made here for a +thousand years. On my left, I think, was a high wall, and before me, +grazing in the road . . . . [the buffalo calf of the Marble Faun.--ED.]. +The road went boldly on, with a well-worn track up to the very walls of +the city; but there it abruptly terminated at an ancient, closed-up +gateway. From a notice posted against a door, which appeared to be the +entrance to the ruins on my left, I found that these were the remains of +Columbaria, where the dead used to be put away in pigeon-holes. Reaching +the paved road again, I kept on my course, passing the tomb of the +Scipios, and soon came to the gate of San Sebastiano, through which I +entered the Campagna. Indeed, the scene around was so rural, that I had +fancied myself already beyond the walls. As the afternoon was getting +advanced, I did not proceed any farther towards the blue hills which I +saw in the distance, but turned to my left, following a road that runs +round the exterior of the city wall. It was very dreary and solitary,-- +not a house on the whole track, with the broad and shaggy Campagna on one +side, and the high, bare wall, looking down over my head, on the other. +It is not, any more than the other objects of the scene, a very +picturesque wall, but is little more than a brick garden-fence seen +through a magnifying-glass, with now and then a tower, however, and +frequent buttresses, to keep its height of fifty feet from toppling over. +The top was ragged, and fringed with a few weeds; there had been +embrasures for guns and eyelet-holes for musketry, but these were +plastered up with brick or stone. I passed one or two walled-up gateways +(by the by, the Parts, Latina was the gate through which Belisarius first +entered Rome), and one of these had two high, round towers, and looked +more Gothic and venerable with antique strength than any other portion of +the wall. Immediately after this I came to the gate of San Giovanni, +just within which is the Basilica of St. John Lateran, and there I was +glad to rest myself upon a bench before proceeding homeward. + +There was a French sentinel at this gateway, as at all the others; for +the Gauls have always been a pest to Rome, and now gall her worse than +ever. I observed, too, that an official, in citizen's dress, stood there +also, and appeared to exercise a supervision over some carts with country +produce, that were entering just then. + + +February 25th.--We went this forenoon to the Palazzo Borghese, which is +situated on a street that runs at right angles with the Corso, and very +near the latter. Most of the palaces in Rome, and the Borghese among +them, were built somewhere about the sixteenth century; this in 1590, I +believe. It is an immense edifice, standing round the four sides of a +quadrangle; and though the suite of rooms comprising the picture-gallery +forms an almost interminable vista, they occupy only a part of the +ground-floor of one side. We enter from the street into a large court, +surrounded with a corridor, the arches of which support a second series +of arches above. The picture-rooms open from one into another, and have +many points of magnificence, being large and lofty, with vaulted ceilings +and beautiful frescos, generally of mythological subjects, in the flat +central part of the vault. The cornices are gilded; the deep embrasures +of the windows are panelled with wood-work; the doorways are of polished +and variegated marble, or covered with a composition as hard, and +seemingly as durable. The whole has a kind of splendid shabbiness thrown +over it, like a slight coating of rust; the furniture, at least the +damask chairs, being a good deal worn, though there are marble and mosaic +tables, which may serve to adorn another palace when this one crumbles +away with age. One beautiful hall, with a ceiling more richly gilded +than the rest, is panelled all round with large looking-glasses, on which +are painted pictures, both landscapes and human figures, in oils; so that +the effect is somewhat as if you saw these objects represented in the +mirrors. These glasses must be of old date, perhaps coeval with the +first building of the palace; for they are so much dimmed, that one's own +figure appears indistinct in them, and more difficult to be traced than +the pictures which cover them half over. It was very comfortless,-- +indeed, I suppose nobody ever thought of being comfortable there, since +the house was built,--but especially uncomfortable on a chill, damp day +like this. My fingers were quite numb before I got half-way through the +suite of apartments, in spite of a brazier of charcoal which was +smouldering into ashes in two or three of the rooms. There was not, so +far as I remember, a single fireplace in the suite. A considerable +number of visitors--not many, however--were there; and a good many +artists; and three or four ladies among them were making copies of the +more celebrated pictures, and in all or in most cases missing the +especial points that made their celebrity and value. The Prince Borghese +certainly demeans himself like a kind and liberal gentleman, in throwing +open this invaluable collection to the public to see, and for artists to +carry away with them, and diffuse all over the world, so far as their own +power and skill will permit. It is open every day of the week, except +Saturday and Sunday, without any irksome restriction or supervision; and +the fee, which custom requires the visitor to pay to the custode, has the +good effect of making us feel that we are not intruders, nor received in +an exactly eleemosynary way. The thing could not be better managed. + +The collection is one of the most celebrated in the world, and contains +between eight and nine hundred pictures, many of which are esteemed +masterpieces. I think I was not in a frame for admiration to-day, nor +could achieve that free and generous surrender of myself which I have +already said is essential to the proper estimate of anything excellent. +Besides, how is it possible to give one's soul, or any considerable part +of it, to a single picture, seen for the first time, among a thousand +others, all of which set forth their own claims in an equally good light? +Furthermore, there is an external weariness, and sense of a thousand-fold +sameness to be overcome, before we can begin to enjoy a gallery of the +old Italian masters. . . . . I remember but one painter, Francia, who +seems really to have approached this awful class of subjects (Christs and +Madonnas) in a fitting spirit; his pictures are very singular and +awkward, if you look at them with merely an external eye, but they are +full of the beauty of holiness, and evidently wrought out as acts of +devotion, with the deepest sincerity; and are veritable prayers upon +canvas. . . . . + +I was glad, in the very last of the twelve rooms, to come upon some Dutch +and Flemish pictures, very few, but very welcome; Rubens, Rembrandt, +Vandyke, Paul Potter, Teniers, and others,--men of flesh and blood, and +warm fists, and human hearts. As compared with them, these mighty +Italian masters seem men of polished steel; not human, nor addressing +themselves so much to human sympathies, as to a formed, intellectual +taste. + + +March 1st.--To-day began very unfavorably; but we ventured out at about +eleven o'clock, intending to visit the gallery of the Colonna Palace. +Finding it closed, however, on account of the illness of the custode, we +determined to go to the picture-gallery of the Capitol; and, on our way +thither, we stepped into Il Gesu, the grand and rich church of the +Jesuits, where we found a priest in white, preaching a sermon, with vast +earnestness of action and variety of tones, insomuch that I fancied +sometimes that two priests were in the agony of sermonizing at once. He +had a pretty large and seemingly attentive audience clustered round him +from the entrance of the church, half-way down the nave; while in the +chapels of the transepts and in the remoter distances were persons +occupied with their own individual devotion. We sat down near the chapel +of St. Ignazio, which is adorned with a picture over the altar, and with +marble sculptures of the Trinity aloft, and of angels fluttering at the +sides. What I particularly noted (for the angels were not very real +personages, being neither earthly nor celestial) was the great ball of +lapis lazuli, the biggest in the world, at the feet of the First Person +in the Trinity. The church is a splendid one, lined with a great variety +of precious marbles, . . . . but partly, perhaps, owing to the dusky +light, as well as to the want of cleanliness, there was a dingy effect +upon the whole. We made but a very short stay, our New England breeding +causing us to feel shy of moving about the church in sermon time. + +It rained when we reached the Capitol, and, as the museum was not yet +open, we went into the Palace of the Conservators, on the opposite side +of the piazza. Around the inner court of the ground-floor, partly under +two opposite arcades, and partly under the sky, are several statues and +other ancient sculptures; among them a statue of Julius Caesar, said to +be the only authentic one, and certainly giving an impression of him more +in accordance with his character than the withered old face in the +museum; also, a statue of Augustus in middle age, still retaining a +resemblance to the bust of him in youth; some gigantic heads and hands +and feet in marble and bronze; a stone lion and horse, which lay long at +the bottom of a river, broken and corroded, and were repaired by +Michel Angelo; and other things which it were wearisome to set down. +We inquired of two or three French soldiers the way into the +picture-gallery; but it is our experience that French soldiers in +Rome never know anything of what is around them, not even the name of +the palace or public place over which they stand guard; and though +invariably civil, you might as well put a question to a statue of an old +Roman as to one of them. While we stood under the loggia, however, +looking at the rain plashing into the court, a soldier of the Papal Guard +kindly directed us up the staircase, and even took pains to go with us to +the very entrance of the picture-rooms. Thank Heaven, there are but two +of them, and not many pictures which one cares to look at very long. + +Italian galleries are at a disadvantage as compared with English ones, +inasmuch as the pictures are not nearly such splendid articles of +upholstery; though, very likely, having undergone less cleaning and +varnishing, they may retain more perfectly the finer touches of the +masters. Nevertheless, I miss the mellow glow, the rich and mild +external lustre, and even the brilliant frames of the pictures I have +seen in England. You feel that they have had loving care taken of them; +even if spoiled, it is because they have been valued so much. But these +pictures in Italian galleries look rusty and lustreless, as far as the +exterior is concerned; and, really, the splendor of the painting, as a +production of intellect and feeling, has a good deal of difficulty in +shining through such clouds. + +There is a picture at the Capitol, the "Rape of Europa," by Paul +Veronese, that would glow with wonderful brilliancy if it were set in a +magnificent frame, and covered with a sunshine of varnish; and it is a +kind of picture that would not be desecrated, as some deeper and holier +ones might be, by any splendor of external adornment that could be +bestowed on it. It is deplorable and disheartening to see it in faded +and shabby plight,--this joyous, exuberant, warm, voluptuous work. There +is the head of a cow, thrust into the picture, and staring with wild, +ludicrous wonder at the godlike bull, so as to introduce quite a new +sentiment. + +Here, and at the Borghese Palace, there were some pictures by Garofalo, +an artist of whom I never heard before, but who seemed to have been a man +of power. A picture by Marie Subleyras--a miniature copy from one by her +husband, of the woman anointing the feet of Christ--is most delicately +and beautifully finished, and would be an ornament to a drawing-room; a +thing that could not truly be said of one in a hundred of these grim +masterpieces. When they were painted life was not what it is now, and +the artists had not the same ends in view. . . . . It depresses the +spirits to go from picture to picture, leaving a portion of your vital +sympathy at every one, so that you come, with a kind of half-torpid +desperation, to the end. On our way down the staircase we saw several +noteworthy bas-reliefs, and among them a very ancient one of Curtius +plunging on horseback into the chasm in the Forum. It seems to me, +however, that old sculpture affects the spirits even more dolefully than +old painting; it strikes colder to the heart, and lies heavier upon it, +being marble, than if it were merely canvas. + +My wife went to revisit the museum, which we had already seen, on the +other side of the piazza; but, being cold, I left her there, and went out +to ramble in the sun; for it was now brightly, though fitfully, shining +again. I walked through the Forum (where a thorn thrust itself out and +tore the sleeve of my talma) and under the Arch of Titus, towards the +Coliseum. About a score of French drummers were beating a long, loud +roll-call, at the base of the Coliseum, and under its arches; and a score +of trumpeters responded to these, from the rising ground opposite the +Arch of Constantine; and the echoes of the old Roman ruins, especially +those of the Palace of the Caesars, responded to this martial uproar of +the barbarians. There seemed to be no cause for it; but the drummers +beat, and the trumpeters blew, as long as I was within hearing. + +I walked along the Appian Way as far as the Baths of Caracalla. The +Palace of the Caesars, which I have never yet explored, appears to be +crowned by the walls of a convent, built, no doubt, out of some of the +fragments that would suffice to build a city; and I think there is +another convent among the baths. The Catholics have taken a peculiar +pleasure in planting themselves in the very citadels of paganism, whether +temples or palaces. There has been a good deal of enjoyment in the +destruction of old Rome. I often think so when I see the elaborate pains +that have been taken to smash and demolish some beautiful column, for no +purpose whatever, except the mere delight of annihilating a noble piece +of work. There is something in the impulse with which one sympathizes; +though I am afraid the destroyers were not sufficiently aware of the +mischief they did to enjoy it fully. Probably, too, the early Christians +were impelled by religious zeal to destroy the pagan temples, before the +happy thought occurred of converting them into churches. + + +March 3d.--This morning was U----'s birthday, and we celebrated it by +taking a barouche, and driving (the whole family) out on the Appian Way +as far as the tomb of Cecilia Metella. For the first time since we came +to Rome, the weather was really warm,--a kind of heat producing languor +and disinclination to active movement, though still a little breeze which +was stirring threw an occasional coolness over us, and made us distrust +the almost sultry atmosphere. I cannot think the Roman climate healthy +in any of its moods that I have experienced. + +Close on the other side of the road are the ruins of a Gothic chapel, +little more than a few bare walls and painted windows, and some other +fragmentary structures which we did not particularly examine. U---- and +I clambered through a gap in the wall, extending from the basement of the +tomb, and thus, getting into the field beyond, went quite round the +mausoleum and the remains of the castle connected with it. The latter, +though still high and stalwart, showed few or no architectural features +of interest, being built, I think, principally of large bricks, and not +to be compared to English ruins as a beautiful or venerable object. + +A little way beyond Cecilia Metella's tomb, the road still shows a +specimen of the ancient Roman pavement, composed of broad, flat +flagstones, a good deal cracked and worn, but sound enough, probably, to +outlast the little cubes which make the other portions of the road so +uncomfortable. We turned back from this point and soon re-entered the +gate of St. Sebastian, which is flanked by two small towers, and just +within which is the old triumphal arch of Drusus,--a sturdy construction, +much dilapidated as regards its architectural beauty, but rendered far +more picturesque than it could have been in its best days by a crown of +verdure on its head. Probably so much of the dust of the highway has +risen in clouds and settled there, that sufficient soil for shrubbery to +root itself has thus been collected, by small annual contributions, in +the course of two thousand years. A little farther towards the city we +turned aside from the Appian Way, and came to the site of some ancient +Columbaria, close by what seemed to partake of the character of a villa +and a farm-house. A man came out of the house and unlocked a door in a +low building, apparently quite modern; but on entering we found ourselves +looking into a large, square chamber, sunk entirely beneath the surface +of the ground. A very narrow and steep staircase of stone, and evidently +ancient, descended into this chamber; and, going down, we found the walls +hollowed on all sides into little semicircular niches, of which, I +believe, there were nine rows, one above another, and nine niches in +each row. Thus they looked somewhat like the little entrances to a +pigeon-house, and hence the name of Columbarium. Each semicircular niche +was about a foot in its semidiameter. In the centre of this subterranean +chamber was a solid square column, or pier, rising to the roof, and +containing other niches of the same pattern, besides one that was high +and deep, rising to the height of a man from the floor on each of the +four sides. In every one of the semicircular niches were two round holes +covered with an earthen plate, and in each hole were ashes and little +fragments of bones,--the ashes and bones of the dead, whose names were +inscribed in Roman capitals on marble slabs inlaid into the wall over +each individual niche. Very likely the great ones in the central pier +had contained statues, or busts, or large urns; indeed, I remember that +some such things were there, as well as bas-reliefs in the walls; but +hardly more than the general aspect of this strange place remains in my +mind. It was the Columbarium of the connections or dependants of the +Caesars; and the impression left on me was, that this mode of disposing +of the dead was infinitely preferable to any which has been adopted since +that day. The handful or two of dry dust and bits of dry bones in each +of the small round holes had nothing disgusting in them, and they are no +drier now than they were when first deposited there. I would rather have +my ashes scattered over the soil to help the growth of the grass and +daisies; but still I should not murmur much at having them decently +pigeon-holed in a Roman tomb. + +After ascending out of this chamber of the dead, we looked down into +another similar one, containing the ashes of Pompey's household, which +was discovered only a very few years ago. Its arrangement was the same +as that first described, except that it had no central pier with a +passage round it, as the former had. + +While we were down in the first chamber the proprietor of the spot--a +half-gentlemanly and very affable kind of person--came to us, and +explained the arrangements of the Columbarium, though, indeed, we +understood them better by their own aspect than by his explanation. The +whole soil around his dwelling is elevated much above the level of the +road, and it is probable that, if he chose to excavate, he might bring to +light many more sepulchral chambers, and find his profit in them too, by +disposing of the urns and busts. What struck me as much as anything was +the neatness of these subterranean apartments, which were quite as fit to +sleep in as most of those occupied by living Romans; and, having +undergone no wear and tear, they were in as good condition as on the day +they were built. + +In this Columbarium, measuring about twenty feet square, I roughly +estimate that there have been deposited together the remains of at least +seven or eight hundred persons, reckoning two little heaps of bones and +ashes in each pigeon-hole, nine pigeon-holes in each row, and nine rows +on each side, besides those on the middle pier. All difficulty in +finding space for the dead would be obviated by returning to the ancient +fashion of reducing them to ashes,--the only objection, though a very +serious one, being the quantity of fuel that it would require. But +perhaps future chemists may discover some better means of consuming or +dissolving this troublesome mortality of ours. + +We got into the carriage again, and, driving farther towards the city, +came to the tomb of the Scipios, of the exterior of which I retain no +very definite idea. It was close upon the Appian Way, however, though +separated from it by a high fence, and accessible through a gateway, +leading into a court. I think the tomb is wholly subterranean, and that +the ground above it is covered with the buildings of a farm-house; but of +this I cannot be certain, as we were led immediately into a dark, +underground passage, by an elderly peasant, of a cheerful and affable +demeanor. As soon as he had brought us into the twilight of the tomb, he +lighted a long wax taper for each of us, and led us groping into blacker +and blacker darkness. Even little R----- followed courageously in the +procession, which looked very picturesque as we glanced backward or +forward, and beheld a twinkling line of seven lights, glimmering faintly +on our faces, and showing nothing beyond. The passages and niches of the +tomb seem to have been hewn and hollowed out of the rock, not built by +any art of masonry; but the walls were very dark, almost black, and our +tapers so dim that I could not gain a sufficient breadth of view to +ascertain what kind of place it was. It was very dark, indeed; the +Mammoth Cave of Kentucky could not be darker. The rough-hewn roof was +within touch, and sometimes we had to stoop to avoid hitting our heads; +it was covered with damps, which collected and fell upon us in occasional +drops. The passages, besides being narrow, were so irregular and +crooked, that, after going a little way, it would have been impossible to +return upon our steps without the help of the guide; and we appeared to +be taking quite an extensive ramble underground, though in reality I +suppose the tomb includes no great space. At several turns of our dismal +way, the guide pointed to inscriptions in Roman capitals, commemorating +various members of the Scipio family who were buried here; among them, a +son of Scipio Africanus, who himself had his death and burial in a +foreign land. All these inscriptions, however, are copies,--the +originals, which were really found here, having been removed to the +Vatican. Whether any bones and ashes have been left, or whether any were +found, I do not know. It is not, at all events, a particularly +interesting spot, being such shapeless blackness, and a mere dark hole, +requiring a stronger illumination than that of our tapers to distinguish +it from any other cellar. I did, at one place, see a sort of frieze, +rather roughly sculptured; and, as we returned towards the twilight of +the entrance-passage, I discerned a large spider, who fled hastily away +from our tapers,--the solitary living inhabitant of the tomb of the +Scipios. + +One visit that we made, and I think it was before entering the city +gates, I forgot to mention. It was to an old edifice, formerly called +the Temple of Bacchus, but now supposed to have been the Temple of Virtue +and Honor. The interior consists of a vaulted hall, which was converted +from its pagan consecration into a church or chapel, by the early +Christians; and the ancient marble pillars of the temple may still be +seen built in with the brick and stucco of the later occupants. There is +an altar, and other tokens of a Catholic church, and high towards the +ceiling, there are some frescos of saints or angels, very curious +specimens of mediaeval, and earlier than mediaeval art. Nevertheless, +the place impressed me as still rather pagan than Christian. What is +most remarkable about this spot or this vicinity lies in the fact that +the Fountain of Egeria was formerly supposed to be close at hand; indeed, +the custode of the chapel still claims the spot as the identical one +consecrated by the legend. There is a dark grove of trees, not far from +the door of the temple; but Murray, a highly essential nuisance on such +excursions as this, throws such overwhelming doubt, or rather +incredulity, upon the site, that I seized upon it as a pretext for not +going thither. In fact, my small capacity for sight-seeing was already +more than satisfied. + +On account of ------ I am sorry that we did not see the grotto, for her +enthusiasm is as fresh as the waters of Egeria's well can be, and she has +poetical faith enough to light her cheerfully through all these mists of +incredulity. + +Our visits to sepulchral places ended with Scipio's tomb, whence we +returned to our dwelling, and Miss M------ came to dine with us. + + +March 10th.--On Saturday last, a very rainy day, we went to the Sciarra +Palace, and took U---- with us. It is on the Corso, nearly opposite to +the Piazza Colonna. It has (Heaven be praised!) but four rooms of +pictures, among which, however, are several very celebrated ones. Only a +few of these remain in my memory,--Raphael's "Violin Player," which I am +willing to accept as a good picture; and Leonardo da Vinci's "Vanity and +Modesty," which also I can bring up before my mind's eye, and find it +very beautiful, although one of the faces has an affected smile, which I +have since seen on another picture by the same artist, Joanna of Aragon. +The most striking picture in the collection, I think, is Titian's "Bella +Donna,"--the only one of Titian's works that I have yet seen which makes +an impression on me corresponding with his fame. It is a very splendid +and very scornful lady, as beautiful and as scornful as Gainsborough's +Lady Lyndoch, though of an entirely different type. There were two +Madonnas by Guido, of which I liked the least celebrated one best; and +several pictures by Garofalo, who always produces something noteworthy. +All the pictures lacked the charm (no doubt I am a barbarian to think it +one) of being in brilliant frames, and looked as if it were a long, long +while since they were cleaned or varnished. The light was so scanty, +too, on that heavily clouded day, and in those gloomy old rooms of the +palace, that scarcely anything could be fairly made out. + +[I cannot refrain from observing here, that Mr. Hawthorne's inexorable +demand for perfection in all things leads him to complain of grimy +pictures and tarnished frames and faded frescos, distressing beyond +measure to eyes that never failed to see everything before him with the +keenest apprehension. The usual careless observation of people both of +the good and the imperfect is much more comfortable in this imperfect +world. But the insight which Mr. Hawthorne possessed was only equalled +by his outsight, and he suffered in a way not to be readily conceived, +from any failure in beauty, physical, moral, or intellectual. It is not, +therefore, mere love of upholstery that impels him to ask for perfect +settings to priceless gems of art; but a native idiosyncrasy, which +always made me feel that "the New Jerusalem," "even like a jasper stone, +clear as crystal," "where shall in no wise enter anything that defileth, +neither what worketh abomination nor maketh a lie," would alone satisfy +him, or rather alone not give him actual pain. It may give an idea of +this exquisite nicety of feeling to mention, that one day he took in his +fingers a half-bloomed rose, without blemish, and, smiling with an +infinite joy, remarked, "This is perfect. On earth a flower only can be +perfect."--ED.] + +The palace is about two hundred and fifty years old, and looks as if it +had never been a very cheerful place; most shabbily and scantily +furnished, moreover, and as chill as any cellar. There is a small +balcony, looking down on the Corso, which probably has often been filled +with a merry little family party, in the carnivals of days long past. It +has faded frescos, and tarnished gilding, and green blinds, and a few +damask chairs still remain in it. + +On Monday we all went to the sculpture-gallery of the Vatican, and saw as +much of the sculpture as we could in the three hours during which the +public are admissible. There were a few things which I really enjoyed, +and a few moments during which I really seemed to see them; but it is in +vain to attempt giving the impression produced by masterpieces of art, +and most in vain when we see them best. They are a language in +themselves, and if they could be expressed as well any way except by +themselves, there would have been no need of expressing those particular +ideas and sentiments by sculpture. I saw the Apollo Belvedere as +something ethereal and godlike; only for a flitting moment, however, and +as if he had alighted from heaven, or shone suddenly out of the sunlight, +and then had withdrawn himself again. I felt the Laocoon very +powerfully, though very quietly; an immortal agony, with a strange +calmness diffused through it, so that it resembles the vast rage of the +sea, calm on account of its immensity; or the tumult of Niagara, which +does not seem to be tumult, because it keeps pouring on for ever and +ever. I have not had so good a day as this (among works of art) since we +came to Rome; and I impute it partly to the magnificence of the +arrangements of the Vatican,--its long vistas and beautiful courts, and +the aspect of immortality which marble statues acquire by being kept free +from dust. A very hungry boy, seeing in one of the cabinets a vast +porphyry vase, forty-four feet in circumference, wished that he had it +full of soup. + +Yesterday, we went to the Pamfili Doria Palace, which, I believe, is the +most splendid in Rome. The entrance is from the Corso into a court, +surrounded by a colonnade, and having a space of luxuriant verdure and +ornamental shrubbery in the centre. The apartments containing pictures +and sculptures are fifteen in number, and run quite round the court in +the first piano,--all the rooms, halls, and galleries of beautiful +proportion, with vaulted roofs, some of which glow with frescos; and all +are colder and more comfortless than can possibly be imagined without +having been in them. The pictures, most of them, interested me very +little. I am of opinion that good pictures are quite as rare as good +poets; and I do not see why we should pique ourselves on admiring any but +the very best. One in a thousand, perhaps, ought to live in the applause +of men, from generation to generation, till its colors fade or blacken +out of sight, and its canvas rots away; the rest should be put in +garrets, or painted over by newer artists, just as tolerable poets are +shelved when their little day is over. Nevertheless, there was one long +gallery containing many pictures that I should be glad to see again under +more favorable circumstances, that is, separately, and where I might +contemplate them quite undisturbed, reclining in an easy-chair. At one +end of the long vista of this gallery is a bust of the present Prince +Doria, a smooth, sharp-nosed, rather handsome young man, and at the other +end his princess, an English lady of the Talbot family, apparently a +blonde, with a simple and sweet expression. There is a noble and +striking portrait of the old Venetian admiral, Andrea Doria, by Sebastian +del Piombo, and some other portraits and busts of the family. + +In the whole immense range of rooms I saw but a single fireplace, and +that so deep in the wall that no amount of blaze would raise the +atmosphere of the room ten degrees. If the builder of the palace, or any +of his successors, have committed crimes worthy of Tophet, it would be a +still worse punishment for him to wander perpetually through this suite +of rooms on the cold floors of polished brick tiles or marble or mosaic, +growing a little chiller and chiller through every moment of eternity,-- +or, at least, till the palace crumbles down upon him. + +Neither would it assuage his torment in the least to be compelled to gaze +up at the dark old pictures,--the ugly ghosts of what may once have been +beautiful. I am not going to try any more to receive pleasure from a +faded, tarnished, lustreless picture, especially if it be a landscape. +There were two or three landscapes of Claude in this palace, which I +doubt not would have been exquisite if they had been in the condition of +those in the British National Gallery; but here they looked most forlorn, +and even their sunshine was sunless. The merits of historical painting +may be quite independent of the attributes that give pleasure, and a +superficial ugliness may even heighten the effect; but not so of +landscapes. + + +Via Porta, Palazzo Larazani, March 11th.--To-day we called at Mr. +Thompson's studio, and . . . . he had on the easel a little picture of +St. Peter released from prison by the angel, which I saw once before. It +is very beautiful indeed, and deeply and spiritually conceived, and I +wish I could afford to have it finished for myself. I looked again, too, +at his Georgian slave, and admired it as much as at first view; so very +warm and rich it is, so sensuously beautiful, and with an expression of +higher life and feeling within. I do not think there is a better painter +than Mr. Thompson living,--among Americans at least; not one so earnest, +faithful, and religious in his worship of art. I had rather look at his +pictures than at any except the very finest of the old masters, and, +taking into consideration only the comparative pleasure to be derived, I +would not except more than one or two of those. In painting, as in +literature, I suspect there is something in the productions of the day +that takes the fancy more than the works of any past age,--not greater +merit, nor nearly so great, but better suited to this very present time. + +After leaving him, we went to the Piazza de' Termini, near the Baths of +Diocletian, and found our way with some difficulty to Crawford's studio. +It occupies several great rooms, connected with the offices of the Villa +Negroni; and all these rooms were full of plaster casts and a few works +in marble,--principally portions of his huge Washington monument, which +he left unfinished at his death. Close by the door at which we entered +stood a gigantic figure of Mason, in bag-wig, and the coat, waistcoat, +breeches, and knee and shoe buckles of the last century, the enlargement +of these unheroic matters to far more than heroic size having a very odd +effect. There was a figure of Jefferson on the same scale; another of +Patrick Henry, besides a horse's head, and other portions of the +equestrian group which is to cover the summit of the monument. In one of +the rooms was a model of the monument itself, on a scale, I should think, +of about an inch to afoot. It did not impress me as having grown out of +any great and genuine idea in the artist's mind, but as being merely an +ingenious contrivance enough. There were also casts of statues that +seemed to be intended for some other monument referring to Revolutionary +times and personages; and with these were intermixed some ideal statues +or groups,--a naked boy playing marbles, very beautiful; a girl with +flowers; the cast of his Orpheus, of which I long ago saw the marble +statue; Adam and Eve; Flora,--all with a good deal of merit, no doubt, +but not a single one that justifies Crawford's reputation, or that +satisfies me of his genius. They are but commonplaces in marble and +plaster, such as we should not tolerate on a printed page. He seems to +have been a respectable man, highly respectable, but no more, although +those who knew him seem to have rated him much higher. It is said that +he exclaimed, not very long before his death, that he had fifteen years +of good work still in him; and he appears to have considered all his life +and labor, heretofore, as only preparatory to the great things that he +was to achieve hereafter. I should say, on the contrary, that he was a +man who had done his best, and had done it early; for his Orpheus is +quite as good as anything else we saw in his studio. + +People were at work chiselling several statues in marble from the plaster +models,--a very interesting process, and which I should think a doubtful +and hazardous one; but the artists say that there is no risk of mischief, +and that the model is sure to be accurately repeated in the marble. +These persons, who do what is considered the mechanical part of the +business, are often themselves sculptors, and of higher reputation than +those who employ them. + +It is rather sad to think that Crawford died before he could see his +ideas in the marble, where they gleam with so pure and celestial a light +as compared with the plaster. There is almost as much difference as +between flesh and spirit. + +The floor of one of the rooms was burdened with immense packages, +containing parts of the Washington monument, ready to be forwarded to its +destination. When finished, and set up, it will probably make a very +splendid appearance, by its height, its mass, its skilful execution; and +will produce a moral effect through its images of illustrious men, and +the associations that connect it with our Revolutionary history; but I do +not think it will owe much to artistic force of thought or depth of +feeling. It is certainly, in one sense, a very foolish and illogical +piece of work,--Washington, mounted on an uneasy steed, on a very narrow +space, aloft in the air, whence a single step of the horse backward, +forward, or on either side, must precipitate him; and several of his +contemporaries standing beneath him, not looking up to wonder at his +predicament, but each intent on manifesting his own personality to the +world around. They have nothing to do with one another, nor with +Washington, nor with any great purpose which all are to work out +together. + + +March 14th.--On Friday evening I dined at Mr. T. B. Read's, the poet and +artist, with a party composed of painters and sculptors,--the only +exceptions being the American banker and an American tourist who has +given Mr. Read a commission. Next to me at table sat Mr. Gibson, the +English sculptor, who, I suppose, stands foremost in his profession at +this day. He must be quite an old man now, for it was whispered about +the table that he is known to have been in Rome forty-two years ago, and +he himself spoke to me of spending thirty-seven years here, before he +once returned home. I should hardly take him to be sixty, however, +his hair being more dark than gray, his forehead unwrinkled, his +features unwithered, his eye undimmed, though his beard is somewhat +venerable. . . . . + +He has a quiet, self-contained aspect, and, being a bachelor, has +doubtless spent a calm life among his clay and marble, meddling little +with the world, and entangling himself with no cares beyond his studio. +He did not talk a great deal; but enough to show that he is still an +Englishman in many sturdy traits, though his accent has something foreign +about it. His conversation was chiefly about India, and other topics of +the day, together with a few reminiscences of people in Liverpool, where +he once resided. There was a kind of simplicity both in his manner and +matter, and nothing very remarkable in the latter. . . . . + +The gist of what he said (upon art) was condemnatory of the +Pre-Raphaelite modern school of painters, of whom he seemed to spare +none, and of their works nothing; though he allowed that the old +Pre-Raphaelites had some exquisite merits, which the moderns entirely +omit in their imitations. In his own art, he said the aim should be to +find out the principles on which the Greek sculptors wrought, and to do +the work of this day on those principles and in their spirit; a fair +doctrine enough, I should think, but which Mr. Gibson can scarcely be +said to practise. . . . . The difference between the Pre-Raphaelites and +himself is deep and genuine, they being literalists and realists, in a +certain sense, and he a pagan idealist. Methinks they have hold of the +best end of the matter. + + +March 18th.--To-day, it being very bright and mild, we set out, at noon, +for an expedition to the Temple of Vesta, though I did not feel much +inclined for walking, having been ill and feverish for two or three days +past with a cold, which keeps renewing itself faster than I can get rid +of it. We kept along on this side of the Corso, and crossed the Forum, +skirting along the Capitoline Hill, and thence towards the Circus +Maximus. On our way, looking down a cross street, we saw a heavy arch, +and, on examination, made it out to be the Arch of Janus Quadrifrons, +standing in the Forum Boarium. Its base is now considerably below the +level of the surrounding soil, and there is a church or basilica close +by, and some mean edifices looking down upon it. There is something +satisfactory in this arch, from the immense solidity of its structure. +It gives the idea, in the first place, of a solid mass constructed of +huge blocks of marble, which time can never wear away, nor earthquakes +shake down; and then this solid mass is penetrated by two arched +passages, meeting in the centre. There are empty niches, three in a row, +and, I think, two rows on each face; but there seems to have been very +little effort to make it a beautiful object. On the top is some +brickwork, the remains of a mediaeval fortress built by the Frangipanis, +looking very frail and temporary being brought thus in contact with the +antique strength of the arch. + +A few yards off, across the street, and close beside the basilica, is +what appears to be an ancient portal, with carved bas-reliefs, and an +inscription which I could not make out. Some Romans were lying dormant +in the sun, on the steps of the basilica; indeed, now that the sun is +getting warmer, they seem to take advantage of every quiet nook to bask +in, and perhaps to go to sleep. + +We had gone but a little way from the arch, and across the Circus +Maximus, when we saw the Temple of Vesta before us, on the hank of the +Tiber, which, however, we could not see behind it. It is a most +perfectly preserved Roman ruin, and very beautiful, though so small that, +in a suitable locality, one would take it rather for a garden-house than +an ancient temple. A circle of white marble pillars, much time-worn and +a little battered, though but one of them broken, surround the solid +structure of the temple, leaving a circular walk between it and the +pillars, the whole covered by a modern roof which looks like wood, and +disgraces and deforms the elegant little building. This roof resembles, +as much as anything else, the round wicker cover of a basket, and gives a +very squat aspect to the temple. The pillars are of the Corinthian +order, and when they were new and the marble snow-white and sharply +carved and cut, there could not have been a prettier object in all Rome; +but so small an edifice does not appear well as a ruin. + +Within view of it, and, indeed, a very little way off, is the Temple of +Fortuna Virilis, which likewise retains its antique form in better +preservation than we generally find a Roman ruin, although the Ionic +pillars are now built up with blocks of stone and patches of brickwork, +the whole constituting a church which is fixed against the side of a tall +edifice, the nature of which I do not know. + +I forgot to say that we gained admittance into the Temple of Vesta, and +found the interior a plain cylinder of marble, about ten paces across, +and fitted up as a chapel, where the Virgin takes the place of Vesta. + +In very close vicinity we came upon the Ponto Rotto, the old Pons Emilius +which was broken down long ago, and has recently been pieced out by +connecting a suspension bridge with the old piers. We crossed by this +bridge, paying a toll of a baioccho each, and stopped in the midst of the +river to look at the Temple of Vesta, which shows well, right on the +brink of the Tiber. We fancied, too, that we could discern, a little +farther down the river, the ruined and almost submerged piers of the +Sublician bridge, which Horatius Cocles defended. The Tiber here whirls +rapidly along, and Horatius must have had a perilous swim for his life, +and the enemy a fair mark at his head with their arrows. I think this is +the most picturesque part of the Tiber in its passage through Rome. + +After crossing the bridge, we kept along the right bank of the river, +through the dirty and hard-hearted streets of Trastevere (which have in +no respect the advantage over those of hither Rome), till we reached St. +Peter's. We saw a family sitting before their door on the pavement in +the narrow and sunny street, engaged in their domestic avocations,--the +old woman spinning with a wheel. I suppose the people now begin to live +out of doors. We entered beneath the colonnade of St. Peter's and +immediately became sensible of an evil odor,--the bad odor of our fallen +nature, which there is no escaping in any nook of Rome. . . . . + +Between the pillars of the colonnade, however, we had the pleasant +spectacle of the two fountains, sending up their lily-shaped gush, with +rainbows shining in their falling spray. Parties of French soldiers, as +usual, were undergoing their drill in the piazza. When we entered the +church, the long, dusty sunbeams were falling aslantwise through the dome +and through the chancel behind it. . . . . + + +March 23d.--On the 21st we all went to the Coliseum, and enjoyed +ourselves there in the bright, warm sun,--so bright and warm that we were +glad to get into the shadow of the walls and under the arches, though, +after all, there was the freshness of March in the breeze that stirred +now and then. J----- and baby found some beautiful flowers growing round +about the Coliseum; and far up towards the top of the walls we saw tufts +of yellow wall-flowers and a great deal of green grass growing along the +ridges between the arches. The general aspect of the place, however, is +somewhat bare, and does not compare favorably with an English ruin both +on account of the lack of ivy and because the material is chiefly brick, +the stone and marble having been stolen away by popes and cardinals to +build their palaces. While we sat within the circle, many people, of +both sexes, passed through, kissing the iron cross which stands in the +centre, thereby gaining an indulgence of seven years, I believe. In +front of several churches I have seen an inscription in Latin, +"INDULGENTIA PLENARIA ET PERPETUA PRO CUNCTIS MORTUIS ET VIVIS"; than +which, it seems to me, nothing more could be asked or desired. The terms +of this great boon are not mentioned. + +Leaving the Coliseum, we went and sat down in the vicinity of the Arch of +Constantine, and J----- and R----- went in quest of lizards. J----- soon +caught a large one with two tails; one, a sort of afterthought, or +appendix, or corollary to the original tail, and growing out from it +instead of from the body of the lizard. These reptiles are very +abundant, and J----- has already brought home several, which make their +escape and appear occasionally darting to and fro on the carpet. Since +we have been here, J----- has taken up various pursuits in turn. First +he voted himself to gathering snail-shells, of which there are many +sorts; afterwards he had a fever for marbles, pieces of which he found on +the banks of the Tiber, just on the edge of its muddy waters, and in the +Palace of the Caesars, the Baths of Caracalla, and indeed wherever else +his fancy led him; verde antique, rosso antico, porphyry, giallo antico, +serpentine, sometimes fragments of bas-reliefs and mouldings, bits of +mosaic, still firmly stuck together, on which the foot of a Caesar had +perhaps once trodden; pieces of Roman glass, with the iridescence glowing +on them; and all such things, of which the soil of Rome is full. It +would not be difficult, from the spoil of his boyish rambles, to furnish +what would be looked upon as a curious and valuable museum in America. + +Yesterday we went to the sculpture-galleries of the Vatican. I think I +enjoy these noble galleries and their contents and beautiful arrangement +better than anything else in the way of art, and often I seem to have a +deep feeling of something wonderful in what I look at. The Laocoon on +this visit impressed me not less than before; it is such a type of human +beings, struggling with an inextricable trouble, and entangled in a +complication which they cannot free themselves from by their own efforts, +and out of which Heaven alone can help them. It was a most powerful +mind, and one capable of reducing a complex idea to unity, that imagined +this group. I looked at Canova's Perseus, and thought it exceedingly +beautiful, but, found myself less and less contented after a moment or +two, though I could not tell why. Afterwards, looking at the Apollo, the +recollection of the Perseus disgusted me, and yet really I cannot explain +how one is better than the other. + +I was interested in looking at the busts of the Triumvirs, Antony, +Augustus, and Lepidus. The first two are men of intellect, evidently, +though they do not recommend themselves to one's affections by their +physiognomy; but Lepidus has the strangest, most commonplace countenance +that can be imagined,--small-featured, weak, such a face as you meet +anywhere in a man of no mark, but are amazed to find in one of the three +foremost men of the world. I suppose that it is these weak and shallow +men, when chance raises them above their proper sphere, who commit +enormous crimes without any such restraint as stronger men would feel, +and without any retribution in the depth of their conscience. These old +Roman busts, of which there are so many in the Vatican, have often a most +lifelike aspect, a striking individuality. One recognizes them as +faithful portraits, just as certainly as if the living originals were +standing beside them. The arrangement of the hair and beard too, in many +cases, is just what we see now, the fashions of two thousand years ago +having come round again. + + +March 25th.--On Tuesday we went to breakfast at William Story's in the +Palazzo Barberini. We had a very pleasant time. He is one of the most +agreeable men I know in society. He showed us a note from Thackeray, an +invitation to dinner, written in hieroglyphics, with great fun and +pictorial merit. He spoke of an expansion of the story of Blue Beard, +which he himself had either written or thought of writing, in which the +contents of the several chambers which Fatima opened, before arriving at +the fatal one, were to be described. This idea has haunted my mind ever +since, and if it had but been my own I am pretty sure that it would +develop itself into something very rich. I mean to press William Story +to work it out. The chamber of Blue Beard, too (and this was a part of +his suggestion), might be so handled as to become powerfully interesting. +Were I to take up the story I would create an interest by suggesting a +secret in the first chamber, which would develop itself more and more in +every successive hall of the great palace, and lead the wife irresistibly +to the chamber of horrors. + +After breakfast, we went to the Barberini Library, passing through the +vast hall, which occupies the central part of the palace. It is the most +splendid domestic hall I have seen, eighty feet in length at least, and +of proportionate breadth and height; and the vaulted ceiling is entirely +covered, to its utmost edge and remotest corners, with a brilliant +painting in fresco, looking like a whole heaven of angelic people +descending towards the floor. The effect is indescribably gorgeous. On +one side stands a Baldacchino, or canopy of state, draped with scarlet +cloth, and fringed with gold embroidery; the scarlet indicating that the +palace is inhabited by a cardinal. Green would be appropriate to a +prince. In point of fact, the Palazzo Barberini is inhabited by a +cardinal, a prince, and a duke, all belonging to the Barberini family, +and each having his separate portion of the palace, while their servants +have a common territory and meeting-ground in this noble hall. + +After admiring it for a few minutes, we made our exit by a door on the +opposite side, and went up the spiral staircase of marble to the library, +where we were received by an ecclesiastic, who belongs to the Barberini +household, and, I believe, was born in it. He is a gentle, refined, +quiet-looking man, as well he may be, having spent all his life among +these books, where few people intrude, and few cares can come. He showed +us a very old Bible in parchment, a specimen of the earliest printing, +beautifully ornamented with pictures, and some monkish illuminations of +indescribable delicacy and elaboration. No artist could afford to +produce such work, if the life that he thus lavished on one sheet of +parchment had any value to him, either for what could be done or enjoyed +in it. There are about eight thousand volumes in this library, and, +judging by their outward aspect, the collection must be curious and +valuable; but having another engagement, we could spend only a little +time here. We had a hasty glance, however, of some poems of Tasso, in +his own autograph. + +We then went to the Palazzo Galitzin, where dwell the Misses Weston, with +whom we lunched, and where we met a French abbe, an agreeable man, and an +antiquarian, under whose auspices two of the ladies and ourselves took +carriage for the Castle of St. Angelo. Being admitted within the +external gateway, we found ourselves in the court of guard, as I presume +it is called, where the French soldiers were playing with very dirty +cards, or lounging about, in military idleness. They were well behaved +and courteous, and when we had intimated our wish to see the interior of +the castle, a soldier soon appeared, with a large unlighted torch in his +hand, ready to guide us. There is an outer wall, surrounding the solid +structure of Hadrian's tomb; to which there is access by one or two +drawbridges; the entrance to the tomb, or castle, not being at the base, +but near its central height. The ancient entrance, by which Hadrian's +ashes, and those of other imperial personages, were probably brought into +this tomb, has been walled up,--perhaps ever since the last emperor was +buried here. We were now in a vaulted passage, both lofty and broad, +which circles round the whole interior of the tomb, from the base to the +summit. During many hundred years, the passage was filled with earth and +rubbish, and forgotten, and it is but partly excavated, even now; +although we found it a long, long and gloomy descent by torchlight to the +base of the vast mausoleum. The passage was once lined and vaulted with +precious marbles (which are now entirely gone), and paved with fine +mosaics, portions of which still remain; and our guide lowered his +flaming torch to show them to us, here and there, amid the earthy +dampness over which we trod. It is strange to think what splendor and +costly adornment were here wasted on the dead. + +After we had descended to the bottom of this passage, and again retraced +our steps to the highest part, the guide took a large cannon-ball, and +sent it, with his whole force, rolling down the hollow, arched way, +rumbling, and reverberating, and bellowing forth long thunderous echoes, +and winding up with a loud, distant crash, that seemed to come from the +very bowels of the earth. + +We saw the place, near the centre of the mausoleum, and lighted from +above, through an immense thickness of stone and brick, where the ashes +of the emperor and his fellow-slumberers were found. It is as much as +twelve centuries, very likely, since they were scattered to the winds, +for the tomb has been nearly or quite that space of time a fortress; The +tomb itself is merely the base and foundation of the castle, and, being +so massively built, it serves just as well for the purpose as if it were +a solid granite rock. The mediaeval fortress, with its antiquity of more +than a thousand years, and having dark and deep dungeons of its own, is +but a modern excrescence on the top of Hadrian's tomb. + +We now ascended towards the upper region, and were led into the vaults +which used to serve as a prison, but which, if I mistake not, are +situated above the ancient structure, although they seem as damp and +subterranean as if they were fifty feet under the earth. We crept down +to them through narrow and ugly passages, which the torchlight would not +illuminate, and, stooping under a low, square entrance, we followed the +guide into a small, vaulted room,--not a room, but an artificial cavern, +remote from light or air, where Beatrice Cenci was confined before her +execution. According to the abbe, she spent a whole year in this +dreadful pit, her trial having dragged on through that length of time. +How ghostlike she must have looked when she came forth! Guido never +painted that beautiful picture from her blanched face, as it appeared +after this confinement. And how rejoiced she must have been to die at +last, having already been in a sepulchre so long! + +Adjacent to Beatrice's prison, but not communicating with it, was that of +her step-mother; and next to the latter was one that interested me almost +as much as Beatrice's,--that of Benvenuto Cellini, who was confined here, +I believe, for an assassination. All these prison vaults are more +horrible than can be imagined without seeing them; but there are worse +places here, for the guide lifted a trap-door in one of the passages, and +held his torch down into an inscrutable pit beneath our feet. It was an +oubliette, a dungeon where the prisoner might be buried alive, and never +come forth again, alive or dead. Groping about among these sad +precincts, we saw various other things that looked very dismal; but at +last emerged into the sunshine, and ascended from one platform and +battlement to another, till we found ourselves right at the feet of the +Archangel Michael. He has stood there in bronze for I know not how many +hundred years, in the act of sheathing a (now) rusty sword, such being +the attitude in which he appeared to one of the popes in a vision, in +token that a pestilence which was then desolating Rome was to be stayed. + +There is a fine view from the lofty station over Rome and the whole +adjacent country, and the abbe pointed out the site of Ardea, of +Corioli, of Veii, and other places renowned in story. We were ushered, +too, into the French commandant's quarters in the castle. There is +a large hall, ornamented with frescos, and accessible from this a +drawing-room, comfortably fitted up, and where we saw modern furniture, +and a chess-board, and a fire burning clear, and other symptoms that the +place had perhaps just been vacated by civilized and kindly people. But +in one corner of the ceiling the abbe pointed out a ring, by which, in +the times of mediaeval anarchy, when popes, cardinals, and barons were +all by the ears together, a cardinal was hanged. It was not an +assassination, but a legal punishment, and he was executed in the best +apartment of the castle as an act of grace. + +The fortress is a straight-lined structure on the summit of the immense +round tower of Hadrian's tomb; and to make out the idea of it we must +throw in drawbridges, esplanades, piles of ancient marble balls for +cannon; battlements and embrasures, lying high in the breeze and +sunshine, and opening views round the whole horizon; accommodation for +the soldiers; and many small beds in a large room. + +How much mistaken was the emperor in his expectation of a stately, solemn +repose for his ashes through all the coming centuries, as long as the +world should endure! Perhaps his ghost glides up and down disconsolate, +in that spiral passage which goes from top to bottom of the tomb, while +the barbarous Gauls plant themselves in his very mausoleum to keep the +imperial city in awe. + +Leaving the Castle of St. Angelo, we drove, still on the same side of the +Tiber, to the Villa Pamfili, which lies a short distance beyond the +walls. As we passed through one of the gates (I think it was that of San +Pancrazio) the abbe pointed out the spot where the Constable de Bourbon +was killed while attempting to scale the walls. If we are to believe +Benvenuto Cellini, it was he who shot the constable. The road to the +villa is not very interesting, lying (as the roads in the vicinity of +Rome often do) between very high walls, admitting not a glimpse of the +surrounding country; the road itself white and dusty, with no verdant +margin of grass or border of shrubbery. At the portal of the villa we +found many carriages in waiting, for the Prince Doria throws open the +grounds to all comers, and on a pleasant day like this they are probably +sure to be thronged. We left our carriage just within the entrance, and +rambled among these beautiful groves, admiring the live-oak trees, and +the stone-pines, which latter are truly a majestic tree, with tall +columnar stems, supporting a cloud-like density of boughs far aloft, and +not a straggling branch between there and the ground. They stand in +straight rows, but are now so ancient and venerable as to have lost the +formal look of a plantation, and seem like a wood that might have +arranged itself almost of its own will. Beneath them is a flower-strewn +turf, quite free of underbrush. We found open fields and lawns, +moreover, all abloom with anemones, white and rose-colored and purple and +golden, and far larger than could be found out of Italy, except in +hot-houses. Violets, too, were abundant and exceedingly fragrant. When +we consider that all this floral exuberance occurs in the midst of March, +there does not appear much ground for complaining of the Roman climate; +and so long ago as the first week of February I found daisies among the +grass, on the sunny side of the Basilica of St. John Lateran. At this +very moment I suppose the country within twenty miles of Boston may be +two feet deep with snow, and the streams solid with ice. + +We wandered about the grounds, and found them very beautiful indeed; +nature having done much for them by an undulating variety of surface, and +art having added a good many charms, which have all the better effect now +that decay and neglect have thrown a natural grace over them likewise. +There is an artificial ruin, so picturesque that it betrays itself; +weather-beaten statues, and pieces of sculpture, scattered here and +there; an artificial lake, with upgushing fountains; cascades, and +broad-bosomed coves, and long, canal-like reaches, with swans taking +their delight upon them. I never saw such a glorious and resplendent +lustre of white as shone between the wings of two of these swans. It was +really a sight to see, and not to be imagined beforehand. Angels, no +doubt, have just such lustrous wings as those. English swans partake of +the dinginess of the atmosphere, and their plumage has nothing at all to +be compared to this; in fact, there is nothing like it in the world, +unless it be the illuminated portion of a fleecy, summer cloud. + +While we were sauntering along beside this piece of water, we were +surprised to see U---- on the other side. She had come hither with E---- +S------ and her two little brothers, and with our R-----, the whole under +the charge of Mrs. Story's nursery-maids. U---- and E---- crossed, not +over, but beneath the water, through a grotto, and exchanged greetings +with us. Then, as it was getting towards sunset and cool, we took our +departure; the abbe, as we left the grounds, taking me aside to give me a +glimpse of a Columbarium, which descends into the earth to about the +depth to which an ordinary house might rise above it. These grounds, it +is said, formed the country residence of the Emperor Galba, and he was +buried here after his assassination. It is a sad thought that so much +natural beauty and long refinement of picturesque culture is thrown away, +the villa being uninhabitable during all the most delightful season of +the year on account of malaria. There is truly a curse on Rome and all +its neighborhood. + +On our way home we passed by the great Paolina fountain, and were +assailed by many beggars during the short time we stopped to look at it. +It is a very copious fountain, but not so beautiful as the Trevi, taking +into view merely the water-gush of the latter. + + +March 26th.--Yesterday, between twelve and one, our whole family went to +the Villa Ludovisi, the entrance to which is at the termination of a +street which passes out of the Piazza Barberini, and it is no very great +distance from our own street, Via Porta Pinciana. The grounds, though +very extensive, are wholly within the walls of the city, which skirt +them, and comprise a part of what were formerly the gardens of Sallust. +The villa is now the property of Prince Piombini, a ticket from whom +procured us admission. A little within the gateway, to the right, is a +casino, containing two large rooms filled with sculpture, much of which +is very valuable. A colossal head of Juno, I believe, is considered the +greatest treasure of the collection, but I did not myself feel it to be +so, nor indeed did I receive any strong impression of its excellence. I +admired nothing so much, I think, as the face of Penelope (if it be her +face) in the group supposed also to represent Electra and Orestes. The +sitting statue of Mars is very fine; so is the Arria and Paetus; so are +many other busts and figures. + +By and by we left the casino and wandered among the grounds, threading +interminable alleys of cypress, through the long vistas of which we could +see here and there a statue, an urn, a pillar, a temple, or garden-house, +or a bas-relief against the wall. It seems as if there must have been a +time, and not so very long ago,--when it was worth while to spend money +and thought upon the ornamentation of grounds in the neighborhood of +Rome. That time is past, however, and the result is very melancholy; for +great beauty has been produced, but it can be enjoyed in its perfection +only at the peril of one's life. . . . . For my part, and judging from my +own experience, I suspect that the Roman atmosphere, never wholesome, is +always more or less poisonous. + +We came to another and larger casino remote from the gateway, in which +the Prince resides during two months of the year. It was now under +repair, but we gained admission, as did several other visitors, and saw +in the entrance-hall the Aurora of Guercino, painted in fresco on the +ceiling. There is beauty in the design; but the painter certainly was +most unhappy in his black shadows, and in the work before us they give +the impression of a cloudy and lowering morning which is likely enough to +turn to rain by and by. After viewing the fresco we mounted by a spiral +staircase to a lofty terrace, and found Rome at our feet, and, far off, +the Sabine and Alban mountains, some of them still capped with snow. In +another direction there was a vast plain, on the horizon of which, could +our eyes have reached to its verge, we might perhaps have seen the +Mediterranean Sea. After enjoying the view and the warm sunshine we +descended, and went in quest of the gardens of Sallust, but found no +satisfactory remains of them. + +One of the most striking objects in the first casino was a group by +Bernini,--Pluto, an outrageously masculine and strenuous figure, heavily +bearded, ravishing away a little, tender Proserpine, whom he holds aloft, +while his forcible gripe impresses itself into her soft virgin flesh. It +is very disagreeable, but it makes one feel that Bernini was a man of +great ability. There are some works in literature that bear an analogy +to his works in sculpture, when great power is lavished a little outside +of nature, and therefore proves to be only a fashion,--and not +permanently adapted to the tastes of mankind. + + +March 27th.--Yesterday forenoon my wife and I went to St. Peter's to see +the pope pray at the chapel of the Holy Sacrament. We found a good many +people in the church, but not an inconvenient number; indeed, not so many +as to make any remarkable show in the great nave, nor even in front of +the chapel. A detachment of the Swiss Guard, in their strange, +picturesque, harlequin-like costume, were on duty before the chapel, in +which the wax tapers were all lighted, and a prie-dieu was arranged near +the shrine, and covered with scarlet velvet. On each side, along the +breadth of the side aisle, were placed seats, covered with rich tapestry +or carpeting; and some gentlemen and ladies--English, probably, or +American--had comfortably deposited themselves here, but were compelled +to move by the guards before the pope's entrance. His Holiness should +have appeared precisely at twelve, but we waited nearly half an hour +beyond that time; and it seemed to me particularly ill-mannered in the +pope, who owes the courtesy of being punctual to the people, if not to +St. Peter. By and by, however, there was a stir; the guard motioned to +us to stand away from the benches, against the backs of which we had been +leaning; the spectators in the nave looked towards the door, as if they +beheld something approaching; and first, there appeared some cardinals, +in scarlet skull-caps and purple robes, intermixed with some of the Noble +Guard and other attendants. It was not a very formal and stately +procession, but rather straggled onward, with ragged edges, the +spectators standing aside to let it pass, and merely bowing, or perhaps +slightly bending the knee, as good Catholics are accustomed to do when +passing before the shrines of saints. Then, in the midst of the purple +cardinals, all of whom were gray-haired men, appeared a stout old man, +with a white skull-cap, a scarlet, gold-embroidered cape falling over +his shoulders, and a white silk robe, the train of which was borne up by +an attendant. He walked slowly, with a sort of dignified movement, +stepping out broadly, and planting his feet (on which were red shoes) +flat upon the pavement, as if he were not much accustomed to locomotion, +and perhaps had known a twinge of the gout. His face was kindly +and venerable, but not particularly impressive. Arriving at the +scarlet-covered prie-dieu, he kneeled down and took off his white +skull-cap; the cardinals also kneeled behind and on either side of him, +taking off their scarlet skull-caps; while the Noble Guard remained +standing, six on one side of his Holiness and six on the other. The pope +bent his head upon the prie-dieu, and seemed to spend three or four +minutes in prayer; then rose, and all the purple cardinals, and bishops, +and priests, of whatever degree, rose behind and beside him. Next, he +went to kiss St. Peter's toe; at least I believe he kissed it, but I was +not near enough to be certain; and lastly, he knelt down, and directed +his devotions towards the high altar. This completed the ceremonies, and +his Holiness left the church by a side door, making a short passage into +the Vatican. + +I am very glad I have seen the pope, because now he may be crossed out of +the list of sights to be seen. His proximity impressed me kindly and +favorably towards him, and I did not see one face among all his cardinals +(in whose number, doubtless, is his successor) which I would so soon +trust as that of Pio Nono. + +This morning I walked as far as the gate of San Paolo, and, on +approaching it, I saw the gray sharp pyramid of Caius Cestius pointing +upward close to the two dark-brown, battlemented Gothic towers of the +gateway, each of these very different pieces of architecture looking the +more picturesque for the contrast of the other. Before approaching the +gateway and pyramid, I walked onward, and soon came in sight of Monte +Testaccio, the artificial hill made of potsherds. There is a gate +admitting into the grounds around the hill, and a road encircling its +base. At a distance, the hill looks greener than any other part of the +landscape, and has all the curved outlines of a natural hill, resembling +in shape a headless sphinx, or Saddleback Mountain, as I used to see it +from Lenox. It is of very considerable height,--two or three hundred +feet at least, I should say,--and well entitled, both by its elevation +and the space it covers, to be reckoned among the hills of Rome. Its +base is almost entirely surrounded with small structures, which seem to +be used as farm-buildings. On the summit is a large iron cross, the +Church having thought it expedient to redeem these shattered pipkins from +the power of paganism, as it has so many other Roman ruins. There was a +pathway up the hill, but I did not choose to ascend it under the hot sun, +so steeply did it clamber up. There appears to be a good depth of soil +on most parts of Monte Testaccio, but on some of the sides you observe +precipices, bristling with fragments of red or brown earthenware, or +pieces of vases of white unglazed clay; and it is evident that this +immense pile is entirely composed of broken crockery, which I should +hardly have thought would have aggregated to such a heap had it all been +thrown here,--urns, teacups, porcelain, or earthen,--since the beginning +of the world. + +I walked quite round the hill, and saw, at no great distance from it, the +enclosure of the Protestant burial-ground, which lies so close to the +pyramid of Caius Cestius that the latter may serve as a general monument +to the dead. Deferring, for the present, a visit to the cemetery, or to +the interior of the pyramid, I returned to the gateway of San Paolo, and, +passing through it, took a view of it from the outside of the city wall. +It is itself a portion of the wall, having been built into it by the +Emperor Aurelian, so that about half of it lies within and half without. +The brick or red stone material of the wall being so unlike the marble of +the pyramid, the latter is as distinct, and seems as insulated, as if it +stood alone in the centre of a plain; and really I do not think there is +a more striking architectural object in Rome. It is in perfect +condition, just as little ruined or decayed as on the day when the +builder put the last peak on the summit; and it ascends steeply from its +base, with a point so sharp that it looks as if it would hardly afford +foothold to a bird. The marble was once white, but is now covered with a +gray coating like that which has gathered upon the statues of Castor and +Pollux on Monte Cavallo. Not one of the great blocks is displaced, nor +seems likely to be through all time to come. They rest one upon another, +in straight and even lines, and present a vast smooth triangle, ascending +from a base of a hundred feet, and narrowing to an apex at the height of +a hundred and twenty-five, the junctures of the marble slabs being so +close that, in all these twenty centuries, only a few little tufts of +grass, and a trailing plant or two, have succeeded in rooting themselves +into the interstices. + +It is good and satisfactory to see anything which, being built for an +enduring monument, has endured so faithfully, and has a prospect of such +an interminable futurity before it. Once, indeed, it seemed likely to be +buried; for three hundred years ago it had become covered to the depth of +sixteen feet, but the soil has since been dug away from its base, which +is now lower than that of the road which passes through the neighboring +gate of San Paolo. Midway up the pyramid, cut in the marble, is an +inscription in large Roman letters, still almost as legible as when first +wrought. + +I did not return through the Paolo gateway, but kept onward, round the +exterior of the wall, till I came to the gate of San Sebastiano. It was +a hot and not a very interesting walk, with only a high bare wall of +brick, broken by frequent square towers, on one side of the road, and a +bank and hedge or a garden wall on the other. Roman roads are most +inhospitable, offering no shade, and no seat, and no pleasant views of +rustic domiciles; nothing but the wheel-track of white dust, without a +foot path running by its side, and seldom any grassy margin to refresh +the wayfarer's feet. + + +April 3d.--A few days ago we visited the studio of Mr. ------, an +American, who seems to have a good deal of vogue as a sculptor. We found +a figure of Pocahontas, which he has repeated several times; another, +which he calls "The Wept of the Wish-ton-Wish," a figure of a smiling +girl playing with a cat and dog, and a schoolboy mending a pen. These +two last were the only ones that gave me any pleasure, or that really had +any merit; for his cleverness and ingenuity appear in homely subjects, +but are quite lost in attempts at a higher ideality. Nevertheless, he +has a group of the Prodigal Son, possessing more merit than I should have +expected from Mr. ------, the son reclining his head on his father's +breast, with an expression of utter weariness, at length finding perfect +rest, while the father bends his benign countenance over him, and seems +to receive him calmly into himself. This group (the plaster-cast +standing beside it) is now taking shape out of an immense block of +marble, and will be as indestructible as the Laocoon; an idea at once +awful and ludicrous, when we consider that it is at best but a +respectable production. I have since been told that Mr. ------ had +stolen, adopted, we will rather say, the attitude and idea of the group +from one executed by a student of the French Academy, and to be seen +there in plaster. (We afterwards saw it in the Medici Casino.) + +Mr. ------ has now been ten years in Italy, and, after all this time, he +is still entirely American in everything but the most external surface of +his manners; scarcely Europeanized, or much modified even in that. He is +a native of ------, but had his early breeding in New York, and might, +for any polish or refinement that I can discern in him, still be a +country shopkeeper in the interior of New York State or New England. How +strange! For one expects to find the polish, the close grain and white +purity of marble, in the artist who works in that noble material; but, +after all, he handles club, and, judging by the specimens I have seen +here, is apt to be clay, not of the finest, himself. Mr. ------ is +sensible, shrewd, keen, clever; an ingenious workman, no doubt; with tact +enough, and not destitute of taste; very agreeable and lively in his +conversation, talking as fast and as naturally as a brook runs, without +the slightest affectation. His naturalness is, in fact, a rather +striking characteristic, in view of his lack of culture, while yet his +life has been concerned with idealities and a beautiful art. What degree +of taste he pretends to, he seems really to possess, nor did I hear a +single idea from him that struck me as otherwise than sensible. + +He called to see us last evening, and talked for about two hours in a +very amusing and interesting style, his topics being taken from his own +personal experience, and shrewdly treated. He spoke much of Greenough, +whom he described as an excellent critic of art, but possessed of not the +slightest inventive genius. His statue of Washington, at the Capitol, is +taken precisely from the Plodian Jupiter; his Chanting Cherubs are copied +in marble from two figures in a picture by Raphael. He did nothing that +was original with himself To-day we took R-----, and went to see Miss +------, and as her studio seems to be mixed up with Gibson's, we had an +opportunity of glancing at some of his beautiful works. We saw a Venus +and a Cupid, both of them tinted; and, side by side with them, other +statues identical with these, except that the marble was left in its pure +whiteness. + +We found Miss ------ in a little upper room. She has a small, brisk, +wide-awake figure, not ungraceful; frank, simple, straightforward, and +downright. She had on a robe, I think, but I did not look so low, my +attention being chiefly drawn to a sort of man's sack of purple or +plum-colored broadcloth, into the side-pockets of which her hands were +thrust as she came forward to greet us. She withdrew one hand, however, +and presented it cordially to my wife (whom she already knew) and to +myself, without waiting for an introduction. She had on a shirt-front, +collar, and cravat like a man's, with a brooch of Etruscan gold, and on +her curly head was a picturesque little cap of black velvet, and her face +was as bright and merry, and as small of feature as a child's. It looked +in one aspect youthful, and yet there was something worn in it too. +There never was anything so jaunty as her movement and action; she was +very peculiar, but she seemed to be her actual self, and nothing affected +or made up; so that, for my part, I gave her full leave to wear what may +suit her best, and to behave as her inner woman prompts. I don't quite +see, however, what she is to do when she grows older, for the decorum of +age will not be consistent with a costume that looks pretty and excusable +enough in a young woman. + +Miss ------ led us into a part of the extensive studio, or collection of +studios, where some of her own works were to be seen: Beatrice Cenci, +which did not very greatly impress me; and a monumental design, a female +figure,--wholly draped even to the stockings and shoes,--in a quiet +sleep. I liked this last. There was also a Puck, doubtless full of fun; +but I had hardly time to glance at it. Miss ------ evidently has good +gifts in her profession, and doubtless she derives great advantage from +her close association with a consummate artist like Gibson; nor yet does +his influence seem to interfere with the originality of her own +conceptions. In one way, at least, she can hardly fail to profit,--that +is, by the opportunity of showing her works to the throngs of people who +go to see Gibson's own; and these are just such people as an artist would +most desire to meet, and might never see in a lifetime, if left to +himself. I shook hands with this frank and pleasant little person, and +took leave, not without purpose of seeing her again. + +Within a few days, there have been many pilgrims in Rome, who come hither +to attend the ceremonies of holy week, and to perform their vows, and +undergo their penances. I saw two of them near the Forum yesterday, with +their pilgrim staves, in the fashion of a thousand years ago. . . . . I +sat down on a bench near one of the chapels, and a woman immediately came +up to me to beg. I at first refused; but she knelt down by my side, and +instead of praying to the saint prayed to me; and, being thus treated as +a canonized personage, I thought it incumbent on me to be gracious to the +extent of half a paul. My wife, some time ago, came in contact with a +pickpocket at the entrance of a church; and, failing in his enterprise +upon her purse, he passed in, dipped his thieving fingers in the holy +water, and paid his devotions at a shrine. Missing the purse, he said +his prayers, in the hope, perhaps, that the saint would send him better +luck another time. + + +April 10th.--I have made no entries in my journal recently, being +exceedingly lazy, partly from indisposition, as well as from an +atmosphere that takes the vivacity out of everybody. Not much has +happened or been effected. Last Sunday, which was Easter Sunday, I went +with J----- to St. Peter's, where we arrived at about nine o'clock, and +found a multitude of people already assembled in the church. The +interior was arrayed in festal guise, there being a covering of scarlet +damask over the pilasters of the nave, from base to capital, giving an +effect of splendor, yet with a loss as to the apparent dimensions of the +interior. A guard of soldiers occupied the nave, keeping open a wide +space for the passage of a procession that was momently expected, and +soon arrived. The crowd was too great to allow of my seeing it in +detail; but I could perceive that there were priests, cardinals, Swiss +guards, some of them with corselets on, and by and by the pope himself +was borne up the nave, high over the heads of all, sitting under a +canopy, crowned with his tiara. He floated slowly along, and was set +down in the neighborhood of the high altar; and the procession being +broken up, some of its scattered members might be seen here and there, +about the church,--officials in antique Spanish dresses; Swiss guards, in +polished steel breastplates; serving-men, in richly embroidered liveries; +officers, in scarlet coats and military boots; priests, and divers other +shapes of men; for the papal ceremonies seem to forego little or nothing +that belongs to times past, while it includes everything appertaining to +the present. I ought to have waited to witness the papal benediction +from the balcony in front of the church; or, at least, to hear the famous +silver trumpets, sounding from the dome; but J----- grew weary (to say +the truth, so did I), and we went on a long walk, out of the nearest city +gate, and back through the Janiculum, and, finally, homeward over the +Ponto Rotto. Standing on the bridge, I saw the arch of the Cloaca +Maxima, close by the Temple of Vesta, with the water rising within two or +three feet of its keystone. + +The same evening we went to Monte Cavallo, where, from the gateway of the +Pontifical Palace, we saw the illumination of St. Peter's. Mr. Akers, +the sculptor, had recommended this position to us, and accompanied us +thither, as the best point from which the illumination could be witnessed +at a distance, without the incommodity of such a crowd as would be +assembled at the Pincian. The first illumination, the silver one, as it +is called, was very grand and delicate, describing the outline of the +great edifice and crowning dome in light; while the day was not yet +wholly departed. As ------ finally remarked, it seemed like the +glorified spirit of the Church, made visible, or, as I will add, it +looked as this famous and never-to-be-forgotten structure will look to +the imaginations of men, through the waste and gloom of future ages, +after it shall have gone quite to decay and ruin: the brilliant, though +scarcely distinct gleam of a statelier dome than ever was seen, shining +on the background of the night of Time. This simile looked prettier in +my fancy than I have made it look on paper. + +After we had enjoyed the silver illumination a good while, and when all +the daylight had given place to the constellated night, the distant +outline of St. Peter's burst forth, in the twinkling of an eye, into a +starry blaze, being quite the finest effect that I ever witnessed. I +stayed to see it, however, only a few minutes; for I was quite ill and +feverish with a cold,--which, indeed, I have seldom been free from, since +my first breathing of the genial atmosphere of Rome. This pestilence +kept me within doors all the next day, and prevented me from seeing the +beautiful fireworks that were exhibited in the evening from the platform +on the Pincian, above the Piazza del Popolo. + +On Thursday, I paid another visit to the sculpture-gallery of the +Capitol, where I was particularly struck with a bust of Cato the Censor, +who must have been the most disagreeable, stubborn, ugly-tempered, +pig-headed, narrow-minded, strong-willed old Roman that ever lived. The +collection of busts here and at the Vatican are most interesting, many of +the individual heads being full of character, and commending themselves +by intrinsic evidence as faithful portraits of the originals. These +stone people have stood face to face with Caesar, and all the other +emperors, and with statesmen, soldiers, philosophers, and poets of the +antique world, and have been to them like their reflections in a mirror. +It is the next thing to seeing the men themselves. + +We went afterwards into the Palace of the Conservatori, and saw, among +various other interesting things, the bronze wolf suckling Romulus and +Remus, who sit beneath her dugs, with open mouths to receive the milk. + +On Friday, we all went to see the Pope's Palace on the Quirinal. There +was a vast hall, and an interminable suite of rooms, cased with marble, +floored with marble or mosaics or inlaid wood, adorned with frescos on +the vaulted ceilings, and many of them lined with Gobelin tapestry; not +wofully faded, like almost all that I have hitherto seen, but brilliant +as pictures. Indeed, some of them so closely resembled paintings, that I +could hardly believe they were not so; and the effect was even richer +than that of oil-paintings. In every room there was a crucifix; but I +did not see a single nook or corner where anybody could have dreamed of +being comfortable. Nevertheless, as a stately and solemn residence for +his Holiness, it is quite a satisfactory affair. Afterwards, we went +into the Pontifical Gardens, connected with the palace. They are very +extensive, and laid out in straight avenues, bordered with walls of box, +as impervious as if of stone,--not less than twenty feet high, and +pierced with lofty archways, cut in the living wall. Some of the avenues +were overshadowed with trees, the tops of which bent over and joined one +another from either side, so as to resemble a side aisle of a Gothic +cathedral. Marble sculptures, much weather-stained, and generally +broken-nosed, stood along these stately walks; there were many fountains +gushing up into the sunshine; we likewise found a rich flower-garden, +containing rare specimens of exotic flowers, and gigantic cactuses, and +also an aviary, with vultures, doves, and singing birds. We did not see +half the garden, but, stiff and formal as its general arrangement is, it +is a beautiful place,--a delightful, sunny, and serene seclusion. +Whatever it may be to the pope, two young lovers might find the Garden of +Eden here, and never desire to stray out of its precincts. They might +fancy angels standing in the long, glimmering vistas of the avenues. + +It would suit me well enough to have my daily walk along such straight +paths, for I think them favorable to thought, which is apt to be +disturbed by variety and unexpectedness. + + +April 12th.--We all, except R-----, went to-day to the Vatican, where we +found our way to the Stanze of Raphael, these being four rooms, or halls, +painted with frescos. No doubt they were once very brilliant and +beautiful; but they have encountered hard treatment since Raphael's time, +especially when the soldiers of the Constable de Bourbon occupied these +apartments, and made fires on the mosaic floors. The entire walls and +ceilings are covered with pictures; but the handiwork or designs of +Raphael consist of paintings on the four sides of each room, and include +several works of art. The School of Athens is perhaps the most +celebrated; and the longest side of the largest hall is occupied by a +battle-piece, of which the Emperor Constantine is the hero, and which +covers almost space enough for a real battle-field. There was a +wonderful light in one of the pictures,--that of St. Peter awakened in +his prison, by the angel; it really seemed to throw a radiance into the +hall below. I shall not pretend, however, to have been sensible of any +particular rapture at the sight of these frescos; so faded as they are, +so battered by the mischances of years, insomuch that, through all the +power and glory of Raphael's designs, the spectator cannot but be +continually sensible that the groundwork of them is an old plaster wall. +They have been scrubbed, I suppose,--brushed, at least,--a thousand times +over, till the surface, brilliant or soft, as Raphael left it, must have +been quite rubbed off, and with it, all the consummate finish, and +everything that made them originally delightful. The sterner features +remain, the skeleton of thought, but not the beauty that once clothed it. +In truth, the frescos, excepting a few figures, never had the real touch +of Raphael's own hand upon them, having been merely designed by him, and +finished by his scholars, or by other artists. + +The halls themselves are specimens of antique magnificence, paved with +elaborate mosaics; and wherever there is any wood-work, it is richly +carved with foliage and figures. In their newness, and probably for a +hundred years afterwards, there could not have been so brilliant a suite +of rooms in the world. + +Connected with them--at any rate, not far distant--is the little Chapel +of San Lorenzo, the very site of which, among the thousands of apartments +of the Vatican, was long forgotten, and its existence only known by +tradition. After it had been walled up, however, beyond the memory of +man, there was still a rumor of some beautiful frescos by Fra Angelico, +in an old chapel of Pope Nicholas V., that had strangely disappeared out +of the palace, and, search at length being made, it was discovered, and +entered through a window. It is a small, lofty room, quite covered over +with frescos of sacred subjects, both on the walls and ceiling, a good +deal faded, yet pretty distinctly preserved. It would have been no +misfortune to me, if the little old chapel had remained still hidden. + +We next issued into the Loggie, which consist of a long gallery, or +arcade or colonnade, the whole extent of which was once beautifully +adorned by Raphael. These pictures are almost worn away, and so defaced +as to be untraceable and unintelligible, along the side wall of the +gallery; although traceries of Arabesque, and compartments where there +seem to have been rich paintings, but now only an indistinguishable waste +of dull color, are still to be seen. In the coved ceiling, however, +there are still some bright frescos, in better preservation than any +others; not particularly beautiful, nevertheless. I remember to have +seen (indeed, we ourselves possess them) a series of very spirited and +energetic engravings, old and coarse, of these frescos, the subject being +the Creation, and the early Scripture history; and I really think that +their translation of the pictures is better than the original. On +reference to Murray, I find that little more than the designs is +attributed to Raphael, the execution being by Giulio Romano and other +artists. + +Escaping from these forlorn splendors, we went into the +sculpture-gallery, where I was able to enjoy, in some small degree, two +or three wonderful works of art; and had a perception that there were a +thousand other wonders around me. It is as if the statues kept, for the +most part, a veil about them, which they sometimes withdraw, and let +their beauty gleam upon my sight; only a glimpse, or two or three +glimpses, or a little space of calm enjoyment, and then I see nothing but +a discolored marble image again. The Minerva Medica revealed herself +to-day. I wonder whether other people are more fortunate than myself, +and can invariably find their way to the inner soul of a work of art. I +doubt it; they look at these things for just a minute, and pass on, +without any pang of remorse, such as I feel, for quitting them so soon +and so willingly. I am partly sensible that some unwritten rules of +taste are making their way into my mind; that all this Greek beauty has +done something towards refining me, though I am still, however, a very +sturdy Goth. . . . . + + +April 15th.--Yesterday I went with J----- to the Forum, and descended +into the excavations at the base of the Capitol, and on the site of the +Basilica of Julia. The essential elements of old Rome are there: +columns, single, or in groups of two or three, still erect, but battered +and bruised at some forgotten time with infinite pains and labor; +fragments of other columns lying prostrate, together with rich capitals +and friezes; the bust of a colossal female statue, showing the bosom and +upper part of the arms, but headless; a long, winding space of pavement, +forming part of the ancient ascent to the Capitol, still as firm and +solid as ever; the foundation of the Capitol itself, wonderfully massive, +built of immense square blocks of stone, doubtless three thousand years +old, and durable for whatever may be the lifetime of the world; the Arch +of Septimius, Severus, with bas-reliefs of Eastern wars; the Column of +Phocas, with the rude series of steps ascending on four sides to its +pedestal; the floor of beautiful and precious marbles in the Basilica of +Julia, the slabs cracked across,--the greater part of them torn up and +removed, the grass and weeds growing up through the chinks of what +remain; heaps of bricks, shapeless bits of granite, and other ancient +rubbish, among which old men are lazily rummaging for specimens that a +stranger may be induced to buy,--this being an employment that suits the +indolence of a modern Roman. The level of these excavations is about +fifteen feet, I should judge, below the present street, which passes +through the Forum, and only a very small part of this alien surface has +been removed, though there can be no doubt that it hides numerous +treasures of art and monuments of history. Yet these remains do not make +that impression of antiquity upon me which Gothic ruins do. Perhaps it +is so because they belong to quite another system of society and epoch of +time, and, in view of them, we forget all that has intervened betwixt +them and us; being morally unlike and disconnected with them, and not +belonging to the same train of thought; so that we look across a gulf to +the Roman ages, and do not realize how wide the gulf is. Yet in that +intervening valley lie Christianity, the Dark Ages, the feudal system, +chivalry and romance, and a deeper life of the human race than Rome +brought to the verge of the gulf. + +To-day we went to the Colonna Palace, where we saw some fine pictures, +but, I think, no masterpieces. They did not depress and dishearten me so +much as the pictures in Roman palaces usually do; for they were in +remarkably good order as regards frames and varnish; indeed, I rather +suspect some of them had been injured by the means adopted to preserve +their beauty. The palace is now occupied by the French Ambassador, who +probably looks upon the pictures as articles of furniture and household +adornment, and does not choose to have squares of black and forlorn +canvas upon his walls. There were a few noble portraits by Vandyke; a +very striking one by Holbein, one or two by Titian, also by Guercino, and +some pictures by Rubens, and other forestieri painters, which refreshed +my weary eyes. But--what chiefly interested me was the magnificent and +stately hall of the palace; fifty-five of my paces in length, besides a +large apartment at either end, opening into it through a pillared space, +as wide as the gateway of a city. The pillars are of giallo antico, and +there are pilasters of the same all the way up and down the walls, +forming a perspective of the richest aspect, especially as the broad +cornice flames with gilding, and the spaces between the pilasters are +emblazoned with heraldic achievements and emblems in gold, and there are +Venetian looking-glasses, richly decorated over the surface with +beautiful pictures of flowers and Cupids, through which you catch the +gleam of the mirror; and two rows of splendid chandeliers extend from end +to end of the hall, which, when lighted up, if ever it be lighted up, +now-a-nights, must be the most brilliant interior that ever mortal eye +beheld. The ceiling glows with pictures in fresco, representing scenes +connected with the history of the Colonna family; and the floor is paved +with beautiful marbles, polished and arranged in square and circular +compartments; and each of the many windows is set in a great +architectural frame of precious marble, as large as the portal of a door. +The apartment at the farther end of the hall is elevated above it, and is +attained by several marble steps, whence it must have been glorious in +former days to have looked down upon a gorgeous throng of princes, +cardinals, warriors, and ladies, in such rich attire as might be worn +when the palace was built. It is singular how much freshness and +brightness it still retains; and the only objects to mar the effect were +some ancient statues and busts, not very good in themselves, and now made +dreary of aspect by their corroded surfaces,--the result of long burial +under ground. + +In the room at the entrance of the hall are two cabinets, each a wonder +in its way,--one being adorned with precious stones; the other with ivory +carvings of Michael Angelo's Last Judgment, and of the frescos of +Raphael's Loggie. The world has ceased to be so magnificent as it once +was. Men make no such marvels nowadays. The only defect that I remember +in this hall was in the marble steps that ascend to the elevated +apartment at the end of it; a large piece had been broken out of one of +them, leaving a rough irregular gap in the polished marble stair. It is +not easy to conceive what violence can have done this, without also doing +mischief to all the other splendor around it. + + +April 16th.--We went this morning to the Academy of St. Luke (the Fine +Arts Academy at Rome) in the Via Bonella, close by the Forum. We rang +the bell at the house door; and after a few moments it was unlocked or +unbolted by some unseen agency from above, no one making his appearance +to admit us. We ascended two or three flights of stairs, and entered a +hall, where was a young man, the custode, and two or three artists +engaged in copying some of the pictures. The collection not being vastly +large, and the pictures being in more presentable condition than usual, I +enjoyed them more than I generally do; particularly a Virgin and Child by +Vandyke, where two angels are singing and playing, one on a lute and the +other on a violin, to remind the holy infant of the strains he used to +hear in heaven. It is one of the few pictures that there is really any +pleasure in looking at. There were several paintings by Titian, mostly +of a voluptuous character, but not very charming; also two or more by +Guido, one of which, representing Fortune, is celebrated. They did not +impress me much, nor do I find myself strongly drawn towards Guido, +though there is no other painter who seems to achieve things so magically +and inscrutably as he sometimes does. Perhaps it requires a finer taste +than mine to appreciate him; and yet I do appreciate him so far as to see +that his Michael, for instance, is perfectly beautiful. . . . . In the +gallery, there are whole rows of portraits of members of the Academy of +St. Luke, most of whom, judging by their physiognomies, were very +commonplace people; a fact which makes itself visible in a portrait, +however much the painter may try to flatter his sitter. Several of the +pictures by Titian, Paul Veronese, and other artists, now exhibited in +the gallery, were formerly kept in a secret cabinet in the Capitol, being +considered of a too voluptuous character for the public eye. I did not +think them noticeably indecorous, as compared with a hundred other +pictures that are shown and looked at without scruple;--Calypso and her +nymphs, a knot of nude women by Titian, is perhaps as objectionable as +any. But even Titian's flesh-tints cannot keep, and have not kept their +warmth through all these centuries. The illusion and lifelikeness +effervesces and exhales out of a picture as it grows old; and we go on +talking of a charm that has forever vanished. + +From St. Luke's we went to San Pietro in Vincoli, occupying a fine +position on or near the summit of the Esquiline mount. A little abortion +of a man (and, by the by, there are more diminutive and ill-shapen men +and women in Rome than I ever saw elsewhere, a phenomenon to be accounted +for, perhaps, by their custom of wrapping the new-born infant in +swaddling-clothes), this two-foot abortion hastened before us, as we drew +nigh, to summon the sacristan to open the church door. It was a needless +service, for which we rewarded him with two baiocchi. San Pietro is a +simple and noble church, consisting of a nave divided from the side +aisles by rows of columns, that once adorned some ancient temple; and its +wide, unencumbered interior affords better breathing-space than most +churches in Rome. The statue of Moses occupies a niche in one of the +side aisles on the right, not far from the high altar. I found it grand +and sublime, with a beard flowing down like a cataract; a truly majestic +figure, but not so benign as it were desirable that such strength should +be. The horns, about which so much has been said, are not a very +prominent feature of the statue, being merely two diminutive tips rising +straight up over his forehead, neither adding to the grandeur of the +head, nor detracting sensibly from it. The whole force of this statue is +not to be felt in one brief visit, but I agree with an English gentleman, +who, with a large party, entered the church while we were there, in +thinking that Moses has "very fine features,"--a compliment for which the +colossal Hebrew ought to have made the Englishman a bow. + +Besides the Moses, the church contains some attractions of a pictorial +kind, which are reposited in the sacristy, into which we passed through a +side door. The most remarkable of these pictures is a face and bust of +Hope, by Guido, with beautiful eyes lifted upwards; it has a grace which +artists are continually trying to get into their innumerable copies, but +always without success; for, indeed, though nothing is more true than the +existence of this charm in the picture, yet if you try to analyze it, or +even look too intently at it, it vanishes, till you look again with more +trusting simplicity. + +Leaving the church, we wandered to the Coliseum, and to the public +grounds contiguous to them, where a score and more of French drummers +were beating each man his drum, without reference to any rub-a-dub but +his own. This seems to be a daily or periodical practice and point of +duty with them. After resting ourselves on one of the marble benches, we +came slowly home, through the Basilica of Constantine, and along the +shady sides of the streets and piazzas, sometimes, perforce, striking +boldly through the white sunshine, which, however, was not so hot as to +shrivel us up bodily. It has been a most beautiful and perfect day as +regards weather, clear and bright, very warm in the sunshine, yet +freshened throughout by a quiet stir in the air. Still there is +something in this air malevolent, or, at least, not friendly. The Romans +lie down and fall asleep in it, in any vacant part of the streets, and +wherever they can find any spot sufficiently clean, and among the ruins +of temples. I would not sleep in the open air for whatever my life may +be worth. + +On our way home, sitting in one of the narrow streets, we saw an old +woman spinning with a distaff; a far more ancient implement than the +spinning-wheel, which the housewives of other nations have long since +laid aside. + + +April 18th.--Yesterday, at noon, the whole family of us set out on a +visit to the Villa Borghese and its grounds, the entrance to which is +just outside of the Porta del Popolo. After getting within the grounds, +however, there is a long walk before reaching the casino, and we found +the sun rather uncomfortably hot, and the road dusty and white in the +sunshine; nevertheless, a footpath ran alongside of it most of the way +through the grass and among the young trees. It seems to me that the +trees do not put forth their leaves with nearly the same magical rapidity +in this southern land at the approach of summer, as they do in more +northerly countries. In these latter, having a much shorter time to +develop themselves, they feel the necessity of making the most of it. +But the grass, in the lawns and enclosures along which we passed, looked +already fit to be mowed, and it was interspersed with many flowers. + +Saturday being, I believe, the only day of the week on which visitors are +admitted to the casino, there were many parties in carriages, artists on +foot, gentlemen on horseback, and miscellaneous people, to whom the door +was opened by a custode on ringing a bell. The whole of the basement +floor of the casino, comprising a suite of beautiful rooms, is filled +with statuary. The entrance hall is a very splendid apartment, brightly +frescoed, and paved with ancient mosaics, representing the combats with +beasts and gladiators in the Coliseum, curious, though very rudely and +awkwardly designed, apparently after the arts had begun to decline. Many +of the specimens of sculpture displayed in these rooms are fine, but none +of them, I think, possess the highest merit. An Apollo is beautiful; a +group of a fighting Amazon, and her enemies trampled under her horse's +feet, is very impressive; a Faun, copied from that of Praxiteles, and +another, who seems to be dancing, were exceedingly pleasant to look at. +I like these strange, sweet, playful, rustic creatures, . . . . linked so +prettily, without monstrosity, to the lower tribes. . . . . Their +character has never, that I know of, been wrought out in literature; and +something quite good, funny, and philosophical, as well as poetic, might +very likely be educed from them. . . . . The faun is a natural and +delightful link betwixt human and brute life, with something of a divine +character intermingled. + +The gallery, as it is called, on the basement floor of the casino, is +sixty feet in length, by perhaps a third as much in breadth, and is +(after all I have seen at the Colonna Palace and elsewhere) a more +magnificent hall than I imagined to be in existence. It is floored with +rich marble in beautifully arranged compartments, and the walls are +almost entirely eased with marble of various sorts, the prevailing kind +being giallo antico, intermixed with verd antique, and I know not what +else; but the splendor of the giallo antico gives the character to the +room, and the large and deep niches along the walls appear to be lined +with the same material. Without coming to Italy, one can have no idea of +what beauty and magnificence are produced by these fittings up of +polished marble. Marble to an American means nothing but white +limestone. + +This hall, moreover, is adorned with pillars of Oriental alabaster, and +wherever is a space vacant of precious and richly colored marble it is +frescoed with arabesque ornaments; and over the whole is a coved and +vaulted ceiling, glowing with picture. There never can be anything +richer than the whole effect. As to the sculpture here it was not very +fine, so far as I can remember, consisting chiefly of busts of the +emperors in porphyry; but they served a good purpose in the upholstery +way. There were also magnificent tables, each composed of one great slab +of porphyry; and also vases of nero antico, and other rarest substance. +It remains to be mentioned that, on this almost summer day, I was quite +chilled in passing through these glorious halls; no fireplace anywhere; +no possibility of comfort; and in the hot season, when their coolness +might be agreeable, it would be death to inhabit them. + +Ascending a long winding staircase, we arrived at another suite of rooms, +containing a good many not very remarkable pictures, and a few more +pieces of statuary. Among the latter, is Canova's statue of Pauline, the +sister of Bonaparte, who is represented with but little drapery, and in +the character of Venus holding the apple in her hand. It is admirably +done, and, I have no doubt, a perfect likeness; very beautiful too; but +it is wonderful to see how the artificial elegance of the woman of this +world makes itself perceptible in spite of whatever simplicity she could +find in almost utter nakedness. The statue does not afford pleasure in +the contemplation. + +In one of these upper rooms are some works of Bernini; two of them, +Aeneas and Anchises, and David on the point of slinging a stone at +Goliath, have great merit, and do not tear and rend themselves quite out +of the laws and limits of marble, like his later sculpture. Here is also +his Apollo overtaking Daphne, whose feet take root, whose, finger-tips +sprout into twigs, and whose tender body roughens round about with bark, +as he embraces her. It did not seem very wonderful to me; not so good as +Hillard's description of it made me expect; and one does not enjoy these +freaks in marble. + +We were glad to emerge from the casino into the warm sunshine; and, for +my part, I made the best of my way to a large fountain, surrounded by a +circular stone seat of wide sweep, and sat down in a sunny segment of the +circle. Around grew a solemn company of old trees,--ilexes, I believe,-- +with huge, contorted trunks and evergreen branches, . . . . deep groves, +sunny openings, the airy gush of fountains, marble statues, dimly visible +in recesses of foliage, great urns and vases, terminal figures, temples, +--all these works of art looking as if they had stood there long enough +to feel at home, and to be on friendly and familiar terms with the grass +and trees. It is a most beautiful place, . . . . and the Malaria is its +true master and inhabitant! + + +April 22d.--We have been recently to the studio of Mr. Brown [now dead], +the American landscape-painter, and were altogether surprised and +delighted with his pictures. He is a plain, homely Yankee, quite +unpolished by his many years' residence in Italy; he talks +ungrammatically, and in Yankee idioms; walks with a strange, awkward gait +and stooping shoulders; is altogether unpicturesque; but wins one's +confidence by his very lack of grace. It is not often that we see an +artist so entirely free from affectation in his aspect and deportment. +His pictures were views of Swiss and Italian scenery, and were most +beautiful and true. One of them, a moonlight picture, was really +magical,-- the moon shining so brightly that it seemed to throw a light +even beyond the limits of the picture,--and yet his sunrises and sunsets, +and noontides too, were nowise inferior to this, although their +excellence required somewhat longer study, to be fully appreciated. I +seemed to receive more pleasure front Mr. Brown's pictures than from any +of the landscapes by the old masters; and the fact serves to strengthen +me in the belief that the most delicate if not the highest charm of a +picture is evanescent, and that we continue to admire pictures +prescriptively and by tradition, after the qualities that first won +them their fame have vanished. I suppose Claude was a greater +landscape-painter than Brown; but for my own pleasure I would prefer one +of the latter artist's pictures,--those of the former being quite changed +from what he intended them to be by the effect of time on his pigments. +Mr. Brown showed us some drawings from nature, done with incredible care +and minuteness of detail, as studies for his paintings. We complimented +him on his patience; but he said, "O, it's not patience,--it's love!" In +fact, it was a patient and most successful wooing of a beloved object, +which at last rewarded him by yielding itself wholly. + +We have likewise been to Mr. B------'s [now dead] studio, where we saw +several pretty statues and busts, and among them an Eve, with her wreath +of fig-leaves lying across her poor nudity; comely in some points, but +with a frightful volume of thighs and calves. I do not altogether see +the necessity of ever sculpturing another nakedness. Man is no longer a +naked animal; his clothes are as natural to him as his skin, and +sculptors have no more right to undress him than to flay him. + +Also, we have seen again William Story's Cleopatra,--a work of genuine +thought and energy, representing a terribly dangerous woman; quiet enough +for the moment, but very likely to spring upon you like a tigress. It is +delightful to escape to his creations from this universal prettiness, +which seems to be the highest conception of the crowd of modern +sculptors, and which they almost invariably attain. + +Miss Bremer called on us the other day. We find her very little changed +from what she was when she came to take tea and spend an evening at our +little red cottage, among the Berkshire hills, and went away so +dissatisfied with my conversational performances, and so laudatory of my +brow and eyes, while so severely criticising my poor mouth and chin. She +is the funniest little old fairy in person whom one can imagine, with a +huge nose, to which all the rest of her is but an insufficient appendage; +but you feel at once that she is most gentle, kind, womanly, sympathetic, +and true. She talks English fluently, in a low quiet voice, but with +such an accent that it is impossible to understand her without the +closest attention. This was the real cause of the failure of our +Berkshire interview; for I could not guess, half the time, what she was +saying, and, of course, had to take an uncertain aim with my responses. +A more intrepid talker than myself would have shouted his ideas across +the gulf; but, for me, there must first be a close and unembarrassed +contiguity with my companion, or I cannot say one real word. I doubt +whether I have ever really talked with half a dozen persons in my life, +either men or women. + +To-day my wife and I have been at the picture and sculpture galleries of +the Capitol. I rather enjoyed looking at several of the pictures, though +at this moment I particularly remember only a very beautiful face of a +man, one of two heads on the same canvas by Vandyke. Yes; I did look +with new admiration at Paul Veronese's "Rape of Europa." It must have +been, in its day, the most brilliant and rejoicing picture, the most +voluptuous, the most exuberant, that ever put the sunshine to shame. The +bull has all Jupiter in him, so tender and gentle, yet so passionate, +that you feel it indecorous to look at him; and Europa, under her thick +rich stuffs and embroideries, is all a woman. What a pity that such a +picture should fade, and perplex the beholder with such splendor shining +through such forlornness! + +We afterwards went into the sculpture-gallery, where I looked at the Faun +of Praxiteles, and was sensible of a peculiar charm in it; a sylvan +beauty and homeliness, friendly and wild at once. The lengthened, but +not preposterous ears, and the little tail, which we infer, have an +exquisite effect, and make the spectator smile in his very heart. This +race of fauns was the most delightful of all that antiquity imagined. It +seems to me that a story, with all sorts of fun and pathos in it, might +be contrived on the idea of their species having become intermingled with +the human race; a family with the faun blood in them, having prolonged +itself from the classic era till our own days. The tail might have +disappeared, by dint of constant intermarriages with ordinary mortals; +but the pretty hairy ears should occasionally reappear in members of the +family; and the moral instincts and intellectual characteristics of the +faun might be most picturesquely brought out, without detriment to the +human interest of the story. Fancy this combination in the person of a +young lady! + +I have spoken of Mr. Gibson's colored statues. It seems (at least Mr. +Nichols tells me) that he stains them with tobacco juice. . . . . Were he +to send a Cupid to America, he need not trouble himself to stain it +beforehand. + + +April 25th.--Night before last, my wife and I took a moonlight ramble +through Rome, it being a very beautiful night, warm enough for comfort, +and with no perceptible dew or dampness. We set out at about nine +o'clock, and, our general direction being towards the Coliseum, we soon +came to the Fountain of Trevi, full on the front of which the moonlight +fell, making Bernini's sculptures look stately and beautiful, though the +semicircular gush and fall of the cascade, and the many jets of the +water, pouring and bubbling into the great marble basin, are of far more +account than Neptune and his steeds, and the rest of the figures. . . . . + +We ascended the Capitoline Hill, and I felt a satisfaction in placing my +hand on those immense blocks of stone, the remains of the ancient +Capitol, which form the foundation of the present edifice, and will make +a sure basis for as many edifices as posterity may choose to rear upon +it, till the end of the world. It is wonderful, the solidity with which +those old Romans built; one would suppose they contemplated the whole +course of Time as the only limit of their individual life. This is not +so strange in the days of the Republic, when, probably, they believed in +the permanence of their institutions; but they still seemed to build for +eternity, in the reigns of the emperors, when neither rulers nor people +had any faith or moral substance, or laid any earnest grasp on life. + +Reaching the top of the Capitoline Hill, we ascended the steps of the +portal of the Palace of the Senator, and looked down into the piazza, +with the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in the centre of it. The +architecture that surrounds the piazza is very ineffective; and so, in my +opinion, are all the other architectural works of Michael Angelo, +including St. Peter's itself, of which he has made as little as could +possibly be made of such a vast pile of material. He balances everything +in such a way that it seems but half of itself. + +We soon descended into the piazza, and walked round and round the statue +of Marcus Aurelius, contemplating it from every point and admiring it in +all. . . . . On these beautiful moonlight nights, Rome appears to keep +awake and stirring, though in a quiet and decorous way. It is, in fact, +the pleasantest time for promenades, and we both felt less wearied than +by any promenade in the daytime, of similar extent, since our residence +in Rome. In future, I mean to walk often after nightfall. + +Yesterday, we set out betimes, and ascended the dome of St. Peter's. The +best view of the interior of the church, I think, is from the first +gallery beneath the dome. The whole inside of the dome is set with +mosaic-work, the separate pieces being, so far as I could see, about half +an inch square. Emerging on the roof, we had a fine view of all the +surrounding Rome, including the Mediterranean Sea in the remote distance. +Above us still rose the whole mountain of the great dome, and it made an +impression on me of greater height and size than I had yet been able to +receive. The copper ball at the summit looked hardly bigger than a man +could lift; and yet, a little while afterwards, U----, J-----, and I +stood all together in that ball, which could have contained a dozen more +along with us. The esplanade of the roof is, of course, very extensive; +and along the front of it are ranged the statues which we see from below, +and which, on nearer examination, prove to be roughly hewn giants. There +is a small house on the roof, where, probably, the custodes of this part +of the edifice reside; and there is a fountain gushing abundantly into a +stone trough, that looked like an old sarcophagus. It is strange where +the water comes from at such a height. The children tasted it, and +pronounced it very warm and disagreeable. After taking in the prospect +on all sides we rang a bell, which summoned a man, who directed us +towards a door in the side of the dome, where a custode was waiting to +admit us. Hitherto the ascent had been easy, along a slope without +stairs, up which, I believe, people sometimes ride on donkeys. The rest +of the way we mounted steep and narrow staircases, winding round within +the wall, or between the two walls of the dome, and growing narrower and +steeper, till, finally, there is but a perpendicular iron ladder, by +means of which to climb into the copper ball. Except through small +windows and peep-holes, there is no external prospect of a higher point +than the roof of the church. Just beneath the ball there is a circular +room capable of containing a large company, and a door which ought to +give access to a gallery on the outside; but the custode informed us that +this door is never opened. As I have said, U----, J-----, and I +clambered into the copper ball, which we found as hot as an oven; and, +after putting our hands on its top, and on the summit of St. Peter's, +were glad to clamber down again. I have made some mistake, after all, in +my narration. There certainly is a circular balcony at the top of the +dome, for I remember walking round it, and looking, not only across the +country, but downwards along the ribs of the dome; to which are attached +the iron contrivances for illuminating it on Easter Sunday. . . . . + +Before leaving the church we went to look at the mosaic copy of the +"Transfiguration," because we were going to see the original in the +Vatican, and wished to compare the two. Going round to the entrance of +the Vatican, we went first to the manufactory of mosaics, to which we had +a ticket of admission. We found it a long series of rooms, in which the +mosaic artists were at work, chiefly in making some medallions of the +heads of saints for the new church of St. Paul's. It was rather coarse +work, and it seemed to me that the mosaic copy was somewhat stiffer and +more wooden than the original, the bits of stone not flowing into color +quite so freely as paint from a brush. There was no large picture now in +process of being copied; but two or three artists were employed on small +and delicate subjects. One had a Holy Family of Raphael in hand; and the +Sibyls of Guercino and Domenichino were hanging on the wall, apparently +ready to be put into mosaic. Wherever great skill and delicacy, on the +artists' part were necessary, they seemed quite adequate to the occasion; +but, after all, a mosaic of any celebrated picture is but a copy of a +copy. The substance employed is a stone-paste, of innumerable different +views, and in bits of various sizes, quantities of which were seen in +cases along the whole series of rooms. + +We next ascended an amazing height of staircases, and walked along I know +not what extent of passages, . . . . till we reached the picture-gallery +of the Vatican, into which I had never been before. There are but three +rooms, all lined with red velvet, on which hung about fifty pictures, +each one of them, no doubt, worthy to be considered a masterpiece. In +the first room were three Murillos, all so beautiful that I could have +spent the day happily in looking at either of them; for, methinks, of all +painters he is the tenderest and truest. I could not enjoy these +pictures now, however, because in the next room, and visible through the +open door, hung the "Transfiguration." Approaching it, I felt that the +picture was worthy of its fame, and was far better than I could at once +appreciate; admirably preserved, too, though I fully believe it must have +possessed a charm when it left Raphael's hand that has now vanished +forever. As church furniture and an external adornment, the mosaic copy +is preferable to the original, but no copy could ever reproduce all the +life and expression which we see here. Opposite to it hangs the +"Communion of St. Jerome," the aged, dying saint, half torpid with death +already, partaking of the sacrament, and a sunny garland of cherubs in +the upper part of the picture, looking down upon him, and quite +comforting the spectator with the idea that the old man needs only to be +quite dead in order to flit away with them. As for the other pictures I +did but glance at, and have forgotten them. + +The "Transfiguration" is finished with great minuteness and detail, the +weeds and blades of grass in the foreground being as distinct as if they +were growing in a natural soil. A partly decayed stick of wood with the +bark is likewise given in close imitation of nature. The reflection of a +foot of one of the apostles is seen in a pool of water at the verge of +the picture. One or two heads and arms seem almost to project from the +canvas. There is great lifelikeness and reality, as well as higher +qualities. The face of Jesus, being so high aloft and so small in the +distance, I could not well see; but I am impressed with the idea that it +looks too much like human flesh and blood to be in keeping with the +celestial aspect of the figure, or with the probabilities of the scene, +when the divinity and immortality of the Saviour beamed from within him +through the earthly features that ordinarily shaded him. As regards the +composition of the picture, I am not convinced of the propriety of its +being in two so distinctly separate parts,--the upper portion not +thinking of the lower, and the lower portion not being aware of the +higher. It symbolizes, however, the spiritual short-sightedness of +mankind that, amid the trouble and grief of the lower picture, not a +single individual, either of those who seek help or those who would +willingly afford it, lifts his eyes to that region, one glimpse of which +would set everything right. One or two of the disciples point upward, +but without really knowing what abundance of help is to be had there. + + +April 27th.--To-day we have all been with Mr. Akers to some studios of +painters; first to that of Mr. Wilde, an artist originally from Boston. +His pictures are principally of scenes from Venice, and are miracles of +color, being as bright as if the light were transmitted through rubies +and sapphires. And yet, after contemplating them awhile, we became +convinced that the painter had not gone in the least beyond nature, but, +on the contrary, had fallen short of brilliancies which no palette, or +skill, or boldness in using color, could attain. I do not quite know +whether it is best to attempt these things. They may be found in nature, +no doubt, but always so tempered by what surrounds them, so put out of +sight even while they seem full before our eyes, that we question the +accuracy of a faithful reproduction of them on canvas. There was a +picture of sunset, the whole sky of which would have outshone any gilded +frame that could have been put around it. There was a most gorgeous +sketch of a handful of weeds and leaves, such as may be seen strewing +acres of forest-ground in an American autumn. I doubt whether any other +man has ever ventured to paint a picture like either of these two, the +Italian sunset or the American autumnal foliage. Mr. Wilde, who is still +young, talked with genuine feeling and enthusiasm of his art, and is +certainly a man of genius. + +We next went to the studio of an elderly Swiss artist, named Mueller, I +believe, where we looked at a great many water-color and crayon drawings +of scenes in Italy, Greece, and Switzerland. The artist was a quiet, +respectable, somewhat heavy-looking old gentleman, from whose aspect one +would expect a plodding pertinacity of character rather than quickness of +sensibility. He must have united both these qualities, however, to +produce such pictures as these, such faithful transcripts of whatever +Nature has most beautiful to show, and which she shows only to those who +love her deeply and patiently. They are wonderful pictures, compressing +plains, seas, and mountains, with miles and miles of distance, into the +space of a foot or two, without crowding anything or leaving out a +feature, and diffusing the free, blue atmosphere throughout. The works +of the English watercolor artists which I saw at the Manchester +Exhibition seemed to me nowise equal to these. Now, here are three +artists, Mr. Brown, Mr. Wilde, and Mr. Mueller, who have smitten me with +vast admiration within these few days past, while I am continually +turning away disappointed from the landscapes of the most famous among +the old masters, unable to find any charm or illusion in them. Yet I +suppose Claude, Poussin, and Salvator Rosa must have won their renown by +real achievements. But the glory of a picture fades like that of a +flower. + +Contiguous to Mr. Mueller's studio was that of a young German artist, not +long resident in Rome, and Mr. Akers proposed that we should go in there, +as a matter of kindness to the young man, who is scarcely known at all, +and seldom has a visitor to look at his pictures. His studio comprised +his whole establishment; for there was his little bed, with its white +drapery, in a corner of the small room, and his dressing-table, with its +brushes and combs, while the easel and the few sketches of Italian scenes +and figures occupied the foreground. I did not like his pictures very +well, but would gladly have bought them all if I could have afforded it, +the artist looked so cheerful, patient, and quiet, doubtless amidst huge +discouragement. He is probably stubborn of purpose, and is the sort of +man who will improve with every year of his life. We could not speak his +language, and were therefore spared the difficulty of paying him any +compliments; but Miss Shepard said a few kind words to him in German. +and seemed quite to win his heart, insomuch that he followed her with +bows and smiles a long way down the staircase. It is a terrible +business, this looking at pictures, whether good or bad, in the presence +of the artists who paint them; it is as great a bore as to hear a poet +read his own verses. It takes away all my pleasure in seeing the +pictures, and even remakes me question the genuineness of the impressions +which I receive from them. + +After this latter visit Mr. Akers conducted us to the shop of the +jeweller Castellani, who is a great reproducer of ornaments in the old +Roman and Etruscan fashion. These antique styles are very fashionable +just now, and some of the specimens he showed us were certainly very +beautiful, though I doubt whether their quaintness and old-time +curiousness, as patterns of gewgaws dug out of immemorial tombs, be not +their greatest charm. We saw the toilet-case of an Etruscan lady,--that +is to say, a modern imitation of it,--with her rings for summer and +winter, and for every day of the week, and for thumb and fingers; her +ivory comb; her bracelets; and more knick-knacks than I can half +remember. Splendid things of our own time were likewise shown us; a +necklace of diamonds worth eighteen thousand scudi, together with +emeralds and opals and great pearls. Finally we came away, and my wife +and Miss Shepard were taken up by the Misses Weston, who drove with them +to visit the Villa Albani. During their drive my wife happened to raise +her arm, and Miss Shepard espied a little Greek cross of gold which had +attached itself to the lace of her sleeve. . . . . Pray heaven the +jeweller may not discover his loss before we have time to restore the +spoil! He is apparently so free and careless in displaying his precious +wares,--putting inestimable genes and brooches great and small into the +hands of strangers like ourselves, and leaving scores of them strewn on +the top of his counter,--that it would seem easy enough to take a diamond +or two; but I suspect there must needs be a sharp eye somewhere. Before +we left the shop he requested me to honor him with my autograph in a +large book that was full of the names of his visitors. This is probably +a measure of precaution. + + +April 30th.--I went yesterday to the sculpture-gallery of the Capitol, +and looked pretty thoroughly through the busts of the illustrious men, +and less particularly at those of the emperors and their relatives. I +likewise took particular note of the Faun of Praxiteles, because the idea +keeps recurring to me of writing a little romance about it, and for that +reason I shall endeavor to set down a somewhat minutely itemized detail +of the statue and its surroundings. . . . . + +We have had beautiful weather for two or three days, very warm in the +sun, yet always freshened by the gentle life of a breeze, and quite cool +enough the moment you pass within the limit of the shade. . . . . + +In the morning there are few people there (on the Pincian) except the +gardeners, lazily trimming the borders, or filling their watering-pots +out of the marble-brimmed basin of the fountain; French soldiers, in +their long mixed-blue surtouts, and wide scarlet pantaloons, chatting +with here and there a nursery-maid and playing with the child in her +care; and perhaps a few smokers, . . . . choosing each a marble seat or +wooden bench in sunshine or shade as best suits him. In the afternoon, +especially within an hour or two of sunset, the gardens are much more +populous, and the seats, except when the sun falls full upon them, are +hard to come by. Ladies arrive in carriages, splendidly dressed; +children are abundant, much impeded in their frolics, and rendered stiff +and stately by the finery which they wear; English gentlemen and +Americans with their wives and families; the flower of the Roman +population, too, both male and female, mostly dressed with great nicety; +but a large intermixture of artists, shabbily picturesque; and other +persons, not of the first stamp. A French band, comprising a great many +brass instruments, by and by begins to play; and what with music, +sunshine, a delightful atmosphere, flowers, grass, well-kept pathways, +bordered with box-hedges, pines, cypresses, horse-chestnuts, flowering +shrubs, and all manner of cultivated beauty, the scene is a very lively +and agreeable one. The fine equipages that drive round and round through +the carriage-paths are another noticeable item. The Roman aristocracy +are magnificent in their aspect, driving abroad with beautiful horses, +and footmen in rich liveries, sometimes as many as three behind and one +sitting by the coachman. + + +May 1st.--This morning, I wandered for the thousandth time through some +of the narrow intricacies of Rome, stepping here and there into a church. +I do not know the name of the first one, nor had it anything that in Rome +could be called remarkable, though, till I came here, I was not aware +that any such churches existed,--a marble pavement in variegated +compartments, a series of shrines and chapels round the whole floor, each +with its own adornment of sculpture and pictures, its own altar with tall +wax tapers before it, some of which were burning; a great picture over +the high altar, the whole interior of the church ranged round with +pillars and pilasters, and lined, every inch of it, with rich yellow +marble. Finally, a frescoed ceiling over the nave and transepts, and a +dome rising high above the central part, and filled with frescos brought +to such perspective illusion, that the edges seem to project into the +air. Two or three persons are kneeling at separate shrines; there are +several wooden confessionals placed against the walls, at one of which +kneels a lady, confessing to a priest who sits within; the tapers are +lighted at the high altar and at one of the shrines; an attendant is +scrubbing the marble pavement with a broom and water, a process, I should +think, seldom practised in Roman churches. By and by the lady finishes +her confession, kisses the priest's hand, and sits down in one of the +chairs which are placed about the floor, while the priest, in a black +robe, with a short, white, loose jacket over his shoulders, disappears by +a side door out of the church. I, likewise, finding nothing attractive +in the pictures, take my departure. Protestantism needs a new apostle to +convert it into something positive. . . . . + +I now found my way to the Piazza Navona. It is to me the most +interesting piazza in Rome; a large oblong space, surrounded with tall, +shabby houses, among which there are none that seem to be palaces. The +sun falls broadly over the area of the piazza, and shows the fountains in +it;--one a large basin with great sea-monsters, probably of Bernini's +inventions, squirting very small streams of water into it; another of the +fountains I do not at all remember; but the central one is an immense +basin, over which is reared an old Egyptian obelisk, elevated on a rock, +which is cleft into four arches. Monstrous devices in marble, I know not +of what purport, are clambering about the cloven rock or burrowing +beneath it; one and all of them are superfluous and impertinent, the only +essential thing being the abundant supply of water in the fountain. This +whole Piazza Navona is usually the scene of more business than seems to +be transacted anywhere else in Rome; in some parts of it rusty iron is +offered for sale, locks and keys, old tools, and all such rubbish; in +other parts vegetables, comprising, at this season, green peas, onions, +cauliflowers, radishes, artichokes, and others with which I have never +made acquaintance; also, stalls or wheelbarrows containing apples, +chestnuts (the meats dried and taken out of the shells), green almonds in +their husks, and squash-seeds,--salted and dried in an oven,--apparently +a favorite delicacy of the Romans. There are also lemons and oranges; +stalls of fish, mostly about the size of smelts, taken from the Tiber; +cigars of various qualities, the best at a baioccho and a half apiece; +bread in loaves or in small rings, a great many of which are strung +together on a long stick, and thus carried round for sale. Women and men +sit with these things for sale, or carry them about in trays or on boards +on their heads, crying them with shrill and hard voices. There is a +shabby crowd and much babble; very little picturesqueness of costume or +figure, however, the chief exceptions being, here and there, an old +white-bearded beggar. A few of the men have the peasant costume,--a +short jacket and breeches of light blue cloth and white stockings,--the +ugliest dress I ever saw. The women go bareheaded, and seem fond of +scarlet and other bright colors, but are homely and clumsy in form. The +piazza is dingy in its general aspect, and very dirty, being strewn with +straw, vegetable-tops, and the rubbish of a week's marketing; but there +is more life in it than one sees elsewhere in Rome. + +On one side of the piazza is the Church of St. Agnes, traditionally said +to stand on the site of the house where that holy maiden was exposed to +infamy by the Roman soldiers, and where her modesty and innocence were +saved by miracle. I went into the church, and found it very splendid, +with rich marble columns, all as brilliant as if just built; a frescoed +dome above; beneath, a range of chapels all round the church, ornamented +not with pictures but bas-reliefs, the figures of which almost step and +struggle out of the marble. They did not seem very admirable as works of +art, none of them explaining themselves or attracting me long enough to +study out their meaning; but, as part of the architecture of the church, +they had a good effect. Out of the busy square two or three persons had +stepped into this bright and calm seclusion to pray and be devout, for a +little while; and, between sunrise and sunset of the bustling market-day, +many doubtless snatch a moment to refresh their souls. + +In the Pantheon (to-day) it was pleasant looking up to the circular +opening, to see the clouds flitting across it, sometimes covering it +quite over, then permitting a glimpse of sky, then showing all the circle +of sunny blue. Then would come the ragged edge of a cloud, brightened +throughout with sunshine, passing and changing quickly,--not that the +divine smile was not always the same, but continually variable through +the medium of earthly influences. The great slanting beam of sunshine +was visible all the way down to the pavement, falling upon motes of dust, +or a thin smoke of incense imperceptible in the shadow. Insects were +playing to and fro in the beam, high up toward the opening. There is a +wonderful charm in the naturalness of all this, and one might fancy a +swarm of cherubs coming down through the opening and sporting in the +broad ray, to gladden the faith of worshippers on the pavement beneath; +or angels bearing prayers upward, or bringing down responses to them, +visible with dim brightness as they pass through the pathway of heaven's +radiance, even the many hues of their wings discernible by a trusting +eye; though, as they pass into the shadow, they vanish like the motes. +So the sunbeam would represent those rays of divine intelligence which +enable us to see wonders and to know that they are natural things. + +Consider the effect of light and shade in a church where the windows are +open and darkened with curtains that are occasionally lifted by a breeze, +letting in the sunshine, which whitens a carved tombstone on the pavement +of the church, disclosing, perhaps, the letters of the name and +inscription, a death's-head, a crosier, or other emblem; then the curtain +falls and the bright spot vanishes. + + +May 8th.--This morning my wife and I went to breakfast with Mrs. William +Story at the Barberini Palace, expecting to meet Mrs. Jameson, who has +been in Rome for a month or two. We had a very pleasant breakfast, but +Mrs. Jameson was not present on account of indisposition, and the only +other guests were Mrs. A------ and Mrs. H------, two sensible American +ladies. Mrs. Story, however, received a note from Mrs. Jameson, asking +her to bring us to see her at her lodgings; so in the course of the +afternoon she called on us, and took us thither in her carriage. Mrs. +Jameson lives on the first piano of an old palazzo on the Via di Ripetta, +nearly opposite the ferry-way across the Tiber, and affording a pleasant +view of the yellow river and the green bank and fields on the other side. +I had expected to see an elderly lady, but not quite so venerable a one +as Mrs. Jameson proved to be; a rather short, round, and massive +personage, of benign and agreeable aspect, with a sort of black skullcap +on her head, beneath which appeared her hair, which seemed once to have +been fair, and was now almost white. I should take her to be about +seventy years old. She began to talk to us with affectionate +familiarity, and was particularly kind in her manifestations towards +myself, who, on my part, was equally gracious towards her. In truth, I +have found great pleasure and profit in her works, and was glad to hear +her say that she liked mine. We talked about art, and she showed us a +picture leaning up against the wall of the room; a quaint old Byzantine +painting, with a gilded background, and two stiff figures (our Saviour +and St. Catherine) standing shyly at a sacred distance from one another, +and going through the marriage ceremony. There was a great deal of +expression in their faces and figures; and the spectator feels, moreover, +that the artist must have been a devout man,--an impression which we +seldom receive from modern pictures, however awfully holy the subject, or +however consecrated the place they hang in. Mrs. Jameson seems to be +familiar with Italy, its people and life, as well as with its +picture-galleries. She is said to be rather irascible in her temper; but +nothing could be sweeter than her voice, her look, and all her +manifestations to-day. When we were coming away she clasped my hand in +both of hers, and again expressed the pleasure of having seen me, and her +gratitude to me for calling on her; nor did I refrain from responding +Amen to these effusions. . . . . + +Taking leave of Mrs. Jameson, we drove through the city, and out of the +Lateran Gate; first, however, waiting a long while at Monaldini's +bookstore in the Piazza de' Spagna for Mr. Story, whom we finally took up +in the street, after losing nearly an hour. + +Just two miles beyond the gate is a space on the green campagna where, +for some time past, excavations have been in progress, which thus far +have resulted in the discovery of several tombs, and the old, buried, and +almost forgotten church or basilica of San Stefano. It is a beautiful +spot, that of the excavations, with the Alban hills in the distance, and +some heavy, sunlighted clouds hanging above, or recumbent at length upon +them, and behind the city and its mighty dome. The excavations are an +object of great interest both to the Romans and to strangers, and there +were many carriages and a great many visitors viewing the progress of the +works, which are carried forward with greater energy than anything else I +have seen attempted at Rome. A short time ago the ground in the vicinity +was a green surface, level, except here and there a little hillock, or +scarcely perceptible swell; the tomb of Cecilia Metella showing itself a +mile or two distant, and other rugged ruins of great tombs rising on the +plain. Now the whole site of the basilica is uncovered, and they have +dug into the depths of several tombs, bringing to light precious marbles, +pillars, a statue, and elaborately wrought sarcophagi; and if they were +to dig into almost every other inequality that frets the surface of the +campagna, I suppose the result might be the same. You cannot dig six +feet downward anywhere into the soil, deep enough to hollow out a grave, +without finding some precious relic of the past; only they lose somewhat +of their value when you think that you can almost spurn them out of the +ground with your foot. It is a very wonderful arrangement of Providence +that these things should have been preserved for a long series of coming +generations by that accumulation of dust and soil and grass and trees and +houses over them, which will keep them safe, and cause their reappearance +above ground to be gradual, so that the rest of the world's lifetime may +have for one of its enjoyments the uncovering of old Rome. + +The tombs were accessible by long flights of steps going steeply +downward, and they were thronged with so many visitors that we had to +wait some little time for our own turn. In the first into which we +descended we found two tombs side by side, with only a partition wall +between; the outer tomb being, as is supposed, a burial-place constructed +by the early Christians, while the adjoined and minor one was a work of +pagan Rome about the second century after Christ. The former was much +less interesting than the latter. It contained some large sarcophagi, +with sculpture upon them of rather heathenish aspect; and in the centre +of the front of each sarcophagus was a bust in bas-relief, the features +of which had never been wrought, but were left almost blank, with only +the faintest indications of a nose, for instance. It is supposed that +sarcophagi were kept on hand by the sculptors, and were bought ready +made, and that it was customary to work out the portrait of the deceased +upon the blank face in the centre; but when there was a necessity for +sudden burial, as may have been the case in the present instance, this +was dispensed with. + +The inner tomb was found without any earth in it, just as it had been +left when the last old Roman was buried there; and it being only a week +or two since it was opened, there was very little intervention of +persons, though much of time, between the departure of the friends of the +dead and our own visit. It is a square room, with a mosaic pavement, and +is six or seven paces in length and breadth, and as much in height to the +vaulted roof. The roof and upper walls are beautifully ornamented with +frescos, which were very bright when first discovered, but have rapidly +faded since the admission of the air, though the graceful and joyous +designs, flowers and fruits and trees, are still perfectly discernible. +The room must have been anything but sad and funereal; on the contrary, +as cheerful a saloon, and as brilliant, if lighted up, as one could +desire to feast in. It contained several marble sarcophagi, covering +indeed almost the whole floor, and each of them as much as three or four +feet in length, and two much longer. The longer ones I did not +particularly examine, and they seemed comparatively plainer; but the +smaller sarcophagi were covered with the most delicately wrought and +beautiful bas-reliefs that I ever beheld; a throng of glad and lovely +shapes in marble clustering thickly and chasing one another round the +sides of these old stone coffins. The work was as perfect as when the +sculptor gave it his last touch; and if he had wrought it to be placed in +a frequented hall, to be seen and admired by continual crowds as long as +the marble should endure, he could not have chiselled with better skill +and care, though his work was to be shut up in the depths of a tomb +forever. This seems to me the strangest thing in the world, the most +alien from modern sympathies. If they had built their tombs above +ground, one could understand the arrangement better; but no sooner had +they adorned them so richly, and furnished them with such exquisite +productions of art, than they annihilated them with darkness. It was an +attempt, no doubt, to render the physical aspect of death cheerful, but +there was no good sense in it. + +We went down also into another tomb close by, the walls of which were +ornamented with medallions in stucco. These works presented a numerous +series of graceful designs, wrought by the hand in the short space of +(Mr. Story said it could not have been more than) five or ten minutes, +while the wet plaster remained capable of being moulded; and it was +marvellous to think of the fertility of the artist's fancy, and the +rapidity and accuracy with which he must have given substantial existence +to his ideas. These too--all of them such adornments as would have +suited a festal hall--were made to be buried forthwith in eternal +darkness. I saw and handled in this tomb a great thigh-bone, and +measured it with my own; it was one of many such relics of the guests who +were laid to sleep in these rich chambers. The sarcophagi that served +them for coffins could not now be put to a more appropriate use than as +wine-coolers in a modern dining-room; and it would heighten the enjoyment +of a festival to look at them. + +We would gladly have stayed much longer; but it was drawing towards +sunset, and the evening, though bright, was unusually cool, so we drove +home; and on the way, Mr. Story told us of the horrible practices of the +modern Romans with their dead,--how they place them in the church, where, +at midnight, they are stripped of their last rag of funeral attire, put +into the rudest wooden coffins, and thrown into a trench,--a half-mile, +for instance, of promiscuous corpses. This is the fate of all, except +those whose friends choose to pay an exorbitant sum to have them buried +under the pavement of a church. The Italians have an excessive dread of +corpses, and never meddle with those of their nearest and dearest +relatives. They have a horror of death, too, especially of sudden death, +and most particularly of apoplexy; and no wonder, as it gives no time for +the last rites of the Church, and so exposes them to a fearful risk of +perdition forever. On the whole, the ancient practice was, perhaps, the +preferable one; but Nature has made it very difficult for us to do +anything pleasant and satisfactory with a dead body. God knows best; but +I wish he had so ordered it that our mortal bodies, when we have done +with them, might vanish out of sight and sense, like bubbles. A person +of delicacy hates to think of leaving such a burden as his decaying +mortality to the disposal of his friends; but, I say again, how +delightful it would be, and how helpful towards our faith in a blessed +futurity, if the dying could disappear like vanishing bubbles, leaving, +perhaps, a sweet fragrance diffused for a minute or two throughout the +death-chamber. This would be the odor of sanctity! And if sometimes the +evaporation of a sinful soul should leave an odor not so delightful, a +breeze through the open windows would soon waft it quite away. + +Apropos of the various methods of disposing of dead bodies, William Story +recalled a newspaper paragraph respecting a ring, with a stone of a new +species in it, which a widower was observed to wear upon his finger. +Being questioned as to what the gem was, he answered, "It is my wife." +He had procured her body to be chemically resolved into this stone. I +think I could make a story on this idea: the ring should be one of the +widower's bridal gifts to a second wife; and, of course, it should have +wondrous and terrible qualities, symbolizing all that disturbs the quiet +of a second marriage,--on the husband's part, remorse for his +inconstancy, and the constant comparison between the dead wife of his +youth, now idealized, and the grosser reality which he had now adopted +into her place; while on the new wife's finger it should give pressures, +shooting pangs into her heart, jealousies of the past, and all such +miserable emotions. + +By the by, the tombs which we looked at and entered may have been +originally above ground, like that of Cecilia Metella, and a hundred +others along the Appian Way; though, even in this case, the beautiful +chambers must have been shut up in darkness. Had there been windows, +letting in the light upon the rich frescos and exquisite sculptures, +there would have been a satisfaction in thinking of the existence of so +much visual beauty, though no eye had the privilege to see it. But +darkness, to objects of sight, is annihilation, as long as the darkness +lasts. + + +May 9th.--Mrs. Jameson called this forenoon to ask us to go and see her +this evening; . . . . so that I had to receive her alone, devolving part +of the burden on Miss Shepard and the three children, all of whom I +introduced to her notice. Finding that I had not been farther beyond the +walls of Rome than the tomb of Cecilia Metella, she invited me to take a +drive of a few miles with her this afternoon. . . . . The poor lady seems +to be very lame; and I am sure I was grateful to her for having taken the +trouble to climb up the seventy steps of our staircase, and felt pain at +seeing her go down them again. It looks fearfully like the gout, the +affection being apparently in one foot. The hands, by the way, are +white, and must once have been, perhaps now are, beautiful. She must +have been a perfectly pretty woman in her day,--a blue or gray eyed, +fair-haired beauty. I think that her hair is not white, but only flaxen +in the extreme. + +At half past four, according to appointment, I arrived at her lodgings, +and had not long to wait before her little one-horse carriage drove up to +the door, and we set out, rumbling along the Via Scrofa, and through the +densest part of the city, past the theatre of Marcellus, and thence along +beneath the Palatine Hill, and by the Baths of Caracalla, through the +gate of San Sebastiano. After emerging from the gate, we soon came to +the little Church of "Domine, quo vadis?" Standing on the spot where St. +Peter is said to have seen a vision of our Saviour bearing his cross, +Mrs. Jameson proposed to alight; and, going in, we saw a cast from +Michael Angelo's statue of the Saviour; and not far from the threshold of +the church, yet perhaps in the centre of the edifice, which is extremely +small, a circular stone is placed, a little raised above the pavement, +and surrounded by a low wooden railing. Pointing to this stone, Mrs. +Jameson showed me the prints of two feet side by side, impressed into its +surface, as if a person had stopped short while pursuing his way to Rome. +These, she informed me, were supposed to be the miraculous prints of the +Saviour's feet; but on looking into Murray, I am mortified to find that +they are merely facsimiles of the original impressions, which are +treasured up among the relics of the neighboring Basilica of San +Sebastiano. The marks of sculpture seemed to me, indeed, very evident in +these prints, nor did they indicate such beautiful feet as should have +belonged to the hearer of the best of glad tidings. + +Hence we drove on a little way farther, and came to the Basilica of San +Sebastiano, where also we alighted, and, leaning on my arm, Mrs. Jameson +went in. It is a stately and noble interior, with a spacious +unencumbered nave, and a flat ceiling frescoed and gilded. In a chapel +at the left of the entrance is the tomb of St. Sebastian,--a sarcophagus +containing his remains, raised on high before the altar, and beneath it a +recumbent statue of the saint pierced with gilded arrows. The sculpture +is of the school of Bernini,--done after the design of Bernini himself, +Mrs. Jameson said, and is more agreeable and in better taste than most of +his works. We walked round the basilica, glancing at the pictures in the +various chapels, none of which seemed to be of remarkable merit, although +Mrs. Jameson pronounced rather a favorable verdict on one of St. Francis. +She says that she can read a picture like the page of a book; in fact, +without perhaps assuming more taste and judgment than really belong to +her, it was impossible not to perceive that she gave her companion no +credit for knowing one single simplest thing about art. Nor, on the +whole, do I think she underrated me; the only mystery is, how she came to +be so well aware of my ignorance on artistical points. + +In the basilica the Franciscan monks were arranging benches on the floor +of the nave, and some peasant children and grown people besides were +assembling, probably to undergo an examination in the catechism, and we +hastened to depart, lest our presence should interfere with their +arrangements. At the door a monk met us, and asked for a contribution in +aid of his church, or some other religious purpose. Boys, as we drove +on, ran stoutly along by the side of the chaise, begging as often as they +could find breath, but were constrained finally to give up the pursuit. +The great ragged bulks of the tombs along the Appian Way now hove in +sight, one with a farm-house on its summit, and all of them +preposterously huge and massive. At a distance, across the green +campagna on our left, the Claudian aqueduct strode away over miles of +space, and doubtless reached even to that circumference of blue hills +which stand afar off, girdling Rome about. The tomb of Cecilia Metella +came in sight a long while before we reached it, with the warm buff hue +of its travertine, and the gray battlemented wall which the Caetanis +erected on the top of its circular summit six hundred years ago. After +passing it, we saw an interminable line of tombs on both sides of the +way, each of which might, for aught I know, have been as massive as that +of Cecilia Metella, and some perhaps still more monstrously gigantic, +though now dilapidated and much reduced in size. Mrs. Jameson had an +engagement to dinner at half past six, so that we could go but a little +farther along this most interesting road, the borders of which are strewn +with broken marbles; fragments of capitals, and nameless rubbish that +once was beautiful. Methinks the Appian Way should be the only entrance +to Rome,--through an avenue of tombs. + +The day had been cloudy, chill, and windy, but was now grown calmer and +more genial, and brightened by a very pleasant sunshine, though great +dark clouds were still lumbering up the sky. We drove homeward, looking +at the distant dome of St. Peter's and talking of many things,--painting, +sculpture, America, England, spiritualism, and whatever else came up. +She is a very sensible old lady, and sees a great deal of truth; a good +woman, too, taking elevated views of matters; but I doubt whether she has +the highest and finest perceptions in the world. At any rate, she +pronounced a good judgment on the American sculptors now in Rome, +condemning them in the mass as men with no high aims, no worthy +conception of the purposes of their art, and desecrating marble by the +things they wrought in it. William Story, I presume, is not to be +included in this censure, as she had spoken highly of his sculpturesque +faculty in our previous conversation. On my part, I suggested that the +English sculptors were little or nothing better than our own, to which +she acceded generally, but said that Gibson had produced works equal to +the antique,--which I did not dispute, but still questioned whether the +world needed Gibson, or was any the better for him. We had a great +dispute about the propriety of adopting the costume of the day in modern +sculpture, and I contended that either the art ought to be given up +(which possibly would be the best course), or else should be used for +idealizing the man of the day to himself; and that, as Nature makes us +sensible of the fact when men and women are graceful, beautiful, and +noble, through whatever costume they wear, so it ought to be the test of +the sculptor's genius that he should do the same. Mrs. Jameson decidedly +objected to buttons, breeches, and all other items of modern costume; +and, indeed, they do degrade the marble, and make high sculpture utterly +impossible. Then let the art perish as one that the world has done with, +as it has done with many other beautiful things that belonged to an +earlier time. + +It was long past the hour of Mrs. Jameson's dinner engagement when we +drove up to her door in the Via Ripetta. I bade her farewell with much +good-feeling on my own side, and, I hope, on hers, excusing myself, +however, from keeping the previous engagement to spend the evening with +her, for, in point of fact, we had mutually had enough of one another for +the time being. I am glad to record that she expressed a very favorable +opinion of our friend Mr. Thompson's pictures. + + +May 12th.--To-day we have been to the Villa Albani, to which we had a +ticket of admission through the agency of Mr. Cass (the American +Minister). We set out between ten and eleven o'clock, and walked through +the Via Felice, the Piazza Barberini, and a long, heavy, dusty range of +streets beyond, to the Porta Salara, whence the road extends, white and +sunny, between two high blank walls to the gate of the villa, which is at +no great distance. We were admitted by a girl, and went first to the +casino, along an aisle of overshadowing trees, the branches of which met +above our heads. In the portico of the casino, which extends along its +whole front, there are many busts and statues, and, among them, one of +Julius Caesar, representing him at an earlier period of life than others +which I have seen. His aspect is not particularly impressive; there is a +lack of chin, though not so much as in the older statues and busts. +Within the edifice there is a large hall, not so brilliant, perhaps, with +frescos and gilding as those at the Villa Borghese, but lined with the +most beautiful variety of marbles. But, in fact, each new splendor of +this sort outshines the last, and unless we could pass from one to +another all in the same suite, we cannot remember them well enough to +compare the Borghese with the Albani, the effect being more on the fancy +than on the intellect. I do not recall any of the sculpture, except a +colossal bas-relief of Antinous, crowned with flowers, and holding +flowers in his hand, which was found in the ruins of Hadrian's Villa. +This is said to be the finest relic of antiquity next to the Apollo and +the Laocoon; but I could not feel it to be so, partly, I suppose, because +the features of Autinous do not seem to me beautiful in themselves; and +that heavy, downward look is repeated till I am more weary of it than of +anything else in sculpture. We went up stairs and down stairs, and saw a +good many beautiful things, but none, perhaps, of the very best and +beautifullest; and second-rate statues, with the corroded surface of old +marble that has been dozens of centuries under the ground, depress the +spirits of the beholder. The bas-relief of Antinous has at least the +merit of being almost as white and fresh, and quite as smooth, as if it +had never been buried and dug up again. The real treasures of this +villa, to the number of nearly three hundred, were removed to Paris by +Napoleon, and, except the Antinous, not one of them ever came back. + +There are some pictures in one or two of the rooms, and among them I +recollect one by Perugino, in which is a St. Michael, very devout and +very beautiful; indeed, the whole picture (which is in compartments, +representing the three principal points of the Saviour's history) +impresses the beholder as being painted devoutly and earnestly by a +religious man. In one of the rooms there is a small bronze Apollo, +supposed by Winckelmann to be an original of Praxiteles; but I could not +make myself in the least sensible of its merit. + +The rest of the things in the casino I shall pass over, as also those in +the coffee-house,--an edifice which stands a hundred yards or more from +the casino, with an ornamental garden, laid out in walks and flower-plats +between. The coffee-house has a semicircular sweep of porch with a good +many statues and busts beneath it, chiefly of distinguished Romans. In +this building, as in the casino, there are curious mosaics, large vases +of rare marble, and many other things worth long pauses of admiration; +but I think that we were all happier when we had done with the works of +art, and were at leisure to ramble about the grounds. The Villa Albani +itself is an edifice separate from both the coffee-house and casino, and +is not opened to strangers. It rises, palace-like, in the midst of the +garden, and, it is to be hoped, has some possibility of comfort amidst +its splendors.--Comfort, however, would be thrown away upon it; for +besides that the site shares the curse that has fallen upon every +pleasant place in the vicinity of Rome, . . . . it really has no occupant +except the servants who take care of it. The Count of Castelbarco, its +present proprietor, resides at Milan. The grounds are laid out in the +old fashion of straight paths, with borders of box, which form hedges of +great height and density, and as even as a brick wall at the top and +sides. There are also alleys forming long vistas between the trunks and +beneath the boughs of oaks, ilexes, and olives; and there are shrubberies +and tangled wildernesses of palm, cactus, rhododendron, and I know not +what; and a profusion of roses that bloom and wither with nobody to pluck +and few to look at them. They climb about the sculpture of fountains, +rear themselves against pillars and porticos, run brimming over the +walls, and strew the path with their falling leaves. We stole a few, and +feel that we have wronged our consciences in not stealing more. In one +part of the grounds we saw a field actually ablaze with scarlet poppies. +There are great lagunas; fountains presided over by naiads, who squirt +their little jets into basins; sunny lawns; a temple, so artificially +ruined that we half believed it a veritable antique; and at its base a +reservoir of water, in which stone swans seemed positively to float; +groves of cypress; balustrades and broad flights of stone stairs, +descending to lower levels of the garden; beauty, peace, sunshine, and +antique repose on every side; and far in the distance the blue hills that +encircle the campagna of Rome. The day was very fine for our purpose; +cheerful, but not too bright, and tempered by a breeze that seemed even a +little too cool when we sat long in the shade. We enjoyed it till three +o'clock. . . . . + +At the Capitol there is a sarcophagus with a most beautiful bas-relief of +the discovery of Achilles by Ulysses, in which there is even an +expression of mirth on the faces of many of the spectators. And to-day +at the Albani a sarcophagus was ornamented with the nuptials of Peleus +and Thetis. + +Death strides behind every man, to be sure, at more or less distance, +and, sooner or later, enters upon any event of his life; so that, in this +point of view, they might each and all serve for bas-reliefs on a +sarcophagus; but the Romans seem to have treated Death as lightly and +playfully as they could, and tried to cover his dart with flowers, +because they hated it so much. + + +May 15th.--My wife and I went yesterday to the Sistine Chapel, it being +my first visit. It is a room of noble proportions, lofty and long, +though divided in the midst by a screen or partition of white marble, +which rises high enough to break the effect of spacious unity. There are +six arched windows on each side of the chapel, throwing down their light +from the height of the walls, with as much as twenty feet of space (more +I should think) between them and the floor. The entire walls and ceiling +of this stately chapel are covered with paintings in fresco, except the +space about ten feet in height from the floor, and that portion was +intended to be adorned by tapestries from pictures by Raphael, but, the +design being prevented by his premature death, the projected tapestries +have no better substitute than paper-hangings. The roof, which is flat +at top, and coved or vaulted at the sides, is painted in compartments by +Michael Angelo, with frescos representing the whole progress of the world +and of mankind from its first formation by the Almighty . . . . till +after the flood. On one of the sides of the chapel are pictures by +Perugino, and other old masters, of subsequent events in sacred history; +and the entire wall behind the altar, a vast expanse from the ceiling to +the floor, is taken up with Michael Angelo's summing up of the world's +history and destinies in his "Last Judgment." + +There can be no doubt that while these frescos continued in their +perfection, there was nothing else to be compared with the magnificent +and solemn beauty of this chapel. Enough of ruined splendor still +remains to convince the spectator of all that has departed; but methinks +I have seen hardly anything else so forlorn and depressing as it is now, +all dusky and dim, even the very lights having passed into shadows, and +the shadows into utter blackness; so that it needs a sunshiny day, under +the bright Italian heavens, to make the designs perceptible at all. As +we sat in the chapel there were clouds flitting across the sky; when the +clouds came the pictures vanished; when the sunshine broke forth the +figures sadly glimmered into something like visibility,--the Almighty +moving in chaos,--the noble shape of Adam, the beautiful Eve; and, +beneath where the roof curves, the mighty figures of sibyls and prophets, +looking as if they were necessarily so gigantic because the thought +within them was so massive. In the "Last Judgment" the scene of the +greater part of the picture lies in the upper sky, the blue of which +glows through betwixt the groups of naked figures; and above sits Jesus, +not looking in the least like the Saviour of the world, but, with +uplifted arm, denouncing eternal misery on those whom he came to save. I +fear I am myself among the wicked, for I found myself inevitably taking +their part, and asking for at least a little pity, some few regrets, and +not such a stern denunciatory spirit on the part of Him who had thought +us worth dying for. Around him stand grim saints, and, far beneath, +people are getting up sleepily out of their graves, not well knowing what +is about to happen; many of them, however, finding themselves clutched by +demons before they are half awake. It would be a very terrible picture +to one who should really see Jesus, the Saviour, in that inexorable +judge; but it seems to me very undesirable that he should ever be +represented in that aspect, when it is so essential to our religion to +believe him infinitely kinder and better towards us than we deserve. At +the last day--I presume, that is, in all future days, when we see +ourselves as we are--man's only inexorable judge will be himself, and the +punishment of his sins will be the perception of them. + +In the lower corner of this great picture, at the right hand of the +spectator, is a hideous figure of a damned person, girdled about with a +serpent, the folds of which are carefully knotted between his thighs, so +as, at all events, to give no offence to decency. This figure represents +a man who suggested to Pope Paul III. that the nudities of the "Last +Judgment" ought to be draped, for which offence Michael Angelo at once +consigned him to hell. It shows what a debtor's prison and dungeon of +private torment men would make of hell if they had the control of it. As +to the nudities, if they were ever more nude than now, I should suppose, +in their fresh brilliancy, they might well have startled a not very +squeamish eye. The effect, such as it is, of this picture, is much +injured by the high altar and its canopy, which stands close against the +wall, and intercepts a considerable portion of the sprawl of nakedness +with which Michael Angelo has filled his sky. However, I am not +unwilling to believe, with faith beyond what I can actually see, that the +greatest pictorial miracles ever yet achieved have been wrought upon the +walls and ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. + +In the afternoon I went with Mr. Thompson to see what bargain could be +made with vetturinos for taking myself and family to Florence. We talked +with three or four, and found them asking prices of various enormity, +from a hundred and fifty scudi down to little more than ninety; but Mr. +Thompson says that they always begin in this way, and will probably come +down to somewhere about seventy-five. Mr. Thompson took me into the Via +Portoghese, and showed me an old palace, above which rose--not a very +customary feature of the architecture of Rome--a tall, battlemented +tower. At one angle of the tower we saw a shrine of the Virgin, with a +lamp, and all the appendages of those numerous shrines which we see at +the street-corners, and in hundreds of places about the city. Three or +four centuries ago, this palace was inhabited by a nobleman who had an +only son and a large pet monkey, and one day the monkey caught the infant +up and clambered to this lofty turret, and sat there with him in his arms +grinning and chattering like the Devil himself. The father was in +despair, but was afraid to pursue the monkey lest he should fling down +the child from the height of the tower and make his escape. At last he +vowed that if the boy were safely restored to him he would build a shrine +at the summit of the tower, and cause it to be kept as a sacred place +forever. By and by the monkey came down and deposited the child on the +ground; the father fulfilled his vow, built the shrine, and made it +obligatory, on all future possessors of the palace to keep the lamp +burning before it. Centuries have passed, the property has changed +hands; but still there is the shrine on the giddy top of the tower, far +aloft over the street, on the very spot where the monkey sat, and there +burns the lamp, in memory of the father's vow. This being the tenure by +which the estate is held, the extinguishment of that flame might yet turn +the present owner out of the palace. + +May 21st.--Mamma and I went, yesterday forenoon, to the Spada Palace, +which we found among the intricacies of Central Rome; a dark and massive +old edifice, built around a court, the fronts giving on which are adorned +with statues in niches, and sculptured ornaments. A woman led us up a +staircase, and ushered us into a great gloomy hall, square and lofty, and +wearing a very gray and ancient aspect, its walls being painted in +chiaroscuro, apparently a great many years ago. The hall was lighted by +small windows, high upward from the floors, and admitting only a dusky +light. The only furniture or ornament, so far as I recollect, was the +colossal statue of Pompey, which stands on its pedestal at one side, +certainly the sternest and severest of figures, and producing the most +awful impression on the spectator. Much of the effect, no doubt, is due +to the sombre obscurity of the hall, and to the loneliness in which the +great naked statue stands. It is entirely nude, except for a cloak that +hangs down from the left shoulder; in the left hand, it holds a globe; +the right arm is extended. The whole expression is such as the statue +might have assumed, if, during the tumult of Caesar's murder, it had +stretched forth its marble hand, and motioned the conspirators to give +over the attack, or to be quiet, now that their victim had fallen at its +feet. On the left leg, about midway above the ankle, there is a dull, +red stain, said to be Caesar's blood; but, of course, it is just such a +red stain in the marble as may be seen on the statue of Antinous at the +Capitol. I could not see any resemblance in the face of the statue to +that of the bust of Pompey, shown as such at the Capitol, in which there +is not the slightest moral dignity, or sign of intellectual eminence. I +am glad to have seen this statue, and glad to remember it in that gray, +dim, lofty hall; glad that there were no bright frescos on the walls, and +that the ceiling was wrought with massive beams, and the floor paved with +ancient brick. + +From this anteroom we passed through several saloons containing pictures, +some of which were by eminent artists; the Judith of Guido, a copy of +which used to weary me to death, year after year, in the Boston +Athenaeum; and many portraits of Cardinals in the Spada family, and other +pictures, by Guido. There were some portraits, also of the family, by +Titian; some good pictures by Guercino; and many which I should have been +glad to examine more at leisure; but, by and by, the custode made his +appearance, and began to close the shutters, under pretence that the +sunshine would injure the paintings,--an effect, I presume, not very +likely to follow after two or three centuries' exposure to light, air, +and whatever else might hurt them. However, the pictures seemed to be in +much better condition, and more enjoyable, so far as they had merit, than +those in most Roman picture-galleries; although the Spada Palace itself +has a decayed and impoverished aspect, as if the family had dwindled from +its former state and grandeur, and now, perhaps, smuggled itself into +some out-of-the-way corner of the old edifice. If such be the case, +there is something touching in their still keeping possession of Pompey's +statue, which makes their house famous, and the sale of which might give +them the means of building it up anew; for surely it is worth the whole +sculpture-gallery of the Vatican. + +In the afternoon Mr. Thompson and I went, for the third or fourth time, +to negotiate with vetturinos. . . . . So far as I know them they are a +very tricky set of people, bent on getting as much as they can, by hook +or by crook, out of the unfortunate individual who falls into their +hands. They begin, as I have said, by asking about twice as much as they +ought to receive; and anything between this exorbitant amount and the +just price is what they thank heaven for, as so much clear gain. +Nevertheless, I am not quite sure that the Italians are worse than other +people even in this matter. In other countries it is the custom of +persons in trade to take as much as they can get from the public, +fleecing one man to exactly the same extent as another; here they take +what they can obtain from the individual customer. In fact, Roman +tradesmen do not pretend to deny that they ask and receive different +prices from different people, taxing them according to their supposed +means of payment; the article supplied being the same in one case as in +another. A shopkeeper looked into his books to see if we were of the +class who paid two pauls, or only a paul and a half for candles; a +charcoal-dealer said that seventy baiocchi was a very reasonable sum for +us to pay for charcoal, and that some persons paid eighty; and Mr. +Thompson, recognizing the rule, told the old vetturino that "a hundred +and fifty scudi was a very proper charge for carrying a prince to +Florence, but not for carrying me, who was merely a very good artist." +The result is well enough; the rich man lives expensively, and pays a +larger share of the profits which people of a different system of +trade-morality would take equally from the poor man. The effect on the +conscience of the vetturino, however, and of tradesmen of all kinds, +cannot be good; their only intent being, not to do justice between man +and man, but to go as deep as they can into all pockets, and to the very +bottom of some. + +We had nearly concluded a bargain, a day or two ago, with a vetturino to +take or send us to Florence, via Perugia, in eight days, for a hundred +scudi; but he now drew back, under pretence of having misunderstood the +terms, though, in reality, no doubt, he was in hopes of getting a better +bargain from somebody else. We made an agreement with another man, whom +Mr. Thompson knows and highly recommends, and immediately made it sure +and legally binding by exchanging a formal written contract, in which +everything is set down, even to milk, butter, bread, eggs, and coffee, +which we are to have for breakfast; the vetturino being to pay every +expense for himself, his horses, and his passengers, and include it +within ninety-five scudi, and five crowns in addition for +buon-mano. . . . . . + + +May 22d.--Yesterday, while we were at dinner, Mr. ------ called. I never +saw him but once before, and that was at the door of our little red +cottage in Lenox; he sitting in a wagon with one or two of the +Sedgewicks, merely exchanging a greeting with me from under the brim of +his straw hat, and driving on. He presented himself now with a long +white beard, such as a palmer might have worn as the growth of his long +pilgrimages, a brow almost entirely bald, and what hair he has quite +hoary; a forehead impending, yet not massive; dark, bushy eyebrows and +keen eyes, without much softness in them; a dark and sallow complexion; a +slender figure, bent a little with age; but at once alert and infirm. It +surprised me to see him so venerable; for, as poets are Apollo's kinsmen, +we are inclined to attribute to them his enviable quality of never +growing old. There was a weary look in his face, as if he were tired of +seeing things and doing things, though with certainly enough still to see +and do, if need were. My family gathered about him, and he conversed +with great readiness and simplicity about his travels, and whatever other +subject came up; telling us that he had been abroad five times, and was +now getting a little home-sick, and had no more eagerness for sights, +though his "gals" (as he called his daughter and another young lady) +dragged him out to see the wonders of Rome again. His manners and whole +aspect are very particularly plain, though not affectedly so; but it +seems as if in the decline of life, and the security of his position, he +had put off whatever artificial polish he may have heretofore had, and +resumed the simpler habits and deportment of his early New England +breeding. Not but what you discover, nevertheless, that he is a man of +refinement, who has seen the world, and is well aware of his own place in +it. He spoke with great pleasure of his recent visit to Spain. I +introduced the subject of Kansas, and methought his face forthwith +assumed something of the bitter keenness of the editor of a political +newspaper, while speaking of the triumph of the administration over the +Free-Soil opposition. I inquired whether he had seen S------, and he +gave a very sad account of him as he appeared at their last meeting, +which was in Paris. S------, he thought, had suffered terribly, and +would never again be the man he was; he was getting fat; he talked +continually of himself, and of trifles concerning himself, and seemed to +have no interest for other matters; and Mr. ------ feared that the shock +upon his nerves had extended to his intellect, and was irremediable. He +said that S------ ought to retire from public life, but had no friend +true enough to tell him so. This is about as sad as anything can be. I +hate to have S------ undergo the fate of a martyr, because he was not +naturally of the stuff that martyrs are made of, and it is altogether by +mistake that he has thrust himself into the position of one. He was +merely, though with excellent abilities, one of the best of fellows, and +ought to have lived and died in good fellowship with all the world. + +S------ was not in the least degree excited about this or any other +subject. He uttered neither passion nor poetry, but excellent good +sense, and accurate information on whatever subject transpired; a very +pleasant man to associate with, but rather cold, I should imagine, if one +should seek to touch his heart with one's own. He shook hands kindly all +round, but not with any warmth of gripe; although the ease of his +deportment had put us all on sociable terms with him. + +At seven o'clock we went by invitation to take tea with Miss Bremer. +After much search, and lumbering painfully up two or three staircases in +vain, and at last going about in a strange circuity, we found her in a +small chamber of a large old building, situated a little way from the +brow of the Tarpeian Rock. It was the tiniest and humblest domicile that +I have seen in Rome, just large enough to hold her narrow bed, her +tea-table, and a table covered with books,--photographs of Roman ruins, +and some pages written by herself. I wonder whether she be poor. +Probably so; for she told us that her expense of living here is only five +pauls a day. She welcomed us, however, with the greatest cordiality and +lady-like simplicity, making no allusion to the humbleness of her +environment (and making us also lose sight of it, by the absence of all +apology) any more than if she were receiving us in a palace. There is +not a better bred woman; and yet one does not think whether she has any +breeding or no. Her little bit of a round table was already spread for +us with her blue earthenware teacups; and after she had got through an +interview with the Swedish Minister, and dismissed him with a hearty +pressure of his hand between both her own, she gave us our tea, and some +bread, and a mouthful of cake. Meanwhile, as the day declined, there had +been the most beautiful view over the campagna, out of one of her +windows; and, from the other, looking towards St. Peter's, the broad +gleam of a mildly glorious sunset; not so pompous and magnificent as many +that I have seen in America, but softer and sweeter in all its changes. +As its lovely hues died slowly away, the half-moon shone out brighter and +brighter; for there was not a cloud in the sky, and it seemed like the +moonlight of my younger days. In the garden, beneath her window, verging +upon the Tarpeian Rock, there was shrubbery and one large tree, softening +the brow of the famous precipice, adown which the old Romans used to +fling their traitors, or sometimes, indeed, their patriots. + +Miss Bremer talked plentifully in her strange manner,--good English +enough for a foreigner, but so oddly intonated and accented, that it is +impossible to be sure of more than one word in ten. Being so little +comprehensible, it is very singular how she contrives to make her +auditors so perfectly certain, as they are, that she is talking the best +sense, and in the kindliest spirit. There is no better heart than hers, +and not many sounder heads; and a little touch of sentiment comes +delightfully in, mixed up with a quick and delicate humor and the most +perfect simplicity. There is also a very pleasant atmosphere of +maidenhood about her; we are sensible of a freshness and odor of the +morning still in this little withered rose,--its recompense for never +having been gathered and worn, but only diffusing fragrance on its stem. +I forget mainly what we talked about,--a good deal about art, of course, +although that is a subject of which Miss Bremer evidently knows nothing. +Once we spoke of fleas,--insects that, in Rome, come home to everybody's +business and bosom, and are so common and inevitable, that no delicacy is +felt about alluding to the sufferings they inflict. Poor little Miss +Bremer was tormented with one while turning out our tea. . . . . She +talked, among other things, of the winters in Sweden, and said that she +liked them, long and severe as they are; and this made me feel ashamed of +dreading the winters of New England, as I did before coming from home, +and do now still more, after five or six mild English Decembers. + +By and by, two young ladies came in,--Miss Bremen's neighbors, it +seemed,--fresh from a long walk on the campagna, fresh and weary at the +same time. One apparently was German, and the other French, and they +brought her an offering of flowers, and chattered to her with +affectionate vivacity; and, as we were about taking leave, Miss Bremer +asked them to accompany her and us on a visit to the edge of the Tarpeian +Rock. Before we left the room, she took a bunch of roses that were in a +vase, and gave them to Miss Shepard, who told her that she should make +her six sisters happy by giving one to each. Then we went down the +intricate stairs, and, emerging into the garden, walked round the brow of +the hill, which plunges headlong with exceeding abruptness; but, so far +as I could see in the moonlight, is no longer quite a precipice. Then +we re-entered the house, and went up stairs and down again, through +intricate passages, till we got into the street, which was still peopled +with the ragamuffins who infest and burrow in that part of Rome. We +returned through an archway, and descended the broad flight of steps into +the piazza of the Capitol; and from the extremity of it, just at the head +of the long graded way, where Castor and Pollux and the old milestones +stand, we turned to the left, and followed a somewhat winding path, till +we came into the court of a palace. This court is bordered by a parapet, +leaning over which we saw the sheer precipice of the Tarpeian Rock, about +the height of a four-story house. . . . . + +On the edge of this, before we left the court, Miss Bremer bade us +farewell, kissing my wife most affectionately on each cheek, . . . . and +then turning towards myself, . . . . she pressed my hand, and we parted, +probably never to meet again. God bless her good heart! . . . . She is a +most amiable little woman, worthy to be the maiden aunt of the whole +human race. I suspect, by the by, that she does not like me half so well +as I do her; it is my impression that she thinks me unamiable, or that +there is something or other not quite right about me. I am sorry if it +be so, because such a good, kindly, clear-sighted, and delicate person is +very apt to have reason at the bottom of her harsh thoughts, when, in +rare cases, she allows them to harbor with her. + +To-day, and for some days past, we have been in quest of lodgings for +next winter; a weary search, up interminable staircases, which seduce us +upward to no successful result. It is very disheartening not to be able +to place the slightest reliance on the integrity of the people we are to +deal with; not to believe in any connection between their words and their +purposes; to know that they are certainly telling you falsehoods, while +you are not in a position to catch hold of the lie, and hold it up in +their faces. + +This afternoon we called on Mr. and Mrs. ------ at the Hotel de l'Europe, +but found only the former at home. We had a pleasant visit, but I made +no observations of his character save such as I have already sufficiently +recorded; and when we had been with him a little while, Mrs. Chapman, the +artist's wife, Mr. Terry, and my friend, Mr. Thompson, came in. ------ +received them all with the same good degree of cordiality that he did +ourselves, not cold, not very warm, not annoyed, not ecstatically +delighted; a man, I should suppose, not likely to have ardent individual +preferences, though perhaps capable of stern individual dislikes. But I +take him, at all events, to be a very upright man, and pursuing a narrow +track of integrity; he is a man whom I would never forgive (as I would a +thousand other men) for the slightest moral delinquency. I would not be +bound to say, however, that he has not the little sin of a fretful and +peevish habit; and yet perhaps I am a sinner myself for thinking so. + + +May 23d.--This morning I breakfasted at William Story's, and met there +Mr. Bryant, Mr. T------ (an English gentleman), Mr. and Mrs. Apthorp, +Miss Hosmer, and one or two other ladies. Bryant was very quiet, and +made no conversation audible to the general table. Mr. T------ talked of +English politics and public men; the "Times" and other newspapers, +English clubs and social habits generally; topics in which I could well +enough bear my part of the discussion. After breakfast, and aside from +the ladies, he mentioned an illustration of Lord Ellenborough's lack of +administrative ability,--a proposal seriously made by his lordship in +reference to the refractory Sepoys. . . . . + +We had a very pleasant breakfast, and certainly a breakfast is much +preferable to a dinner, not merely in the enjoyment, while it is passing, +but afterwards. I made a good suggestion to Miss Hosmer for the design +of a fountain,--a lady bursting into tears, water gushing from a thousand +pores, in literal translation of the phrase; and to call the statue +"Niobe, all Tears." I doubt whether she adopts the idea; but Bernini +would have been delighted with it. I should think the gush of water +might be so arranged as to form a beautiful drapery about the figure, +swaying and fluttering with every breath of wind, and rearranging itself +in the calm; in which case, the lady might be said to have "a habit of +weeping." . . . . Apart, with William Story, he and I talked of the +unluckiness of Friday, etc. I like him particularly well. . . . . + +We have been plagued to-day with our preparations for leaving Rome +to-morrow, and especially with verifying the inventory of furniture, +before giving up the house to our landlord. He and his daughter have +been examining every separate article, down even to the kitchen skewers, +I believe, and charging us to the amount of several scudi for cracks and +breakages, which very probably existed when we came into possession. It +is very uncomfortable to have dealings with such a mean people (though +our landlord is German),--mean in their business transactions; mean even +in their beggary; for the beggars seldom ask for more than a mezzo +baioccho, though they sometimes grumble when you suit your gratuity +exactly to their petition. It is pleasant to record that the Italians +have great faith in the honor of the English and Americans, and never +hesitate to trust entire strangers, to any reasonable extent, on the +strength of their being of the honest Anglo-Saxon race. + +This evening, U---- and I took a farewell walk in the Pincian Gardens to +see the sunset; and found them crowded with people, promenading and +listening to the music of the French baud. It was the feast of +Whitsunday, which probably brought a greater throng than usual abroad. + +When the sun went down, we descended into the Piazza del Popolo, and +thence into the Via Ripetta, and emerged through a gate to the shore of +the Tiber, along which there is a pleasant walk beneath a grove of trees. +We traversed it once and back again, looking at the rapid river, which +still kept its mud-puddly aspect even in the clear twilight, and beneath +the brightening moon. The great bell of St. Peter's tolled with a deep +boom, a grand and solemn sound; the moon gleamed through the branches of +the trees above us; and U---- spoke with somewhat alarming fervor of her +love for Rome, and regret at leaving it. We shall have done the child no +good office in bringing her here, if the rest of her life is to be a +dream of this "city of the soul," and an unsatisfied yearning to come +back to it. On the other hand, nothing elevating and refining can be +really injurious, and so I hope she will always be the better for Rome, +even if her life should be spent where there are no pictures, no statues, +nothing but the dryness and meagreness of a New England village. + + + +JOURNEY TO FLORENCE. + + +Civita Castellana, May 24th.--We left Rome this morning, after troubles +of various kinds, and a dispute in the first place with Lalla, our female +servant, and her mother. . . . . Mother and daughter exploded into a +livid rage, and cursed us plentifully,--wishing that we might never come +to our journey's end, and that we might all break our necks or die of +apoplexy,--the most awful curse that an Italian knows how to invoke upon +his enemies, because it precludes the possibility of extreme unction. +However, as we are heretics, and certain of damnation therefore, anyhow, +it does not much matter to us; and also the anathemas may have been blown +back upon those who invoked them, like the curses that were flung out +from the balcony of St Peter's during Holy Week and wafted by heaven's +breezes right into the faces of some priests who stood near the pope. +Next we had a disagreement, with two men who brought down our luggage, +and put it on the vettura; . . . . and, lastly, we were infested with +beggars, who hung round the carriages with doleful petitions, till we +began to move away; but the previous warfare had put me into too stern a +mood for almsgiving, so that they also were doubtless inclined to curse +more than to bless, and I am persuaded that we drove off under a perfect +shower of anathemas. + +We passed through the Porta del Popolo at about eight o'clock; and after +a moment's delay, while the passport was examined, began our journey +along the Flaminian Way, between two such high and inhospitable walls of +brick or stone as seem to shut in all the avenues to Rome. We had not +gone far before we heard military music in advance of us, and saw the +road blocked up with people, and then the glitter of muskets, and soon +appeared the drummers, fifers, and trumpeters, and then the first +battalion of a French regiment, marching into the city, with two mounted +officers at their head; then appeared a second and then a third +battalion, the whole seeming to make almost an army, though the number on +their caps showed them all to belong to one regiment,--the 1st; then came +a battery of artillery, then a detachment of horse,--these last, by the +crossed keys on their helmets, being apparently papal troops. All were +young, fresh, good-looking men, in excellent trim as to uniform and +equipments, and marched rather as if they were setting out on a campaign +than returning from it; the fact being, I believe, that they have been +encamped or in barracks within a few miles of the city. Nevertheless, it +reminded me of the military processions of various kinds which so often, +two thousand years ago and more, entered Rome over the Flaminian Way, and +over all the roads that led to the famous city,--triumphs oftenest, but +sometimes the downcast train of a defeated army, like those who retreated +before Hannibal. On the whole, I was not sorry to see the Gauls still +pouring into Rome; but yet I begin to find that I have a strange +affection for it, and so did we all,--the rest of the family in a greater +degree than myself even. It is very singular, the sad embrace with which +Rome takes possession of the soul. Though we intend to return in a few +months, and for a longer residence than this has been, yet we felt the +city pulling at our heartstrings far more than London did, where we shall +probably never spend much time again. It may be because the intellect +finds a home there more than in any other spot in the world, and wins the +heart to stay with it, in spite of a good many things strewn all about to +disgust us. + +The road in the earlier part of the way was not particularly +picturesque,--the country undulated, but scarcely rose into hills, and +was destitute of trees; there were a few shapeless ruins, too indistinct +for us to make out whether they were Roman or mediaeval. Nothing struck +one so much, in the forenoon, as the spectacle of a peasant-woman riding +on horseback as if she were a man. The houses were few, and those of a +dreary aspect, built of gray stone, and looking bare and desolate, with +not the slightest promise of comfort within doors. We passed two or +three locandas or inns, and finally came to the village (if village it +were, for I remember no houses except our osteria) of Castel Nuovo di +Porta, where we were to take a dejeuner a la fourchette, which was put +upon the table between twelve and one. On this journey, according to the +custom of travellers in Italy, we pay the vetturino a certain sum, and +live at his expense; and this meal was the first specimen of his catering +on our behalf. It consisted of a beefsteak, rather dry and hard, but not +unpalatable, and a large omelette; and for beverage, two quart bottles of +red wine, which, being tasted, had an agreeable acid flavor. . . . . The +locanda was built of stone, and had what looked like an old Roman altar +in the basement-hall, and a shrine, with a lamp before it, on the +staircase; and the large public saloon in which we ate had a brick floor, +a ceiling with cross-beams, meagrely painted in fresco, and a scanty +supply of chairs and settees. + +After lunch, we wandered out into a valley or ravine near the house, +where we gathered some flowers, and J----- found a nest with the young +birds in it, which, however, he put back into the bush whence he took it. + +Our afternoon drive was more picturesque and noteworthy. Soracte rose +before us, bulging up quite abruptly out of the plain, and keeping itself +entirely distinct from a whole horizon of hills. Byron well compares it +to a wave just on the bend, and about to break over towards the +spectator. As we approached it nearer and nearer, it looked like the +barrenest great rock that ever protruded out of the substance of the +earth, with scarcely a strip or a spot of verdure upon its steep and gray +declivities. The road kept trending towards the mountain, following the +line of the old Flaminian Way, which we could see, at frequent intervals, +close beside the modern track. It is paved with large flag-stones, laid +so accurately together, that it is still, in some places, as smooth and +even as the floor of a church; and everywhere the tufts of grass find it +difficult to root themselves into the interstices. Its course is +straighter than that of the road of to-day, which often turns aside to +avoid obstacles which the ancient one surmounted. Much of it, probably, +is covered with the soil and overgrowth deposited in later years; and, +now and then, we could see its flag-stones partly protruding from the +bank through which our road has been cut, and thus showing that the +thickness of this massive pavement was more than a foot of solid stone. +We lost it over and over again; but still it reappeared, now on one side +of us, now on the other; perhaps from beneath the roots of old trees, or +the pasture-land of a thousand years old, and leading on towards the base +of Soracte. I forget where we finally lost it. Passing through a town +called Rignano, we found it dressed out in festivity, with festoons of +foliage along both sides of the street, which ran beneath a triumphal +arch, bearing an inscription in honor of a ducal personage of the Massimi +family. I know no occasion for the feast, except that it is Whitsuntide. +The town was thronged with peasants, in their best attire, and we met +others on their way thither, particularly women and girls, with heads +bare in the sunshine; but there was no tiptoe jollity, nor, indeed, +any more show of festivity than I have seen in my own country at a +cattle-show or muster. Really, I think, not half so much. + +The road still grew more and more picturesque, and now lay along ridges, +at the bases of which were deep ravines and hollow valleys. Woods were +not wanting; wilder forests than I have seen since leaving America, of +oak-trees chiefly; and, among the green foliage, grew golden tufts of +broom, making a gay and lovely combination of hues. I must not forget to +mention the poppies, which burned like live coals along the wayside, and +lit up the landscape, even a single one of them, with wonderful effect. +At other points, we saw olive-trees, hiding their eccentricity of boughs +under thick masses of foliage of a livid tint, which is caused, I +believe, by their turning their reverse sides to the light and to the +spectator. Vines were abundant, but were of little account in the scene. +By and by we came in sight, of the high, flat table-land, on which stands +Civita Castellana, and beheld, straight downward, between us and the +town, a deep level valley with a river winding through it; it was the +valley of the Treja. A precipice, hundreds of feet in height, falls +perpendicularly upon the valley, from the site of Civita Castellana; +there is an equally abrupt one, probably, on the side from which we saw +it; and a modern road, skilfully constructed, goes winding down to the +stream, crosses it by a narrow stone bridge, and winds upward into the +town. After passing over the bridge, I alighted, with J----- and R-----, +. . . . and made the ascent on foot, along walls of natural rock, in +which old Etruscan tombs were hollowed out. There are likewise antique +remains of masonry, whether Roman or of what earlier period, I cannot +tell. At the summit of the acclivity, which brought us close to the +town, our vetturino took us into the carriage again and quickly brought +us to what appears to be really a good hotel, where all of us are +accommodated with sleeping-chambers in a range, beneath an arcade, +entirely secluded from the rest of the population of the hotel. After a +splendid dinner (that is, splendid, considering that it was ordered by +our hospitable vetturino), U----, Miss Shepard, J-----, and I walked out +of the little town, in the opposite direction from our entrance, and +crossed a bridge at the height of the table-land, instead of at its base. +On either side, we had a view down into a profound gulf, with sides of +precipitous rock, and heaps of foliage in its lap, through which ran the +snowy track of a stream; here snowy, there dark; here hidden among the +foliage, there quite revealed in the broad depths of the gulf. This was +wonderfully fine. Walking on a little farther, Soracte came fully into +view, starting with bold abruptness out of the middle of the country; and +before we got back, the bright Italian moon was throwing a shower of +silver over the scene, and making it so beautiful that it seemed +miserable not to know how to put it into words; a foolish thought, +however, for such scenes are an expression in themselves, and need not be +translated into any feebler language. On our walk we met parties of +laborers, both men and women, returning from the fields, with rakes and +wooden forks over their shoulders, singing in chorus. It is very +customary for women to be laboring in the fields. + + + +TO TERNI.--BORGHETTO. + + +May 25th.--We were aroused at four o'clock this morning; had some eggs +and coffee, and were ready to start between five and six; being thus +matutinary, in order to get to Terni in time to see the falls. The road +was very striking and picturesque; but I remember nothing particularly, +till we came to Borghetto, which stands on a bluff, with a broad valley +sweeping round it, through the midst of which flows the Tiber. There is +an old castle on a projecting point; and we saw other battlemented +fortresses, of mediaeval date, along our way, forming more beautiful +ruins than any of the Roman remains to which we have become accustomed. +This is partly, I suppose, owing to the fact that they have been +neglected, and allowed to mantle their decay with ivy, instead of being +cleaned, propped up, and restored. The antiquarian is apt to spoil the +objects that interest him. + +Sometimes we passed through wildernesses of various trees, each +contributing a different hue of verdure to the scene; the vine, also, +marrying itself to the fig-tree, so that a man might sit in the shadow of +both at once, and temper the luscious sweetness of the one fruit with the +fresh flavor of the other. The wayside incidents were such as meeting a +man and woman borne along as prisoners, handcuffed and in a cart; two men +reclining across one another, asleep, and lazily lifting their heads to +gaze at us as we passed by; a woman spinning with a distaff as she walked +along the road. An old tomb or tower stood in a lonely field, and +several caves were hollowed in the rocks, which might have been either +sepulchres or habitations. Soracte kept us company, sometimes a little +on one side, sometimes behind, looming up again and again, when we +thought that we had done with it, and so becoming rather tedious at last, +like a person who presents himself for another and another leave-taking +after the one which ought to have been final. Honeysuckles sweetened the +hedges along the road. + +After leaving Borghetto, we crossed the broad valley of the Tiber, and +skirted along one of the ridges that border it, looking back upon the +road that we had passed, lying white behind us. We saw a field covered +with buttercups, or some other yellow flower, and poppies burned along +the roadside, as they did yesterday, and there were flowers of a +delicious blue, as if the blue Italian sky had been broken into little +bits, and scattered down upon the green earth. Otricoli by and by +appeared, situated on a bold promontory above the valley, a village of a +few gray houses and huts, with one edifice gaudily painted in white and +pink. It looked more important at a distance than we found it on our +nearer approach. As the road kept ascending, and as the hills grew to be +mountains, we had taken two additional horses, making six in all, with a +man and boy running beside them, to keep them in motion. The boy had two +club feet, so inconveniently disposed that it seemed almost inevitable +for him to stumble over them at every step; besides which, he seemed to +tread upon his ankles, and moved with a disjointed gait, as if each of +his legs and thighs had been twisted round together with his feet. +Nevertheless, he had a bright, cheerful, intelligent face, and was +exceedingly active, keeping up with the horses at their trot, and +inciting them to better speed when they lagged. I conceived a great +respect for this poor boy, who had what most Italian peasants would +consider an enviable birthright in those two club feet, as giving him a +sufficient excuse to live on charity, but yet took no advantage of them; +on the contrary, putting his poor misshapen hoofs to such good use as +might have shamed many a better provided biped. When he quitted us, he +asked no alms of the travellers, but merely applied to Gaetano for some +slight recompense for his well-performed service. This behavior +contrasted most favorably with that of some other boys and girls, who ran +begging beside the carriage door, keeping up a low, miserable murmur, +like that of a kennel-stream, for a long, long way. Beggars, indeed, +started up at every point, when we stopped for a moment, and whenever a +hill imposed a slower pace upon us; each village had its deformity or its +infirmity, offering his wretched petition at the step of the carriage; +and even a venerable, white-haired patriarch, the grandfather of all the +beggars, seemed to grow up by the roadside, but was left behind from +inability to join in the race with his light-footed juniors. No shame is +attached to begging in Italy. In fact, I rather imagine it to be held an +honorable profession, inheriting some of the odor of sanctity that used +to be attached to a mendicant and idle life in the days of early +Christianity, when every saint lived upon Providence, and deemed it +meritorious to do nothing for his support. + +Murray's guide-book is exceedingly vague and unsatisfactory along this +route; and whenever we asked Gaetano the name of a village or a castle, +he gave some one which we had never heard before, and could find nothing +of in the book. We made out the river Nar, however, or what I supposed +to be such, though he called it Nera. It flows through a most stupendous +mountain-gorge; winding its narrow passage between high hills, the broad +sides of which descend steeply upon it, covered with trees and shrubbery, +that mantle a host of rocky roughnesses, and make all look smooth. Here +and there a precipice juts sternly forth. We saw an old castle on a +hillside, frowning down into the gorge; and farther on, the gray tower of +Narni stands upon a height, imminent over the depths below, and with its +battlemented castle above now converted into a prison, and therefore kept +in excellent repair. A long winding street passes through Narni, +broadening at one point into a market-place, where an old cathedral +showed its venerable front, and the great dial of its clock, the figures +on which were numbered in two semicircles of twelve points each; one, I +suppose, for noon, and the other for midnight. The town has, so far as +its principal street is concerned, a city-like aspect, with large, fair +edifices, and shops as good as most of those at Rome, the smartness of +which contrasts strikingly with the rude and lonely scenery of mountain +and stream, through which we had come to reach it. We drove through +Narni without stopping, and came out from it on the other side, where a +broad, level valley opened before us, most unlike the wild, precipitous +gorge which had brought us to the town. The road went winding down into +the peaceful vale, through the midst of which flowed the same stream that +cuts its way between the impending hills, as already described. We +passed a monk and a soldier,--the two curses of Italy, each in his way,-- +walking sociably side by side; and from Narni to Terni I remember nothing +that need be recorded. + +Terni, like so many other towns in the neighborhood, stands in a high and +commanding position, chosen doubtless for its facilities of defence, in +days long before the mediaeval warfares of Italy made such sites +desirable. I suppose that, like Narni and Otricoli, it was a city of the +Umbrians. We reached it between eleven and twelve o'clock, intending to +employ the afternoon on a visit to the famous falls of Terni; but, after +lowering all day, it has begun to rain, and we shall probably have to +give them up. + + +Half past eight o'clock.--It has rained in torrents during the afternoon, +and we have not seen the cascade of Terni; considerably to my regret, for +I think I felt the more interest in seeing it, on account of its being +artificial. Methinks nothing was more characteristic of the energy and +determination of the old Romans, than thus to take a river, which they +wished to be rid of, and fling it over a giddy precipice, breaking it +into ten million pieces by the fall. . . . . We are in the Hotel delle +tre Colonne, and find it reasonably good, though not, so far as we are +concerned, justifying the rapturous commendations of previous tourists, +who probably travelled at their own charges. However, there is nothing +really to be complained of, either in our accommodations or table, and +the only wonder is how Gaetano contrives to get any profit out of our +contract, since the hotel bills would alone cost us more than we pay him +for the journey and all. It is worth while to record as history of +vetturino commissary customs, that for breakfast this morning we had +coffee, eggs, and bread and butter; for lunch an omelette, some stewed +veal, and a dessert of figs and grapes, besides two decanters of a +light-colored acid wine, tasting very like indifferent cider; for dinner, +an excellent vermicelli soup, two young fowls, fricasseed, and a hind +quarter of roast lamb, with fritters, oranges, and figs, and two more +decanters of the wine aforesaid. + +This hotel is an edifice with a gloomy front upon a narrow street, and +enterable through an arch, which admits you into an enclosed court; +around the court, on each story, run the galleries, with which the +parlors and sleeping-apartments communicate. The whole house is dingy, +probably old, and seems not very clean; but yet bears traces of former +magnificence; for instance, in our bedroom, the door of which is +ornamented with gilding, and the cornices with frescos, some of which +appear to represent the cascade of Terni, the roof is crossed with carved +beams, and is painted in the interstices; the floor has a carpet, but +rough tiles underneath it, which show themselves at the margin. The +windows admit the wind; the door shuts so loosely as to leave great +cracks; and, during the rain to-day, there was a heavy shower through our +ceiling, which made a flood upon the carpet. We see no chambermaids; +nothing of the comfort and neatness of an English hotel, nor of the smart +splendors of an American one; but still this dilapidated palace affords +us a better shelter than I expected to find in the decayed country towns +of Italy. In the album of the hotel I find the names of more English +travellers than of any other nation except the Americans, who, I think, +even exceed the former; and, the route being the favorite one for +tourists between Rome and Florence, whatever merit the inns have is +probably owing to the demands of the Anglo-Saxons. I doubt not, if we +chose to pay for it, this hotel would supply us with any luxury we might +ask for; and perhaps even a gorgeous saloon and state bedchamber. + +After dinner, J----- and I walked out in the dusk to see what we could of +Terni. We found it compact and gloomy (but the latter characteristic +might well enough be attributed to the dismal sky), with narrow streets, +paved from wall to wall of the houses, like those of all the towns in +Italy; the blocks of paving-stone larger than the little square torments +of Rome. The houses are covered with dingy stucco, and mostly low, +compared with those of Rome, and inhospitable as regards their dismal +aspects and uninviting doorways. The streets are intricate, as well as +narrow; insomuch that we quickly lost our way, and could not find it +again, though the town is of so small dimensions, that we passed through +it in two directions, in the course of our brief wanderings. There are +no lamp-posts in Terni; and as it was growing dark, and beginning to rain +again, we at last inquired of a person in the principal piazza, and found +our hotel, as I expected, within two minutes' walk of where we stood. + + + +FOLIGNO. + + +May 26th.--At six o'clock this morning, we packed ourselves into our +vettura, my wife and I occupying the coupe, and drove out of the city +gate of Terni. There are some old towers near it, ruins of I know not +what, and care as little, in the plethora of antiquities and other +interesting objects. Through the arched gateway, as we approached, we +had a view of one of the great hills that surround the town, looking +partly bright in the early sunshine, and partly catching the shadows of +the clouds that floated about the sky. Our way was now through the Vale +of Terni, as I believe it is called, where we saw somewhat of the +fertility of Italy: vines trained on poles, or twining round mulberry and +other trees, ranged regularly like orchards; groves of olives and fields +of grain. There are interminable shrines in all sorts of situations; +some under arched niches, or little penthouses, with a brick-tiled roof, +just large enough to cover them; or perhaps in some bit of old Roman +masonry, on the wall of a wayside inn, or in a shallow cavity of the +natural rock, or high upward in the deep cuts of the road; everywhere, in +short, so that nobody need be at a loss when he feels the religious +sentiment stir within him. Our way soon began to wind among the hills, +which rose steep and lofty from the scanty, level space that lay between; +they continually thrust themselves across the passage, and appeared as if +determined to shut us completely in. A great hill would put its foot +right before us; but, at the last moment, would grudgingly withdraw it, +and allow us just room enough to creep by. Adown their sides we +discerned the dry beds of mountain torrents, which had lived too fierce a +life to let it be a long one. On here and there a hillside or promontory +we saw a ruined castle or a convent, looking from its commanding height +upon the road, which very likely some robber-knight had formerly infested +with his banditti, retreating with his booty to the security of such +strongholds. We came, once in a while, to wretched villages, where there +was no token of prosperity or comfort; but perhaps there may have been +more than we could appreciate, for the Italians do not seem to have any +of that sort of pride which we find in New England villages, where every +man, according to his taste and means, endeavors to make his homestead an +ornament to the place. We miss nothing in Italy more than the neat +doorsteps and pleasant porches and thresholds and delightful lawns or +grass-plots, which hospitably invite the imagination into a sweet +domestic interior. Everything, however sunny and luxuriant may be the +scene around, is especially dreary and disheartening in the immediate +vicinity of an Italian home. + +At Strettura (which, as the name indicates, is a very narrow part of the +valley) we added two oxen to our horses, and began to ascend the Monte +Somma, which, according to Murray, is nearly four thousand feet high +where we crossed it. When we came to the steepest part of the ascent, +Gaetano, who exercises a pretty decided control over his passengers, +allowed us to walk; and we all, with one exception, alighted, and began +to climb the mountain on foot. I walked on briskly, and soon left the +rest of the party behind, reaching the top of the pass in such a short +time that I could not believe it, and kept onward, expecting still +another height to climb. But the road began to descend, winding among +the depths of the hills as heretofore; now beside the dry, gravelly bed +of a departed stream, now crossing it by a bridge, and perhaps passing +through some other gorge, that yet gave no decided promise of an outlet +into the world beyond. A glimpse might occasionally be caught, through a +gap between the hill-tops, of a company of distant mountain-peaks, +pyramidal, as these hills are apt to be, and resembling the camp of an +army of giants. The landscape was not altogether savage; sometimes a +hillside was covered with a rich field of grain, or an orchard of +olive-trees, looking not unlike puffs of smoke, from the peculiar line of +their foliage; but oftener there was a vast mantle of trees and shrubbery +from top to bottom, the golden tufts of the broom shining out amid the +verdure, and gladdening the whole. Nothing was dismal except the houses; +those were always so, whether the compact, gray lines of village hovels, +with a narrow street between, or the lonely farm-house, standing far +apart from the road, built of stone, with window-gaps high in the wall, +empty of glass; or the half-castle, half-dwelling, of which I saw a +specimen or two, with what looked like a defensive rampart, drawn around +its court. I saw no look of comfort anywhere; and continually, in this +wild and solitary region, I met beggars, just as if I were still in the +streets of Rome. Boys and girls kept beside me, till they delivered me +into the hands of others like themselves; hoary grandsires and +grandmothers caught a glimpse of my approach, and tottered as fast as +they could to intercept me; women came out of the cottages, with rotten +cherries on a plate, entreating me to buy them for a mezzo baioccho; a +man, at work on the road, left his toil to beg, and was grateful for the +value of a cent; in short, I was never safe from importunity, as long as +there was a house or a human being in sight. + +We arrived at Spoleto before noon, and while our dejeuner was being +prepared, looked down from the window of the inn into the narrow street +beneath, which, from the throng of people in it, I judged to be the +principal one: priests, papal soldiers, women with no bonnets on their +heads; peasants in breeches and mushroom hats; maids and matrons, drawing +water at a fountain; idlers, smoking on a bench under the window; a talk, +a bustle, but no genuine activity. After lunch we walked out to see the +lions of Spoleto, and found our way up a steep and narrow street that led +us to the city gate, at which, it is traditionally said, Hannibal sought +to force an entrance, after the battle of Thrasymene, and was repulsed. +The gateway has a double arch, on the inner one of which is a tablet, +recording the above tradition as an unquestioned historical fact. From +the gateway we went in search of the Duomo, or cathedral, and were kindly +directed thither by an officer, who was descending into the town from the +citadel, which is an old castle, now converted into a prison. The +cathedral seemed small, and did not much interest us, either by the +Gothic front or its modernized interior. We saw nothing else in Spoleto, +but went back to the inn and resumed our journey, emerging from the city +into the classic valley of the Clitumnus, which we did not view under the +best of auspices, because it was overcast, and the wind as chill as if it +had the cast in it. The valley, though fertile, and smilingly +picturesque, perhaps, is not such as I should wish to celebrate, either +in prose or poetry. It is of such breadth and extent, that its frame of +mountains and ridgy hills hardly serve to shut it in sufficiently, and +the spectator thinks of a boundless plain, rather than of a secluded +vale. After passing Le Vene, we came to the little temple which Byron +describes, and which has been supposed to be the one immortalized by +Pliny. It is very small, and stands on a declivity that falls +immediately from the road, right upon which rises the pediment of the +temple, while the columns of the other front find sufficient height to +develop themselves in the lower ground. A little farther down than the +base of the edifice we saw the Clitumnus, so recently from its source in +the marble rock, that it was still as pure as a child's heart, and as +transparent as truth itself. It looked airier than nothing, because it +had not substance enough to brighten, and it was clearer than the +atmosphere. I remember nothing else of the valley of Clitumnus, except +that the beggars in this region of proverbial fertility are wellnigh +profane in the urgency of their petitions; they absolutely fall down on +their knees as you approach, in the same attitude as if they were praying +to their Maker, and beseech you for alms with a fervency which I am +afraid they seldom use before an altar or shrine. Being denied, they ran +hastily beside the carriage, but got nothing, and finally gave over. + +I am so very tired and sleepy that I mean to mention nothing else +to-night, except the city of Trevi, which, on the approach from Spoleto, +seems completely to cover a high, peaked hill, from its pyramidal tip to +its base. It was the strangest situation in which to build a town, +where, I should suppose, no horse can climb, and whence no inhabitant +would think of descending into the world, after the approach of age +should begin to stiffen his joints. On looking back on this most +picturesque of towns (which the road, of course, did not enter, as +evidently no road could), I saw that the highest part of the hill was +quite covered with a crown of edifices, terminating in a church-tower; +while a part of the northern side was apparently too steep for building; +and a cataract of houses flowed down the western and southern slopes. +There seemed to be palaces, churches, everything that a city should have; +but my eyes are heavy, and I can write no more about them, only that I +suppose the summit of the hill was artificially tenured, so as to prevent +its crumbling down, and enable it to support the platform of edifices +which crowns it. + + +May 27th.--We reached Foligno in good season yesterday afternoon. Our +inn seemed ancient; and, under the same roof, on one side of the +entrance, was the stable, and on the other the coach-house. The house is +built round a narrow court, with a well of water at bottom, and an +opening in the roof at top, whence the staircases are lighted that wind +round the sides of the court, up to the highest story. Our dining-room +and bedrooms were in the latter region, and were all paved with brick, +and without carpets; and the characteristic of the whole was all +exceeding plainness and antique clumsiness of fitting up. We found +ourselves sufficiently comfortable, however; and, as has been the case +throughout our journey, had a very fair and well-cooked dinner. It +shows, as perhaps I have already remarked, that it is still possible to +live well in Italy, at no great expense, and that the high prices charged +to the forestieri at Rome and elsewhere are artificial, and ought to be +abated. . . . . + +The day had darkened since morning, and was now ominous of rain; but as +soon as we were established, we sallied out to see whatever was worth +looking at. A beggar-boy, with one leg, followed us, without asking for +anything, apparently only for the pleasure of our company, though he kept +at too great a distance for conversation, and indeed did not attempt to +speak. + +We went first to the cathedral, which has a Gothic front, and a +modernized interior, stuccoed and whitewashed, looking as neat as a New +England meeting-house, and very mean, after our familiarity with the +gorgeous churches in other cities. There were some pictures in the +chapels, but, I believe, all modern, and I do not remember a single one +of them. Next we went, without any guide, to a church attached to a +convent of Dominican monks, with a Gothic exterior, and two hideous +pictures of Death,--the skeleton leaning on his scythe, one on each side +of the door. This church, likewise, was whitewashed, but we understood +that it had been originally frescoed all over, and by famous hands; but +these pictures, having become much injured, they were all obliterated, as +we saw,--all, that is to say, except a few specimens of the best +preserved, which were spared to show the world what the whole had been. +I thanked my stars that the obliteration of the rest had taken place +before our visit; for if anything is dreary and calculated to make the +beholder utterly miserable, it is a faded fresco, with spots of the white +plaster dotted over it. + +Our one-legged boy had followed us into the church and stood near the +door till he saw us ready to come out, when he hurried on before us, and +waited a little way off to see whither we should go. We still went on at +random, taking the first turn that offered itself, and soon came to +another old church,--that of St. Mary within the Walls,--into which we +entered, and found it whitewashed, like the other two. This was +especially fortunate, for the doorkeeper informed us that, two years ago, +the whole church (except, I suppose, the roof, which is of timber) had +been covered with frescos by Pinturicchio, all of which had been +ruthlessly obliterated, except a very few fragments. These he proceeded +to show us; poor, dim ghosts of what may once have been beautiful,--now +so far gone towards nothingness that I was hardly sure whether I saw a +glimmering of the design or not. By the by, it was not Pinturicchio, as +I have written above, but Giotto, assisted, I believe, by Cimabue, who +painted these frescos. Our one-legged attendant had followed us also +into this church, and again hastened out of it before us; and still we +heard the dot of his crutch upon the pavement, as we passed from street +to street. By and by a sickly looking man met us, and begged for +"qualche cosa"; but the boy shouted to him, "Niente!" whether intimating +that we would give him nothing, or that he himself had a prior claim to +all our charity, I cannot tell. However, the beggar-man turned round, +and likewise followed our devious course. Once or twice we missed him; +but it was only because he could not walk so fast as we; for he appeared +again as we emerged from the door of another church. Our one-legged +friend we never missed for a moment; he kept pretty near us,--near enough +to be amused by our indecision whither to go; and he seemed much +delighted when it began to rain, and he saw us at a loss how to find our +way back to the hotel. Nevertheless, he did not offer to guide us; but +stumped on behind with a faster or slower dot of his crutch, according to +our pace. I began to think that he must have been engaged as a spy upon +our movements by the police who had taken away my passport at the city +gate. In this way he attended us to the door of the hotel, where the +beggar had already arrived. The latter again put in his doleful +petition; the one-legged boy said not a word, nor seemed to expect +anything, and both had to go away without so much as a mezzo baioccho out +of our pockets. The multitude of beggars in Italy makes the heart as +obdurate as a paving-stone. + +We left Foligno this morning, and, all ready for us at the door of the +hotel, as we got into the carriage, were our friends, the beggar-man and +the one-legged boy; the latter holding out his ragged hat, and smiling +with as confident an air as if he had done us some very particular +service, and were certain of being paid for it, as from contract. It was +so very funny, so impudent, so utterly absurd, that I could not help +giving him a trifle; but the man got nothing,--a fact that gives me a +twinge or two, for he looked sickly and miserable. But where everybody +begs, everybody, as a general rule, must be denied; and, besides, they +act their misery so well that you are never sure of the genuine article. + + + +PERUGIA. + + +May 25th.--As I said last night, we left Foligno betimes in the morning, +which was bleak, chill, and very threatening, there being very little +blue sky anywhere, and the clouds lying heavily on some of the +mountain-ridges. The wind blew sharply right in U----'s face and mine, +as we occupied the coupe, so that there must have been a great deal of +the north in it. We drove through a wide plain--the Umbrian valley, I +suppose--and soon passed the old town of Spello, just touching its +skirts, and wondering how people, who had this rich and convenient plain +from which to choose a site, could think of covering a huge island of +rock with their dwellings,--for Spello tumbled its crooked and narrow +streets down a steep descent, and cannot well have a yard of even space +within its walls. It is said to contain some rare treasures of ancient +pictorial art. + +I do not remember much that we saw on our route. The plains and the +lower hillsides seemed fruitful of everything that belongs to Italy, +especially the olive and the vine. As usual, there were a great many +shrines, and frequently a cross by the wayside. Hitherto it had been +merely a plain wooden cross; but now almost every cross was hung with +various instruments, represented in wood, apparently symbols of the +crucifixion of our Saviour,--the spear, the sponge, the crown of thorns, +the hammer, a pair of pincers, and always St. Peter's cock, made a +prominent figure, generally perched on the summit of the cross. + +From our first start this morning we had seen mists in various quarters, +betokening that there was rain in those spots, and now it began to +spatter in our own faces, although within the wide extent of our prospect +we could see the sunshine falling on portions of the valley. A rainbow, +too, shone out, and remained so long visible that it appeared to have +made a permanent stain in the sky. + +By and by we reached Assisi, which is magnificently situated for +pictorial purposes, with a gray castle above it, and a gray wall around +it, itself on a mountain, and looking over the great plain which we had +been traversing, and through which lay our onward way. We drove through +the Piazza Grande to an ancient house a little beyond, where a hospitable +old lady receives travellers for a consideration, without exactly keeping +an inn. + +In the piazza we saw the beautiful front of a temple of Minerva, +consisting of several marble pillars, fluted, and with rich capitals +supporting a pediment. It was as fine as anything I had seen at Rome, +and is now, of course, converted into a Catholic church. + +I ought to have said that, instead of driving straight to the old lady's, +we alighted at the door of a church near the city gate, and went in to +inspect some melancholy frescos, and thence clambered up a narrow street +to the cathedral, which has a Gothic front, old enough, but not very +impressive. I really remember not a single object that we saw within, +but am pretty certain that the interior had been stuccoed and +whitewashed. The ecclesiastics of old time did an excellent thing in +covering the interiors of their churches with brilliant frescos, thus +filling the holy places with saints and angels, and almost with the +presence of the Divinity. The modern ecclesiastics do the next best +thing in obliterating the wretched remnants of what has had its day and +done its office. These frescos might be looked upon as the symbol of the +living spirit that made Catholicism a true religion, and glorified it as +long as it did live; now the glory and beauty have departed from one and +the other. + +My wife, U----, and Miss Shepard now set out with a cicerone to visit the +great Franciscan convent, in the church of which are preserved some +miraculous specimens, in fresco and in oils, of early Italian art; but as +I had no mind to suffer any further in this way, I stayed behind with +J----- and R-----, who we're equally weary of these things. + +After they were gone we took a ramble through the city, but were almost +swept away by the violence of the wind, which struggled with me for my +hat, and whirled R----- before it like a feather. The people in the +public square seemed much diverted at our predicament, being, I suppose, +accustomed to these rude blasts in their mountain-home. However, the +wind blew in momentary gusts, and then became more placable till another +fit of fury came, and passed as suddenly as before. We walked out of the +same gate through which we had entered,--an ancient gate, but recently +stuccoed and whitewashed, in wretched contrast to the gray, venerable +wall through which it affords ingress,--and I stood gazing at the +magnificent prospect of the wide valley beneath. It was so vast that +there appeared to be all varieties of weather in it at the same instant; +fields of sunshine, tracts of storm,--here the coming tempest, there the +departing one. It was a picture of the world on a vast canvas, for there +was rural life and city life within the great expanse, and the whole set +in a frame of mountains,--the nearest bold and dust-net, with the rocky +ledges showing through their sides, the distant ones blue and dim,--so +far stretched this broad valley. + +When I had looked long enough,--no, not long enough, for it would take a +great while to read that page,--we returned within the gate, and we +clambered up, past the cathedral and into the narrow streets above it. +The aspect of everything was immeasurably old; a thousand years would be +but a middle age for one of those houses, built so massively with huge +stones and solid arches, that I do not see how they are ever to tumble +down, or to be less fit for human habitation than they are now. The +streets crept between them, and beneath arched passages, and up and down +steps of stone or ancient brick, for it would be altogether impossible +for a carriage to ascend above the Grand Piazza, though possibly a donkey +or a chairman's mule might find foothold. The city seems like a stony +growth out of the hillside, or a fossilized city,--so old and singular it +is, without enough life and juiciness in it to be susceptible of decay. +An earthquake is the only chance of its ever being ruined, beyond its +present ruin. Nothing is more strange than to think that this now dead +city--dead, as regards the purposes for which men live nowadays--was, +centuries ago, the seat and birthplace almost of art, the only art in +which the beautiful part of the human mind then developed itself. How +came that flower to grow among these wild mountains? I do not conceive, +however, that the people of Assisi were ever much more enlightened or +cultivated on the side of art than they are at present. The +ecclesiastics were then the only patrons; and the flower grew here +because there was a great ecclesiastical garden in which it was sheltered +and fostered. But it is very curious to think of Assisi, a school of art +within, and mountain and wilderness without. + +My wife and the rest of the party returned from the convent before noon, +delighted with what they had seen, as I was delighted not to have seen +it. We ate our dejeuner, and resumed our journey, passing beneath the +great convent, after emerging from the gate opposite to that of our +entrance. The edifice made a very good spectacle, being of great extent, +and standing on a double row of high and narrow arches, on which it is +built up from the declivity of the hill. + +We soon reached the Church of St. Mary of the Angels, which is a modern +structure, and very spacious, built in place of one destroyed by an +earthquake. It is a fine church, opening out a magnificent space in its +nave and aisles; and beneath the great dome stands the small old chapel, +with its rude stone walls, in which St. Francis founded his order. This +chapel and the dome appear to have been the only portions of the ancient +church that were not destroyed by the earthquake. The dwelling of St. +Francis is said to be also preserved within the church; but we did not +see it, unless it were a little dark closet into which we squeezed to see +some frescos by La Spagna. It had an old wooden door, of which U---- +picked off a little bit of a chip, to serve as a relic. There is a +fresco in the church, on the pediment of the chapel, by Overbeck, +representing the Assumption of the Virgin. It did not strike me as +wonderfully fine. The other pictures, of which there were many, were +modern, and of no great merit. + +We pursued our way, and came, by and by, to the foot of the high hill on +which stands Perugia, and which is so long and steep that Gaetano took a +yoke of oxen to aid his horses in the ascent. We all, except my wife, +walked a part of the way up, and I myself, with J----- for my companion, +kept on even to the city gate,--a distance, I should think, of two or +three miles, at least. The lower part of the road was on the edge of the +hill, with a narrow valley on our left; and as the sun had now broken +out, its verdure and fertility, its foliage and cultivation, shone forth +in miraculous beauty, as green as England, as bright as only Italy. +Perugia appeared above us, crowning a mighty hill, the most picturesque +of cities; and the higher we ascended, the more the view opened before +us, as we looked back on the course that we had traversed, and saw the +wide valley, sweeping down and spreading out, bounded afar by mountains, +and sleeping in sun and shadow. No language nor any art of the pencil +can give an idea of the scene. When God expressed himself in the +landscape to mankind, he did not intend that it should be translated into +any tongue save his own immediate one. J----- meanwhile, whose heart is +now wholly in snail-shells, was rummaging for them among the stones and +hedges by the roadside; yet, doubtless, enjoyed the prospect more than he +knew. The coach lagged far behind us, and when it came up, we entered +the gate, where a soldier appeared, and demanded my passport. We drove +to the Grand Hotel de France, which is near the gate, and two fine little +boys ran beside the carriage, well dressed and well looking enough to +have been a gentleman's sons, but claiming Gaetano for their father. He +is an inhabitant of Perugia, and has therefore reached his own home, +though we are still little more than midway to our journey's end. + +Our hotel proves, thus far, to be the best that we have yet met with. We +are only in the outskirts of Perugia; the bulk of the city, where the +most interesting churches and the public edifices are situated, being far +above us on the hill. My wife, U----, Miss Shepard, and R----- streamed +forth immediately, and saw a church; but J-----, who hates them, and I +remained behind; and, for my part, I added several pages to this volume +of scribble. + +This morning was as bright as morning could be, even in Italy, and in +this transparent mountain atmosphere. We at first declined the services +of a cicerone, and went out in the hopes of finding our way to whatever +we wished to see, by our own instincts. This proved to be a mistaken +hope, however; and we wandered about the upper city, much persecuted by a +shabby old man who wished to guide us; so, at last, Miss Shepard went +back in quest of the cicerone at the hotel, and, meanwhile, we climbed to +the summit of the hill of Perugia, and, leaning over a wall, looked forth +upon a most magnificent view of mountain and valley, terminating in some +peaks, lofty and dim, which surely must be the Apennines. There again a +young man accosted us, offering to guide us to the Cambio or Exchange; +and as this was one of the places which we especially wished to see, we +accepted his services. By the by, I ought to have mentioned that we had +already entered a church (San Luigi, I believe), the interior of which we +found very impressive, dim with the light of stained and painted windows, +insomuch that it at first seemed almost dark, and we could only see the +bright twinkling of the tapers at the shrines; but, after a few minutes, +we discerned the tall octagonal pillars of the nave, marble, and +supporting a beautiful roof of crossed arches. The church was neither +Gothic nor classic, but a mixture of both, and most likely barbarous; yet +it had a grand effect in its tinted twilight, and convinced me more than +ever how desirable it is that religious edifices should have painted +windows. + +The door of the Cambio proved to be one that we had passed several times, +while seeking for it, and was very near the church just mentioned, which +fronts on one side of the same piazza. We were received by an old +gentleman, who appeared to be a public officer, and found ourselves in a +small room, wainscoted with beautifully carved oak, roofed with a coved +ceiling, painted with symbols of the planets, and arabesqued in rich +designs by Raphael, and lined with splendid frescos of subjects, +scriptural and historical, by Perugino. When the room was in its first +glory, I can conceive that the world had not elsewhere to show, within so +small a space, such magnificence and beauty as were then displayed here. +Even now, I enjoyed (to the best of my belief, for we can never feel sure +that we are not bamboozling ourselves in such matters) some real pleasure +in what I saw; and especially seemed to feel, after all these ages, the +old painter's devout sentiment still breathing forth from the religious +pictures, the work of a hand that had so long been dust. + +When we had looked long at these, the old gentleman led us into a chapel, +of the same size as the former room, and built in the same fashion, +wainscoted likewise with old oak. The walls were also frescoed, entirely +frescoed, and retained more of their original brightness than those we +had already seen, although the pictures were the production of a somewhat +inferior hand, a pupil of Perugino. They seemed to be very striking, +however, not the less so, that one of them provoked an unseasonable +smile. It was the decapitation of John the Baptist; and this holy +personage was represented as still on his knees, with his hands clasped +in prayer, although the executioner was already depositing the head in a +charger, and the blood was spouting from the headless trunk, directly, as +it were, into the face of the spectator. + +While we were in the outer room, the cicerone who first offered his +services at the hotel had come in; so we paid our chance guide, and +expected him to take his leave. It is characteristic of this idle +country, however, that if you once speak to a person, or connect yourself +with him by the slightest possible tie, you will hardly get rid of him by +anything short of main force. He still lingered in the room, and was +still there when I came away; for, having had as many pictures as I could +digest, I left my wife and U---- with the cicerone, and set out on a +ramble with J-----. We plunged from the upper city down through some of +the strangest passages that ever were called streets; some of them, +indeed, being arched all over, and, going down into the unknown darkness, +looked like caverns; and we followed one of them doubtfully, till it +opened out upon the light. The houses on each side were divided only by +a pace or two, and communicated with one another, here and there, by +arched passages. They looked very ancient, and may have been inhabited +by Etruscan princes, judging from the massiveness of some of the +foundation stones. The present inhabitants, nevertheless, are by no +means princely,--shabby men, and the careworn wives and mothers of the +people,--one of whom was guiding a child in leading-strings through these +antique alleys, where hundreds of generations have trod before those +little feet. Finally we came out through a gateway, the same gateway at +which we entered last night. + +I ought to have mentioned, in the narrative of yesterday, that we crossed +the Tiber shortly before reaching Perugia, already a broad and rapid +stream, and already distinguished by the same turbid and mud-puddly +quality of water that we see in it at Rome. I think it will never be so +disagreeable to me hereafter, now that I find this turbidness to be its +native color, and not (like that of the Thames) accruing from city sewers +or any impurities of the lowlands. + +As I now remember, the small Chapel of Santa Maria degl' Angeli seems to +have been originally the house of St. Francis. + + +May 29th.--This morning we visited the Church of the Dominicans, where we +saw some quaint pictures by Fra Angelico, with a good deal of religious +sincerity in them; also a picture of St. Columba by Perugino, which +unquestionably is very good. To confess the truth, I took more interest +in a fair Gothic monument, in white marble, of Pope Benedict XII., +representing him reclining under a canopy, while two angels draw aside +the curtain, the canopy being supported by twisted columns, richly +ornamented. I like this overflow and gratuity of device with which +Gothic sculpture works out its designs, after seeing so much of the +simplicity of classic art in marble. + +We then tried to find the Church of San Pietro in Martire, but without +success, although every person of whom we inquired immediately attached +himself or herself to us, and could hardly be got rid of by any efforts +on our part. Nobody seemed to know the church we wished for, but all +directed us to another Church of San Pietro, which contains nothing of +interest; whereas the right church is supposed to contain a celebrated +picture by Perugino. + +Finally, we ascended the hill and the city proper of Perugia (for our +hotel is in one of the suburbs), and J----- and I set out on a ramble +about the city. It was market-day, and the principal piazza, with the +neighboring streets, was crowded with people. . . . . + +The best part of Perugia, that in which the grand piazzas and the +principal public edifices stand, seems to be a nearly level plateau on +the summit of the hill; but it is of no very great extent, and the +streets rapidly run downward on either side. J----- and I followed one +of these descending streets, and were led a long way by it, till we at +last emerged from one of the gates of the city, and had another view of +the mountains and valleys, the fertile and sunny wilderness in which this +ancient civilization stands. + +On the right of the gate there was a rude country-path, partly overgrown +with grass, bordered by a hedge on one side, and on the other by the gray +city wall, at the base of which the track kept onward. We followed it, +hoping that it would lead us to some other gate by which we might +re-enter the city; but it soon grew so indistinct and broken, that it +was evidently on the point of melting into somebody's olive-orchard or +wheat-fields or vineyards, all of which lay on the other side of the +hedge; and a kindly old woman of whom I inquired told me (if I rightly +understood her Italian) that I should find no further passage in that +direction. So we turned back, much broiled in the hot sun, and only now +and then relieved by the shadow of an angle or a tower. + +A lame beggar-man sat by the gate, and as we passed him J----- gave him +two baiocchi (which he himself had begged of me to buy an orange with), +and was loaded with the pauper's prayers and benedictions as we entered +the city. A great many blessings can be bought for very little money +anywhere in Italy; and whether they avail anything or no, it is pleasant +to see that the beggars have gratitude enough to bestow them in such +abundance. + +Of all beggars I think a little fellow, who rode beside our carriage on a +stick, his bare feet scampering merrily, while he managed his steed with +one hand, and held out the other for charity, howling piteously the +while, amused me most. + + + +PASSIGNANO. + + +May 29th.--We left Perugia at about three o'clock to-day, and went down a +pretty steep descent; but I have no particular recollection of the road +till it again began to descend, before reaching the village of Magione. +We all, except my wife, walked up the long hill, while the vettura was +dragged after us with the aid of a yoke of oxen. Arriving first at the +village, I leaned over the wall to admire the beautiful paese ("le bel +piano," as a peasant called it, who made acquaintance with me) that lay +at the foot of the hill, so level, so bounded within moderate limits by a +frame of hills and ridges, that it looked like a green lake. In fact, I +think it was once a real lake, which made its escape from its bed, as I +have known some lakes to have done in America. + +Passing through and beyond the village, I saw, on a height above the +road, a half-ruinous tower, with great cracks running down its walls, +half-way from top to bottom. Some little children had mounted the hill +with us, begging all the way; they were recruited with additional members +in the village; and here, beneath the ruinous tower, a madman, as it +seemed, assaulted us, and ran almost under the carriage-wheels, in his +earnestness to get a baioccho. Ridding ourselves of these annoyances, we +drove on, and, between five and six o'clock, came in sight of the Lake of +Thrasymene, obtaining our first view of it, I think, in its longest +extent. There were high hills, and one mountain with its head in the +clouds, visible on the farther shore, and on the horizon beyond it; but +the nearer banks were long ridges, and hills of only moderate height. +The declining sun threw a broad sheen of brightness over the surface of +the lake, so that we could not well see it for excess of light; but had a +vision of headlands and islands floating about in a flood of gold, and +blue, airy heights bounding it afar. When we first drew near the lake, +there was but a narrow tract, covered with vines and olives, between it +and the hill that rose on the other side. As we advanced, the tract grew +wider, and was very fertile, as was the hillside, with wheat-fields, and +vines, and olives, especially the latter, which, symbol of peace as it +is, seemed to find something congenial to it in the soil stained long ago +with blood. Farther onward, the space between the lake and hill grew +still narrower, the road skirting along almost close to the water-side; +and when we reached the town of Passignano there was but room enough for +its dirty and ugly street to stretch along the shore. I have seldom +beheld a lovelier scene than that of the lake and the landscape around +it; never an uglier one than that of this idle and decaying village, +where we were immediately surrounded by beggars of all ages, and by men +vociferously proposing to row us out upon the lake. We declined their +offers of a boat, for the evening was very fresh and cool, insomuch that +I should have liked an outside garment,--a temperature that I had not +anticipated, so near the beginning of June, in sunny Italy. Instead +of a row, we took a walk through the village, hoping to come upon the +shore of the lake, in some secluded spot; but an incredible number of +beggar-children, both boys and girls, but more of the latter, rushed out +of every door, and went along with us, all howling their miserable +petitions at the same moment. + +The village street is long, and our escort waxed more numerous at every +step, till Miss Shepard actually counted forty of these little +reprobates, and more were doubtless added afterwards. At first, no +doubt, they begged in earnest hope of getting some baiocchi; but, by and +by, perceiving that we had determined not to give them anything, they +made a joke of the matter, and began to laugh and to babble, and turn +heels over head, still keeping about us, like a swarm of flies, and now +and then begging again with all their might. There were as few pretty +faces as I ever saw among the same number of children; and they were as +ragged and dirty little imps as any in the world, and, moreover, tainted +the air with a very disagreeable odor from their rags and dirt; rugged +and healthy enough, nevertheless, and sufficiently intelligent; certainly +bold and persevering too; so that it is hard to say what they needed to +fit them for success in life. Yet they begin as beggars, and no doubt +will end so, as all their parents and grandparents do; for in our walk +through the village, every old woman and many younger ones held out their +hands for alms, as if they had all been famished. Yet these people kept +their houses over their heads; had firesides in winter, I suppose, and +food out of their little gardens every day; pigs to kill, chickens, +olives, wine, and a great many things to make life comfortable. The +children, desperately as they begged, looked in good bodily ease, and +happy enough; but, certainly, there was a look of earnest misery in the +faces of some of the old women, either genuine or exceedingly well acted. + +I could not bear the persecution, and went into our hotel, determining +not to venture out again till our departure; at least not in the +daylight. My wife and the rest of the family, however, continued their +walk, and at length were relieved from their little pests by three +policemen (the very images of those in Rome, in their blue, long-skirted +coats, cocked chapeaux-bras, white shoulder-belts, and swords), who boxed +their ears, and dispersed them. Meanwhile, they had quite driven away +all sentimental effusion (of which I felt more, really, than I expected) +about the Lake of Thrasymene. + +The inn of Passignano promised little from its outward appearance; a +tall, dark old house, with a stone staircase leading us up from one +sombre story to another, into a brick-paved dining-room, with our +sleeping-chambers on each side. There was a fireplace of tremendous +depth and height, fit to receive big forest-logs, and with a queer, +double pair of ancient andirons, capable of sustaining them; and in a +handful of ashes lay a small stick of olive-wood,--a specimen, I suppose, +of the sort of fuel which had made the chimney black, in the course of a +good many years. There must have been much shivering and misery of cold +around this fireplace. However, we needed no fire now, and there was +promise of good cheer in the spectacle of a man cleaning some lake-fish +for our dinner, while the poor things flounced and wriggled under the +knife. + +The dinner made its appearance, after a long while, and was most +plentiful, . . . . so that, having measured our appetite in anticipation +of a paucity of food, we had to make more room for such overflowing +abundance. + +When dinner was over, it was already dusk, and before retiring I opened +the window, and looked out on Lake Thrasymene, the margin of which lies +just on the other side of the narrow village street. The moon was a day +or two past the full, just a little clipped on the edge, but gave light +enough to show the lake and its nearer shores almost as distinctly as by +day; and there being a ripple on the surface of the water, it made a +sheen of silver over a wide space. + + + +AREZZO. + + +May 30th.--We started at six o'clock, and left the one ugly street of +Passignano, before many of the beggars were awake. Immediately in the +vicinity of the village there is very little space between the lake in +front and the ridge of hills in the rear; but the plain widened as we +drove onward, so that the lake was scarcely to be seen, or often quite +hidden among the intervening trees, although we could still discern the +summits of the mountains that rise far beyond its shores. The country +was fertile, presenting, on each side of the road, vines trained on +fig-trees; wheat-fields and olives, in greater abundance than any other +product. On our right, with a considerable width of plain between, was +the bending ridge of hills that shut in the Roman army, by its close +approach to the lake at Passignano. In perhaps half all hour's drive, we +reached the little bridge that throws its arch over the Sanguinetto, and +alighted there. The stream has but about a yard's width of water; and +its whole course, between the hills and the lake, might well have been +reddened and swollen with the blood of the multitude of slain Romans. +Its name put me in mind of the Bloody Brook at Deerfield, where a company +of Massachusetts men were massacred by the Indians. + +The Sanguinetto flows over a bed of pebbles; and J----- crept under the +bridge, and got one of them for a memorial, while U----, Miss Shepard, +and R----- plucked some olive twigs and oak leaves, and made them into +wreaths together,--symbols of victory and peace. The tower, which is +traditionally named after Hannibal, is seen on a height that makes part +of the line of enclosing hills. It is a large, old castle, apparently of +the Middle Ages, with a square front, and a battlemented sweep of wall. +The town of Torres (its name, I think), where Hannibal's main army is +supposed to have lain while the Romans came through the pass, was in full +view; and I could understand the plan of the battle better than any +system of military operations which I have hitherto tried to fathom. +Both last night and to-day, I found myself stirred more sensibly than I +expected by the influences of this scene. The old battle-field is still +fertile in thoughts and emotions, though it is so many ages since the +blood spilt there has ceased to make the grass and flowers grow more +luxuriantly. I doubt whether I should feel so much on the field of +Saratoga or Monmouth; but these old classic battle-fields belong to the +whole world, and each man feels as if his own forefathers fought them. +Mine, by the by, if they fought them at all, must have been on the side +of Hannibal; for, certainly, I sympathized with him, and exulted in the +defeat of the Romans on their own soil. They excite much the same +emotion of general hostility that the English do. Byron has written some +very fine stanzas on the battle-field,--not so good as others that he has +written on classical scenes and subjects, yet wonderfully impressing his +own perception of the subject on the reader. Whenever he has to deal +with a statue, a ruin, a battle-field, he pounces upon the topic like a +vulture, and tears out its heart in a twinkling, so that there is nothing +more to be said. + +If I mistake not, our passport was examined by the papal officers at the +last custom-house in the pontifical territory, before we traversed the +path through which the Roman army marched to its destruction. Lake +Thrasymene, of which we took our last view, is not deep set among the +hills, but is bordered by long ridges, with loftier mountains receding +into the distance. It is not to be compared to Windermere or Loch Lomond +for beauty, nor with Lake Champlain and many a smaller lake in my own +country, none of which, I hope, will ever become so historically +interesting as this famous spot. A few miles onward our passport was +countersigned at the Tuscan custom-house, and our luggage permitted to +pass without examination on payment of a fee of nine or ten pauls, +besides two pauls to the porters. There appears to be no concealment on +the part of the officials in thus waiving the exercise of their duty, and +I rather imagine that the thing is recognized and permitted by their +superiors. At all events, it is very convenient for the traveller. + +We saw Cortona, sitting, like so many other cities in this region, on its +hill, and arrived about noon at Arezzo, which also stretches up a high +hillside, and is surrounded, as they all are, by its walls or the remains +of one, with a fortified gate across every entrance. + +I remember one little village, somewhere in the neighborhood of the +Clitumnus, which we entered by one gateway, and, in the course of two +minutes at the utmost, left by the opposite one, so diminutive was this +walled town. Everything hereabouts bears traces of times when war was +the prevalent condition, and peace only a rare gleam of sunshine. + +At Arezzo we have put up at the Hotel Royal, which has the appearance of +a grand old house, and proves to be a tolerable inn enough. After lunch, +we wandered forth to see the town, which did not greatly interest me +after Perugia, being much more modern and less picturesque in its aspect. +We went to the cathedral,--a Gothic edifice, but not of striking +exterior. As the doors were closed, and not to be opened till three +o'clock, we seated ourselves under the trees, on a high, grassy space +surrounded and intersected with gravel-walks,--a public promenade, in +short, near the cathedral; and after resting ourselves here we went in +search of Petrarch's house, which Murray mentions as being in this +neighborhood. We inquired of several people, who knew nothing about the +matter; one woman misdirected us, out of mere fun, I believe, for she +afterwards met us and asked how we had succeeded. But finally, through +------'s enterprise and perseverance, we found the spot, not a +stone's-throw from where we had been sitting. + +Petrarch's house stands below the promenade which I have just mentioned, +and within hearing of the reverberations between the strokes of the +cathedral bell. It is two stories high, covered with a light-colored +stucco, and has not the slightest appearance of antiquity, no more than +many a modern and modest dwelling-house in an American city. Its only +remarkable feature is a pointed arch of stone, let into the plastered +wall, and forming a framework for the doorway. I set my foot on the +doorsteps, ascended them, and Miss Shepard and J----- gathered some weeds +or blades of grass that grew in the chinks between the steps. There is a +long inscription on a slab of marble set in the front of the house, as is +the fashion in Arezzo when a house has been the birthplace or residence +of a distinguished man. + +Right opposite Petrarch's birth-house--and it must have been the well +whence the water was drawn that first bathed him--is a well which +Boccaccio has introduced into one of his stories. It is surrounded with +a stone curb, octagonal in shape, and evidently as ancient as Boccaccio's +time. It has a wooden cover, through which is a square opening, and +looking down I saw my own face in the water far beneath. + +There is no familiar object connected with daily life so interesting as a +well; and this well or old Arezzo, whence Petrarch had drunk, around +which he had played in his boyhood, and which Boccaccio has made famous, +really interested me more than the cathedral. It lies right under the +pavement of the street, under the sunshine, without any shade of trees +about it, or any grass, except a little that grows in the crevices of its +stones; but the shape of its stone-work would make it a pretty object in +an engraving. As I lingered round it I thought of my own town-pump in +old Salem, and wondered whether my townspeople would ever point it out to +strangers, and whether the stranger would gaze at it with any degree of +such interest as I felt in Boccaccio's well. O, certainly not; but yet I +made that humble town-pump the most celebrated structure in the good +town. A thousand and a thousand people had pumped there, merely to water +oxen or fill their teakettles; but when once I grasped the handle, a rill +gushed forth that meandered as far as England, as far as India, besides +tasting pleasantly in every town and village of our own country. I like +to think of this, so long after I did it, and so far from home, and am +not without hopes of some kindly local remembrance on this score. + +Petrarch's house is not a separate and insulated building, but stands in +contiguity and connection with other houses on each side; and all, when I +saw them, as well as the whole street, extending down the slope of the +hill, had the bright and sunny aspect of a modern town. + +As the cathedral was not yet open, and as J----- and I had not so much +patience as my wife, we left her and Miss Shepard, and set out to return +to the hotel. We lost our way, however, and finally had to return to the +cathedral, to take a fresh start; and as the door was now open we went +in. We found the cathedral very stately with its great arches, and +darkly magnificent with the dim rich light coming through its painted +windows, some of which are reckoned the most beautiful that the whole +world has to show. The hues are far more brilliant than those of any +painted glass I saw in England, and a great wheel window looks like a +constellation of many-colored gems. The old English glass gets so smoky +and dull with dust, that its pristine beauty cannot any longer be even +imagined; nor did I imagine it till I saw these Italian windows. We saw +nothing of my wife and Miss Shepard; but found afterwards that they had +been much annoyed by the attentions of a priest who wished to show them +the cathedral, till they finally told him that they had no money with +them, when he left them without another word. The attendants in churches +seem to be quite as venal as most other Italians, and, for the sake of +their little profit, they do not hesitate to interfere with the great +purposes for which their churches were built and decorated; hanging +curtains, for instance, before all the celebrated pictures, or hiding +them away in the sacristy, so that they cannot be seen without a fee. + +Returning to the hotel, we looked out of the window, and, in the street +beneath, there was a very busy scene, it being Sunday, and the whole +population, apparently, being astir, promenading up and down the smooth +flag-stones, which made the breadth of the street one sidewalk, or at +their windows, or sitting before their doors. + +The vivacity of the population in these parts is very striking, after the +gravity and lassitude of Rome; and the air was made cheerful with the +talk and laughter of hundreds of voices. I think the women are prettier +than the Roman maids and matrons, who, as I think I have said before, +have chosen to be very uncomely since the rape of their ancestresses, by +way of wreaking a terrible spite and revenge. + +I have nothing more to say of Arezzo, except that, finding the ordinary +wine very bad, as black as ink, and tasting as if it had tar and vinegar +in it, we called for a bottle of Monte Pulciano, and were exceedingly +gladdened and mollified thereby. + + + +INCISA. + + +We left Arezzo early on Monday morning, the sun throwing the long shadows +of the trees across the road, which at first, after we had descended the +hill, lay over a plain. As the morning advanced, or as we advanced, the +country grew more hilly. We saw many bits of rustic life,--such as old +women tending pigs or sheep by the roadside, and spinning with a distaff; +women sewing under trees, or at their own doors; children leading goats, +tied by the horns, while they browse; sturdy, sunburnt creatures, in +petticoats, but otherwise manlike, at work side by side with male +laborers in the fields. The broad-brimmed, high-crowned hat of Tuscan +straw is the customary female head-dress, and is as unbecoming as can +possibly be imagined, and of little use, one would suppose, as a shelter +from the sun, the brim continually blowing upward from the face. Some of +the elder women wore black felt hats, likewise broad-brimmed; and the men +wore felt hats also, shaped a good deal like a mushroom, with hardly any +brim at all. The scenes in the villages through which we passed were +very lively and characteristic, all the population seeming to be out of +doors: some at the butcher's shop, others at the well; a tailor sewing in +the open air, with a young priest sitting sociably beside him; children +at play; women mending clothes, embroidering, spinning with the distaff +at their own doorsteps; many idlers, letting the pleasant morning pass in +the sweet-do-nothing; all assembling in the street, as in the common room +of one large household, and thus brought close together, and made +familiar with one another, as they can never be in a different system +of society. As usual along the road we passed multitudes of shrines, +where the Virgin was painted in fresco, or sometimes represented in +bas-reliefs, within niches, or under more spacious arches. It would be a +good idea to place a comfortable and shady seat beneath all these wayside +shrines, where the wayfarer might rest himself, and thank the Virgin for +her hospitality; nor can I believe that it would offend her, any more +than other incense, if he were to regale himself, even in such +consecrated spots, with the fragrance of a pipe or cigar. + +In the wire-work screen, before many of the shrines, hung offerings of +roses and other flowers, some wilted and withered, some fresh with that +morning's dew, some that never bloomed and never faded,--being +artificial. I wonder that they do not plant rose-trees and all kinds of +fragrant and flowering shrubs under the shrines, and twine and wreathe +them all around, so that the Virgin may dwell within a bower of perpetual +freshness; at least put flower-pots, with living plants, into the niche. +There are many things in the customs of these people that might be made +very beautiful, if the sense of beauty were as much alive now as it must +have been when these customs were first imagined and adopted. + +I must not forget, among these little descriptive items, the spectacle of +women and girls bearing huge bundles of twigs and shrubs, or grass, with +scarlet poppies and blue flowers intermixed; the bundles sometimes so +huge as almost to hide the woman's figure from head to heel, so that she +looked like a locomotive mass of verdure and flowers; sometimes reaching +only half-way down her back, so as to show the crooked knife slung +behind, with which she had been reaping this strange harvest-sheaf. A +Pre-Raphaelite painter--the one, for instance, who painted the heap of +autumnal leaves, which we saw at the Manchester Exhibition--would find an +admirable subject in one of these girls, stepping with a free, erect, and +graceful carriage, her burden on her head; and the miscellaneous herbage +and flowers would give him all the scope he could desire for minute and +various delineation of nature. + +The country houses which we passed had sometimes open galleries or +arcades on the second story and above, where the inhabitants might +perform their domestic labor in the shade and in the air. The houses +were often ancient, and most picturesquely time-stained, the plaster +dropping in spots from the old brickwork; others were tinted of pleasant +and cheerful lines; some were frescoed with designs in arabesques, or +with imaginary windows; some had escutcheons of arms painted on the +front. Wherever there was a pigeon-house, a flight of doves were +represented as flying into the holes, doubtless for the invitation and +encouragement of the real birds. + +Once or twice I saw a bush stuck up before the door of what seemed to be +a wine-shop. If so, it is the ancient custom, so long disused in +England, and alluded to in the proverb, "Good wine needs no bush." +Several times we saw grass spread to dry on the road, covering half the +track, and concluded it to have been cut by the roadside for the winter +forage of his ass by some poor peasant, or peasant's wife, who had no +grass land, except the margin of the public way. + +A beautiful feature of the scene to-day, as the preceding day, were the +vines growing on fig-trees (?) [This interrogation-mark must mean that +Mr. Hawthorne was not sure they were fig-trees.--ED.], and often wreathed +in rich festoons from one tree to another, by and by to be hung with +clusters of purple grapes. I suspect the vine is a pleasanter object of +sight under this mode of culture than it can be in countries where it +produces a more precious wine, and therefore is trained more +artificially. Nothing can be more picturesque than the spectacle of an +old grapevine, with almost a trunk of its own, clinging round its tree, +imprisoning within its strong embrace the friend that supported its +tender infancy, converting the tree wholly to its own selfish ends, as +seemingly flexible natures are apt to do, stretching out its innumerable +arms on every bough, and allowing hardly a leaf to sprout except its own. +I must not yet quit this hasty sketch, without throwing in, both in the +early morning, and later in the forenoon, the mist that dreamed among the +hills, and which, now that I have called it mist, I feel almost more +inclined to call light, being so quietly cheerful with the sunshine +through it. Put in, now and then, a castle on a hilltop; a rough ravine, +a smiling valley; a mountain stream, with a far wider bed than it at +present needs, and a stone bridge across it, with ancient and massive +arches;--and I shall say no more, except that all these particulars, and +many better ones which escape me, made up a very pleasant whole. + +At about noon we drove into the village of Incisa, and alighted at the +albergo where we were to lunch. It was a gloomy old house, as much like +my idea of an Etruscan tomb as anything else that I can compare it to. +We passed into a wide and lofty entrance-hall, paved with stone, and +vaulted with a roof of intersecting arches, supported by heavy columns of +stuccoed-brick, the whole as sombre and dingy as can well be. This +entrance-hall is not merely the passageway into the inn, but is likewise +the carriage-house, into which our vettura is wheeled; and it has, on one +side, the stable, odorous with the litter of horses and cattle, and on +the other the kitchen, and a common sitting-room. A narrow stone +staircase leads from it to the dining-room, and chambers above, +which are paved with brick, and adorned with rude frescos instead of +paper-hangings. We look out of the windows, and step into a little +iron-railed balcony, before the principal window, and observe the scene +in the village street. The street is narrow, and nothing can exceed the +tall, grim ugliness of the village houses, many of them four stories +high, contiguous all along, and paved quite across; so that nature is as +completely shut out from the precincts of this little town as from the +heart of the widest city. The walls of the houses are plastered, gray, +dilapidated; the windows small, some of them drearily closed with wooden +shutters, others flung wide open, and with women's heads protruding, +others merely frescoed, for a show of light and air. It would be a +hideous street to look at in a rainy day, or when no human life pervaded +it. Now it has vivacity enough to keep it cheerful. People lounge round +the door of the albergo, and watch the horses as they drink from a stone +trough, which is built against the wall of the house, and filled with the +unseen gush of a spring. + +At first there is a shade entirely across the street, and all the +within-doors of the village empties itself there, and keeps up a +babblement that seems quite disproportioned even to the multitude of +tongues that make it. So many words are not spoken in a New England +village in a whole year as here in this single day. People talk about +nothing as if they were terribly in earnest, and laugh at nothing as if +it were all excellent joke. + +As the hot noon sunshine encroaches on our side of the street, it grows a +little more quiet. The loungers now confine themselves to the shady +margin (growing narrower and narrower) of the other side, where, directly +opposite the albergo, there are two cafes and a wine-shop, "vendita di +pane, vino, ed altri generi," all in a row with benches before them. The +benchers joke with the women passing by, and are joked with back again. +The sun still eats away the shadow inch by inch, beating down with such +intensity that finally everybody disappears except a few passers-by. + +Doubtless the village snatches this half-hour for its siesta. There is a +song, however, inside one of the cafes, with a burden in which several +voices join. A girl goes through the street, sheltered under her great +bundle of freshly cut grass. By and by the song ceases, and two young +peasants come out of the cafe, a little affected by liquor, in their +shirt-sleeves and bare feet, with their trousers tucked up. They resume +their song in the street, and dance along, one's arm around his fellow's +neck, his own waist grasped by the other's arm. They whirl one another +quite round about, and come down upon their feet. Meeting a village maid +coming quietly along, they dance up and intercept her for a moment, but +give way to her sobriety of aspect. They pass on, and the shadow soon +begins to spread from one side of the street, which presently fills +again, and becomes once more, for its size, the noisiest place I ever +knew. + +We had quite a tolerable dinner at this ugly inn, where many preceding +travellers had written their condemnatory judgments, as well as a few +their favorable ones, in pencil on the walls of the dining-room. + + + +TO FLORENCE. + + +At setting off [from Incisa], we were surrounded by beggars as usual, the +most interesting of whom were a little blind boy and his mother, who had +besieged us with gentle pertinacity during our whole stay there. There +was likewise a man with a maimed hand, and other hurts or deformities; +also, an old woman who, I suspect, only pretended to be blind, keeping +her eyes tightly squeezed together, but directing her hand very +accurately where the copper shower was expected to fall. Besides these, +there were a good many sturdy little rascals, vociferating in proportion +as they needed nothing. It was touching, however, to see several +persons--themselves beggars for aught I know--assisting to hold up the +little blind boy's tremulous hand, so that he, at all events, might not +lack the pittance which we had to give. Our dole was but a poor one, +after all, consisting of what Roman coppers we had brought into Tuscany +with us; and as we drove off, some of the boys ran shouting and whining +after us in the hot sunshine, nor stopped till we reached the summit of +the hill, which rises immediately from the village street. We heard +Gaetano once say a good thing to a swarm of beggar-children, who were +infesting us, "Are your fathers all dead?"--a proverbial expression, I +suppose. The pertinacity of beggars does not, I think, excite the +indignation of an Italian, as it is apt to do that of Englishmen or +Americans. The Italians probably sympathize more, though they give less. +Gaetano is very gentle in his modes of repelling them, and, indeed, never +interferes at all, as long as there is a prospect of their getting +anything. + +Immediately after leaving Incisa, we saw the Arno, already a considerable +river, rushing between deep banks, with the greenish line of a duck-pond +diffused through its water. Nevertheless, though the first impression +was not altogether agreeable, we soon became reconciled to this line, and +ceased to think it an indication of impurity; for, in spite of it, the +river is still to a certain degree transparent, and is, at any rate, a +mountain stream, and comes uncontaminated from its source. The pure, +transparent brown of the New England rivers is the most beautiful color; +but I am content that it should be peculiar to them. + +Our afternoon's drive was through scenery less striking than some which +we had traversed, but still picturesque and beautiful. We saw deep +valleys and ravines, with streams at the bottom; long, wooded hillsides, +rising far and high, and dotted with white dwellings, well towards the +summits. By and by, we had a distant glimpse of Florence, showing its +great dome and some of its towers out of a sidelong valley, as if we were +between two great waves of the tumultuous sea of hills; while, far +beyond, rose in the distance the blue peaks of three or four of the +Apennines, just on the remote horizon. There being a haziness in the +atmosphere, however, Florence was little more distinct to us than the +Celestial City was to Christian and Hopeful, when they spied at it from +the Delectable Mountains. + +Keeping steadfastly onward, we ascended a winding road, and passed a +grand villa, standing very high, and surrounded with extensive grounds. +It must be the residence of some great noble; and it has an avenue of +poplars or aspens, very light and gay, and fit for the passage of the +bridal procession, when the proprietor or his heir brings home his bride; +while, in another direction from the same front of the palace, stretches +an avenue or grove of cypresses, very long, and exceedingly black and +dismal, like a train of gigantic mourners. I have seen few things more +striking, in the way of trees, than this grove of cypresses. + +From this point we descended, and drove along an ugly, dusty avenue, with +a high brick wall on one side or both, till we reached the gate of +Florence, into which we were admitted with as little trouble as +custom-house officers, soldiers, and policemen can possibly give. They +did not examine our luggage, and even declined a fee, as we had already +paid one at the frontier custom-house. Thank heaven, and the Grand Duke! + +As we hoped that the Casa del Bello had been taken for us, we drove +thither in the first place, but found that the bargain had not been +concluded. As the house and studio of Mr. Powers were just on the +opposite side of the street, I went to it, but found him too much +engrossed to see me at the moment; so I returned to the vettura, and we +told Gaetano to carry us to a hotel. He established us at the Albergo +della Fontana, a good and comfortable house. . . . . Mr. Powers called in +the evening,--a plain personage, characterized by strong simplicity and +warm kindliness, with an impending brow, and large eyes, which kindle as +he speaks. He is gray, and slightly bald, but does not seem elderly, nor +past his prime. I accept him at once as an honest and trustworthy man, +and shall not vary from this judgment. Through his good offices, the +next day, we engaged the Casa del Bello, at a rent of fifty dollars a +month, and I shall take another opportunity (my fingers and head being +tired now) to write about the house, and Mr. Powers, and what appertains +to him, and about the beautiful city of Florence. At present, I shall +only say further, that this journey from Rome has been one of the +brightest and most uncareful interludes of my life; we have all enjoyed +it exceedingly, and I am happy that our children have it to look back +upon. + + +June 4th.--At our visit to Powers's studio on Tuesday, we saw a marble +copy of the fisher-boy holding a shell to his ear, and the bust of +Proserpine, and two or three other ideal busts; various casts of most of +the ideal statues and portrait busts which he has executed. He talks +very freely about his works, and is no exception to the rule that an +artist is not apt to speak in a very laudatory style of a brother artist. +He showed us a bust of Mr. Sparks by Persico,--a lifeless and thoughtless +thing enough, to be sure,--and compared it with a very good one of the +same gentleman by himself; but his chiefest scorn was bestowed on a +wretched and ridiculous image of Mr. King, of Alabama, by Clark Mills, of +which he said he had been employed to make several copies for Southern +gentlemen. The consciousness of power is plainly to be seen, and the +assertion of it by no means withheld, in his simple and natural +character; nor does it give me an idea of vanity on his part to see and +hear it. He appears to consider himself neglected by his country,--by +the government of it, at least,--and talks with indignation of the byways +and political intrigue which, he thinks, win the rewards that ought to be +bestowed exclusively on merit. An appropriation of twenty-five thousand +dollars was made, some years ago, for a work of sculpture by him, to be +placed in the Capitol; but the intermediate measures necessary to render +it effective have been delayed; while the above-mentioned Clark Mills-- +certainly the greatest bungler that ever botched a block of marble--has +received an order for an equestrian statue of Washington. Not that Mr. +Powers is made bitter or sour by these wrongs, as he considers them; he +talks of them with the frankness of his disposition when the topic comes +in his way, and is pleasant, kindly, and sunny when he has done with it. + +His long absence from our country has made him think worse of us than we +deserve; and it is an effect of what I myself am sensible, in my shorter +exile: the most piercing shriek, the wildest yell, and all the ugly +sounds of popular turmoil, inseparable from the life of a republic, being +a million times more audible than the peaceful hum of prosperity and +content which is going on all the while. + +He talks of going home, but says that he has been talking of it every +year since he first came to Italy; and between his pleasant life of +congenial labor, and his idea of moral deterioration in America, I think +it doubtful whether he ever crosses the sea again. Like most exiles of +twenty years, he has lost his native country without finding another; but +then it is as well to recognize the truth,--that an individual country is +by no means essential to one's comfort. + +Powers took us into the farthest room, I believe, of his very extensive +studio, and showed us a statue of Washington that has much dignity and +stateliness. He expressed, however, great contempt for the coat and +breeches, and masonic emblems, in which he had been required to drape the +figure. What would he do with Washington, the most decorous and +respectable personage that ever went ceremoniously through the realities +of life? Did anybody ever see Washington nude? It is inconceivable. He +had no nakedness, but I imagine he was born with his clothes on, and his +hair powdered, and made a stately bow on his first appearance in the +world. His costume, at all events, was a part of his character, and must +be dealt with by whatever sculptor undertakes to represent him. I wonder +that so very sensible a man as Powers should not see the necessity of +accepting drapery, and the very drapery of the day, if he will keep his +art alive. It is his business to idealize the tailor's actual work. But +he seems to be especially fond of nudity, none of his ideal statues, so +far as I know them, having so much as a rag of clothes. His statue of +California, lately finished, and as naked as Venus, seemed to me a very +good work; not an actual woman, capable of exciting passion, but +evidently a little out of the category of human nature. In one hand she +holds a divining-rod. "She says to the emigrants," observed Powers, +"'Here is the gold, if you choose to take it.'" But in her face, and in +her eyes, very finely expressed, there is a look of latent mischief, +rather grave than playful, yet somewhat impish or sprite-like; and, in +the other hand, behind her back, she holds a bunch of thorns. Powers +calls her eyes Indian. The statue is true to the present fact and +history of California, and includes the age-long truth as respects the +"auri sacra fames." . . . . + +When we had looked sufficiently at the sculpture, Powers proposed that we +should now go across the street and see the Casa del Bello. We did so in +a body, Powers in his dressing-gown and slippers, and his wife and +daughters without assuming any street costume. + +The Casa del Bello is a palace of three pianos, the topmost of which is +occupied by the Countess of St. George, an English lady, and two lower +pianos are to be let, and we looked at both. The upper one would have +suited me well enough; but the lower has a terrace, with a rustic +summer-house over it, and is connected with a garden, where there are +arbors and a willow-tree, and a little wilderness of shrubbery and roses, +with a fountain in the midst. It has likewise an immense suite of rooms, +round the four sides of a small court, spacious, lofty, with frescoed +ceilings and rich hangings, and abundantly furnished with arm-chairs, +sofas, marble tables, and great looking-glasses. Not that these last are +a great temptation, but in our wandering life I wished to be perfectly +comfortable myself, and to make my family so, for just this summer, and +so I have taken the lower piano, the price being only fifty dollars per +month (entirely furnished, even to silver and linen). Certainly this is +something like the paradise of cheapness we were told of, and which we +vainly sought in Rome. . . . . + +To me has been assigned the pleasantest room for my study; and when I +like I can overflow into the summer-house or an arbor, and sit there +dreaming of a story. The weather is delightful, too warm to walk, but +perfectly fit to do nothing in, in the coolness of these great rooms. +Every day I shall write a little, perhaps,--and probably take a brief nap +somewhere between breakfast and tea,--but go to see pictures and statues +occasionally, and so assuage and mollify myself a little after that +uncongenial life of the consulate, and before going back to my own hard +and dusty New England. + +After concluding the arrangement for the Casa del Bello, we stood talking +a little while with Powers and his wife and daughter before the door of +the house, for they seem so far to have adopted the habits of the +Florentines as to feel themselves at home on the shady side of the +street. The out-of-door life and free communication with the pavement, +habitual apparently among the middle classes, reminds me of the plays of +Moliere and other old dramatists, in which the street or the square +becomes a sort of common parlor, where most of the talk and scenic +business of the people is carried on. + + +June 5th.--For two or three mornings after breakfast I have rambled a +little about the city till the shade grew narrow beneath the walls of the +houses, and the heat made it uncomfortable to be in motion. To-day I +went over the Ponte Carraja, and thence into and through the heart of the +city, looking into several churches, in all of which I found people +taking advantage of the cool breadth of these sacred interiors to refresh +themselves and say their prayers. Florence at first struck me as having +the aspect of a very new city in comparison with Rome; but, on closer +acquaintance, I find that many of the buildings are antique and massive, +though still the clear atmosphere, the bright sunshine, the light, +cheerful hues of the stucco, and--as much as anything else, perhaps--the +vivacious character of the human life in the streets, take away the sense +of its being an ancient city. The streets are delightful to walk in +after so many penitential pilgrimages as I have made over those little +square, uneven blocks of the Roman pavement, which wear out the boots and +torment the soul. I absolutely walk on the smooth flags of Florence for +the mere pleasure of walking, and live in its atmosphere for the mere +pleasure of living; and, warm as the weather is getting to be, I never +feel that inclination to sink down in a heap and never stir again, which +was my dull torment and misery as long as I stayed in Rome. I hardly +think there can be a place in the world where life is more delicious for +its own simple sake than here. + +I went to-day into the Baptistery, which stands near the Duomo, and, like +that, is covered externally with slabs of black and white marble, now +grown brown and yellow with age. The edifice is octagonal, and on +entering, one immediately thinks of the Pantheon,--the whole space within +being free from side to side, with a dome above; but it differs from the +severe simplicity of the former edifice, being elaborately ornamented +with marble and frescos, and lacking that great eye in the roof that +looks so nobly and reverently heavenward from the Pantheon. I did little +more than pass through the Baptistery, glancing at the famous bronze +doors, some perfect and admirable casts of which I had already seen at +the Crystal Palace. + +The entrance of the Duomo being just across the piazza, I went in there +after leaving the Baptistery, and was struck anew--for this is the third +or fourth visit--with the dim grandeur of the interior, lighted as it is +almost exclusively by painted windows, which seem to me worth all the +variegated marbles and rich cabinet-work of St. Peter's. The Florentine +Cathedral has a spacious and lofty nave, and side aisles divided from it +by pillars; but there are no chapels along the aisles, so that there is +far more breadth and freedom of interior, in proportion to the actual +space, than is usual in churches. It is woful to think how the vast +capaciousness within St. Peter's is thrown away, and made to seem smaller +than it is by every possible device, as if on purpose. The pillars and +walls of this Duomo are of a uniform brownish, neutral tint; the +pavement, a mosaic work of marble; the ceiling of the dome itself is +covered with frescos, which, being very imperfectly lighted, it is +impossible to trace out. Indeed, it is but a twilight region that is +enclosed within the firmament of this great dome, which is actually +larger than that of St. Peter's, though not lifted so high from the +pavement. But looking at the painted windows, I little cared what +dimness there might be elsewhere; for certainly the art of man has never +contrived any other beauty and glory at all to be compared to this. + +The dome sits, as it were, upon three smaller domes,--smaller, but still +great,--beneath which are three vast niches, forming the transepts of the +cathedral and the tribune behind the high altar. All round these hollow, +dome-covered arches or niches are high and narrow windows crowded with +saints, angels, and all manner of blessed shapes, that turn the common +daylight into a miracle of richness and splendor as it passes through +their heavenly substance. And just beneath the swell of the great +central dome is a wreath of circular windows quite round it, as brilliant +as the tall and narrow ones below. It is a pity anybody should die +without seeing an antique painted window, with the bright Italian +sunshine glowing through it. This is "the dim, religious light" that +Milton speaks of; but I doubt whether he saw these windows when he was in +Italy, or any but those faded or dusty and dingy ones of the English +cathedrals, else he would have illuminated that word "dim" with some +epithet that should not chase away the dimness, yet should make it shine +like a million of rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and topazes,--bright in +themselves, but dim with tenderness and reverence because God himself was +shining through them. I hate what I have said. + +All the time that I was in the cathedral the space around the high altar, +which stands exactly under the dome, was occupied by priests or acolytes +in white garments, chanting a religious service. + +After coming out, I took a view of the edifice from a corner of the +street nearest to the dome, where it and the smaller domes can be seen at +once. It is greatly more satisfactory than St. Peter's in any view I +ever had of it,--striking in its outline, with a mystery, yet not a +bewilderment, in its masses and curves and angles, and wrought out with a +richness of detail that gives the eyes new arches, new galleries, new +niches, new pinnacles, new beauties, great and small, to play with when +wearied with the vast whole. The hue, black and white marbles, like the +Baptistery, turned also yellow and brown, is greatly preferable to the +buff travertine of St. Peter's. + +From the Duomo it is but a moderate street's length to the Piazza del +Gran Duca, the principal square of Florence. It is a very interesting +place, and has on one side the old Governmental Palace,--the Palazzo +Vecchio,--where many scenes of historic interest have been enacted; for +example, conspirators have been hanged from its windows, or precipitated +from them upon the pavement of the square below. + +It is a pity that we cannot take as much interest in the history of +these Italian Republics as in that of England, for the former is much the +more picturesque and fuller of curious incident. The sobriety of the +Anglo-Saxon race--in connection, too, with their moral sense--keeps them +from doing a great many things that would enliven the page of history; +and their events seem to come in great masses, shoved along by the agency +of many persons, rather than to result from individual will and +character. A hundred plots for a tragedy might be found in Florentine +history for one in English. + +At one corner of the Palazzo Vecchio is a bronze equestrian statue of +Cosmo de' Medici, the first Grand Duke, very stately and majestic; there +are other marble statues--one of David, by Michael Angelo--at each side +of the palace door; and entering the court I found a rich antique arcade +within, surrounded by marble pillars, most elaborately carved, supporting +arches that were covered with faded frescos. I went no farther, but +stepped across a little space of the square to the Loggia di Lanzi, which +is broad and noble, of three vast arches, at the end of which, I take it, +is a part of the Palazzo Uffizi fronting on the piazza. I should call it +a portico if it stood before the palace door; but it seems to have been +constructed merely for itself, and as a shelter for the people from sun +and rain, and to contain some fine specimens of sculpture, as well +antique as of more modern times. Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus stands +here; but it did not strike me so much as the cast of it in the Crystal +Palace. + +A good many people were under these great arches; some of whom were +reclining, half or quite asleep, on the marble seats that are built +against the back of the loggia. A group was reading an edict of the +Grand Duke, which appeared to have been just posted on a board, at the +farther end of it; and I was surprised at the interest which they +ventured to manifest, and the freedom with which they seemed to discuss +it. A soldier was on guard, and doubtless there were spies enough to +carry every word that was said to the ear of absolute authority. +Glancing myself at the edict, however, I found it referred only to the +furtherance of a project, got up among the citizens themselves, for +bringing water into the city; and on such topics, I suppose there is +freedom of discussion. + + +June 7th.--Saturday evening we walked with U---- and J----- into the +city, and looked at the exterior of the Duomo with new admiration. Since +my former view of it, I have noticed--which, strangely enough, did not +strike me before--that the facade is but a great, bare, ugly space, +roughly plastered over, with the brickwork peeping through it in spots, +and a faint, almost invisible fresco of colors upon it. This front was +once nearly finished with an incrustation of black and white marble, like +the rest of the edifice; but one of the city magistrates, Benedetto +Uguccione, demolished it, three hundred years ago, with the idea of +building it again in better style. He failed to do so, and, ever since, +the magnificence of the great church has been marred by this unsightly +roughness of what should have been its richest part; nor is there, I +suppose, any hope that it will ever be finished now. + +The campanile, or bell-tower, stands within a few paces of the cathedral, +but entirely disconnected from it, rising to a height of nearly three +hundred feet, a square tower of light marbles, now discolored by time. +It is impossible to give an idea of the richness of effect produced by +its elaborate finish; the whole surface of the four sides, from top to +bottom, being decorated with all manner of statuesque and architectural +sculpture. It is like a toy of ivory, which some ingenious and pious +monk might have spent his lifetime in adorning with scriptural designs +and figures of saints; and when it was finished, seeing it so beautiful, +he prayed that it might be miraculously magnified from the size of one +foot to that of three hundred. This idea somewhat satisfies me, as +conveying an impression how gigantesque the campanile is in its mass and +height, and how minute and varied in its detail. Surely these mediaeval +works have an advantage over the classic. They combine the telescope and +the microscope. + +The city was all alive in the summer evening, and the streets humming +with voices. Before the doors of the cafes were tables, at which people +were taking refreshment, and it went to my heart to see a bottle of +English ale, some of which was poured foaming into a glass; at least, it +had exactly the amber hue and the foam of English bitter ale; but perhaps +it may have been merely a Florentine imitation. + +As we returned home over the Arno, crossing the Ponte di Santa Trinita, +we were struck by the beautiful scene of the broad, calm river, with the +palaces along its shores repeated in it, on either side, and the +neighboring bridges, too, just as perfect in the tide beneath as in the +air above,--a city of dream and shadow so close to the actual one. God +has a meaning, no doubt, in putting this spiritual symbol continually +beside us. + +Along the river, on both sides, as far as we could see, there was a row +of brilliant lamps, which, in the far distance, looked like a cornice of +golden light; and this also shone as brightly in the river's depths. The +lilies of the evening, in the quarter where the sun had gone down, were +very soft and beautiful, though not so gorgeous as thousands that I have +seen in America. But I believe I must fairly confess that the Italian +sky, in the daytime, is bluer and brighter than our own, and that the +atmosphere has a quality of showing objects to better advantage. It is +more than mere daylight; the magic of moonlight is somehow mixed up with +it, although it is so transparent a medium of light. + +Last evening, Mr. Powers called to see us, and sat down to talk in a +friendly and familiar way. I do not know a man of more facile +intercourse, nor with whom one so easily gets rid of ceremony. His +conversation, too, is interesting. He talked, to begin with, about +Italian food, as poultry, mutton, beef, and their lack of savoriness as +compared with our own; and mentioned an exquisite dish of vegetables +which they prepare from squash or pumpkin blossoms; likewise another +dish, which it will be well for us to remember when we get back to +the Wayside, where we are overrun with acacias. It consists of the +acacia-blossoms in a certain stage of their development fried in +olive-oil. I shall get the receipt from Mrs. Powers, and mean to deserve +well of my country by first trying it, and then making it known; only I +doubt whether American lard, or even butter, will produce the dish quite +so delicately as fresh Florence oil. + +Meanwhile, I like Powers all the better, because he does not put his life +wholly into marble. We had much talk, nevertheless, on matters of +sculpture, for he drank a cup of tea with us, and stayed a good while. + +He passed a condemnatory sentence on classic busts in general, saying +that they were conventional, and not to be depended upon as trite +representations of the persons. He particularly excepted none but the +bust of Caracalla; and, indeed, everybody that has seen this bust must +feel the justice of the exception, and so be the more inclined to accept +his opinion about the rest. There are not more than half a dozen--that +of Cato the Censor among the others--in regard to which I should like to +ask his judgment individually. He seems to think the faculty of making a +bust an extremely rare one. Canova put his own likeness into all the +busts he made. Greenough could not make a good one; nor Crawford, nor +Gibson. Mr. Harte, he observed,--an American sculptor, now a resident in +Florence,--is the best man of the day for making busts. Of course, it is +to be presumed that he excepts himself; but I would not do Powers the +great injustice to imply that there is the slightest professional +jealousy in his estimate of what others have done, or are now doing, in +his own art. If he saw a better man than himself, he would recognize him +at once, and tell the world of him; but he knows well enough that, in +this line, there is no better, and probably none so good. It would not +accord with the simplicity of his character to blink a fact that stands +so broadly before him. + +We asked him what he thought, of Mr. Gibson's practice of coloring his +statues, and he quietly and slyly said that he himself had made wax +figures in his earlier days, but had left off making them now. In short, +he objected to the practice wholly, and said that a letter of his on the +subject had been published in the London "Athenaeum," and had given great +offence to some of Mr. Gibson's friends. It appeared to me, however, +that his arguments did not apply quite fairly to the case, for he seems +to think Gibson aims at producing an illusion of life in the statue, +whereas I think his object is merely to give warmth and softness to the +snowy marble, and so bring it a little nearer to our hearts and +sympathies. Even so far, nevertheless, I doubt whether the practice is +defensible, and I was glad to see that Powers scorned, at all events, the +argument drawn from the use of color by the antique sculptors, on which +Gibson relies so much. It might almost be implied, from the contemptuous +way in which Powers spoke of color, that he considers it an impertinence +on the face of visible nature, and would rather the world had been made +without it; for he said that everything in intellect or feeling can be +expressed as perfectly, or more so, by the sculptor in colorless marble, +as by the painter with all the resources of his palette. I asked him +whether he could model the face of Beatrice Cenci from Guido's picture so +as to retain the subtle expression, and he said he could, for that the +expression depended entirely on the drawing, "the picture being a badly +colored thing." I inquired whether he could model a blush, and he said +"Yes"; and that he had once proposed to an artist to express a blush in +marble, if he would express it in picture. On consideration, I believe +one to be as impossible as the other; the life and reality of the blush +being in its tremulousness, coming and going. It is lost in a settled +red just as much as in a settled paleness, and neither the sculptor nor +painter can do more than represent the circumstances of attitude and +expression that accompany the blush. There was a great deal of truth in +what Powers said about this matter of color, and in one of our +interminable New England winters it ought to comfort us to think how +little necessity there is for any hue but that of the snow. + +Mr. Powers, nevertheless, had brought us a bunch of beautiful roses, and +seemed as capable of appreciating their delicate blush as we were. The +best thing he said against the use of color in marble was to the effect +that the whiteness removed the object represented into a sort of +spiritual region, and so gave chaste permission to those nudities which +would otherwise suggest immodesty. I have myself felt the truth of this +in a certain sense of shame as I looked at Gibson's tinted Venus. + +He took his leave at about eight o'clock, being to make a call on the +Bryants, who are at the Hotel de New York, and also on Mrs. Browning, at +Casa Guidi. + + +END OF VOL. I. + + + + + + +PASSAGES FROM THE FRENCH AND ITALIAN NOTE-BOOKS + +OF + +NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE + + +VOL. II. + + + + +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, Complete, by Nathaniel Hawthorne + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRENCH/ITALIAN NOTEBOOKS, COMPLETE *** + +This file should be named 7881.txt or 7881.zip + +Produced by Tapio Riikonen and David Widger [widger@cecomet.net] + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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